My Upcoming Schedule:

This week I will be in Park Rapids on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I will be out of town Wednesday. I can be available in Nevis almost any time. Please contact me to set up a meeting.

Summer Training Sessions

I am so excited to share information with you about our summer training sessions! They are being held on June 5-8 and on August 21-24. We have some great new presenters, and many sessions we have never offered before! You will want to add this to your calendar and attend several days to get all you can out of these presenters! I hope to have registration forms out to you by May 1, but to give you a taste, here are some of the sessions being offered:

Kelly Weets from Thief River Falls will be back with some great Google sessions on June 6 and Aug 21^st!

Dawn Nelson from Osseo Schools will be providing training in coding and Google, and will share awesome resources you won’t want to miss!

Laura Klein from EverFi is sharing their great FREE resources on financial literacy and more!

Jim Rittenour, representing Makerbot, will be here to tell us all about 3D printing and how we can use it in our classrooms.

Richard Hreha, SCSU, will be presenting on Raspberry Pi for Beginners and Using Augmented Reality in the Classroom.

Several of our local tech stars will be sharing Using Seesaw, Math Elementary Tech Tools, Blogging, Collaborative Writing, Utilizing Twitter, and more!

A class is scheduled on Easy Ways to Use Technology for Coaches!

And those are just the June classes!! Kelly Weets will join us again in August, and Gina Drellack and Jake Seuntjes, from NWSC, will be here as well! Many additional teachers are joining us to present the best of what they do with technology in their teaching. Watch for more info!

Kayla Delzer

Due to her school schedule, Kayla Delzer is unable to present at either our June or August training sessions. However, Kayla has agreed to join us for a full day of training on Friday, August 11^th!! Park Rapids and Nevis teachers may attend this full day of training at no cost. More information will be coming soon…but be sure to put this date on your calendar! Kayla’s high-energy workshop will feature hands-on activities, her favorite technology tools, and a full day of fun! Those of you who heard Kayla speak last fall at Park Rapids’ Back to School Inservice know that she is an award-winning 3^rd grade teacher, an international keynote speaker, a classroom designer, a flexible seating guru, a digital citizenship expert and a technology champion! We are so fortunate to have her here!

Screen-free Week

On May 1-7, we are celebrating Screen-free Week! Screen-Free Week is a fun way to reduce our dependence on digital entertainment, including tv, video games, smartphones, tablets and computers. It’s a chance for children – and adults – to power down and reconnect with the world around them. For more info, visit: http://www.screenfree.org/

Need Training? Think Infinitec!

PAWN holds a subscription to Infinitec, which you are all able to access if you are employed in Park Rapids or Nevis School Districts. Simply visit http://www.myinfinitec.org and set up your free account, making sure to select the school in which you are employed. Verify your account, and then log in to Infinitec. Click on the tab for Online Classrooms. There are numerous tutorials and courses to choose from, and all of them record your time spent on the activity, so when you are done you can print out the certificate and turn it in for CEU credit. There are classes in the required areas for teacher re-certification, so if you need this credit you can watch online without having to locate a class nearby. I spoke with one of our teachers about her experience and she commented, “The class was awesome, with many to choose from in the ELL area. I took the test and printed my certificate.”

In addition to the certification courses there are courses on technology, special needs, specific subject areas, autism, early learning, and much, much more! Check out this FREE resource today!

New York Time VR

Want to experience the news as if you’re there? Check out the smartphone app nyrvr – where you can put yourself in the center of the story! Embed with Iraqi forces during a battle with ISIS. Take a meditation journey to the California coast. Climb to the top of One World Trade Center. Set foot on a planet three billion miles from the sun. Experience stories in an immersive, 360-degree video experience, reported by New York Times’ award-winning journalists!

Meet Megan McDonald

CILC (the Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration) is promoting a fun conversation with Megan McDonald, author of the popular Judy Moody series, the Stink books, and The Sisters Club trilogy. Conversations are Wednesday, May 3 at 1PM ET (noon, our time) and Thursday, May 4 at 7:00PM ET (6:00 our time). All you need is a web browser and an internet connection – but you must be registered! Registration can be found here:

• May 3: https://goo.gl/2LpJSG
• May 4: https://goo.gl/g3JEg0

Export Quizzes from Google Docs to Google Forms!

This add-on, Formenate, allows you to export a Google Doc into a Form, so you can easily create a measure of student understanding. The tools and features in Forms allow you to enable quiz mode, assign an answer key, and correct the test – making your job easier! If you have quizzes you’ve already created in a Word or Google Docs, this is an excellent, time-saving way to move them into a Google Form. Try Formenate today!

Cult of Pedagogy (Teacher Nerts, Unite!)

