Google Slides

Google Slides

Google Slides are presentation files, much like Powerpoint.  They are easy to create & share.  You can even upload and convert your old PowerPoint slides into Google Slides presentations.  You can share a presentation with other collaborators and everyone can do their part without creating multiple versions of the file.  One of the main benefits of using Google Slides is that your presentations are saved automatically online in your Google Drive.  You can access and edit them on any device!

Check out these 10 ways teachers are using Google Slides in the Classroom!

Resources:

• More Great Ways to Use Google Slides
• Shake Up Learning Google Slides Cheat Sheet
• Slides Carnival - FREE Google Slides Templates
• Creating an Interactive Google Slides Presentation

Google Slides App

App Store Link:

• Click here to download Google Slides  

Description:

•  Create, collaborate, and edit presentations on your iPad.

Support:

• How To Use The Google Slides App Video Tutorial

Google Forms

Google Forms are a great way to survey an audience, collect information, and even create assessments.  They are simple to create!  Here are some ways you can use Google Forms in your classroom:

• Create a survey for students to get feedback on classroom learning or routines.
• Create a survey for parents to get feedback about classroom communication.
• Create a parent information form and collect information (name, phone number, email address, etc) digitally.
• Create a form for students to fill out to give feedback during class presentations.
• Create a reflection form for students to fill out at the end of a lesson.
• Create a form to use as an exit ticket.
• Create a quiz

The new quiz feature in Google Forms allows teachers to turn a form into a quiz & create an answer key.  The students can see their grade/results as soon as they have submitted the form.  The form will grade the assessment for you!

For more information about Google Forms, check out these resources:

• Google Suite Learning Center - Google Forms
• How to Use Google Forms YouTube Tutorial
• Google Forms Blogposts by Alice Keeler

Reflector 2 & ShowMe

Reflector 2 is software you can have on your teacher computer that will allow you to display your iPad using your projector.  

Wirelessly displaying your iPad on the projector will allow you to move around your classroom while:

• Showing students how to work a problem by using a whiteboard app like ShowMe (see below)
• Demonstrate to students how to use an app
• Display student projects from an iPad on the projector for the class to see

Note: In order to use Reflector 2, your iPads must be updated to at least iOS 9.

Reflector 2 Support:

• BISD Helpdesk Directions for Installing Reflector 2
• BISD Helpdesk Directions for Using Reflector 2

App Store Link:

• Click here to download ShowMe  

Description:

• ShowMe is a simple to use whiteboard app.  You can insert pictures and annotate/draw on top of them.  ShowMe also has a recording feature, where you can record what you're doing on the screen while also explaining with your voice.  The videos are saved for free on the ShowMe website 

Examples:

• Decimals & Place Value ShowMe
• The Water Cycle ShowMe

Support:

• ShowMe Tutorial & Suggestions
• ShowMe Website

BISD G Suite for Education Accounts

BISD has gone Google!  We are a G Suite for Education district.  This means all BISD staff members have special Google accounts that can be used to access Google Drive, Google Classroom, and even YouTube! In addition, our 3rd-5th grade students have G Suite accounts to access Google Drive, Google Classroom, and even Gmail!  Please explore the information and resources in this blogpost to learn more about G Suite and how you can begin using it with your campus, team, and students!

Staff Google Account Information

Staff Google accounts are created at the time their district login account is created. You can log on to your G Suite account by visiting http://drive.google.com. The username for staff is firstname.lastname@g.birdvilleschools.net. Your password is the same as your computer password. Google passwords sync with our computer passwords. If you change your computer password for any reason, your Google password will change too. Staff can access more information about using Google by visiting the BISD Knowledge Base.

Student Google Account Information

Grade 3-12 Student Google accounts are created at the time their district login account is created.  Students can log on to their G Suite account by visiting http://drive.google.com. Students use their birthday as their password: mmddyyyy (no spaces, no slashes, no dashes. The usernames for students can be seen here:

G Suite Account Benefits

• Use Google Drive to store all of your important documents and access them anywhere you have internet on any device!
• Create shared folders in Google Drive to save and share documents with your students, team, or campus!
• Use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides (inside Google Drive) to create collaborative documents where everyone can edit at the same time and the work is saved automatically!
• Exclusive access to Google Classroom (a digital classroom for you and your students).  Google Classroom is only available through our @g.birdvilleschools.net G Suite accounts.

