Back to School 2019 Tech2Teach Digital Magazine

MULTIMEDIA FAIR Project Categories Video Game Design Digital Art Motion Media Digital Music Design Web Design Digital Presentation Digital Poster Grade Bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 -Stay connected- for future date and theme releases!

Table of Contents Obtaining Student Logins …….. 3 Tech Savvy Saturdays …….. 5 Blended Learning & Nearpod …….. 8 Wonders of Google Draw …….. 9 Google Chrome as Default Browser …….. 10 Instructional Technology PD Catalog …….. 11 YouTube Live …….. 12 Canvas Corner …….. 17 Learning.com …….. 19 Canvas Connections Simplified …….. 22 Guest Author: Amy Cornelius Blended Learning with SMART …….. 27 New Teachers for CCISD! …….. 29 2

3

4



6

SHOUT OUTS!!! Great job by students at Ray High School, where CTE teacher Laura Martinez is using Nearpod to teach about creative examples of camera movements and angles in films. *See Blended Learning 7

BLENDED LEARNING AND NEARPOD Bring Blended Learning into your classroom by incorporating in your lesson plans. ● Give students control over time and pace with Student-Paced lessons ● Flip a lesson by assigning a Nearpod lesson for homework ● Differentiate your lesson by making a copy and modifying it to meet individual needs. ★ Be sure you have a district license so you can access all of the premade lessons and interactive tools. Click here to discover if you have your district license. By Denis Wisner

Wonders of Google Draw is more than just a quick customizable canvas for word art. Learn to create graphics, lesson material, and more. Learn tricks that will make any Googler ooh & ahh. By Brooke Lowery from friedTechnolgy. Click here fried.tech/wonderdraw for full presentation details. 9

Set Google Chrome As Your Default Browser By Brandey Addison Your computer may have been updated to Microsoft Windows 10 over summer. When this happened Internet Explorer became your default browser. What does this mean? Anytime you click a link in a document or email it will open in Internet Explorer NOT Google Chrome. Google files and many applications work better in Google Chrome. Watch this video to set Google Chrome as your default browser.

11

It’s YouTube LIVE . . . Webcasting your Morning Announcements! By Rene V. Pantoja Thinking of using Youtube LIVE to present your morning announcements at your campus? Schools like Windsor Park ES, Dawson ES, Gibson ES, and Metro E are successfully broadcasting their morning announcements to the entire campus. If you’re interested in using Youtube LIVE . . . here’s the equipment you will need to start webcasting: a standard webcam like the Logitech 525 will work fine, (although there are Logitech models that offer more video and microphone quality). You will need a tripod (which you probably already have), a desktop computer or laptop and finally . . . a stable internet connection and that is it! 12

For establishing your account and accessing up your Youtube channel contact me: Rene Pantoja and I will setup an appointment and together we can establish your channel and start your morning announcements on Youtube LIVE! For more on information on morning announcements: https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/ad min351.shtml *The librarian and staff at the previously mentioned school sites are also great resources on the use of Youtube LIVE.

14

15

SHOUT OUTS!!! Shout out to Moody High School coaches for coming in early in the morning to learn about Blended Learning and how Canvas can help create a more student centered learning environment.

Canvas Corner Connect with your Parents (Observers) and Students through Canvas Announcements. By now you may have already sent a Welcome Announcement through your Canvas course to your students. Next you will want to try sending a Task-Oriented Announcement. For instance, the Cold Season is coming and you could ask for a donation of a Kleenex Box. Another example would be to give a short parent survey with a Google Form, the results will show which parents are receiving the Canvas announcement. Watch this video to get started: Announcement Overview 17

SHOUT OUTS!!! Shout out to Adkins Middle School New Teachers, Megan Brown, Ryan Wiatrek, Kathryn Zimmermann, and Megan Secord for learning about and setting up their Canvas courses before the start of school. Shout Out to the Adkins Teachers for creating their BITMOJIs in preparation for an exciting new year! Great Job decorating Mellissa Clearman!

Images Below are Linked to Resources for Teachers and Parents to Get Started With Learning.com! 19

Online Tech Lessons for ALL Middle School Students All Middle school students have access to a Learning.com Online Virtual Classroom that offers technology application lessons! ● From Canvas, Students select the Backpack icon (to access digital textbooks and resources). ● Login to my.ccisd.us ● Select APPLICATIONS. ● Click on Learning.com logo.

