Free WiFi, Rejoin in Zoom, YouTube Videos, and Clever Tips – Week 05

 CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 05 (Sep 14 - Sep 18)

Weekly Giggles:              Q. How do you talk to a giant

                                        A. Use big words!

Save the data! Just in case you didn’t get the memo, you have access to CUSD wifi on your cellphone. Yes. Save that data plan. You send emails from your phone. You use it for Remind. You use it for work. Yes, use the wifi. Here’s how:
     1) Head into settings for Wi-Fi.
     2) Choose CUSD_Guest.
     3) Sign in with your standard username: lukeskywalker.
     4) Use the same awesome password you use for everything CUSD.
     5) If you are asked to trust the certificate, choose TRUST.
**Remember to update this password when you update your CUSD password every 90 days.

Now, that tutorial was modeled on an iPhone, but with an Android, you would use similar steps with the same outcome.

What if you kick a student out of Zoom? Can they come back in? What if they cannot? How do you fix that? In the online settings, you can fix that. Half-way down the page, toggle this button on.

Zoom Chat. When I am in a Zoom with children, I typically shift that conversation space so they can only chat with me. Here’s how to do that:

1) Click on Chat.
2) Take your eyes to the bottom of that window. You will see a small button with three dots “…”. Click that button.
3) From there, another menu will appear. Yours will look a pinch different from this.  But, you will find where it says “Host only.” Click that. From that point forward, the children will only chat with you—for that session.

YouTube Content. Here are the most recent YouTube releases that may help your team. 

1) Help, Teacher! I ruined my assignment. This is from the STUDENT perspective. You can share this in Google Classroom to help kids who have deleted or ruined an assignment.
2) Help, Teacher! I ruined my assignment. This is from the TEACHER perspective. You can do this yourself to fix a ruined document. The video shows a Google Slide presentation, but you can certainly do this in a Google Document as well.
3) Email Notification for parents. Parents can get attendance alerts each day. And, they can get daily emails that show how the children are doing on their grades. The children do not have a folder of papers going home each week. So, how do they know how the children are doing? This daily email tool is very helpful. Add this to your website. Send via Remind. Share in your newsletter. Parents will thank you for it.

Clever Badges. Do you need to test out how things work for a student? Aren’t sure how to get into a child’s Clever account? Well, here’s how.
     1) You can head into your Clever account and click Classes. 

     2) When you do that, you will see the classes you teach. 
     3) Click on one of those classes. 

     4) Next, click on the button that says Clever Badges. A PDF will download to your computer. Now, using your cell phone, an iPad, or a student computer, you can zap that QR code when you go to clever.cusd.com. That will authenticate you and get you in as that child.
DO NOTE: This will not get you into anything Google. Google requires a higher level of security to get you in there.

Why would I use this? Have you ever asked yourself:

      a) What do my students see?
      b) Does this link in my Clever Teacher Page work?
      c) What happens when the kids access this link?

Now you have the ability to find the answers to those questions easily.

Launch an app. Are you working with kids in K, 1, and 2? Wouldn’t it be great to reach into their computer and click on something for them? Well, you can (to some degree). We will repeat a few of those above steps, but we’ll make one adjustment.
1) Head into Clever.
2) Click on Classes.

3) Click Launch an App.

4) Choose an app. This app (depending on the device the child/ren are using), this app will launch on their end if the child has Clever open on their end at that moment. If a child is using an iPad or a smart device, this will not work as nicely. But, you are activating this app for ALL children who have Clever open at that moment.

Image credit HERE.

You are making a difference,
Melissa Culver

Permed Bangs, Flipgrid, Videos, and Co-Teaching – Week 04

CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 04 (Sep 7 - Sep 11)

Weekly Giggles:            Q: What building in New York has the most stories?
    A: The public library!

It is a natural human emotion to be nervous, if you have ever attempted something new before. Sneezing and coughing are also natural. We are not embarrassed by those.

I’ll go first: Here are some lovely images from my early years. I actually thought that perming my bangs would be a good idea. Here was my rationale: over summer, at camp, I wouldn’t have to style my hair. Some things you only have to learn once. I never permed my bangs again. Now, those rose-colored glasses wouldn’t be a bad idea today.

Look closely, there is a progression, right? With time, things got better. I won’t promise you that you’ll end up as the next Miss Teen Image of California, but things do get better (with technology that is). Next time you see that calendar email, book a slot with me. I can even co-teach with you—if that is the end goal, I’ll need some timely insight, so I get the right lesson for you.

Co-teaching. Last week, I co-taught seven lessons with teachers across our area. If you are struggling with software or teaching ideas, please reach out. That is why I am here. If you want to achieve something, but you don’t know what software to use to accomplish that, reach out as well. Flipgrid, Edulastic, and EdPuzzle are great distance learning tools (for certain groups).

