Technology and Learning

I was at our technology integrationists meeting a few months back, which I have to say I absolutely LOVE these peeps if I haven't mentioned this already, and Lucas showed us a really amazing Chrome Extension called DocAppender !!  This is a GAME CHANGER PEOPLE!!  Basically, you are able to create Google Forms, and organize them in a way with this extension, and the end product is a time stamped "card" with information compiled on it.  NOW, I know it sounds not so amazing like I am making it - but it is CRAZY!  You can send out a Google Form to a variety of individuals and then you can see the compiled information for each entry - LOVE LOVE IT! To give you an idea, I have asked Lucas if I can post the link to his most fantastic screencast showing this and he allowed me to - SO HERE IT IS - the DocAppender Screencast . I can think of ENDLESS ways to use this extension.  As a classroom teacher I would have used this for conferences to gather information about a...

DID YOU KNOW THAT GOOGLE CREATED ITS OWN INTERNET SAFETY CURRICULUM? WELL I DID NOT!!!!!!  Oh - seriously I just keep loving this company up more and more! SO if you know already - WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!??  If you are like me and did not know HERE IT IS!! Be Internet Awesome is the online curriculum/real life curriculum that Google created and of course it's FREE!!!  There is a free download to their actual curriculum, but there is also this amazing online experience called Interland for kids to play online.  They jump to different "land" experiences that teaches them about online safety, being kind online, being smart online and keeping personal things to themselves - I LOVE IT!  If you have nothing in place yet, START HERE!  Similar to Common Sense Media , it's ALREADY created for you and SO SO GREAT!! GO GET IT! Happy Wednesday all, Mrs. I:)

Education. com is a website that has an extensive list of resources for teachers and parents alike.  They have a learning library with printable worksheets for math, reading, science, social and writing, along with online games, lesson plans and other subject content.  You simply have to create an account and start searching for what you are looking for.  Most of the content that I looked at is free - which as teachers we LOVE! Why spend time and money on things that are here, right at your fingertips;)! Here is the link for the Under the Sea Multiplication page, as this is just ONE MORE resource for you to pull valuable items from and save yourself time in the end!! Multiply the fun with these engaging worksheets.  Education.com has tons of fun and educational resources like this one.  Check out their collection of multiplication resources for children! GO HAVE A LOOK - Happy Monday all, Mrs. I:)

The Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog posted the post regarding 31 tools that every teacher should know about.  I want to highlight a few that I fell in LOVE with:) 1.  Tweetdeck - WHO KNEW?  I didn't!!  Where have I been and WHY didn't I KNOW THIS SOONER!!!  This website compiles your Twitter account into a nice linear column based format - I AM IN LOVE!!! 2. Flipboard - I LOVE THIS ONE, TOO!  The app is SUPER neat, also!  Choose the stories that you want to hear about - or topics you're interested and it will feed you those stories in the news.  It's a great nonfiction site for students to read the newspaper. 3. Edshelf - This one seems similar to Symbaloo in that you can organize and arrange websites together for easier access.  I like the look of it as well! 4. TedEd - I could go ON AND ON about Ted Talks and the value of them!  DO NOT forget about these in your classroom!  There are SO many ...

I was talking at our technology integrationist meeting a few months ago, mentioning that I have been blogging for the past seven years regarding our iPad MOVE 21 Initiative.  One of the other technology integrationist, Lukas Gotto, started his own blog - WAY TO GO LUCAS:)!!  You HAVE to check out his blog most recently about Google for Education and the impact that it is having, basically taking over the education world at ALL levels:)!!  He dug deep by asking all schools in Minnesota questions to collect data, in addition to articles and research he found - check out his most recent blog post:)! Techie Tools for Teachers Have a great Tuesday night, all! Mrs. I:)

I know that this is off the beaten path of what this blog is about - but I am SO SO passionate about this and the NEED for all students and staff to be trained in QPR!  Question, Persuade, Refer are three easy steps that anyone can do and learn regarding suicide prevention.  Maria Willits, a parent that has experienced first hand the effect of suicide, as she lost her son, is absolutely amazing.  She came to Barnesville the past two weeks and trained our high school staff and all students in grades 7-12 on QPR!  The student body watched the documentary "Not Alone," and then Maria went into the classrooms to train the students.  TAKE THE TIME to have her come!  She will come to your school and train you, she will train your students!  Talk the talk that all schools need!!! PLEASE PLEASE look into this option!  Contact ME and I can get you in contact with Maria!! Have a safe night everyone, Mrs. I:)

I had the privilege of going into each of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms to talk to them about digital citizenship and what is means to be smart and safe online.  I absolutely LOVED THIS!!  Not only did I feel the kids were raw and honest, but we ALL know that it is SO NEEDED in our school today!  Whether we want to be or not, we parent these kiddos for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for 9 months!!  It IS our duty to help them along this path of digital learning, especially since SO many of use are "PLACING" these devices into their hands.  Here is a breakdown of what I did for each of the grade levels - using Commons Sense Media , NetSmartz , and a few other videos that I found online through YouTube that were suggestions that I read on blogs or these two sites.  ALL of my resources that I used are HERE - use and take what you'd like;) 6th Grade -  1.  What is the difference between: face-to-face bullying, cyber bullying and respect? -...

