I.T.S. a Tech Update
February 2022
Welcome to February 2022
Hello Everyone,
It's February and we finally got our snow day and we didn't have to work. Yeah! We hope you enjoyed your day of rest, stayed warm, and just relaxed. As always, we have many things to share that should make your use of technology a bit easier for you and your students.
In this newsletter you will find:
- 3rd-Grade 💻 MacBook Distribution
- 🌎 Black History Month Activities
- ❤️ Valentine's Day Activities
- 👩🏻💻 MacBook Chrome Browser for Students
- Potty 🚽 Tech PD
- 🎬 EPISD Student Digital Film Festival
- EPISD Robotics Update
- 🧑🏿🏫 February Virtual Conferences
As always, if you have any questions please contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
3rd-Grade MacBook Distribution
Please be patient with us as we work hard in accomplishing this mission. If you have a technical emergency, remember that you can contact Zendesk by submitting a ticket, or by calling them at 915-230-2601. If you get a busy signal, hang up and keep calling them. This department, just like our schools, are understaffed due to Covid and retirements. There are no I.T.S. or Zendesk technician subs either so please be patient.
As always, if you have any questions please contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
Celebrate Black History Month
February is Black History Month and we have some resources you may want to use in your classroom as we teach all of our students all about getting to know each other and learning how to be together, how to play together and how to learn together.
Black History Month Website - https://www.blackhistorymonth.gov/ - The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Black History Month Jamboard - https://jamboard.google.com/d/1EXbJ17zW_E_IqkOimNSxYLY0q-xXTmMIkMFhrGFt8uo/edit?usp=sharing - Daily Inspiration with twenty Jamboard slides with great information on African-American figures.
15 Black History Month Ideas and Activities for Kids - https://kidactivities.net/black-history-month-activities-for-kids/
Black History Trivia - https://news.ua.edu/2022/02/black-history-scholars-bowl-trivia-quiz/ - See if you and your students (9-12) can answer these Black history questions provided by the University of Alabama Black History Scholars Bowl team.
Celebrate Black History Channel on Discovery Education - https://classlink.discoveryeducation.com/learn/player/f3231937-9656-438b-89c6-029912a45441
EPISD Plaza/ClassLink MyON Library - https://launchpad.classlink.com/episd - Use search keywords, Black History, and you will find over 700 digital books from PreK through high school on Black History and the many people that are a part of it.
EPIC! Black History Collection - https://www.getepic.com/app/ - Over 100 combined books, , videos, Read to Me, Audio Books, and Collections by searching Black History Month. Accounts for educators are free and students can access the site and all of it's content for free while at school using the educator access code.
As always, if you have any questions please be sure to contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
Valentine's Day Activities
Teacher Vision Valentine's Day Resources - https://www.teachervision.com/holidays/valentines-day - Make February 14 a special day with activities and lesson plans that extend Valentine's Day into academic subject areas. We have plenty of printables, slideshows, worksheets, quizzes, and art projects that will make all your students feel included in this holiday of romantic and platonic love.
ABCYA Valentine's Online Games - https://www.abcya.com/games/valentines_day_puzzle - There are many Valentine's Day games that your students can play - Grades PreK-6th
Candy Heart Story Writing - https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp057.shtml - Students write a story that includes the text of the candy conversation hearts they chose.
Cybrary Man's Valentine's Day Activities - http://www.cybraryman.com/valentine.html - Teaching Notes -Valentine's Day is a way to show someone how much you care about them. It is a way to show friendship. Counting, color, and shape recognition can be included in your lessons and activities.
DE Valentine's Day Channel - https://classlink.discoveryeducation.com/learn/player/acd15fa8-2e07-4d18-b724-e585f2bdf6c9 - Find videos, activities, images and more on this Discovery Education channel.
MyOn Valentine's Day - https://launchpad.classlink.com/episd - Find books by doing a simple search with the keyword Valentine.
EPIC! Valentine's Day - https://www.getepic.com/app/search - Find books, videos, and audiobooks by doing a simple search using the keyword - Valentine's.
