Tech Tip Tuesday

Have you considered offering students "jobs" during your class?

Student jobs can

• speed up classroom routines
• reduce behavioral issues
• increase students' social-emotional well-being
• foster a sense of belonging.

Tech Guru is just one of many types of jobs. But one of the more useful- especially if you don't consider tech to be your strong suit.

Do you have students who want to be a youtuber?

• Tutorial Creator: Makes YouTube tutorials for all kinds of tasks that other students need in the classroom using software like Wevideo or screencastify (Yes, Ken, I promise I will do a deeper dive into all the new bells and whistles of screencastify). I may be able to get a few licenses for the upgraded version of WeVideo if you have a student who would use it.

Maybe you have some very talkative students?

• Podcaster: Produces a regular brief podcast on a topic of interest to students, using tools like Soundtrap, Anchor, GarageBand or flipgrid to make it happen. To keep it manageable, Gibson recommends only having students do one podcast per month, and keeping each episode under 3 minutes.

Perhaps the student who draws throughout class?

• Visual Display Artist: Creates posters for in-person class or graphics to be used online for remote learning using Canva or Adobe Spark.

The student who never seems to be still?

• Athletic Trainer - sets a timer each class and when it goes off, reminds the class to take a moment to stand up, move around, and stretch.
  

Jobs can be for a specific unit, length of time or activity.

Here is a list of 25 possible classroom jobs for both in-person and remote learning

Job charts and even more job ideas

A system like this doesn’t just spring up out of nowhere; it requires organization and maintenance. Thom Gibson, two-time Teacher of the Year, educational consultant, and Creative Director at @newedtechclass, shared a few key components of how his jobs program works:

• Job descriptions are provided ahead of time. Students first get a chance to look at all job listings, which include a description of each job along with notes on what personality types would be a good fit.
• Students apply for jobs. Gibson has found that this maximizes student buy-in. In the application, students choose their top three jobs and explain why they’d be a good fit.
• Job holders get checklists. After students are “hired,” (and multiple students may be hired for the same job), they are given job-specific checklists of responsibilities, including when their job is performed, how often, and how to do it.
• A teacher’s assistant keeps it all together. Although it was not mentioned in the above list, it is essential to have a teacher’s assistant whose job it is to remind everyone else to do their job. Gibson recommends looking for “super type-A” students to fill this role.
• Teach the jobs like any other curriculum. Students will need practice and feedback to do the jobs right. If a student isn’t doing their job correctly, “Make them do it again,” Gibson says, “not as a punishment but just as a way of, okay, so now let’s try it again.”

To help remember- I write shortcuts on post-its and place on my monitor until I no longer have to look up to use them.

1. Reopen a Closed Tab: CTRL+ SHIFT+ T (Command + Shift + T on a Mac or CTRL, SHIFT + T Chromebook)
2. Lock Screen: Windows Button + L (super useful when away from desk during class)
3. Find Bar (search any document/website for keywords): CTRL + F
4. Screenshot/ Screen Snip: Windows Button + SHIFT + S (Chromebook: SHIFT+ CTRL+ Show windows

I am here to help. If I don't know, I will find out. Let me do that work. You have enough to handle in the classroom. Challenges arising in the classroom? Tech coaching sessions available.

Email: cwysocki@greenfield.k12.wi.us
Website: https://www.greenfield.k12.wi.us/staff/instructional-technology.cfm
Location: 4800 S 60th St., Greenfield, WI, 53200
Phone: (414) 855-2409
Twitter: @teachwysocki