Monday, October 05, 2020

Going Paper Free

 

Going Paper Free

We are now a 1 to 1 school so that means we should all be aiming to use less paper. In this new world of teaching and trying to stay at a safe distance the less paper we put into our hands and that of our students the better for all, by using Seesaw or Google Classroom it also means we teachers do not have to touch papers that our students have worked on nor do they have touch papers that have been on our hands. 

But how do we do this?  We should use Seesaw in all grades and Google Classroom in grade 3+. Students should be posting as much work as possible this way it makes it easier for you to grade and give feedback and it reduces unnecessary contact. We teachers should also be sharing worksheets this way instead of printing and handing out copies.

Is it going to be extra work for me?
Aside from approving the uploads from the students, which really does not take long. Plus there are already thousands of teacher-tested classroom activities available to inspire and engage your students. Therefore, you really do not need to do too much extra thinking or planning!

Say goodbye to endless printing and folders.
With Seesaw you can find, share, and organize work samples within Seesaw. This means everything can stay focused within one place. This is also good news because fewer worksheets = fewer worries when it comes to printing and dare I say, less marking, too!

Ok, I am feeling convinced, almost.
Because Seesaw works by students capturing and explaining their own work, it allows you to focus even more on your students. This gives you a chance to better understand their progress and give more differentiated instruction.

Tuesday, September 01, 2020

Make Your Own Bitmoji Classroom: 10 Steps

 

Step 1: Open a new blank Google Slides

Then delete the text boxes first. 
Step 2: Control click on the white slide


 

 

Step 3: Click “google image search” under the search engine:

Type in “floor" or "floor and ceiling background” into the search engine. Choose the backdrop you’d like and then click “insert” and press done.
 

Step 4: Insert images of furniture and decorations

By clicking insert > image > search the web from the toolbar on the top of your Google Slides screen. Or by clicking on the insert image icon and selecting web.

Step 5: Search for images


Such as whiteboards, wall hangings, bookshelves, computer desks, etc. Anything you’d want in your digital classroom! Select the image you want and click “insert.”
Tip: When you’re searching for items, include the word “transparent” after the item you’re searching so that your image won’t have a white background.


 

To insert these images below into my Bitmoji classroom, I searched “ transparent whiteboard,” “transparent bookshelves,”  and “transparent corkboard” in the search engine.

Step 6: Insert your bitmoji by adding the bitmoji extension here

Then click the bitmoji icon at the top of your Google Slides page and search the kind of image  (pose or wave or school are some examples)) you’d like of your bitmoji. Once you’ve selected the one you’d like, follow the directions on screen.



 

Step 7: Personalize your classroom by writing a message on the whiteboard.

Click insert > text box and fit it around your whiteboard. Type in your message. 

Step 8: Continue to personalize by adding your favorite read aloud books to the shelves.


You will need to search the book covers in the regular google image search in a new tab, then control click and select copy image and then paste them into the Bitmoji classroom.

Step 9: Make your Bitmoji classroom interactive by adding links to items around your room.

For example, if you want to link a book on your shelf to a Youtube read aloud, you would first find that read aloud on YouTube and copy the URL. Then, click on the image that you would like to link (like a book on the shelf) > click on the hyperlink icon > paste link into the box. Tada! Now when viewers click on the book, they will be brought to the read aloud. I did this to the three books in my room and the laptop links to the Tech Hub.

Step 10: Once your Bitmoji classroom is beautified and linked up, you share it with students (and families) via you webpage if you want or via Seesaw or Google Classroom.


Select File> download>pdf this will give you a static (un-editable) copy of your room that you can post anywhere you like.


It may take time to create your perfect Bitmoji classroom, but it is certain to pay off in the long run when students are excited to see what’s new in your classroom each week. Below is mine CHS faculty and staff you have access to it and can feel free to duplicate.



Monday, June 15, 2020

Virtual Summer 2020 PD Opportunities

On going:



Seesaw PD at your own pace, Great for over the Summer Break!

Connect and Grow as a Seesaw Pioneer

"Become a Seesaw Pioneer to learn within a supportive educator community. Seesaw Pioneers have conquered the Seesaw basics and are ready to take the next step to grow alongside others." SeeSaw Facebook Group for Pioneers.


EdTechTeacher Summer Workshops

Creating & Designing Digital Experiences for Elementary
(June 22 - July 3) 10am EST M,T,TH

 Creating Effective Hybrid & Blended Learning Environments
(June 22 - July 3)  10am EST M,T,TH

Google Apps for Beginners
(June 22 - July 3) 2PM EST M,T,TH
 
Advanced GSuite
(June 22 - July 3)  2PM EST M,T,TH
 
How to Facilitate Project Based Learning in Remote Environments
(June 22 - July 3) 2PM EST

 Rethinking Makerspaces in a Remote Environment
(June 22 - 26) 4PM EST M,T,TH

 Audio & Podcasting for Educators to Support Digital Learning 
June 29 - July 3) 4PM EST M,T,TH

 Games, Simulations & Virtual Field Trips
(July 6 - 10) 10am EST  M,T,TH

 Leadership & Coaching
(July 13 - 24) 10am EST M,T,TH

 Creative Use of Google Slides
(July 13 - 17) 10am EST M,T,TH

 Teaching History and Social Studies with Technology
(July 13 - 17) 10am EST M,T,TH
 
Designing Assessments for Digital Experiences
(July13 - 17) 2PM EST

 Utilizing Seesaw to Create & Manage Learning Experiences for Students
(July 13 - 17) 2PM EST M,T,TH

 Design Thinking: Fostering Innovation & Creativity
(July 13 - 17)  4PM EST M,T,TH

 Creating Engaging & Effective Instructional Videos
(July 20 -24) 4PM EST M,T,TH

 How to Communicate & Collaborate with Parents
(July 27 - 31) 10am EST M,T,TH

 Virtual Reality & Remote Learning
(July 27 - 31) 4PM EST M,T,TH

 GSuite for Elementary
(July 27 - 31) 2PM EST M,T,TH

 Video Reflection with Flipgrid
(July 27-31) 10am EST M,T,TH

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Distance Learning EC-6 Resources

As we begin our journey with distance learning at my current school which only goes up to grade 6 my first goal is to identify the best resources available for this are group for my fellow teachers.

The last time I did a major distance learning initiative it was roughly 10 years ago for H1N1, while I was teaching middle school technology in Cairo, Egypt. The options available now are much better and easier for all users: teacher, students and parents. This is just the beginning I'm sure I will be updating as we get going on this adventure.


SeeSaw -resources on remote learning. To be used either on tablet app or laptop web based, used in all grades.  Grade levels are already set up and ready to be used.  Teachers can post assignments and share information.  Students can post their work in a variety of media including photos, videos, audio recording and text. It links well with Google Drive.
Google Classroom - To be used as it typically is not for dissemination and acceptance of assignments as well as for communications and as a hub for G-suite tools.  Most useful in grade  4+
Zoom- project your lessons in a group setting with Zoom. You can even record the sessions for students to view later. There is also a chat functionality where students can ask questions. 
BrainPop We have the full suite at our school kids all have log ins, and can complete quizzes and other tasks from anywhere.
Epic! Teachers get a free account and students can log in from anywhere and use for free during "normal school hours"
Google Drive -Docs, Slides and forms.
educandy- create and share your own interactive activities online.
Vooks is offering one month free access and has two weeks of lessons ready to go. Week One Week Two
VocabularySpellingCity: Use the code VSCFree90 upon registration on their website to get immediate and free access to their tools.
Newseal: To get free access just go to their COVID-19 Resource center and click "get instant access"
Scholastic- is offering day by day projects to keep kids learning
Tynker- a self-paced coding platform.
MusicFirst- A learning management system for teaching music to all age levels: theory, notation, sight-reading and more. If your school is closed due to COVID19 you can get free access to MusicFirst for the duration of your closure.
Breakout EDU- They are offering a collection of digital games that students can play at home, these games bring the fun of an escape room to elementary education PreK and up.
Kids Discover Online - a library of science and social studies articles that allows differentiation by reading level.
Mystery Science -offers digital video mini-lessons for science subjects K-5




Tuesday, January 21, 2020

WordFoto


WordFoto the app we used during the PD session on Friday is a wonderful tool that I have been using for roughly three year with my grade 3 students.  WordFoto is my introductory activity and though I have had many of the students since they were three years old I always learn new things about the kids based on the content of their WordFotos. We use this app to capture our images (yes we take selfies) and overly the image with words about us or about things important to us. We then learn to airdrop.  I later print and put these images on display for the school community to see.
The biggest limitation of WordFoto is the 12 character limit but I do find this pushes some students to express things in a more concise way.

