In this third and final post of this series, guest blogger James Wyatt wraps up his discussion of ClassroomScreen and how he uses it in his classroom. Enjoy! Chris Kesler
Welcome back! Ready to further your grasp on ClassroomScreen? In Parts 1 & 2, we learned: how to load the site and looked at textbox controls; how to cue students on expected work behavior with work symbols; and we explored the timer and clock (#1-#3 on the image below). Let’s dive a little deeper with some of the other options.
#4 Importing Images
The media icon lets me silently inform the students about the status of things that change in the classroom.
For example, I use the speaker/sound icon to tell my students it’s OK to listen to music on their phones. I imported a similar icon with a red line through it to tell them they shouldn’t have anything out.
I also use this for help in the classroom by displaying a seating chart and adding a star image to identify the “Star Student.” This way I can easily let the class know who has the daily job of getting and replacing the station trays. I keep my icons in a folder on my computer so I can easily upload the icons I need for the day.
#5 Backgrounds
Recently ClassroomScreen has added more backgrounds, including a rotating seasonal selection to their already impressive selection of beautiful images. (That cute llama on my last post was one of the many backgrounds.) Some are animated; other options include a simple color background, a live cam feature, and uploading your own image.
These are just the aspects of ClassroomScreen I use frequently. The full menu is impressive.
Other Tips and tricks
The random name function lets you copy and paste a file of student’s names into it and utilize the program to randomly select names.
To set the noise level for your classroom, try the sound level function. It’s adjustable and gives students a visual that shows them the tolerable level of noise. Whenever the max sound has been reached, a bell goes off and the image appears red.
I use the Traffic Light to let the students know what they need to do with their laptops: green means open and work; yellow is have it out and closed; and red is laptops aren’t needed today).
The possibilities for creating an ideal workspace are unlimited with a great site like ClassroomScreen.com.
