Hour of Code, Google Slides Formatting Tip, Podcasting

Hour of Code

December 3-7, 2018, is the international Hour of Code celebration. It's an awesome time to celebrate learning a new language with your students. Knowing a computer language yourself is not necessary! Every classroom can participate in an Hour of Code using one of the kid-friendly sites like Code.org or Tynker. Interested in hosting an Hour of Code activity and need help getting started? Email sgroff for ideas.

Another Google Slides Update: Copy formatting to Multiple Objects in Google Slides

Here's a time-saving tip from Google. This week the G Suites Updates blog posted a great .gif (animated picture) that shows how to copy formatting in Google Slides. "...double-click the tool icon to enter “persistent” mode and apply that formatting to multiple objects in a slide. Just re-click the icon or tap Escape on your keyboard to stop.

A New Way to Look at Podcasting

Learning and physical activity have been on my radar this week. In my library world, I read about several public libraries in Pennsylvania that are including play structures and climbing walls in their indoor children's reading areas. In my digital world, I read Miguel Guhlin's TCEA blog about using podcasts as a way for students to walk and talk to increase focus, speed cognitive processing, and facilitate memory retention.

Click HERE to access the blog post with ideas for adding podcasts to your student's learning menu.

BISD on Social Media, Hour of Code, Google Slides and Apps

Calling All Tweechers

Looking for BISD-related feeds on social media? 

Facebook

Hill Country Elementary 

Alkek Elementary  

Bandera Middle School 

Bandera ISD

Twitter

@hcebulldogs

@aesbulldogs

@BanderaMiddle

@BanderaHigh

@BanderaISD

Want to share your Twitter handle with others in BISD? Click here.

Want to find others in BISD on Twitter? Click here. (Must be logged into @banderaisd2.net Google to access file.)

Remind

Hill Country Elementary: Text @c76kb to 81010

Alkek Elementary:  Text @22a7bf to 81010 
Bandera Middle School: Text @2hg927 to 81010

Instagram

Hill Country Elementary 

Trending Hashtags

For Student Centered Posts: #bluegrit #bulldogtenacity #WeAreBandera

For Teacher Centered Posts: #iteachbluegrit #bisdtweechers #bhstweechers 

Hour of Code 

We still have just under two weeks to go in the first six weeks, but it's already time to start thinking about celebrating Hour of Code the first week of December. 

Hour of Code can be celebrated in classes elementary through high school and in many subject areas. Susan Reeves at ESC-20 has put together a planning guide for campuses; however, the resources within the guide can help an individual teacher celebrate Hour of Code in a single classroom. Over the years @BanderaMiddle we have celebrated Hour of Code through English classes and science classes and technology classes and special programs. Need some ideas for integrating Hour of Code into your content area? Contact sgroff.

What? You Can Create an App in Google Slides?

Kasey Bell of Shake Up Learning hit a home run this month when she hosted a guest post by Micah Shippee showing how students (and teachers) can create "apps" using Google Slides. Check out the post here. I am super excited to see how teachers use this concept in the classroom. Here are a few ideas to get your students started:

Social Studies: an app for a time period (people, places, events, significance in history, etc.)

Science: a scientific method app with icons for question, hypothesis, etc.)

ELAR: an app for literature analysis or for student-generated grammar rules, or for different types of writing

Like the idea but need help implementing? I would love to co-plan and co-teach with you!

For teachers, wouldn't it be awesome to create an app with links to your Google Classroom, your email, your website, your campus library, etc.

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!

iPhone, Hour of Code, VR, CoSpaces

Speed Up Your iPhone

The iPhone 7 was just released, and chatter is picking up about the anticipated features for Apple's iPhone 8 release next year, but a lot of us are still using our old iPhones. And they're getting slow. iDrop News recently posted five tips for speeding up your iPhone. Embedded in the post are also tips for freeing up memory in your phone, which may come in handy as the holidays approach and you need more memory for all those awesome family pics. (Caution: iDrop's site does include ads.)

Hour of Code Is Coming
December 5-11, 2016

The annual Hour of Code celebration during Computer Science Week is just around the corner. With over 200 tutorials and lesson plans, there's a coding activity for everyone...literally. Last year my twenty-something daughter and my seventy-something dad battled it out around the holiday table to see who could finish the Angry Birds code activity fastest! In the words of the old Life cereal commercial, "Try it, you'll like it!"

At BMS last year, every student participated in Hour of Code through the ELA classes. After reading Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, students compared the importance of punctuation in English and in JavaScript while participating in the Code.org activities. Plans are already underway at BMS to take advantage of this year's Code.org activities including building a galaxy with Star Wars, making music with Scratch, and helping Alex or Steve adventure through the Minecraft world. If you're looking to add a little spice to the classroom between Thanksgiving and Christmas, think about offering a coding activity to boost your students' problem-solving skills, expose them to a new language, and engage their minds in computer science.

Virtual Reality in the Classroom

Last week, after I read a post on Google+ by SA MakerSpaces for Education, I signed up for a free account for CoSpaces, a platform that enables the user to create in 3D and explore the creations in virtual reality using a VR headset like Google Cardboard. The Educators page on the website offers some amazing ideas for using VR in the classroom including storytelling, virtual exhibitions, modeling, literature interpretation, and infographics. Talk about equipping your students with College and Career Readiness skills while offering them an immersive experience that boosts creative thinking and visual learning and fosters engagement and information retention! CoSpaces has an extensive how-to playlist on YouTube to get users started. Right now CoSpaces does not have classroom management tools available, but according to their Google group, they are in the process of working on classroom management tools and a possible Google Classroom integration, and they are seeking teacher input for features. Click on the link below for a 40 second intro to CoSpaces.

DIVE INTO YOUR OWN VR WORLDS WITH THE COSPACES MOBILE APP!

Get the CoSpaces App! App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cospaces-virtual-reality-for/id1091239872?ls=1&mt=8 Google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=delightex.cospaces CoSpaces gives your imagination a place to unfold: Fantasy worlds, immersive birthday cards or virtual museums - with

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