In my family, it's widely known that mama is not a fan of vaping. Confession: My children would probably see that as an extreme understatement! Which explains my pleasure in discovering that Scholastic has developed a set of lesson activities, accompanied by a teacher resource guide, student articles, infographics, downloadable posters, and family resources that address the dangers of vaping. The lessons and activities, which are geared to teens, target ELA, math, science, technology, health, and social studies standards. Here's another opportunity to empower our students to make healthy choices.

Google Teacher Center

As we grow in harnessing the power of Google apps to guide our students in creating, collaborating, communicating, and thinking critically, we are refining how our students use technology in the classroom. Sometimes, we know exactly what to do. And sometimes we have a gut feeling about what we want, but aren't quite sure how to get there. That's where the Google Teacher Center comes in. Whether you need help in using a new Google tool or help in designing a fresh lesson, the Teacher Center has resources for you. This is a site you'll want to bookmark to come back when you need inspiration or assistance.

ESL Spotlight: Using technology with English Language Learners

When Sandy Snow was in BISD last August, she gave me a book called 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom by Dodge and Duarte. (Let me know if you want to borrow it!) The book is a lot like Sandy--chock full of practical tips that make complete sense!

The authors make some recommendations to follow when using technology with ELLs. These, too, make complete sense, but I have to confess, I may not have thought of a few of them on my own!

• Record screencasts so students can rewind and rewatch as needed;
• Embed text into a video or screencast so ELLs can view words as they hear them spoken
• Share an online dictionary or thesaurus that provides audible pronunciation as well as related words. (The Groff version of this tip would be to show students how to use the Google omnibox to access this information.)

• Allow students, especially beginners, to record their responses. (Groff tip: use the Voice Typing feature in Google Docs paired with the Translate feature to really make an impact! Both of those are accessed through the Tools tab in Docs.)

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