Our Digital Hays January/February 2019

Our Digital Hays Volume 1 Issue 1 January/February 2019 “We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

Table of Contents What’s New in Our Digital Hays? Celebrating Innovation ● Genius Educator Award ● PES Students Own Their Own Learning featuring Talitha Tanksley from PES ● Blended Learning at DMS featuring Coach Studebaker and Coach Collins from DMS ● Hour of Code featuring Joanne Gries and Karen Zuniga from SHES and Daniel Born from the Technology Department ● Innovative PD featuring LHS Instructional Coaches ● Let it Snow, Let it Snow featuring Mrs. Marcionetti from NES ● Channel Energy into Hyperdocs featuring Mrs. Homan from BMS ● Spotlight on Playlists featuring Caitlin Boyce-Brejcha and Sarah Fuchs from BES ● Maps for Maintenance featuring Jaime Franco and Cathy Williams from the Maintenance Department Upcoming Events Meet the Digital Learning Team

What’s New in Our Digital Hays? We are starting PD in Your PJs this semester. These are webinars held in the evening and recorded to allow anyone to learn anywhere and at any time. The live webinars have a chat box where attendees can ask questions and interact. We are excited to bring this new opportunity to Hays CISD in order to grow in professional learning! As you probably have noticed, we have started a digital magazine. The digital learning department wants to showcase all of the amazing things happening in our district using digital tools and we thought this would be a great way to do it. There will be an issue released every other month and we look forward to making each one bigger and better than the one before.

Genius Educator Award Outstanding Lehman High School Geometry teachers Wendy Saenz and Leah Munson have been honored as Hays CISD's latest recipients of the \"Genius Educator Award!\" Presented by the district's Digital Learning Team, the coveted (and cleverly re-designed for 2018-2019) trophy recognizes exceptional creativity and use of technology in the classroom. Both Wendy and Leah have been innovating in their classrooms using a Blended Learning model. They meet daily to plan for their classes and are always looking for engaging activities for students to show mastery and performance of learning skills. Students are truly owning their learning in these classes! They have presented at a few conferences this year, and will be presenting at TCEA in February in San Antonio! They are 100% Hays! Submit a nomination for our next Genius Educator Award winner by clicking HERE.

By: Ann DeBolt Pfluger Elementary teacher Talitha Tanksley helps her 2nd graders learn important life skills in addition to Math TEKS. Because she uses stations, students learn to take ownership of their learning and develop student agency. The process is simple and effective. Ms. Tanksley uses formal data (Dreambox) and informal data (observations in small group and exit tickets) to group students each day based on their needs. Ms. Tanksley’s students have choice in their independent stations which include online and offline activities: Dreambox, manipulatives, games, and more. Students get to choose if they want to work alone or with a classmate in the offline stations. All the elements of blended learning are present in Ms. Tanksley’s classroom. Her daily use of data to differentiate is the key component. Good work, Ms. Tanksley! 1. Create a short Quiz using Google Forms to assess students on a regular basis. 2. Create a simple short URL using bit.ly for students to get to the quiz easily. 3. In the Form’s Response sheet, you can add a new sheet at the bottom for each day/quiz by naming the sheet with the date. Then copy and paste in the student data for each new day. Ms. Tanksley’s students complete the exit ticket when they log on to their Chromebook, before they start Dreambox.

By: Ann DeBolt Two 6th grade teachers at Dahlstrom Middle School are beginning to implement blended learning activities in their Social Studies classrooms. Coach Nathan Studebaker and Coach Tamar Collins make a dynamic duo willing to go the extra mile to help make their students successful. They jumped right in toward the end of the fall semester and started with serious planning to offer their students engaging online and offline experiences. Coach Studebaker and Coach Collins met with Emily Herrin, Hays CISD Online and Blended Learning Coach, to plan their first blended unit. They moved their content and assignments into Canvas, a robust learning management system. They faced some challenges learning this new platform, but came out of the process with an amazing unit. Using what they’ve learned, they will plan another unit later in the spring What is Blended Learning? Part of the students’ learning occurs in an online space. ● anytime anywhere access Students have some control over the path and pace through content and/or the time and place for learning. ● Students take ownership of their learning (student agency) Data is an integral part of planning and individualizing learning paths ● The teacher differentiates by analyzing data regularly.

