With Flubaroo, You'll Never Have to Grade A Test Again

Flubaroo is a free auto-grading tool that you can use with Google Spreadsheets to instantly assess your students.  Students simply complete a fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice quiz or test and their grades are automatically compiled and available for viewing by the teacher, class, parents and whomever else the teacher chooses.  

It also...

• Computes average assignment score.
• Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions.
• Shows you a grade distribution graph.
• Gives you the option to email each student their grade, and an answer key.

I made the video below that shows you how to get started with Flubaroo.  

10 "Do’s" & "Don’ts" for more interesting & engaging social media updates & comments

When people think of social media like Facebook, Google+, or Twitter they often turn to thoughts of the cliche update about what someone had for lunch. Fortunately, most of the people I associate with in real life don't write such updates.  If they do I unfollow, unsubscribe, etc. Such updates waste the time of everyone who accidentally stumbles upon them.   When participating in social media, engaging participants take on responsibility to contribute meaningfully to the conversation.  The next time you update your status or Tweet, keep this advice in mind.

An Alternative to High Stakes Testing. Facebook Stats - A More Effective Accountability Measure

Earlier this week I was reading a provocative thread in response to a terrific post from Joe Bowers on the topic of accountability in The Innovative Educator Group. Deborah Meier weighed in suggesting folks set up high stakes testing sites near state capitols, post testing times, publish which politician showed up and who didn't, then publish THEIR scores in the paper.   Awesome!

As I was fretting about the problem of accountability gone wrong and worthless high stakes tests, a notice came up informing me there were lots of other people who went to the same high school as I did. There was a link I could click on if I wanted to friend these people. With accountability on the mind, I clicked on the link and was struck by what I saw next.  I saw the careers of all my high school peers pop up with their names.  Interesting!  Not only that, but l could click on any of my fellow alums and see the college (if any) they attended as well as what they studied.

I got to thinking.  What do parents really want to know about their child’s school?  Would they rather know...
A) That their kids is really good at being compliant, memorizing, and regurgitating
OR
B) That this is a school that produces graduates that will have solid careers and, if necessary, attend the colleges that will lead to those careers?  

What's Popular This Week on The Innovative Educator?

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see my top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews in the past 7 days. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share and/or leave a comment.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet? Dec 15, 2011, 1 comment 1968 Pageviews

Cure ADHD without Drugs with These Resources ... Feb 5, 2011, 22 comments 1887 Pageviews

10 Talking Points to Lift the Ban on Cell Phones Dec 13, 2011, 1 comment 1814 Pageviews

Facebook Timeline: The 21st Century Resume... Dec 16, 2011 1734 Pageviews

Teachers Union Advice Protects Teachers Rather Than... Dec 11, 2011, 12 comments 1709 Pageviews

10 No Nos of Teaching with a Projector or Smartboard... May 10, 2010, 37 comments 1668 Pageviews

Could The Key to Teacher Effectiveness Mean Dropping... Dec 14, 2011, 10 comments 1564 Pageviews

Facebook Timeline: The 21st Century Resume - Available Now!

Educators who are up to the task of preparing our students with the essential tools for success today will want to know that starting now, Facebook Timeline is available to all, so if you haven't gotten it, now's the time to get it. Timeline provides an easy way to rediscover the things you shared, and collect all your best moments in a single place. It is a tremendous resource for any school admission counselor or human resource executive interested in seeing if a candidate is a good match. It's the job of today's innovative educator to ensure their students know how to create an online image that will lead to the school or job of their dreams.  

It is the job of the 21st century educator to ensure students have created a digital footprint that will lead to academic and career success. While controlling your digital footprint is as easy as 1-2-3, unfortunately, rather than prepare students with the tools they'll need to create and develop their online image, boneheads like this teachers' union spokesperson are advising teachers to leave students stuck in the past.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Know someone who is questioning if Twitter is worth their time? Show them this video which highlights why Twitter is a powerful tool that should be given consideration. It also addresses the importance of regulating your social media diet.  The video features powerful conversations that happen on Twitter like those in #edchat. It also questions learner's use of Twitter and if students are tweeting about subjects. (by the way, they are tweeting about AP courses)  It shares some good ideas about using Twitter with students (Find additional ways to do that here).   

The video goes on to suggest a top five list for educators regarding "Who to follow" on Twitter and holy schmoly! I'm one of them (@innovativeedu). It is suggested Tweeps (Twitter using peeps) follow me because I'm not afraid to rattle cages with strong statements and out of the box thinking and says that I also engage other twitter users in relevant conversations. I'm in great company along with my awesome colleague @TomWhitby who has his own blog and has collaborated with me here, one of my idols @SirKenRobinson, a learning resource I grew up with as a teacher @edutopia, and the video creator himself @malalande.  

So, if you've been questioning, if Twitter is right for you, I present you with...