Website redesign, G-Suite Updates, Sync Audiobooks, Spotlight on Strategies

BISD Website: Share Your Thoughts

We are currently in the process of redesigning our www.banderaisd.net website. The new site will roll out later this summer. To best meet the needs of those who visit our site, I'm seeking input from those who use it most frequently: YOU! 

Are there are things that you love about our site, and don't want to see changed? Are there areas that you would like to see improved? Are there things not on the site that you would like to see added? Click here to share your thoughts. Feel free to share this form with your students and their families. The form is anonymous and does not collect identifying information.

Two Awesome G-Suite Updates

A great big Bulldog thank you to our Technology Director, David Brown, for getting BISD involved in the Google Form beta to lock students' screens while they are taking Google Form quizzes. Check out this two-minute video below to see some pretty sweet features. (Thank you, Ashley Jones at HCE for letting me know that the beta feature was live for BISD!)

https://youtu.be/3uARN8GQJ_Y

The second update in G-Suite is the gradebook feature in Google Classroom. (Thanks, Stephanie Jones at BHS for letting me know this much-anticipated feature is live.) While we're not yet able to export grades from Google Classroom and import them into TXEIS, we can grade right within classroom, which makes keeping track of grades and communicating them to our students easier. The video below shows you how. Google invites you to use the comments section below the YouTube video to request features. Changes may not happen immediately, but Google has been pretty responsive to user requests to improve its products.

https://youtu.be/Wyop2l-N9mM

It's baaaccck! Sync Audiobooks for 2019

Sync Audiobooks kicks off its Summer 2019 free audiobook downloads on April 25, 2019. Download two free audiobooks a week through August 1, 2019. Click HERE for a list of the 2019 titles.  These are YA/Teen reads, but if you are looking for travel books for the summer, you might find some titles that you enjoy, as well.

Google Educator Certification

Google Educator certifications have to be renewed every three years. My Level 1 certification expires in May. If you're interested in taking the Level 1 certification exam, I'd love some company. If you have questions, Cassie Simon (BMS) and Lisa Gherman (AES) earned their Level 1 certifications last six weeks. Taking the certification exam helped me grow in my Google-ness and learn new ways to integrate G-Suite tools into instruction. The test costs $10 and has a 4-hour time limit. Click HERE for details.

Challenge: Discovery Education Spotlight on Strategies

Every educator in BISD has access to Discovery Education, and one of Discovery Education's hidden gems is its Spotlight on Strategies resources which offer collaboration and critical thinking opportunities to our students across the curriculum.  Last week I received an email from Susan Reeves at Region XX that offers a challenge to allow educators to explore the Spotlight on Strategies, share their tips/tricks with other educators, and earn some swag along the way. 

Looking for a fun way to share Discovery Education with other educators? Look no further! Discovery Education Spotlight on Strategies (SOS) are research-based instructional strategies for integrating digital media in meaningful, effective, and practical ways.

Encourage educators at your school to sign up and learn more through this challenge! Each week for five weeks we'll send you a hand-selected SOS instructional idea to your inbox, complete with ready-to-go graphic organizers and examples of how other educators are using it in their classrooms.

Try the strategy and let us know how it went in the DEN Online Community, and we'll select one response each week to receive a limited-edition Discovery Education hoodie. #DEswag

Encourage your friends to sign up, share this information and share the fun and new ideas to help you finish the school year strong.

Registration closes Friday, April 13. Sign up: https://teachers.discoveryeducation.com/spotlight-on-strategies-challenge

Haven't signed up for a DE account? See your campus librarian for your campus's site code. 

G Suite Updates, Add-ons, Social Studies Trading Game

G-Suite Updates

If you haven't already seen a pop up in your Gmail asking if you want to try the latest update, you will see it in the near future. One of the awesome features in the update is that you can access your Calendar, Keep, and Tasks from the new side panel. 

Similar updates will be rolling out in the next couple of weeks for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. You'll be able to access your Google calendar, Google Keep, and Google Tasks right from the application. Click HERE to see how the update will look.

The new Google Sites also got an update in layouts that makes designing pages even easier. Click HERE to see the six pre-built site layouts.

Google Add-Ons

During the secondary Digital Breakout Day, Two BHS teachers shared add-ons they are currently using. Mr. Koerlin is using Doc to Form which allows you to quickly create a Google Form from text within a document. That could be a real time time saver!  Ms. Gibson is using Math Type for mathematical notations in Google Docs.

If you're using an extension or add-on that is making your job easier, please send me an email!

Social Studies Game

Lori Gracey of TCEA recently wrote about a social studies game by author Todd Stanley that is now available as a free download. "Trading Game" allows students in grades 5-12 to work in groups to learn about supply and demand. The download includes game cards, directions, and a debriefing activity. 

Hour of Code, Interactive Science Glossary, EdPuzzle, G-Suite Updates

Hour of Code is Coming! December 4-10, 2017

Looking for a great way to integrate coding into your curriculum? Consider offering your students the opportunity to create a Google Doodle with Google's Hour of Code activity. 
Code.org also has both computer and unplugged activities.

Interactive Science Glossary

According Texas Gateway, "The Interactive Science Glossary is a dynamic resource that offers an engaging new way for students to experience science vocabulary and activities. You can use this resource as a reference tool or as part of your instruction. The resource features written and recorded definitions and sentences in both Spanish and English, images, web links, and printable flashcards." Texas Gateway provides an informational page that shows how easy the glossary is to use. 

EdPuzzle

If you are using videos in your classroom, EdPuzzle  is for you! EdPuzzle offers free accounts to students and teachers. Teachers can crop videos, provide voice-overs, and embed quizzes/questions throughout the video. Videos can be uploaded from Khan Academy, TED Talk, YouTube, Google Drive, and more. 

Ed Puzzle's page in the Chrome Web Store lists the three easy steps to get started:

Step 1:
Crop the video, use only what you need for your lesson. 
Record your voice on top of it to explain it in your own personal way, add clarifications, a warm introduction, you name it.
Add quizzes along the video and check if your students truly understand the lesson.

Step 2:
Assign it to your class/classes and let your students watch the video and answer the quizzes.

Step3:
Get meaningful data and insights about your students while they watch the video lesson or after they have completed it as homework. See at a glance how they are answering the quizzes and where in the video they are struggling to understand the concepts.

Here's a short video that shows you how EdPuzzle works with Google Classroom. 

G-Suite Updates

Google has released a pretty sweet update for the G-Suite products. 

Now it's easier to insert images into Docs, Slides, and Drawings. When you click Insert > Insert Image, you now have a choice to select an image from your Drive, photos, by URL, or upload from your computer.

The coolest part is that based on your selection,  a menu will open on the right side of the screen, allowing you to search without leaving the application.

Next Tuesday Tech Tip: December 5, 2017. 

Happy Thanksgiving!