5th Annual EdCamp at Schoolcraft College

The 5th annual Schoolcraft EdCamp will be held Sat. Feb. 9.

“EdCamp is an educational unconference that is educator-driven and educator-led. It is a powerful learning format that works—professional development for teachers, by teachers. Attendees determine the session content and serve as both presenters and audience. Bring your ideas. Be ready to network and share.”
Great way to learn and share with other local educators. AND earn 4 SCECH
and it’s free!  Click on the link below for more details or visit the website: http://www.schoolcraft.edu/edcamp

6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2019 – Jennifer Gonzalez

Jennifer Gonzalez On the Best Classroom Tech Tools

In this Cult of Pedagogy article, Jennifer Gonzalez updates her list of the six most helpful classroom technology tools, plus two honorable mentions. “I don’t think technology is the end-all be-all,” says Gonzalez, “and of course it brings new problems into our lives, but just watching the creativity behind these tools makes me so excited to live in a time when so many ordinary people can actually bring their ideas to life and watch those ideas impact the world.”

Equity Maps http://www.equitymaps.com – This iPad app helps figure out which students participate in class discussions, how often, and for how long. Having entered a seating chart into the computer, the teacher taps each student’s icon as he or she starts talking, and the app keeps track of each student’s contribution time and displays a summary at the end, including a breakdown by gender. The teacher can also tap for periods of silence, pair-shares, small groups, and even “chaos” – when general discussion gives way to many smaller conversations. In addition, the app can audio-record the whole discussion for later review.

Pro Writing Aid https://prowritingaid.com – This program does a deep dive into the quality of writing. The writer composes within the tool, copies and pastes or uploads the text, and gets a summary report with statistics on strengths and weaknesses, plus suggestions for changes when you hover over highlighted places within the text. Reports include readability (on four different reading scales), the number of times certain words were used, passive voice, overused words, use of clichés, sentence variety, unique words in the piece, average sentence length, the placement of different sentences by length, and adverb frequency. There’s a paid version of this software, but Gonzalez says you can get a lot of mileage from the free version.

Google Tour Creator https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/ – This new feature in Google Expeditions allows students to create their own tours using imagery from Google Street View and publish them into the Poly 3-D platform https://poly.google.com. These could be used as part of a research project, reflecting after a field trip, a tour of the neighborhood or the school, or a supplement to a creative writing project.

Great Big Story https://www.greatbigstory.com has short, professionally produced, positively themed videos about people and phenomena around the world – for example, a 12-year-old who took on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the accidental invention of the best snack food, and America’s oldest female BMX racer. Teachers should preview material because some may not be appropriate for younger students.

Geoguessr https://geoguessr.com – “This one is my absolute favorite,” says Gonzalez. “This would be a fantastic option for early finishers, lame duck days, or even as a reward for good behavior – it’s that fun.” Players are plunked down somewhere in the world using Google Street View and have to navigate around and figure out where they are. Players get points for how successful they are at pinpointing their location on a map.

Webjets http://webjets.io – Users create what looks like a bulletin board on which they post items on cards, which can contain an image, an embedded video, a live Google Doc, an attached file, or a table with a variety of elements organized in columns. Students can keep multiple folders on one board, and all cards can be collapsed or expanded. This is a good tool for group projects.

Yoteach! https://yoteachapp.com – This backchannel tool allows a teacher to set up a free, password-protected “room,” give students the URL, and they can come in and chat, adding pictures or drawings.

Classroomq https://classroomq.com – Students who need help or have a question can add themselves to an electronic queue and get help in order (and then get checked off by the teacher with one click).

“6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2019” by Jennifer Gonzalez in The Cult of Pedagogy, January 6, 2019, https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/ed-tech-tools-2019/

Online Data Breach Reveals Millions of Emails and Password

Last week another large online data breach was reported. (Read the article from CNET.) The technicians that checked the breach list found that much of it was current and accurate, which is rare for such a large data set.

What can you do?

  1. Enter in your email address(es) in the following website to see which websites/accounts have been breached, and potentially exposed data about your account. www.haveibeenpwned.com
  2. Get notifications of future breaches that expose your email address and potentially other sensitive data. www.haveibeenpwned.com/notifyme
  3. Learn about data breaches and the types of fraud so that you are prepared when it happens.
  4. Change passwords! Make unique passwords for every account.
    • To keep track of all your unique passwords, consider using a password manager like 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass or one of the free ones reviewed here where you only have to remember one [unique and complex] master password and the app will save the rest of your passwords in AES-256 bit encrypted vaults.
    • When using a password manager, make sure to set the settings to automatically log you out after a short period of inactivity to prevent others from accessing your vault (it completely defeats the purpose of the vault if you leave the door always open!).
  5. Read this article: Data breaches can sucker-punch you. Prepare to fight back

Visit these sites for information and next steps if you have been a victim of identity theft:

Hope you find this helpful and that it serves to keep you digitally safe during harrowing digital times.

REMC Virtual Courses – February 2019

It’s easy to embrace your love of learning with REMC’s Virtual Courses! They offer a convenient way for teachers to connect and collaborate while reducing time and cost. These courses are available throughout the school year and are open to all Michigan school personnel. Best of all, all courses are instructor lead, free, and offer free SCECHs when completed.

