Educator Alexander's Newsletter
SEPTEMBER NEWS
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๐๐ฅSOOOO MANY UPCOMING EVENTS๐ฅ๐
ANNOUNCEMENTS
**********SEPTEMBER WEBINAR**********
**********NEW WEBINARS ANNOUNCED**********
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๐ THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Present at ISTE/ASCD Annual Conference 25
Information about the first combined ASCD / ISTE 2025 Conference
The Call for Participation for ASCD Annual 25, June 29-July 2 in San Antonio, and online, is open! Submit your session idea by Sept. 27, 2024.
The Call for Participation for ISTELive 25, June 29-July 2 in San Antonio, and online, is open! Submit your session idea by Sept. 27, 2024.
LACUE Call for Proposals Open Until October 1
Join us in New Orleans on December 10 - 12, 2024 for the #LACUE24 Conference. Early Bird Registration and proposal submission is OPEN. Go to www.lacue.org to register or submit a session proposal.
Free Back-to-School Resources for Grades Kโ12
Free Back-to-School Resources for Grades Kโ12
It's easy to forget just how much media and technology are infused into everything we doโincluding at school. But Common Sense's free resources can help you and your students take a healthy, balanced approach to tech and screen use, in the classroom and beyond. Here's a collection of our best back-to-school resources to help you and your students make this year a success!
Get a Head Start on Back to School with Apple Resources
From get-to-know-you activities to tips on planning, exchange ideas and resources with educators using iPad and Mac for teaching and learning. Start Here!
Get Free Galleys of Books with NewGalley!
Publishers and authors offer free digital books and audiobooks to the NetGalley community of book advocates and industry professionals. Read or listen within the NetGalley Shelf app! Become a member today!
๐ง 15 creative icebreaker ideas! from Brisk Teaching
Need ideas for building a strong classroom community this school year โ without adding extra prep work? Brisk can help you create anything you need right away. To get you started, here are 15 free icebreakers for your students that we created for you with Brisk in 15 seconds.
Call for Applications Now Open for โFluency Innovator Grantsโ Aimed at Helping Students Struggling to Read Fluently Due Sept. 15
Teachers and administrators encouraged to apply by September 15, 2024 to receive a free subscription to WordFlightโs proven literacy solution. To learn more about WordFlight and to apply for a Fluency Innovator Grant, visit https://www.wordflight.com/fall-2024-grant-program/.
Join Adobe FB Group
Hey, educators! We're inviting you to Adobe Creative Educators where you'll find a vibrant, inspiring group of like-minded professionals. Share your experiences, learn from others, and discover new ideas to kickstart creative instruction and foster creativity in students.
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/tyYn4JET731CLULW/?mibextid=K35XfP
Tech Intersections 2025 Call for Proposals Due September 30
Do you have insights to share with other technical women like yourself?
Tech Intersections is an annual conference for the technical women of color most underrepresented in the industry. We come to connect and build community with each other, grow our technical skills and support our social justice and social impact efforts. Tech Intersections 2025 is on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at the Mills College campus of Northeastern University in Oakland, California. All presentations will be in person.
Dig Into Media Making & Analysis with PBS LearningMedia
Dig into Media Making & Analysis with the Growing Digital Studios Collection
Check out whatโs new from Digital Studios! These engaging, educational, and entertaining videos are sure to grab your studentsโ attention and inspire them to create media projects of their own. Analyze intriguing topics such as why 18-year-olds are considered adults and the future of lab-grown meat by using this collection to start classroom conversations and further student learning with the student-facing media analysis note catchers and media-making extension activities.
Make Media in Your Classroom with PBS KIDS ScratchJr
Challenge your students to create their own stories, games, and animations with these classroom-ready resources from PBS KIDS ScratchJr! Each activity focuses on a popular PBS KIDS show and is designed to engage early learners by giving them the opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills and create their own media projects featuring characters they know and love.
Create a Student Reflection or Personal Narrative
Encourage your students to dig deep and discover how they can create two types of compelling personal stories: Student Reflections and Personal Narratives. Whether your students are more comfortable with on-camera monologues or written autobiographical essays, both formats combine narrative techniques to create engaging and compelling stories that will transform their unique experiences into visually rich narratives.
