This Week at Village 1.30.15

It was another great week at Village; I am a lucky teacher to be learning alongside such wonderful and committed educators!

This week…

• the computer lab was abuzz with Google Slide creations. Your students are learning the ins and outs of creating a presentation as well as the tools they will be using for their assessments in March and May!
• 4th Grade Special Education teachers attended a half day workshop to learn how to incorporate Google Apps for Education into their lessons. It was a great session for everyone involved! If you feel that you could lend a hand to these teachers, who are “newer” to the Chromebook experiences and the integration of technology in the classroom, please reach out to your colleagues. We all have so much to teach each other!
• I spent two periods with a wonderful 4th grade class as we logged into and learned the basics of Glogster! I was excited to hear that they are working on their optional assignment-an All About Me. This will allow the students the opportunity to learn about the program they are using without worrying about the content. I look forward to working with them again on Monday!
• I explored plickers with a small group of students in 5th grade. This “exit slip” assessment tool is easy to use and I would love to explore the possibilities with a few more classes. For more information, watch this video and email me for plicker cards! If you want to see plickers in action, it may be coming to your Spanish class soon!
• I am looking for a 4th grade teacher interested in doing a Mystery Hangout with students in Minnesota. Not sure what I’m talking about? Annie Rosenberg and I will be having a morning share in February. Please let Annie and me know if you would be interested.

Be On the Look Out (BOLO) for…

• Google classroom training, which will begin in February. I will be working with one 5th grade teacher and two 4th grade classrooms. If you are interested in learning more about Google Classroom, email me and I will be sure to add you to the list.
• a new Hapara platform, it will be launching in March for 5th grade teachers. I will be meeting with you during flex to review the changes. 
• Kaizena. I am looking for teachers (4th or 5th) who may be interested in exploring Kaizena. Kaizena is a Google app/add on that allows you to give different types of feedback on a Google Doc (voice recordings, typed comments and links to more information). If you would like to explore Kaizena with me, let me know.

As always, let me know if you would like to be included in any of these endeavors or if you have any projects you would like me to help you with. 

This Week at Village 1.23.15

Hi Village Friends,

This week at Village was a productive one and there is much to be celebrated! 

Here are some of the technology integration highlights:

• Teachers continue to join the Twitterverse. It’s not too late to to join in the learning. Check out the Tweet 10 Challenge. If you have completed the challenge, remember to send me a direct message via Twitter to claim your badge and your sticker once you’ve completed Day 5! Still not convinced that Twitter is worth it? Check out the #wwprsd hashtag and see what your colleagues have tweeted!
• A 5th grade classroom traveled to Virginia via Google Hangouts. It was a wonderful Mystery Hangout; the students were able to guess the mystery location in 7 guesses! What a great way to build geography skills and expand your world.

Ms. Rosenberg gets her greeters set
up for their Mystery Hangout. 

Students use their Chromebooks and laminated
maps of the US to eliminate incorrect locations.

This student is recording the questions her
classmates have asked. This list was referred
to often during the Hangout

These groups of students did research to help
determine where the other class might be located
and to help ask questions.

• The tech team met to start planning the February PD Day. Special Area Teachers, if you have an idea for content that we can facilitate and help you plan, let me know!
• The tech team also met to develop training for the Special Ed Teachers and their new Chromebooks.
• I met with a 4th grade teacher to discuss an upcoming Glogster activity. 

Here’s a brief look at next week:

• Virtual Debates are coming. I’m working with a 5th grade teacher to plan a Google Hangout debate using the new Social Studies curriculum. We will be debating population growth with 5th graders from Millstone.
• Symbaloo webmixes
• Twitter, Twitter, and more Twitter! Let me know if you still want to take part in the challenge. 
• YOUR project?!?!?

Please let me know if you would like to be included in any of these endeavors or if you have any projects you would like me to help you with. 

This Week at Village 1.16.15

This second week of 2015 the Tech Team introduced the Tweet 10 Challenge. It was nice to see so many new faces in the Twitterverse. If you missed the Tweet 10 Challenge, it’s not too late to join in the fun and grow your Professional Learning Network (PLN). Remember to send me a direct message via Twitter to claim you badge and you sticker once you’ve completed Day 5! Still not convinced that Twitter is worth it? Check out this article MJ Mucciarone sent me; she found it on Twitter!

