Welcome to the new school year!

Now that Back to School Night is behind you, you’ve met the parents, and you and your students are beginning to settle into a routine, you might be thinking about all those tech tools, SAMR, and how it all fits together with your curricular lessons. The Tech ToSAs are here to help.We are so excited about helping you and your students get off to a great start. Here are some tools we think you might like to consider introducing to your students. Please fill out this survey and we’ll be in touch to talk about ways to use these tools in your classroom. Don’t see what you’d like help with here? Use the “Other” box.

Tool Time

A New Look to Google Sites

Google Sites has an updated look for EDU. New features make it super easy for you to create a website to keep parents informed that looks sleek and modern. Because many of the other Google tools can be easily embedded, it is a great way for students to showcase their best work. Here is a quick-start guide to the main features.

And speaking of Google Sites, teacher leaders and ToSAs are in the process of creating a single website where teachers will be able to find curricular resources, Digital Citizenship lessons, and resources from STEAM and EdTech. Get a peek at the new USD Learns website here.

Strengthening the School-Home Connection

Have you had time to check out the new Guardian feature in Google Classroom? A guardian will need to accept your invitation to view a summary of their student’s work. They choose the frequency of the emails and can unsubscribe at any time. Check your email for a message from Gena that further explains all about it.

Families of younger students can get a peek at what their students are doing in Seesaw. Students can create work in Seesaw or upload work from a number of iOS apps and an increasing number of webapps. Families will need to accept your invitation to receive notifications of their student’s work. They can receive a text or email alerting them something new is available.

A New Feature added to Padlet

One of the reasons teachers were reluctant to use Padlet in their class was the worry over anonymous posts. A new feature now automatically identifies each post with the poster’s Google username once the student has signed in with Google. You’ll need to enable the feature when you create the Padlet. Just scroll down the Modify Padlet choices, until you find "Show author name in posts."

After the student accesses Padlet, either through a Symbaloo tile or by using padlet.com, have them “Log in with Google.” They’ll need to choose their account and Allow Padlet to view the email address and basic profile info so it will know how to author the post.

Finally, provide the students with a shortened URL to access your Padlet and their name will automatically populate when the student clicks to add a post.

The EdTech ToSA Team

Join us in welcoming Sandy Lopez to the Technology Integration ToSA Team. Sandy comes to us from Moreland where she taught a 2/3 SDC class.  Sandy left the classroom and moved into instructional coaching to make a bigger impact on teachers and students. It was during this experience she was able to utilize her instructional and tech skills with Special Ed and General Ed teachers.  

With her strong background in Special Ed, Sandy will be able to fill in the gap with the SDC, RSP, and specialist teachers. Along with Gena and Mary Fran, she’ll also support general ed teachers.

An Easy Way to Share Webpages/EduWin for Lisa Merkel

I love Chrome extensions. You may notice a (ridiculous) number of them to the right of the search omnibox on my Chrome webpage whenever I record a screencast. Extensions add functionality to your Chrome Browser and can easily be added through the Web Store found in the Chrome App Launcher.

One that I recently came across makes it super easy for teachers to share a webpage through Google Classroom. You can push a webpage to students, no more tiny URLs or goo.gls and the time it takes for students to type it in. By using the "Share to Classroom" extension, when you "Push" a webpage to students it will open on the students' Chromebooks almost instantaneously. If you prefer to assign a webpage as part of an assignment, that's easy too. Once you click on the "Share to Classroom" extension, you can assign a name and due date. You'll also be able to save a draft of the assignment, or simply send the webpage as part of an announcement.

While you can send assignments and announcements to your students without their having to add the extension, your students will also need to install the extension for you to be able to Push a webpage to them. You can find it in the Chrome Web Store, or by going to g.co/sharetoclassroom and adding it as a Chrome extension. An added benefit to having students install the extension, is that students will also be able to push a webpage to you, the teacher. You'll receive a popup notice. Once you click on it, the webpage will open in a new tab.

Here is a short video showing how to find, install, and use the extension. 

EduWin for Lisa Merkel and Google Forms

This school year is off to a running start, party due to the hard work put in by the techs in the IT Department (shout-outs to Eddie, Jason, Ray, Sean and Trent), and partly due to the new site techs who have worked closely with teachers to make sure all the tech is working and teachers are comfortable with it. 

In the midst of all the back-to-school whirlwind, Lisa Merkel created a Google Form for all the Alta Vista teachers to use at Back-to-School night. The form collected the usual information on parents' names and email addresses, and also provided places for parents to sign up for Home and School Club and classroom volunteer positions. Once collected, Lisa was able to send each teacher and Home and School Club Chair the relevant information quickly - no more waiting for the information to be typed into a spreadsheet, sorted, and compiled. It was ready to go! Thank you, Lisa, for helping to save a tree, and help make BTSN go just a bit easier for everyone at Alta Vista.

