Digital Intervention. How can we, as teachers, use technology to reach our struggling students and meet their individual needs?
First, take a look at this video that introduces the 6 benefits for Digital Intervention in the Google Classroom.
The first time I used Google Docs during intervention, I was immediately struck by the ways I could help individual students who normally didn’t request help. In May, I was working on a writing assignment with students using Google. I opened up several tabs and was able to click through and see what they were writing.
Digital Intervention: Monitor without Looking Over Their Shoulder
When students are writing in a Google Doc (or Slide), you can watch them type. In fact, you can see right away who is writing and who isn’t. Also, you can see if a student misunderstood the prompt and redirect them before they waste too much time.
The best thing about this is being able to see what they are doing without actually standing over the top of them making them uncomfortable. Recently, I had someone looking over my shoulder while I was trying to work and the physical proximity made it hard for me to concentrate. If it makes me uncomfortable, it probably makes them uncomfortable too.
Digital Intervention: Students Work at their Own Pace
One of the challenges of giving direct lessons in front of the classroom is pacing. For instance, some kids want / need you to slow down. Other kids get frustrated if you slow down. Delivering a lesson in Google Slides allows students to go as fast or as slow as they need.
Another great benefit is that quizzes can be dispersed and taken when kids are ready. A student can take a quiz, realize they need more practice and then take it again later without any of their friends knowing.
Digital Intervention: Self Checking
Grading papers after school is not a teacher’s favorite thing to do. Catching their mistake after the student has done an entire assignment incorrectly isn’t very helpful.
Google Forms Quizzes now allow you to include answer keys. Now, you can even set it to stop and give a student feedback if they make a mistake.
Many websites are available to practice specific skills that can give immediate feedback, like Khan Academy or Multiplication.com.
When I create resources for my students in Google Slides that have correct answers, I often hide them under a scroll so they can check and see if they did it correctly. This allows the students to catch their mistakes before they become a habit.
Digital Intervention: Private Conversations through Comments
Have you ever noticed your classroom is the quietest place ever when you are trying to have a private conversation? As soon as you are quiet, everyone wants to hear what you say to someone else. This causes some students to avoid asking for help. They don’t want the attention that talking to the teacher may bring.
Enter Google Comments.
I have had the best conversations with shy students in the Google Comments section. If I see a student looking frustrated and there is no movement on their screen, I’ll send a comment, “Would you like some help?” Some kids get up and come talk to me. But my ELLs, or shy kids, or boys that are too cool to be seen with the teacher, will write back.
Comments allow kids, who might never ask in front of their classmates, to ask private questions and get one on one help. Using Google Comments allows us to have a real time private dialogue.
Digital Intervention: Built in Research
There are a lot of built in features that help students. For example, students can right click on a word to have it defined. Also, they can open the research tool and look at pictures for a word they don’t know. Google Text-to-Speech allows students to access text that may be beyond their reading level. This can also be great for students to listen to the flow of their writing and actually hear things they need to correct. Of course, there are built in research tools such as the dictionary and thesaurus as well.
Digital Intervention: Differentiate
When you give your assignments digitally, you can differentiate without having to move students to different parts of the room. If using a Google Slides resource, you can add or delete slides to meet the students different needs. Alternatively, you can extend the assignment time or shorten an assignment. Sometimes you may even send different quizzes. Some students may need to do an assignment again. Others may get a remedial assignment when you realize they don’t have the background knowledge they need. For quick or advanced students, you can email or comment with extension activities.
Now, the possibilities for simple private differentiation are endless.
