Digital Learning Newsletter
Back to School Edition 2023-2024 School Year
WELCOME BACK!
We hope you had a wonderful, relaxing summer and you are energized and ready to inspire young minds once again. We wish you a new school year filled with growth, learning, and success!
In this issue you will find activities and resources to get your school year started.
Activities and Resources included in this newsletter:
- Five minute ideas for chats to have with each of your students
- Information on conducting Post-it note interviews
- Ice Breaker & Team Building ideas
- Free posters to print
- Free poster and game cards for teaching "logical fallacies"
- Google Forms "Escape" Rooms
- Interactive map of Paul Revere's ride
- "Lots of Dots" game instructions and cards
- An interactive resource for learning about ancient Egypt
- Interactive maps demonstrating changes in the USA since the 1800s
- An interactive tool for learning about "rights around the World"
- Brain Break game
- Google Workspace quick tips from Kasey Bell
- A quick tip guide for using Dictate with Microsoft 365
- Info on five new features in Microsoft Forms
- A Solo cup activity for your Makerspace or to use as a Smart Start connector
- A link to 12 different Math Channels available with a Discovery Streaming subscription
- Upcoming professional learning opportunities
Please let us know if you have questions or need additional information.
~Laura and Vinos
Getting to Know your Students
5 Minute Chats
Engage in meaningful conversations and gain insight into your student's unique experience and viewpoints with this template from Casel.org, "5 Steps for holding 5 Minute Chats with Students." This template includes a structure and sample questions for one-on-one chats to open dialogue with students, understand them as an individual, and establish a foundation of trust within the relationship.
Conduct Post-it Note Interviews
Write a question on the board or on chart paper. Have your students jot down their answers on Post-it notes and stick them to the board or chart paper. Compiling the responses into a typed list can be handled by volunteer students or be a classroom job if you use them.
Freebies
Ice Breakers & Team Building Activities
Download this file from EfficienTEACH to get 18 cards with funny, fun, and challenging ice breakers and team building activities. Some of these you may already know and be using, while others will be new to you. Note: If you see a QR code on a card, scan it to open a video that will further explain the task.
Free Posters from Edutopia
Edutopia currently has four posters, appropriate for classrooms and educator offices, available to download free of charge and without logging in.
In the words of Edutopia's founder, the award-winning filmmaker George Lucas, “Education is the single most important endeavor of the human race.” (And yes, you can download a poster featuring that quote. I just hung one up in my cubicle. 😀 )
Logical Fallacies Poster & Game Cards
It’s so easy for humans to make mistakes in thinking. That’s why it’s important to be aware of logical fallacies and cognitive biases. Consider the following assertion:
- Want to see a ten percent jump in academic achievement, and record growth over the course of a year? One thing you can do, according to a study designed by a famous academic, is this:
- What might this mean? Showing students and teachers pleasant images is a great way to increase motivation. It also improves productivity.
But does it? The quoted statements above contain what the source article calls, “logical fallacies.” Logical fallacies present in the quoted text above include:
- Appeal to authority - Who is this “famous academic?” It implies that the argument is research-supported.
- False inductions - This is where you infer there is a relationship between two things that happened, but there may not be. Showing pleasant images to students may or may not be linked to increased motivation and productivity.
Unless students become familiar with how human brains can fall into these traps, they may fall for fake news and information. The Thinking Shop offers a free, downloadable posters for logical fallacies and cognitive biases along with game cards for logical fallacies. These resources are available via a Creative Commons copyright as a download. Note: You can also buy the poster for $20.
Resources for Elementary
Google Forms "Escape" Rooms
Reinforce your students' math and reading skills with these fun Google Forms Escape Rooms. MamaTeaches.com is a website created by a teacher that features a collection of escape rooms and many other resources that are free to use. There are many escape rooms to choose from, try out one of the following and make learning fun.
- Reinforce parts of speech with the Stormy Night parts of Speech Virtual Escape Room. Students will be tested on their knowledge of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
- The Decimals Multiplication Virtual Escape Room will help students master those decimal multiplication skills.
Interactive Map of Paul Revere Ride
Share the poem about Paul Revere's ride and then have your students visit the interactive Midnight Ride Map to get the true story of the ride in Revere's own words. As an extension of this lesson you could use the information in Recreate the Ride to create a GoogleMyMap for students to use for further exploration. Note: You will need to be signed into your Google account to view and create GoogleMyMaps.
Resources for Secondary
Lots of Dots
"Lots of Dots" is played with 16 dot cards for each group of four. Each group member will receive their own set of four dot cards. Each card has one or more duplicates, but there is one card that has NO duplicates; it does not have a match. Their job as a group is to find the one dot card that doesn’t have a match. However, they cannot look at any cards besides their own and they cannot draw pictures or diagrams.