Here’s a look at some of the awesome technology integration that took place at Village this week:

• Special area teachers are continuing their work on their blogs and Cheryl Glitz has created a stunning blog to keep her students up to date in all things music. Be sure to check it out!
• I met with wonderful teachers during 4th grade flex to continue working on their blogs. This week we added poll questions. If you are interested in creating a blog for or with your class, let me know and we can make that happen.
• Dan Gallagher and I spent several hours updating the iPad cart. All 14 iPads have the most recent operating system and all apps are currently up to date. In an effort to get Glogster out to everyone, we also installed the Glogster app on each device. Let me know if there are any apps you would like installed on the iPads.
• Karen Orlovsky and I met to discuss using Google Docs in lieu of My Lesson Planner. She and I created a template capturing the standards and she hopes to start using the template next week. If you have a template that you would like to share with the building, please do; we have so much to learn from one another!
• Eileen Beam and I co-taught a lesson about bibliographies using the digital tool easybib. For more information, here is a link to the doc I created with other digital bibliography tools.
• Mariel Richter and I participated in week two of our Twitter chat/book club for the book Teach Like a Pirate. 
• Holly Shemitz and I met to discuss her upcoming Colonial Billboard Project using Glogster. Be sure to take advantage of the school license of this amazing tool.
• On Tuesday the Teach Team gathered with educators from Maine to hear about their 1:1 initiative and there is much that we are looking forward to sharing during the February PD Day!
• Mariel Richter invited me into her class to see the great tech projects her students created! While I was unable to attend due to a conflict in schedule, I TRULY appreciate the invite. I love seeing what you are doing in the classroom. It helps me share ideas with our colleagues.

Once again, I can’t be everywhere and see everything, but I hope you will invite me into your classroom and I can spread the word or share the great things you are doing with your students.

Here’s a brief look at our shortened week ahead and beyond:

• Mystery Hangouts with another state
• Virtual Debates
• Twitter, Twitter, and more Twitter! Let me know if you still want to take part in the challenge. 
• Glogster
• Flex
• Google Classroom
• YOUR project?!?!?

Please let me know if you would like to be included in any of these endeavors or if you have any projects you would like me to help you with. 

This Week at Village 1.9.15

Hi Village Friends,

It’s been busy this first week back at Village. I am excited that 2015 has started with such enthusiasm and excitement! Here is quick look at some of the technology happenings this week:

• Special area teachers met to discuss blogs and Google drive. Look for some amazing content from Art, Spanish, PE, Music, the Media Center and World Language!
• Karen Stroczynski and Alisha Tricarico’s 4th graders presented their Glogs convincing colonial settlers to move to their colonies; my sights are set on Maryland!
• Karen Orlovsky discovered a wonderful site http://powermylearning.org/ a " FREE Platform for Driving Personalized Instruction and Self-Directed Learning: Activities in All K-12 Subjects, Aligned to the Common Core."
• Karen Cane discovered and shared a wonderful symbaloo web mix containing virtual tours and field trips. It was the week of the Karens!
• Classroom teachers continue to focus on their blogs; let me know if you need assistance!
• I held a morning share on Glogster. With a schedule conflict, you may have missed it. Please let me know if you would like me to help your students set up their accounts or want to plan a project. Check out the Glog I created about Village!
• Dana Kercheval and Alyssa Petrino used a wonderful site to graph data in science.
• Eileen Beam explored digital bibliography options. Here is a link to the doc I created. 
• Mariel Richter and I participated in a Twitter chat/book club for the book Teach Like a Pirate. Ask her about her pirate inspired lesson and look for a picture of Lisa Bremer on Twitter under the hash tag #tlap
• Annie Rosenberg had me in to discuss online etiquette with Edmodo book clubs.

I know there is much that I missed. But I look forward to showcasing the amazing things happening at Village. Here are some of the things I am working on next week:

• Pearson/Envision
• Blogger/blogs
• Glogster (let me know if you would be interested in a repeat share after school).
• Dan Gallagher and I will be working on the Village iPad cart
• Mystery Hangouts
• Virtual Debates
• Twitter

Please let me know if you would like to be included in any of these endeavors or if you have any projects you would like me to help you with. 

Finally, the tech department has created a Tweet 10 - 5 Day Challenge!  Participating in this challenge is optional, but will help you become more familiar with Twitter.  Each day’s activity will take less than 10 minutes. At the end of the challenge, there are digital badges and/or stickers for all who participate.

The challenge will be sent out this coming Monday morning, so if you haven’t signed up for Twitter, you still have this weekend to register! Let me know if you want any assistance getting set up.  (There are also Twitter resources in our shared Resources folder in Google Drive-the link is included in my signature.)

This challenge is for all staff, included administrators!  

All K-8 educators in our district have been challenged. 

Let’s show them what being part of the PACK means!