Good Things Newsletter
November 2016
Welcome: We Are Thankful for You!
Your Tech and Media team are proud to work alongside each of you, and we hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!!!
~April, Tracey, Damien, Kristi, and Erin
How to Make the Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner: Snoopy-style
M-Powerment Focus: M-3 "Standards Aligned Lessons"
This month's newsletter focuses on resources that will help you build those standards aligned lessons and stay the course for success!!!
Instructional Strategy: Quizizz
Quizizz, which is an alternative to Kahoot, has recently added some new features!
Add Quizzes to collections and get things better organized.
Like your favorite Quizzes.
Discover quizzes based on popularity, recency and more
Read more about other new features here!
Quizizz New FeaturesLiteracy Focus: NewsELA
When you are ready to use Newsela pro you and your students will access it through the Digital Resources page--your classes are preloaded for you and they sync with Powerschool. All you have to do is start assigning!!!!
If you have questions, please see April Davala for assistance :)
Tech Check-up
Laptop Checks will begin after the Thanksgiving Break. Please keep this in mind. Students will be coming to your room to look over laptops. If it’s a bad day, just tell them and they will come back
I’ve heard a lot about teachers “dealing” with issues on laptops and with other technology. Don’t do this to yourself, normally if something is broken, or not working properly we can try to fix it. If I don’t know it’s a problem, I won’t know to fix it.
Google Apps for Education (Google Drive) has been officially renamed G Suite for Education. Here are some really cool features that may make your life easier. Seriously, you should check it out: Link
Don’t forget that you can borrow help desk students to help your students understand and learn about unfamiliar tech tools. We’re always looking for new things to do.
Teachers are required to have laptop cases on their laptops, just like the students. I realize that the cases you have can sometimes break, sorry, and even worse, we’re not the fastest to replace them. They’re about $60 bucks a piece. So for your Holiday Wishlist, I’d like you to invite you to check out these. They will fit your laptop and make a good present.
A brief word on Social Media -- don’t use it to take pictures of your students and post it on your own social media. Also, a reminder not to post during school hours.
If you have any issues with wireless networks or anything please email me. I’ll try to fix it ASAP.
- A reminder to make sure students have their school issued backpack and their laptop cases on their computer. If you see a student without this, please let me know.
From the Media Center
We are fortunate to have access to a few digital resources that help teachers create standards-aligned lessons. As you plan activities for your students, please consider using the three tools below. Each resource allows you to search the content by our state’s curriculum standards in addition to Common Core standards. Discovery Education Login with Active Directory info When flipping your lessons, select videos for students that are aligned to your curriculum objectives. If you aren’t already doing so, utilize the Math, Science or Social Studies Techbooks for additional instructional support. Click on the Curriculum Standards Search to find specific resources for your content. 2) iCurio Login with Active Directory info Access aligned content within icurio by clicking on Search Standards and choosing among the strands for your content’s objectives. Embed these resources into choice boards for your students or add the direct links to Learn. The level defaults to Middle, so change the level to High for more relevant results. 3) SAS Curriculum Pathways Login via Clever Browse Resources to search by CCSS or NC standards. Or click on For Educators to search by Strategies. Any of these resources can be included in station or remediation activities. As always, if you need assistance navigating these tools or locating standards-aligned material for your lessons, please don’t hesitate to contact Brawley & Stutts. We can also provide informational texts and a different learning environment for your students.