NEW & IMPROVED Still Testing Spreadsheet

NEW AND IMPROVED
2016 VERSION

After this testing session, my principal and I revised the Google Sheet! Here's the new & improved version for you to use for the next testing season!

The Testing Season is right around the corner!  For us, it will be most of April and May.  It is a rough time of year for many students, parents, teachers, and administrators....  One of the dreaded tasks for administrators and teachers is keeping track of how many students are still testing and when to make the move to the "Extended Time Testing" location.  

Many schools have students test in several classrooms at the same time, and then administrators make the judgment, based on feedback from teachers on how many are still testing, to move the last few students to a smaller testing room to continue their assessment.
Our administrators decided that the best way to get this feedback was to have each teacher use stickie notes to post the number of students still testing on the door outside of the classroom they were proctoring.  Administrators would then walk the halls tallying the post-it note numbers.
 

As I was updating the post-it note for what seemed to be the eleventh time, I thought there had to be a better way.  I couldn't believe that we were using this method in the 21st century.  Then, of course, I thought of Google Sheets.  Why couldn't we use a Google Sheet, share it with every proctor and administrator, and have proctors update information on it?  So I created one:

Un-junk the Google Shared Folder Campaign

If you work with wonderful teachers and co-workers like I do, your shared folder has got to be insanely full! Teachers across my district are extremely generous and share A LOT! And now, my shared folder has exploded, and I cannot keep up with the constant sorting of the sharing.  Inevitably, items I need are then lost in the abyss of my Shared Folder.  Searching helps but only if I know what it is called...

That is why...I have started the "Un-junk the Google Shared Folder Campaign".  In this blog, I'll introduce "Link Sharing" and how/when you can use it, and I'll show you how you can share by creating a "Make A Copy" link.

Assistive Technology for All Types of Learners

This is also published on Synergyse's Blog.
As my building's Technology Integrator, I was approached by a middle school special education teacher next door to my room.  "Steph, I've got this kid with extreme dyslexia. He's got this great idea for a story, but he just can't write it down."  And so my journey into researching Assistive Technology for students (and teachers) began...

How can technology assist those students with disabilities or impairments so that they can perform at the level we all know they can? Today, with the increasing usage of apps, extensions, websites, gadgets, and other pieces of technology, we can provide them with that assistance!

From this journey, I have compiled several apps, Google add-ons, Chrome extensions, and program tips to assist students.  (I've even used these on occasion to help me prepare for graduate-level courses.)