Pump Up the Jam(board)
What is Jamboard?
Jamboard is a FREE collaborative whiteboard application that is part of the G Suite for Education. Educators have found Jamboard extremely beneficial for increasing engagement and opportunities for collaboration. Students may collaborate in real-time while using the drawing, text, image, sticky notes, shapes, and laser tools. Users with access to a PC or Chromebook may use the web application at Jamboard.google.com or Jam.new. But, if you have access to a phone or tablet, the FREE app allows users to add files from their Google Drive. Activities created using the Jamboard app or website are frequently referred to as “Jams”.
In the market for a new hardware? There is also a touch-screen whiteboard available for purchase as well. The physical Jamboard device allows students to pull information from websites, access the handwriting recognition feature and draw with a stylus.
Note: Jamboard must be turn-on by the domain administrator.
Are you already using Jamboard in your classroom?
If you are already using Jamboard in your classroom, I hope this blog post provides you with some new ideas, tips, and templates to “Pump Up the Jam” in your classroom!
Needs some integration ideas?
Educators are constantly finding new and innovative ways to enhance their daily instruction during both onsite and online instruction with Jamboard.
Here are some ideas:
General and SEL
- Daily Checkins
- Attendance
- “Bucket Filling” or kindness walls
- “Motivational Monday”
- 2nd Step Reflections
- Brainstorming behavior expectations during remote learning activities
- Sharing examples of respect
- Goal setting
- Picture of the day
Math
- Sharing problem solving strategies
- Collaborating on a problem
- Using the whiteboard to demonstrate solutions
- Collaborating while posting examples of 2D and 3D shapes
- Sharing learning and reflections
- Correcting errors
ELA
- Annotating text
- Sharing predictions, inferences, connections
- Book Recommendations
- Demonstrating revisions and edits
- Locating evidence
- Sharing example images of writer’s craft
- Sharing reflections, questions, and learning
- Locating and sharing examples of the parts of speech
- Book talks
- Reviewing sight words
Social Studies
- Sharing examples of the 5 themes of geography for states, countries, and regions
- Labeling maps
- Collaborating while researching locations
- Sharing examples of what students notice and wonder
- Sharing thoughts on current events
- Discussing educational videos
Science
- Sharing hypothesis
- Locating and sharing evidence
- Sharing results from experiments
- Collaborating while researching
- Brainstorming and collaborating on ideas supporting animal adaptations, habitats, and ecosystems
- Sharing examples of what students notice and wonder
What would that look like?
Check out this Wakelet collection to see some fabulous examples of completed activities from educators on Twitter. (You do not need to have a Twitter account to click on the links in the Tweets.)
Templates Galore!!
I have curated dozens of templates from amazing educators on Twitter. Simply click on the Tweet that interests you and “Make a Copy” of the Jamboard activity. Click here to view the collection. I’ll continue to add to this collection throughout the year so make sure to bookmark it for later 🙂
Want to Pump Up the Jam even more?
Check out this collection of curated tips as well! In this curated collection, you will find posts explaining how to insert animated GIFs, create a scratch ticket effect, create a mystery spot, play Bingo, and access more blogs and webinars!
How do you share Jams?
Since Jamboard is part of the G Suite for Education, it’s super easy to share your Jams by clicking the Share button and inviting specific collaborators or posting the link. You may also add your Jamboard activity in Google Classroom or create a Jam on the fly during your Google Meet!
How have you used Jamboard in your classroom? I’d love to hear from you!
