Import rubrics in Google Classroom

Most of the projects I assign students are assessed with rubrics. I love a good rubric and it gives students really detailed feedback on the criteria for a piece of work while being efficient for a teacher to give this feedback. So when Doctopus and Goobric formed a dynamic duo, the workflow of marking Google Docs with rubrics became much easier. Now Google Classroom has rubrics has meant that I no longer have to transfer the final grade into the Classroom mark book (a couple of click less per student). Awesome!

But, getting the rubrics into Classroom was initially tiresome having to copy and paste each descriptor from an existing Google Sheet. Great that we can now reuse rubrics in Classroom but greater still, as I found out today, that you can import a rubric from a Google Sheet. Took me some time to figure out the correct format so I made this short how to video to help out any other interested educators:

Feel free to grab the Google Sheet template I made at bit.ly/GCRUBRIC

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Sharpen the Axe – BIST / GEG Sparkshop

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” – Abraham Lincoln.

In this session you will have a chance to ‘sharpen your axe’ with a range of useful tips and tricks to not only make you more efficient in the use of your device, but also a focus on Web Apps, Chrome Extensions and Google App Add-ons. The session is presented in a gamified format with activities that you could use in your classroom tomorrow.

Session Resources:

1) Do now: Complete the quiz linked below to see how well your machine is set up for GSuite for Education

Google Quiz – Set your Machine up like a Mega star

Workshop Slidedeck:

Chrome shortcuts: Try ten your haven’t used before

Team Kahoot – Chrome Shortcuts

Web Apps, Add ons and Chrome Extensions

Install/try at least 1 new to you (share with group?). If you have used any of those add ons/extensions (or others) and you think it’s awesome – add a comment to the BIST Facebook group.

Individual Kahoot – Web apps, Extensions and Add-ons 

If time…Quizlet live team challenge

Other Resource:
Fiddling with Google Doc URLs

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Don’t Panic! Creativity is a process…

As part of the 2019 YIA Awards one of the guest judges, Erik Hay from Weta Workshop, presented to a room full of educators on the creative process. Erik is the Creative Strategy Director at Weta and has a background in advertising. As someone who places myself on the ‘talentless’ end of the creative spectrum is was reassuring to hear the creativity as a much a process as a talent. And as part of this process, ideation as a starting point is so important. Erik gave some examples of some bad ideas that were turned into movies, and despite have millions of dollars spent in production, they were still bad ideas….

One of the aspects that made his presentation engaging was the design of his slides. It was refreshing not to see the standard title/bullet point/image that students (and myself) are often guilty of. But it probably helps if you work for a company like Weta full of talented artists that you can get to draw your slides!

One of my key takeaways was the traits that Weta looks for in their employees. Erik explained that this came from their development as a company. Which Richard Taylor said yes to all those Lord of the Rings movies, there simply wasn’t enough people in NZ with the right skills. So Weta needed to employ people who could quickly develop those skills and so adopted the above recruitment checklist. Yet again, another example of the importance of traits/dispositions over qualifications.

Lastly, kind of a nice set of ground rules to operate with a bunch of different people (just like a classroom!). Favourite rule: Be a radiator, not a drain!

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App Smash a Mihimihi

Step 1: Complete this form!

Step 2: Check your Inbox for a mint as Mihimihi that you can share, print out, whatevers!!

Step 3: Create a multimedia representation of your Mihimihi using any of the below tools. Don’t forget to share…

Example made with Google Slides

Click here to see an example Mihimihi made with MySimpleShow

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Google Innovator Academy

So made it into the #SYD19 Google Innovator academy hosted at the Sydney Google office. Major benefit is connecting with some awesome educators. Amazing start to this 3 day event. Here are some brief notes, resources and pictures.

After almost 50 Academies there are over 1500+ Google Innovators in over 40 countries.

Difficult paths lead to beautiful destinations

Sam Gibson

Spark – History of Google Innovation Academy by Mark Wagner

So you can now buy brain wave monitors….

…with science and the human heart there is no limit

U2 – Miracle drug

You are an architect of the possible

Google Glass instruction

I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.

– Sun Bear (Vincent LaDuke)

Spark – Google Earth by John

Google Earth Voyager

Google Earth – Timelapse

Lion (film) based on book A long way home by Saroo Brierley

Keyboard shortcuts in Google Earth: arrow keys, shift + arrow keys, option + arrow keys

3D images made by plane flying over multiple times and images getting stiched together.

Students tell narratives through Google Earth.

John Bailey (Google Earth education lead
Collaborative MyMaps

Design thinking sprint – Monica

SmashboardEdu – an example of a Google Innovator challenge from 2017

Activity – Zen counting

Spark – Taking Action by Stuart

Innovation is a social justice issue

Stuart Kelly

“People don’t cling to small goals”

Twice a term, Aorere College asks it’s students (via Google Forms) what the school needs to:

  • Keep doing
  • Stop doing
  • Start doing

Spark – The culture of Google by Dan

Quantity > Quality

Culture of Google: Curiosity, Agency, Collaboration, Risk-taking

Project Culture Shift

Day 2

Spark: Streetview with Sue

Spark: Building a mindset of innovation (Fear factor) by Lorinda Ferry

“Have a go”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

“Books will soon be obsolete in the schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye. It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system will be completely changed in ten years.”

Thomas Edison, 1913

Spark – Implementing sustainable innovation by Rich

Upschool – a series of videos that explains teaching and learning to parents.

“What happens with the rockstar leaves”

It’s more than ‘buy in‘, it’s co-creation.

Energiser day – Saturday

Advocacy

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The Dalai Lama

Sean Arnold – Educational advocate

Google’s advocacy playbook.

More than a tech – advocating to parents about tech use.

BewellEDU.com – an example of a previous Innovator’s project.

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