Tech & Media Mashup
Edition 7- February 2015
Digital Learning Day
- 4th/5th grade App Slam: We'd like to highlight some of our tech-savvy students this week by inviting them to show off a favorite educational app on the news show. If you have a 4th/5th grade student who would be interested in doing this, send me an email.
- Tweet It! Tweet pics or comments about what you are doing during the day tomorrow tagging @RSSMillbridge and using these hashtags that will be used district-wide: #rssDLD, #wedoDLeveryday, #DLDay. At the end of the day, I will put the names of teachers who have tweeted digital learning activities and tagged @RSSMillbridge in a drawing for a duty free lunch!
- Students in grades 3-5 will rotate through "maker" rotations this week during media time. In my rotation, I will introduce the students to the coding courses on code.org. Earlier in the year, we introduced them to the Hour of Code activities. Grades 3-5 will begin taking Course 2, a 20 hour course that will progressively build coding and computer science skills. I am so excited about this!
- Resource Blitz Bonanza: Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 22-25 there will be one digital resource or app highlighted each day. Refer to last week's midweek notes from Mr. Smith for more details.
EdCamp Rowan!
In case you haven't heard, our school district is hosting an exciting free professional development opportunity for all educators. The second annual EdCamp Rowan will be held on March 19, 2016 at Carson High School. An EdCamp is a free "un-conference" for educators by educators to share knowledge and work collaboratively. The agenda for the day is not preset. The educators who attend the event determine the content for the day. How does that happen? You show up that morning and help create a list of topics in which you are interested in learning more about. An "expert" on each topic will be assigned to lead a discussion around it and anyone interested in that topic is free to join the session. The neat thing is that if the session turns out to be something you aren't interested in, you simply get up and go find another session to join. State Superintendent, Dr. June Atkinson, will start the day with a keynote speech. Besides learning lots and growing your professional learning network, another plus to attending EdCamp is that you can use the day to make up time missed from the snow days we had or those that may be on the way! The link to sign up is below. We'd love to have a good number of Millbridge teachers represented!
GMAIL App for Students
Smarty Ants
- Please do not delete students from Smarty Ants when they move or any other time. The transfer of students has to take place at the district level and if you delete a student, it can cause problems with the account.
- If you are having trouble with students getting stuck in the app, have them log into Smarty Ants on a desktop. They will use the same username and password they use to get into it on the app. Let them play on the desktop for a few minutes. The next time they try to use the app, it should be corrected.
DE Spotlight: Black History Month Virtual Viewing Party
On Tuesday, February 23 at 1:00 DE is hosting a Virtual Viewing Party as students across the country simultaneously share in the story of Ruby Bridges, the first black student to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana. Afterward, you can take part in a virtual discussion sharing reflections, comments, and questions. There are activities you can use with your classes before, during, and after the Virtual Viewing Party to enrich and extend the learning experience.
Click here to register for the event!