Blended Learning, Google Educator Certification, Certify 'Em

Keeping the Conversation Going

Over the last two weeks teachers across the district have been collaborating with each other and with administrators to brainstorm how to continue growing in our own understanding and competence in implementing blended learning and using technology to meet the individual needs of our students. The #banderaTCEAchers offered suggestions for providing staff with on-going support throughout the year and for staff development now, over the summer, and in August, as well as specific goals to meet the needs of teachers and students on their campuses. Curriculum leads on a couple of the campuses have issued digital challenges to their teachers so that we have the opportunity to learn in small doses things that can help us in our classrooms. The Digital Classroom teachers are intensively studying blended learning in their professional development through UTeach, and the Digital Learning PLC's this spring will offer more opportunity to explore what blended learning looks like in the classroom. There are some awesome things happening in classrooms across the district. If you get a chance on a random conference period, stop by a colleague's classroom and fill your own cup with some fresh ideas. Planning for next year has already started. If you have an idea on how we can support each other to improve our practice or to help our students be the best that they can be, speak up. Talk to your curriculum lead, team/department/grade lead, or administrator. #GoTeam 

Considering Getting Google Educator Certified?

Google Educator certification exams focus on the integration of G-Suite tools into classroom learning. The exams give you ample opportunity to apply those tools to real classroom situations, and that can give you some new ideas for integration in your own classroom. BISD has had G-Suite tools available in our classrooms for many years. There are some serious Google Geeks out there among us! Want to get a feel for if you're ready to test? Download Kasey Bell's Toolkit for Level 1 and Level 2 Google Educator certifications. Still not sure? Talk to Lisa Gherman (AES), Cassie Simon (BMS) or me. 

Certify 'Em

 Thank you, Shea Holland at AES, for sharing the Google Form add-on Certify 'Em, which allows you to create online certification exams and email .pdf certificates. How cool is that? The librarian in me is thinking how cool it would be to use this for a scavenger hunt for library orientation, but I can so see my friend down the hall using this in her science class for certifying her students in lab safety or my other friend across campus using it for certifying that her students know the political, economic, and social roots of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to the westward growth of our nation. If you gamify your lessons, Certify 'Em might be a nice tool to use for leveling up.

Gmail Groups, FlipAnim, Icebreakers, Google Educator Certification, Google Classroom Training Center

Create an Email Group in Gmail

Back to School Night is just around the corner, and it offers an awesome opportunity to acquire email contact information from parents. Perhaps you've created a Google Form to collect information. Access the spreadsheet that accompanies the form and copy the data in the email address column. Use the video below to help you set up a Gmail group. (Remember when you email a group of parents to put their addresses in the BCC section to retain their anonymity.)

(animation created using Explain Everything app on iPad)

FlipAnim for .gifs

GIF's aren't just for social media. They're for your classroom, too. Create a .gif (animated picture) to show a process, re-cap directions, or send feedback to students in a digital classroom. Even better, ask your students to create a .gif to demonstrate their problem-solving process!

FlipAnim fast and easy to use. Create your animation, upload it, and then click .gif under the completed animation to access the link to the finished product. HERE is a short tutorial from Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers for using the tool.

Richard Byrne's blog is one of my go-to places when I need technology help or inspiration. There is a "subscribe" link at the bottom of his blog.

Google Classroom Training Center

Google recently updated its Google Classroom training materials. If you are new to Classroom or are looking for a solution to a particular issue, check out the Google Classroom Training Center. This site is AWESOME!

Icebreakers for the beginning of the year

The TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) has an incredible blog that highlights integrating digital learning into your classroom. Last week, Dianna Benner posted several creative icebreakers to start the year. In the post is a link to a similar post from last year with additional ideas. 

Considering acquiring your Google Educator certification?

Google provides free online support to brush up on the skills you need to pass the $10 Google Educator Level 1 exam. Kasey Bell of ShakeUp Learning has published a matrix that lists the skills that you need to pass the exam. If you are considering become Google Educator certified, download Kasey's matrix so you have a checklist to work from.

