Friday, September 26, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Five Ways To Bring Technology into the Classroom Without the Gadgets
Happy Monday!
I know it's been a while since I've posted! We've been in major testing mode and getting ready to close out the school year! I hope that you are all doing well and are beginning to plan those summer vacations that will refresh and rejuvenate you all for another exciting school year! An article was shared with me from the Huffington Post about "Five Ways to Bring Technology into the Classroom Without the Gadgets." I thought it was an awesome read and wanted to share it with you as some of our schools don't have as much technology as others and vice versa.
You can view the article by clicking on the following link:
The article goes into depth about the five ways listed below:
1. Get clear about what your community needs and values.
2. Adjust your schedule so that students are spending time doing the things and having the experiences that you value.
3. Adjust teachers' roles and schedules so they can spend most of their time on activities that will help students achieve what you value for them.
4. Look at your physical space, including school lay-out, room lay-out, furniture and equipment.
5. Look closely at the culture you are building through your policies and systems.
I encourage you to take a look and read through this article when you have time. Print it out to read later! There is some really valuable information here that will guide our work going forward in regard to Instructional Technology! One of the biggest things that I got out of this article was that using technology and implementing effectively, transforms the way that our students experience school! This is really profound!
I look forward to collaborating with you going forward into next school year! It is my hope that you all have gained some valuable tools through me sending you different tips and tricks throughout the school year! Let's take it to the next level this school year! Have a great day!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Motivation Monday!!!!
Happy Monday!!!!!
I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! I know it's raining outside but I wanted to pass along a little motivation to get you going on this rainy day!!! Take a look at this short 3 minute video when you get a chance!!!!
It's by one of my favorites, Kid President and it's awesome!!! Which road will you choose? What's your "space jam?" What will you create that will make the world awesome? We can make every day better for each other! YOU were made to be awesome!
Have a wonderful week! See you soon! :)
Friday, February 28, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014 ~ "cfy" tab on myBackpack
Happy Friday!!!!
What a week!!!! I hope that you are all doing well! I don't know about you, but I've been extremely busy this week! Some of you have already seen me in regard to the APS inclement weather make-up plan and others of you will see me next week! I promise to make the information as easy for you as possible! :)
Your Feel Good Friday Tip of the Week is: the "cfy" tile on your myBackpack screen. It's the red and white tile located at the top right of your screen.
What is cfy???
Teachers, parents and students can log in to create a free account. As the teacher, you are able to create and manage playlists and assign them to your students! There is content available for all of your areas.
As always, if there is anything that you need please don't hesitate to let me know. I look forward to coming and seeing you all and continuing to work with your students! Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, February 21, 2014 ~ Animoto
Happy Friday!!!!
For those of you that I haven't seen yet, I hope that you are all recovered and well rested from "Snowpocalypse 2014!" I hope that you have all had a wonderful week! These short weeks always seem to be so long! But, the good news is that YOU MADE IT!!!!
Your Feel Good Friday Tip of the Week this week is: Animoto! You can access Animoto here: http://animoto.com/.
Animoto is a FREE online resource that allows you to make videos that can be used to present content to your kids. Your kids can also use this resource to make their presentations to show mastery of the standards you are teaching! You can access a quick "how to" video and other information about it here: https://sites.google.com/site/middleschool544/modules/animoto
It is described as in the following manner: When you are ready to begin creating and sharing videos, Animoto allows a user to upload photos, videos and music to produce an original video and suggests various ways to share the work once it is completed. The ease of this tool, provides even the most hesitant of users the opportunity to create professional looking videos with a few clicks of a button in a relatively, short amount of time. After explicit teaching with regards to digital citizenship and copyright, Animoto can be implemented in countless ways in an educational and personal setting.
Classroom/Library Use:
- Make any lesson come to life with stunning audio and visual.
- Use at the beginning of the year as a ‘teaser’ for what your students can look forward to in the upcoming school year.
- Students can each create an Animoto showcasing who they are through pictures and music.
- Use at the beginning of each day as a 'teaser" for what your students can look forward to during the day.
- Use to teach complex concepts in History, Maths, Science. Students will respond to new media in the classroom.
- Allow your students to display knowledge of a concept using Animoto.
- Create slideshows which demonstrate student reflection on their learning.
- Vocabulary activities are limitless. For example, pictures students take with a digital camera could illustrate a word, a concept, or a learning activity.
- Find pictures of different geography features by using the internet or your own pictures. Label the pictures according to their feature.
- Ideal for digital storytelling in the classroom setting. Animoto is completely web-based, students can create videos from school and continue working on them at home.
- Book trailers are a great way to engage students’ interest before reading a book. Students can also create trailers to share with other classmates.
- Celebrations of student achievements create a learning environment that is conducive to learning. Spotlight the learning!
- Download the app on your smartphone. Take pictures on a field trip and create videos on the go!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Happy Monday to my wonderful schools!
I hope that you are doing well! I didn't forget about your Feel Good Friday Tip of the Week! I was out of town, as I had a family emergency. So, here it is! The next few that I send will focus around Google and all that it can do!!! It's more than just a search engine! Educators need to have a gmail account as it allows you the opportunity to save documents to a "cloud," create a blog, create quizzes, create documents and presentations, etc. There is so much you can do in GoogleDocs! I have found a resource to share with you. There is an educational blogger named, Richard Byrne and he has an entire Google series! I will be pulling from there as he has tons of resources! I am attaching a quick guide for Google that I would like for you to save somewhere so you are able to refer back to it as needed. It's a great resource. I am also providing the link to his blog, specifically the section on Google Docs.
