Tech Toolbox

I looked at three Tech Tools in the DLW.
Digital Storytelling uses tools to tell stories, documentaries, narratives, essays, memories, and storytelling. There are 7 elements of digital storytelling: Point of view, dramatic question, emotional content, voice, soundtrack, pacing and economy. Web 2.0 resources include blogs, podcasts, wikis, and other like Pinterest. I liked Digital Storytelling and I could see how to use it when I get a library job. I used Piclits to do a poem on a picture.
Powtoon was a fun way to make a video on Classroom Rules.
Thinklink I used an interactive picture on Dr. Seuss.

Tech Toolbox - Thinglink

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/871866772511260673

<img style="max-width:100%" src="http://crushingkrisis.com/assets/dr-seuss-ew.jpg#tl-871866772511260673;1043138249'" class="alwaysThinglink"/><script async charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>

Tech Toolbox - Digital Storytelling

http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=294332

On Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 I listened to a Simple K12 Webinar for Chromebooks 101.
Session 1: An Intro to Using Chromebooks in the classroom. This session talked about how Chromebooks are taking over computer sales in classrooms all over the world. Cost is the number one selling point over I-pads. But the biggest advantage would be that Chromebooks can work offline for students who don't have internet at home.

Session 2: Go Paperless with Tech Tools for Chromebooks and Tablets. This session dealt with eliminating pen, pencil and paper which reduces resources, organizes materials, and creates a better workflow. Some of the chromebooks apps used for this paperless tool included Seesaw, which snaps a picture, records a voice, types a message and sends a link to the teacher. Nearpod, Schoology, Otus, Edmondo, Socrative, Drawp for School, I Tunes U, Google Classroom, Google Forms were other Chromebooks apps that help to eliminate paper and pencil.

Session 3: Tools for Chromebooks: Apps, Extensions, and Add-Ons, Oh My! This session talked about the differences between apps, extensions,... The app is a program in that is on Google Drive that is saved in the cloud. Apps include Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings and other apps that can be found in the Chrome Webstore. Add-ons are extras in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Go to Docs to get add-ons like Easy Bib, Kalzena, and Orange Slice. In Sheets get add-ons like Flubaroo, form Mule, Lab Scheduler. In Forms choose add-ons like Choice Eliminator 2, Form Ranger, g(Math), Gliffy, Form Limiter. Chrome Extensions include Adblock Plus, Bookmarking Tool, Nimbus Screenshot, Grammarly, Text Mode, Time Warp. And a final nod for Google Apps for Education.

Session 4: Get in the Game! with Chromebook Game Infused Student Learning Centers. How to utilize games for enhancing learning encourages colloboration and "Snackable Content". Games include Storyboard That, Toontastic, Sway, Amazing 50 State Race, Battle Sheets, Google Drawing Checkers, and Google Drawing Chess. Games include challenges and digging deeper and is non-competive and explores areas of personal interest. Chrome Apps for Personal Choice include My Adventure Story. Tools for Critical Thinking include Magic Pen, Tinker Ball, and Line Rider. Free Play builds and explores and creates their own narrative. Google Smarty Pins, Minecraft, Terraria, and Guild Wars 2 for high school are more games. Game replay supports diversity of learners and may take multiple attempts.

Session 5: 20 Hidden Google Tricks for Schools and Classrooms. In Google Slides the presenter view can be used for questions and in Google Docs  the presenter view can be used for comments and sends an email. Use suggesting edits made  in Google Docs. In Gmail settings import other email addresses. Also in Gmail settings lab can create canned responses. In Google Search add related:spotify.com for more like websites. "How to* for a word you don't know. Use web anytime for events that happened in a specific time frame. Chrome extensions include Task Timer, Stay Focusd, In Google Forms use Check It Out for checking out books or equipment. Google Keep is like a notebook. Other apps include Google Trends, Public Data, Cultural Institute for Art and History, Smarty Pins, and Google A Day.

Session 6: Engage Students with Interactive Chrome Apps for Learning and Creating. First talked about the SAMR model and the ISTE for student standards that are safe and engage creativity and are web-based. Applications that are web 2.0 based include  InstaGrok, a mind map that includes resources, My Powtoons, Fold that Story, Infographic, Dogo News, Quizizz, Hour of Code, and Tynker. Interactive games are safe and collaborative for students.

There was so many apps and extensions and add-ons that I would like to get to know better. It was a jam packed class from many different presenters.

Google Certified Educator Level 1

Recently I took the online training through Google to become a Google Certified Educator. As an educator, and thus a life-long learner, I thought it best to continue my experience with Google Apps, particularly with students who are becoming more and more digitally literate. I appreciated the training, which teaches you how to use Google Apps in various ways in a faux classroom. It is a good way to even gain ideas on how to use some of the programs with Google, or even how to modify how I assign or communicate with students. The training is self-guided, which I found helpful; some of the sections I feel quite competent in, while others I needed to learn a few things. At the end of the extensive training, there is an exam. The exam has a time limit, and also costs $10, but it allowed me to show off my knowledge of Google. I plan on continuing this training, to become a Google Certified Educator Level 2. I look forward to learning more about this, and continually working towards integrating technology into the classroom successfully, in order to increase student engagement and achievement.

Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship is a great reminder that classroom lessons and etiquette are not enough for high expectations.  We (Educational Staff) should hold ourselves and our students to face to face guidelines of conduct even when interacting digitally.  There are laws that guide us in the physical classroom and in the digital classroom. Digital Citizenship is a great way to get an overview and a quick reminder throughout the year!

