March 6, 2017

My Upcoming Schedule:

I will be in Park Rapids Monday and Tuesday, March 6 & 7. I will also be in Park Rapids next week on Thursday & Friday, March 16 & 17. Please let me know what time you’d like to meet

I will be in Nevis on Wednesday, March 8. Please let me know what time you’d like to meet.

I will be out of Minnesota from March 9 – 15^th.

Scheduled Classes:

Monday, March 6: Creating lessons in Smart Notebook

Wednesday, March 8: Creating a classroom website with Weebly

Ready for Summer Learning?

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is offering reading webinars to help you motivate your students! From strategies for building reading and math skills to motivating students, HMH has you covered this summer. Join us for these live webinars.

Thursday, March 23, 2:00 PM (ET): Dr. Bill McBride, Co-author of Inside the Text Making Nonfiction Fun to Read

Wednesday, April 5, 3:00 PM (ET): Patsy Kanter, Co-author of Summer Success^®: Math and Math in Focus^® Simple Solutions for Summer Success: 3×3!

Wednesday, April 12, 2:00 PM (ET): Dr. David Dockterman, Co-author of MATH 180^® and Advisor on READ 180^®. Sustaining a Growth Mindset for Summer Learning

Google Educator

Think you know quite a lot about the Google Education tools? Prove your expertise through the Google Certified Educator Program. The program provides training, practice, and the certification exam, all offered online at: https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/certification_level1. It’s a great way to show off your knowledge of Google tools, to learn more about how to integrate them, and to pick up some CEUs. Your time is automatically recorded and you can easily print out a verification on the hours you spent. If you’d like a headstart, let me know, and we’ll work through a little of it together, just to get you comfortable with the format. Get certified today!

ANIMOTO

One of my favorite FREE video tools is Animoto. This is an online tool (or iPad app) that allows you to incorporate still pictures, short video, transitions and music into a quality, professional-looking movie. In March, you might want to use Animoto to highlight a classroom project or activity, or have student culminate a lesson by showcasing what they’ve learned through a video. If you create your free education account, your entire class can create an individual account within yours, allowing you to view and share their videos. Animoto videos can be shared easily through email or by posting to our website. I’d love to visit with you about how you can use it in your classroom this spring!

www.animoto.com Set up an account; then click “education” at the bottom of the page for the free account.

Google Tip:

One of the benefits of using Google is the ease of sharing documents. Please let me know if you want additional information on sharing documents. You can share any document with others by choosing:

Specific people or group
Anyone with the link
Anyone in your domain with the link (anyone in your district with the link)
Anyone in your domain (searchable by people in the same district as you)
Public on the web (searchable by anyone).

You can also set these settings, to control what they can do with the document.

Can view (but they can’t make changes)
Can comment (but they can’t make changes, just comments off to the side)
Can edit (full edit access)
Is owner (transfer ownership)

Google Image Searching:

Looking for a specific type of image, say an animated one, or a line drawing? Use Google’s image search tools (select the Tools button on the right side) and select the dropdown for Type. This allows you to narrow your search results. Note that you can also select Size, Color, Time, etc.

HMH StudyPOP!

Share this one with your students: StudyPOP! is a fun, interactive, and challenging study game students can play with their friends and classmates, available for free on the App Store℠.

Select a content area, for Grades 3–12, and theme deck to get started and let the study fun begin! Used with two or more players, one player holds up the iOS^® device displaying the study word or concept while the other players give hints to help the guesser solve for the word. Tilt the device forward for correct answers and backwards to skip a word. Each game lasts 60 seconds, with a list of words and their definitions provided at the conclusion of the game. Take turns to win points and compete for the highest score!

Epic! Now has audiobooks!

Visiting https://www.getepic.com you can find thousands of free books for your students to read. I hope you are already using this great free for educators* tool! And now, to make it even better, Epic! has released audiobooks. These are great for listening centers, small group activities, and individual use. Epic! also includes video tutorials, sample lesson plans, classroom decorations, resources for sharing Epic!, and much more. These resources are located at: www.getepic.com/educator-resources.

Park Rapids Tentative Classes

Please note: register ahead of time and I will move the class to your building, if possible. J Remember, if at any time you want training, advice, guidance, or help in your classroom or with your team, you can contact me to set something up at your convenience. Thanks!

Date	Location	Title	Description
Monday, March 6	Century ES Lab	Smart Notebook: Creating Lessons	This class will take you through the Smart Notebook tools. We will create our own lessons, discover many new features, and you will have a chance to see how easy it is to personalize your lessons with Smart Notebook.
TBD	High School	Using Google Docs in the Classroom	In this class you will have a chance to go through your Google Drive and organize it, practice sharing Google Docs with others and review the collaborative tools, and see how Google Docs can increase your efficiency in school.
Thursday, March 16	Century MS Lab	Using Google Forms & Spreadsheets	Parent Surveys, Student Quizzes, Data Collection, all can be gathered and organized efficiently with Google Forms. Display survey data, grade quizzes and tests, and so much more. Bring a quiz or survey idea so you can build your own Form.

Nevis Tentative Classes

Please note: RSVP ahead of time so I know someone is attending. J Remember, if at any time you want training, advice, guidance, or help in your classroom or with your team, you can contact me to set something up at your convenience. Thanks!

Date	Title	Description
Wednesday, March 8	Weebly	Working on a Weebly website? This is an “open lab” time, with guidance for you on building your classroom website.
TBD	Integrating Technology into Reading/Language Arts	Looking for technology tools for your reading/language arts curriculum? We will look at online tools, apps, and activities for reading, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and much more!
Monday, March 20	Virtual Field Trips	Explore Virtual Reality apps, virtual field trips, and their usefulness in the classroom, during this hands-on workshop. Bring either your Android or Apple phone, and a tablet (iPad or Chromebook). I have a few viewers to try out as well – but bring your own if you have one.
Thursday, March 23	Integrating Technology into Math/Science	Science and math online tools, apps and activities are abundant. Come to see some of my favorites tools, and the resources to find them.