December 2019

This post includes:

- A teacher spotlight from Moon Valley High School

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

- Information about technology resources available to support your planning over the break!

Although Jonathan Peters has not always had daily access to technology in his classes, he has always found that technology, such as Google Classroom, can benefit teaching and learning in his classroom. As a regular user of Google Classroom, he values the accountability it provides his students as they are aware of the location of materials, as well as where and when to turn in assignments. The digital record of class interaction encourages students to take responsibility for their learning. Peters also appreciates the speed in which he can provide feedback to students in Google Classroom's streamlined grading system. He also feels that using a variety of technology tools in the classroom can make students more adaptable in the future. If they can be successful using technology in school, they will be prepared to adapt to whatever system they are given in college or in the workplace.

Apollo:

The Apollo admin team used Flipgrid to build community at a full faculty meeting. Teachers as PLCs or individuals recorded a Flipgrid response to the question, why do you love Apollo? The responses were then played at the full faculty meeting with a positive response from teachers. They also used Flipgrid to give a voice to students whose parents or relatives are teachers at Apollo to explain why they love coming to the school with their family. In addition to high school students, the videos also included kids attending the Apollo COOP program. Overall, it was a great demonstration of community and pride for the Apollo staff.

Cortez:

Cortez teachers are embracing Pear Deck in a variety of ways including an engaging way to present new information, a real time tool to check for understanding, and an efficient way to give instant feedback. The challenge teachers can face is converting their previous presentations into Google Slides in order to use Pear Deck. The good news is that the added benefits of using an interactive presentation is motivating teachers to find new and unique ways to bring the differently formatted lessons into Google Slides and your local Tech Coach is here to help!

Glendale:

Glendale teachers are ramping up their use of technology as the end of the fall semester draws to a close. Teachers participated in a digital escape room at a full faculty meeting to review the Vertical Skills Alignment, Essential Elements of Instruction, Attack the Text, and Dress Code. It was an exciting new way to engage in professional development that definitely had teachers talking after the meeting ended. English classes are utilizing the Flashcard Factory feature of Pear Deck to increase student engagement before end of semester exams. Integrated Science continues to create graphs in Google Sheets in conjunction with their digital labs distributed through Google Classroom. Across the campus, Glendale is leveraging Synergy to increase teacher and parent contact through the progress report feature. Teachers are also using applications, such as Quizlet and Quizizz, to review material in preparation for semester finals and district assessments.

Greenway:

Lynn Cannaday has been using Screencastify to make videos on sentence structures. She uses these videos to create student-centered station activities to engage her freshman English class. Students benefit from teacher created videos as it captures effective instruction in a resource that can be used inside and outside class to support student learning. Instructional videos can also be an invaluable support for English Language Learners, as well as students with learning disabilities. Pairing videos recorded using Screencastify with Edpuzzle can create an engaging interactive learning experience that collects data on student performance to drive future instruction.

Independence:

ESCAPE ROOMS! English classes created Halloween themed escape rooms to gamify their review. Despite some challenges of implementing something new, the overall experience was engaging and effective. Students were actively engaged as they begged to do it again! The students' enthusiasm definitely had teachers looking forward to creating escape rooms again in the future. Click here to see an example of how to create an escape room.

Moon Valley:

Check out the teacher spotlight on how technology benefits Jonathan Peter's classroom.

Moon Valley is using a staff wide Google Classroom! It has made faculty meetings more efficient, organized the sharing of resources, and streamlined communication with staff. Using Google Classroom as a staff is a great opportunity to model this effective tool as the entire campus works to meaningfully integrate technology.

Online Learning Academy:

The Online Learning Academy is using Google Sites to motivate students and expose them to different career pathways. We use a Google Site called the “Weekly Pathway” to house both a “Motivational Monday” and "Working Wednesday" post that is updated every week. Motivational Monday gets the week started off on a positive note by showing students short motivational clips about a variety of topics, such as being a kind person, setting goals, and being an effective student. Working Wednesday serves to refocus students midweek by showing students short clips on a variety of different careers, informing students of the qualifications and education needed, as well as the annual salary. Google Sites has been an effective tool to present both of these resources on a weekly basis.

Sunnyslope:

Joshua Cunningham is using Google Sites to support students retaking quizzes in a way that ensures they are practicing what they need to improve, as well as holding them accountable for completing the practice and retaking the quiz. Joshua starts by assigning students who need a retake a "quiz ticket" which is a paper worksheet of practice problems relevant to a quiz they need to retake. The quiz ticket also includes a date and time in which the student is scheduled to retake their quiz. A digital copy of each quiz ticket is made available on his Google Site so that students are in control of printing the worksheet they need to complete for practice and keeping track of the agreed upon retake date and time. It is a streamlined process that encourages students to take ownership of the remediation process.

Thunderbird:

Dance teacher Michelle Condor has been using Google Classroom to organize her dance classes. In addition to using Google Classroom to collect, grade, and return student work, she also uses Google Classroom to share choreography videos, so her students can use them to practice wherever they are. Sharing videos of their performances through Google Classroom has also helped engage Michelle’s students in evaluating their own performance. Her students have been able to submit both video and audio materials through Google Classroom with ease and efficiency.

Science teacher Andrea Escudero is using the game-based application Idle Human as an enrichment activity in her classes. Students can use this app to learn how the human body works starting with single cells and moving through what viruses look like, which sets the stage for their second semester content. Andrea’s students have quickly taken a liking to this game as they use it to build their content knowledge in a new, interactive, and exciting way.

Washington:

English teacher Jessica Hewlett has introduced her students to a cool web-based program called Popplet. Popplet can be used to create mind maps and graphic organizers. Jessica loves using Popplet in her classroom because it supports students’ thinking as they identify relationships between facts and ideas. Popplet can also be used to create dynamic presentations that allow students to organize and understand information while making connections.

As you plan for second semester, please use our technology resource folder in Google Drive for support.

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