Digital Resources for the Google Classroom
Want to get started using digital resources? If your kids can log into Google, you are ready to get started (even if you don't have access to Google Classroom). Use ratios to solve real world math problems with this digital Google Slides resource which contains digital task cards. Students find the discounted price of an item given the original price and a percent off. Students also find the percentage saved when purchasing an item at a discounted price. How do you help students develop a growth mindset? Give them the opportunity to set goals, track their data growth, and reflect. This paperless customizable technology resource gives your students a digital journal to use year round. The three main sections of this interactive journal are Goal Setting, Data Tracking, and Reflection. Goal Setting Want to get started using digital resources in your classroom? Help your students gain the background technology skills they need to learn and complete online assignments. Students work to earn their "Google Driver's License". Students will learn and practice over 80 skills with step by step instructions, screenshots, and tutorial gifs (short moving pictures). Students will practice writing complete sentences by restating the question. This interactive digital resource in Google Slides drag words from the question to create answers. Then students type their own answer stems. Two versions are available for differentiation. Digital compare and contrast graphic organizers take students through the process of writing a compare and contrast parcagraph. Compare and contrast characters, settings, and events using piece of literature. My students loved filling out the Venn Diagrams and writing their Digital graphic organizers take students through the process of writing dialogue. Students learn to use correct capitalization and punctuation with several opportunities to apply the use of quotation marks during creative writing activities. My students loved creating fun conversations. Improve memorization and help students multiply fluently with this digital Google Slides Resource by focusing on repeated addition and other multiplication strategies. Fun, self paced, differentiated multiplication practice motivates students to pass each assessment. This digital interactive math resource for your Google classroom helps your students learn to multiply multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. There are four levels: Two Digit by One Digit Multiplication, Three Digit by One Digit Multiplication, Two Digit by Two Digit Multiplication, and Three Digit by Two Digit Multiplication. PEMDAS is a common acronym for the Order of Operations. This digital resource for the Google classroom, is scaffolded to encourage independent learning. Students practice progressively more challenging order of operations problems including Addition & Subtraction, Multiplication & Division, parentheses and exponents. Students write a correct complete informational paragraph while responding to picture prompts. This digital resource in Google Slides guides students through the writing process while they look at full color photographs. This resource contains: *a teacher Digital interactive lesson and practice for Dividing Decimals. Based on my Dividing Decimals Powerpoint, this interactive Google Slides resource 5 strategies for comparing fractions are covered in this digital Google Slides resource. Compare Fractions Using Models Compare Fractions with a Common Denominator Digital interactive lesson and practice for Simplifying Fractions. This interactive Google Slides resource allows students to work at their own pace. Simplify Fractions with Prime Factorization, Greatest Common Denominator, and Mental Division. Digital graphic organizers take students through the process of writing an opinion paragraph. Opinion Writing Prompts and Opinion Writing Graphic Organizers are organized into 5 Google Slide Decks. One deck has a blank for the prompt so you can edit the prompt to be anything you'd like. Digital interactive lesson and practice for Adding Fractions with Different Denominators. This interactive Google Slides resource lets students work at their own pace. Students review adding simple fractions and then move step by step into adding fractions with different denominators. Help students understand the three variables in elapsed time: missing start time, missing stop time, and time that's passed. This helps students understand how to tackle elapsed time word problems. First, students practice figuring out how many hours have passed using a number Bell ringer with a positive quote for students to respond to. This digital resource in Google Slides allows students to choose a prewrite template to fit their response to a quote a day. Students write a paragraph in response to a quote each day. Great Bellringer / Are your students fluent in addition facts? Students will add within 5, add within 10, make ten, and add within 20 using several strategies in Google Slides. Animated directions allow students to work independently on Part Part Whole, Number Lines, Turn Around Facts, Ten Frames, Twenty Frames and more. Students write a complete sentence correctly while responding to picture prompts. This digital resource in Google Slides lets students look at full color photographs while responding. After you've introduced the activity, this could become a bell ringer! 5 strategies for finding equivalent fractions are covered in this digital Google Slides resource. After reviewing fraction vocabulary, students will recognize and generate equivalent fractions using fraction bars, fraction tiles, fraction number lines, and multiplication. This 3 resource Dividing Fractions bundle contains Dividing Whole Numbers by Fractions, Dividing Fractions by Whole Numbers, and Dividing Fractions by Fractions. Each skill starts with visual representations and then leads students to discover why the strategy of multiplying by the reciprocal is effective. Thinking about New Years Resolutions? This digital resource will help your students understand the difference between a resolution and goal. Students will set a personal goal and an academic goal and make a resolution for each that will help them achieve their Looking for a Valentine's Day Activity? This digital resource in Google Slides allows create digital valentines. Students plan and write a letter. DIgital Gifs guide them through the process of creating digital Valentine's Day Cards. They use provided Valentine's backgrounds and layers to start their This digital interactive math resource for your Google classroom helps your students learn to multiply multi-digit numbers using the area model (also known as box method) and Partial Product Algorithm. There are four levels: Two Digit by One Digit Multiplication, Three Digit by One Digit Multiplication, Two Digit by Two Digit Multiplication, and Three Digit by Two Digit Multiplication. With this bell ringer, your students can respond to a quote by famous African Americans for Black History Month. This digital resource in Google Slides allows students to choose a prewrite template to fit their response to a quote each day. Students write a paragraph in response to each quote.Educational Resources for the Google Classroom
Compare Fractions with a Common Numerator
Compare Fractions using Half as a Benchmark
Compare Fractions that are One Away from the Whole
Love. I noticed that Google forms has a great feature to use with the multiple choice. Forms has if you choose — go to questions— feature. I am creating assessments that will remediate students after choosing incorrect responses.
Wonderful ideas and so up to date I began teaching in 1991 and I love your new ideas
Amy
Thanks, Amy! I started in the 90s too. Every year there is something new isn’t there? 🙂