Adobe Spark, Hour of Code, Free PD & Vision Impaired Watch - Wk 08

CN Elementary Teaching Team,

A few highlights from this week:

Week 8 (October 8 – October 12, 2018)

Thursday Giggles:            What do you get when you cross a cantaloupe with a border collie?
Melancholy puppies.

Optional/FREE PD – Google Drive @ Mountain View on Wednesday, October 24 from 2:30 – 3:30. 

Google Drive: Did you know there’s more to Drive than just a storage, sharing, and folder space? There are actually a host of educational tools in there too. We’ll cover the basics of how Drive works, but I will also show you how to access some of those learning tools as well: geography, art, architectural design and more.
REGISTER HERE – MORE INFORMATION HERE

Google Classroom Archive. If you have ever co-taught with someone and the author archives that Google Classroom space, you will still have the ability to push out those “old” assignments with the “Reuse” button.  In your new space (whatever your new Classroom is for this year…), simply choose the “Reuse post” option.  Those archived classes will show up in the drop-down menu.

If you were concerned that I archived our class from last year…no worries.  You can still push out that “old” content.

Vision Impaired. The Apple Watch is a great tool for people who can see, but what about people who cannot?  No worries, some really smart tech company figured that out.  There’s a smart watch that can lift magnetic dots so that people who read in Braille can have access to up-to-the-minute information just like you.  Do you have students on your campus who are vision impaired?  If so, see if their parents are interested in a tool like this.  WEB LINK HERE.

Adobe Spark. So our students now have access to Adobe Spark.  You can find the link in Clever.  Chis Edmondson recently sent out an emailing letting everyone know we have access to this tool.  Have you ever used it? How might you use it? You can use this for academic purposes to showcase a theme, concept, or idea: odd numbers, even numbers, tundra, rainforest, mammals, predators, herbivores, sedimentary rock, decomposition, decomposers, angles, parallel, perpendicular, or author’s intent to name a few.  You can find that video here: VIDEO LINK HERE. Kids log in with @my.cusd.com at the close of their username.  No password.

Computer Science. So, I was on a video conference with a computer science sales rep out of Canada the other day.  And, he shared with me that China has a Computer Science portion in their end-of-high-school assessment. It’s like adding Computer Science to our SAT’s. Children (pre-adults) are supposed to know how to code in Python (a computer language). For reals! In the years to come you will see some significant changes to the amount of Computer Science in our elementary classrooms. Ask question. Be curious. Ask your students about coding. Some of them are already coding at home.

Usage rights permitted on this image: LINK HERE.

Hour of Code. Keep an eye out for more information about Hour of Code.  It’s a global-wide event that introduces children to coding and encourages them to code.  How much code do you bring to your classroom?  I plan to write a few grants.  Would you be interested in having a FREE coding license if I qualify for those grants?  LET ME KNOW HERE.

Image credits: Screen capture from Hour of Code.

Kindly,