CPP Technology Today
A Communication of the CPP Technology Committee - Vol 1.3
In This Issue
- Instructional Technology in Action - "Weebly and Middle School Student-Led Conferences" by Carrie Howe
- Resource Spotlight - Weebly
- Resources Spotlight - What's New on the CPP Technology Website
- Google Apps at CPP: "Inside a Google Classroom - Successes and Challenges at the Half-Way Point" by Bryan Kelley
- Google Apps at CPP: Login Reminder
- Google Apps at CPP: "Google Drive"
- Shared Learnings - Conference Spotlight: "Magic, Mayhem and Math: Make K-8 Math Practice Fun with Prodigy Game" by Lori Pruyne
- Shared Learnings Resources - Video: Explore ProdigyGame With a CPP Second-Grader
- Library Media Connections - "Exploring Careers in Computer Science and Coding at CPPHS Library" by Stacie Martinec
- District Technology News: BrightBytes Technology Survey
- Technology Master Plan Goals -
- Get Involved! Join a Focus Group and Become a Techy Turnkey Trainer!
- Newsletter Suggestions and Ideas
Friday, Jan 22, 2016, 08:00 AM
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Instructional Technology in Action
Weebly and Middle School Student Led Conferences
By Carrie Howe
Weebly, an online-webpage builder, has been used this year by sixth grade teachers at CPPMS to track their own progress, reflect on their work, and show their growth. Students in 6th grade receive instruction in their Language & Literature classes on how to work and create a Weebly website. Students create their Weebly websites in preparation for a conference with their parents and teachers to explain their goals. Students participate in the conference, using their website as a guide to showcase their individual personalities, classroom project pieces and goal-setting at the beginning of the school year at their first conference. Additional curricula areas will assist in the upload of their content pieces as students select material to add. Later in the school year a post-conference will allow students the opportunity to reflect on their goals and progress, and to prepare for the next year.
Weebly is a web-based resource that allows students the ability to create their own electronic website in a safe, paperless and efficient way that supports the conference Students all create pages within the website to showcase particular areas of learning and reflection, including a personal statement page, content literacy area, and communication and data pages. The skills students gain from working with Weebly on this project include file management, program basics, editing skills, speaking and how to set meaningful future goals; all while in an electronic setting. Inquiry-based instruction and critical thinking are at the core of this instructional model, and allow students the freedom to craft a website that has deep meaning and content that expresses each student's individual personality.
The 1:1 resources that are available to students and teachers each day allow students the ability to work on their conference throughout the school day in many classes. The Language & Lit teachers start the Weebly project, but to create a full picture of each student's learning in each content area a team effort is needed. Therefore, all teachers on each team work with students to support the SLC process. All students will pick pieces from L&L, Math, Science, Individuals and Societies and their Language Acquisition classes to include on the site.
In addition to teaching students higher-level skills and providing a digital record of their learning, working with Weebly is preparing students for their work in the high school. All freshmen students at CPPHS create weebly websites as part of their research project in their Language and Literature class. In grade 10, all students complete the Personal Project as part of their MYP requirements. Students create Weebly websites for their personal projects, and use the sites in their presentation to the panel where they explain their project, product and learning. In total, 1200 Weebly sites will be created by CPP students this year!
Some CPP-created Weebly tutorials are available below, and more resources are available on the CPP Technology Website. Please contact, Lori, Carrie or Dave if you'd like to create your own classroom Weebly site, or explore using it with your students.
Using Student Work to Build Higher-Level Skills
Working Together for Student Success
Curriculum Alignment and Scaffolding Support
Instructional Technology Resource Spotlights - Weebly
What's New on the CPP Technology Website?
New:
- Find tutorials, samples and resources for using Weebly, an on-line website builder
and ProdigyGame, a free K-8, curriculum-aligned math game that is highly engaging and allows teachers to track student progress
- Access the teacher, student and parent links for the BrightBytes Technology Survey
Other Important Resources:
Access the CPP Technology Newsletter - new issues and archives!
- Open presentations, handouts and resources from many of the technology-related
- Find information and tutorials on using Google Apps
- Access tips and tricks for teaching in a 1:1 environment
Google Apps at CPP
Inside a Google Classroom: Successes and Challenges at the Half-Way Point
This regular feature will explore experiences from CPP teachers with using various Google Apps for Education
By Bryan Kelley
Web-based possibilities in our classrooms started with a demographic of students having a home computer, which has progressed to an ever growing number of students having a smartphone in their pockets. While it was never a class-wide guarantee before, the acceleration of the district 1:1 laptop initiative has given every student a valuable classroom tool.