6th, 7th and 8th grade students will have access to curriculum including the following: Pre-tests are available. When students complete these pretests, individualized learning pathways will be created and lessons will become available for each student based on assessed learning needs. Teachers who need instructions for obtaining student usernames and passwords can access instructions HERE.

Canvas Connection Simplified Guest Author: Amy Cornelius, 2nd Grade Teacher, Kolda ES When Canvas was introduced in the 2018- 2019 school year, it was a new and scary program to me! Canvas offered so much, but seemed completely overwhelming along with all the other things on a teacher’s “to do list”. As it turns out, Canvas isn’t that scary once you focus on one goal and use resources that are already available. I attended professional development this summer with the goal of simplifying what I wanted from Canvas and learning how it would help me as an educator. The goal was to make my Canvas courses useful by including tools students love and connecting parents to student learning. Sounds amazing, right? Wondering how I got started? I decided to look to our Instructional Guides.The guides are a great resource and contain an abundance of tools to enhance student learning. I also reached out to Brandey Addison from the Office of Instructional Technology to discuss my ideas. Brandey’s expertise as a Canvas specialist combined with her teacher experience guided my focus even further. 22

Left: Brock Kukoda, Liam Schellinger, and Emmy Bell Below: Olivia Gonzales, Isaiah DelValle, and Isaiah Sawyerr. Reaching my goal became quite simple. I focused on creating a plan utilizing the resources within the Instructional Guides. I simply started building the class modules by week. The class module titles include the dates and skills. The dates are important because they help parents locate current information quickly. Including the skills students are learning, helps parents reference specific information on a concept their child might need to work with at a later date. From this point, it was time to add the tools from the Instructional Guides. I located digital anchor charts, Quizlet vocabulary games, YouTube videos and book read alouds. 23

All of these tools were added as pages in the module and published. Now, students can readily access all those amazing tools they loved from a lesson or dig deeper on a skill they needed help understanding. Parents gain a connection to their child’s learning and can finally get the answer to the age old question of “What did you learn at school today?” and “How do I support your learning at home?” The Instructional Guides are such a quick and easy starting point to build out your Canvas modules. Starting with the digital resources in our Instructional Guides helped me build my confidence using the Olivia Gonzales, Isaiah DelValle, and Isaiah Canvas tool. I no longer see Sawyerr Canvas as a scary program but now as a tool that opens a world of opportunities for parents, students and educators. I am already looking to add teaching videos in the modules to help parents understand the “how and why”. Canvas can be as simple as starting with a goal and using your Instructional Guides. This will build your Canvas confidence and enhance student learning. Once you take a little bit of time, Canvas becomes this amazing classroom tool you now see has endless opportunities!

SHOUT OUTS!!! Shout out to Kolda Elementary School teachers for engaging in a Blended Learning PD created by Kolda Teachers for Kolda Teachers. Emily Schellinger, Katy Huis, Claudia Rodriguez, Amy Cornelius, Jackie Simmons create modules to support Blended Learning implementation. #getyourtechon Kolda Cadets! 25

SHOUT OUTS!!! Shout out to Montclair ES Administrators, Mr. Steve Barrera and Mrs. Violeta Guerra! Your teams use of Canvas in the Montclair ES Hub, engages teachers on a daily basis by providing resources, communicating and providing timely feedback, exemplifies Blended Learning. 26

Blended Learning with SMART Tips and Tricks Did you know that SMART Notebook lesson files can be shared with your students? The students can work through the lessons in SMART without having the SMART Notebook software installed or available on their device. This is done through the Cloud with SMART LEARNING SUITE ONLINE (SLSO). See the video below to learn about SLSO. Here’s how to get started 27

SHOUT OUTS!!! Many THANKS to these wonderful leaders from Baker MS, Grant MS, and Ray HS for their expertise in Blended Learning.

New Teachers for CCISD! By Rene V. Pantoja Preparation is the key to all successful endeavors and first year teachers at CCISD started this year meeting at King High School for the CCISD New Teacher Orientation. This three day training offers first year teachers information about CCISD policies, health benefits, classroom strategies, resources and tools to provide a successful start to the new school year. District policies and health benefits are always a top priority in CCISD, and this year new teachers were also introduced to “Blended Learning”. Blended Learning Universe defines it as: …blended learning is any formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace. 29

Every new school year comes with its own set of challenges for first year teachers, but with preparation from district staff and support from established and knowledgeable teachers at their campus . . . first year teachers can look forward to a year both rewarding and enjoyable. 30

Wishing all of Corpus Christi Independent School District a successful school year! For more information CCISD.IT 31

Office of Instructional Technology Team Who to Contact for Support