This fall eleven  teachers from the Technology Committee had the opportunity to attend the Massachusetts Computer Users in Education (MassCUE) conference. MassCue brings together educators from across the Commonwealth to share exciting ways to enhance teaching and learning with technology.

Attached are note and resources from the conference that you will find helpful in you teaching practice. If you have any questions please contact Chris Burke or your building Tech Specialist for more information.


Note, Presentations and Resources

Atlas to Aspen

We will no longer have access to Atlas after December 31, 2015. Although the curriculum has been moved to Aspen we have noticed that links and attachments did not migrate over to Aspen. If you have links or attachments in your curriculum document you will need to go to your Atlas account and copy and paste them into a Google doc. Please make sure that you do this before the end of December or your  links and attachments will be lost. The curriculum itself will be in Aspen but with out the links and attachments.

The following are direction for getting into Atlas and copying your links to a Google Doc.

Written Directions: Click Here

Screen Cast: Click Here

Screencasting

What is screencasting you ask? Screencasting is the process of using an app or website to create short video/audio clips of what you are doing on your computer. Teachers can use screencasts to teach a concept or skill. Screencasts clips are often used in blended learning and the flipped classroom. Students can use screencasting to teach a concept or show how they are thinking. Screencasting can be very powerful.

Excellent Student Example: Making Thinking Visible (2nd Grade Student) Watch how this student works to solve a math problem. 

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/grade-2-student-b/8883110/

Teacher Example

coming soon

Resources for Creating Your Own Screencast:

1. Screencastify-  Is a Google extension that allows you to capture what you are doing on your computer screen.

• A Screencast That Teaches Screencasting
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2. Educreation - You can use education on a computer by going to their website or with the iPad, there is an app. Educreations allows you to capture what is going on within the tools/app itself. For example you have the ability to write and draw using Educreations.

• A Screencast That Teaches Educreations

3.  Explain Everything - A wonderful application for the iPad that allows you to create lessons for students, and is also very useful for students sharing their own work and understanding.

• Screencasts of Short Refresher Lessons for Students

Thinking Routine - Zoom In

Essential Question: In what ways does technology support the habits of mind?

The thinking routine, Zoom In, is one of the routines that can be found on pg. 64 of the book, Making Thinking Visible. This routine asks leaner to observe something closely and then make a hypothesis.

The video below demonstrates how you can use the interactive projector with the Zoom-In routine. This is a great example of how technology can support the Thinking shom.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is used by most Google Apps users several times a day. Whether you are scheduling a meeting at work or creating a reminder to pick up your kids from school, it serves as the pulse of your day-to-day scheduling.

There is so much you can do with Google Calendar. For example you can make your calendar public or private. You can share your calendar with others. You can have multiple calendars in one view setting. You can set up reminders that send you a text, or send someone an event message that goes directly into their own calendar. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the links below to learn more about Google calendar.

Getting Started with Google Calendar

6 Little Known Calendar Features That Will Make You More Productive