Hi-Tech and Low-Tech Distance Learning Solutions

Despite all of the stress everyone is under trying to figure out a way to keep their students learning, Montana teachers have been tremendously generous in sharing their expertise and good ideas. I feel incredibly lucky to know you all! Here are some things I've learned.

Assigning PDFS in Google Classroom

One of the first things we did when we realized that "distance learning" was going to become the new (hopefully temporary) normal was to convert our Montana: Stories of the Land worksheets into editable PDFs.

Recently, a teacher asked me how to assign the worksheets in Google Classroom. I reached out to Eureka Public Schools Technology and Learning Coach Rob Reynolds, who made this VERY helpful video explaining the process. (Thanks both to Rob and to Montana History Teacher Leader Jennifer Hall, who introduced me to Rob!)

Rob also told me that while the procedure he outlined in the video is the easiest way to share editable PDFs, there's another option for regular PDFs.


"This does require a bit more explanation and setup. When document is opened by a student, they can then select the "Open with" dropdown and add the apps listed below. This will let them add content on top of the PDF and save to be attached to assignment."

He says that Kami and DocHub are two third-party extensions that allow students to work on PDFs. I was particularly excited to hear this because there were some PDFs we couldn't figure out how to make editable (for example, those that required students to make a graph or label a map). Rob says these extensions will work in both those instances.

When Your Students Don't Have Internet

I've been talking to another Montana history Teacher Leader, Laura Dukart, about distance learning without internet. Many of the students who attend Wibaux Schools don't have access to the internet, and because of the area's topography, some don't even have access to cell service, so Laura's been sending home packets. Packets don't have to mean worksheets though. Laura came up with this great interview project for her eighth graders, which she said I could share. The project's essential question is "what was it like in the past to live through a life-changing event."

• Project Assignment/Description
• Life History Outline 
• Interview Summary Worksheet

After my boss Kirby Lambert shared this post on creating museum exhibits at home, I ran it by Laura to see if this could be another possible projects for distance learning without worksheets. She was excited to try it with her junior high students, which was enough of a stamp of approval for me to share it out more widely.

Laura joined the 6-12 social studies Learning/Sharing session hosted by OPI last week and on the spot came up with this idea for an essay assignment, a twist on the historical dinner party question: who (from a particular period in history) would you want to be quarantined with, and why? (I myself want to be quarantined with Charlie Russell--but only if he leaves Nancy at home.)

For those times that a worksheet is helpful, I went through all of our hands-on history footlocker User Guides and excerpted the worksheets, which include word searches, crossword puzzles, and other activities. Here's a list of what's available. The actual worksheets are in this folder.

A Few Other Resources/Ideas

As of last Monday, there over a million (1,000,003 to be exact) pages of Montana newspapers freely available online between Chronicling America (314,714 pages) and Montana Newspapers (685,289 pages)! Papers come from 78 (!) different Montana towns. Need ideas of how to engage students in newspaper research? Start here. Then go here.


Finally, I am really enjoying the sharing that goes on in the Learning/Sharing Sessions OPI is hosting each week. 6-12 social studies will be back next Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. You can get a link to the meeting and learn what other sessions are available here (just look at the top of the page in the righthand column). You'll find other topics there too. At least last week, there were several elementary sessions as well, just none focused on social studies.