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Google Drive on your PC

3/28/2016

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This weeks blog has one Google feature that is important for employees.  The screencast shared this week shows you how to download Google Drive to your Windows laptop or Desktop.  Please review this and if you need assistance in completing this please contact me, extension 1007.  Click here to review the screencast.
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Donors Choose - We have another teacher who has gotten devices!

3/15/2016

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Jackie Goodyear, high school teacher of FCS, utilized Donors Choose to obtain funding for $1700 worth of iPad equipment for her preschool.  She just received the good news that she will receive her items requested on her donation.  I am sharing the link to Donors Choose with all of you again.  If there is something you need for your classroom, this is a great place to go to try to get funding for it. Donors Choose

Moving "G" Drive files to Google Drive

I have created a series of screencasts walking you through moving your files from your "G" Drive to your Google Drive. If you need assistance with any of these steps, please do no hesitate to contact me at x 1007.

Step 1: This brief tutorial shows you two things you need to do in advance of moving your files.  Click Here.

Files and folders can be moved to Google Drive.  I am going to show you two ways to move your information.

Step 2: I am providing this step for those whose "G" drives are not well organized.  This is your chance to really clean up your files and get things organized in your Google Drive and keep them organized as you upload them. Click Here for tutorial

Step 3: In this step you will see how easy and quick it will be to just move files from your "G" drive to your Google Drive installed on your hard drive on your computer. Click Here 

Step 4: How do I save my Microsoft Documents when my G Drive is no longer available? Click Here to learn how.

Google Docs - Updates - Click here for brief screencast of new features

​1. Google Docs now has an document outline option for those who want to create outlines for their lengthier documents. Document Outline  allows you to easily structure your documents. Outline is also a great tool to help you quickly navigate the different parts of your documents. Once activated, Document outline displaces a pane to the left of the page featuring all the headers contained in your document. Clicking on each of these headers will jump you straight to its corresponding section. You don’t even have to manually apply headers, Google Docs smartly detects the different sections of your documents and generates an outline accordingly which you can edit as you want.
Here is how to open a document outline in Google Docs:
Open a Google Docs document then click ‘tools’ and select ‘document outline’.
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2. You can now convert Google Documents to an EPUB format.Google Docs released yesterday another new interesting feature that allows users to download their Google documents in EPUB format. And as you know, EPUB is a file format that you can download and read in different digital devices (smartphones, tablets, computers) and through various apps and e-readers. With this new feature, you will be able to create and share digital content that can be read on a ‘diverse range of screen sizes and devices’. To convert a Google document into EPUB, you simply click on ‘File’, then hover over ‘Download as’ and choose ‘EPUB publication’ as shown in the image below.
You click on file, go to download, then select EPUB from the list.
3. Voice commands in Google now allows users to do talk to text. This is basically a voice enabled formatting functionality that allows Docs users to easily edit and format their documents using voice commands. This new feature comes to complete the Voice Typing functionality that was added to Google Docs a few months ago. Users of Google Docs are now able to not only compose documents and write down notes without touching their keyboards but are also able to format their documents using speech commands such as “copy,” “insert table,” and “highlight.” You can check the full list of commands from this page. This feature is only available in Chrome browsers.

Using Music to Teach Math - Elementary

Mr. R's Songs for Teaching is a Youtube resource I recently cam across.  I am sharing one example of the many songs that Mr. R has created to teach math to elementary students.  The use of music is a fun way to help students remember.  Mr. R's songs are fun and worth taking a look at, so here is a link to one on numerator song-fraction song.  If you try Mr R's songs, let me know what you think about them and whether your students enjoy them.
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PBS Election Central- A Relevant Resource for What's happening Now in Our Country!

3/7/2016

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This weeks feature is PBS Election Central.  As the race to the White House heats up among the candidates, PBS has put together a resource covering all aspects of the election and election process, including interactive maps, inside the debates and virtual field trips.  Election Central also include a link called the Election Collection.  It looks like a fabulously comprehensive collection of materials, videos, etc. about the history of elections.  If you do anything at all with your students of any level on the topic of the election, I am certain you could find materials here to support your activities or discussions.

SAMR ​

​Here is a follow-up to the SAMR information I shared in the my last blog post.  This article, Taking a Dip in the SAMR Swimming Pool, explains SAMR from a different perspective. We can look at SAMR, not as a ladder we are climbing, but rather a framework in which we move around with thoughtful purpose. Click here for a link to this brief article in the Hooked on Innovation blog by Mr. Hooker.

