Author: PCCS TIS

May is Mental Health Awareness and Physical Fitness/Sports Month–a perfect time to explore BrainPOP’s Getting Help and Fitness topics. Spring can be particularly challenging as you juggle assessments and finish up the school year strong. No wonder Teacher Appreciation Week falls in May! We hope you take time for yourself this month (and always). May is also a month that honors AAPI, Haitian, and Jewish American heritage. Build and deepen your students’ knowledge of these cultures with our related topics and collections highlighted in this edition of the Teachers’ Lounge. Warmly,

As a reminder, all district students, K-12 can access our paid subscription to BrainPop/BrainPop Jr via Clever at https://clever.com/in/pccs

https://go.brainpop.com/teachers-lounge/may23

Enjoy NewsELA’s May Content Calendar with article ideas for every school day in May!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PDF with active links

 

 

You may know that google forms can be a great tool to collect data. Google forms are often viewed as a survey tool – but they are much more powerful than just collecting opinions. Check out this list of 30 ways to use Google Forms in the Classroom. 

 

Canva Magic Write is now available to all of our staff. Magic Write uses artificial intelligence (AI) to act as your own teaching assistant. You can do things such as:

• Personalize lesson plans
• Summarize concepts
• Find dozens of written work examples
• Draft parent communications and student feedback
• or even help you brainstorm some creative ideas for your next lesson

When using AI, please remember that it is constantly learning and adapting. So the more information you provide, the more detailed and factual it will become. Please also vet the content it provides. As with all technology, especially new technology, it is not perfect, but it can definitely save you a lot of time, spark ideas, or be a starter for your work.

For more information on this feature please visit: Try Magic Write for Education in Canva

April is here! And NewsELA has put together resources that can be used throughout the month of April. For each weekday, you’ll find a Newsela resource that is ready to go and can be used immediately. On some days, you’ll also find a corresponding shared lesson from a Newsela Community member!

Download the April 2023 calendar

All P-CCS students in grades 3-12 have NewsELA access. If you need support in using our NewsELA subscription, please select technology integration when submitting a tech request at helpdesk.pccsk12.com.

 

Canva for Education is a free digital design tool in which students and teachers can create posters, websites, flyers, videos, collaborative whiteboards, documents, lesson plans, infographics, worksheets, and more! Canva works to make the process of design simplified so anyone can create!

As a P-CCS staff member or student you can access your free Canva account through the waffle. Just click on the Canva Icon!

You can also access Canva

1. Through the Google dashboard at https://workspace.google.com/u/0/dashboard
2. Sign in with Google on Canva’s website at https://www.canva.com/

 

Want to learn more about using Canva?

Matt Smoot, PCCS technology integration specialist, has designed 2 asynchronous Professional Developments in Canvas Catalog

• Learn Canva in Canvas 1.0
• Learn Canva in Canvas 2.0

Kasey Bell – Shake Up Learning – has a few blog posts (or podcast episodes if you prefer to listen!) about it too

• 30+ ways to use Canva in your classroom (part 1)
• 30 + ways to use Canva in your classroom (part 2)

 

Still want more? Put in a tech request for technology integration and Matt Smoot or Shannon Way are happy to help!