Digital Learning Bytes
Lynwood Unified School District ~ March 2016
Spring MyLUSD Google Challenge
"This was amazing, it has revolutionized my classroom!" What has this teacher so excited? The Spring MyLUSD Google Challenge! At the end of February, fifty elementary and secondary IDEA2 Educators gathered for two days to take part in the Spring MyLUSD Google Challenge. Teachers learned several components of Google Apps for Education (GAfE) including Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, and Classroom. Another teacher expressed, "I was in the JV class and was surprised by the amount of information that was presented. I was actually excited with the unlimited possibilities that I can bring into my classroom." Teachers will complete the Google Challenge in early April. We are excited to have them join the first cohort of IDEA2 Educators who completed the challenge this summer.
Google CS-First PD @ Google Venice
On Saturday, March 12, thirty 4th-8th grade IDEA2 Educators from Lynwood USD participated in a Google CS-First event at the Google offices in Venice, CA. Teachers were introduced to the CS-First coding curriculum, which works with Scratch to teach students the basics of coding in an effort to expose them to the computer sciences. Jennifer Vaden Barth, the Google Regional Education Manager, shared the coding curriculum, showed educators how to set up clubs for their students and gave them a tour of the Google offices. Keep an eye out for a club at your site; if you are interested in finding out who the CS-First IDEA2 educator is on your site, email digitalcoaches@mylusd.org. For further information on Google CS-First visit https://www.cs-first.com/
Latino Film Institute @ Mark Twain
The fourth grade students in Alma Elias's classroom aren't your average fourth graders. This year they are screenwriters, directors, actors, and film editors. Through the Latino Film Institute they have been provided a unique opportunity this school year. The Latino Film Institute provides the class with twice weekly lessons on the film making process. From storyboarding to script writing, filming to digital editing, these students are learning all that goes into producing a short film. Students collaborate in small groups and work with two film makers, Polo Munoz and Jessica Just.
Janel King, VAPA Coordinator for LUSD is excited to see the students engaged in the film making process, "It's great to see the 21st century learning skills so robust in this Project Based Learning class, with a focus on student-led creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Students are actively involved, growing in confidence and skills, and having a wonderful time learning." Lynwood Unified's partnership with the Latino Film Institute Youth Cinema Project provides the equipment and the funding for the program at Mark Twain.
Summer MyLUSD Google Challenge Devices Arrive!
Summer MyLUSD Google Challenge participants who completed their tasks in a timely manner were provided devices for their students to use. The elementary teachers received a locker containing 10 Chromebooks, while secondary received a cart for four teachers to share 40 Chromebooks. The lockers and carts are being delivered by the warehouse under the guidance of Technology Services between March 9th and March 23rd. Digital coaches will be visiting Google Challenge participants' classrooms to see devices are utilized by students and teachers and to provide assistance where needed.
IDEA2 Spotlight Elementary
Carmen Guevara-Cervantes, a fourth/fifth grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary, is using technology to enrich her students' learning. This past summer she was a participant in the MyLUSD Google Challenge and has implemented many of the GAfE components into her classroom. Her students are active users of Google Classroom. They are sharing documents and commenting in the classroom on the learning they are doing. Ms. Guevara-Cervantes helps students review their standards via collaboration, videos and interactive websites. When you see students writing comments like, "This was fun lets do more :)" and "Love what we are doing right now, please post more," in response to an assignment, you know you are on the right track to engaging your students!
IDEA2 Spotlight Secondary
Jimmy Gutierrez is a secondary teacher at Firebaugh High School who is utilizing Google Classroom to its fullest capacity. In one class assignment in his Critical Cultural Studies class he incorporates Drake's "Hot Bling" and the idea of feminism. Students' responses are robust and engaging with plenty of evidence to back up their assertions on their ideas of feminism. While in other assignments, he asks students to create Google Slides on American Native Tribes which includes religious practices, history, and food. Mr. Gutierrez's most popular assignments are Google Docs where students write paragraphs and even pages of their responses on a variety of subjects such as women's rights during the Civil Rights Movement, discrimination amongst Native Americans on TED, and connections between activism and progress. Besides writing, students also create quizzes and Cornell Notes on Google Docs after watching videos and reading articles relevant to the objective of the day. Students are clearly thinking, reading, and writing in an engaging manner that aligns with the 21st-century digital classroom.
Try this IDEA!
Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that can be used with any device, subject, or language. Teachers can create fun educational games in minutes with videos, images, and diagrams. Students will forget they are learning because the game is engaging on several levels: visually, musically, and socially. Try it and send digitalcoaches@mylusd.org a picture or video of your students participating in a Kahoot! for a chance to be featured in the next newsletter.
IDEA2 on Tour
Starting the month of March, IDEA2 will be on tour visiting secondary schools at the request of principals to support and train teachers on Google Apps that are essential to extend the digital experience in the classroom. For the first leg of the tour, CCMS, LMS, and FHS have participated in the training on Gmail and Calendar. The next leg of the tour will include training on Google Doc and Classroom. It is exciting to see so many eager educators participating in the tour and becoming digital leaders at the school site in the process. Elementary teachers can schedule training on Wednesdays by having their principals contact digitalcoaches@mylusd.org. Additionally, all teachers can come by the district office on Thursdays from 3:00-4:30 to visit the IDEA2 Bar for personalized assistance with integrating technology into their lessons, Aeries Gradebook or Google apps.
February Contest Winner!
Congratulations to Tracy Ellis, 4th grade teacher @ Lugo Elementary! She won the document camera featured in the February issue of Digital Learning Bytes! When notified of her win, Ms. Ellis stated, "Oh wow!!! How exciting! I can't wait to use it!!!" See below for information on the March contest.
Teachers, Enter to Win an iZiggy Wireless Docu-Cam for your classroom!
Answer a few questions about this month's Digital Learning Bytes for a chance to win!
- Contest for Lynwood Unified School District teachers only
- Entrants must use their @mylusd.org account to enter
- Contest ends April 6, 2016 @ 12:00 pm PST
- Previous winners of a Docu-cam are not eligible to win another
- Winner will be notified by email and featured in the next issue of Digital Learning Bytes
Personal Professional Growth Opportunity
Interested in hearing about the latest innovations in educational technology? Care to share your thoughts with edtech companies on their products? The Los Angeles Tech for Schools Summit is a free event that offers educators time to get hands-on with products, try out latest innovations for supporting teaching and provides you an opportunity to give your feedback to companies on how their products can be tuned to fit your teaching needs. Register for Day 2: Saturday, April 23rd from 9:00-3:00.
IDEA2 Bar
Thursday, Mar 17, 2016, 03:00 PM
11321 Bullis Road, Lynwood, CA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
IDEA2 Bar
Tuesday, Mar 22, 2016, 03:00 PM
11321 Bullis Road, Lynwood, CA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Digital Coaches
Email: digitalcoaches@mylusd.org
Website: http://www.lynwood.k12.ca.us/
Location: 11321 Bullis Road, Lynwood, CA, United States
Phone: 310 886-1491