Explore More PBS LearningMedia Resources
- Learn How to Analyze Media with Be MediaWise (6-12)
- Benjamin Franklin & Engineering for Good: STEM & Media Making (6-12)
- Learn How to Create Podcasts in Your Classroom (PreK-12)
- The Vietnam War: A Media Analysis Activity | Ken Burns in the Classroom (9-12)
- PD from KQED: Bring Media Literacy & Media Making to Your Teaching (3-12)
- Explore Media with Wild Kratts Self-Paced Learning Path (K-2)
Google Jamboard is Winding Down
This is a reminder that the Jamboard application will go into view-only mode on October 1, 2024. Youโll no longer be able to create new or edit existing Jams on any platform, including the web, iOS, and Android platforms.
What you need to know:
- September 1, 2024 - Jamboard is removed from Google Meet on web and mobile platforms.
- October 1, 2024
- Jamboard goes into view-only mode.
- Automatic PDF conversion begins.
- December 31, 2024
- Last day to migrate Jams to a supported partner application.
- After this day, we will begin the final shutdown process and Jams will be deleted.
What you need to do:
- Evaluate alternatives - we recommend that you evaluate our whiteboard app partners, all of whom are integrated with Google Workspace. To learn more, please visit each partnerโs website.
- Export or migrate Jam files - Your users can also migrate their Jam files to FigJam, Lucidspark, and Miro, until Jamboard shuts down on December 31, 2024.
Ready to be a #KamiCreator? Sign Up for Details in September
Apply to be a #KamiCreator, the ultimate side hustle.
Kami Creators capture the very best teaching and learning moments with Kami and share them across Instagram and TikTok. As a Kami Creator youโll be paid to produce Instagram Reels or TikToks, connect with like-minded creators, get Kami free for the year, and enjoy plenty more perks!
Educator Alexander Consulting Provides FREE Google Training for Your District Through Google's EPSO
You may be wondering what districts are eligible and how to redeem this offer?
To learn more about the offer, check out this one-pager or this site. Still undecided? Review the quantifiable benefits and cost savings enabled by Education Plus here.
Eligibility Requirements:
Customers purchasing Education Plus for the first time
Customers upgrading to Education Plus who did not own Education Plus licenses as of Jan 1, 2024
Transition renewals moving from legacy G Suite Enterprise for Education on a price lock (purchased in 2020) to Education Plus
How it works
Purchase Education Plus licenses for your full domain
500 license minimum
Choose your services by filling out this form
Select PD and/or IT services. Learn more about each here: goo.gle/education-plus-offer
Within 30 days of receiving email approval from Google, connect with Educator Alexander Consulting to schedule your services.
Services do not have to be redeemed within 30 days, just scheduled / on the calendar
EDUCATOR ALEXANDER CONSULTING is an approved provider for these services! Choose us and we can provide your FREE training!
TCEA TECH BLOG GOODIES
Using Student Surveys to Inform Your Teaching Strategies
Seven Google Experiments to Explore
Five Ways Educators Can Leverage Virtual Author Talks to Boost Literacy This School Year
Ignite Innovation: Online Contests to Spark Makerspace Inspiration
Integrate Immersive Learning Technologies Into Your Classroom.
โ๐๐๐5 Minute Tips of the Month
๐ฅ Webinars of the Month
๐ FREE Extension of the Month
This extension allows you to save money and earn rewards when you shop online.
๐ป ๐ฑ Tech Certification of the Month
๐ซMICROSOFT SUPPORT
Educators Can Get Office 365 for FREE
๐ Google Updates
A Couple More Google Updates
To Stay Updated, Watch ALL Here or EDU in 90: The Latest Episode: EDU in 90: Back to School & Gemini Resources - August 2024 Recap
10 Years of Google Classroom: How We Started and New Upcoming Features
Originally created as a way to help teachers save trips to the copy machine, Google Classroom has continuously worked with schools to meet their changing needs. Itโs no longer just about saving time, but also about creating more of it โ by helping educators extend their impact.
Kickstart the new school year with our Back to School 2024 Collection from Applied Digital Skills. Lessons include teaching students how to confidently introduce themselves to their classmates with Google Slides, ways to self-advocate to ask for help, creating a schedule in Google Calendar to stay organized, and much more.