Photos with Chromebooks/EduWin for Elise Plutt, Global School Day of Play

We've all noticed the camera on a Chromebook. Have you wondered what it is good for aside from selfies? Elise Plutt and her third graders are putting it to good use.

Using the camera, Elise's Third Grade students are taking pictures and adding them to reports. While it is a bit cumbersome, it works! Here's how to do it:

First, go to the Apps waffle in the lower left-hand corner of the Chromebook and find the camera icon. If it's not there, you can find the app in the Chrome Web Store and install it. Click on the icon to open the camera.

Once camera is open, you'll notice you can chose to add effects along the bottom of the screen that can be added before it is taken. This is a good opportunity to talk to your students about purpose and audience.












The app also provides a timer and the ability to take 3 shots with each click. 

Once you've decided on those options,  carefully position the item you want to take a picture of in front of the camera. Elise's students were taking photos of the covers of books they'd been reading. 

After the picture is taken, open the Gallery (see above).

 You will find a menu in the lower right hand corner.


By choosing the icon with the down arrow, you will save your image to your Google Drive. Organize your photos by creating a photos folder. Then you can save directly to it. 

After your student has made sure they saved the photo correctly, Elise suggests you teach your students to delete the photo since there is a limited amount of storage on the Chromebook's hard drive.

Now that the photo is stored in Google Drive, it will be available to insert in a Google Doc or Presentation.

When you are ready, choose insert image. Then, choose to Insert Image from Google Drive.

Choose the folder you have stored your photos in, and when the folder opens, choose the image you want to insert. Then press Select.

Once the image is inserted, you'll see that a menu of image editing options opens when you click on the photo.

Elise taught her students to crop the photo to only show the book cover. I've used it on this photo:

With students taking pictures, this could be a good time to talk about digital privacy. You'll want your students to be sensitive to taking pictures of each other and posting them in documents that will be made public

Just think of how many uses you'll be able to find for the camera once you teach your students to use it. Have your students take photos of artwork, science projects, examples of shapes in the environment. Share ways you use the Chromebook camera in your class. Send your ideas to me and I'll post them on the blog.

Google Classroom

A few teachers who have student teachers and are using Google Classroom have asked if there is a way for co-teachers to share a Classroom. Here is a video on a workaround. Other tips Jen Judkins shares in the video are sharing an entire folder, changing point values, and editing documents with tables on iPads.

Global School Day of Play

Have you heard of the Global School Play Day Movement? Inspired by Peter Gray, a noted American psychologist who has studied schools and societies that emphasize learning through play, the Bedley Brothers, educators in southern California, are trying to raise awareness of how important it is for children to have opportunities for free play. They are rallying K-6 teachers from around the United States to join them on Wednesday, February 4th in acknowledging that play is important in a child's development.

Students bring toys from home but NONE OF THE TOYS CAN REQUIRE BATTERIES. Students can bring board games, legos, blocks, dolls, playing cards, sports equipment, jigsaw puzzles. Think "mid-Century" and you'll get the idea. Then, give them the time to explore and play.

We are fortunate in California to have the kind of weather that encourages kids to play outdoors. Maybe join another class and set up some activities - but don't make the day too structured.

Need a little more encouragement? Watch this YouTube video from Peter Gray.

Wishing you and your students a great day of exploration!

Thinglink, Google Classroom Update, iCloud Account, Klikaklu EduWin

They say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." With ThinkgLink, you can have both! ThingLink is a free tool that you and your students can use to create interactive images.

You start with an image you find on the web or you can upload your own image. You then add links to the image and create icons so users will know where to click. As the user mouses over the image, icons show up. When they click on the icon, it takes them out to the website.

This is a ThingLink I created to use with Charlotte's Web. As students explore the links, they'll find lots of resources to explore, including an NPR interview with the author, E. B. White, a short video, as well as a Quia Quiz, and a Scholastic site.



You can use your Google+ @unionsd.org to create an account. Make sure you opt for the edu account and sign up for the Teacher account. Once you do, you'll be able to create a group and free accounts for your students.

ThingLink is a great tool for students to use to create interactive reports. They can attach photos they've take, pictures of images they've created, URLs of Google Docs they have shared, screencasts they've made, audio they've recorded, or rich media resources they've found on the web. And, since works on all browsers, your students will be able to create a ThingLink on their Chromebook, as well as iOS and Android devices.

Here is a YouTube video, created by NPR Education, that will help you and your students get started creating your own:

While I'm sure you can find many ways to use ThingLink in your classroom, Donna Baumbach has created a collaborative Google Presentation, "Ways to Use ThingLink in the Classroom," that offers many ideas to get you started.

Google Classroom

This week, Google announced a Google Classroom mobile app available for both Android and iOS devices. With the new mobile app, students can take a photo and attach it to their assignment. 

There are also new features for teachers on the Assignment page. You'll be able to quickly review student work for a particular assignment, their grades, and any comments.

