Access? How can I remember all the passwords?

Having so many usernames and passwords is very overwhelming as an adult, how in the world do we expect our children to keep up?  I become frustrated when I cannot remember my credentials and have to reset passwords again and again.  Leave the frustration behind!  ClassLink allows users to log in one time and have access to all of their web based resources.  It's a miracle!

Learners can download the Coppell ISD ClassLink app from self service.  They can also access it from the Student page of the district website. 

Once the app is downloaded and you are logged in, you have instant access to everything! 

I have also found if someone is having an issue logging into a particular website or app, if they use ClassLink the issue is usually resolved immediately.  So, it's something to keep in your back pocket when someone is having log in issues. Try it out and see how you like it!

Game Changer!

It is so exciting to see educators embracing strategies to make a difference in their classrooms.  The district I work for is in their 3rd year of implementing a learning management system, Schoology.  We are using the enterprise version of Schoology.  At the secondary level, all educators house everything for their learners in this one location.  Oh, how I wish I had a tool like this when I was in school! It's a game changer for learners!  Everything thing you need to keep up with dates and assignments can be found in one place!  Skip turning through pages and pages in a notebook with dividers that hopefully didn't fall apart while you are walking in crowded hallways from class to class.  With Schoology, learners are able to access everything from their phone, iPad, or laptop.  Yes!

But the real game changers occur when we move beyond the basics of a learning management system.  How can this tool transform how you communicate with your learners?  How can I be there for each of my learners when they need help?

Our foreign language educators had a game changing moment for her learners and was so excited to share with me what she did.  This past summer she had taken time to learn some of the more unique features of Schoology.  She was preparing her learners to present to their classmates  using only Spanish at the beginning of the school week.  At the end of the previous week she asked her learners to use the Schoology audio recording feature to practice their presentation before hand.  Over the weekend, as learners where adding their recordings the educators was able to provide immediate feedback!  As a learner asked for help for the pronunciation the educators was able to bridge all space and time!  What a difference this made for the presentations in class!!

It's so exciting to see educators and learners embracing tools to make the learning experience personal, relevant, and timely!  How are you using technology to connect with your learners?

More Than a Timeline

Timelines are a great way for learners to express their knowledge of content. Typically we see timelines to show a progression of a specific event or person with how specific events came together to tell the story of something bigger.  Have you ever thought to use a timeline with your learners that's not just about a sequence of events?

I like the Read, Write, Think app Timeline.  It's free!  I presented the idea of using this app from a different point of view.  The features within the app allow users to be creative!  Once an event is created, several different options within the app allow for the user to demonstrate a more depth and complex understanding of the topic.  First, begin with a short explanation.  Then, add a longer explanation.  Once different events are added to the timeline any of the objects can be moved along the time or shifted to appear in the upper area or the lower area of the screen.  So what can we do that's different?

Plot Diagram

What better way to illustrate understanding of a story than by creating a plot diagram.  Use the various features to explain the plot along the way through the reading.

Five Fact Review

What are the five most important pieces of information shared during a certain lesson or time period?  Discern which five facts are the most important, put these in order and explain why these certain points were added.

Visual Vocabulary

Vocabulary is always a skill learners can work on, so why not have learners create their own dictionary for any subject area.

Organize Ideas

Sometimes creating and manipulating ideas within an area can make the content better understood.  Using this app can allow learners to think and collect their ideas in one spot.

Reflection

While planning a learning experience it is so important to remember to allow time for reflection.  Using the features available in the Timeline app allows learners to have a structured form of reflection.

In this example, the Timeline app is used to express the food chain of animals in a particular food web.  How do the individual plants and animals affect the lives of organisms living in that environment.

Another feature of the Timeline app is exporting the final product.  A document can be exported as a PDF or a RWT file format.  The RWT will allow the project to be modified.  The exporting feature also converts a timeline to an outline.  Perfect for writing!

What will your learners create using Timeline?

For the Love of Maps!

I love maps!  I have always loved maps!  I love exploring and finding new places to see.   Which road will take me somewhere new.  When I was little and my family would take a road trip I would look at where we were going and try look at different states in the atlas, remember the atlas?!?  When I was fresh out of college and moved to a big city one of the first things I got was a Mapsco.  Anyone remember that huge 3 ring binder with pages and pages of maps?  Fast forward a few (or more) years and who looks at a paper map any more?  When I'm going somewhere new I love to use the street view of Google maps to see what something will look like.  After I go somewhere new I like to go back and see what it looks like for someone else's view.  So, what about incorporating maps into the classroom?

Maps are a life skill.  You need to be able to read a map!  But what if you can create your own?  What would your map look like?  Google My Maps is just the thing to use to make your customized maps.  Making a map is as easy as searching the internet!  Using my maps you are able to mark certain locations, add images, link to websites, and more!  I am very excited about the possibilities of incorporating maps into currirulm with learners in the very near future!

I made a tutorial video that covers most of the aspects of creating your own My Map.  I hope you find it useful.

I was fortunate to share my love of My Maps with fellow educators.  Look at some of the wonderful ideas they have come up with to start using this tool with their learners! Where will your map making skills take you and your learners?

#TIA17 Keynote Speaker Eric Sheninger

Keynote speakers are supposed to energize and inspire!  That's exactly what happened when Eric Sheninger spoke at the Think Iterate Act conference in North Texas.  I am so thankful to work with so many others who have the same mindset as I do when it comes to education.  The tweets I shared during this particular keynote are all thoughts I stand behind 100%!

Preview

If you work on a Mac you may have used an application to open PDF documents or look at images using Preview.

