Thankful for Technology

Happy November! I love beginning a new month; it's a time to start fresh and look for ways to refine how I normally do things. With that thought in mind, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on some of the tools we've talked about before. Let's take a quick moment to revisit some familiar (and maybe not-so-familiar) tools for your classroom.

SAM Spectra
I know what you're thinking--you use SAM every day. However, many teachers are not aware of some of the settings and reports available in the portal. Take the time to see if there is something you didn't know about before!

Walkthrough

Google Slides
One of the features many people miss when they begin using Google Slides is the ability to add music to the background of their presentations. Guess what?!? It's available now. Take a few moments to see how to liven up your slide decks.

Walkthrough

Online Escape Rooms
Let's gamify your classrom with a digital escape room! You already know one of my favorite Google Add-ons is Flippity--they have added a new feature that allows you to create a customizable online escape room. For those of you who have experimented with Breakout EDU kits (which we still have, by the way), this is a step up for your gamification!

Walkthrough

Edulastic
Are you looking for standards-based questions to use with your students? Are you wanting to give practice using drag-and-drop and other technology questions? Revisit Edulastic, an online assessment making tool for teachers. It is FREE for teacher use and syncs with Google Classroom. I think it is one of the easiest assessment tools available for teacher use. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Walkthrough

As always, if you need assistance with these or any other technology tool, please contact me! I will be glad to work with you one-on-one or with a group.

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PRC Begins a New Year!

Let's Get Down to Basics First of all, congratulations on surviving the first few weeks of school! I know how difficult/rewarding/frustrating/exciting the beginning of a year can be. No other profession can quite compare to what all of you do! For me, it is rewarding to walk down the hallways of our campuses and see our students engaged in their learning, regardless of whether that lesson includes technology or not! PRC has the best teachers in the state and our students are top-notch. Let me take this opportunity to give you some information that may save you the time of submitting a technology request. This TaraByte will be slightly longer than usual because we have so much NEW in our district. Just remember you can comment (please comment) at the bottom of this page and you can revisit these tips anytime and anywhere. Chromebook Cart Information Our Chromebook Carts are designed to "rotate" throughout the charging process. This is a wonderful thing, beca...

Set Your Sights on Google Sites

Arguably, one of the most useful tools in the GSuite for Education package is Google Sites. Yet, as I am writing this, only a handful of our teachers are actively using it. That tells me that maybe the value of Google Sites has not been adequately addressed, and I apologize for that! For those of you who have not been introduced to it, Google Sites is a free website creation tool hosted by Google. You can create unlimited sites/pages, and each of your students can create unlimited sites/pages. Now, I will be the first to admit that t he early version of Sites (used until this school year) was a complicated monster that wasn't friendly for the everyday user. However, an upgrade to Google Sites occurred this year that makes creating and updating a snazzy site quicker and easier than ever before. Many of you are probably groaning already, saying something along the lines of, "Why does this crazy woman think I have the time to build a website? Doesn't she know I am a...

End of Year Activities

As the school year draws to a close, you may be looking at some creative ways to engage your students in meaningful discourse. The three activities on this page are guaranteed to invoke creative thinking, passionate debate, and engagement for all students. Hyperdoc Activity (Debate) Fidget spinners--the bane of many teachers across the country. Nearly everyone has an opinion on this new toy that has swept the nation by storm! Nicole Beardsley created an excellent hyperdoc that allows your students to research, analyze, and debate fidget spinners and their value in the classroom. This is a topic many of your students are very interested in and this great hyperdoc is sure to spark some great conversations in your classroom. Assign it in Google Classroom to allow students to work on it online (with Chromebooks or computers) or use it as a class activity on your SMARTboard. The directions you need to get started are listed on the hyperdoc itself, and you...

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