Getting Going with Google

This is a great introduction to Google Drive and the basic features of it.  I had no experience with Google Drive before this course, and I am ready to jump start this school year using Google as my classroom cloud storage! I am so excited because I have been able to access my drive from all of my devices. I can access it from home & school (for convenience). Google Drive has a wide variety of products you can use. I can't wait to dig deeper and use these more & more!

Digital Citizenship

Teaching digital citizenship is not just for the tech teacher or Librarian but should be taught in the classroom as well. But when does the classroom teacher have time to teach this? So it falls back on the teach teacher. The information is very clear on how much is 'fair use' for educators. I love all the lessons you have on the Internet.

Google Basics

I just finished the online course of Google Basics.  I love the interaction with this course in creating a shared folder with Google documents, Google sheets, Google forms, and Google slides. The presentation and resources were all excellent. Although Cheat Sheets seemed to be an ad, I enjoyed all the cool resources. I can't wait to get started.

Google Basics

This course was a nice introduction to some of the Google basics such as Docs, Drive, and Sheets. I had previously been comfortable using Google Docs, but this course introduced me to something new and wonderful, Google Forms. I thought this was great! I've already come up with some ideas on how to use Forms in the classroom. I used the course to become even more familiar with the other Google basics which has been helpful in the day to day use of Google at school.

Transforming Instruction

It found the SAMR model very interesting. It was interesting to think about how I use technology and how I can take what I am doing now in the classroom and, by making a few adjustments, get the students to be working on a much more higher order thinking activity.
The growth mindset portion of the course was also beneficial and something that I have applied more since taking the course.

Digital Citizenship for Teachers

I thought that this course was a great reminder that all teachers, no matter what grade or subject, are technology teachers. All teachers have the responsibility to teach and model appropriate technology practices. Technology is such a powerful tool within the classroom. It provides students with real world skills which will be necessary in their future. Hopefully teachers are able to prepare all students to be great digital citizens. With all of the online bullying that takes place, specifically on social media, knowing first what to include and not include online, then second, how to treat people online are two skills that every student should leave school with.

Calendar/GMail

I recently completed the Calendar and GMail course. Despite being fairly comfortable using both, within each component I learned some very useful strategies for making my life easier. In the calendar section I was amazed at how customizable the calendar can be. As for the GMail section, instead of using folders in Outlook (which I never used), labels are used in GMail (which I've already started using). Overall, it was well worth taking the time to get to know Google a little better.

Digital Literacy Workshop-Transforming Teaching and Learning.

I loved the visual of the tortoise and the hare growth mindset. I can apply this concept to my own personal life and struggles with my job. My new motto is "not yet". I can see this in the struggles of the ELL students I tutor. Learning is a process that takes time sometimes slow and steady. The 21st century skills or higher order thinking has been around a long time. The 4c's : creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration viewed under technology do offer new ideas.

Digital Citizenship (Digital Footprint thoughts)

In the Digital Citizenship course, I learned about keeping my classroom's internet use safe for everyone. At first, I wasn't very interested in this course because it asked me to read the appropriate use policy that students and teachers need to follow. After reading over the major sections, I realized that the policy contains guidelines that most if us are following anyways. That got me to thinking why we have to put a policy in place for students and teachers, which brought me to the 'new' digital/ social media era and our responsibility as teachers.

I think most adults understand boundaries, appropriate use of technology and how our digital footprint can represent us in a positive or negative light. Some adults don't and end up paying the price in fines or embarrassment. In this, it is our job as teachers to pass this knowledge on to our students. If we can teach kids to use the internet responsibly, we may have a greater impact on their lives than we imagine. This course touched on the subject of cyber bullying and digital footprints. A digital footprint is essentially what you leave behind on the internet for others to find. When I googled myself, I found some pictures from an old MySpace account I had in middle school and no longer knew how to access. While there was nothing bad on this account, I could no longer log into it and those pictures are up there to stay unless I contact MySpace directly to have them taken down.

This doesn't bother me, because like I mentioned, the pictures are harmless (goofy 7th grade me with braces playing arcade games). But what if I had fallen into to cyber bullying and posted something I couldn't take back? What if I had put up inappropriate pictures to look cool or funny? I remember being in middle school and wanting to have more visits on my MySpace page. Today, kids are looking for likes on Facebook. Nothing has changed since I was in school,  just the websites. In this, I think as children use the internet at school, it is our job as teachers to show them what's appropriate. While I teach Elementary school and don't anticipate social media being a huge issue, I still think my students need to know what appropriate use of the internet looks like. I'm hoping to start a blog this year to show students how to post things online appropriately. I would also like to teach them about the concept of digital footprint at this young age, just so they're aware it exists.

Overall, after taking this course, I'm realizing that teachers need to mentor their students to use technology in a safe and appropriate manner. Even at a young age, I think this lesson will make a positive impact on student's internet behaviors.

I recently took a cloud academy course on using gmail and calendars and I loved it. I could do it from comfort of my home and at my convenience. the powerpoint and video were an easy format to follow. I will definitely recommend this to my colleagues!

I am now using gmail pretty fluently and starting to use some of the tricks we were shown such as adding a date to my calendar. I am adding event to calendar, scheduling meetings, looking at calendar overlays. Adding weather, it's a whole new world! I plan to keep track of coaching dates and student check-ins with this as well!

I am still unsure as to how I will use calendar with my classes, but I may just start with showing my student how easy it is to use and how it has helped organize me! Thanks all! Lisa B. @ MBMS

Digital Literacy

This is the first time for me to blog in this forum. Last week during break I took the Calendar and Email course. I have used google email before and am glad this district has changed to google email. The google calendar is new to me and I am excited to use it. I like taking online courses and looking forward to taking more.