You may also think this application is for previewing items.  Well, it's worth so much more!  Did you know you can add annotations to a document from your laptop?  Did you know you can add your signature to a form you would normally print, sign and scan to send back to someone?  Did you know you can combine multiple PDF documents with a quick drag and drop? Did you know you can edit an image to balance color?  Or, what about taking the background away from an object.  Preview can do all of these things and then so much more!  You can convert a PDF file to a png or jpg to use documents in different formats.  The power of Prview is only left to your imagination of things to try!  Check out these tutorials so you too can harness the power of Preview!

Let's start with a few basic features like adding text, shapes, and a signature.

Now take a look at combining multiple PDF documents.

Ready to have some fun with editing images?

Tell me, what would you like to know how to do using Preview?

Exact Colors!

Color!  We all need a little color in our life, right?  I am a fan of Google Drawings, but I was not always a fan of the color selection for shapes, text, anything.  I was so happy the day I discovered the Color Picker Eyedropper extension for Chrome!  It's easy to use and opens your world to finding the exact color you are looking for!

I hope this opens your eyes to all the colors surrounding you!

How do you spell that?

One of my personal flaws that I am first to admit to is I cannot spell!  I try.  When I was a child, I was so happy when I discovered most computer programs included a spell check.  I will rewrite sentences to avoid using certain words that spell check cannot even figure out to make a suggestion.  I know I'm not the only person out there with this same struggle!  Spelling has been a personal struggle all of my life and I'm okay with that now.

Electronic spell checkers have come a long way.  I actually use two different tools that are extensions for Chrome.   The first one is Ginger.  I have used this tool for a long time.  Well, "long time" is relative, right?  Ginger is user friendly and very helpful!  I use the free version of this product.  That means I have a limited number of words per week Ginger will correct for me, but it always finds the errors.  I know it's been a bad week of spelling when the popup messages asks me if I want to purchase!  No, I'll just rewrite the sentence, right?  Watch this video to see how Ginger works...

I also use Grammarly.  Grammarly and I have a love hate relationship.  I love the suggestions and corrections for not only my spelling, but also grammar.  I have a habit of trying to correct my mistakes before I go on with my writing.  This habit involves my fingers reaching for keys before my mind realizes where the cursor is on the screen.  Grammarly and I fight back and forth as to where the cursor needs to be!  Grammarly will also send you a weekly email to help you learn where your mistakes are happening so you can become a better writer.  At first I didn't think very much about receiving another email.  Now, I like it!  Watch this video to learn how Grammarly works...

What do you use to check spelling?

Time to Explore!

It's time to explore, with Google Expeditions! In the fall a fellow educator approached me about finding virtual field trips for learners.  When learners are introduced to new information what a wonderful experience to be able to see with our own eyes.  While I was growing up I was very fortunate to be exposed to so many different experiences through travel.  When I lived in Colorado my family and I made frequent trips to various towns in the mountains.  I had been learning about Colorado history and it was exciting to connect my classroom learning to tangible sites.  We frequently went to all kinds of museums because of the easy access in our area.  It made such an impression on me.  I remember being in high school, going to San Antonio, walking around a shopping center and the next thing I know I'm standing in front of the Alamo!  The image I had created in my head of the Alamo on the Texas plains was nothing like how it looks today!

Not everyone has the opportunity to travel and make these kinds of connections.  Or, do they?  The more I looked and listened to how other educators were using Google Expeditions I was ready to start!  I was familiar with Google Cardboard.  I had heard about Google Lit Trips several years ago.  I had even played with the Google Earth app.  So how could we use resources we already have to help learners experience new places.  I started researching Expeditions.  By downloading a free app learners could have exposure to places they have never seen.  Yes!!

Now, where to begin?  I was able to show a few educators the potential of Expeditions through one on one conversations.  I then asked a small group of learners to explore with me to try it out.  I was also able to work with a few of my co-workers to explore some more.  There was a lot of excitement, but where could I find the right fit for curriculum and exploring?  Timing is everything!  I was working with a few English Language Arts educators when the conversation turned to the next novel their class would be reading.  Chasing Lincolns Killer by James L. Swanson.  Well, there just happens to be an Expedition of The Lincoln Assassination at Ford's Theatre.  Perfect!

Before we began exploring, certain expectations were set.  Our objective: to have fun and explore, in a controlled environment!

The learners had read the first couple of chapters of the book setting up the events leading up to the assassination of President Lincoln.   Now to see what it really looked like!  We launched the guide and were off!  The "ooh" and "ahh" while going through the theatre filled the room.  To see the distance Booth had jumped from the Presidential box where Lincoln had been shot.  To see the flags draped around the Presidential box that had been put in place only hours before President Lincoln arrived.  Wow!  Amazing!  There was one learner who had travelled to Washington D.C. last summer and had gone to Ford's Theatre.  He said it was just like he remembered it.  Yes!  Our objective was met!  For another group, the Expedition was more meaningful to explore before reading the chapter.  Establishing a scheme provided a better understanding when reading the novel.  

It was a great experience for everyone!  Now, where can where will we go next?

Favorite Chrome Extensions

Chrome Extensions!  A little icon can do so much!  First of all, extensions are small programs to modify and enhance the functionality of the browser.  I love extensions!  Who doesn't love to simplify!

Goo is one of the first extensions I suggest to add to Chrome.  In education, a QR code is a necessity for providing learners with a fast and direct path to access resources.  Here is a short video to discover the power of Goo!

Although Goo is my first "go to" tool, I have to admit I am excited about the ease of QuickMark!  I was so surprised to learn how quickly I can create QR codes with this tool!  Watch this short clip to learn more!

What is your favorite extension?