< “Hour of Code” /> By: Wacey Tobler #HourofCode helps students focus on an important 21st century digital skill. During the celebration of Computer Science Education Week, teachers have many engaging options for their students. On December 3rd, 2018, SHES Tech Specials teacher Joanne Gries, Principal Karen Zuniga, and a group of students decided to do things a little differently by taking part in an #HourofCode event at the Texas State Capitol. Invited by First Lady Abbott, students took part in some coding activities in the Auditorium above the rotunda and got to meet her in the process! In addition to the #HourofCode at the Capitol, Joanne had a number of other innovative projects going on. She kicked off the week using Google Hangouts to connect with a professional coder, a district Director of Technology, and Hays CISD’s very own Daniel Born, Senior Programmer. Get started with one of the many available coding program. Code.org, Scratch, CodeCombat, and Khan Academy all use a learn-by-doing model that scaffolds the concepts and helps the user build upon simple projects to understand the what-how-why. Some, like CodeCombat, even use a gamified approach that requires the user to use code to play the game. Click the icons to learn more!

Innovative PD By: Wacey Tobler As educators it is important that we are constantly reflecting and evaluating our practices. Popular educator George Couros describes this as having a Growth Mindset instead of a Fixed Mindset. Being open to learning new things can help us improve classroom experiences for our students. Professional development can often be a teacher’s best opportunity to be exposed to new ideas and inspired to apply them within their classrooms. This past Halloween, the Lehman High School Instructional Coach team decided to combine a get-to-know-you activity with a Halloween party and provide some personalized PD in the process. Dubbed “The Haunted Open House”, each content IC and I took an instructional focus and a digital learning tool to create practical and adaptable lessons for teachers. Not only were teachers getting all kinds of seasonal goodies, they were also walking away with new ideas for their classroom. This was easily one of the best days of the year for me as well as setting the bar high for LHS and how much knowledge and expertise our IC team brings to the table in support of our teachers. I strongly believe (and the data shows it) that students demonstrated progress in the first semester because of our teachers’ willingness to try new things and innovate in their classroom. Click HERE for the offered sessions!

Let it snow, let it snow! 3D Printing club designs snowflakes! By: Eric Rodriguez The Negley Navigators are joyfully designing snowflakes using Tinkercad and then printing their designs using their campus Lulzbot 3D printer. Mrs. Marcionetti began her club in October and says that her kids love the flexibility to design in Tinkercad, and then they can print their creations using a Lulzbot 3D Printer. Tinkercad offers a free and easy to use platform that students can navigate. Comprehensive tutorials are available to get anyone started. The students in Mrs. Marcionetti’s club remarked how fun it was to see what they created come to life, and how easy it was to create in Tinkercad. Mrs. Marcionetti and her kids look forward to continuing the club this spring. Here are some resources if you are interested in learning more about Tinkercad and Lulzbot 3D printing: Tinkercad and Lulzbot Presentation Learn more about Tinkercad

Channel Energy Into Hyperdocs By: Eric Rodriguez Hyperdocs are digital documents that link to multiple elements of learning and the Barton Bobcats have been excited to use Hyperdocs in their classes. Mrs. Homan has been using Hyperdocs in her Science classroom for the entire semester and comments that, “Utilizing Hyperdocs in my classroom has been a very successful form of learning for all my students. They are highly engaged and attentive while using the Hyperdocs. It allows for independence and accountability of student learning, while having fun.“ Her students’ reactions were positive when using Hyperdocs during lessons. One remarked that, “Hyperdocs are fun because if you get tired of working on one thing, you can switch to something else like quizlet, or take a brain break.” One of the most substantial benefits for using Hyperdocs in your lessons is gaining a greater ability to differentiate for your students. Mrs. Homan adds that, “The Hyperdocs allow for differentiation in learning styles. Students can go at their own pace and receive instant feedback to check their understanding. It is fun and entertaining for all levels.” Here are some resources if you are interested in browsing through folders of Hyperdocs that have already been created for almost every grade level and content area. Google Hyperdoc Folder

Spotlight on Playlists By: Emily Herrin Playlists offer a great way to teach students the skills of learning independently, while being able to meet with small groups of students to personalize learning. Two teachers in our spotlight utilize playlists in their classrooms and it’s awesome to see the learning going on in their classrooms. Caitlin Boyce-Brejcha, a 1st grade teacher at Tobias Elementary, has 10 devices in her room. A typical day in her classroom involves students working independently in all areas of her room while her small group table is used to focus student learning. Learning is alive in the classroom of Students in both classrooms are free to Sarah Fuchs, a 5th grade teacher at choose the order in which they complete Tobias Elementary. She is frequently their assignments, as well as where in the seen meeting with students at her small classroom they want to work! These group station, while other students are expectations take a few weeks at the independently working on their beginning of the year to teach, and it’s “required” and “enrichment” portions of amazing to see the students soar! her playlist.