Register Now for the February sessions

Five to seven courses are offered each month. Each course is open for three weeks and consists of two (2) one-hour webinars and four (4) to eight (8) hours of resource review, assessment developments and written reflection. SCECHs are available, ranging from 6 – 10, depending on the course.

Courses offered in February:

  • The What, Why, and How of Open Educational Resources (OER)
  • OER to Support Competency-Based Education (CBE)
  • Design Thinking made Practical
  • A Practical Guide to Global Success Skills in the Classroom for the 21st Century and Beyond
  • Social Media: Professional Development through Social Media, Level 1
  • Extending Your Classroom to the Cloud
  • Coding in the Classroom

Please feel free to contact the technology department if you have any questions.

Embed Content in Book Creator- Let the App Smashing Begin!!!

If you are unfamiliar with Book Creator, it is an app/web software that allows the users to sign in with the Google information and be able to create interactive EBooks. The user interface is both intuitive and user-friendly. All K-2 iPads have Book Creator on the students iPads. And Book Creator can be accessed for Chromebooks at app.bookcreator.com

Recently they have posted an update that allows content to be embedded in the books. The update was from the summer, but due to bugs and technical glitches, the TIS team felt it was better to post now, as it is much more stable. Things to embed include Google Maps, Videos directly from Youtube, Audio Clips, Google Docs, and so much more.

 

For more information about the update go to https://bookcreator.com/2018/08/you-can-now-embed-content-in-book-creator/

Go to https://bookcreator.com/to learn more about Book Creator and gather some ideas on how to integrate into the classroom!

Remind Will No Longer Work with Verizon Starting January 28, 2019

Remind, previously known as Remind 101, is a commonly used notification system in the district. This is why it is important that all staff utilizing this tool read this blog post. Starting January 28, 2019, Verizon customers will no longer receive Remind notifications through text messaging. Please note that Verizon customers, as well as all other users of Remind, can still receive notifications through the Remind app. Please read below for further details from Remind’s announcement regarding this issue.

“What’s happening
Starting on Monday, January 28, text notifications will be ending for Verizon Wireless customers who use the free Remind service.

If you communicate with your class on Remind: People who normally get your Remind messages as texts may no longer receive them.

If you have Verizon Wireless as your phone carrier: You’ll no longer receive Remind text notifications. To get messages, you’ll need to turn on smartphone or email notifications instead.

Why the Verizon fee affects free text messaging on Remind
To offer our text messaging service free of charge, Remind has always paid for each text that users receive or send. Now, Verizon is charging Remind an additional fee intended for companies that send spam over its network.

Your Remind messages aren’t spam, but that hasn’t helped resolve the issue with Verizon. The fee will increase our cost of supporting text messaging to at least 11 times our current cost—forcing us to end free Remind text messaging for the more than 7 million students, parents, and educators who have Verizon Wireless as their carrier.

What you can do
IMPORTANT: If you have a phone plan with Verizon Wireless, click here first to make sure you can still receive Remind messages on the app or by email after January 28.”

In the wake of this change, Richard Byrne (from the Free Technology for Teachers blog) has posted Free Alternatives to Remind that you may also want to consider.

If you have any questions or need help with this adjusting for this change, please feel free to contact us at tis@pccsk12.com or submit a service request for technology integration support.

 

Google Classroom mobile app saves time and prevents heavy bags full of student papers

I know you’ve been using Google Classroom for some time now, but maybe you don’t realize the power of the Google Classroom mobile app for iOS and Android devices. By now, you know that Google Classroom can streamline your classroom paper workflow and is a powerful tool for giving students feedback, but did you know that you can use a stylus with the Google Classroom app, that allows you to “write” virtually on student work submitted through Classroom?  You can highlight, circle, add hand written comments and even words of encouragements! It’s awesome. As a former middle school Language Arts teacher, this tool would have been indispensable to me.  I wouldn’t miss hauling a giant bag full of essays home. Just my trusty iPad!

NEW 2018 Google Classroom Updates for Desktop (detailed overview)

How to use Google Classroom (iPad App)

Manage teaching and learning with Classroom

Download iOS Version

Download Android Version

-Rick Coughlin

2019 METS Virtual Rally Registration And Call For Presenters

Use the below to register for the 2019 METS Virtual Rally, which will be held on February 8, 2019 from 8-11:45 am.  bit.ly/mets2019

The METS group are also seeking applications for presenters. The option to submit a presentation proposal is available at the end of this form. They are seeking a wide variety of topics that would appeal to EdTech leaders and which utilize engagement strategies to encourage active participation in an online conference format. Additionally, Presenters will be paired with a “coach” to help prepare for the online format and to develop engagement strategies. To see examples from last year’s Virtual Rally please visit http://bit.ly/2QGfLv

IMPORTANT: Before You Leave For Break…

For those of you about to begin a well deserved two-week break, which we hope will be all you hope for and a bit more, before you leave on Friday…

WOULD YOU PLEASE SECURE ALL VALUABLES in the classrooms and office spaces you inhabit. This includes laptops, document cameras, Apple TVs, remotes, and interactive pens. 

Further, would you please make sure all iPads and Chromebooks are in their carts and those CARTS ARE LOCKED and plugged in before leaving.

Finally, would you please also POWER OFF any of the following equipment, if it is equipment you handle:

  • projectors
  • sound amps
  • SmartBoards
  • desktop computers
  • monitors
  • printers
  • copiers
  • and hit the lights on the way out, if you’re the last one 😉