Week 20

Here are some highlights from Technology this week:

Week 20 (January 22 – 26, 2018)

Thursday Giggles:            How does the Man in the Moon get his haircut?
                                                Eclipse it.

Pick and choose your favorites.  Don’t use every tool. 
Chefs don’t use every ingredient.  Gardeners don’t plant every type of plant.

OPTIONAL PD for February:

February 21 Eventbrite LINK HERE
February 28 Eventbrite LINK HERE

Mid-Point Feedback.  Team, I welcome your feedback.  Let me know how things are going.  The close date for this survey will be Thursday, February 1 at 3:25pm.  Email is necessary so I can select a winner.  One winner will receive a $25 gift card (movie theater, Starbucks, Chipotle, something local).

There’s an app for that!  Clever has an app.  If your children/parents are asking for more ways to get in (or you need more devices for reading/assessment), look no further than your iPads.  The Clever app looks like this:

Not all of the tools work in the Clever app.  It will notify you if some of the tools do not work (note the muted color and black band).  Benchmark even has a Reading Library that you can access on the iPads.  The tiny app launcher will direct you to the Library App.

The Library App looks like this (image below).  Each text can be downloaded to the iPad for easy access offline.

If you are unable to get beyond this screen (image below), just verify that you are logged into Clever as an active CUSD user, then you should have access to the Library. 

Email images. There are many times where I receive an email and I would like to see all parts of the email.  Our system protects us from unwanted images by blocking those upon entry.  You can change those settings for particular senders.  Here’s how:
What the email looks like in the blocked form.

Right-click on that message bit at the top (next to the blue circle with the “i” inside) to reveal these options:

If I trust the sender and want to receive emails from that industry/person, I choose Add Sender to Safe Senders List.  All future emails from that sender will reveal any images that have been embedded in their emails.

Kindly,

Week 19

CN Elementary Teaching Team,

Here are some highlights from Technology this week:

Week 19 (January 15 – 19, 2018)

Thursday Giggles:            What do Alexander the Great and Winnie the Pooh have in common?
                                    They both have the same middle name.

Pick and choose your favorites.  Don’t use every tool. 
Chefs don’t use every ingredient.  Gardeners don’t plant every type of plant.

Optional PD for January:

January 24 Eventbrite sign-up HERE.

Mid-Point Feedback.  Team, I welcome your feedback.  Let me know how things are going.  The close date for this survey will be Thursday, February 1 at 3:25pm.  Email is necessary so that I can select a winner.  One winner will receive a $25 gift card (movie theater, Starbucks, Chipotle, something local).  LINK HERE

Green Screen Technology.  Can you bring green screen technology to the classroom?  Can it be affordable?  Can children do this?  Yes, yes, and yes!!!  DoInk (an app) has brought affordable and kid-friendly green screen technology to the classroom.  Are you a fourth/fifth/sixth grade teacher?  No problem.  Ask one of your Kinder or first grade teachers if you can borrow their iPads for a few hours.  Talk to your controller (the person in charge of your apps) if this fits into your budget ($2.99) and take off!  If you have questions along the way, check out THIS BLOG, many of your questions will be answered there.  DoInk has a Twitter page.  One of their followers posted a how-to video so you can see what it looks like in-app to make this happen.  Not sure how this will help you teach standards?  Head to their Twitter page.  Tons of examples are updated every day.  Real kids exploring technology and content standards.  What about the actual green screen?  Get a disposable table cloth in a non-traditional color (It actually doesn’t have to be green at all.  However, a lime-ish green is helpful).  You can borrow mine on a day that I’m on your site.  Ask in advance so I have it with me, please.  Sample video HERE.  Additional sample video HERE.  Kids are smart, they can figure it out on their own.  Give them time and space and see what happens. Link for VIDEO below.

Grants. Need money for something awesome in your room?  At your school?  HERE is a LINK that will take you to a host of grants.  All kids of grants.  Various reasons.  Varying amounts.  Over seventy grants (70+), awards, and money opportunities.  Check it out.  See if any of these will work for your project.  Reach out and ask for help.  Don’t feel like you have to go this road alone.  Let’s make it happen.

IMAGE CREDIT

Approved Technology List.  Are you considering a grant?  Are you writing a grant for technology?  As you explore that process, here are two things to consider: 1) connect with Robb Christopherson and 2) review the approved device list.  You want to make sure that whatever you purchase will be supported by our school district and the technology upgrades that are scheduled for our district.

Special Needs Extensions.  Do you serve special needs students?  Accommodations?  504 Plan?  Are you looking for tools that will help your students access websites and tools?  Check out THIS BLOG to see if any of these tools will help you and your students.

Some of the resources that are showcased in this blog (below).  There are 31 tools showcased in this blog.
                1) Read&Write for Google Chrome
                2) Read Aloud
                3) Voice Instead
                4) Announcify
                5) VoiceIn Voice Typing
                6) Mercury Reader
                7) OpenDyslexic
                8) Dyxlexia Friendly
                9) BeeLine Reader
                10) ATbar

Free Video Editing Software.  Are you looking for free video editing software?  Here is one tool that I use: OpenShot Video Editor.  It’s not iMovie, but you can get several things done on this software smoothly.  I like it better than Movie Maker.  I can detach the audio from a file more smoothly.  The storyboard is user-friendly.  Try it out; see if it will meet your video editing needs.

Kindly,

Week 18

Here are some highlights from Technology this week:

Week 18 (January 9 – 12, 2018)

Thursday Giggles:            Where do snowmen keep their money?
                                          In a snow bank.

Pick and choose your favorites.  Don’t use every tool. 
Chefs don’t use every ingredient.  Gardeners don’t plant every type of plant.

OPTIONAL Professional Development for January:

Click to enlarge image.

January 24 Eventbrite sign-up HERE.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Are you looking for video content to share with your children about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr?  Kid President has a lovely video.  LINK HERE.

Web Animation.  Did you know that you can explore online web animation using Google Slides?  Yes.  You can.  Email me if you would like the lesson plans.  Check out this LINK.  That was done in Google Slides.  For ISTE standards, the children are exploring the role of imaginative creator and they are utilizing digital tools to make it happen.  They are faced with problem/solution-oriented thinking: how, what next, then what?  Wanna shift the narrative?  Ancient Egypt?  Character traits?  School rules?  Grammar and writing strategies?  Creative writing opener?  Dialogue?  Possibilities are endless.  My fourth grader made this one (the link back there).  Email me if you want the lesson plans (melissaculver@cusd.com)

Lab Time.  Two strategies for making your lab experience run smoothly: When I took my second graders into the lab I had one mom come in and help each time.  She learned the scope of the lesson while she was in there and would help troubleshoot for kids who needed help.  It was nice to have two adults answer all those questions.  The other strategy was this: I would frontload and pre-teach the lesson to three students (days in advance).  Those students would then wander about and help their peers who were struggling.  I didn’t always have time for the second strategy.  But, I found both strategies to be quite helpful.

Global Oneness Project.  Are you looking for more video content options?  Safe for kids?  Relevant?  See if any of the videos on Global Oneness Project will work for you.  Stimulate conversations about fact v. opinion.  Extract a theme.  Locate the author’s unspoken message through video transitions and facial expressions.  Develop an outline.  Expand the content.  If you were the author of the next video in this series, what would you focus on?  Social Studies.  Geography.  Science.  Math.  Explore the possibilities.  And, lesson plans are already there on the site!  Check out the Lesson Plans tab.

Slides Carnival.  Are your Google Slides presentations looking a bit outdated and boring?  Would you like to spice them up a bit?  For free?  Try Slides Carnival.  They have several ready-to-go templates that you can access and copy.

Clever App.  Clever has an app.  Children can access tools via Clever using an iPad.  For example, the Benchmark books are available online.  Children can listen to these texts or read them from the Clever Apps page.  Not every tool in Clever is iPad compatible.  But, Benchmark is one tool that is.  More on this in a future post.