Maps For Maintenance By: Jeannine Freeman Jaime Franco and Cathy Williams are using Google Maps to get measurements of grounds areas around district buildings. They are saving these areas digitally and labeling them as shown in the image so that contractors can provide bids for maintaining grounds in those areas. Kudos to the Maintenance and Operations team for utilizing Google Maps! You can use this in your classroom too! Think of calculating areas, planning events, designing spaces, and so much more. Watch the video to the right to learn how easy this can be.

Upcoming Events January 14 Digital Citizenship- It Really Does Take a Village Twitter Chats are a great way for Hays January 21 Once You Pop, The Fun Don’t CISD staff to have an online discussion on Stop! (ES and MS Only) a particular topic. It is said that two heads are better than one. These chats allow January 28 Mindfulness many heads to come together and share ideas and best practices. Chats are held February 11 Dreambox Learning (ES and MS from 8:00-8:30 pm. We hope to “see” you Only) there! February 18 Creative Planning in the Face of For more help with twitter chats, go to: High Stakes Testing bit.ly/howtotwitterchat February 25 Edgenuity & Blended Learning You can also request a DLC at: (MS and HS Only) bit.ly/requestDLC March 4 Technology Tools for the Win- Tools That Will Change Your Instruction March 11 Engaging All Students for Success These webinars are held in the evening and March 25 Celebrating Successes- Innovative recorded to allow teachers to learning Ways to Let Others Know They are Growing anywhere and at any time. The live webinars have a chat box where attendees April 1 Multimedia Projects can ask questions and interact. April 22 Students Teaching Students For descriptions and a link to each webinar, go to bit.ly/ourdigitalhays and click on PD in April 29 EOY Tech Tool Buffet Your PJs. *Twitter Chats in Blue and Webinars in Red

Meet the Team Jeannine Freeman currently serves as the Director of Digital Learning at Hays Consolidated ISD. Prior to this role, she worked as a 1st grade teacher and district instructional technology specialist. Jeannine earned her M.Ed. in Educational Technology and has Master Technology Teacher, ESL, Special Education, and GT certifications. Director of Jeannine’s passion of ed tech has helped her earn numerous Digital Learning endorsements and she is regarded as an expert in her field. Well respected throughout the state, she currently serves as Vice President of TEC-SIG, an EdTech coordinator special interest group in TCEA. Because of her knowledge and drive, she has served on the steering committees for ISTE 2017, TCEA 2017-2019, and has presented at numerous district, regional, state, and international conferences. Emily Herrin is the Online and Blended Learning Specialist for Hays CISD. This is her 12th year in Hays CISD and her 19th in education. She has taught 3rd grade, 1st and 5th grade Bilingual, as well as served as a Digital Learning Coach at a variety of campuses. Online and Emily is passionate about personalizing learning for students, meeting Blended them where they are and pushing for excellence! Technology allows us to Learning innovate in our classrooms and engage learners. Specialist

Ann DeBolt is a District Digital Learning Coach with over 20 years of instructional technology experience. She received her BS in Elementary Education from the University of Texas at Austin and M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Texas A&M University. She is a member of TCEA and Techs4Tex. Ann loves helping others discover new uses for technology to make learning fun. Digital Learning Eric Rodriguez is a District Digital Learning Coach with over 15 years Coach of educational experience in all content areas, elementary through secondary. He received his BA in Behavioral Arts and Social Sciences Digital Learning from Sul Ross State University in Alpine Texas, a M.S.Ed in Coach Educational Technology from Walden University, and is currently a PhD in Education candidate, specializing in educational technology Digital Learning and design. Eric’s philosophy in educational technology is, “make Coach learning visible”. He enjoys helping teachers and students to express their thinking to an authentic audience. Wacey Tobler is a District Digital Learning Coach with 9 years of educational experience with specializations in secondary ELAR and Gifted and Talented. He received his BA in English from Texas State University and his M.S. in Learning Technologies from The University of North Texas. He is a member of TCEA, TEC-SIG, and is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. Wacey is passionate about helping teachers foster deeper relationships with students by incorporating purposeful instructional technology to create a personalized learning experience in their classrooms. Digital Learning Request a DLC Website

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