TodaysMeet

toc =**What is it? **=
 * TodaysMeet is a microblogging backchannel that empowers classroom teachers to generate a discussion without the interference of raised hands or student disruptions.

=**What are the major benefits of TodaysMeet? **=
 * Similar to Twitter or Edmodo; featuring a 140-character limit and an easy-to-use interface.
 * It’s a backchannel, which helps teachers conduct online discussions while channeling the results onto one web page and displaying it on the SMART Board.
 * No accounts or passwords are needed for students to use TodaysMeet.
 * Teachers have the option of creating accounts which, as of Fall 2014, unlocks some new features.
 * Students can participate using any device with internet access including: computers; smartphones; ipads; ipod touches; tablets.

=**New Features, as of Fall 2014 **= =**Classroom Integration Ideas **=
 * Teachers can now create an account.
 * Benefits:
 * You can easily manage multiple rooms at once.
 * You can **close** a room early - this is a GREAT new feature if the backchannel begins to stray off topic.
 * You can **moderate** the conversation and **delete** inappropriate comments.
 * Use TodaysMeet as a parking lot for questions that come up during the lesson.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Watch a video, and instead of stopping at various intervals to discuss students' reactions and questions, use the backchannel to allow students to record their reactions to what they see. At the same time, it will give you the opportunity to answer questions that arise as they watch the video (Source: FreeTech4Teachers.com).
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Take the transcript from the discussions after a lesson and put them in Wordle. See what they are talking about (the biggest words are the ones used most often – you will see what students are participating the most in the conversations).
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Collaborate with another teacher to have two or more classrooms engage in a conversation by listening to the same content at the same time.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">After students finish an activity, have them record their responses to the activity in TodaysMeet.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Before a science lab, have students record their hypothesis. After the lab, have students share their conclusion.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Have a silent discussion after reading a specific text.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Compliment a lecture - have students write questions and comments as they pop into their heads. This will enable more students to ask more questions and share more comments than if they all had to raise their hands and wait to be called upon (Source: FreeTech4Teachers.com).
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Click here for additional integration ideas.

=**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Expectations for Acceptable Use **=
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Before using this tool with students, it is essential to outline expectations for acceptable posts and provide specific examples of unacceptable posts.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Share the consequences for unacceptable posts.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Set specific rules on how students name themselves in the TodaysMeet Room. If students aren’t comfortable providing their real first name, have them create “pen names.” Create a list of these names so you can monitor student progress.

=**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tutorial **= <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Check out the brief tutorial I created that's embedded below, or click here to download a copy in PDF format. media type="custom" key="27066698"

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">More Information =
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) created a terrific guide to backchanneling and informal assessment that features Socrative, TodaysMeet, and Padlet. Click here to view the document. The document contains ideas and tutorials for using each tool.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">*Page updated 1/05/2015