Of the many Web 2.0 platforms available, Google Classroom is among the best. This web-based application has been used by teachers and students to enhance the learning outcomes in their classroom. As the pedagogical paradigm shifts away from traditional teacher-centered methods towards inquiry-based approaches, Google Classroom can serve as the hub for classroom activities.
My transition to a hybrid-classroom (one that meets in person and has an online component) has been successful.
- From an organization standpoint, students have access to all materials 24 hours a day; seven days a week in school. Simply put, there are no more lost papers or papers that end up on the floor or in the trash. Content is easily managed and tracked within a simple file system within a student’s Google Drive. Students have the ability to recall past assignments or resources to help them better prepare for assessments throughout the year. Particularly useful is the ability for the work to be shared with Parents during Conferences. Beyond seeing a grade that validates their student’s work, they can see each example along the way.
- Students who are absent from class can still connect despite not being in a seat. One of my students has been in the hospital or confined to house rest most of this year. Using Google Classroom she has been able to participate in class discussions, work with groups on projects, and has even video chatted with her classmates.
- Students have the ability to collaborate within their class and between classes. Projects and discussions can bring multiple classes (or even schools) together. The web-environment has given students, who typically would settle for being passive consumers of information, the chance to share their voice and direct their learning.
- While offering feedback on student work does not necessarily require Google Classroom, it is certainly enhanced by it. Teachers have the ability to communicate with students as the assignment is in progress. This formative feedback helps students make better choices in completing the final product. I have found this invaluable when working with Special Education support teachers who can receive an emailed copy of the assignment and my comments to better help their students with the assignment.
- Live-blogging a movie in place of answering questions on the worksheet is an effective practice made possible by the commenting abilities within Google Classroom. Like Facebook, students have a chance to pose questions or observations and reply directly to each other. This running dialogue has helped students better immerse themselves in films and other presentations. It allows students the opportunity to pose their own questions and provides their peers have an opportunity to answer them. This level of synthesis has turned a typical coma-inducing class movie into an active discussion.
Like any new experience, success is also accompanied by challenges. Important to the process of implementing Google Classroom in my classroom is the ability to self-reflect and offer students a chance to share their feedback on class activities. This has allowed me to meet any challenges that have hindered the process.
- With any new process, there is always a learning curve. Google Classroom has begun to shift my role away from the purveyor of information to tech support staff. Early on, during the first weeks of implementation, there were lost passwords, forgotten user names, lost files, and a host of other solvable issues. When in doubt Google Support is fantastic, however, most of the issues that have arisen are easily solved.
- Beyond basic issues within the Google application, technical difficulties are inevitable when it comes to hardware and wireless infrastructure. Internet outages, equipment failures, and other issues will happen at some point. Flexibility in dealing with those challenges as they arise is critical in embracing technology in the classroom. The Media Center and Tech Services are invaluable resources in helping meet those challenges.
- Despite advances in infrastructure at school, some students still do not have adequate Internet access at home. Google classroom gives the chance for students to download files locally. That will still allow the students to work on their materials. There is a brief process that gives the ability to upload finished work later when an Internet connection is available.
My experience with a hybrid-classroom model, using the Google Classroom web-based platform, has been successful thus far. As challenges arise I have learned from them and continue to progress towards a more inquiry-based model. There is a learning curve and some days will be more frustrating than others; however, the reward far outweighs the frustration. Your students will thrive in an environment that connects them to your class and their peers (inside and outside the classroom) like never before. Beyond its value to our students today, it will serve them well in the world beyond grade school. Colleges have been using similar course management platforms for more than ten years. In the working world beyond academia, many companies are moving to similar web-based collaborative programs. Our students’ intuitiveness using Google applications and other web-based platforms will certainly serve them well.
Feel free to contact Bryan at bkelley@cppmail.com with any questions about what it's like to run a Google Classroom. The video below is provided at his suggestion.
Google Apps Logins
This year, CPP has activated their Google Apps for Education domain. Through this domain, ALL teachers and students have Google Drive accounts, as well as access to many Google Apps for Education, including Google Classroom, Google Docs and many more.
To access your account:
- First, go to drive.google.com to log in to Google Drive. Drive is your starting point for all the Google Apps.
