Technology in Education: Notes from the Closet

Digital Safety Digital Citizenship Week takes place in October. Although every teacher in every grade in every subject should be weaving in conversations about responsible online practices this is nevertheless a good time to teach some specific lessons on the topic.  Following are the resources I'm exposing K-6 learners to when they visit the computer lab this month. Kindergarten-2nd Grade Common Sense Media has a fantastic scope and sequence of lessons that have already been created to use with students. To make the lessons a bit more engaging for our little learners I have created presentations around two of the concepts featured in the scope and sequence, embedded and linked below.  I've also created review Kahoots for 1st and 2nd grade that are free to duplicate. Direct Link:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_lUc3CzlYXpozgLyoRVX-Kk0Gse5-wOS9CaxQLO5ElE/edit?usp=sharing Direct Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12GC8bjh3Trdau7xkI66orS...

The more I use Twitter the more ways I find to enhance my experience.  Following is a slideshow I put together with 13 tips that I've discovered along the way.  If you'd like to hear the slideshow narrated for a bit more content the link to a screencast is below.  Let's connect on Twitter ! Screencast:  https://youtu.be/HLPDIWSf5Y4

Giving Thanks When was the last time you thanked someone?  Do you do it often? Recently I was asked to cover the library for a couple of periods while our librarian hosted an author's visit.  It was unexpected but sometimes is part of the job as a coach. The next day the librarian brought me a plant as a thank you.  It was such a sweet gesture, one I truly appreciated and one that doesn't happen every day. We all appreciate when a family member, a colleague or a member of our social media PLN does (or says) something that makes our day brighter, better or easier.  But we often don't take the time to say thank you to them.  Sure, we may think about how awesome they are but we usually are so busy we don't take a few minutes to let them know. As a coach, I spend a lot of time presenting technology project ideas to teachers (and a bit of prodding, too). Even though these projects benefit their students I understand that for some it doesn't come easily an...

L ast year our 3rd grade gifted teacher was looking for a way to use technology in his social studies curriculum. His project on researching regions of the United States lent itself to the multimedia program Thinglink . First students would research and gather information on the geography, economy and history of each region being studied. They would then use this information to display on their Thinglinks.    We created a graphic organizer as a way to help students organize their thoughts and research. Third graders still need guidance in taking notes so we created a more detailed graphic organizer this year which allowed them to enter their notes directly onto it.  By doing so we helped with the structure of the paragraphs they would be asked to complete.      After research and Thinglinks were complete students were asked to create a 5 page website: home page, credits, Thinglink, regions and dream vacation. Again, we constructed a graphic or...

A presentation I developed for my faculty to teach about using hashtags in Twitter.