MacBook Chrome Browser for Students
For instance, when opening EPISD Plaza/Classlink, Safari doesn't ask to save their account information, where Chrome does. This makes it easier for our new laptop users, like 3rd grade, to quickly access EPISD Plaza. Also, when students select iStation in EPISD Plaza a new window opens and they will always need to select, "Allow" to open iStation. In Chrome, a new tab opens, instead of a window, which asks you the same question, but you can check of a box where you give Chrome permission to always open iStation without having to click, "Allow". This is an extra step that can be avoided by using Chrome.
Another student website that seems to have an issue with Safari is ST Math. When students click on ST Math, a new Safari window opens and states that there is an error. Students will see a blue button that says, "Continue Anyways" and that will take them to ST Math. In Chrome, it opens a new tab and not a new window and there are no issues. It just opens the website and students can start working.
Most student laptops should already have Chrome installed with the exception of new laptops in 3rd-grade. Chrome is an app that is found in Self-Service ready to be installed. One thing you may want students to do even if they have Chrome installed on their laptops, is to go into Self-Service and click on Reinstall to get the newest updates. They can also do the same for other apps like iStation, Pages, Word, Excel, Numbers, and many other apps they may be using in your class.
After you install/Reinstall Chrome, have the students open System Preferences and click on General. In General, they will change the default web browser to Chrome. After that, any time they click on the EPISD Plaza link on the desktop it will open in Chrome and they can save their Classlink account information and check off the box to allow iStation to open without the need to allow it access every time.
This is a one-time setup, but you will need to assist your students in doing this. Make sure you protect your laptop and guide them step by step for the procedures are the same for you and the students.
As always, if you have any questions please contact your Instructional Technology Specialist.
Safari iStation
Chrome iStation
Safari ST Math
Potty Tech PD by Laura Salazar
EPISD Student Digital Film Festival
Thank you for submitting your interest form and for getting your students ready. Please be sure to contact your Instructional Technology Specialist if you have any questions. He or she can come speak with your students and provide any training needed on the apps and programs found on their devices for video recording and video editing.
Remember that you and your students can visit the EPISD Student Digital Film Festival website and learn more about this yearly event that will surely pique your student's interest - http://episddigitalfilmfestival.weebly.com/
You and your students can also view film entries from previous years by visiting our EPISD Film Festival YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQGoUUimzRfoNpTD53Z0cww
If you have any questions you can contact John Roach at jdroach@episd.org or your Instructional Technology Specialist.
EPISD Robotics Update
We hope you are all doing well and that your teams are working hard on learning how to program their robots. You should have already received information from either Julie Rivas or John Roach on the upcoming competitions. Most of the information is being shared in Microsoft Teams. All sponsors should have already joined the Robotics Team. If you haven't, please be sure to contact either Julie Rivas for elementary or John Roach for secondary. Please note that this group is for sponsors only and not for students. Students will not be accepted into this Microsoft Team group.
Secondary competition information from John Roach:
The Middle Schools competition date has been updated. The MS competition date was changed to Saturday, May 14th at Young Women's Academy. We tried to pick a date that had the fewest conflicts with other district events. Please reach out to John Roach at jdroach@episd.org, or through Microsoft Teams if you need any type of support.
Elementary competition information from Julie Rivas:
Our elementary competition is scheduled for Saturday, March 26 at Chapin High School. you can find the challenge in Microsoft Teams so that you have an idea of what skills the students will need to be successful.
Please begin to determine your final team groupings and choose team names. I will be asking you to submit this information at the end of next week. I will share a form for you to complete. It is going to be extremely important to get us your total number of teams, team names, and members submitted in a timely manner. This information will help us determine the schedule for the day. There will be morning and afternoon groupings based on the total number of teams.
If you are a campus that attended LEGO Spike training but did not begin your club or had to suspend your team meetings and will not be competing, please let me know. John and I will select a couple of dates where you will need to return your equipment to us.
If you have any questions you can contact John Roach at jdroach@episd.org for secondary, Julie Rivas at jlrivas@episd.org for elementary, or your Instructional Technology Specialist.
February Virtual Learning Programs
There are many virtual learning opportunities for the month of February. Click on the links below for more information and registration.
