Hello all and happy almost Christmas! It is hard to believe with it being almost 70 degrees outside the winter season is upon us! A few items that I would like to share with you:
Google Extensions that you may want to try! What are Google Extensions? Extensions are small programs that can enhance your experience with Google Chrome. You can add extensions to your Web Browser at any time by clicking on the “Menu Icon” → More Tools and clicking Extensions: Extensions worth the Mention! Tab Scissors- Tab Scissors allows you to have two windows open at the same time. This simple extension can easily split your screen into two so you and your students can view multiple windows side-by-side. One Tab- Did you ever find yourself browsing through the Web to notice that you have 15,029,456 tabs open at one time? Did you ever have to walk away from your hard Internet work and research not wanting to close all of your tabs? Well, if you have- you are reading the right text my friend. The One Tab Extension will save and bookmark all of your tabs in order so you can visit them again another time! TechSmith Snagit- Thinking of Flipping your Classroom? Have a student absent and need they need, need, NEED today’s lesson? Snagit is an extension where you can record your screen and voice while you have Google Chrome open. Saves to Google Drive when complete! Grammarly- Writing an email to a parent? The Grammarly extension can check on-the-spot grammar issues and make suggestions while you are typing! Hi all. As many of you know I was away at NYSCATE learning about the future of technology and education.
It was definitely information overload. It took me a few days to process all of this information... Yet, there was one piece of information that was shared with me, and for whatever reason it is stuck playing in head over and over again like a catchy tune. Jaime Casap, from Google, was among one of the keynote speakers.... and what he said truly opened my eyes. I would like to share that with you what he spoke to me (and several hundred of other attendees but I swear when he said the following nobody else was there!): "We often ask our students, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I do not believe that is the right question. First, all the labor forecasts predict that most jobs of the future haven't been defined yet. Second, we already have jobs most students wouldn't recognize, like "Bio-Medical Engineer" or "Sustainable Materials Architect." Instead of asking our students what they want to be when they grow up, we should ask them what problem they want to solve. We should ask them to think about what knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to solve that problem. We should ask them to think about where they can get the knowledge, skills, and abilities they will need. We should ask them to think about how the problem they want to solve fits into the context of the world." (taken from: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2015/05/jaime_casap_explains_why_global_competence_matters_its_not_really_a_small_world.html I'm sure if I were to reword it I would of babbled for eons!) I believe a large part of that begins with Global Connections and understanding our world as a whole. For example, did you know that you can take a virtual field trip to the Louvre Museum, walk the streets of Brazil, or check out the Washington Monument all from your classroom? For Free? <--- let's face it, airfare is ridiculously expensive. Here are some tools for all grades. All subject areas. All classrooms. To help you get connected and to help your students begin to understand what problems we might need to solve. Google Hangouts- connect with a classroom, company, zoo, church (I can keep going) either locally or globally and schedule a "Hangout" with one another. Wait. What is a Hangout? I thought you'd never ask! Hangout is Google's version of Skype. Same concept, however you can connect (with the Google for Education) up to 10 Hangout conferences at one time. My fourth grade class WILL be doing this soon with a mystery Hangout (we have to guess where in the world the classroom is located based on asking the classroom 10 questions). Want to see what's involved- come join us! The more the merrier! Google Cultural Institute- https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home "Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces." It comprises of the Art Project, Historical Moments, and World Wonders. You can make your own gallery and share it with your students! The detail that is involved in the GCI is surreal- and definitely worth looking at my history, art, science, Lit.,music and Religion friends! My Maps- https://www.google.com/maps/d/ I'll never use this math in the real world!" I even at one time heard myself saying that. Use Google Maps to infuse math skills by plotting distances between two points, as well as finding the shortest distance are ways to help students understand real-world math problems. You can even Students can either create a new map or open a map that a teacher has predetermined for them. Google Tour Builder- Found at https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/#create Allows you to create your own virtual tour using maps, video and photographs from around the world all wrapped into a presentation. See how what sports are valued in different cultures from around the world, take a trip to Spain or visit various points a literary piece discusses. Google Earth is another powerful tool where you can have your students walk the streets of any city anywhere in the world! Break down the barrier of your four walls and take children across the world! I highly recommend infusing this technology into your classrooms! Please see me for assistance: https://www.google.com/earth/ You can even fly a plane around the Earth if Google Earth is installed on a PC! https://support.google.com/earth/answer/148089?hl=en&ref_topic=4386088 Google Lit Trips- http://www.googlelittrips.org/ is a collection of books for k-12 students where you can "travel with the character" around the world as you read the book. Whew... that was a lot to digest and only a snippet of what Google has to offer to help our classrooms become Globally connected. With everyone starting to mention the word "paperless" to me, and how they would like to see their classroom eventually end up there, I thought it was a good time to share a resource: Handouts.
What's it about? Handouts is a "free" (for one classroom use)app that can be used on tablets and ipads. Simply take a photo or scan in your worksheet and upload it to the teacher portal and distribute them to the students in your class! Students then can use a stylus or their fingertips to practice items such as handwriting sheets and math worksheets. You also have the ability to grade and give feedback via the app! Great for center time, guided reading, or as part of your everyday classroom. What I like about it is that I can carry my teacher dashboard anywhere (I have it installed on my cell phone)! Also- there is no more misplaced papers between home and school. Here is the Teacher Quick Start Guide to help get you started: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qr7dFlJSnx4Rmd4PS2LwLfuo0ywUoK_hXWn20DtbQcg/edit#slide=id.gc9699b725_0_0_ If you are interested in learning how to use this app in your classroom, let me know and we can get started! |
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December 2015
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