weekly Geekly
April 7, 2017
End of Year Tech Checklist Emails are Coming!
You will soon be given a Technology Checkout sheet for your campus (if you don't have one already). It a list of things that need to be done by the end of the year, and you will initial each one as you complete the task. Most items will reference an email. For example, the second thing on the list is to clean up Formspace, and at the end of the description, it says, "See April 11 email". So on April 11, I will be sending you an email that gives more detail on how to accomplish the task described, just in case you need more instructions. Each Tuesday you will get a new email with helpful instructions. It is a good idea to take care of your technology tasks gradually because there is a LOT of little stuff that needs to be done.
You will turn in your completely initialed tech checkout sheet to your campus specialist or to me, and upon receipt of that document we will sign your building checkout form to indicate you are clear with technology. All staff must have this item signed, because all staff uses technology!
Anyone who is leaving the district or MAY be leaving the district should be especially conscientious about following the instructions. If you resign, your H drive, email, Eduphoria access (like to certificates for PD documentation, and Google accounts all go away immediately after your last day of work.
LTHS folks, I know several of you are moving classrooms before next year. I want to take extra care to let you know that though you are moving, your technology is not. And computers, doc cams, etc will remain in your room. Please do not move any computers on your own.
Google Sign In May Look Different Soon!
You will no longer see a checkbox to "stay signed in". We believe you will automatically stay signed in until you log out. Be sure to logout if you use shared computers!
There is also a potential here for some affect on other things that we do (ie, access to Google form the portal) I will keep you updated on any issues we experience.
Math/Chemistry Teachers take note!
Tool of the Week- Deck.Toys
i am not really sure how to describe it. I guess it is most similar to nearpod, but that doesn't even do it justice. First, you create a deck.toys map. You can create paths for multiple avenues of exploration/differentiation. Each point on the map is an activity that students must complete. You can have them watch a slideshow, a video, give you feedback on how well they understood the content. You can create interactive matching activities. Lock activities with passwords if you want. AND SO MUCH MORE!
If you go to the deck.toys website, just click on the Start Introduction button that pos up on the screen. It will show you a side by side, interactive teacher and student view of a sample activity. Go play. You will be glad you did!!!
Follow Friday
I really liked his blog post last week about not losing the geographical context when taking kids on a VR field trip with Google Expeditions.