Sometimes we need to be ALL about adults

Our district has an annual event known as convocation. I have to admit, I was less than excited about making our annual trek over to Plano as I had a crazy week and really needed to spend some time in my office.  I arrived in the basement.

It started with a word from our Superintendent, Dr. McDaniel, that segued into a video montage about the personal struggles of some of our fellow MISD family members, The video was very moving and I could tell this was shaping up to be a great afternoon. You can watch our Superintendent's opening remarks and the video below.

Next came the McKinney North Dancers and a song from Faubion Middle School student and local YouTube sensation Blake McGraw (you gotta love social media).

While all of this was going on, singing, dancing, crying, there was a strange man in baggy clothes with a backpack walking around. To be honest I thought he was the rapper Coolio and then I thought maybe Coolio was making a special guest appearance (I mean, his song Gangster's Paradise was on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack so it was sort of school related). This is where it started to get interesting; the Coolio look alike was actually Dr. Adolph Brown and little did we know were in for a real treat.

Dr. Brown's message was this. We must educate ALL kids, we must be enthusiastic educators, and we must be the balcony sunshine for all of our students everyday. We must tell our Public Education story, if not someone else will tell it for us. The change starts with us! I'm glad that this particular afternoon this speaker was brought in to talk to us, to the adults. I left inspired, and I left in the balcony and I'm glad I will be able to shine on every teacher and student I work with this year and that is #realtalk.

The Dynamic Duo: Gale in Context is now Integrated with Google Drive

Persuading teachers and students to use databases for research is now much easier with the integration between Gale In Context and Google Drive.

After you log in to any of the Gale In Context Databases you can choose to sign in to your Google Account.

After you find your content, simply choose the Download option under Tools and choose the Save to Google Drive option and select download. The content will automatically save to your Google Drive. To locate the files I chose the Recent option in my Google Drive and organized the files into a folder. Easy peasy.

But wait, there's more.................

If you are using Google Classroom you also have the option to share to Google Classroom.  First, find the content you want to share then choose the green Google Classroom icon.

Choose which classroom you would like to share the content with, then decide if you would like to make it an assignment or announcement.

STAAR Survival Kit for Teachers: ED Tech Edition

Tomorrow is the first administration of the 2015 STAAR testing season. Isn't it crazy that we have a season of testing? KUH-razy! In rebellion honor of STAAR I have put together a list of ED Tech tools and activities for teachers and administrators that are "actively monitoring" during the test.

1.  Online Timers

Since STAAR is timed you are going to need a timer. Online Stopwatch has some really cool timers, the dynamite is a personal favorite. Google has a great built in timer, just go to Google and type in Timer, then the amount of time. For example: Timer 5 hours. Google will start a countdown and you will hear an alert when time is up.

1. My Fitness Pal

Teachers always do a ton of walking during STAAR. If your district allows you to have your phone in your pocket, you can track your steps during the administration by using an app called My Fitness Pal. This app has a built in pedometer so you can see how many steps you have taken on a particular day. Make it a contest, see who takes the most steps on your campus or grade level team while you are monitoring. 

2. Thinking Prompt

The great thing about administering STAAR is that you get a ton of time to think (and walk). I have written a prompt for you to think about as you are actively monitoring.

How can I use digital tools to give students voice and choice in my classroom?

3.  Making Thinking Visible

After you have returned your testing materials and signed your materials control form, you will need a place to record your thoughts about your thinking prompt. A great tool to use to make thinking visible is Padlet. Padlet is an online bulletin board, you can add text, video, images, and links.  Also, its collaborative. Create a board, share it with your team, and record your thoughts on the Padlet as a team.

Good luck during testing season if you have any questions about any of the tools I posted here just remember, "I can't answer that, just do the best you can" 

Oh and remember, we will survive.

Digital Resources for English Language Learners

I attended a workshop last year provided by our regional education service center titled "Lost in Translation". The training lasted about three hours and I had to complete an 8th grade science lesson in Spanish. It was an eye-opening experience.  We had to rate ourselves using the ELPS performance level descriptors and I was a Beginner. This training really gave me insight into what the school day is like for our students that speak English as a second language. If the teachers of this workshop had not pre-taught the vocabulary, and gave us access to word walls, sentence stems, and anchor charts I would not have been able to complete the assignment. Oh, and my very patient Advanced partner in my group helped as well. My experience at the workshop inspired me to write this post and include a list of digital tools for English language learners.

Vocabulary

Below is a Google Slides Templates using the Frayer Model. Students can make a copy in their Google Drive. I love Google Slides because students can insert images straight from Google images into the template using the Insert Images feature. They can also use the built in dictionary under Tools.

World Walls

Save your chart paper and sentence strips for later. Students can use Padlet to create a Virtual Word Wall.  It's collaborative, and students can add images, links, videos, and text. Click HERE to visit the Padlet website and create a free account.


Speaking and Listening
Face Time is a great tool for practicing speaking and listening skills. How cool would it be if a class linked up with another classroom across the district, across the country, or even on the other side of the world and created a Speaking Exchange like the in video below.  Disclaimer: Grab the tissues!

Reading and Writing
Newsela is an app you can add to Chrome browser by visiting the Chrome web store. Newsela contains non-fiction daily news articles on high interest topics that can be read by students at five different Lexile levels. Some articles even contain a quiz and a writing prompt for the article.

Save the Sticky Notes! Try Google Keep

Post it notes or stickies are a staple in any educators toolbox. You can write down important notes, or even hand them to a student as an exit ticket. So many uses, but so many trees have given their lives to become a hot pink or neon green sticky note. Fortunately, Google has a great new tool called Google Keep. Keep allows you to digitize your sticky notes and of course its Google so you can change the color of the note, add a reminder, search for notes, and even share the sticky note love with the sharing feature. Here is a screen cast on how to use this great new tool.

P.S. No stickies were harmed in the production of this screencast.