Resources

• Google on the BISD Helpdesk Knowledgebase
• Digital Learning News Brief September 1, 2015
• Digital Learning News Brief September 8, 2015
• Shake Up Learning Google Resources

If you would like help getting started with Google, please email your Digital Learning Specialist!

MySimpleShow - Show what you know!

Your students can create great explainer style videos in 4 easy steps with MySimpleshow!

Step 1: Choose a template.

• There are many templates to choose from.  
• The "Introduce a Physical Law" template is great for having students create vocabulary videos.

Step 2: Write a script. 

• Each template has various "chapters" for the script.  
• Students write what the voice-over will be saying during the video.  
• Each chapter includes some example text to use as inspiration.

Step 3: Choose visuals.

• Mysimpleshow chooses visuals to represent the key words in each chapter of the script. 
• Student can replace the chosen visuals easily to choose an image that better represents their key words.

Step 4: Add voice & captions.

• Choose the built-in text-to-speech voices or record your own voice.
• Turn on captions so the text of the script will appear on the screen.
• Finalize your video!

Videos can be easily published to YouTube and shared!

Here is an example:

3 Ways to Teach Media Literacy

Media literacy refers to 21st century learning competencies that enable students to analyze and evaluate information during research. Students create messages in a wide variety of media modes, formats, and genres and need to know how to access, analyze, evaluate, and create using all communication tools available to them. Being an informed digital citizen requires media literacy skills. It is important to encourage students to consider the following questions when accessing online information. What is the message? Who is the message for? What is the purpose of the message? Whose point of view is presented? Are credible sources linked? When was it published? What have I learned about the topic?

Teach students how search works.

Teaching students how to search online is a critical component toward becoming a strong digital citizen. There are many search engines, meta-search engines (a query that uses many search engines) and directories on the Internet, which can seem a little overwhelming.  Not all search engines populate or rank results tin the same manner. Encourage your students to utilize a variety of search engines. 

Kiddle is a search engine designed to afford elementary classrooms safe search results to include web, images, news, and video that "satisfy family-friendly and privacy" requirements. Search results populate with a larger easier to read font along with language tailored to students under the age of 10.

Partner with your Campus Librarian and Digital Learning Specialist. 

Your campus librarians and digital learning specialists are a great resource and can assist teachers toward selecting the best resource to fit a targeted need. Check out our elementary library resources to assist in preparing your students toward becoming media literate.

Encourage students to think like an author and create media.

When creating their own media, students should apply the same set of questions mentioned above to understand how others might view their message. When curating content, teach students to follow copyright and fair use guidelines and encourage the use of the creative commons meta search engine for curation purposes. 

Formative Assessment - Part 2

Formative Assessment Menu

Formative is a free student response system that works on any device. Formative includes short answer, M/C, T/F, and Show Your Own Work. Formative provides instant feedback. 20 Ways to Use Formative Formative How To Videos	EDpuzzel  is a platform in which teachers create interactive video assessments pulling from YouTube, Khan Academy, National Geographic, etc.. Create custom integrated assessments for videos they assign for students to watch. Interactive Video Assessment EDpuzzle Tutorials	Quizlet Live allows teachers to select a set of vocabulary words in Quizlet and that set as the basis of a review game that students play in teams. Teamwork and Communication via Quizlet Live How to Use Quizlet Live
TodaysMeet is a backchannel in which students can share ideas, and teachers can check for understanding. Students post in a discussion feed similar to Twitter, summarizing a 140 character response. Transcripts and teacher moderation tools are available. 20 Useful Ways to Use TodaysMeet How to Use TodaysMeet	Padlet provides quick evidence of student understanding, progress, and thinking. Students can add links, YouTube videos, images, and files to a padlet note. Log-ins are not required, improving accessibility. 20 Useful Ways to Use Padlet How To Use Padlet

Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment Menu

Socrative is a free student response system that works on any device. With its built-in quick questions and quiz options, it is an incredible resource for formative and summative assessments.   3 Ways To Use Socrative Socrative Tutorial	A Kahoot is a fun learning game made with a series of multiple choice questions.  Players answer using any device connected to the Internet. 10 Ways to Use Kahoot Kahoot Tutorial	Use Plickers for quick checks for understanding to know whether your students are understanding big concepts and mastering key skills. iOS App or Android App *No need for student devices. More About Plickers Plickers Tutorial
Answer Garden is a quick way to get feedback from students.  No account is required to create your question page. All About Answer Garden Answer Garden Tutorial	Quizziz is an online quiz tool with fun feedback memes.  Question order and answer order can be shuffled to discourage cheating. More About Quizizz Quizizz Tutorial	Google Forms is a versatile, easy-to-use, paperless way to collect student responses. Learn more about using Forms for assessment here or visit the Google Training Center.

Teaching Responsible Digital Citizens

During the month of October, the elementary digital learning team will be sharing resources to assist toward teaching our students to become responsible Digital Citizens in a Connected World. As many of you know, Digital Citizenship Week is the week of October 18 – 25, 2016.  As part of our digital professional learning series, we will host a #bisddlp Twitter chat every Tuesday night from 8-8:30 during the month of October highlighting a digital citizenship topic. Join us tonight as we consider Becoming a Responsible Digital Citizen. 

How do we begin teaching our kids about responsible digital citizenship?

In classrooms where digital citizenship is integrated effectively, teachers often model technology use for their students daily. Modeling appropriate use of technology allows for teachers to naturally incorporate digital citizenship conversations during instructional delivery. Remembering that we are all digital citizenship teachers is a crucial component toward improving a student's understanding of becoming a responsible digital citizen. Here are some resources to teachers begin conversations with our students. 

• BISD Digital Citizenship Scope and Sequence was just launched by BISD's Digital Learning Department and is closely aligned to BISD's CORE (Community of Respect) values. The Digital Citizenship Scope and Sequence contains resources and lessons to help continue important conversations toward becoming a responsible digital citizenship.  

BISD Digital Citizenship Curricular Topics

Fall Semester	Spring Semester
Digital Responsibility	Creative Credit and Copyright
Ethics and Empathy	Media Literacy
Kindness Matters: Community Communication	Cyber Courage

• BISD's Digital Citizenship Posters: Engage and remind students about responsible digital citizenship and order a BISD Digital Citizenship poster. 

What are the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship? 

What does it mean to be a responsible digital citizen? Being a good digital citizen includes learning about safety concerns, such as how to stay safe while communicating online to protecting private information with strong passwords. Scholars and the international academic community have identified nine elements of digital citizenship. Being a good digital citizen includes learning to become an informed digital citizen, learning how to conduct online research, improving digital etiquette, and how to prevent, stop, and report cyber-bullying. 

Vocabulary Visual Representations- Word Clouds

A word cloud is a graphical representation of word frequency that can be used to analyze text.  Word clouds can be used in many ways in varied content areas.  Some ideas for use could be as a self- assessment for writing to check for overused words.  It could also be an introduction to a new topic making key words more visible to students.

Resources:

• Ways to Use Word Clouds
• 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in the Classroom

There are some great and easy tools for students to create digital word clouds using laptops and/or iPads.

Websites: 

Wordle

ABCYa Word Clouds for Kids

iPad App:

Word Clouds by ABCYa

Engage Students via Flocabulary

Need a new vocabulary resource that engages students? Flocabulary is an online library of educational hip-hop songs and videos designed to improve vocabulary in all content areas. Flocabulary assists in building core literacy skills through engagement, mastery, and creativity. Educators create Flocabulary assignments and student activities accessible from most web browsers. Flocabulary features include interactive quizzes, reporting features, and access to lesson resources for all core content areas.

Teachers often use Flocabulary along with an Interactive World Wall. Kim Clay, a 3rd grade teacher at Spicer Elementary uses Flocabularywith her students to identify context clues in lyrics to improve academic vocabulary. Flocabulary provides additional activities, games, and built in assessments. Students can also write your own rhymes to encourage students to create their own hip-hop lyrics and videos based on classroom content. To learn more, visit https://www.flocabulary.com/ or connect with your digital learning specialist. 

