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Generate Instant Pear Decks

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  I’ll keep this short as the video explains most of you. Any new educational technology can be complicated to dig into from scratch as you attempt to align it to learning outcomes.  Well, a new feature that Pear Deck has introduced has taken a giant leap forward to help educators do just that.  Before we jump into the new features, if you are unfamiliar with Pear Deck and why my students and I consider it the #1 EdTech tool that helps their learning, check out the video in the previous blog post.   But if you are more concerned with why you should even dive into Pear Deck or learn about this new AI generation of Pear Deck sessions to a learning target, check out the video below. Like I said, I’m keeping it short so you have time to watch the video. If you have questions, please contact me at mohammam@elmbrookschools.org or the Pear Deck Learning team at support@deck.peardeck.com . Also, check out the amazing Stacey Roshan's video on this update. 
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Product Creation Day 1

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One of my most formative video gaming experiences from childhood was playing one-on-one with my friends.  I don't mean outside on the court, I mean on a computer.  Yes, for those of you who aren't familiar with it one of the classic basketball games from the early 80's was a one-on-one game that pitted Larry Bird vs. Michael Jordan.  I honestly don't have any great insight here tying the game to my classroom, just had to mention the game.


This week, my student in physics are putting together their final video project which is the culmination of the last 8 weeks of study.  All the data has been collected and the concepts have been covered, but they need to create a text which will summarize their work.

Today was a day in which I spoke with groups about which concepts they would address in their video.  A day like today is one in which I hate the phrase "guide on the side."  I don't mind the idea of guide because in each of my conversations today, I was guiding students as through the information they found and the best concepts to include in their video.  Students were expected to complete the following document to help guide the content of their video.







Think of this as an outline.  If you don't expect students to write an essay without an outline, why should they be allowed to create a video without one as well.

At the end of the class period today, students had to complete a check in quiz on Canvas asking them 2 questions.
This quiz is similar to an exit slip.  It will allow me to keep track of student progress, but also initiate conversations.  I plan on adding another question in the quiz asking what issues/questions students have.

I look forward to seeing where we go as a class and as individual groups on day 2.


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