Grade 3 Intro Lesson Plan Elements:
  • Technology Skills
    • Taking a Selfie
    • Typing on an iPad
    • Import and export within an app on the iPad
    • AirDrop
    • Upload to SeeSaw 
  • DEI connections
    • Heritage
    • Windows and Mirrors 
  • WordFoto Words 
    • 1: Name
      2-4: heritage
      5: Age
      6-7: passions
      8-9: favorites
      10: spirit animal
Other possible uses for WordFoto:
  • Kindness cards for students
    • Student to Student
    • Teacher to Student
    • Student to Teacher
  • Character Traits 
  • Exit Ticket
  • Vocabulary
  • Theme
  • Brainstorming
  • Word mapping

Here's another Teacher's post with hundreds of ideas.



Monday, January 06, 2020

Professional Development Update

Professional Development

January 14-17 - Future of Education Technology, Miami, FL
January 22-25 BETT, London, England
January 30-31 - LearnLaunchBoston, MA
Feb 3-7 TCEA, Austin, Texas
Feb. 4-7 ESEA, Atlanta, GA
Feb. 8 - School Garden SymposiumBoston, MA
Feb 16-20 Pathfinders Winter InstituteProvidence, RI
Feb 21-23 Habla, Merida, Mexico
Feb 24-26 Digital Learning Annual Conference, Austin, TX
Feb. 26-28 - NAIS Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA
March 2-4 Green Schools, Portland, OR
March 6 - K-8: Exploring Character Through Play, Atlanta, Georgia 
March 9-12 SXSW, Austin, TX
March 13-16 ASCD Empower, Los Angeles, CA
March 16-18 CoSN: Breakthrough Mindsets, Washington DC
March 19-21 Spring CUE, Palm Springs, CA
March 23-24 SRIA Norwood, MA
March 25-27 Deeper Learning 2020, San Diego, CA
March 30-April 1 ASU+GSV Summit, San Diego, CA
March 31-April 13 OLC Innovate, Chicago, IL
April 2-4 - Splash East Coast Orlando, Florida.
April 2-4 - Personalization 2020Providence, RI
April 6-10 - SITE, New Orleans
April 15 - STEM SummitWorcester, MA
April 16&17 - How Students Become Extraordinary Leaders, New York, NY
April 20 & 21- Educating Good Men for the 21st Century, Atlanta, Georgia
April 28- May 1 BOOST, Palm Springs, CA
May 4-7 - ADARA 2020 Breakout Conference Natick, MA
May 6-7 NewSchools Summit, Oakland, CA
May 13- 15 Education Elements Summit, Austin, TX
June 9-10 Horizons, New Orleans, LA
Summer 2020
June 13-20 - Science at Sea, Alaska
June 23-25 - Serious Play, University of Central Florida
July 7-9 - Science in the Rockies, Colorado
July 7-10 The Neuroscience of ReadingCambridge, MA
July 13-17 - A Teacher's Guide to the Learning BrainBoston, MA
July 20-23 Big Bang 2020, South Florida
July 20-24 -The Power of MindsetsBoston, MA
July 27-31 - Making Mindfulness StickBoston, MA
July 2020 -Building Learning CommunitiesBoston, MA

