Author: PCCS TIS

The online Sora app was designed around the modern student reading experience. This app, developed and curated by Overdrive, empowers students to discover and enjoy ebooks and audiobooks, for both leisure and class-assigned reading. ALL STUDENTS in schools that don’t already have an OverDrive subscription AND ALL STAFF can now log into our Sora page using their Google Accounts at http://links.pccsk12.com/sora and begin checking out ebooks!

Students at all of our middle schools and three of our elementary schools already have OverDrive and Sora account access and should continue to access their collections as they normally have in the past, with the new knowledge that all of the additional premium titles our district account has access to also have been added to their respective school’s collections. For those uncertain how students can access Sora and your schools’ OverDrive account, please contact your school’s media specialist.

Inspired by educator and student feedback, Sora was created to excite kids about reading and remove distractions to promote a focus on learning.

Once logged in, students are able to “check out” for free one or more ebooks from a selection of more than  200 premium ebook titles, some with audio accompaniment.  Sign in to see what’s available or browse this list of titles that were available earlier in the month. The selection of what’s free and available for unlimited simultaneous check out changes monthly, and while access to some of the premium titles will end in late June, access to some titles will continue throughout the coming school year.

Below are some of the available titles and a brief introductory video.

Time sensitive – Happening today, Thursday, April 23rd, so heads up. This swift-paced free session (offered from 10:30 am – 11 am and again at noon – 12:30 pm) is a very efficient use of 30 minutes! Join Google Certified teacher Matt Bergman for a fun and exciting session that will leave you walking away with 10 new tools to implement in your Google Classroom immediately. He will introduce the tools, show you how to use them, and provide practical classroom examples of when you might want to use ’em.

Register and more info here: https://simplek12.lpages.co/event-10googleapps-v1/

This is sponsored by SimpleK12, a site and service that offers PD. While this is a free session and no purchase is necessary, should you sign up, you might get future email alerts for both free webinars they offer as well as ones that involve a subscription that they will encourage you to purchase.  To learn more about their offerings, including future free webinars, visit https://www.simplek12.com/tier/free-event/

Some of their upcoming free events…

As a tech integration team, we want to ensure that every person that belongs to the P-CCS community feels supported and they have all the tools they need to be successful during this challenging time. The team has been working around the clock to create various resources that are user-friendly, reliable, and relevant to the work that we are doing every day. Below you will find four resources that will help you support your students.

1. The Home Learning Hub– Unveiled in early April, this site is designed for parents and is updated on a weekly basis. The newest change to the site is the Family Tech Resources section. On its main page and its sub pages, parents and students can find information on our learning platforms including Google Classroom, Seesaw, Clever, and Read and Write for Google. If parents have questions on these platforms or any other questions regarding technology, please consider directing them to this site: https://sites.google.com/pccsk12.com/hlh/home
2. The Home Teaching Hub– Teaching in an online space can be similar to face to face, but is also different. We have created this site for you as educators. On the hub’s pages are targeted supports for the above platforms, remote teaching resources, and online PD. We hope you find the information on this page useful. To access the site visit https://sites.google.com/pccsk12.com/hth/home
3. Virtual Office Hours– Both Rick and Matt are available for one on one support. We have created a program with Calendly where you can schedule a time to meet with either of us.
   • Virtual Office Hours: 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. But we can sometimes accommodate different times.
   • Once confirmed, Calendly will automatically create a Google Meet and you can add it to your calendar.
   • To access the Calendly, visit https://calendly.com/tis-pccs/15min.
4. Webinars (Coming Soon)- We will soon start offering weekly webinars that focus on what is going on in the “classrooms.” This could include topics such as “How to engage learners online with Google Classroom” or “How to differentiate for online learners using Seesaw.” Please be on the lookout for calendar invites and posts in the Home Teaching Hub and on the blog.

We hope that this information helps you navigate how to teach in an online environment!

Thanks,

Matt and Rick

For the remainder of this school year, Michigan Virtual is offering the content of over 70 of their high-quality online courses FREE to educators and parents as a resource to supplement student learning.

Courses are available for students in Grades 6-12, and each course’s content includes all digital lessons; however, it does not include assessments and is non-credit bearing. It is intended to provide educators and parents with enrichment materials they can use to keep students engaged and learning during school closures.

To learn more and to register, visit Michigan Virtual at https://lc.michiganvirtual.org/

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The Michigan Cares Portal offers Michigan families and educators FREE digital lessons designed to help students in grades K-12 develop the skills required for social, emotional, and mental well-being. Includes lessons, videos, websites, articles, and interactive multimedia that can be used on any device. All content is aligned to CASEL outcomes.

To learn more and to register for a free staff, student, or parent/guardian account, visit the Michigan Cares website at https://michiganvirtual.org/sel/michigan-cares/

Teq Online Professional Development service for instructional staff is designed to boost classroom technology skills for heightened student engagement and improved instruction. Teq’s Online Technology and Instructional Sessions (OTIS) for educators™ offers dynamic, relevant, and convenient professional development around educational technology, STEM, social-emotional learning, literacy, ENL/ELL, and more.

How Do I Access OTIS?

1. Navigate to Clever: links.pccsk12.com/cl

2.  Log in with your district Google account

3. Scroll to the bottom of the Clever Portal and click on the Opd icon

4. 
5. You will then auto-log into OTIS

6. Navigate to the “Playlists” for P-CCS suggested lessons, or check out the “Course Library” to find your own lessons of interest. Happy learning!

What is “Ask OTIS?”

