A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 30, 2014
'The other day as I was sitting in my office, sophomore Sarah Almeda popped into my office, as she usually does. After day three of PARCC field-testing I was catching up on some dreaded paperwork, one of the least favorite aspects of my job. Sarah, bubbly as ever, asked if she could email me her presentation as part of the Academies at New Milford High School.
The Web20Classroom
MARCH 20, 2014
'I recently returned from a trip to Los Angeles where I attended the annual ASCD conference. This is one of my favorite conferences of the year because of the diversity of the sessions offered. Everything from Edtech to Teacher Leadership, I usually come away with lots of ideas for going forward or things to think about. And this conference was no different.
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Educational Technology Guy
MARCH 31, 2014
'Today is World Backup Day! Everyone needs to have their files backed up. It is very easy to have your flash drive, hard drive, or computer crash, get damaged, or have your flash drive or laptop get lost or stolen. And it always happens at the worst possible time. There are many different ways to backup your files. You can use an external hard drive, backup to a flash drive, or backup your files to the cloud.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
MARCH 15, 2014
'This week Curriculet announced the release of an Edmodo app version that allows teachers and students to use Curriculet using their Edmodo credentials and classlists. The app is a portal or gateway and opens Curriculet inside Edmodo. I am ecstatic about this announcement! I''ve been using Curriculet ( previously known as Gobstopper ) for two years now, and I can''t say enough good things about it !
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The Innovative Educator
MARCH 23, 2014
'Me and my mother I was at a large conference in the fall when the presenter asked the audience of more than 1000 educators to say the first word that comes to mind when thinking of high school. As if rehearsed for church choir, the audience responded. Their answer? BORED! I was thinking, wow! We all know this truth yet seem to accept it as just the way things are.
EdTechSandyK
MARCH 30, 2014
'Original Source Unknown. Please let me know if you know the original source! Earlier this month, I participated on a panel about BYOD Equit y at SXSWedu. In the weeks leading up to the panel, the graphic to the right came across my radar. I thought it was an excellent visual of the difference between equality and equity. I used it when introducing our SXSWedu panel, and it seemed to resonate with others as well, as it was photographed and Tweeted during the presentation several times.
EdTech Update brings together the best content for education technology professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Web20Classroom
MARCH 12, 2014
'A while back a friend of mine, Patrick Larkin , was a high school principal. (He has since moved up in the world to Asst. Superintendent ) He was regularly blogging for his staff and at the end of his weekly posts of updates, things to remember and such he had a list of things that had him thinking. It might have been a video, blog post, article, something, that had piqued his interest and he wanted to share.
Educational Technology Guy
MARCH 26, 2014
'Google just announced image editing inside of Google Slides and Drawings. I''m ecstatic about this as I use lots of images in my presentations and its so much easier to just edit them in the presentation than in a separate app. You can crop, add borders, and even add masks. Check out the full release below. Edit images right in Google Slides and Drawings Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Posted by Brian Levee, Product Manager (Cross-posted on the Drive Blog.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
MARCH 21, 2014
'My all time favorite tool for digital reading is Curriculet because of its versatility and ease of use (oh, and the price: FREE!). I can assign novels, poems, short stories, and current event articles for my students to read, and they can answer Common Core aligned questions and quizzes in the text. Since it is web-browser based, Curriculet can be used on any device or computer which is a must for my BYOD, 1:1 one day a week with Chromebooks classroom.
mauilibrarian2 in Olinda
MARCH 24, 2014
'Google selfie with +Molly Schroeder and +Wendy Gorton (IC) Yes, +EdTechTeam ''s Second Google for Education Hawaii Summit was FUN! Seven delightfully surprising things happened: 1. I learned about how education can and should be ''uncomfortably exciting''. This is a new phrase I learned from Googler (and former Hawaii resident) +Evan Rapoport , via +Larry Page.
Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape
The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.
EdTechSandyK
MARCH 10, 2014
'Photo from Flikr User MattHurst Used Under a Creative Commons License My favorite part of attending conferences like SXSWedu , TCEA , Tech Forum , or iPadpalooza is getting to learn from education colleagues and share my own learning with them in formal and informal spaces. Having just attended two conferences within the space of a month and done a solo presentation at one of them, I have a few tips fresh on my mind that might help anyone who plans to present at a conference or professional dev
A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 13, 2014
'In Mrs. Chellani’s continual efforts to create an engaging learning experience for her students, she has found utilizing QR codes to facilitate collaboration to be highly beneficial. In order to review material discussed in an assigned video and in class in her Pre-Calculus and Calculus courses, she created QR codes with relevant questions on the material and its’ applications.
The Web20Classroom
MARCH 28, 2014
'This is my series where I explore a few things that I have seen or heard about that is pushing my thinking, getting me to see something a different way or just something I want to share. This week we look at the 3 things that have me excited this week. It’s Complicated -For adults, what teenagers do online has been somewhat of a mystery. We assume they spend their days writing about relationships or drama or other stuff.
Educational Technology Guy
MARCH 13, 2014
'Educlipper is a great, free app from a colleague of mine, Adam Bellow, that just keeps getting better. I''ve written about it before ( EduClipper social web clipper gets Updated with Some Great New Features ). It started as a way to clip and share online educational resources, but it has expanded to have a huge variety of features. Take a look and try it out.
This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
MARCH 23, 2014
'I wanted a creative way to compile and share my pictures from my recent trip with Curriculet to CUE 2014 conference in Palm Springs, California. Searching through the Chrome Web Store, I found Loupe Collage. Similar to creating a customized word cloud in Tagxedo , Loupe Collage allows users to pull in pictures from Facebook, Google +, Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, the web, Instagram, and files ( ok, everywhere ) to create a collage where the shape and background can be customized.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 19, 2014
'In his recent article, " 14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools ," Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson, gives innovative educators, students, and parents some food for thought in their own schools. When I read the article, I couldn''t help but think that an excellent activity would be to turn the article into a quiz for school staff, students, and parents.
The Mobile Native
MARCH 8, 2014
'Here is a list of 20+ Mobile Learners that share great mlearning content on twitter. Each one of them shares their unique views of mobile learning from around the world. Here is a list I created on twitter of 101 Mobile Learners.
A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 5, 2014
'Mrs. Collentine’s Global Perspectives in Literature had a different spin on their research paper this year. In previous years, students had selected a charity to research and then, where possible, were to work for that charity in some capacity as part of the research paper experience. This year, students were to select a charity from a different part of the world—namely the country that is their own heritage and background.
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My Paperless Classroom
MARCH 15, 2014
'Cheryl and I co-wrote this post. We would love your feedback as we continue to develop workshops to educate teachers in the tools of flipping and the magic of puppets. Sam: In my life as an educator I have lead workshops in responding to student writing, writing college essays, writing blogs with students, and sharing student writing. There have been other workshops and they all revolved around the common theme of writing.
The 21st Century Principal
MARCH 5, 2014
'As a teacher and now as an administrator, looking for shortcuts and easy ways to manage aspects of the job has become second nature. I must confess that I began my job as an educator when desktop computers were rare, and mobile phones were too large to really be considered mobile. I didn''t even have a phone in my classroom in those days. The only thing that connected me to the office was a button that activated a buzzed through the school''s intercom system.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
MARCH 27, 2014
'This is a guest post from Mrs. Marynn Dause , an English teacher at King George High School in King George, Virginia, who is using Class Dojo to gamify her class. I''m fascinated with gamification and using Edmodo to gamify my Odyssey unit , but Mrs. Dause''s approach has got me thinking. Using Class Dojo, her method is something we all can learn from and with Class Dojo''s BIG ANNOUNCEMENT , staying in contact with parents and students just got easier.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 12, 2014
'Schools don’t have to kill the creativity Sir Ken Robinson laments in his popular video. To follow are a few ideas that can teachers can share with parents, or use in their classrooms, to provide young people with the inspiration to be creative. 1) Create safe havens Julia Cameron , author of The Artist’s Way tells the guardian that by “Creating safe havens where our children are allowed to dream, play, make a mess and, yes, clean it up, we teach them respect for themselves and others.” 2) In
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.
