Hyper for HyperDocs

Hyper for Hyper Docs

I never realized there was a name for the way our classroom was evolving. I knew after the pandemic that teaching would never be the same, but now I don't know how I would teach without it. 

I think back into my beginning years as a teacher.. ~que the dreamy music~ how did we operate without having slides? It was much harder. I mean, we had slides.. like you could make a "death by PowerPoint" presentation, but that just wasn't the vibe. I guess we just wrote on the white board, projected worksheets with the doc. cam. and stood up there and talked. I remember when the district was trying to force us to use apps and incorporate technology like padlet and seesaw. At first the task was daunting. Not only was I doggy paddling through the days, but now you want me to learn something new, teach it, and use it daily in the classroom?!

2025- If the internet goes down, we may as well go home. We are delivering daily instruction with the use of HyperDocs. well, most of us are. HyperDocs simply but not simply put are interactive, digital lesson plans that have replaced the traditional learning style. They leverage technology, particularly google docs, to guide the students through their learning. When created intentionally by the teacher, these HyperDocs are engaging, creative and allow the students to collaborate, reflect, and explore. 

Ill try to explain a little more. When my students come into my room, they see a digital slide on my white board, like this:

I have also attached a video demonstrating how to use google classroom.. click the picture. Now, this is similar to power point when used as a slideshow. I bring my students to the carpet and I click through a series of slides, showing them our agenda and daily expectations. I also have added snipits of their classwork. We view it together, talk about it, ask and answer questions and then they go back to their seats to do the work independently.. on a HyperDoc. This is where it's different. I am not running hundreds of copies and passing out papers. The students have a chrome book, log into my google classroom.. and access our unit 1 assignments. Here I have embeded videos explaining the skills deeper, notes, reminders, etc. to help them be successful with their work. They don't need to have a spiral notebook with glued in anchor charts anymore because I have attached everything digitally into their google classroom. Its labeled and organized making it easy to locate specific materials. They click on the assignment for the day. It may be a drag and drop activity where the student reads the text and selects the answer from a word bank of text boxes, and drags the correct answer to the area. It could also be a document with blank text boxes asking the student to type in their answer, or maybe a multiple choice quiz. I am still walking around the room, monitoring and offering assistance, but the students are working on a device instead of paper. One of the best parts of this is.. when they are finished, and you always have the one or two who finish before everyone else and then of course, ask out loud what to do next, or get up and start disturbing the peace.. they move onto the next assignment. Its all there at their fingertips!

As a teacher, It did take some getting used to. A part of me missed lugging around all of the spelling tests and grading them all weekend. Now, I carry my device around and create slides and assignments all weekend. CREATE. Instead of working harder, we're working smarter. Let the computer grade the quizzes. I need more time to create, build and explore for and with my students. Its 2.0. HyperDocs are the new way of teaching and learning.