Flipgrid Live Events - https://blog.flipgrid.com/upcomingflipgridliveevents
- Decolonized Live! We Ate: Food & the Good Fight - (Recommended Ages: All Ages )
- Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM MST/El Paso.
- The Power of Words & Perseverance with Stacey Abrams and Kitt Thomas - (Recommended Age 5-12, all ages welcome) Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 11:00-11:30 AM MST/El Paso.
- Believe in Yourself with Pete Carroll and Amplify Voices - (All Ages) Wednesday, February 23, 2022, 11:00-11:30 AM MST/El Paso.
Connect2Texas - https://www.connect2texas.net/pages/home/events/
Connect2Texas Weekly Update Newsletter - https://www.smore.com/jx0fa-connect2texas?ref=email-content#w-3438099247
Note: You will need to register an account before you can register for an event. Not all events are free, but you can filter to only see free events, as well as, events that are still open for registration. Free events fill up fast so be sure to register early!
- Reading Ranger: Buzzing with Questions! (Live, interactive) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - (Grade: 4-7) - Friday, February 11, 9:00 a.m. MST/El Paso
- Spotlight Session: Forgotten No More, African American Service Men & Women of WWII (NON-INTERACTIVE) National Museum of the Pacific War - (Grade Levels: 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 7th Grade) Friday, February 11, 2022, 9:00-9:50 AM MST/El Paso.
- Little Learners Storytime: Maybe Something Beautiful (INTERACTIVE) Amon Carter Museum of American Art - (Grade Levels: Pre Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade) Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 8:30-9:05 AM MST/El Paso.
- Visions of Black Artists - Amon Carter Museum of American Art, In Honor of Black History Month - (Grade Levels: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade) Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 12:00-12:50 PM MST/El Paso.
Discovery Education - https://www.discoveryeducation.com/community/virtual-field-trips/
No permission slips are required! These On-Demand virtual events let educators take students to amazing places and give them remarkable experiences, without ever leaving the classroom.
- American Ideals Virtual Field Trip (Live) (Grades 5-12) Thursday, February 17, 2022, 1pm EST/11 am MST/ElPaso
- Winning With STEM - A Virtual Field Trip with Olympian Katie Ledecky and Panasonic (Grades 5-12) On-Demand
- Making a New Life: The Courage of a Refugee - On-Demand
- Voices of U.S. –Why We Serve Virtual Field Trip - On-Demand
- YOUR HEART VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP - On-Demand
EPISD@Home iPad Tips
EPISD@Home MacBook Tips
Three-Minute Quaranteaching Tips
- February 01 - World Hijab Day and Chinese New Year
- February 02 - Groundhog Day, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Day
- February 03 - National Women Physicians Day and Elmo's Birthday
- February 04 - National Thank a Mail Carrier Day, World Cancer Day
- February 05 - Western Monarch Butterfly Day
- February 06 - Pay a Compliment Day and Time to Talk Day
- February 07 - National Send a Card to a Friend Day and e-Day
- February 08 - Safer Internet Day and National Boy Scout Day
- February 09 - National Pizza Day
- February 11 - International Day of Women and Girls in Science and National Inventors' Day
- February 12 - Abraham Lincoln's Birthday
- February 13 - Super Bowl Sunday
- February 14 - Valentine's Day and National Clean Out Your Computer Day
- February 15 - Susan B Anthony Day
- February 16 - Innovation Day
- February 17 - Random Act of Kindness Day
- February 18 - National Battery Day
- February 19 - Iwo Jima Day and National Vet Girls ROCK Day
- February 20 - World Day of Social Justice
- February 21 - President's Day - EPISD Holiday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day
- February 22 - George Washington's Birthday and Be Humble Day
- February 24 - Flag Day Mexico
- February 27 - International Polar Bear Day
- February 28 - Rare Disease Day
Contact Us
We are Instructional Technology Specialists that serve all campuses in EPISD. We spend most of our time sharing ideas and teaching best practices for integrating technology as a seamless part of learning in the classroom. Please contact us if you are looking for a technology integrated session that would best meet the needs of the students in your classroom.