Contacts and Email Groups in New Gmail
Looking for your email contacts in the new Gmail? Click on your "waffle" (thanks @AESBulldogs 1st graders for the vocab upgrade!) and scroll down to contacts. It is a blue circle with a person icon.
Need to set up a new email group? Open your contacts, click on the names you want to include, and click on the icon with multiple heads to name your group.
Changes to Flipgrid
Flipgrid changed its security this summer, and now your students will need to log in with their @banderaisd2.net credentials to access your grids.
On the teacher end, you will need to click on the editing pencil next to your grid and enable students in our domain to log in.
Accessing your grid as a student is a simple as 1-2-3.
Want to use this image with your students? Click HERE.
Clean up Your Chrome Bookmarks Bar
Digital Breakouts
Learning games are having a moment, and digital breakouts are an amazing way to harness the power of technology and learning in the classroom. Thank you, Ms. Allison @BanderaMiddle, for sharing this repository of games from BreakoutEDU that can be searched by subject and grade level. From Orwell and Poe to WWII and Reconstruction, there are games to explore.
Digital Whiteboards
Looking for a way to include more instruction and/or collaboration in your Google Classroom? Consider a digital whiteboard. Just as its name implies, a digital whiteboard is a creative space that can be utilized like the whiteboard on the wall in your classroom...except this whiteboard is accessible 24/7. Last fall, TCEA's @mguhlin offered some tips for using digital whiteboards in the classroom, as well as a selection of whiteboard tools. Check out his post here.
If you have a student at AEP, on homebound, or need to conference with a student long distance, I like WebWhiteboard because you can collaborate on the board through a shared URL, the tool doesn't require a sign-in, and clearing the board and starting fresh is fast and easy. I like the SketchPad app for the same reasons but also because if you link the app to your Google account the drawings save automatically to your Google Drive. Either app pairs wonderfully with a screencasting app to model problem-solving steps to students; the screencasts can be shared in Google Classroom to reinforce learning.
If you have a student at AEP, on homebound, or need to conference with a student long distance, I like WebWhiteboard because you can collaborate on the board through a shared URL, the tool doesn't require a sign-in, and clearing the board and starting fresh is fast and easy. I like the SketchPad app for the same reasons but also because if you link the app to your Google account the drawings save automatically to your Google Drive. Either app pairs wonderfully with a screencasting app to model problem-solving steps to students; the screencasts can be shared in Google Classroom to reinforce learning.
Bandera ISD has been telling our district's story on Twitter the last couple of weeks. If you are new to Twitter, no worries. Your administrators, curriculum leads, and and I will be there to help you in the weeks ahead. Haven't set up an account yet? Check out the sidebar of this post to see the latest tweets from @BanderaISD.
