One of the things that was most daunting about beginning to integrate technology into my every day instruction was the thought of having to do any instruction in the actual use of the tech. As much as we think our kids are digital natives, there's a cruel reality we must face. For many our my kiddos, this was the extent of what they could do with technology:
If it wasn't social media or a video game, my kids weren't buying it. And trying to explain the things that need to be clicked in the correct order to a class of 30 kids who may or may not be listening was daunting. I can vividly remember saying the same thing over...and over...and over...and over the first few times I tried a new tech tool. And while some of the kids caught on quickly, I found it hard to balance the kids who were moving ahead of me and the kids who were lagging behind.
Looking for a tool to create more student independence, I started playing with Google Drawings and it's been my go to tool ever since! If you haven't tried it before, start in your Google Drive:
See how you just did that....on your own?
That's because you just used a Google Drawing I made to show you exactly where to look!
It's very easy to insert images (often screen captures of the tool you're using) and then edit then by adding text, shapes, arrows, callouts, and more. You can also add multiple pictures to one drawing, add charts and diagrams, and add word art.
You can download the image as many different things, but I usually use JPEG since it's easily inserted into a Word document or uploaded to my website.
Here are some examples some I've made for my kids in the past:
These can be easily copied, pasted, uploaded, and shared! I put them into student worksheets so kids can work at their own pace and I'm free to move about the cabin and help as needed! It's been a life saver for me (and my own sanity) when teaching with tech!
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