Free Technology Curriculum from Google

Looking for Lesson Plans to Teach Google to Secondary Students? 

CS-First from Google has the answer

CS-First from Google has recently published video-based lessons for teaching Google to grades 7-12 students. This course uses instructional videos and creative projects to teach students how to use G Suite applications. Students will develop digital literacy through creative projects.

Getting Started as a Teacher:

• Click this link CS-First from Google to sign up.
• Click on Get Started 
• You need to sign in as a Teacher first.
• You will be prompted to connect to your Google account (use your @aurorak12.org) and school. 
• Next you will create a class and be given a class code for students.

Benefits and Features:

• Prepares students for future careers. Prepare them with practices like communication, collaboration, and research
• Contains project-based curriculum that allows students to apply their new skills to real, relevant problems.
• Teaches students to behave ethically online. Digital citizenship is embedded in the lessons and encourages student to use technology tools safely and responsibly.
• Utilize the videos for a blended learning model in order to give individualized attention and foster student growth.
• Personalizes learning for students by giving them the opportunity to explore their interests, use their strengths, and develop important skills and ideas.
• Students gain computational thinking and programming skills along with creative problems solving.
• Lessons are more than "how-to" use an application. Students express ideas, collaborate with others, analyze and solve problems, and create.

Have a Hoot with Learning & Assessment!

I was recently able to use the online tool Kahoot when facilitating some professional learning. I had heard about the tool over a year ago but never tool the chance of using it when leading a session. The feedback I received from the use of the tool was extremely positive. Users were incredibly engaged with the experience and had tons of fun while going through a simple quiz game I had created.  There was laughter and excitement which made the learning fun and interesting.  I found it incredibly easy to use the tool and engage my audience which provided an atmosphere of genuine learning.

Kahoot is a simple and easy to use tool in any learning environment. You can sign up for free and create assessments quickly and easily which is a crucial component to any learning environment. Kahoot works on any device with internet access including all mobile devices. One of my favorite features is the ease of use for participants. There is no need for them to create accounts to participate. Each "game" or activity that you create has a special pin and the only thing your participants need to get started is to enter the game pin and their name.  Another great feature is the ability to override or "veto" any inappropriate or misused names. If any participants enter names that aren't correct or are inappropriate, you can immediate reject them and they are dismissed from the game.

It's incredibly easy to get started with Kahoot. This VIDEO allows you to get started using Kahoot in under 3 minutes so there's no need to worry about spending hours learning a new tool. You'll need to visit getkahoot.com to sign up and create your first game/assessment as well as facilitate it.  Your participants will go to kahoot.com to play and enter the game pin. I created my first interactive experience with Kahoot in about 15 minutes and we were off and running. Participants earn points for correct responses but it doesn't end there.  Points are also awarded for how fast they respond which means the element of competition is very clearly present at all points of the game. The person who responds first gets the most points awarded and so on. I loved watching the looks on participant faces as they worked to respond as quickly as possible with the correct answer.  After each question a summary of the leader board is displayed allowing the competition to grow even stronger. Life involves competition and participants love fun, friendly competition so let's incorporate more opportunities in our learning environments.

Kahoot will provide instant feedback to the participants in terms of right or wrong answers.  It also will provide you a summary of participant responses to each question so you can easily collect great data to reflect on at a later time or when the game is finished. The data can be downloaded as an excel spreadsheet for easy analysis or you can also save it directly to Google Drive if you prefer to utilize your Googliciousness.  Either way, you can have access to instant data and make real-time instructional decisions to support your learners. You can even replay any of your previous Kahoot's at anytime so learners can challenge themselves to beat their previous score(s).

The next time you're thinking about assessing learners or want to have a conversation with them that involves data collection, check out Kahoot and watch the engagement soar.  Learning can be fun and Kahoot is one simple tool to bring the fun and engagement into your learning environment.  If you have questions or would like support with additional strategies for utilizing Kahoot in your instructional practice, contact your APS EdTech Coach.  It will certainly be a hoot!

Formative Assessment Made Easy with Superquiz

Super Quiz is a great new formative assessment tool that has just been released.  Super Quiz is an Add-On for Google Sheets that quickly creates data and statistical displays of any student responses. Flubaroo has been another popular grading tool for Google Forms & Sheets for a long time and now there's another option that teachers can choose from. With Super Quiz, you don't need to wait for data on your students, you can instantly get breakdowns that will allow you to make quick instructional decisions and support struggling students.

Great Professional Learning Opportunity

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is coming to Denver next summer. This event is one of the largest and most popular professional learning experiences in the world when it comes to technology in education.  It's time to start thinking about your registration and plans to attend now so you can get the most out of this experience.  Registration for the 2016 conference in Denver, CO. opened yesterday so you can get set up at anytime.  If you're interested in attending this world class professional learning event, you'll find all the details below.  

Want to go to ISTE for free?

+Kevin Riebau is our blogger this week.  He is sharing an opportunity with you to help leverage effective, innovative instructional methods and tools with APS students.  Deadline to submit your proposal is September 30th.  

