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.

Adobe Spark

Adobe is known for having some great iPad apps, but now the ones we love the best are also available on the web. This is great news for those of us who have students using Chromebooks, and need more ideas for integrating creativity and demonstrating learning in new ways. The new Adobe Spark combines Adobe Voice (now Spark Video), Adobe Slate (now Spark Page), and Adobe Post (Spark Post) so that students can use it right inside their Chrome browsers. These apps are great for creating and sharing impactful visual stories.

Spark Video allows students to add voiceover recordings to still images. Spark Page allows students to beautifully add writing to photos and buttons with links to make a slick website type of online magazine. Spark Post allows us to add captions to photos. Even if students don't have their own photos, Adobe Spark allows for easy search of copyright friendly, free images to use in their projects, and it automatically sites the sources at the end of each project.

Recently we've been using Adobe Spark to create "Page" projects to document our learning from field trips. 6th graders at Dartmouth Middle School went to the Tech Museum in San Jose. Each group had an iPad which they used to take photos throughout the day. All photos were put into a collaborative photo album using Google Photos that was shared with the class. After adding the album to their own Google Photos, students could pull photos into their Adobe Page projects and then add their own writing.

4th graders at Noddin, Lietz, and Guadalupe all went to Mission San Juan Bautista. Even if the students did not have cameras, the teachers and chaperones could all share with each other.

5th graders at Guadalupe all wrote about Science Camp.

For a copy of a lesson plan to use Adobe Page to write about a field trip or other photo album you have from school, click here. Or, if you want students to be able to choose, and have a more open-ended kind of choice on what kind of "end of the year" Adobe Spark project, click to copy this Google Doc gameboard made by Genevieve Pacada for 5th graders. Feel free to modify for your own subject area or grade level. 

Don't have time before the end of the year? Go ahead and set up your free Adobe account, and try making your own project during the summer.

Have fun! And if you would like one of the ToSAs to come in and help your class with an Adobe Spark project, feel free to email us. 

Go on a Google Map HyperDoc Adventure

Meia (2nd Grade): "I can control the world!"

Introducing Google Maps to Students

If you've never used Google Maps in your classroom, now's a great time to start! I have created an easy lesson to get students excited about using Maps.

A quick intro activity includes 3 challenges that help give students the basic map skills that they need for success as they explore on their own. Take a look at the Google Maps Introduction. If you would like to use it with your students, feel free to make a copy and modify it in any way the you see fit for your class.

HyperDoc Adventures

After students learn the basics, they are ready to start exploring on their own using the Google Map Adventures HyperDoc! Knowing that Google had some incredible Street View expeditions, I had a feeling that I could find some related inspirational videos. Sure enough, the Google Maps YouTube Channel was exactly what I was searching for! I used ViewPure to take out the distractions of related videos. Trust me, you will want to Purify your video because inappropriate videos about Google Maps are likely to appear on the page.

I created this lesson for 2nd grade students, so I had them share their observations on a Padlet. Students were encouraged to do their best guess spelling and in the end, every student participated. Click here if you would like to see what the 2nd graders came up with.

Modification for Older Students

If I were to do the lesson with older students, I would have had them submit their information into a Google Form. After all of the students complete the survey, you can import that data directly into Google My Maps. If you would like to know how to do that, I created 2 quick video tutorials:

• Creating a Google Form to Record Observations
• Importing Data into Google My Maps

Sample Google Map Adventure HyperDoc with Google Form.

Google Cardboard Option

All tours created in Google Street View can also be found in the Google Street View mobile device app (Android/iOS) and can be used with Google Cardboard. Even if you only have 1 or 2 mobile devices with Cardboard, students could take turns experiencing the virtual reality while the rest of the class works from the HyperDoc. Google Cardboard can be found and purchased on Amazon.

Share your Google Map Ideas

This is just one Google Maps introduction lesson and once students are excited about exploring the world, the possibilities are endless. If you have any Google Map ideas, lessons, HyperDocs, or resources that you would like to share, please share on the Google Maps Padlet.

Created with Padlet

If you have any questions, or would like any help implementing this lesson, please email me,

Math Review Gamified!

Math Review Game Board

Need a fun way to have students review topics that they've learned throughout the year? This week I've been working with Union Middle School math teachers Alyssa Starr and Joy D'Apuzzo on creating a 6th grade HyperDoc game board that gives students a fun way to review major math concepts. It's basically a Google Doc with tables of math activities. Feel free to explore, copy, and modify the Math 6 Review Game Board that we came up with.

This HyperDoc gives students choices about which activities they would like to complete and it also gives time back to the teacher, allowing for individualized or small group instruction.

When looking for activities to include in the game board, we were looking for a variety and a mixture of tech and non-tech related activities. Here's where I found some really great math resources:

• Would You Rather Math by John Stevens
• Play with Your Math by Joey Kelly and Xi Yu
Mr Kraft's Desmos Creations by Nathan Kraft
• Learn Zillion
• Khan Academy
• Desmos: teacher.desmos.com (Use the search tool and preview already made activities.)

I have to admit that it does take a lot of time searching for quality resources and games, but my advice is to collaborate with other teachers and TOSAs in your school district. The big payoff is student excitement about content related activities. The students don't have to sit and listen to another lecture from their teacher and the teacher is freed up to work with students who may need some extra support. 

Math Game Board in Action

Math Game Board in Action Tweet

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch Miss Starr's class explore and complete game board activities. I did not see one student who was off task during the whole class period. Students were allowed to work in pairs and they had the freedom to choose where they wanted to sit in the classroom. Of course, some went straight to playing online math games like Inequality Wars or Percent Jeopardy, but others went directly to non-tech tasks. I watched 2 boys grab a deck of cards and play Exponent War with their notebook and whiteboards out and 2 girls in the back were working on writing a song about fractions.

Even though students were working next to their friends and collaborating on certain activities, not once did I feel like it got really noisy in the classroom. During a time when students are getting ready for SBAC testing, it's so nice to see smiles on students' faces and laughter and excitement throughout the room.

Modified Game Board and Activities for Elementary Math

Here's a game board that was created for 3rd Grade Math Review and 4th Grade Math Review. Thank you to Elise Plutt and Kristen Yoshioka for all of your 3rd and 4th grade advice and input when creating this HyperDoc. 

Please note: 

*If you do choose to make a copy of any of these game boards, please make changes and modifications to the activities according to YOUR students' skills. If your students have limited experience on Chromebooks, you might think about swapping some activities for hands on or paper-based tasks. 

If you have any questions, or would like any help or advice on creating a game board HyperDoc of your own, please feel free to contact me: pacadag@unionsd.org

Looking for LOVE? A fun, creative, tech photo project for Valentine's Day

 

As Valentine's Day approaches, you may be looking for a cool project you can do with your students to keep you all motivated until vacation starts. Here's an idea that combines technology, creativity, collaboration, and higher order thinking skills. It will give your kids the opportunity to enjoy the unusually warm February weather and sunshine while engaging in a fun Valentine's Day holiday activity.

This is the "Looking for LOVE" photography collage project. It is fun and easy enough that you can get it done on Friday afternoon, and it doesn't even cause cavities.  You can have them do it individually, collaboratively with Buddies, or in small groups if you are short on iPads or Chromebooks.

Here is how you do it:

Feel free to use this Google Presentation to post in Google Classroom or make a copy to modify for your particular class. If you would like some help with this project, email Nicole Dalesio or any of the ToSAs, and we will come out to help you.

We would LOVE to see the creative collages your students make. Please share them on this collaborative Google Photos LOVE collage album and or tweet them out using the hashtag #usdlearns and #pics2love.

Most importantly, have fun!

Blogging in the Classroom Hangout On Air

Watch USD Learns: Blogging in the Classroom

Yesterday we had our very first Google Hangout on Air with a live Q&A about blogging in the classroom. There were a couple of hiccups along the way, but I left my office feeling very invigorated and proud to be working in a school district where teachers are willing to try new things beyond the walls of their own classrooms. This Hangout was a great example of that! I would like to send a huge thank you to Chanmi Chun, Kaitlin Klein, Todd Sinclair, and Jen Zangwill for spending the hour with me to talk about technology and pedagogy, in hopes that our stories can inspire others to try something new.