Focus on Vocabulary: Quizlet

Quizlet is an online tool great for addressing the BISD Tier 1 priority of "engaging students with the vocabulary of the standard".  With a free account, teachers can create or search for study sets of vocabulary flash cards.  Student access the flash cards with a link (provided by the teacher).  Each study set link includes 6 interactive ways to engage with the vocabulary: Flashcards, Learn, Speller, Test, Scatter, & Gravity.

Explore these study sets to give it a try:

• Kindergarten Count to 10 
• 1st Grade Ten Frames Fluency
• 2nd Grade Expanded vs Standard Form
• 3rd Grade Multiplication & Division Fact Fluency
• 4th Grade Expanded Notation 
• 5th Grade Expanded Notation 

Google Apps for Education

BISD has gone Google!  We are a Google Apps for Education, or GAFE, district.  This means all BISD staff members have special Google accounts that can be used to access Google Drive, Google Classroom, and even YouTube! In addition, our 3rd-5th grade students have GAFE accounts to access Google Drive, Google Classroom, and even Gmail!  Please explore the information and resources in this blogpost to learn more about GAFE and how you can begin using it with your campus, team, and students!

Staff and student (grades 3-12) accounts are created at the time their district login account is created. Staff and students can log on to their GAFE account by visiting http://drive.google.com. Click here for staff and student login information.

GAFE Account Benefits

• Use Google Drive to store all of your important documents and access them anywhere you have internet on any device!

• Create shared folders in Google Drive to save and share documents with your students, team, or campus!

• Use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides (inside Google Drive) to create collaborative documents where everyone can edit at the same time and the work is saved automatically!

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a virtual environment that is designed to help teachers create and collect assignments.  Classroom features include Announcement, Assignment, and Question posts. This gives students a platform to publish their responses or ideas as well as a way for teachers to collect formative assessment data that will help focus instruction.

• Classroom can be used in multiple content areas to extend learning beyond school walls...anytime, anywhere, any device

• Classroom can be used to flip learning...students can access content to prepare for deeper learning the next day

• Classroom allows students to collaborate when sharing Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other Google apps

Support:

• What is Google Classroom?

• 20 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom

• Google Classroom Support

• Shake Up Learning Google Resources

If you would like help getting started with Google, please email your Digital Learning Specialist!

Kidblog, Edutyping, & Reflector

Kidblog

Kidblog is a safe, secure way for students to publish their thoughts, questions, or writing online.  The great thing about online publishing is that students can show their teacher and other classmates what they are thinking or wondering.  Even better is that everyone who is part of  the blog can comment back to the person making the post.  So it is very quick and easy to get feedback from others to help answer questions or shape thinking.

For teachers, Kidblog can be a great way to get students thinking about something before it is taught, collect thoughts and questions during instruction, or get exit ticket thoughts as students wrap up their studies.  Kidblog also allows for anytime/anywhere access and learning.  Teachers can stay connected with students as they move through postings and make any necessary adjustments to the learning taking place.

Birdville ISD has recently purchased access to Kidblog.  If you currently have a Kidblog account or are new to Kidblog, these instructions will get you going!   Your campus DLS is eager to help at any step of the process  Email them with any questions!

Click the link for more on what Kidlblog can do for you and your students:  Why Kidblog?

EduTyping

EduTyping is a web based application designed for teaching keyboarding in grades K-5 and can be accessed from any Internet-ready computer. Curriculum includes Course Lessons, Reinforcement, Timed Writings, and In the News. Click here to see directions for getting started with EduTyping.

Reflector 2

Reflector 2 is software you can have on your teacher computer that will allow you to display your iPad using your projector.  

Wirelessly displaying your iPad on the projector will allow you to move around your classroom while:

• Showing students how to work a problem by using a whiteboard app like ShowMe (see below)
• Demonstrate to students how to use an app
• Display student projects from an iPad on the projector for the class to see

Note: In order to use Reflector 2, your iPads must be updated to at least iOS 9.

Reflector 2 Support:

• BISD Helpdesk Directions for Installing Reflector 2
• BISD Helpdesk Directions for Using Reflector 2

Technology Resources Page & Grade Level Symbaloo Resources

The Digital Learning team manages an online resources page on our website.  You can access the resources page by going to:

http://www.birdvilleschools.net/resources

This is the default home page in Internet Explorer when students log onto a computer.  Students and staff can also access this page through the shortcut called "BISD Technology Resources" in the Windows Start Menu under "All Programs".

