Feeling stressed? This first month of school can be exhausting! Managing the high-level energy of students all day, on top of managing new curriculum, new routines, busy families…it can totally stress a teacher out! Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher (and education leader), shares these ten tips for managing stress in teachers. You can read the full version here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/manage-teaching-stress/ but I’ll give you the short version, in case you don’t have time!
Ten Stress-Busting Secrets of Great Teachers by Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
- Acceptance (Quit worrying!)
- Replace negative thoughts with positive ones
- Keep a joy journal – look for joy in your day!
- Make time to sleep
- Drink enough water
- Exercise outside
- Make time for faith – meditation, deep breathing, aromatherapy, prayer (your choice!)
- Develop deep relationships
- Touch! Hugging, kissing, massages…touch is a proven way to reduce stress!
- Unplug and recharge – turn off devices an hour before bed, charge your phone outside your bedroom
My Upcoming Schedule:
I will be in Park Rapids Schools Monday – Friday, Sept 26-30. Please feel free to contact me at any time via my cell phone (320-241-6150), my home email (lconzemius@gmail.com) or my Park Rapids email (lconzemius@parkrapids.k12.mn.us) . My schedule is quite flexible, and I am spending a lot of time working in an office on the school webpage when not meeting with teachers.
Scheduled Classes:
There is a two-hour technology class scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 28 from 3:30-5:30pm in the Century Elementary Computer Lab. There will be a sign-in sheet for CEUs. If you are unable to attend the entire two hours, feel free to stay for as long as you can.
Thursday, September 28 at Century School, Park Rapids: Questions & Work Time
Please see the next page for the complete list of classes being held in Park Rapids this fall.
Questions & Work Time
Trying out Google Classroom and need some questions answered? Can’t remember what you learned last summer in a tech class? Need some time to set up some classroom technology? This class is for you! There will not be a formal presentation, but instead Laurie will be there to answer questions and provide assistance. Please bring your questions or materials to make this a valuable hands-on work time. Need suggestions, or want to talk something over ahead of time? Give me a call!
Google Tip: Printing multiple Google Doc files
One of the biggest questions I’ve heard over the past week has to do with printing student documents. In most cases the teachers has said something like this: “I want to print them so I can grade them, but the students don’t really need to print. They can submit the assignment through Google Classroom. But do I have to open every document in order to print them all? That will take forever!!”
Here is a great solution! Go into your Google Drive and find the folder containing all the documents you want to print (probably one full assignment). Select them all and then click on the three stacked dots, and select “download” from the bottom of that menu.
The files will all be zipped into a new folder, which will be downloaded to your desktop. From there, select all of the files, right-click, and choose print. Your documents will flash by quickly as they are each printed.
In addition, there is an add-on that makes this process even smoother. The details are here: http://alicekeeler.com/2015/08/16/pdf-my-google-drive-folder/ Please contact me if you’d like me to join you the first time through. I am happy to!
PD in your Pajamas?
The Internet has made it easy to attend professional development sessions any time of the day! Last week I mentioned the webinars produced by Seesaw, but if you’re looking for a broader range of opportunities, and particularly those focused on learning or utilizing a specific tool, look no further than Simple K12. Here is a current listing of their most recent free webinars – which you can attend live or watch on your own time: http://www.simplek12.com/
What is EdPuzzle?
Are you an EdPuzzle user? If you haven’t tried it yet, this is one great tool you will want to take a look at! EdPuzzle takes your Youtube video and allows you to crop the beginning/end, add questions, narration, or quizzes, and keep track of your students’ progress viewing the video. Even if you only use it to crop and share videos through Google Classroom (or for yourself) it is an awesome app!
Please note that EdPuzzle recently launched a Google Chrome extension – so with the click of a button you can save a video into EdPuzzle! Send any video straight from Youtube to EDpuzzle, in just one click. Then edit it and make it your own vide-lesson 🙂 Download EDpuzzle’s Youtube Extension for Google Chrome and check it out!
Links:
Yes, the election is looming, and it seems like this year, more than ever, unbiased information on the candidates is getting harder to find. For a great resource on the election turn to Teaching Tolerance. Their election coverage will help you focus your students attention on the real issues of the election. Check it out here: http://www.tolerance.org/election2016 Their print journal is available free for educators as well. You can view it in full on their website, or subscribe here: http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/subscribe
However, the real power of calendars comes when they are used to schedule meetings and activities. Begin by creating a meeting date. In this menu you can add attachments, such as agendas, that are shared with all members of the group. If these attachments are shared Google Docs they can be used during the meeting for note-taking. In this menu you can also set up reminders for the meeting, either through email or through pop-ups, scheduled days, hours, or minutes in advance. Each person you add to the meeting can indicate whether or not they will attend the meeting, too, so there shouldn’t be any surprises that day.
Laurie Conzemius LLC 