Good-bye GAFE...Hello G-Suite
In the last couple of weeks Google Apps for Education (GAFE) has been re-branded as G-Suite for Education. According to ChalkUp, not much looks different right now, but according to Google, there's a lot going on behind the scenes that will make our work flow easier and more efficient over time. So long, GAFE; hello GSFE?
Check out the G Suite Learning Center
Google has an extensive online learning center that can be searched by product. An initial click on the product you are interested in will return basic information about how to get started. But my favorite feature is the "tip" page for each product. Use the search bar within the learning center to search for "Calendar tips" or "Drive tips" or "Forms tips," etc. Tips are easily navigated by clicking on the tip tile. This is a great resource to share with students and parents, too!
Using Google Forms in BISD
BISD teachers rock! They are doing some amazing things with Google Forms. The third grade at Alkek used Google Forms as a basis for their community research. Armed with iPads and access to the BEC internet on Main Street, the students accessed the forms embedded on the fourth grade webpage. What an awesome way to integrate technology, research, and social studies! One of the UIL coaches at BMS has created a Google Classroom for her events to guide the students to practice resources. She's creating quizzes using Google Forms to give her students extra practice. Some elementary teachers are using Google Forms as a sign out of the classroom. One of the high school teachers has created a Google Form to document her parent contacts. Since the Form automatically generates a Google Sheet, she not only has documentation of her parent communication, but her Sheet can be sorted by student. Google Forms is proving to be a versatile tool that BISD faculty and staff are using in inventive ways.
Celebrate Teen Read Week With EBSCO
Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) sponsors the Teen Read Week celebration October 9-15, 2016. #TRW16 is a great time to showcase the awesome digital e-book content that comes with our EBSCO subscription. Acquire your campus's username/password from your librarian. When you access EBSCO, you can click on the K-8 ebook collection or the high school ebook collection. Within the collection, you can search for fiction or nonfiction ebooks. Ms. Allison's students at BMS were pretty excited to use the advanced search tool to search for books that were downloadable so they could read on their personal devices on long bus trips. I stumbled across a pretty fantastic graphic novel about the Salem witch trials in one of my searches, which was a reminder to me to use EBSCO to find texts to share with students to support what we're learning. Ebooks are available in languages other than English, too. If you and your students haven't had a chance to check out EBSCO's ebooks, Teen Read Week offers an opportunity to celebrate our databases and read good books.
