Let's empower APS students to design school & campus public spaces!

http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/show-your-creation/screenshots/1602930-chroma-high-school

I like to tell those close to me how Minecraft empowers people to change the world, which usually leads to eye rolling and the occasional snarky remark to get a life as it's just a video game. In reality though, it is so much more than a video game - I posit that it is a tool to connect people to collaborate and create for fun, but also for positively impacting communities.

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.

"Got Clickers?"

"Got Clickers?"

We all know formative assessment is important: checking for understanding, on-the-fly adjustments in class, and planning for differentiated and relevant lessons is part and parcel what teachers do day-in and day-out. A few years ago, "clickers" came on the scene and transformed the classrooms lucky enough to have a set. However, having enough money to purchase clickers for every classroom is a huge challenge.

Enter "Plickers." This free tool is an amazing alternative to expensive multiple-choice clickers.  All a teacher needs is an iPhone/iPad or Android device, the cards from the Plickers website, and a few minutes to create the questions.

Finding Possibilities in New Standards

Recently, a small group of APS school leaders met to read and discuss the new standards which require students to use digital texts and tools. Using some documents that highlight these standards, the group discussed which of the standards seemed most important to them and how these standards connect to the work that happens in classrooms at their schools.

I got to listen.

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.

Reflecting on the Hour of Code at Murphy Creek K8

The following reflection was submitted by guest blogger, Patty McCool, who teaches technology at Murphy Creek K8.

The participation of Murphy Creek P-8 in the Hour of Code Week in December of 2014 was exciting, challenging and tons of fun. The students in grades K-8 spent at least one hour that week in coding sites that challenged them and encouraged them to participate with peers. We involved approximately 550 students in the school during that week using 5 different coding sites:  Code.org, Tynker, Scalable Game Design, Kodable and Hour of Python.