Philly Teacher
MARCH 15, 2014
'A few weeks ago I was sitting in a report card conference with one of my advisees discussing his classes, his school work and some struggles he’d been having. At one point he said, “I think I’m taking advantage of the freedom I have.” It was a powerful statement and a one that really stuck with me. We give our students at SLA Beeber a lot of freedoms.
A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 10, 2014
'The following was written by Evan Scherr and the original post can be accessed at Just Thinking Out Loud. I love Twitter. I have connected with some really amazing practitioners because of it. I have become friends with some really fantastic people as a result of it. Twitter serves as the bridge to my connecting and my learning. It is a beautiful bridge.
My Paperless Classroom
MARCH 5, 2014
'Bongo and 3 of the Bee Bots Our first lesson was a getting to know the bee bots session. We had 4-5 kids per mat and we distributed some command cards to each kids (next time I should give each kid identical mixed packs of command cards). The kids had to map out the course with the cards and I modeled placing each card on the mat in order. This helped them visualize the sequence.
The 21st Century Principal
MARCH 1, 2014
'In two previous posts, "Pearson PowerSchool Disasters in NC and Tech Lessons to Be Learned From It" and "Update! Pearson Sees Most of NC Users as Satisfied with PowerSchool Huh?" I outlined the major issues North Carolina public schools are navigating due to Pearson''s malfunctioning PowerSchool software. Based on yesterday''s Charlotte Observer , it seems now state education officials are trying to get money back from the partially failed one-year implementation of PowerSchool, (See "NC on Tro
Speaker: Amanda Davis, Chief Experience Officer and Liam O'Malley, VP of Association Solutions
The "new normal" is now a little less new, a little more normal. Does that mean your current LMS strategy is in need of a refresh? Is your organization or association leaning into the always-evolving eLearning environment to ensure you have the tools and content to remain relevant through all this change? There are many complex decision-making processes within your learning & development strategy and LMS lifecycle management, including: Selection.
Baker's B.Y.O.D.
MARCH 27, 2014
'ClassDojo iOS and Android apps now include ClassDojo Messaging — a new feature enabling teachers and parents to easily and meaningfully communicate about student progress. Users of Class Dojo and BYOD advocates will appreciate the ease with which they can keep parents connected to the classroom. Take a look at the screenshots below showing how ClassDojo Messaging will look on a personal device.
The Innovative Educator
MARCH 9, 2014
'To engage or not to engage? That is the question when it comes to figuring out the best platform for strengthening the home-school connection with texting. Schools know that texting is a great way to reach out to families. It’s better than the “robo-calling” that is only one-way, is overwhelmingly reported as an annoyance to the Better Business Bureau , can disturb parents at work, or set off all the school staff phones ringing at the same time.
SpeechTechie
MARCH 11, 2014
'The iPad is such an engaging gadget that we sometimes can be too focused on its screen--kids especially. For this reason, it is helpful to locate apps that provide context or creation, but let us break away from the screen to focus on the communication and learning aspects of the activity. Dr. Pet Play by Pretendasaurus is an app that supports just that kind of context, turning the iPad into a pretend "medical device" that can be used in a play-based interaction with children.
A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 24, 2014
'Ms. Fleming recently hosted Mr. Fowler’s Conceptual Physics classes for some hands-on experiences with electronics in the Makerspace at New Milford HS. Prior to their experience in this space, students had worked with the pHET DC Circuit Simulator. They were able to explore current flows through light bulbs in circuits powered by batteries and controlled by switches.
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