Ink to Math, Whiteboard.chat, Picture in Picture, and Professional Development – Week 28

CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 28 (March 15 - 19)

Weekly Giggles:               Why did the teacher wear sunglasses in class?
                                             The students were so bright.

Ink to Math. Microsoft Word has this dandy tool that will convert your handwritten markings to mathematical equations easily. If this fits your learners well, feel free to use this in your Math instruction. Check out THIS VIDEO to see this in action.

Picture in Picture. In a previous post, I shared with you how you can utilize the picture-in-picture feature. Well, it’s even easier. Simply right-click on any YouTube video twice. You will then see this white menu. From this menu, select Picture in picture. Bam! The video will show up in a smaller form right there on your screen. Drag it where you wish. Resize it as you please. In Zoom: show the how-to video and the final product at the same time in Math. Show the before, during, and after in the science lab along with the live notes. Reading a narrative? Have that ambiance in the background while you read the text to the children. They see your face and the video at the same time.

Place the video anywhere on the screen at a size that works for you (See ocean image below.).

Whiteboard.chat. Do you want to see live math notes in class from your students in real time? There are a few online options for this. Pear Deck is really lovely. But, whiteboard.chat may work for you as well. Not only can you share your ideas live, you can also showcase student work to the entire group. And, you can see what students are doing on their “whiteboards.” I recommend this for touchscreen devices, but students can still use this if their device does not have a touchscreen.  Feedback drives instruction. In my opinion, is a good feedback tool.

Scan all boards for participation and comprehension:

You are notified when a child raises a hand.

You can scoot over to a child’s digital whiteboard and provide immediate feedback:

Image captures from whiteboard.chat.

Professional Development. Here are the trainings you have been waiting for. Please email me if you would like a topic added to the list of future presentations. We want to make sure that you have access to current tools that help you in your craft of reaching students. VIDEO LINK

       Adobe Spark
       EdPuzzle
       Keys to Successful Grant Writing
       TeacherMade – Intro to Creating Interactive PDFs
       The complete list can be found HERE.

Kindly,
Melissa Culver

[Tech Highlights] Chrome Browser, Professional Development, Pear Deck, and Easy Math Notes – Week 26

CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 26 (March 1-5)

Weekly Giggles:               Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
                                           It felt crummy.

YouTube. Four new videos released to my YouTube channel recently. A teacher reached out and asked for support with research in the classroom. We are all adapting our teaching practices to backfill gaps from last year. Sometimes we find that we are supporting ideas that we have not had to teach for some time. So, how do you escort fourth graders through internet research without all of that prior knowledge? There are three videos in the series. The last video is designed to revolutionize your work flow for sharing math notes. Click. Click. Bam!
     1) Intro to Online Research. What are some guiding principles students (grades 3-6) need to know when they research online?
     2) Citations for grades 3 – 6. You set the expectations for your room, but here are some ideas to consider.
     3) BibItNow! Chrome Extension. Need a quick way to cite research? This is available to our students. And, it’s available to you as well. See if this tool works for your team.
     4) I explain the fourth video down below in the iReady Math + PowerPoint + Google Classroom section.

Chrome Browser (grades 3-6). If any of your families do not have Chrome on their personal devices, they will need this for state testing. HERE is a resource you can share with families if they need help.

Professional Development. Remember to sign up for this session if you are interested. Consider this the bare basics. A general overview. I won’t answer all your questions, but you will see that it’s more accessible than you think once done.

This opportunity is no longer available.  The link is not provided here on the blog.

Here are the trainings you have been waiting for:
       Adobe Spark
       EdPuzzle
       Keys to Successful Grant Writing
       TeacherMade – Intro to Creating Interactive PDFs
       The complete list can be found HERE.

Pear Deck. We are used to interacting with our students during a lesson to ascertain if they understand the content or not. In a completely digital environment, that can be complicated. Children are fearful about sharing their ideas in a semi-public way. If you aren’t familiar with Pear Deck, it offers instant feedback options. You can see how your students are doing in real time. NearPod is a similar product; I tend to recommend Pear Deck as it is cheaper.

