Using Google Slides with Pear Deck and Sharing It With Students

      Pear Deck is a great add-on in Google Slides.  It allows you to add audio directions to your Google Slide and allows student interaction with your slides.  This is a great way to get feedback from students (especially at the younger grades).  With Pear Deck, you can have students respond with a text answer, multiple choice, number, have them go to a specific website, draw on the slide, or drag something to answer.  Students' answers are only visble to you (unless you choose to share it with the kids after a lesson or during a live lesson!  In this blog post, I will show you step-by-step how to setup and use Pear Deck with your students through video tutorials....

How to Get the Pear Deck Add-on and Use It with Students

1. How to get the Pear Deck add-on:
2. How to open Pear Deck in Google Slides and Overview of the Menu:
3. How to add audio to a Google Slide:
4. How to get the link to share with students and share on different platforms:

   Google Classroom	Seesaw
   ClassDojo
   	This can be done with Schoology, Canvas, and any other platform.  I just have experience with Google Classroom, Seesaw, and ClassDojo.

   
   
5. How to see students' responses from a 'Homework Assignment': (To Be Revised): 
6. How to use Pear Deck during a live lesson (presenting, using the Dashboard, seeing student's answers, and sharing students' work):

How to Use the Different Pear Deck Tools

Student's responses are kept confidential.  Students do not see each other's work and students are working on their own slides.  They can not 'mess up' everyone else's slides.

Students respond through a text box.
Students choice from a multiple choice menu.
Students type in or use arrows to choice the number.
Students work on a website while not leaving the  slide.
Students draw using pencil, highlighter, or a text box on the slide.
Students use predetermined icons to drag onto the slide.
Teacher records directions for students to listen to.

Implementing School and District Wide Google Classroom Idea

A couple teachers and I brainstormed these ideas for implementing Google Classroom building wide.  We have also discussed the desire to share activities district wide.  Google Classroom allows teachers to create an activity in one class, then reuse it in another class.  Every teacher who has access to a class can then reuse that post in another class. 

• All Special Areas 
  • All Special Areas are added to all classes.
  • All Special Areas can create their own Google Classroom and created all their lessons and materials in that class (with no students).
  • When they want to forward an activity to a class (maybe the day they had their original special), they would go into their lesson and check the box next to the class they want to send it OR go into the teacher's class, select 'reuse post' and add it to the teacher's class.
• All Special Ed, Speech, Pscycologists, and Support Staff
  • ​All Special Ed, Speech, and Support Staff can be added to all classes they have students in.
  • ​All support staff can create their own Google Classroom and create all their lessons and materials in that class (with no students).
  • When they want to assign an activity for a specific student - they go into that student's class > select 'reuse post' > and check that student's name.
  • Only that student will get that assignment - no one else will see it in the class.
  • By following this model - parents and students would not be able to see who else gets services.  They would only see that their child is part of a whole class.
  • In addition, if a Support Teacher creates a student sensitive activity within their own class first, it prevents them from accidently sharing it with a whole class (there's no students in their own class).  
• ​​All Reading / Math Specialists
• All Reading / Math support can be added to all classes.
• They can share resources to a Building or District Group that other teachers can pull from
• If specialists want to work with their students, they can do the same as Special Ed, Speech, and Support Staff
• They can create all their lessons and activities in one class.  (no students)
• They can go into the student's class, select 'reuse post' and assign it to the students they work with.
• All Classroom Teachers
• Have their own classroom where they create their activities.
• Classroom teachers can also be members of a district wide grade level Google Classroom.  They would select their class and the district group when creating the activity.  Then any teacher would be able to take the activity from the original post and add it to their own class.

By following this model, there are other benefits....

• All classroom teachers would be aware of what activities their students are receiving from support and special areas.  (They would see the workload that their student is receiving).
• All support and special areas would see what work teachers are sending out and be able to better support the student.  
• Teachers can organize their own Google Classroom Activities in which ever way works best for them.
• It would be alot having a Classroom Teacher and Support teacher creating and saving drafts in the same space while interacting with students.
• Parents would not be overwhelmed with seeing possibly 5+ groups (Classroom, Art, Music, Library, Gym, SPED, Speech, Reading Support, Math Support, OT/PT).
• It makes it easier to see what work their child has to do (it's all in one place).  
• Everyone with each group could see that Google Calendar (if they are scheduling meetings or check-ins) as well.
• Also, if you created building or district level Google Classrooms, there would be a common Google Drive folder that teachers could add resources too and they would have a place to collaborate and share ideas (on the activity wall).
• Also everyone gets to muddle through using Google Classroom with no students to worry about seeing posts and mistakes :).