Kindly,

Week 15

Here are some highlights from Technology this week:

                            Week 15 (December 4 – December 8, 2017)               

Thursday Giggles:            What did the bee to say to the flower?
                                                "Hey, Bud, when do you open?"

Pick and choose your favorites.  Don’t use every tool.  

Chefs don’t use every ingredient.  Gardeners don’t plant every type of plant.


THIS Google Form – Drawing for gift card.  Did you participate in Hour of Code?
Entries must be submitted by Friday, December 22, 2017 at 3:30pm.
Recipient will receive an email and card will be delivered to school site in January.

Quizizz.  I mentioned Kahoot! several weeks back.  Quizizz is similar to Kahoot! but the pace is different.  Each child will quiz at his/her own speed.  It is not spoon-fed by the teacher like the other platform.  They each have their place (Quizizz or Kahoot!).  You will find millions of pre-done quizzes online.  Or, you can make your own.  Printable data helps you talk as a team.  It helps you differentiate instruction.  You can build small groups based on the data.  It can also guide your intervention goals.  You can use it as a homework tool on Google Classroom.  Great resource!

Apple Watch. “Mrs. Culver, you inspired me to get an Apple Watch!  Now, I tell Siri to set timers for me.  The kids tell me I sound like you.”  Are you interested in getting an Apple Watch?  Here are some reasons why I think it’s fantastic for the classroom:
          a) Remote Mouse – From my wrist I can control my PowerPoint presentations (image below).
          b) Voice-activated timer – From my wrist I can set a timer.
          c) Voice-activated alarms – Set for specific days at specific times

          d) Voice-activated text message – To communicate with other teachers, I can use my voice alone to start a new text message or reply to an incoming message.
          e) Wrist-activated photo capability – From my wrist, I can take a picture through my phone of myself with my students for yearbook or newsletter purposes.  A wireless shutter button, if you will.
          f) Distance tracking for PE – The health app features let me track my walking or running distance.  If our class is tracing our distance for PE, I can do that through my Apple Watch.
          g) Phone call –I can receive or initiate a phone call with my voice.  I can carry on that conversation from my wrist. 
          h) Language Translation – If you have a language translating app on your phone, it may have a watch feature to go with it.

(Image of Apple Watch displaying the Remote Mouse app.  I controlled my PowerPoint presentation from my wrist a few months back.)

Google Classroom.  Did you know that you can assign an assignment to a select group of students?  Or just one student?  Yes!  When you load the details of the assignment into Classroom, simply choose the student area and select the set students you wish to have this assignment.  Why would you do this?  A student who is new to your classroom—backfill foundational tools (step-by-step).  A high-achieving student; someone who aced the pre-assessment.  A child who is struggling with content and needs to demonstrate mastery in a few foundational concepts.  What does it look like?  See image below.

Trash for Teachers.  Did you know that you can buy new supplies for super cheap?  Local stores in our area donate un-purchased items so that teachers can buy these supplies super cheap ($1 per pound).  National retailors donate wooden blocks, paper, glue, plastic, wires, electronics, etc. and this organization (T4T) resells these unwanted items to teachers who use these tools in the classroom.  Schools in various areas purchase these unwanted supplies to ignite creativity.  Innovation.  Exploration.  Discovery.  Robotics.  Engineering.  Plant discovery.  Research.  Collaboration.  Technology standards galore!  Do you have a disengaged child who isn’t responding to traditional learning?  Let that child explore, innovate, and imagine using these discovery tools: build a model, create an example, watch a YouTube instructional video, or present his/her research and findings. (Link in title.)  See Fresno address at the bottom of the page.  Teaching idea?  How about a popsicle catapult?  Have the kids research ideas online.  Have them record their data in Google Sheets.  Turn that table into a graph, chart, or table.  Write a project analysis report in Google Docs.  Present your findings/video and share what you learned.  Unleash learning with unlimited possibilities.

(Popsicle catapult with hypothetical data and graph.)

Amazon Smile. Is your site using Amazon smile?  Can your site sign up for free money?  When your parents purchase things from Amazon, direct them to Amazon Smile and have a portion of each purchase kicked back to your school.  Check here to see if that will work for your site.

Kindly,