Lunch N' Learn

Tomorrow morning I will be sending another reminder to staff through an email.  To do this, I used the engaging features of SMORE.  Marketing the learning opportunities for staff is very important.  I really like the analytic aspect of who is looking at the document to be useful.

Consider using SMORE for publicizing your event.

P - News Twitter Project

Great idea!  Students getting involved with getting the word out about Fall Festival (Homecoming) activities.  This is a great example of using the correct tool for the objective.  The object is to get the word about our high school's activities.  Twitter seemed to be the tool of choice to get quick and concise information to our student body.

*Important: If your twitter accounts follow too many people too soon without getting followers twitter will suspend the accounts.  We have resolved the issue, but please be aware of that.

See how it works.

Lunch N' Learn

Starting next Tuesday, staff will be given an opportunity to learn during their lunch.  It will be 10 minutes of tech tool tips.  I chose 10 minutes because it is long enough to teach one tech tool tip, but short enough to respect the teacher's time. There will be one tip each week with discussion to be included.  We have created a comfortable environment that teachers will be able to eat and learn.  On Tuesday, an email will be sent out to staff indicating the tech tool tip that will be taught.  This way each day, teachers will decide if they want to join Lunch N' Learn.

See the trailer that will be sent to teachers today!

iCab Mobile and iMovie

In AP Environmental Science class, students are obtaining original video footage from the area around our community and using it for an Action Plan video.  We used YouTube to upload the video somewhat like a cloud storage.  After that, students used iCab Mobile to download the video to their iPad.  This allowed students to modify the video to place in their video.

Students also used the Soundzabound site for copyright free music.

Co-Teaching in Calculus Free Graphing Calculator App

Today, I co-taught with the calculus teacher transforming of trigonometry functions.  I simply introduced the equation, keyboard, and graphing features of the Free Graphing Calculator app while the content teacher taught the specific details of the concept.

During the first class, I performed most of the iPad functions.  During the second class the content teacher proceeded with most of the iPad functions.  Now, he can use the iPads with the graphing calculator app without me being present in the room.

It was truly a fantastic co-teaching experience.

Integrating Content and Technology

Today was a great day!

The science teacher wanted students to reiterate the uses of lab equipment.  She wanted to use technology.  I spent forty minutes understanding what she wanted and realized that the Explain Everything app was the best tool for this.  She taught the content; I introduced the tech tool.

iPad In-service For Math Department

Google Calendar Suggested Meeting Times

As a #techcoach , my use of Google Calendars is increasing with each passing day. The suggested feature for a time is a great feature.  However, it is only an EXTREMELY great feature if the staff member who you want to meet with is a Google calendar user.  Nevertheless, it will serve me well.

SMART Notebook Video Recorder

As teachers start to implement the SMART board, a video recorder may be a great tool for recording action by teachers or students on the SMART board.  View how to incorporate this.

Twitter Set Up

Today was my first day co-teaching.  I was responsible for the tech tool set up, Twitter, while the content teacher was responsible for content.  Students will be using Twitter as a writing tool for using correct grammar.  It was wonderful to have another teacher in the room so that we could answer all of the tech questions when students had them.  AND the students had questions.

I also decided that a Pulaski Tech Integration blog would be helpful for me to incorporate the tech tools with students.  Read about how the lesson progressed.

Not everything went perfectly, but the teacher was fantastic, the students were engaged, and the process of using Twitter as a grammar tool will be interesting to follow.

View items about it below:

Google Calendar to Organize Teacher Preps

As a #techcoach with approximately 20 teachers who are part of my specific group that I work with, I was struggling with what teachers had what preps when?  In other words, I do think it is important to be visible to talk with teachers as I have noticed that when teachers see you, they usually have an idea or technology question.  After we talk, the question is answered or the idea is fostered.  Hence, knowing when students have an opportunity to talk is very important!

I decided since my Google calendar is my one stop for organization of time, I would create a Google calendar that would only be used for prep times of teachers.  This calendar is separate from my personal calendar.  After entering a repeating event every Monday through Friday for each of the teacher's prep times, I am able to display that specific calendar when I want to schedule a meeting with a teacher.  I placed the teacher's name and department in the "untitled event" text box.  I also made sure that I did not click any email or pop up alerts.  The agenda style seems to be best view for seeing the full names of teachers.

I really like that the calendar can be turned off, not displayed, when I don't need it.  It really is the perfect tool to overlay on top of my personal calendar.

What would I ever do without the ability to have MULTIPLE Google calendars?

Google calendar set up instructions below:

IFTTT Explanation

I have seen a number of references for IFTTT, pronounced LIFT without the L, and decided to investigate.  One of the challenges of a #techcoach is finding resources that will be beneficial for teachers and then ORGANIZING them.  Organizing them to the point that they can easily be accessed in the future.  Teachers provide learning targets and content, #techcoach es provide resources.

First, a person needs to create an IFTTT account.  Took me seconds.  Then a TRIGGER needs to happen. This means that IF This Happens, Then That (Action) should take place.  I am utilizing Evernote for organizing of all resources.  One major reason is that when I Google something, I have my Evernote account as a resource that should be searched as well.  See how to set this up!  More Info From iPad Today!

See the video on how to set up a Trigger!  Happy organizing!