In addition to these resources, we have worked to create websites with additional resources aligned to each grade level's content for each six weeks.  You can access these sites by clicking your grade level in the right menu of the resources page.

Once you click on your grade level, a site will open with resources divided by six weeks.

When you select your six weeks preference a symbaloo (collection of links) will appear with many sites for practicing skills taught in that six weeks.

TED Talks

Technology Tip of the Week: TED Talks

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit organization that is focused on spreading ideas to a global community.  This is done mainly through a series of short talks...videos that are 18 minutes or less.  TED invites some of the brightest thinkers from various industries and fields of study to talk about innovations, new ways of thinking, and change.  While a very broad range of topics are covered by TED, many touch on the field of education.  Talks on educational leadership, design, mindset shifts, learning styles and technology in education can be found.  TED Talks are wonderful resources that fit well in personal professional development plans.  These talks will challenge and inspire you to continue down the path of a growth mindset.

Below is a TED Talk given by Sir Ken Robinson, a leader in the area of creativity.  Sir Ken advocates for radical change in our education system to better support creativity and multiple intelligences.  His Talks are well worth a look.

App of the Week: TED

App Store Link:

• Click here to download TED

Professional Learning

Technology Tip of the Week: Google Edu Training Center

Google for Education Training Center is designed to help teachers learn how to meaningfully integrate Google Apps For Education (GAFE) tools in the classroom.  It includes lesson ideas, facilitation tips, and resources for using GAFE.  Training is offered to support all levels of users.  If you are looking to get started or learn more about GAFE, this is a great resource for you!

Check out this video overview for more information about the Google Edu Training Center.

App of the Week: Twitter

App Store Link:

• Click here to download the Twitter App

Twitter is a growing and respected tool for creating a Professional Learning Network (PLN). We encourage all staff to create professional Twitter accounts to create and grow their own PLN.

Check out this video to learn more about PLNs.

Hashtags are a great way to connect with other educators on Twitter.  Check out these two articles that may help you better understand hashtags.

• 10 Things to Know About Twitter Hashtags by Alice Keeler
• Twitter for Teachers: Discover #hashtag PD! by Patti Grayson

Stick Around App

App of the Week: Stick Around 

If your campus has some money to spend on apps, we suggest Stick Around. It is $2.99 and available with a discount for volume purchase. This app is a great way to turn a worksheet into something digital; but the really great thing about Stick Around is that students can design an interactive puzzle for their classmates. There is an assortment of created puzzles and templates that can be used. Also, you can bring in your own images to create projects. Play, design, and share sorting and labeling puzzles!

App Store Link:

• Click here to download Stick Around by Tony Vincent and Explain Everything 

Support:

• Tony Vincent's Blog, Learning in Hand, is a wonderful resource for Stick Around.  It has video tutorials, a user guide as well as many ideas for using the app.

Storybird

Technology Resource of the Week: Storybird

Storybird is a wonderful online storybook creation site for kids of all ages.  Storybird has a large selection of images that students use to spark their imagination and unleash creative writing skills.  Once on the site, students choose images for their pages, add ideas to the pages they insert, and then spend time turning those ideas into a wonderful finished product.  Students’ books can be shared out for others to read and enjoy.  Storybird gives teachers the ability to create a classroom for their kids.  In this classroom, teachers can make assignments, provided feedback as students move through the writing process, and monitor all student progress from a teacher dashboard.  Click the following link for more information: https://storybird.com/educators/

Examples:

• https://storybird.com/books/animal-alphabet-49/
• https://storybird.com/books/i-dont-feel-so-good-2/

Integration Ideas:

Storybird can be used in multiple content areas that allows for story writing.  This six weeks is all about research utilizing skills in ELAR and Science is asking elementary grade levels to research biomes.  Storybird could be a way to let students publish what they have learned.

Support:

• How to use Storybird
• Storybird Tutorial

App of the Week: Lark by Storybird

Make and share art inspired poetry with the app Lark, by Storybird. This app is available in the App Store in the "iPhone only" section but will work on an iPad.

App Store Link:
Click here to download Lark by Storybird