I have been mulling over this blog post for a couple of weeks. Deviating from finding a new tech tool for this blog, my thoughts mused in the area of devoting our tech time in the elementary years to instruction and reinforcement of the basics. We often think that students have a strong grasp on basic concepts, but that is often not the case. With the advent of standardized testing on the computer, one-to-one devices in the classroom, as well as the emphasis on computer for Common Core instructional endproducts, we need to make sure that our students have a strong foundation in basic tech areas. In conversations with classroom teachers at various grades, here are some of the challenges they have encountered:

- Basic keyboarding
- Logging in and logging out
- Saving documents and retrieving them later
- File and folder management
- Saving pictures and providing attribution
- Paragraph creation, line spacing, title centering
- Using spell check and other Word tools before copying and pasting to blogs, etc
And the list goes on.

I searched around a bit and located several basic tutorials for elementary level word processing skill development. Steve Ignacio, a technology teacher at Eagle Mountain-Saginaw I.S.D. in Fort Worth, TX provides a beginning of the year mini-course for grades K through 5.  Here is the link:  http://www.emsisd.com/page/904 . Much of what he presents has been already seamlessy rolled into your September and October schedules using topics and creative assignments that parallel what you are covering in your classroom.

If you have thoughts or areas that you would like to shore up using LMC instruction, please drop me an email and we can develop our own topic-specific tutorial for you class.

Best, Lorrie

Hello all,
Well, we made it through the busy month of October and now proceed confidently into November. There is so much learning that takes place during these middle months of the school year! As you are looking for avenues to present research resources to your students, don't forget that the District provides an annual subscription to Encyclopedia Brittancia. This resourse is very much new and improved. As you can see from the image above, research can be accessed at three distinct levels: Elementary, MIddle and High school. Once the subjet is entered, the myriad of options appear to access online articles, images and even videos.

And... NEWS FLASH...In addition to the encyclopedia,
There

There has been a fun buzz around school concerning an online quizzing, discussion and survey tool known as Kahoot! Remember the old CPS system that we checked out from the LMC? You would enter a quiz into the CPS software, students would press clickers read by a device and answer tallies would show on the screen?

Well, now your student's laptop or any computer device can act as a clicker using this fun web tool. As students respond to questions, they earn points – either as individuals or as members of teams – and receive instant feedback regarding topics they are reviewing. Users join a Kahoot competition by linking from any internet connected device -- mobile phone, tablet, laptop -- and entering a passcode "Game Pin".  After all teams have signed up to play, the teacher can begin presenting questions to the audience. Participants or teams are awarded points based on how fast they answer the question and after each round of questioning, the game's leader board is updated. Sounds fun, huh?

Kahoot! also offers a cache of teacher-created quizes that are shared on the site. In fact, the 5th grade teams across the District have shared review quizzes under a common name. Here is a screen shot of my search for "digital footprint". Click on it to link you to the site:

But wait, there's more!
Those of you with an IPad or Android device can try another new app called Plickers. This works a little bit dfferently. It uses a teacher's tablet (or phone) combined with a series of QR codes to create a student response system. Each student is issued a set of QR codes on card stock. The codes can be turned in four directions - which provide an A, B, C or D answer. Data is collected by scanning the cards and checking the bar graph on the teacher's tablet. The app boasts that it can read QR codes from 25 feet away! Plickers is a great review tool and can be used for random responses or programmed with individual student names.

If either of these tools sounds interesting to you, and you would like a hand getting on board, drop me an email and we can arrange a time to get together!
Best,
Lorrie

Hi all,
Have you had a chance to try Padlet.com? It is a free digital bulletin board that allows collaborative student work to be created simultaneously, accessed remotely with password protection and allows for upload of text, photos, Internet links and even video. With minmal instruction, classrooms at Heartland have already  jumped onboard and have created and shared social studies pen pal class projects and even designed their own classroom newletter.

Take a moment to watch this 6 minute instructional video and you will have learned enough to create an amazing digital multimedia project: http://youtu.be/UuzciL8qCYM
If you would like a one-to-one tutorial on Padlet, drop me an email.
I'd love to walk you through it!
Best,
Lorrie

Hi all,
Have you considered reaching out to the global educational community via a blogging or other web  tool? Here is one site that you might want to consider: The Monster Exchange. This site is "designed to encourage the development of reading and writing  skills while  integrating the Internet into the classroom curriculum. The real  challenge is  that a remotely drawn monster is created only from reading the  description! At  the end of the project, both the original and duplicate drawings are digitized  and published on the web in the Monster Exchange."

  http://www.monsterexchange.org/

This would be a great project to undertake as we close in on the end of October. I signed up as a classroom of one to test the site and was matched with 3 potential classrooms - all within the United States. If someone would like to partner with me, let's see if we can begin a global exchange!

Best, Lorrie

Hi all,
I wanted to introduce (or reintroduce you) to a website to help students create wonderful digital stories. Students take artwork created noted illustrators and comic creators and connect it to stories they have created or use it to create new stories simply inspired by the artwork. This can be done individually or in small groups.

Click on the picture below to access the Storybird.com website.

Begin Using Storybird
1. Sign up for a Storybird account by entering a valid email address and password. You must also agree to the Terms of Service.
2. Click on the "Create" tab.
3. Browse through the artwork to locate artwork that will inspire your creation. 
4. Once you've selected your artwork, click on "Start your Storybird."  The site will guide through the creation process.
5. Save your work for later editing or sharing.

Classroom Ideas
As far as free creative websites are concerned, this is a really nice one for focusing on the collaboratvie writing process and easily lets students to take turns in creating a digital story. It allows for teacher help in the editing process and also gives the option of keeping a story private until the student is ready to share it. 

The artwork featured on Storybird is quite beautiful and should inspire students to write and share wonderful stories. 

If you would like some help starting up on Storybird, drop me an email.

Have a great week!

Lorrie

Greetings,
And welcome to Heartland Elementary School's technology blog for the 2014-15 school year. This blog has been created to provide information and news relevant to your professional development in the technology area. This communication has been created in blog format, which means that it is intended to be interactive. We need your ideas and success stories to make it an excellent learning opportunity!

As the year progresses, this blog will provide information on:

*  New District Technology

*  New App ideas

*  Interesting professional articles

*  Schedules for available training both in the building and in district

So, look for upcoming blog posts in the near future! Blog links will be sent through your school email.

Best,

Lorrie