EdTech@NSCDS
All the Tech & Innovation News You Can Use • Issue #5
EdTech@NSCDS News
- From 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm on every Monday in October, I'll be in US 024 for tech drop in sessions! On Monday, October 1, our topic will be Chrome Extensions and Add-Ons. Extensions and add-ons will boost your productivity within the Chrome browser, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides! Bring your laptop and any questions. All are welcome!
- NSCDS faculty should email me (Lucy) with requests for apps to be installed on their school or student iPads. I will then approve the request or ask for more information and the IT department will install.
- For subscription services, generally speaking, you should go through your department for these purchases. For example, if you need (and will use) a particular subscription-based tool or app such as Quizlet, purchase it and seek reimbursement from your department. Over the course of this year, I am planning on developing a process for requesting subscriptions prior to the next school year so that we can obtain bulk pricing or negotiate pricing based on users with specific companies.
- I'm available to meet with you, your grade level and/or department to explore how to integrate technology into classroom instruction. Book an appointment on my calendar here or send me an email!
- If you are teaching in the middle and upper schools, please make sure you are reinforcing NSCDS iPad policies and requiring students to bring their charged iPads to school every day.
Teaching and Learning With The New York Times
The New York Times has an excellent section on their website for students and teachers and is probably appropriate for middle through high school grade levels. Find articles, writing prompts, quizzes, crosswords, multimedia and contests for students. Check out a few highlights in the links below.
- How to Use the Learning Network
- Lesson Plans
- Picture of the Day for October 1 (real-time discussion facilitated by NYT partner Visual Thinking Strategies)
- Show Us Your Generation: A Photo Contest for Teenagers
Extensions For Your Chrome Browser and Add-Ons for Drive, Docs, Forms, Sheets, & Slides
GLOBAL COLLABORATION
The Global Cardboard Challenge is October 6th
Virtual Field Trips, Mystery Location Calls & Connecting with Experts Online
How are you using technology to bring the world into your classroom?
I'm currently helping Caitlin McClennan schedule mystery location calls with other 4th grade classrooms around the country. Mystery location calls are when a classroom uses Google Hangouts or Skype to connect with another class at a schedule time and students ask questions in order to determine the location of that class. Later this month, Louis Mercer is hosting a Skype conversation with the author of a book currently being read by Louis' students in AP US History.
These projects inspired me to find a few resources for all grade levels that will help you get started with mystery location calls (which are typically more popular with primary and middle grades), connecting with experts, and taking virtual field trips. Some are free and others have a price tag; if you find something compelling that seems worth the cost, let me know.
General
Skype in the Classroom. (This is a really good starting point for all grade levels!)
Connecting with Experts
Mystery Location Call Information
Cybraryman’s Mystery Location Call page
Mystery Location Calls: Communicating Across Cultures
Paula Naugle’s Mystery Location site
Virtual Field Trips
RECOMMENDED APPS
Post It Plus
Apple's Clips
Below is an example that I created in about 15 minutes!
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
We Asked 10 Kids to "Draw a Leader"- Here's What They Did | Fast Company
Call for Applications Now Open for the 2019 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards | Tech & Learning
Vernier Software & Technology and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) are now accepting applications for the 2019 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards. This annual awards program recognizes seven educators—one elementary teacher, two middle school teachers, three high school teachers, and one college-level educator—for their innovative uses of data-collection technology in the science classroom.
Each winner will be chosen by a panel of NSTA-appointed experts and will receive $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products, and up to $1,500 toward expenses to attend the annual NSTA National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 11–14, 2019. All current K–12 and college science educators need to apply by December 17, 2018.
How to Help Kids Manage Sleep, Schoolwork and Screens | Mind/Shift
Episode 17: We Talk About ‘America to Me’ (ft. LeeAndra Khan and Tracy Dell’Angela) | Education Post
LeeAndra Khan is CEO of Civitas Education Partners. Previously she served as a middle school principal in Oak Park, Illinois, and formerly spent 10 years in three Chicago high schools as a principal, assistant principal and math teacher.
Tracy Dell’Angela is a writer, executive director of Oak Park Education Foundation and a mom passionate about education improvements. Tracy is the mother of an Oak Park River Forest High School graduate and resides with her husband in Oak Park, Illinois."
CONTACT LUCY GRAY
North Shore Country Day School teachers should contact Lucy Gray, Director of Educational Technology, for support with any of the following:
- Ask for suggestions for apps, conferences, and other resources via email
- Request an app to be installed on your iPad or other application on your laptop
- Arrange an individual coaching session
- Book Lucy for departmental or divisional PD
Email: lgray@nscds.org
Website: http://nscds.org/
Phone: (847) 881-8886
Twitter: @elemenous