Lackland Tech Bytes
by Dana Kickler (aka EdTechYoda), April 2016
The Hard Drive (info for long time storage)
Want a new paid app? Go to Formspace in Eduphoria, click on "Submit New Form" (bottom left corner), and choose the form called "Form to Request Paid Apps for Elementary". Fill that out and submit it.
There's an App for That!
Schoolkit Math
Quick and easy access to commonly used manipulatives on the iPad! Want to work with money, clocks, graphs, fractions? No problem! There are tons to choose from!
NearPod
Zaption
RAM (action items)
Apps to Delete
Due to some issues we have had in the past, please make sure your student iPads do not have the following apps installed on their device:- Puffin app - the one with the blue or green background (Puffin Academy with purple background is ok)
- Geometry Dash - despite the name, there is no geometry involved in this game - it is like Flappy Bird.
Spam Email
There has been a lot of spam email circulating - some that have an "invoice" attachment, some that look to be coming from a scanner with an attachment, and some that seem to be coming from yourself. Please remember to delete these and NOT open the attachments. They all seem to contain viruses that will infect your computer and sometimes our shared drive servers as well. We still have some people opening these emails which just perpetuates the issue, causes damage to our network, and usually involves the user having to have their machine wiped, losing all files that were on that machine.
Cloud/Server Storage and Backup
Speaking of email viruses, please, please, please, please, please make sure you are NOT saving your files onto your computer/laptop only. ALL of your files should also be stored in your H drive (on our server) or in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive). In today's world, it is vital to have a backup for all digital files.
You all have a Google Drive account with unlimited storage, so there is no reason not to use it. And that way, you can get to your files and documents from anywhere in the world! If it is training you lack for this to happen, PLEASE invite me to one of your weekly team meetings, and I would be HAPPY to show you how this works. It is a lot easier than you might think!
Monitor (stuff to check out)
BrainPop is discontinuing their app. Now, you will just use Safari to go to the regular website and create a shortcut on the home page. Videos, quizzes, Make-a-Map, AND your custom made My BrainPop Quizzes!
To set up a My BrainPop account, go to the website and click on the "Enter Code" link at the top next to Login.
Enter NAXE3717 which is the Educator code for Lackland.
Continue setting up your account, and when you finish, go check out the Quiz Mixer!
You will want to check out Newsela for Elementary: https://e.newsela.com - current event articles for elementary students, and it gets better. Each article has tools for adjusting text size, translating into Spanish, opening a sidebar for writing (with suggested prompts), and a quick 4 question quiz. This is a fantastic way to engage kids in nonfiction!
Processor (stuff to process and learn)
Since I mentioned backing up your files earlier, this month the videos will be:
Uploading Files to Google Drive: https://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=124259&type=Tutorial&sid=2659
Creating a folder in Google Drive: https://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=73782&type=Tutorial&sid=2659
Both are about 30 second videos. If you are not sure how to login to Atomic Learning to view them, it is:
username: your email address
password: Eagles12
If you are not sure how to login to your Google account, shoot me an email and I can reset your password.
And as always, let me know if you have any questions.
And lastly, if you made it all the way down here, thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!
Dana Kickler
Email: kickler.d@lacklandisd.net
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCneRjUjRzUPbMXCZiCHdmKA
Phone: 210-357-5039
Twitter: @danakickler