- Your username is whatever you use to login here at cpp +@cppasd.com (ie, lpruyne@cppasd.com).
- Contact Lori Pruyne, Carrie Howe or Dave Mayotte for your password. Passwords are all preset, and you will be prompted to change it at your first login.
Students also have accounts. Their usernames are set up the same ways as teacher accounts, and their passwords explained in the tutorial below. Student Google Apps Login Tutorial on the CPP Technology Website.
There are extensive resources for using Google Apps for Education at the CPP Google Apps Hub on the district technology page. Resources include videos, tutorials, practice exercises and activities to use with students.
If you'd like some help accessing and using Apps, please contact Lori, Carrie or Dave!
Google Drive
Google Apps for Education offers teachers unlimited storage space within their Google Drives. This provides amazing opportunities for teachers to store resources, photos of student work and more, and to be able to access that information easily.
Just like the H: drive, files and information can be sorted and organized within Google Drive. Documents and files can be sorted into folders, and sub-folder systems can be created. Google also offers a host of other ways to sort information (color-coding folders, "starring" files that are used frequently to access them quickly).
Additionally, through Google's file-sharing system, users are able to share folders with each other. You can allow others access to view your folder, in which cast they are able to see and access the folder and objects within it, but not edit them. Access to edit the folder can also be granted. Any user granted this access can edit anything within the folder, or add files of their own. In this way, people can work collaboratively, share documents without emailing them back and forth, and always access the most up-to-date copies of work.
Features of drive, including the share features, are explained in the tutorials linked below. They are shared through a @cppasd.com Google Account, so you will have to log onto your CPP Google account to access them. Please contact Lori Pruyne, Carrie Howe or Dave Mayotte for password information.
Shared Learning
Magic, Mayhem and Math: Make Math Practice Fun with Prodigy Game
By Lori Pruyne
At the Future of Educational Technology Conference, Prodigy Game was featured as tool to help students practice - and enjoy - math skills. This free, curriculum-aligned math game for students in grades K-8 allows teachers to create classes, assign work, and ensure that students are given math practice that is aligned to their grade level and needs. The game is aligned with the common core standards, so teachers can choose levels and questions for students to match their curriculum. Teachers can also track student progress, practice time and needs.
For students, the game is exciting and engaging. It is set up as a quest game, where students can create avatars, explore different worlds, and go on "missions" to help characters within the game. Along the way, they can advance levels, win prizes, buy equipment and even furnish their own "house" for their avatar to live with. They can collect pets, who can also collect levels and prizes. Along the way, though, students must battle monsters. These monsters can only be defeated by magical spells - spells that are cast by answering math questions.
Prodigy Game is web-based, and so students can play at school and at home. Parent accounts can be created and linked to student accounts, so parents can also see and track student progress. In addition, students can play "together" - if they are online at the same time, they can "see" each other's avatars, and go on missions together.
The educator features and student accounts are free. There are in-game memberships available for purchase, and there are certain pieces of equipment/prizes that are only available to paying members. However, students can play, level up and go on missions indefinitely with a free account.
In my admittedly small sample set (my daughter), Prodigy Game has been a runaway success. Being allowed to practice math has even become a bribe. For anyone who would look to know more, there are resources below - a screencast of the game, a CPP-created tutorial, and an overview presentation from Prodigy Game - to help you explore this resource. It would be exciting to see more students explore the game (and I know someone who would love to play with them!). Please contact me at lpruyne@cppmail.com if you'd like more information about the game, or if you'd like to meet about setting accounts up for your students.
Email: lpruyne@cppmail.com
Website: http://www.prodigygame.com
Facebook: facebook.com/ProdigyGame/
Twitter: @ProdigyGame
Practice Graph
View Scores
Know Where Practice is Needed
Library Media Connections
Exploring Careers in Computer Science and Coding at CPPHS Library
This regular feature showcases the use of technology in the district's library programs, or in classrooms in partnership with CPP School Library Media Specialists.
By Stacie Martinec
In celebration of Computer Science Education Week, the CPP High School Library held a Computer Careers and Hour of Code Activity. Librarians Stacie Martinec and Robin Robarge, along with teachers Joe Melanson and Chris Asiello from the CPPHS Business Department, held the Hour of Code on December 9th all day. During this day, students were invited to come in to the library from study hall or lunch (some classes attended too) and try out fun coding games and apps from the code.org website. This activity gave students the opportunity to learn the basics of coding while playing fun games with characters from Star Wars, Minecraft, Frozen and more. The Hour of Code is a yearly program and is appropriate for all age levels of students. It occurs in early December each year, if any teachers would like to try it with their students next year. Also, the site is up all year so at anytime any teacher can go back and try out the activities from this past year.