App Share

Here are some apps I have recently learned about from my own research or from colleagues.  If you have apps you would like to share with teachers across the district, please email me the names of them and if you have used it a brief blurb about the app and how you used it.  You will see a live link for each of the Apps and for some I have added some additional informative links.
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1. Dr. Rudisill shared an app called Whiteboard - Nothing More Nothing Less. Cost is Free. This is a kind of dead-simple whiteboard which is convenient for your work, study and life. Simple operation Just so easy. You can use only one finger to write, two fingers' gently touched can play a role of an eraser. If you choose the trimmed-down version, three fingers' gently sweep can clean the screen easily. Try to shake it, you can find the pictures are saved or you can save the pictures by press the saving button as well.  Concise user interface. There are four colors, You can customize the brush color. three types of brush size for you to choose and it is very simple and convenient. A new mosaic feature and Background can be changed now.
After you finish drawing, you can save your pictures as high-resolution images to your album directly or you can print it as well as share it to the SMS, email or SNS (only suitable for IOS 6.0 or greater ). 
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2. Gabrielle Sipe - Littlestowns K-12 Tech Integrator shared one she is using at the elementary level with the art teacher to create portfolios of student work, but it is a K-12 app, called Seesaw.  Click here for an overview of it.  Very cool app.  Allows for the development of individual student portfolios, that can be shared with parents.  There is an app for parents to use with SeeSaw.  I signed up and I got access to this really great Seesaw Help Center which includes activity ideas for grades K-12.  Check out these activity then sign up and get your own access for FREE
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3. Tina Slonaker, teacher of 2nd graders at NOE, uses Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a  Presentation and Slideshow App with Beautiful Charts and Graphs.  It is created by Haiku Deck, Inc. Haiku Deck is a presentation and slideshow app that allows students to easily create beautiful presentations.  It has a simplified format and design structure so it works great with primary age children.  They can search and select background pictures for their slides from an included gallery of images. Students add their content text and then project is ready for presentation.  Haiku Deck can be utilized on tablets, computers, and other technology devices.  My second grade students are able to independently navigate the app and create a deck with minimal demonstration and instruction.
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Google Photos App -
Many of you may have noticed a new icon in your Google Drive.  Google now has Google Photos and there is an app for it.  Google photos has 3 great features. 
1- Photo Storage-Google Photos provides unlimited free storage to allow users to back up and save their photos and videos and access them across different devices.

2- Photo Organization-Instead of creating albums and tagging photos, Google Photos automatically organizes your photos “by the people, places, and things that matter”. It also helps you choose the best adjustments for your photos to make them look better.
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3- Photo sharing-Google Photos made photo sharing way simpler and easier. With one click users can select a whole selection of photos or albums and share them with others via a generated link. Recipients can easily view the photos and save them to their own libraries.
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Padlet is a digital canvas to create beautiful projects that are easy to share and collaborate on.  Padlet is also a web based tool, click her to go to the Padlet site.

It works like a piece of paper. We give you an empty page - a padlet - and you can put whatever you like on it. Drag in a video, record an interview, snap a selfie, write your own text posts or upload some documents, and voilà! A padlet is born. Make it even more beautiful by choosing custom wallpapers and themes.

Padlet is different from other blogging tools and inspiration boards because it’s flexible. Create a grocery list, a Venn diagram, a discussion board, a group greeting card, a portfolio, or a business plan, all in one app. Used by teachers, students, professionals, and individuals of all ages, all around the world, padlets can be selectively shared and edited among multiple contributors. 

Discovery Education  Spotlight on Strategies (SOS)

Spotlight on Strategies is something I am sure I have mentioned previously, but it's worth reminding everyone about again.  In your DE account you have a tab called professional development.  When you click that tab you then click PD Home and you will go to a page that provides you with all types of training and information about how to best utilized your DE account.  One of the areas is called SOS and this is your spotlight on strategies section.  I am going to do my best to continue to share strategies from this area to help those who are interested in broadening your bag of teaching tools.  In addition, look for tips as to how to integrate technology with these strategies. Click here to for a brief explanation of how to get to your DE SOS site.

Kathy Schrock, an excellent source of information for technology integration, has shared Kathy Schrock's Katch of the Month in the DE March newsletter.  It's a quick read and she shares a strategy called Flip Flop.  Kathy explains the strategy and then she shares how you can incorporate technology into a lesson with this strategy.  She talks about two tools Padlet, which is featured in this weeks blog, and Today's Meet, which was featured on 2/19/16.  Both are easy to use tools and will engage all students.  Both are available as web-based tools so if you don't have tablet's or chrome books you are still able to use them.  You just need an internet connection. Click here to check out the March SOS on Flip Flop.  The tools that Kathy shares in her post could also be used in the SOS ideas that are showcased below.

Check out some additional DE reading and literature resources along with the SOS idea to accompany them.

Films by Weston Woods 
Grades K-2, 3-5 
Publisher Weston Woods creates short films based on well-known books for children, including Caldecott and other award-winning books and authors. Favorite texts such as Emily’s First 100 Days of School  come to life in animated and live-action versions with read-aloud text. 

Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Get a Clue and have students analyze a video and its transcript as they match context clues to content.


Great Books Series 
Grades 6-8, 9-12 
The Great Books series by Discovery Education features dozens of texts, including The Great Gatsby, The Jungle, Lord of the Flies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, and more. Each video explores literary themes, author’s experiences and influences, historical context, modern impact, and discusses why we study these works today. 

Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Step Inside and have students consider content from multiple perspectives, such as author, historic/contemporary reader, and modern reader.


Shmoop Literature Guides and Biographies 
Grades 6-8, 9-12 
Shmoop’s learning guides are fun, rigorous materials that use current events and pop culture to help students see how topics, authors, and literary works are relevant today. Available guides include Frankenstein, 1984,Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, and authors Harper Lee, William Shakespeare, andEdgar Allan Poe. 

Instructional Idea: Use SOS: 25 Things You Didn’t Know to have students identify new information from the resources and in order to create a collaborative list of facts.


Reading Rainbow 
Grades K-2, 3-5 
The beloved and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series Reading Rainbow connects children's literature to the real world through thematic exploration and recommended book readings. Titles include Boxing for Katje, Watch the Stars Come Out, Show Way, and The Tin Forest. 

Instructional Idea: Use SOS: Paper Slide to have students create Reading Rainbow-style ("But don't take my word for it!") book trailers, focusing on key details and logical sequencing.
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130 Berlin Road, New Oxford, PA 17350 
Phone (717) 624-2157 |Fax (717) 624-5020


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