If you didn't get a chance to watch our conversation, the beauty of a Google Hangout on Air is that it gets automatically recorded and posted to YouTube. I invite you to watch USD Learns: Blogging in the Classroom. It is 53 minutes long, so just in case you're in a pinch for time, I did create a table of contents to help get you to the specific topics that we covered. 

If blogging is something that you are thinking about starting with your students, remember that you're not alone. The TOSAs are here to support you and we have amazing teachers, like Chanmi, Jen, Kaitlin, and Todd that are willing to take the time to share their experiences so that we can all learn from them. 

For more resources about blogging, including ones that we talked about in our Hangout, check out the Blogging Resources Page:

6th grade students in Mrs. Chun's Class learn about commenting from 2nd grade student experts. 

Teach about Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons in 3 Steps

Have you ever been confused about Copyright Law and Fair Use? It's definitely a difficult topic with many gray areas. It's easy to feel it's a topic that's too confusing to tackle with students. Hopefully, this post will make you think differently. I've created a lesson that helps break down Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons in a kid-friendly way!

For a quick overview of the lesson, here's a Copyright, Fair Use, & CC HyperDoc that I've created that can help guide students. 

Step #1: Teach about Copyright and Fair Use

Here's a Common Sense Media Copyright and Fair Use Animation that was created for high school students, but if used with some discussion and teacher guidance, I think it's totally appropriate to use with upper elementary and middle school students. 

Key Points of the Video:

• 5 ways to avoid violating Copyright Law
1. Check who owns it
2. Ask for permission
3. Buy it (if necessary)
4. Give credit to the creator
5. Use it responsibly

*Students really understand this process and it makes sense if you talk about each step with them in order. Try role playing an example where one student took a picture that another student REALLY wants to use in their next school project. The class discussion should help students understand how important it is to have permission to use the work and give the creator attribution.

In the event that it's impossible to get permission for copyrighted work, that's when the Fair Use doctrine can be used.

• 4 points of Fair Use that you should follow
• Only use a small amount
• Rework it in a totally different way
• Give it a new meaning
• Use for non-profit
• *It's good practice to give credit to the creator

After watching the video, I have the students work with their table group to sort cards into the correct categories before discussing the key points with them. After that discussion, I like to point out to students that it's a long process with a lot of steps if they want to make sure that they are not violating the law. If students want to avoid even thinking about breaking the law using copyrighted work, it's important that they know about the Creative Commons!

Step #2: Teach about the Creative Commons

What if you didn't have to follow all of those steps and people just shared their work so others could use it? The answer to that question is the Creative Commons (CC)! 

I find that this video, Wanna Work Together, is a good way to show students that we are all creators and that the Creative Commons was created so that work can be shared and used by others for FREE. 

To connect all of these points together, I have students search the Creative Commons and practice finding a CC license. I also teach students how to use the Google search tools to filter out images that are labeled for reuse. Once they learn how to filter the images. I teach them how to look for the Creative Commons license. That license explains how we can use the creator's work. 

I want students thinking that unless they can find the Creative Commons license, assume that it is copyrighted work. 

Step #3: Have Students Practice Citing Media Sources

For a step-by-step presentation of this lesson, with an activity that gets students to practice citing media sources properly, check out my Google Slide Presentation: Copyright & Fair Use. The background information in this post should help teachers get through the lesson by simply running through the slides with students. Giving them access to the Copyright, Fair Use, & CC HyperDoc will help guide them through the lesson. The Doc links to the practice activity. Answers can be found HERE. 

If you have any questions, or would like me to come to your classroom to help with this lesson, feel free to email me. It's important to teach these skills starting in 3rd grade. Once students understand how the Creative Commons helps avoid Copyright Law, searching for media and citing those sources properly becomes second nature to them. This is a great digital citizenship lesson that will help students become successful as they continue on to college and their future careers.


(*For a modified middle school lesson on this same topic, please go to our USD Learns Digital Citizenship 6-8 page.)