This year the library also brought in speakers to discuss their computer careers with students. Jennifer Page from the Career Development Council helped to find great speakers that the students really enjoyed and connected with. Jerry Dieg and Shane Swimely from the school district talked to students about IT careers. Casey Wood a Software Engineer from Corning, Inc. came and spoke with groups of students. There were also 3 Skype sessions offered with Jason Arena, the CEO of Workingman, a video game design company in Rochester. The library is hoping to build this program and bring in even more speakers for this activity next year, so if any other CPP faculty or staff knows anyone who has a computer career and would be willing to come in and talk with high school students next December, please email Stacie Martinec. Also, please feel free to contact Stacie or Robin Robarge if you're interested in knowing more about the Hour of Code, or incorporating computer science into your content area curriculum.
Real-World Connections
Computer Science in the Content Areas
Teaching Kids to Code
District Technology Updates
BrightBytes Technology Survey
To gather information, students, teachers and parents are being asked to take technology surveys. The questions deal with the technology climate, direction and needs within your building. In order to get clear data on specific needs there are building-specific links for parents, teachers and students. In this way, we can determine what the needs are in different buildings around the district, and ensure that all teachers and students receive the resources, professional development and support that they need to help students succeed.
The BrightBytes surveys are accessible from the District Technology Website. The main page of the site contains links to Parent, Teacher and Student surveys. Once on the appropriate page, click the link for the specific school and complete the survey.
Teacher surveys should take about 15 minutes to complete. Parents surveys are about 5-7 minutes in length, and student surveys require about 7-10 minutes.
The document linked below contain more information about the BrightBytes survey. Building principals will be contacting teachers with more information about the survey.
Technology-Related Master Plan Goals: Goal 1 Progress
Goal 2: K-12 Skills Implementation: Develop a K-12 curriculum of authentically integrated technology literacy skills
Objective 1: To identify Skills Categories that must be tracked to ensure skill instruction and vertical articulation
Objective 2: To administer a survey to all teaching staff K-12 to identify technology skill needs and current levels of practice
Objective 3: To determine at what grade levels skills will be introduced (I), reinforced (R) and applied (A)
Objective 4: To formulate a plan to integrate technology skill instructional into grade level curricula
The first of the three objectives to this goal have been accomplished. Utilizing feedback from a survey given to CPP teachers, along with other research and reference materials, the technology committee created a Scope & Sequence of Technology Skills, articulated from Kindergarten through Grade 12. This document divides technology skills into seven categories, and indicates at which grades skills should be introduced, how long they will need to be reinforced through classroom instruction, and when students would be ready to apply those skills independently. The completed Scope and Sequence was presented to all teachers, who provided feedback and recommendations for changes and adjustments. Changes were made based on this feedback, and the completed document is ready for application, and can be accessed here.
Now, work is ready to being on objective four, the task of authentically weaving those skills into content-area instruction. Teachers will have time to examine the skills, work collaboratively with grade-level and content-area groups to examine current curriculum and determine how it can incorporate the teaching of those technology skills.
If there are questions regarding the skills or the process of adopting them into instruction, please discuss them with any of the Technology Committee members listed below.
Get Involved!
Get Involved! Join a Focus Group and Become a Techy Turnkey Trainer!
There is no better resource for a teacher than another teacher. Toward the end of enabling teachers to support each other, several focus groups will be forming in the following months with the goal of enabling interested teachers to become "turnkey trainers." These focus group members will explore resources, investigate programs and share and instruct each other. They will then bring what they learn from each other back to other teachers in their buildings.
The first of these groups to form will be a Google Apps Focus Group. Teachers of all grade levels are encouraged to be involved; ideally, the group would contain at least one teacher from each school in the district. It is not necessary that teachers have used Google Apps for Education with classes at this point, but they should be familiar with Google programs and comfortable with technology. Meeting times and further information will be determined once membership has been solidified. Please contact Lori Pruyne, through email or at x3503 to indicate interest or for more information!
Newletter Information
For more information about the newsletter, to make suggestions for content or to contribute, please contact Lori Pruyne.
Email: lpruyne@cppmail.com
Website: cpptechnology.weebly.com
Location: CPPHS B215
Phone: 3503