MOOCs Starting on September 28th!

Have you ever found yourself wanting to take part in some learning, but without having to commit to meeting the instructor or classmates at a particular time and place?  You have until September 28th to register in a MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course, through the Friday Institute.  Upon completion, the course could be used towards licensure renewal.  

Using EDpuzzle to Create Interactive Videos

Lately, I have been sharing a great site named EDPuzzle. This site can be used by teachers to turn videos into interactive lessons. Teachers can crop videos, add to them, and embed questions in order to check for understanding.

Create and Manage Accounts

1. Teachers create a class. Here is how your students will be able to identify which class to go to. This is also how you can know where to put the videos and assignments that you create.
2. Once you create a class, this menu will appear. EDpuzzle automatically gives you a class code so your students can easily find your class and complete the assignment you have prepared.
3. Assignment Page is where you can get creative. You can either have your students simply watch a video you created, or write out specifically what you want them to do.
   

The World's Largest Lesson

What kind of learning are your students engaging in during the week of September 27th?  The countdown to connect with colleagues across the world who have created lesson plans across disciplines in order to help student develop big ideas around human rights, poverty and environmental issues begins today...

Professional Development on your Schedule!

Promethean Board...check
Computer...check
Student Devices...check
Now...How do I use it all????

Your Ed Tech Coach is ready to help you with using these tools and more.

Did you know that you can have an Ed Tech coach come to your school and teach a group technology class?

There are many topics to choose from. Your coach can design a class to meet the specific needs of your group. Whether you want to improve your skills with Google or start using an online environment to blend your instruction, Ed Tech is ready to help you meet your professional development goals.

Google for Education on Air

Did you know that Google puts on a live conference that you can join or later access on your own time?  This year's Education on Air conference was hosted in May over the course of two days.  Take a look at what you can access at your fingertips today, tomorrow or whenever...

Tap in by Twitterizing your PD this Summer

How would you like to take part in discussions and guide your own learning with colleagues and experts on your own time, wherever you are - a cruise ship, at the office, or on your patio?  Though Twitter may not be new to most of you, using it to enhance your learning and build your professional network might be something to explore.  Here are some ways you can get started:

On the GOogle for Summer

Great teachers are experts at integrating real-world content or realistic experiences into their instruction.  With a summer full of activities, travel, and fun experiences, teachers can easily use their mobile devices to capture artifacts and experiences that can be used for instructional purposes during the upcoming school year.  Integrating real-life experiences into instruction provides sustainable and lasting impressions on students that create connections to solidify learning.  Here are some suggestions on easy ways to collect great experiences and moments using Google mobile apps.

Free Professional Learning on Your Schedule

Have you ever found yourself wanting to take part in some learning, but without having to commit to meeting the instructor or classmates at a particular time and place?  This summer and throughout the school year, you may want to take advantage of a MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course.  

Padlet for Instruction

Want to increase creative and innovative practices in your instruction?  Check out this great free tool called Padlet.  Padlet is an incredibly easy, web-based tool that teachers can use for free in any instructional environment.  Padlet offers a platform where teachers and students can post information, ideas, or create projects.  The basic structure of Padlet is a digital "wall" where anyone who has the URL for that "wall" can post based on the settings.  If you're looking to enhance creativity and innovative practices in your instruction, consider using Padlet as an instructional tool. Click HERE to check it out now or watch this quick video that showcases some of Padlet's features for instruction.

Common Core Math Practice by Front Row

As we near 3/14, I was thinking about ways to integrate math and technology.  Click this link for some ideas for celebrating Pi Day from Edutopia. What will you do on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53?


A math program I recently learned about is Front Row. Common Core Math for Teachers by Front Row is an amazing free app. It is a math program written by teachers for teachers. The focus of Front Row is Common Core aligned math practice for K-8.

It includes more than 28,000 math questions aligned to the Common Core that are assigned to students based on their performance on a pre-assessment and that are automatically graded.

The teacher must first create a free account on the app. Then s/he can set up classes, create student log ins, and make assignments. Students may either use the iPad app or log in to the web version in the Chrome browser.

Digital Learning Day: Lesson Plans, Tools & Ideas

What will you do with your students on March 13th?

If you need ideas about how to enhance learning and student engagement by embedding technology into your instruction, take a look at what one of our teachers does with her literacy students. We've also included links to social studies, language arts, STEM lesson plans and tools to help you try something new on Digital Learning Day.

Using Google Docs to Support Digital Literacy and The Writing Process

Literacy skill development for students continues to be an increasingly important task that teachers should focus on.  Regardless of the content area, students should develop and maintain the skills necessary to effectively communicate through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.  These skills will be vital to the success of students in the 21st century workforce.

Beyond the Face-to-Face

After having just left a stimulating and productive meeting/professional development/conference, you come away with a list of ideas to implement, follow-up meetings with colleagues to schedule, situations to troubleshoot and not enough time in a day to get from point A to point B.

Q. Which adventure do you choose?