Participating in "Lots of Dots" requires students to clearly share information with each other. There is no way that students can arrive at a solution without extensive talk between participants. It is a good exercise for teaching how to be a member of an interdependent group.
More information on how to play is available here. Note: This document does not have the cards.
Describing Egypt
Students can "walk" through the three major kingdoms of ancient Egypt using Describing Egypt, a 360 degree, immersive tour. Each view includes detailed information about the location. Your students will learn the stories from these locations--stories of their owners and their life and death--and follow the progression of art, culture, and architecture across Egypt's long and diverse history.
American Panorama
American Panorama includes interactive maps demonstrating changes in the United States since the 1800's. Available maps include "The Forced Migration of Enslaved People," "The Overland Trails," "Canals," "Foreign-Born Population," and many more topics. Click on any map to explore the many features including keyword searches and interactive timelines. Primary source information, including diary entries, are available on many of the maps. Note: This ongoing project will be adding additional maps.
Rights Around the World
The National Constitution Center hosts the Rights Around the World Interactive. It shows what rights the United States has that are also guaranteed by other countries. At least 32 separate rights are found in the United States Constitution. Students can use this interactive to explore which other countries have adopted similar rights.
Brain Break
Six Spots
Google Workspace
Google Quick Tips
Microsoft 365
Download this Quick Guide for "Speech to Text (Dictate)" and learn how to activate and use this important tool for both yourself and your students. Microsoft Dictate can be used with 13 different languages and includes multiple variants as well. Ex: English (Canada), English (UK), and English (US)
Check out this ~5 minute video to learn about five new Microsoft Forms features. These features, which launched this summer, include Present Live, the ability to Save and Update responses, and an improved Forms Quiz dialog in Microsoft Teams for Education.
Makerspace
Another option for game play
- Round 1 – Team members can speak to teach other.
- Round 2 – No talking is allowed
Reflection Questions
- How well did your team work together to move the cups?
- At what point in the activity did you feel like everyone was working together?
- Describe a moment when your team became frustrated. How did you work through this?
- Tell how one of your team members exemplified collaboration or communication.
Discovery Streaming
Note: Discovery Streaming subscription and login required to access the resources in this section. If you do not know if your school has a subscription please email laura.cummings@oakland.k12.mi.us.
Supplement Math Instruction with Math Channels
Did you know Discovery Streaming has an entire collection of math channels to supplement math instruction in the classroom? From math vocabulary, to real-world applications, to problem solving strategies, and more! There are channels for Kindergarten through 12th grade, to support most lessons. Check out these Math Channels and be sure to save your favorites to your My Content in Discovery Streaming.
Professional Learning
Exploring the Art of Crafting AI Prompts
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM - FREE Virtual Session
Facilitator - Laura Cummings, Digital Learning Consultant
In this free, virtual session we will explore the power of well-crafted prompts in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology. You will gain practical insights into how to create compelling and effective prompts that get you the results you were envisioning. You will be given access to a curated collection of resources to help you continue to hone the prompts you use with AI.
Register now for the “Exploring the Art of Crafting AI Prompts" professional learning experience.
(1 SCECH pending)
Learning in the Age of AI Summit
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 9 AM - 3 PM
Oakland Schools, 2111 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford, MI 48328
Cost - $50
This full day, in-person event, will dive deeper into how AI topics affect education, such as the ethics and privacy policies behind AI, career readiness in the age of AI, and classroom implications through the featured keynote speaker, Amanda Fox, and breakout sessions. We are both doing breakout sessions along with many other Oakland Schools colleagues.
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Team Information
Previous Editions of Our Newsletters
Links to all previous editions of the Oakland Schools Digital Learning news can be found on our website.
Subscribe to Our News
If you do not receive our monthly newsletter directly from us, you can request to join our subscription list by completing this Registration Form.
Twitter (X)
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Twitter posts can be found at os_edtech.
When you are posting to Twitter about things related to digital learning and educational technology, don't forget to use the hashtag #oakedtech.
Using the hashtag will help Oakland County educators, who are interested in the effective use of digital learning, to connect and better collaborate with each other.
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Consultants
Laura Cummings
Laura.Cummings@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2283
Vinos Kassab
Vinos.Kassab@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2229
In accordance with state and federal law, Oakland Schools does not discriminate, nor permit discrimination, on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sex, pregnancy or parental status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, height, weight, marital status, military service, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, in its educational programs and activities, employment, or enrollment. The District also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. For questions or complaints regarding unlawful discrimination or harassment, employees should contact the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Personnel Management and Labor Relations at (248) 209-2429 or HR@oakland.k12.mi.us. Students and others should contact the Civil Rights/Title IX Coordinator at (248) 209-2590 or Jacqueline.Zablocki@oakland.k12.mi.us.