T.T.T News
Teacher Tech Talk News
January 2016
What's Going On?!?!
Where have you been?
- First order of business for this T.T.T. News is to apologize for the delay in bringing you a new newsletter. Life has been pretty crazy doing some AMAZING things the past month and this got put on the bottom of my list. I'm sorry!!
- That being said, it's time to get back to publishing the T.T.T. News. For this newsletter, I chose a background that made me happy. The weather has been so cold and icy the past few weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to put some color in our newsletter. I hope it makes you happy too!
#GAFESUMMIT
- Last week Mike, Brian and myself went to an amazing conference. Google Summit is the place to be to get inspired to be a change agent. I wish we ALL could have attended. Unfortunately we couldn't. However, one way you could have virtually attended the conference is to follow #gafesummit. Attendees used this hashtag to share ANYTHING awesome that came their way. When I am unable to attend an awesome conference I open Tweet Deck and follow the appropriate hashtag. This way I'm not missing out on ALL of the amazing "stuff" being shared. If you are unsure how to use Tweet Deck, let me know and I will get you up and running.
NEW #!!!
- During the conference I had a thought! (scary right!) We are using #rsd122cares to share the wonderful things happening at Simmons Middle School. However, there were a lot of resources that I found worth sharing but didn't match #rsd122cares. So, I decided to start #simmonslearns. So now, anything I find that is a "learning" tool for us I have labeled it with #simmonslearns and NOT #rsd122cares. If I am showcasing something awesome happening in the school, I use #rsd122cares.
Add-Ons for Google Docs
Openclipart
Access to 50,000 free clipart image.
Thesaurus
This add-on does EXACTLY what you think it does!!! :)
PandaDoc
This add-on allows to you sign documents electronically. It also keeps track of when the recipient opens and reviews the document.
EDCAMP IS COMING!!! EDCAMP IS COMING!!!!
- January 25th will be our next Edcamp! We will be spending an hour exploring Weebly! I'm excited about this hour because it will be in a "playdate" format. I bet your saying, "What does that mean Ashley?" I'll tell you! It means it is HANDS ON!!!!!! You won't be sitting in your seats listening to me blab on about how awesome I think something is. YOU will be creating and doing the ENTIRE TIME!!! You will leave with a product! Mike and I will be here to guide you and help you through this process.
- Who is this EdCamp geared toward? ANYONE!!! If you want to learn how to create your own teacher website or create a "web-quest" type platform for a unit, be sure to join us. If you are already using Weebly and have a good handle on it, come and help your friends. The more people the better!!!! Be on the look out for the Google Form for sign-up!
Week(s) in Reveiw
So, you may have seen me running around with my iPad. Have you ever wondered what I was doing with all these pictures I am taking? Well, I'm adding them to our Shared Google Folder for ANYONE to use!!! I also am tweeting out the AMAZING things that I see happening around the school. Here is a glimpse of some of the photos in the shared drive. (Hey, don't judge me on the video. I put it together quickly so you can see the #awesomeness!) Keep your eyes out for another video update!
Remember, if you are doing something awesome in your room, let me or Mike know so we can capture it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PClKr6ZvnE
Twitter Party
This is a new section I am adding to our T.T.T News. We all have a busy day and I know it can be hard for us to connect at times. Twitter is a great way to learn about each other. In this section, I will ask a question for all to answer on Twitter. We will use #TTTNEWSChallenge. Have fun with this!
Question 1: What is playing on your Spotify or ITunes right now? (Just turn on your device and see what song pops up!)
Ashley Holland
Instructional Technology Coordinator
Email: Aholland@ridgeland122.com
Location: Simmons Middle School, West 95th Street, Oak Lawn, IL, United States
Phone: 708-599-5550
Twitter: @ahollandedtech