Flipgrid. Kids need space to talk. This is a great space to hear their voices. And, it’s a great peer-teaching tool. Have the kids show their math strategies. Have the kids talk about the narrative they are reading. Have the kids talk about the vocabulary in this week’s science lesson. All technology will look different over time. Some aspects of these videos are slightly different, but they will certainly point you in the right direction.
TEACHER VIDEO

STUDENT VIDEO

Three-Screen Display. From the Bud Rank Tech Lab last week, I co-hosted 6 lessons. This was my display setup (below).  I hosted chat on one screen (on the left). I taught from the touchscreen (used the stylus to write on my PowerPoint). And, I had their beautiful faces up on the screen (I could easily see their facial expressions). This is not the perfect setup for everyone, but, it works for me. I can see everything all at the same time. And, I am a fan of the portable microphone, so my audio quality is better.

Switch to & from Zoom. Last week I sent this out in its own email, but I’ll share it again here in case you missed that one. You can drop it in Google Classroom or use it in a lesson. Mute if you wish and talk over it if you
Use and share as you see fit. LINK HERE

Help! I’m locked out of my computer. I have been locked out of my computer. I am supposed to be the tech expert, and I too have been locked out of my computer. There is an easy fix for that; and you can do it on your own. I designed a video to show you how to do that. VIDEO LINK HERE

Grades from Google Classroom to Q. Here’s the PDF that shows you how to export your grades from Google Classroom to Q. LINK HERE Do you want a VIDEO LINK? Here’s a VIDEO LINK for the video version of that same tutorial.

Brain Breaks and Physical Movement. Research consistently shows that movement is critical to brain function and memory. Some of you may start the day with movement. Or, some of you add it to the mid-point of a lesson. Anything to keep the children engaged. Shout out to Wendi Martinez (Bud Rank) who shared these great ideas with her team. You can find these on my website. CLICK HERE for the direct link. Reminder: always preview material before you share it.

iReady Videos. Do you need help with some iReady content?  See if these videos help.

	Building and Editing Report Groups			Converting a Batch Report into Individual Reports
	Creating a Custom Comprehension Check			iReady – Assigning Comprehension Checks
	Creating a Batch Diagnostic Report			iReady – Delete Teacher Assigned Lessons

Kindly,
Melissa Culver

Relaxation, Drawing on my Zoom!, and Free Math Teaching Slides – Week 03

CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 03 (Aug 31 – Sep 4)

Weekly Giggles:           Q: What was the first animal in space?

                                        A: The cow that jumped over the moon.

 

Relaxation. Relaxation is essential. You can certainly turn your lights off, close the door, and turn the ocean on in your room. Take a mental break and breathe. I have a few YouTube videos saved on my computer. When I am working on things and I want the distractions to cease, I will put on my headphones and play the rainforest or the beach. The noise of the birds, the clap of thunder, and the patter of the falling rain melt the other noises away. You can project it on your screen if you wish. You can watch the ocean crashing on the beach and be surrounded by the deafening crashes of the salty ocean water. Remember to breathe.

Two-Screen Learning Option. Here in our classrooms, we are using more than one screen. At home, the children can do the same thing. Teacher on the television and their work on their computer. If you have any families who could benefit from this idea, feel free to share it with them. They can use the HDMI cord that runs to the Roku, Xbox, Nintendo, or DVD player. Free learning option.

Emoji Keyboard in Windows 10. Some may claim that it “lacks professionalism” to include emojis in business emails. I roll my eyes at that. I think it builds community. I even added an emoji to the auto-correct feature. I can type three letters and an emoji will appear. I have three emojis pre-programmed into the auto-correct area of my emails. They make me smile.

So, here’s a quick way to bring up the emoji keyboard. Press and hold the Windows button. Then tap the period button (.). This handy keyboard will appear. Notice the menu area at the bottom. You can move from category to category to find just what you are looking for.

Add a smile.  Build community.  Brighten someone’s day.

Someone is drawing on my Zoom! If the children are taking over your Zoom session, head here to see if any of these features are helpful. You can hand off the remote control to another participant and you can let students draw on your presentation, but you may only want to do that selectively. Check out these buttons if things are not to your liking.

Head into settings online.

Go ahead and turn this off:

Or edit this:

Or this one:

Free Math PowerPoints. Your math text comes with a host of PowerPoint presentations that are ready-to-go. And, there are annotation features in PowerPoint. Use those in your math lessons and draw right on those PowerPoints.

Image credit from the iReady Teacher Dashboard (HERE).

Allow for editing once downloaded.

Start the presentation.

See the nearly invisible toolbar here.

And draw on the presentation as you see fit. 

At the end, keep those drawings or purge them.

Kindly,
Melissa Culver