Technoflash
Bellevue Public Schools, Bellevue NE
NeBooks Project Showcase
BPS instructional technology coaches, Mark Billington and Kristina Peters from the NE Department of Education showcased some of our students' iBooks on March 26th at the Bellevue Public School's Support Center. Our students shined as they talked about the interactive books they created on their iPads. The NeBooks Project is a partnership between schools, state agencies and non-profit organizations across Nebraska for the common purpose of providing quality instructional materials. Students are creating eBooks in all content areas to be added to our eBook Library.
Parents, teachers, administrators, and even Channel 6 showed up to check out these amazing young authors. Students from 2nd grade, 6th grade and middle school were stationed around the room with their iPads. Books were created using the Book Creator app and iBooks Author. Topics ranged from poetry to historical settlements, to fictional stories.
These same students and others across the state will have the opportunity to attend a writer's workshop with authors at UNO in the near future. If you have some budding authors who are creating digital content, reach out to one of the trainers to see how they might get involved! For more information check out the NE Books Project Site.
Amazing Learning Opportunities
NETA
This year NETA will be at Century Link Center, April 23rd-24th. If you are unable to attend the conference, follow along on Twitter #neta15 to keep to learn some amazing things from afar.
iOS Summit
Bellevue West will be the location of an iOS Summit brought to you by the EdTech Team and organized by your technology coaches. The conference will be a 2 day event focusing on using iPads in the classroom. Keynote speakers will be outstanding! For more information check out http://iossummits.com/ne/ or ask one of your technology coaches.
CCU Update
We will no longer be offering online CCU courses. If you are looking for accredited graduate level courses in educational technology and innovation watch for information (coming soon) on opportunities through Edcelerate taught by Ann, Jenny and Jeanette.
Congratulations
Ann Feldmann has been elected to the NETA (Nebraska Educational Technology Association) Board. She will be a wonderful representative for Bellevue Public Schools and will bring great enthusiasm and innovative ideas to NETA.
Also, congratulations to Jeff Bernadt! He will be joining the #tt4t team next year as an Instructional Technology Trainer. Jenny will be transitioning to Nashville, TN this summer with her husband and family. Currently, Jeff is a social studies teacher at Bellevue East and an iPad Academy member. We look forward to working with Jeff in the upcoming year.
Intergenerational Technology Class
For the past several weeks, seniors citizens have been coming to Lewis and Clark middle school to meet with their technology teachers........7th graders! The students meet on Tuesdays to prepare for their lessons. Topics have included the basics of using iPads such as iPhoto, Safari, reading lists, and maps, Every Thursday for 30 minutes, if you walk by the room, you will hear conversation, laughter, excitement and joy as the 7th graders teach the senior citizens how to use iPads.
This program provides so much more than technology lessons, it provides lessons on the importance of building connections and relationships with people of all ages. A skill that will last a lifetime.
Shout Outs
Dan Parkison and George Steele
Congratulations to the Bellevue West and Bellevue East Cyber Patriot teams on finishing first at Saturday's second annual Cyber++ competition at Bellevue University. Also, congrats to the Bellevue West freshman team on placing 3rd.
Monica Evon
Congratulations to Monica Evon for winning the What's Your Impact NETA contest with this video.
Also, congratulations to Monica's student on winning the app smashing contest at NETA! Click here to see her Thinglink which also incorporated multiple other apps.
#tt4t Best Tweets
If you are a tweeter, remember to tag your tweets with #tt4t so more teachers can see what is happening in your classroom. Sharing is the name of the game!
Blogs Worth Reading
Craig Dunlap's Blog focuses on genius hour, educational book reviews, and insightful posts about teaching in today's world.
The Genius Hour Blog provides ideas on developing and managing genius hour.
Appy Time!!
Scoodle Jam is a fabulous doodling app that comes with built in graphic organizers, speech bubbles, stickers, and more. $3.99
Middle School Math Planet supports common core math standards and makes math fun for middle school students. Free
Mac Tips & Tricks
Remember that warranties are almost up on your Mac. If you have any issues with the way it is operating, please put a request in the help desk. Our guys are here to get it fixed quickly and back in your hands as soon as possible.
Yosemite! This May, all teachers will be able to upgrade their Macs to the Operating System Yosemite. There are a few major changes with this system that you will notice if you use Apple's native apps like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. Do not hesitate to ask your Building Tech Coordinators for more information. Check out this doc for more information.
Meet the #tt4t Technology Team
District Technology Trainers
