What began as an email to staff at my school has become something that I look forward to each week.  I love to investigate new resources for those that teach and for those not necessarily in a classroom.  I hope that you can find things here that you can use!

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I think most of us have some type of Warm-Up activity for students when they enter our classroom.

 

I’ve tried many different versions over the years:  pocket folders, spiral notebooks, binders w/ printed worksheets, etc.  You know!  You’ve tried them, too!!

 

What comes with using those types of warm-up formats??  Carrying a box/bag of 150-200 notebooks home on the weekend to flip through, find the right page, read, comment, grade, pack back up and bring back to school on Monday.  NOT ANY MORE!!!

 

My school has a 1-to-1 computer distribution, so students come to my room with a laptop.  The availability of computers along with our county’s use of Office365 and Canvas has completely changed how I distribute, use and grade warm-ups in my room…and I love it!

 

First, I create a PowerPoint slideshow with the day’s Warm-Up and it is projected on the SMARTBoard when students enter.  It’s a simple thought-provoking question or even a video clip that will play once everyone is seated, but it’s there every day and the students expect it when they walk in.  (I’ll add that it’s our Routine…they were introduced to this on Day 1 and they how it works.  It doesn’t require a redirection to get started every day.)

 

Here’s one of my daily boards:

 

                            

On the student’s laptop, they open “This Week’s Warm-Ups” (an Office365 Cloud Assignment in Canvas).

 

                             

I use PowerPoint, but the end result would be the same with Word.  Now, here’s where it get’s good. 

 

  • On Monday, they open this presentation/document and edit in browser.  When they have completed the Warm-Up for the day, in Canvas, they SUBMIT it. 
  • On Tuesday, they open the PowerPoint again, add a new slide for Tuesday’s Warm-up, answer and Submit. 
  • They repeat these steps all week. 
  • On Friday, when they submit the last time, you have the completed Warm-Ups for the week. 

 

The benefit of having them submit each day is that Canvas let’s you view those submissions during the week and allows you to give feedback anytime during the week, so you don’t have to wait until the weekend to read them.  Plus, if you get a great response from a student on Tuesday, you can share it on Wed. while it’s still fresh…you don’t have to wait until Monday of the next week!

 

Benefits of PowerPoint:

  • With touchscreen laptops, students can draw their responses if they want.
  • Students can insert images/shapes to help with their responses.
  • Text boxes are easily added for writing.
  • Video submissions can be added if needed.

 

I hope that you find this helpful or at least informative.  If you are a digital teacher, this would be an easy thing to start!! 

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As always, “Thanks for stopping by!”  and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’ve got a question.

 

Feel free to share with colleagues.