Fall of 2020

October 12-14 CLOSE IT, Santa Fe, NM
October 25-27, 2020 - Literacy for All ConferenceProvidence, RI
October 25-28 Aurora Institute, San Antonio, TX
November 17-18 National Summit on Education, Washington, DC
December 2-4 OEB: Shaping the Future of Learning, Berlin, Germany
December 2-5 POCC, St. Louis, MO
On-Going/On-Line
Getting Going With G Suite (On-demand) The lessons in the course contains video modules, handouts, and self-assessment quizzes. And at the end of the course, you'll receive a PD certificate. Streamlining your workflow through Google Classroom. Topics addressed in this self-paced course are:
*Streamlining your workflow through Google Classroom.
*Taking control of your inbox with Gmail hacks.
*Creating self-grading assessments in Google Forms.
*Developing a classroom website with Google Sites.
*Using Google Sheets to send personalized emails in bulk.
*Organizing meetings with Google Calendar.
*Keeping track of bookmarks and notes with Google Keep.
*Using Jamboard and Drawings to create diagrams.
*Making beautiful presentations in Google Slides.
*Creating guided reading activities in Google Docs.
EdCamp What began as an idea transformed into a movement! From Philadelphia to Portland, and in 41 countries around the globe, participant-driven professional learning is energizing + empowering educators! The first Edcamp was organized in 2010 by a group of teachers in Philadelphia who met up for a computer science "un-conference." At BarCamp, they collaborated with others to create discussion sessions based on the interests of the people in the room. There was no presenter; no boring slideshow. The entire day was personalized and learner-driven with those in the room sharing their experience and expertise. At the end of the day, the teachers decided this model was too good to contain! They exchanged contact information, and within the next few months, they used the "unconference" model of BarCamp to target educators. Common Sense Educator Learn about the common sense curriculum and how to implement it.
Digital Learning for the K-8 Classroom, From Columbia Teachers College, "Ongoing Enrollment: This course is offered in an online, self-paced format. Students are invited to enroll at any time. Digital Learning for the K-8 Classroom was developed in partnership with award-winning educator, Detra Price-Dennis and top professional development platform Teach Away, with the aim of delivering online digital literacy training that helps K-8 educators maximize student learning outcomes in the classroom."
PBS TeacherLine facilitated and self-paced PD courses are designed to benefit both beginning and experienced teachers. Topics include science, reading, social studies, math, instructional strategies, and instructional technology. Innovative: Acquire new strategies and tools you can use right away to enhance classroom instruction. Engaging: Interact with peers and experts in a virtual learning environment. Flexible: Discover anytime, anywhere learning that fits into your busy schedule. Choose from 15, 30, or 45-hour facilitated courses or enroll in a 1.5 or 3-hour self-paced course.
Learn Robotics Online is a hands-on online workshop series for STEM Teachers developed by the CoderZ Team at Intelitek. They are offering the workshop series for free to CSTA Members and we wanted to encourage you to sign up for this fantastic opportunity.
The lessons are a combination of short topical videos and hands-on exercises covering topics such as navigation, sensors, and programming. The exercises will be done in the CoderZ virtual robotics learning environment which comes with a realistic simulator so you can see your robot execute your code. No need for any hardware! The series is self-paced and online so you can watch the videos and practice the exercises wherever and whenever you want. Go to https://gocoderz.thinkific.com/courses/robotics-for-stem-teachers to view the full curriculum and sign up.
Computational Thinking for Educators What: A free online course helping educators integrate computational thinking into their curriculum. Who: Humanities, Math, Science, and Computing educators. When: All of the course materials are available as a self-study program.
Class Central’s collection page for Ivy League MOOCs. Here are 250 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free. "The 8 Ivy League schools are among the most prestigious colleges in the world. They include Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia universities, and the University of Pennsylvania.  All eight schools place in the top fifteen of the U.S. News and World Report 2017 national university rankings."
Harvard is offering a FREE Digital Photography "technology is continually changing, however, the principles behind good photography don't. ALISON's free online photo course gives you the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge and understanding of digital photography including topics such as exposure settings, how to read and use the histogram, how light affects a photograph, how the camera sensor and lenses work, and how to process a photograph using computer software. You will also learn tips and techniques on what not to do when taking a photograph."
Google Apps for Education, Certified Educator. "The Google for Education Training Center offers in-depth training for educators at every level. Courses are self-paced, guided, and designed to address real classroom needs.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Professional Development Opportunity Update



November 22-24 Learning How to LearnBoston, MA
January 9 -A Mindful Approach to Teaching East Walpole, MA
Jan.7- Feb. 4- Best Practices in Physical EducationEast Walpole, MA
January 14-17 - Future of Education Technology, Miami, FL
January 30-31 - LearnLaunchBoston, MA
Feb. 8 - School Garden SymposiumBoston, MA
Feb. 26-28 - NAIS Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA
March 6 - K-8: Exploring Character Through Play, Atlanta, Georgia 
March 21 - Modeling as Meaning-Making Teacher Workshop Boston, MA
April 2-4 - Personalization 2020Providence, RI
April 2-5 - National Conference on Science EducationBoston, MA
April 6-10 - SITE, New Orleans
April 15 - STEM SummitWorcester, MA 
April 16&17 - How Students Become Extraordinary Leaders, New York, NY
April 20 & 21- Educating Good Men for the 21st Century, Atlanta, Georgia
May 4-7 - ADARA 2020 Breakout Conference Natick, MA
Summer 2020
June 2020 - Science at Sea, Alaska
June 23-25 - Serious Play, University of Central Florida
July 7-9 - Science in the Rockies, Colorado
July 7-10 The Neuroscience of ReadingCambridge, MA
July 13-17 - A Teacher's Guide to the Learning BrainBoston, MA
July 20-24 -The Power of MindsetsBoston, MA
July 27-31 - Making Mindfulness StickBoston, MA
July 2020 -Building Learning CommunitiesBoston, MA 

Fall of 2020

October 25-27, 2020 - Literacy for All Conference, Providence, RI