Tech Tuesday Archive 19

Good afternoon everybody,

I know you've missed the updates! Next week I'm determined to get you some good info on an actual Tuesday.  However, the delay this week brings with it a teachable moment.  I was all set yesterday afternoon to send you a Tech Tuesday email when I suddenly had to deal with fraudulent activity on my checking account.  All is fine now and it only took a measly 3 hours of phone calls to get it sorted out yesterday...  I just thought it was important to remind you all to carefully pick your passwords and change them once in a while.  If you are like me, you get really annoyed at having to remember every different password for every different website "Is this the one I have to start with a capital letter? Does this one need 8 characters? Do I have to do the hokey pokey in the webcam before I can log on to this website??" There is definitely a point to these exercises as there are, unfortunately, people out there looking to steal your money or identity.  Here are a couple resources for you:

-Lastpass.com stores all of your passwords and can generate highly secure passwords for you.  You can use the site to access several sites and it is secure.  This one is new to me, but recommended to me from a highly reliable source.  

-Check out this article about changing your passwords - It made the rounds on Facebook last summer and stuck with me - a great story even if you don't want to change any of your passwords.  There are a few swear words, FYI:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mauricio-estrella/how-a-password-changed-my-life_b_5567161.html

Some other tips:

-Google classroom now allows you to customize your classroom settings even further.  They've added more options (I'm particularly excited to have a picture of the digestive tract greeting my honors bio students) and you can upload your own pictures as the background for your class.

-The mobile app has increased how much students can share to assignment submissions.  Something that was brought to my attention, however, is that students with Android phones are having trouble accessing classroom/drive/docs from their phones due to the school domain and their phone being a google device.  IPhone users don't seem to have any issues :)

-Several of you have asked me if 2 teachers can be in charge of a single class on classroom.  The answer is no but this seems to be the most requested feature on Classroom.  If this pertains to you, I encourage you to click the question mark on the bottom right side of the classroom site and put in the request to Google.  They have been very responsive to the feedback they are receiving and I am sure they will bring this feature soon.

That's it - as always, if you have any feedback or need any help, let me know!

Have a great week!

Tech Tuesday Archive 18

Good afternoon everybody,

Thank you to everybody who participated in both my presentations on Friday as well as the myriad of other choices.  It really was a great day and I'm excited to start so many conversations with people about that "next step".  

There is a very brief, completely voluntary form that was attached to the menu of choices for the PD day.  If you'd like to share your experience, take a couple minutes to fill out the form.  Here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/a/collsk12.org/forms/d/17VXzzANHwsPMLZxDe7ZcI8A-6Vh6_rojoMNnGWavbg0/viewform?usp=send_form

I know a lot of people would love to have a PD day like this next year and maybe you have a suggestion for the next time - please share - that's what this is all about!

Couple minor tips this week:

-Duplicate a tab: If you right click a tab, there is an option to duplicate it.  This can be really helpful if you are filling out a form or entering grades in genesis and you want to quickly look something up.  

-Screencastify extension - this is what I used to make my videos the last couple of weeks.  I'll be out on a personal day tomorrow and will be sending my students a quick screencast that they can watch while in class.  Also its a great option for students who might be too anxious for a traditional class presentation.

-PDFescape extension - I had to type in a pdf over the weekend and, while PDFs are great for printing and saving formatting, they're not great for modifying.  The extension is not perfect, but I was able to type in the document and save it.  Sorry to Mrs. O'Neill that I figured this one out about a month and half too late for your needs!

Have a great short week, and stay warm!

Tech Tuesday Archive 17

Good morning everybody!

Due to general "life is crazy" issues, tech tuesdays keep rolling into Wednesday.  No tips this week - just a short video about Friday's PD day.  Check it out when you get a chance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiD79plE8mc

Have a great rest of the week!

Tech Tuesday Archive 16

Good evening all -

When you have 5 minutes, check out the first ever video edition of Tech Tuesday (took until Wednesday night this week...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLmPbkIu7Dw&edit=vd

Also, thanks again to Valerie for the tip: www.videonot.es/ (you may have to copy and paste this into your browser.  It also seems to go down at night a lot).

Have a great end of the week everybody!

Tech Tuesday Archive 15

Good morning everybody -

I hope you all had a great long weekend.  I will NOT be around after school today, but if you need anything, just shoot me a message.  

There are 2 free conferences available next weekend, one from the comfort of your own couch:

http://edtechnj.com/ I may be going, if you are interested, let me know.

http://studenttechnologyconference.com/page/welcome-informationThis is a student driven, online only conference.  I have no idea what to expect here.  Check it out.