This great blog, by Jennifer Gonzalez Boss, will speak to the heart of your teaching! Jennifer has fantastic ideas about improving instruction, supporting learning, and the pedagogy of teaching. Her most recent post, What to do on Lame Duck School Days, certainly struck a chord with me. She provides a list of ideas of things to do on these testing days or last days of school. Thankfully, the ideas are broken into “Low Prep”, “Medium Prep” and “High Prep or Long Term”. She’s really been there! Find Jennifer at: www.cultofpedagogy.com.

My Upcoming Schedule:

This week I will be in Park Rapids on Tuesday and Thursday. I will be in Nevis on Wednesday. The following week I am available Tuesday through Thursday. Please contact me to set up a meeting.

Padlet

Looking for a great collaborative teaching tool? Check out Padlet! Padlet is a virtual wall that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. It works like an online sheet of paper where people can put any content (images, videos, documents, text) anywhere on the page, together with anyone, from any device. It is a terrific tool for brainstorming ideas, gathering research and resources on a topic, and much more!

Learn how to use Padlet: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-use-padlet-fantastic-tool-teaching/

Brainpop

Park Rapids teachers have access to Brainpop and Brainpop Jr. If you haven’t used Brainpop lately, you are missing out! This tool has extended far beyond science videos, and provides videos – with quizzes – in nearly every curricular area. There are also free games in every subject area. If you are using Brainpop you may share this username and password with students. However, you may not post it on a website. Thanks!

Scannable Math Apps

QR codes are a fantastic tool for use in the classroom, and Monica shares some great ideas for creating interactive word walls, connecting to tutorials, sharing student work, exploring 3-dimensional shapes, and updating old textbooks. This great article by Dr Monica Burns is just one of the superb resources located on her website. Check out this one: http://classtechtips.com/2016/07/04/qr-codes-and-augmented-reality-in-math/

Screen-free Week

On May 1-7, children, families—whole schools and communities—will rediscover the joys of life beyond the screen. Plan to unplug from digital entertainment and spend all that free time playing, daydreaming, creating, exploring and connecting with family and friends! One great way to unplug is reading books! Screen Free Week is also Children’s Book Week!

The folks at http://screenfree.org have provided some activities to share with your students and try as a class. In addition, you can register your class, publicize the event, and locate some information to share with families. One great resource is 7 Parent-Tested Tips to Unplug and Play which can be downloaded and shared with parents. I encourage you to use it!

Poetry in our Schools

More National Poetry Month Apps and Websites: http://classtechtips.com/2017/04/06/national-poetry-month-apps-websites/ Did I mention I LOVE poetry? Let’s do something together!!

Coding

Thinking about computer coding but aren’t sure where to start? Here are some excellent coding tools for teaching all grade levels and subject areas: http://classtechtips.com/?s=coding As we enter this busy spring season, where engaging students in schoolwork can be challenging. Perhaps there is a time to try coding in your classroom? I’d love to come help you get started!

Monica Burns: TechTools

Sign up today for Monica’s great tech tools. Several of the tips I’ve shared with you come directly out of Monica’s website. She has a terrific blog! Plus, Monica will send you your own copy of many of her resources just for signing up for her blog. Take a look at her website today at: http://classtechtips.com/

Lesson Planning in the 21^st Century

I’ve been looking for a good online lesson planning/scheduling app for years, and perhaps I’ve finally found it! Chalk.com is a great tool for writing, organizing and storing your lesson plans. It allows you to create your schedule, input all your teaching materials, and have easy access to them any time. Planning for subs, accessing lesson plans from any location, and setting up co-teachers is a breeze.

Find it at: http://chalk.com.  Have a question? Check out their online live help line:

• Monday – Friday, 8AM to 6PM EST
• Sunday, 4:30 – 9:30 PM EST

iCloud on iPad

If you’ve updated your iPad or iPhone to the most current version, you may have noticed that your iCloud seems to be missing! Yikes! In their attempt to make accessing iCloud even easier, Apple has moved the iCloud settings to the very top of the list (in Settings), as indicated by your name and the words: Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store. Click on your name and all your iCloud settings are displayed here.

Pear Deck

Free integrated tool for formative assessment. Pear Deck works like any slide presentation program you’ve used in the past. In fact, you can import your PowerPoints, Google Slides, and PDFs to turn them into powerful interactive Pear Decks right from your Google Drive. Once imported you insert questions throughout the presentation to engage and assess students during your lesson. Find it at https://www.peardeck.com/.

Let’s recap

This is an awesome new tool from Swivl. Recap provides teachers with new, creative ways to gather evidence of student thinking using video. It helps create new learning connections between students, parents, and teachers, and foster more transformative dialogue by everyone. Recap is great for any age! This is definitely one you’ll want to take a look at today! Let me know if I can help you utilize it in your classroom.