Creating an iCloud Account Without a Credit Card

Some teachers are still having difficulty creating an iCloud account without a credit care. You'll need this account to keep your computer up-to-date. Thanks to Jason for pointing out an easy way to do it. Here is a short video to show you how.

EduWin for Lisa Mata and Cindy Loper with Klikaklu

Last week, the Fourth Grade class at Alta Vista had a fun activity while visiting the San Juan Bautista Mission. Lisa and Cindy had visited and created a picture treasure hunt with Klikaklu.com. Parent chaperones with iPhones downloaded the app. Lisa shared her treasure hunt with them, and the students were off, searching San Juan Bautista for the spots. Students were excited and  engaged.

You don't have to use KlikaKlu only for field trips. What about creating a scavenger hunt for geometric shapes? Here's how to get started:

If you or one of your colleagues are doing something in your class that uses edtech tools, please let me know. I'd love to share it with other teachers.

BrainPOP/Google Classroom Update/EduWin from Jenny Torres and Diane Nunes

Kids love BrainPOP, and so do teachers. It is so easy to search for a video to augment a lesson and its engaging content and delivery make it a sure bet students will be listening. But there's more to BrainPOP than Tim and Moby.


BrainPOP has aligned all their videos with the Common Core standards. It is easy to search through and find video and resources to enhance a lesson.

BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr's resources include lesson plans, graphic organizers, and short response questions.


As a third grade teacher, I often found that our topics bridged both BrainPOP Jr and BrainPOP. My students always loved the the BellyUp comic and Pop a Joke features at the end of every video. Those were the rewards for having completed the Quiz. They were always disappointed to not have a comic at the end of BrainPOP videos. I hadn't realized it was hiding in the FYI tab. 


BrainPOP also offers game-based learning. In BrainPOP, Game Up is designed with upper elementary and middle school students in mind and are meant to be completed in one class period. You can search through Game Up's catalog of science, health, math, and social studies games to find the one that aligns with your curriculum. You can introduce it as an activity for the whole class, or make it a differentiating activity, having students who complete their work have another aligned activity to keep them learning.

BrainPOP Jr also has game-based learning activities. You can find them by clicking "Game Up" on the home page.


Did you realize that the Union School District has purchased a 24/7 license for both BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. that can be accessed from home? This means that you can "flip" a topic by assigning a BrainPOP video for homework. Students use the same username and password as teachers do to access either program. You can then have them take the quiz, and have the scores e-mailed to you. Just be aware that if you ask your students to e-mail their results, they won't be able to see their score until after the e-mail is sent. You might like to ask them to view the results and teach them to make a screenshot. Use Command + shift + 4 on an Apple computer, and control and the key that looks like pages above the 6, on a Chromebook. That screenshot can then be e-mailed to you.

Also, did you know that BrainPOP has a feature that allows you to "Mix" quizzes, assign them to students, and then track individual student progress? Watch this recording of a webinar to learn more about My BrainPOP. While our license covers this premium feature some additional set-up is required by site level. Please let us know and Ed Services can facilitate setting this up if you think you'd find this feature useful.

A final bit of fun is embedding the Movie of the Day or the Pop a Joke of the Day into your webpage or blog. I embedded the Pop a Joke into my KidBlog last year. That was one way to get kids to go to it.  You can find the code for BrainPOP Jr at http://www.brainpopjr.com/support/links/ You'll need to request the code for BrainPOP's Featured Movie. You can submit your request here: http://www.brainpop.com/educators/featured_movie_request/

Update on Google Classroom

A number of teachers have begun using Google Classroom to push assignments to their students and to streamline student submission of the assignments. Your grade-level tech may be introducing you to it on the next PD day so I won't go into it here. However, for those of you who have begun using it, Google just pushed out a number of features in its update. Learn more about it here.

Make sure you continue to use the Suggestions button in the lower right corner of your Google Classroom page. Word is, they are listening, and trying to develop the tools to make it a useful and intuitive tool for teachers to use.

EduWin

This week's EduWin goes to the Jenny Torres and Diane Nunes at Lietz. Faced with an increasing demand for computers in classrooms, they have developed a school-wide Google calendar that all teachers have access to to reserve a laptop or Chromebook cart for their classroom. They find the carts are pretty much always in use, and this give teachers the chance to plan their lessons around having technology resources.

Jenny wrote, "We realized that if staff has access to view calendars they will also be able to book any appointments without needing to be invited.  If they book an appointment, all they have to do is choose appt time they want and save.  It automatically saves to our calendar as well as theirs.  On our calendar it reflects their name.   IMPORTANT..if they need to cancel appointment they will need to email their administrator.  While you can cancel appointments on your calendar, but it will not cancel on the appointment calendar.  Only the admin can cancel appointments on the appointment calendar."

Jenny is happy to share the directions with any staff or teacher who might find it useful. You can e-mail her or Diane.

If you or one of your colleagues are doing something in your class that uses edtech tools, please let me know. I'd love to share it with other teachers.