Before I send the next message this Friday, I want all of you to create a Gmail account. If you need assistance in doing so, see pages 2-5 of the attached guide. Don't be overwhelmed in looking through the guide. We are going to work through it together! I look forward to sharing all of the amazing things that Google can do with you in the weeks to come!
Don't forget that I am bookmarking all of these Feel Good Friday Resources for you in a blog so you don't have to search for them when you need them. http://onetechchick.blogspot.com/
As always, if there is anything that you need, please don't hesitate to let me know. I hope that you all have an amazing day and a wonderful week!
Friday, January 17, 2014
App Task Challenges!
Happy Friday!!!! :)
Your Feel Good Friday Tip of the Week focuses around "App Task Challenges!" There are so may apps being developed and released every day! It can get a little overwhelming to distinguish between which apps are good and which aren't along with which apps are engaging and which aren't?
So, what exactly are App Task Challenges? Please see the description below taken from Craig Badura, a PK12 Integration Specialist in Nebraska. He focuses his challenges around the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
What are App Task Challenges?
- "Easy to follow guides that give teachers the opportunity to create products with an app that they can take directly back to their classrooms
- The challenge is in the teacher trying to complete the task from start to finish (usually not a problem)
- I create them using Pages on my Mac
- I share them with our Middle School teachers during our weekly IDT meetings and just last week issued a challenge to our Elementary and High School teachers. The challenge involved teachers completing the app tasks and then sharing their completed product with me via email or with our #aurorahuskies hashtag. An iTunes card was given away to a random name that was drawn from teachers that submitted a product."
Craig Badura has gone through several different apps and created a simple "how to guide" for them! He has more that will be released as he creates them so stay tuned for more!!!! I challenge you to download the apps that he features and play around with them in your down time! :) He gives a description of the app, a few ideas of how to use them, as well as a simple "how to!" They are very easy to follow and are very user friendly!
Below is a screen shot of what they look like!
You can visit the following websites for more information:
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
How will your students access assessments through Thinkgate online?
Happy New Year!
By now we are all back and getting back in the groove of things! I first wanted to wish you all a very happy new year! I hope you are well rested and ready to tackle this last semester!
I've been going around doing Thinkgate training at several of your campuses and some of the same questions have been surfacing. I am attaching a few quick sheets that will help you navigate through the system as you create and assign your assessments. Please save this email for future reference and save these documents as needed. I've also figured out how to assign the test so your students can take it online. The link for them to be able to take the assessments online is:
The student link should also be in the 'favorites' section of each student PC as well as is their 'student backback'.
As always should you have any questions or need any assistance, let me know! Have a great weekend and I'll be seeing you soon!
Kennesaw State University's MOOC Opportunity!
Happy Friday before the last Friday before break to my wonderful schools!!!! I know these messages have been MIA the past few weeks. Just like you, I've been crazy swamped! I haven't forgotten about you! I think some of you will be VERY interested in this resource!
Ever heard of a MOOC?
Well now is your chance to participate in one! It stands for Mass Open Online Course and KSU is offering a course on blended (a mix of online and face-to-face) and online learning in a K12 environment. This would be a great opportunity to use in building your online course materials for the Connected Classroom (the APS online course platform a.k.a Blackboard).
If you are interested see the forwarded message below. IT IS FREE!!!!!!!! 5 more working days and you will be on a "vacation!" You can do it!!!!! :) As always, if you need anything, I'm here for you!
Have a great weekend.
Natasha B. Rachell
Educational Technology Specialist-East Region
______________________________________________________________
Dear ITEC Advisory Board:
I wanted to let you know that the Department of Instructional Technology is launching KSU's very first MOOC in January. The title of the MOOC is "K12 Blended and Online Learning!" Registration has now opened! Please forward to all faculty. The course is FREE and worth 5 PLU's upon completion! You can watch this video to get more information about the MOOC: http://mooc.kennesaw.edu/courses/k12_online_blended_learning.php). See the announcement below:
*******************************************************************
We are pleased to announce that Kennesaw State University's K12 Blended and Online Learning MOOC is now....
Open for Registration!
The course registration page can be found on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/usg
To get started – Click the blue“Learn for Free” button to create your Coursera User ID and Password. If you are already a Courserian, you will be able to use your existing user name and password.
We are very excited to welcome you to the first MOOC offered through the Bagwell College of Education. In order to make the most out of this learning opportunity, we encourage you to find a small group of colleagues to join you in the course. This will enrich your experience and help keep you on track to completion.
So invite some colleagues and friends to join you!
If you already have a grade level team or group of colleagues in place, we recommend that you:
- Assign a group leader to send reminders about meetings and assignments.
- Mark your calendars to meet once a week during the course. During these meetings hold each other accountable for your assignments, discuss interesting topics being addressed in your discussion forums, and talk about how blended and online learning can serve your students in your unique context. Don't forget the snacks!
- Celebrate successful completion together and plan action steps after the course.
- Meet at least twice after the course to share how your practice has changed, and problem solve any issues together.
If you can't convince a friend to join you in the course, don't worry! We will all be able to interact and communicate using #KSUitecMOOC and #k12blendedlearning on Twitter. Everyone can start that today!
In the meantime, have a terrific December. We’ll be back in touch once more before the course starts to finalize any last minute details.
***********************************************************************
Traci Redish, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Special Assistant to the Dean for Technology
Kennesaw State University
Bagwell College of Education
Department of Instructional Technology
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw Hall - Box #0127
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
770-499-3349 - Office
770-499-3263 - Fax
Follow us on Twitter @KSUITEC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)