Pre-K - 3rd grade teachers - I found this link really interesting.  See how technology is being used in a Pennsylvania School according to grade level:http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2015/what-good-technology-use-looks-like-in.html?cmp=soc-edit-tw&override=web#Home

Also, Elementary teachers: Here is an app I just read about for iPads and on the web to introduce the idea of email to the kids in a safe way.  http://www.maily.com/

Lastly, Google classroom users, there are multiple changes that have occurred over the last couple of months.  Check them all out here: https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6149237?hl=en

Have a great week, Thanks as always for feedback and questions!

Tech Tuesday Archive 14

Good afternoon everybody -

Happy Tuesday. 1 article, 2 requests and 1 tip today:

ARTICLE: I thought this was a great read on dealing with technology issues as a parent. It recently circulated that Steve Jobs and many other Tech professionals severely limit(ed) their children's time using devices.  Fear can reign down on us, like in so many other areas of our life, about the effects technology is having on our kids' brains.  If you are a 30-40 something, especially with children of your own, give it a read.  If you don't fall into that category I think it's still important as we look at how we treat the use of devices in the classroom.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/09/29/parenting-as-a-gen-xer-what-its-like-to-be-the-first-generation-of-parents-in-the-age-of-ieverything/

I know I have stated it multiple times - I think it's important that we sometimes admit that we don't actually know how this technology is going to affect this youngest generation and maybe even admit that it won't necessarily turn them into narcissistic fill-in-the-blanks.  There's tons of stuff my parents did/mentioned when I was younger that I didn't fully appreciate until I was older. So keep pointing out the beauty of the view.

REQUEST 1: I'll be doing a Twitter session on our February 13th in-service (surprise surprise).  In advance of that I'm trying to connect with more of our district personnel that is already using it.  I love seeing everything that is going on around our schools.  If you are on Twitter and not necessarily using the #CHSonegoodthing or other variations, could you reply and tell me your twitter handle?

REQUEST 2: K-5 teachers - what do you need help with? What tech do you primarily use? I realize many, if not all, of my tips are aimed at a secondary audience and I'd like to offer more to you.  Any responses, when you have time, are greatly appreciated.

TIP: Google Docs - great to share stuff, not so cool when you're trying to make something look nice.  Formatting stinks and there's not a ton of options.  If you want to go crazy with fonts, you know, maybe spice up the lesson plans a little, then go to "Add Fonts" at the bottom of the font menu while in docs.  Just don't submit your lesson plans in "Wing Dings" and blame me ;)

As always, questions, comments, and concerns are welcome!

Tech Tuesday Archive 13

Hello and #HappyNewYear!

I hope everybody had a fantastic break and is ready to try out lots of tech in the new year.  First things first -  the Twitter contest.  I can't tell you how psyched I am to see the explosion of activity #CHSonegoodthing has brought to my Newsfeed.  To think that in the first four months of school, the sharing has spread from the high school, to students, to buildings and grounds, to our administrators (yes EVEN Mr. Hamrick is using it!) and throughout the rest of the district - it is really phenomenal.  With reminders everywhere of the negative forces in education (especially wearing red sweaters and hugging Jerry Jones) it's great to read all the positive things happening in each of your lives here at Collingswood.  If you haven't searched it yet, you should really check out all the great stuff happening in our schools:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/chsonegoodthing?f=realtime

Congrats to the 3 winners (too many tweets - had to share the love) of the contest: Mr. McKinney, Mr Fieldman and Ms. Whitman.  I definitely know more about our bowling program, the vocational classes and Ms. Whitman's English class "cherubs" than I ever would have before! Keep the tweets coming and try to join a twitter chat when you get a chance.

On that note, tonight begins a twitter book chat about "Teach like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess.  The book is constantly praised and discussed by educators on Twitter with the hashtag #tlap.  If one of your goals/new years resolutions is to "become more passionate, creative and fulfilled" in your life as an educator, then tune in to Twitter tonight from 8-9 with the hashtag #bfctlap.  I believe tonight is really just an introduction and next Tuesday begins Chapter 1 so you have time to pick up the book if you would like :http://www.amazon.com/?tag=localmart-20

Another tip: Exittix.com is a great resource for Do Nows, practice and exit tickets - You can add all your students, post questions daily as an opener or as an exit ticket and instantly see the results of who is struggling or who is succeeding.  Check it out.

As always, please don't hesitate to send me any thoughts, problems or questions.  I'd be glad to help.