EdTech Newsletter

Welcome to Newsletter number 20! You can see out old newsletters here.

I'm starting off the new year with this newsletter, as well as one for Middle School students and another for High School students.

Check out this Unit Planner - It's linked to lots of useful tools and documents to help you with each section of the unit planner!

Fed up of your students always creating KeyNotes, Google Slides or PowerPoint Presentations. Get them to try something new:

• E-Maze creates beautiful presentations that almost look like videos! Check out their gorgeous templates and even experiment with using them to create a game! (Examples here)
• Adobe Spark allows you to create professional looking videos in only a few minutes! (Examples here)
• Slides Carnival has great Google Slide templates for those who still want to stick with something a little more familiar. Search by style, from fun to elegant!
• SWAY allow you to make polished, interactive presentations. This is Microsoft's free browser based presentation creator! (Examples here)

Kiwake Alarm Clock is an app I have been using over the winter break and I am already pretty sure it has changed my life! No longer do I hit the snooze button over and over again - no longer do I hide under the covers pretending it is not morning! KiWake has radically changed the way I approach mornings!

How it works: You take a picture of something in your house in the evening (preferably not in your bedroom), you set your alarm, your wake up time, choose a brain game and write yourself a line of motivation. In the morning when you hear the alarm (which also sounds lovely), you have to take a photo of that same item. You then play the morning brain game and see your motivational quote! You can track how successful it is and even try the 'no snooze challenge'.

Do you or your students have a new year's resolution to read more books?

• Try Literature Map! Type in an offer you like and get suggestions for similar authors!
• You could also try 'What Should I Read Next?'! Which searches by author, genre and topic.
• Flipper is a beautiful website that helps you pick out the perfect gift for a friend or family member. You click who you are buying for (age based) and what they like (thrills, to laugh, to create, food).
• Last, but not least, Good Reads is the social network for readers! Create reading lists, show the books you have read, connect with friends, take trivia quizzes and more!
  
• Don't forget that our library has an incredible amount of books, and e-books, including lots of great PD books (lots of PZ) - This Friday they will be running drop-in sessions to help you navigate their resources.

Once upon a Picture has incredible images to act as visual prompts for student writing. Also fantastic for some Project Zero Thinking Routines, including Step Inside and See think Wonder.

Each picture also comes with its own prompts. Example "Waiting for Someone":

• Where do you think this is?
• Who is the rabbit waiting for?
• How is the rabbit feeling?
• Will the ‘someone’ get here soon?
• Where have they been?
• How long have they been gone for?
• How does it feel to wait for someone? Is it always the same?
• Roleplay different scenarios involving waiting for someone – explore the range of emotions you might feel. [e.g. waiting for a loved one at an airport; waiting for news from a doctor; waiting for the Headteacher when you’ve done something wrong…]"

Highlight Tool - This Google Doc Add-On does much more than the name describes! You can set different highlighters and then pull the information out. For example, you could have students set a green highlighter for facts and a red for opinions - when they have finished highlighted a doc, they can pull out this information into a table.

Mrs Jones has been using it to give her students accurate feedback.

Over the holidays I became an 'Apple Teacher'. It was a very simple process, which involved taking a few short tests online, (each area comes with iBooks and iTunes courses to help you through). You can do the Macbook, iPad or Swift route (or all three). If this is something you are wishing to pursue pop into my office and I can show you an example of one of the tests and can give you some more information. If you are hoping to apply to the Apple Distinguished Eductor program (only opens every two years and only selects a few teachers, I suggest becoming an Apple Teacher first!) The site also sections with learning resources and inspiration for teachers.

I have been steadily increasing the amount of Microsoft Educator badges I have too. Although we use Apple products there are plenty of great Microsoft Products that we can use including Mystery Skype, STEM Resources and Virtual Field Trips and their presentation software Sway! Get rewarded for trying a new tool or using some of the educator resources. If you want more information about any of these Microsoft products or badges pop into my office.

"Nearpod is an interactive classroom tool for teachers to engage students with interactive lessons." For any teacher worried about students going off task or wanting 100% class participation - this is the tool for you! On Thursday 12th I will be doing NearPod training sessions in the Legacy Room all day. During this session, I will also show you how to become a Nearpod Certified Educator. More information will come out soon.

If you are interested in signing up to NearPod, let me know, and I can give you a referral code which gives us access to premium resources.

FREE workshop from Facing History.

Using a new unit co-created by Facing History and Ourselves and the News Literacy Project, this workshop will:

• model how to create a safe and reflective space for dealing with difficult topics;
• examine how confirmation and other implicit biases can shape our understanding of the world;
• share how to use news literacy skills and concepts as a set of critical thinking tools to help students find reliable information to make decisions, take action, and responsibly share news and information through social media; and
• explore what it means to become effective and informed civic participants in today’s complex information landscape.
  
  

More information here.

Fed up of hearing from me? Join some online communities to collaborate with other teachers:

• Google+ MYP Teachers
• Google+ GEG Georgia (Google-y stuff!)
• Google+ Ask a Google Guru
• Google+ Connected Classroom (connect with other classes for video calls)
• Google+ MYP Coordinators (useful for all MYP teachers)
• Facebook MYP Coordinators and Teachers

There are also many subject specific groups online. If you want help finding them or connecting with teachers in other schools, please let me know.

All day Friday Elena Barrio will be running refresher sessions. Come and see the fantastic resources we have available for you and your students. Here's a summary of the library resources. The sessions will take place in the CocaCola room.

There's a new edition of MLA. The above video will help you understand the changes.
Here are some more resources to help you:

• Noodle Tools MLA8
  
• MLA8 vs. MLA7
  
• EasyBig MLA8
  
• Owl Purdue: MLA Eighth Edition: What's New and Different
  
• Shifting into 8th (On MLA’s new edition)
  
• NoodleTools: What’s new in MLA8
  
• MLA Poster

There is a big misconception that digital citizenship is just about rules and regulations for students online - what apps you are allowed to use, how to have a safe password, how to stop cyber bullying... BUT in reality, it is about how everyone uses and interacts digitally.

Here are some recent news stories about digital citizenship:

• A bigly, post-truth, surreal 2016 ends …
  
• Appy New Year: the best apps to help you achieve your resolutions for 2017
  
• Are social networking sites good for our society?
  
• Confession of a web addict: ‘It broke me'
  
• Donald Trump is technology's befuddled (but dangerous) grandfather
  
• Exploding phones and Snapchat clones: the biggest tech letdowns of 2016
  
• Facebook’s fake news: ‘post-truth’ is the word
  
• John Lewis blends '60s tactics, social media in new chapter of activism
  
• Mean Tweets - President Obama Edition
• New Year revolutions: four gadgets for a better you
  
• Pepe the Frog meme declared a ‘hate symbol’
• You Can Now Save Instagram Posts For Later (Without Taking A Screen Shot)