View the introductory video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTKhS63qFs

 

My Upcoming Schedule:

Please contact me to set up a meeting time. I can be in either Park Rapids or Nevis Schools any day of the week between now and the end of the school year. I would love to meet with you or your team before, during, or after school. J

Google April Fools

Each year Google encourages their employees to have a little fun – and to share that creativity with the world. This year’s April Fool’s jokes provide a lot of fun, even if April Fool’s Day is over, and several other tech companies have joined in on the silliness. Here are a few that are appropriate for children – but check them out first to make sure you feel comfortable sharing them with your students:

1. Google Gnome: If you’ve tried out any of the indoor tech tools for controlling your home, you’ll especially enjoy these outdoor possibilities – like turning on the hose, getting weather updates, and much more. View it here: https://youtu.be/vNOllWX-2aE
2. Always a great tool, Google Maps has an added silly feature this month: any map in the Google Maps app can be turned into a PacMan game! Imagine PacMan running around your neighborhood!
3. Chromebook accessories: Think you can’t take your Chromebook everywhere? Think again! This site highlights some great accessories to make your Chromebook the most adaptable tool yet: https://blog.google/products/chromebooks/all-best-mobile-accessories-now-your-chromebook/
4. Too much rain? Google experts in the Netherlands have solved that problem with Google Wind. All those windmills are worth something after all! See it here: https://youtu.be/QAwL0O5nXe0
5. Bored pets at home? Try Google Play for Pets. It certainly looks real! https://youtu.be/UmJ2NBHXTqo

You can view a wide range of Google April Fools videos and images by Googling “Google April Fools” or by searching them directly on Youtube. Have fun!

Google Chromebooks

Enjoying those Google Chromebooks? John Sowash shares some great ways to ramp up your Chromebook use in your classroom in this quick webinar from Cool Cat Teacher, Vicki Davis. You can view this webinar (and many others) here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/5-ideas-amp-chromebooks/.

Twitter: Have More to Say???

When using Twitter you are limited to 140 characters. This can be problematic when you are replying to someone (and really a problem if replying to several people), because the user’s Twitter handle takes up many of those characters. Twitter has improved this – and you will no longer see the Twitter handle within the Tweet, so you actually will have all 140 characters to write your reply. Check it out today!

Hangouts Meet

If you are a Google Hangouts user you will appreciate the newest update, Hangouts Meet. It makes joining meetings effortless – so you can be as productive online as you are face-to-face. Can’t get together in person? This is a great alternative!

Poetry in our Schools

April is National Poetry Month, and there are some wonderful ways to celebrate poetry in any curricular area here: www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home. It’s been celebrated since 1996, and is an especially fun celebration to join. You can find free resource materials, daily poetry activities, or connect with other classrooms around the country to share poetry…and so much more!

My favorite poetry website for K-8 is www.gigglepoetry.com. “Read & Rate ‘em” is a great activity for partner reading of poems. They will be laughing out loud! Poetry lessons are some of my favorites. Want to try having your class write poetry for two readers? Let me know and we can try it together!

Can’t find that To-Do List?

Update your To-Dos with Keep! Google Keep is a great tool to help keep you organized. Watch this short video and see how it can assist you today: https://youtu.be/SJ2T24t3F5o Keep is one of the Google tools you have access to with your Google school account.

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle’s new Android app for students has been updated with student progress, just like the iPad app. Students will now get instant feedback wherever they are! See it in action here: https://youtu.be/kx3iudzhbw4

I know there are a lot of EdPuzzle users in the Middle and High Schools, but, Elementary Teachers, have you looked at how EdPuzzle can help you? It’s a fantastic tool for all grades! Let me know if I can help you with it this spring.

Are you monitoring MCA tests? If so…

…You’re probably looking for something to do that won’t distract your students, use technology, or keep you from your responsibilities. In that case, take a few minutes to consider the last two months of the school year. Have you utilized technology the way you’d like to? Was there something you wanted to learn, but you just haven’t had time to tackle it? Are you hoping to squeeze in some technology but just don’t know where to start. Give it some thought in these next few weeks. Then, email or call me and let’s get together and plan it out. There’s still time to use that new tool, create an amazing project, or integrate some technology into any subject.

Campfire

Campfire, http://gng.org/campfire, is a virtual exchange program that leverages technology to enable meaningful cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration. Using a project-based curriculum, students work together with a partner classroom from another country to explore global citizenship through investigation of the driving question, “How do we, as youth, engage our communities to create positive social change?” As a result, students engage in intercultural dialogue and build essential skills to take positive action in their communities.

This Summer in Technology

Technology classes will run this summer Monday – Thursday, June 5-8, and Monday – Thursday, August 21-24. Once again this year classes will be in two hour sections on a variety of topics, mostly on integrating technology into your classroom. If you are interested in teaching a class, or know someone who might be, please let me know.