I have PROBABLY shared this before, but IT. IS. WORTH. SHARING. AGAIN.  If your district is like ours, we are ALWAYS trying to find ways to improve reading.  Most schools now have incorporated RTI (Response to Intervention) throughout Language Arts, and probably have started, or at least talked about the same for math.  Years ago, the Florida Center for Reading Research took ALL The strands of reading, which is within RTI and the AIMS webs testing along with benchmarks from the NWEA test and created some really great materials that is USER READY for others to use. SERIOUSLY - this stuff is GOOD!  No, GREAT!!  Some you have to prep a little but many are pretty easy to use.  YOU ARE WELCOME:) Florida Center for Reading Research Happy Tuesday all,  GO VOTE!!! Mrs. I:)

Digital safety is a topic that is so important.  Teachers and parents need to have continuous discussions about appropriate use, online safety, cyberbullying and being careful with searches and web browsing.  Below is a list of resources for parents to access and use for discussing things with your children at home about this.  Teachers are doing this on a daily basis, since technology is used daily, and is such a valuable learning tool.  Students will only continue to have more exposure as they get older and move on to college and careers later in life; this is something that is not going away, and the discussions need to continue.  There are some really great resources here, videos to learn more about online pieces, and overall great tips for helping all our students become better online citizens. Common Sense Media - This website has created amazing resources on Digital Citizenship and has many videos for parent use in keeping kids safe. Privacy and...

I have had a few opportunities in the last couple of weeks to talk to parents and staff members about use and misuse of a variety of technology tools.  Since we ARE an iPad 1:1 K-12 district, it's crucial that our parents are aware of the things that can and can't be done on the iPads, and the things that are and aren't appropriate.  Although we put restrictions on K-6 iPads, where we limit adult content, etc., we are NOT at home with the students.  SO if parents are going to have ZERO filter on their internet at home, there are still plenty of things that kids can get to!  I am going to try and create and help out in this area by continuing to inform parents as much as I can via social media but also posting things on the website.  The MORE parents know, (whether they choose to USE the information or not), the better chance they will be able to stop exposure for their kids.  I was searching the other day and came across this and it's SO SO true!  Wh...

I TOTALLY forgot to link the items that Megan, Lakes Country Gal, talked about regarding new items they were going to order for Maker Space.  Here is the list: 1. STEAM Lesson Plan Kits 2. Spark Fun Inventor's Kits 3. Root Robotics These look SO SO amazing:)!  Starts a Donors Choose or Fundraiser for these buggers! Take care Mrs. I:)

Yesterday I had my monthlyish tech integration meeting.  We (other tech integrationists from surrounding communities) gather together at Lakes Country in Fergus Falls and chat away about many issues.  Some are frustrations, some things are problem solved, but MOST importantly it's a SUPPORT GROUP for ME!!!  I think that at times people wonder, "What does Holly do all day?  Really, she doesn't have THAT much to do!"  You're RIGHT, quite honestly, there are days that I have NO idea what's going to take place that day, which is MOST days.  Some days I AM bored, which means our technology is working - YAHOO!  BUT, other days just fly by and I haven't a clue how the day is done.  My job entails many things; fixing iPads, deploying apps, troubleshooting iPads, working with Google Drive and all things Google, dealing with Macbooks, laptops, printing, websites, connecting things, etc.. the list really is endless as there is SO much that I have to try to "...

Here are just a FEW of the many many websites available for coding.  I have probably talked about some of these before, but here is a list again:) Hour of Code - https://hourofcode.com/us/learn Scratch - https://scratch.mit.edu/ Tynker - https://www.tynker.com/dashboard/student/#/dashboard CodeAcademy - https://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0 Code Avengers - https://www.codeavengers.com/ Code Combat - https://codecombat.com/ Kahn Academy Coding - https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming Tech Rocket - https://www.idtech.com/online Happy Thursday all Mrs. I:)

  I have been digging back into my Google Drive and have rediscovered some GEMS - check them out;) 1. Unite for Literacy - This website has books that are easy to access and can be read to your kiddos.  Easy to use and super friendly! 2.  Mentimeter - If you have ever wanted to give a poll to an audience, classroom, etc.. and see immediate and interactive responses then this is for you. Create a presentation, choose your questions type, then choose present and you will see a code for them to go to the website and punch in.  Responses will start showing real time. Check it out - 3. The Kid Should See This - There are always those students you have every year in your classroom that are curious in nature.  They want to learn and learn and absorb more.  This site would allow for some of that.  Search by content area or just search by category.  The videos found on here are pretty neat! 4. What's Going on in This Picture ...