You will notice this icon when logged into OTIS. Just “ASK OTIS”  is there to connect with a Teq PD Specialist for one-on-one guidance on integrating your tech into instruction or simply on how to use OTIS’s online PD features. If you want help with technology that is P-CCS specific, you can also make an appointment with a Tech Integration Specialist by clicking on the 1:1 Support Calendar icon.

For more learning, visit the P-CCS Home Teaching Hub: https://sites.google.com/pccsk12.com/hth/

Nearpod is an award winning interactive lesson delivery platform that allows seamless delivery of online, student paced, and teacher-led instruction. Consider it for one of the tools in your online instruction.  Starting this week, Nearpod is also offering expanded live webinars almost on an hourly basis via this link: https://nearpod.com/blog/resources/

All P-CCS instructional staff can sign in to Nearpod with the Google Single Sign On button on the Nearpod site. Through June 2020 district instructional staff have access to their platform and premium features.

What exactly IS Nearpod? Watch the introductory video to get a sense of what teachers can do with it.

You will also find other resources on the Nearpod YouTube channel to help you with it. Keep in mind that you can also contact your Tech Integration Specialists to help get you up and running by signing up for our office hours: https://calendly.com/tis-pccs/15min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkA8nxy7SZc&list=PL09U3vv6UoGTzzuc-DXm5tLtpY5flISZG

The Discovery Experience platform is packed with over 190,000 assignable, editable activities and resources for K-12, based on core curriculum concepts and popular topics in math, science, social studies, ELA, and health. Whether you’re looking for fun videos, interactive activities, or complete, ready-to-use lesson plans, Discovery Education Experience has everything teachers want and students need to enhance virtual learning.

P-CCS instructional staff now have full access to the entire platform of resources for home learning through June 30, 2020. Teachers can also create student accounts and add them to classes using the Classroom Manager.

Instructional staff: to login, visit the sign in page, and enter your district Google credentials. https://google.discoveryeducation.com

After logging in, check out the Professional Learning Center’s step-by-step guides: https://teachers.discoveryeducation.com/learn-lead/step-by-step-guides/streaming/

You might also want to check out Discovery Education’s resources that support virtual learning on their recently-launched Discovery Education Virtual Learning site. https://www.discoveryeducation.com/virtual-learning/

John R. Sowash is a former HS biology teacher and principal who helps teachers use technology to improve instruction. You can pick up a copy of his book, read his blog, or invite him to come and visit your school. You can also access his GREAT tips and tutorials on YouTube.

Below is a reprint of John’s tips on teaching online:

Teaching online is very different than teaching in a traditional classroom.

Here are five quick tips to help you make the transition.

1. Embrace routine and repetition

Consistency and routine are important when teaching online.

When students understand what they are being asked to do and can confidently use the tools that are required, the quality of their work will increase.

(Routine will also simplify your lesson planning.)

Consider establishing assignments that repeat on a weekly basis.

• Monday – Reading assignment
• Tuesday – Class Discussion
• Wednesday/Thursday – Creation project
• Friday – Assessment or reflection activity

This is just an example; find a routine that works for you.

Idea: Journaling is a great weekly assignment. Google Slides is ideal for journaling because it is easily expandible (just add a new slide each day!). This blog post has a journal template and tips for setting up a weekly assignment in Google Classroom.

2. Encourage connection and discussion

Nearly everyone is locked inside their homes right now. Most of our daily connections have been lost.

Whenever possible, provide opportunities for your students to connect and share with one another.

While your lessons probably won’t be as popular as the latest TikTok trend, giving students the opportunity to connect and share will increase their motivation to complete assignments.

Here are a few ideas for building engagement into your online course:

• Encourage class discussions in Google Classroom by using the “question” feature. You might ask students to watch a movie trailer and predict the major themes in the book you are reading.
• Use Google Slides as an “exhibit hall” for student work. Each student gets one slide to display their art project, website, video, etc. Use the speaker note section to provide encouragement, feedback, and suggestions. Here’s an example from a math course.
• Enable commenting on the “stream” page so that students can post and share. These posts provide students a much-needed outlet to connect with their classmates. This video should help!

If you are allowing students to post and reply to one another, make sure you set some guidelines for the responses. These are the guidelines I used in my online course.

3. Keep it simple!

Clarity and simplicity are essential when teaching online.

Every assignment must be carefully planned, explained, and assigned.

I would also recommend that you limit the number of tools that you use in your classroom.

Trying to teach students how to use WeVideo, Desmos, Screencastify, etc will be very challenging if you didn’t use the tool before your school closed.

Strip everything down to the essentials. You can add things in later as needed.

4. Slow down…the pacing is different

Teaching online will feel like you are teaching at half-speed.

It’s not you…everyone feels this way.

Adjust your expectations to prevent frustration for you and your students.

Focus on creating engaging assignments that really focus on your core objectives.

Quality is more important than quantity when teaching online.

5. LIVE lessons are a waste of time!

Online learning provides a tremendous amount of flexibility:

• You aren’t limited to a 55 minute class period
• You don’t have to teach the same thing 2-4 times a day.
• Your students can work when it is convenient for them.

LIVE lessons delivered with Google Meet or Zoom should be used sparingly. The primary benefit of connecting in real-time is interaction.

 LIVE lessons with Zoom or Google Meet are NOT an effective use of time.

Here is a different approach:

• Pre-record your lesson using Screencastify.
• Post the video lesson to Google Classroom (you might ask a simple objective question to verify that they watched the video).
• Schedule an optional LIVE session to answer student questions related to the instructional video.
• Hold everyone accountable to the objectives covered in the lesson.

LIVE lessons eliminate the best feature of online learning – flexibility.

Check out and consider attending one or more of these upcoming free webinars offered by CDW-G on various aspects of distance learning: