The METS Group: February Newsletter
Michigan Educational Technology Specialists
Happy February from the METS Group!
Rally Ready
Get ready for the METS VirtuRally on February 10th. Never attended before? Read on for some helpful tips to prepare for a great day of learning and networking!
Haven't signed up yet to attend? You don't have to attend the entire time - pop in on your prep or at lunch! Sign up today or register for a Regional Rally Roundup!
Idea Slam
Get your tickets now for the Idea Slam, happening March 15th at the Elizabeth Theatre inside the Park Bar in downtown Detroit. Tickets are $20 - and there's only 125 available.
Have a great idea? Submit it for your chance to pitch it to the community on March 15th, and possibly win up to $2500 to implement your idea.
Teaching our Youth to Find the Truth
METS Member Jim Dornberg tells how to identify Fake News in this month's featured article.
"Each minute of every day, we are presented with a choice on how we spend our moments. We can either miss the moments or grasp them". - Rachel Macy Stafford, Hands Free Mama
This blog has resonated with me. I have started to become acutely aware of how technology affects the relationships in my life. I've especially enjoyed her Hands Free Pledge. Below, I've included some tips to staying present. I encourage you to check these out and ponder them. Your February Challenge is to try one of these out!
- Kerry, METS Communications Chair
GIVEAWAY TIME!
If you'd like to win one of Rachel Macy Stafford's books, please fill out this form by February 9th @ 11:59p. One winner will be announced at the VirtuRally on February 10th. You MUST be a METS Member to win (sign up here), but you do not have to attend the VirtuRally to win.
- Put your gadgets away when you're not using them. Having your phone on the dinner table or at the bar is like telling the person you're with that you're waiting for something bigger or better. Be present.
- Keep your cell phone out of the bedroom - buy an alarm clock. Sleep experts suggest zero screen time at least an hour before bedtime every night to create a more relaxed and peaceful environment. "There's no one else I'd rather lie in bed and look at my phone next to" is sorry, sorry saying.
- Look up. Instead of reaching for your phone during an elevator ride or waiting at the doctor's office, look up and start a conversation, or read a magazine. You'll seize more opportunities and build more relationships.
- When you're working, challenge yourself to take B.I.T.E. breaks 4 - 6 times a day. B.I.T.E.: Bio (bathroom), Internet, Text, Email. Try not to look at your phone throughout the day until your pre-scheduled B.I.T.E. breaks. Pre-scheduled B.I.T.E. breaks are also great to schedule during PD sessions.
- When you get home from work, leave your phone in the car until the kids go to bed. It'll be the best thing you'll ever do.
- Sit down for dinner together every night without technology. "Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (5 to 7 per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than 3 per week) are more than twice as likely to say that they expect to try drugs in the future," according to The Importance of Family Dinners VI, a report from CASAColumbia at Columbia University. The Family Dinner Project is a great way to get started.
- Leave the TV off after dinner. Play board games, hide 'n go seek, get outside and go for a walk, have a dance party... Many ways to reconnect!
- Unitask three things every day. Focus on one task completely for a given period of time, and then take a break before continuing or moving on to another task.
- Turn off notifications. Turn off all of your push notifications. Fewer virtual disruptions mean you'll have more time to take in what's physically around you.
Headset w/ Microphone
Test your Connection Ahead of Time!
Be Ready to Share!
Winter VirtuRally
Keynote Presentation:
"STEM Thinking: Making Valuable Industry Connections"
featuring Ebiri Nkugba and Rick Mushing,
Kent ISD STEM Consultants
Rally Login Information <recommended: test beforehand>
While you can participate in this in the comfort of your home or classroom, you can also attend a Regional Rally Roundup (Including one in the UP!) What's a Regional Rally Roundup, you ask? In the morning, you'll be able to participate in the METS Virtual Rally at the roundup. Then in the afternoon, you'll focus on a local EdTech Agenda with your local peeps. We've always gotten great feedback from our Regional Rally attendees and most roundups offer SCECHs... bonus!
*Registration for your local Roundup is on the GDoc linked above*
Friday, Feb 10, 2017, 08:00 AM
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The number of tickets sold = the amount of money we are giving away!* More tickets = more money! Your ticket fee directly and positively impacts the amount of the money we are giving away - all proceeds from the tickets will be used for the winning idea (voted on by the crowd!) There are only 125 tickets available, get yours today! The rest of the evening is an informal meet-up with fun conversations and networking!
Have a great idea? The application is HERE! Check out our website, metsgroup.org for more information, including the rubric, under "Idea Slam". Deadline to submit is February 20th.
*minimum grant to be awarded is $1500
As a child, I was fortunate to grow up in a home where I could read a daily newspaper, and watch the local and national news on TV. My father’s favorite source for news was CBS and Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America.” I completed my school assignments using the books found in our school library, or at the local branch of our public library. Finding and reporting the “truth” was easy for students in my generation.
The recent presidential election brought fake news to our collective conscience. Some would say the outcome of the election was determined in part by fake news. We can’t always depend on photos and videos since they can be expertly manipulated by amateurs and professionals alike. And just a few days ago, we learned that there are “alternative facts” to consider when determining the veracity of information. Here are some resources you and your students can use to uncover the truth.
Recently, on her School Library Journal blog, Joyce Valenza shared “Our kids need new types of filters. Beyond larger notions of information literacy, I see the case for a specific focus on news literacy. Not as a lesson of good vs. bad. Not as an attempt to pitch traditional media against social media or peer review against popular publication. Not through the examination of hoaky hoax sites. And certainly not as a one-off, checklist type of lesson for a 9th-grade social studies teacher in September.”
One of her many excellent suggestions is to “Triangulate”-- that is, to verify information using a variety of sources, including traditional news sources, library databases, and websites such as Snopes.com and FactCheck.org. Joyce also believes students need to know how to conduct a reverse image search, using sites like Google Images or TinEye.
A brief, but excellent video and lesson, How to Choose Your News, may be found on the TED-Ed website.
Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College and her research team are dedicated to preserving the integrity and enhancing the transparency of information on the internet. They have shared an extensive GoogleDoc entitled False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources. In addition to receiving some helpful tips and advice, your students could quickly search this document to determine if a website is a credible source of information.
Valenza, J. (2016, November 26). Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a “post-truth” world. Retrieved January 19, 2017, from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2016/11/26/truth-truthiness-triangulation-and-the-librarian-way-a-news-literacy-toolkit-for-a-post-truth-world/
The METS Group is sponsored by the REMC Association of Michigan.