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August 2023
Welcome Back - Beginning of Year Strategies/Routines
MODEL AND ENFORCE TECHNOLOGY ROUTINES & PROCEDURES
Our students have grown up with a device in their hands, surely they know the routines and procedures by now. WARNING: This assumption is dangerous to your mental health! Nothing is more overwhelming to a teacher than a classroom full of students all asking you to troubleshoot their technology in unison!
To alleviate this issue, modeling and enforcing specific routines and procedures is imperative. Especially at the beginning of the year and after a long break students tend to let the routines and procedures go into the memory wastebasket.
Here are some routines and procedures you might consider enforcing and modeling:
- Procedure for getting and returning devices
- Where and when it is permissible to use devices
- Behavioral expectations for using devices and software including Digital Citizenship lessons
- Who to ask for technology help and how to do that when away from school
- How to login to Clever and find your digital resources.
- Step by Step : How to use the specific resources for your class such as Google Classroom, Stemscopes, Apex.
STEP BY STEP PROCEDURES - NO ASSUMPTIONS
Most classrooms are now equipped with Prometheans. This will make it easy to demonstrate how to navigate new websites, google classroom tools, and other online activities that students will be completing at once to the whole group.
This will allow you to address any challenges you anticipate students having once they begin working on the digital devices on their own.
You may want to first demonstration while students watch you and then again when they have the devices on and can follow along.
Anticipate Where There Might Be Mistakes:
It can be as frustrating to students when they spend time typing in a long website address only to realize they have mistyped a single character and get the dreaded - "404 site not found" error.
This is where strategies such as bookmarks, QR codes, and short links can be the hero of your classroom.
Consider bookmarking websites that are used often on the browser toolbar so that students can click on the bookmark shortcut.
You can also create QR codes ( here's a free tool ) to help students access sites quickly.
You can use a short link service ( like this one ).
Remember, you can add your link into your Clever page for easy access to the link or app. Go to the Clever Help center link below for help.
DESIGNATE STUDENT TECH HELPERS:
You can't answer all the questions and help with subject matter help as well as technology troubleshooting, unless you figure a way to clone yourself! The good news is you can clone the skills for helping with technology!
Try giving jobs to a few of your tech-savy students and let them help solve some of the common tech issues with their classmates. If you need me to come in and help train these students with some troubleshooting skills, just ask! Once they are trained, they will be a big help and will save your sanity in the process!
Remember: Use technology to support the TEKS and provide skills students will need for their future education.
TYPING TOOLS and STRATEGIES
Practice With Keyboarding and Shortcuts
KEYBOARDING PRACTICE:
We have a keyboarding practice app available to all students within the Clever SSO. You can locate it under the District Library and it is available for students on their Clever homepage. This could be a MAY DO activity for students to work on once they complete your MUST DO assignments.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
Why not teach them a few keyboard shortcuts (like CTRL+Z to undo an action!) to help students work faster and more efficient on their own. Post some common shortcuts in your classroom, or provide students with a quick cheat-sheet to help them memorize these helpful tips.
Common shortcuts to use:
CTRL + C (to copy)
CTRL + V (to paste)
CTRL + Z (undo an action)
CTRL + Y (redo an action
CTRL + mouse scroll (zoom in and out)
CTRL + B (bold text)
Instructional Technology Updates
Go Guardian is UP!👍
Go Guardian - Device Manager is UP!
Please - No Excuses for Not Monitoring Devices:
Contact me to come by during your conference or team planning periods if you need help using the app. immediately. Also, there is district online training scheduled in October by Go Guardian representatives or you can access the help guides and online video training from the help button on the bottom left of your screen in the Go Guardian app.
NOTE:
If you have iPad or desktop devices we are still working on getting the app pushed out to those devices, please be patient.