3 Ways to Record Classroom Tests and Publish to Moodle

When a special education student needs a test read in a general education or co-taught classroom there is not a perfect way to handle it. If students leave the classroom to have it read, some students will turn down the accommodation because they don't want to stand out. Many teachers will give up their prep or stay after school to read it to them but that is not always possible or optimal. I think one of the best solutions is to have that teacher record it and then upload it to their Moodle site. This works best if you have a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program at your school. If that is not possible some sort of mp3 or iPods in the classroom may be an alternative. I made this video for a PD I did at my school but hope others may find it beneficial. In this video I give a tutorial on how to record your tests on an 1. iPhone  2. An Apple Computer 3. An iPod nano. (Apple isn't paying me, but they should:) 

School Tube: The Best Way To Share Video at School

I had a colleague ask me today about the best way to share video book reviews done by his students. I know in the real world when you want to share a video the obvious choice is YouTube.  However, when you are a school teacher this may not be an option. I know many school districts that have YouTube blocked by their filter. I don't see the point of posting something at school that students can't view at school. It my mind it defeats the purpose. The best alternative I have found is to use SchoolTube.  There is a fairly easy review process when you sign up to make sure you are a real educator at a real school, but it is not that intrusive. The positive side of this process is that it filters out most of the junk your students may be exposed to on YouTube. Here is a link to my SchoolTube channel if you want to check it out.  In the past I have used SchoolTube to post videos from a project based assessment we did on the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. I am still so impressed and proud of the video I am posting below that one of the students made in that class, enjoy!

SimpleBooklet: Finished Project Example

I finally completed my first BPA (project based assessment) using SimpleBooklet.  The site performed great and it was even better than I had hoped it would be. There were no issues with pages deleting, websites not loading, or any other technical problems. I love the design of the teacher controls because it makes it very easy to grade each project and navigate between them. (This was a nightmare in Glogster and Lino). I am giving an example of some student work which I think is amazing given the disabilities in my class. I teach high school special education students  so this assignment is probably at the general education level of upper elementary or middle school.  I am including the instructions I gave my students on my Moodle page because I think that is often where teachers are unsure of how to create a PBA. Hopefully this will give you an idea of how I structure my BPA's.

You are going to create a digital book that covers all the important parts of chapter 1. Go to SimpleBooklet here. When you use pictures to show an idea please make sure they make sense to use. Use the following list as a guideline of what to include in your digitital book. EACH NUMBER BELOW WILL BE IT'S OWN PAGE, THIS MEANS YOU WILL HAVE 5 PAGES IN YOUR BOOK. I AM INCLUDING THE TITLE FOR EACH PAGE SO PUT THAT ON TOP OF EACH PAGE. 

1. TYPES OF GOVERNMENT : Give a simple defintion for each of the following: democracy, monarchy, and a republic. Include a picture to represent each. 6 points
2. BRITISH TYRANNY: List 4 things the British government did that caused the colonists to want to form their own country. Include a picture for each one.  8 points
3. 6 PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITION   List the 6 principles of the Constitution and give at least 4 pictures to represent at least 4 of them.  10 points

4. SEPARATION OF POWERS: List the 3 branches of government and have a picture that represents each. Tell me what the role is of each one. 9 points
5. MAIN EVENT TIMELINE: Using an arrow between each event put the following events in chronological order. (Earliest to latest) AND INCLUDE THE YEAR IT HAPPENED. 10 points
The Constitution
The Articles of Confederation
Declaration of Indepedence
Marbury V. Madision
The Bill of Rights
Extra Points
6. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: Explain the difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate.
a. How many members does each body have? (How is that decided)
b. Which states have more power in each body.
c. Give a picture to represent each.

43 points total + 6 bonus points. 

simplebooklet.com