Chat Safer with New Settings for Students in Google Chat
Admins can now restrict students from initiating direct messages and creating spaces, helping provide a safer and easier way for educators to communicate with students.
Get Started with Gemini for Google Workspace
Discover ways to use Gemini as an assistant in your professional practice with our newest course for educators. You will explore how to use Gemini via a standalone experience and directly in a variety of Google Workspace for Education apps, like Docs, Gmail, and Slides. At the end of the course, you will be prepared to begin using Gemini to boost your productivity and enhance your work.
Discover all the new Google Classroom add-ons
This back-to-school, there are even more edtech tools accessible to teachers directly within Google Classroom. We've launched 16 new Classroom add-ons including Quizizz, Kami, Screencastify and Prodigy! To install add-ons, check out the Google Workspace Marketplace.
Streamline Class Setup in Google Classroom
Attention admins & educators! Admins: Automatically create classes for teachers or define default grading settings for your institutions. Educators: export grades to your student information system, or important information like students, co-teachers, and grading settings.
PowerSchool SIS Support Now Available with Google Classroom
To streamline class set-up and make tools work better together, admins and educators can set up classes with OneRoster SIS partners, now including PowerSchool SIS. They can import information like student lists, co-teachers and grading settings, or export grades.
Guardian Visibility for Google Classroom
Guardian email summaries will now enable parents and guardians to preview their student's Classwork pages, including assigned work and attachments provided by the teacher. From the Classwork page, teachers can also create shareable links to send to guardians directly.
JAMBOARD APP IS GOING AWAY
This is a reminder that we will wind down the Jamboard app starting October 1, 2024. Between October 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, the app will be placed in โview-onlyโ mode and youโll no longer be able to create new or edit existing Jams on any platform, including the web, iOS, and Android platforms. During this time you can continue to back up your Jam files.
๐กSee Me Here
Click on the pictures below for more information and to register and find more information such as dates, times, room numbers and links to register HERE.
๐ฏ FREEBIES
โ๏ธ Commenting to Educator Alexander
Dr. Desiree Alexander, Educator Alexander Consulting
Dr. Desiree Alexander is an award-winning, multi-degreed educator, speaker, and author who has been in the educational field since 2002. She is the Founder CEO of Educator Alexander Consulting, LLC and the Deputy Director for the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana. She consults with members of several schools/businesses and presents at conferences globally.
Dr. Alexander is lifetime certified in Louisiana in Secondary English Education, as a Reading Specialist, as a School Librarian, as an Educational Technology Facilitator, as an Educational Technology Leader and in Educational Leadership 1. She is certified in Texas as a Principal, in English Language Arts and Reading for grades 4-8 and grades 8-12, as a Reading Specialist for grades EC-12, and as a School Librarian. She holds multiple technology certifications, including, but not limited to, IC3 certification, Google Certified Trainer, Innovator and Partner, Apple Teacher, and Microsoft Office Specialists.
She holds a Bachelor, a Master + 30, and an Education Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University, a Master of Library Science from Texas Womanโs University and a Master of Educational Leadership with a concentration in Educational Technology Leadership from Nicholls State University. She also holds a Doctorate in Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership from Lamar University.
She is the author of Ready to Be an Educational Leader: Your Guide for Passing the SLLA 6990, the 2024 Common Sense Education Ambassador of the Year, a 2024 Common Sense Ambassador of the Year, a 2024 Illinois Digital Educators Alliance Conference (IDEAcon) Thought Leader, 2023 Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators (LACUE) Conference Featured Speaker, 2022 & 2021 Texas Computer Education Association Conference (TCEA) Featured Thought Leader, 2020 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Featured Voice, 2020 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) Featured Presenter, 2019 Customer Commitment Award Honoree from Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Torch Awards for Ethics, a 2019 Shreveport National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Mover and Shaker, a 2017 Young Professional Initiative 40 Under 40 Awards Honoree, 2017 Center for Digital Education Top 30 Technologists, Transformers & Trailblazers, 2017 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Learning Media Digital Innovator for Louisiana, 2016 Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana Member of the Year, 2015 Librarian of the Year for Louisiana Librarian Association, 2015 Campus Teacher of the Year in the Zachary Community School District and 2014 Leader of the Year for Region 2 Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators.
Email: educatoralexander@gmail.com
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Phone: 318-759-7591
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