Feedback is an essential pedagogical tool that provides vital information to shape instruction. Feedback lets you determine if you can speed up or slow down your lesson or your pacing structure. Feedback lets you know who understood the lesson and who did not. Feedback guides your small group re-teaching. These are vital instruments that help us ensure that each child has access to the tools they need to succeed.

Please let me know if you need help with this.

Image credits: Pear Deck website.

Math Teaching Slides [iReady + PowerPoint + Google Classroom]. For any of our teachers who have joined us mid-way into this year or last, please know that Ready Math offers teaching slides for each lesson. Do not stay up late into the night making those teaching slides on your own. Download that content and go. Edit, modify, and draw on those slides as you see fit. Your computer may even come with a stylus (check the right side of your computer). Not all of our devices have an on-board stylus. Need one? See if your site has CARES money to supply a tool like that. Amazon has them for $8-13 dollars. Walmart, Best Buy, and Office Depot might even have some in stock.

Here’s an added bonus: you can share those live notes with your students easily. The Share button in Microsoft PowerPoint makes that easy. This video shows you how to do that. I can co-teach with you one day; book a slot on my calendar, and I can model how this works. VIDEO LINK

Kindly,
Melissa Culver

Professional Development, Mars Rover, Robots, Virtual Reality, Blob Opera and QR Page Share – Week 25

CN Area Elementary Teaching Team:

Week 25 (February 22 - 26)

Weekly Giggles:               What did the Dalmatian say after lunch?
                                          That hit the spot!

Professional Development. Feel free to sign up for upcoming professional development. See classes below. And, if you missed any sessions this year, see the links below to watch that video content. If you want training that has not been offered yet, please email me. I can ask our team to host a session for all teachers. You probably are not the only one with that question.

These sessions are no longer available. They are not posted here to the blog.

Here are the trainings you have been waiting for:
       Adobe Spark
       EdPuzzle
       Keys to Successful Grant Writing
       The complete list can be found HERE.

Mars Rover. The mission was successful. We have landed! If you missed out on the live video feed of the Mars Rover Landing, that’s okay. You can still view the content HERE. For a list of resources to use in the classroom, check out the STEM Classroom document (under construction and growing) LINK HERE. I have added the resources there for future reference.

Image capture from THIS VIDEO.

Robots. We have programmable robots that can be transported to your site. With permission, you may be able to use the cafeteria and use that space for learning. Painters tape and mission objectives can form that teaching plan. If you need/want help or support with this, please let me know. I would love to support STEM-rich learning in your classroom with you. I can teach the lessons. I can set it up. I can transport those materials. Personally, I like the idea of one site having those materials for a few weeks so there is less transportation involved. Reach out. Email me.

Virtual Reality (grades 4-6). No field trips this year? No worries. Take your kids on a virtual field trip. Right now, Riverview is using these materials for a few weeks. If you want the headsets transported to your site, please let me know. We can get them to your site for a few weeks. I will transport them. I will set them up. I can train you how to use them. For the Riverview site, kids come to the Tech Lab with social distancing in place. We sanitize the materials after each use. There are about 1,000 learning opportunities available in these headsets. And, there are three videos. You don’t have to prepare teaching notes. The cue cards are built in. Read, click, ask questions, explore the environment, then move to the next scene. I’m afraid to post this here; I’m not sure if too many people will ask for the headsets. Let’s see how this goes. If your site is interested, please email me; we can try to set up a calendar for your team. If needed, I can ask my admin team if I can shuffle my schedule to maximize training. Again, email me.

Why grades 4-6 only? The headsets will only shrink down to a certain size. The tiny heads of our smaller students cannot support the size or weight of the headsets. They are even too large for some of our fourth-grade students.

Blob Opera and QR Enabled Page Share. This new gray box that appears on some webpages gives you immediate access to a QR code. If your phone supports QR codes (it’s the simplicity of opening the camera or you have downloaded an app because your phone is older), then voila! You can instantly transfer that information to your phone. Or, copy that QR code and share in a newsletter or put it on a poster.  And, the Blob Opera is fun, in my opinion. Tap the Christmas tree in the bottom-right corner to add Santa hats, snow, and some pre-loaded songs into the app/webpage. Here’s THE LINK to the Blob Opera.

Kindly,
Melissa Culver