Kasey has a subscribe button at the bottom of her blog. She posts regularly on Google-related issues.

If you subscribe to several blogs, you may want to consider using an RSS feed/blog aggregator like Feedly or Newsify so that your email box isn't filled with blog posts.

Digital Notebooks, GoogleForms, Google Drawings, Google Sites, Google Educator Certification

Create Digital Notebooks: Oh, the possibilities!

A couple of weeks ago, Mrs. Errington emailed  asking about creating digital notebooks similar to the ones available on Teachers Pay Teachers. I'm so glad she posed the question because I've had a great time looking for an answer! While the templates available on the paid site are pretty awesome, you and your students can create digital notebooks for free using the tools we already have in our Google Apps for Education (GAFE) accounts. Using Google Slides as your template, under FILE, change the page size to 8.5"x11". From there, the sky is the limit. Add backgrounds like the one pictured above. (I added an image of lined paper for a background in my practice notebook so that it had an authentic "notebook-y" feel.) Embed a video from Teacher Tube, create boxes for students to manipulate to put items in order, add graphic organizers, and more. Spanish teachers or music teachers can add audio files for students to translate or classify. Students can upload pictures of their handwritten work, insert images from Google Drawings (great for showing math work or a sketch of a process), or add a video that they've created and saved in their Drives (Due to Youtube restricted access, this requires using a hyperlink rather than embedding the video).  Art students can add pictures of their work throughout the year. Music students can insert recordings of their rehearsals or performances. Ag students can keep a comprehensive record of their ag hours, progress on their projects, pictures, and tables of expenses, etc. Students can work in a shared notebook to complete a project or create study materials for a competition. An elementary classroom can create a class notebook as a digital scrapbook for the year, which can later be downloaded as a .pdf and shared with parents. The possibilities are endless. By sharing the notebooks in Classroom, each student gets his/her own clean copy, and by adding to the notebook throughout the year, the students are creating their own digital portfolios. If you and your students create a digital notebook, please share what you're doing! (Thanks, Ms. Bagwell, for the image of your 8th grade ELA digital notebook.)

More on Google Forms

One of the newest features to Google Forms allows pictures to be inserted into the Form before and after questions and to be used as answer choices. Brenham ISD has a great slide presentation that shows how to insert the images and that gives tips on using them. Be sure to check out the last three slides of the presentation that feature the Alice Keeler Quickshare Screenshot extension for Chrome. It's a nice way to capture a full or partial screen shot and have it automatically saved to your Drive so it can be used elsewhere.

Convert a .pdf to an image an annotate it in Google Drawings.

As a former English teacher, I'm pretty excited about the possibility of annotating images and text in Google. One of my biggest concerns about using a digital notebook is meeting the student's need to actually write on his/her copy of a poem, picture, or page. While the highlighting and commenting features in Google Docs meet most of the need, sometimes a student just needs to write on a document. Enter Google Drawings! Take a screenshot of a section of text or upload an image of a rough draft to Google Drawings, and students can annotate the image using the drawing tools. They can insert the image back into a digital notebook/document/slide or turn in the image as an assignment in Google Classroom. Have a great .pdf that you want students to annotate? Use the .pdf to .jpg extension to convert the .pdf to an image, insert it in Drawings, and scribble away. (See BISD calendar below)

Best Practice for adding images to your Google Site

If some of the images on your website are not available under the student profile, here's a quick fix: While it is possible to insert an image directly into your site using the IMAGE link, (left arrow) your BISD site will have fewer viewing complications if you upload your image to your Drive and insert the image into your Site from the DRIVE link (right arrow).

Interested in getting your Google Educator certification?

Visit the Google Training Center to get training, practice, and certification. The Level 1 certification test costs $10. The training and practice are free. Getting Google Educator certified is an easy way to grow in your Google-ness and to become a Google resource on your campus.