February 2020

This post includes:

- A teacher spotlight from Sunnyslope High School

- Highlights of what's happening with instructional technology around the district

- Information about Pear Deck's new features, Templates and Pear Pop!

Sarah has found Padlet to be an effective tool to support the research process for her students. Instead of giving students a paper packet of sources, she uses Padlet to digitally organize multimedia resources including audio, video, and text material. To start, Sarah makes the Padlet view only by students as they are directed to use the provided sources to find relevant information for their research (click here to see an example). As students progress in their research experience, they are then tasked with curating resources they have found into their own Padlet that can then be shared with other students. Sarah appreciates Padlet's customizable settings which she uses to tailor the learning experience for her students. She can allow students to post, comment, or rate material on the same Padlet or individually lock down the features she does not want them to use. She can require students to login so their names are attached to anything they post or allow them to post anonymously. Sarah finds using Padlet makes prepping for the PBA more engaging as the digital tool has increased student focus and enjoyment in her class.

Apollo:

Teachers are focused on preparing students for upcoming state and district online tests. They are using tools, such as Quizlet and Khan Academy, to create and curate engaging aligned practices. Khan Academy allows teachers to assign practices according to standards included on assessments like AZM2. Teachers have also begun using ACT Academy to prepare students for the ACT. Synergy Assessment use continues to increase across campus in an attempt to expose more students to online testing in general.

Cortez:

The ELL Department has been using Google Forms to provide students with skill based quizzes to prepare for the AZELLA test. Teachers analyze the data from these quizzes to make each week of test prep more focused. World Language and ELL teachers are participating in a local workshop focused on creating assessments in Google Forms and Synergy Assessment. The momentum and success of these groups may lead to future interest from other departments.

Glendale:

Some math classes have increased their in-class intervention to support student success by shifting their instruction to student-paced modalities which allows for more one on one and small group interaction. This shift has led to an increase in student success as students are receiving the intervention support they need during class without losing the opportunity to stay on-pace with current instruction. To prepare for the AZELLA test, ELL teachers had students discuss how they were preparing for the test using Flipgrid. Students then responded to their classmates' videos which was an engaging way to practicing crucial speaking and listening skills. ELL teachers also used Quizlet to review important roots words, as well as prefix and suffix terms.

Greenway:

The social studies department is using Pear Deck to increase student engagement by making their lectures interactive. Roxanne Rearick chunks her reading passages in a Google Slides presentation and overlays Pear Deck tools to support student comprehension of the passage. She knows that engaging students with digital text helps prepare them for their upcoming district and state online tests.

Independence:

US History teacher Hailey Rubio is using social media to engage her students in learning about the turn of the 20th Century. Hailey's students were tasked with creating social media profiles for historical figures from the late 1800 to the early 1900s. Students were provided with Google Slides templates that are similar to Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter profiles. This activity assessed students on their knowledge of the historical figures while also making the learning process engaging and enjoyable.

Moon Valley:

English teacher Beth Fairbanks has been digitizing her paper resources by taking a photo with her phone, sharing the photo to Google Drive, and then converting the photo to text. With this simple process, Beth is able to transition her previous paper resources into a reusable digital format. Google Drive enables anyone to convert a photo of text into a workable digital document that can be used with students. This is a great way for teachers to update their practices to meet the needs of the digital learning environment.

Online Learning Academy:

The Online Learning Academy is happy to announce the grand opening of the Academy Café where students who are earning A’s and B’s in their all of their classes are rewarded with a special work environment which includes free snacks and drinks. Eligible students receive a ticket to enter a weekly drawing. The names selected on Friday get to work in the Café during the last period of the day. This achievement reward model is just one way for the Online Learning Academy is working to encourage student success.

Sunnyslope:

Check out how Sarah Levine uses Padlet to organize digital resources for her students in the above Teacher Spotlight.

Thunderbird:

Science teacher Jeff Schrock has been using Gimkit to gamify learning in his classroom. Gimkit was created by students, so it has engaging learning in mind from start to finish. It is a refreshing addition to gamification tools, such as Kahoot and Quizlet, where the objective of the game is to answer questions correctly which earns users “money” that can be used to buy power-ups to help them, or they can be used against opponents. Even struggling students can find success playing Gimkit as they improve their comprehension while having fun. Its impact on student achievement makes the use of this game worth it. Gimkit is free to use; however, some features are only available with a paid subscription.

Washington:

Biology teacher Shaundra Stanley is merging research with creativity in her classroom. Shaundra's students researched cancer's impact on the cell cycle which they then used to create animated presentations using Powtoon. Powtoon is a web-based program that allows users to create engaging and professional looking animated videos. Powtoon allows students to flex their creativity muscles while also assessing student knowledge as they brought the cell cycle to life by creating fun and engaging animated presentations.

Contact your local Tech Coach if you would like your instructional technology use to be shared in a future Tech Coach blog post.