Edulastic Training, CAASPP Support, Night Zookeeper, Clever at Home, & Robots and Jobs - Wk 27

Here are a few highlights from this week:

Week 27 (March 11 – March 15, 2019)

Thursday Giggles:                What do you call an old snowman?

Water.

If you ever try out any ideas I suggest in my blog, please let me know! I would love to showcase your awesome discoveries here.
Others would love to learn from your experiences. And, you’ll inspire others to try something new.
Email me here:melissaculver@cusd.com. Check out my website: www.melissaculver.com.

PD Dates to save on your calendar:

       Wednesday, March 27 – Edulastic @ Mountain View from 2:30 – 3:30 REGISTRATION LINK
       Wednesday, May 15 – Chrome Add-ons & Extensions @ Mountain View from 2:30 – 3:30

Teaching Videos for CAASPP. If you need support teaching your students how to use the CAASPP website (for students), feel free to check out this site. There are a host of videos that are designed to help your students navigate the various tools in the online testing portal. And, if you need help teaching your EL students how to use these tools, you might find content in their language here—a video that is. And for our SpEd teachers, there may be several videos in there to help your students. They could benefit from the repetition. LINK HERE

Image Credits: link here.

Night Zookeeper.  Last week I posted about an online learning tool by the name of Night Zookeeper.  This safe, identity-protected, online sharing space lets kids share their writing with other children.  You, the teacher, determine the scope of that impact.  Whole-class, another classroom on your campus, a class in India, China, or Australia?  How much of your student writing gets shared…right now?  And how?  How often does it sit in a journal in their desk and no one sees their creativity?  Are they motivated to write?  Here is one tool that may transform what your students think about writing.  There’s a 2-month promo code in there.  Email Paul.  Give him my name.  He’ll extend your free trial for you.  Want more info?  BLOG LINK HERE.

Image credits: Melissa Culver.

Clever Help at Home. Do your students lament that they cannot access some Clever tools at home? They are correct. However, there is a strategy that will remedy that hiccup for them. Feel free to add this video to your website or share with parents. LINK HERE.



Will robots take your job? As we all see the increasing need to share technology with our students, here is one tool that might reinforce the importance of understanding high-level tech standards. How many jobs will be replaced by robots in the future? Labor Bureau Statistics report that 4.2 million jobs will require computational thinking, information technology, or coding in the year 2020 (Montoya, 2017). Robots continue to get cheaper and cheaper. Technology will expand the skills they can do. And more jobs will be outdated as each year advances. What jobs are disappearing? Head to THIS LINK HERE to check out what jobs are outdated at an increasing clip. 

Image credits: link here.

Reference: 
Montoya, A. (2017). Computer science for all: Opportunities through a diverse teaching workforce. Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 29, 47-62.

Stay curious,
Melissa Culver

Night Zookeeper

Night Zookeeper is an online space where students can share their writing. They can either share it class-wide. Or, you can share their wonderful creations across the globe. How often do your students write something and it gets tucked back into their desks? And nobody reads it? Well, there are those few bits that make it to the wall. But, what percentage? Two percent? Less than two percent? How motivating and inspiring is that?

Do you wish there were a safe way for kids to share their writing? There is: Night Zookeeper. This online space protects student identity and lets students share their wonderful creations with others. Inspire writers through sharing.

Why not change that? Inspire your students to share their work. Spark creativity. Build community. Grow your writers in a safe online community.

Want a two-month free trial? Email Paul. (paul@nightzookeeper.com) Mention my name. He’ll set you up.

Check out the work that is going out this month in their global-wide writing month event:
https://www.nightzookeeper.com/edu/leagues/wcwm

Image credits here.

Image credits here.

Students at an early age can see that their words can make a positive difference. Author. Journalist. Computer-assisted instruction. A tool for kids to be creative and thrive at it.

Curious about this tool? Want to see what it looks like? This video may help you see what it looks like. LINK HERE

And here’s a second video that might help as well: LINK HERE

I don’t talk a lot about tools that cost money. But, there are features about this tool that are different from other tools I have seen on the market. So, I want to at least mention it to you. How know, it might fit into your site budget.

Stay Curious,
Melissa Culver

ISTE, Spring CUE & Fall CUE - Wk 26

Here are a few highlights from this week:

Week 26 (March 4 – March 8, 2019)

Thursday Giggles:                What did one DNA strand say to the other DNA strand?

Do these genes make my hips look big?

           

If you ever try out any ideas I suggest in my blog, please let me know! I would love to showcase your awesome discoveries here.
Others would love to learn from your experiences. And, you’ll inspire others to try something new.
Email me here: melissaculver@cusd.com. Check out my website: www.melissaculver.com.

PD Dates to save on your calendar:

       Wednesday, March 27 – Edulastic @ Mountain View from 2:30 – 3:30
       Wednesday, May 15 – Chrome Add-ons & Extensions @ Mountain View from 2:30 – 3:30

ISTE. Approximately 20,000 educators, administrators, and district personnel attend an international technology conference each year. Last summer I went with a few CUSD employees to this conference. I connected with vendors from around the world who offer great tech resources for children of all ages. If you’re curious what other educators from around the world are doing in their classrooms, try this out and see if it reshapes how you look at technology in the classroom. LINK HERE

Image credits here.

CUE (Computer Using Educators). Looking for something more local? CUE would be perfect for you. They have a few conferences in California each year. Does your site have training funds? Talk to your admin to see if you can attend using those site training funds. Link here.

Image credit here.

Spring CUE. This conference is located in southern California. It’s typically in Palm Springs and it happens in March.

Image credit here.

The schedule might make your head spin. There are so many sessions to choose from.

Image credit here.

Fall CUE. I plan to attend Fall CUE in Napa around October. Does your site have training funds? Talk to your admin to see if you can attend using those site training funds.

Image credits here.

Opportunities like these utterly transform the way you look at technology in the classroom. If you have never gone, ask a colleague and see if the two of you (or three of you…or six of you) can go together. It’s not just for teachers. Administrators and district-level decision-makers go to these as well. Interested? Check it out.

Stay curious,
Melissa Culver