Tech Talks

October is upon us, and we love what that means, pumpkin spice, Fall festivals, trick-or-treaters, and cooler weather. This is also the time of year when the routines of school have become firmly established, and you may be looking for something new to try with your students. Read further to find ideas in this month's issue of Tech Talks.

Read Alouds

Click on the image for a bilingual story time hosted by Harris County Public Library (HCPL). Listen to The Fall Festival written by Mercer Mayer and hear how Little Critter and his family enjoy the Fall Festival in both Spanish and English.

Access more HCPL story times using this playlist.

Tech Tool

Immersive Reader is a Microsoft Learning tool that reads aloud, breaks words into syllables, and increases spacing between lines and letters. Immersive Reader encourages independent reading, increases fluency in English language learners, and offers text decoding for dyslexia.

While you can access Immersive Reader in any of the Microsoft Products, you and your students can also use the Immersive Reader Chrome extension in the browser to read websites aloud. Simply highlight the content you want to read, right-click, and select Help me read this from the drop-down menu. For help accessing and/or using this extension, please contact the technology department.

Podcast

Excite and engage students in reading with the E Train Talks Podcast. Listen and watch E Train, a 6th grader, review middle grade novels, interview current authors, and advocate for literacy. Your students will enjoy learning from a peer. Access episodes in the Podcast platform or YouTube Channel. Each episode ranges between 3 to 35 minutes.

YouTube Channel

Dive into questions about your favorite animals with the new Sea Curious video series from Shedd Aquarium! Designed by kids for kids, each episode answers a question about animals by exploring and having adventures at the Shedd aquarium in Chicago.

Website

The Learning Network from the New York Times allows teachers and students to bring current events into their classroom. With sections for the four core content areas, ELLs and the Arts, teachers are sure to find a current events resource to supplement the content being taught in their classroom. The articles in this site are best suited for tweens and teens.

Gale Science Interactive

A virtual lab, the Gale Science Interactive in TexQuest provides middle and high school students with a visual representation for complex Science concepts. Your students will enjoy manipulating 3-D Models to simulate a virtual experience. Enhance your lessons with Gale Science Interactive 3-D Models in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Space Science.

Lightning PD

Don't miss the fun in this month's Lightning PD. At La Porte Elementary, Courtney Oliver focused on gamifying student learning with tech tools for vocabulary and review in 10 minutes.

Since 2004, the President and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In a collaborative effort, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) are promoting this year's theme, See Yourself in Cyber and are highlighting four actions every individual should take:

• Think before you click: Recognize and report phising
• Update your software
• Use strong passwords
• Enable multi-factor authentication

It's never too early to teach our students the importance of cybersecurity. For ideas and activities to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness in your classroom, visit these links:

• FBI Safe Online Surfing (SOS) Program
• Cybersmart Challenge
• PBS's NOVA Labs: Cybersecurity Lab
• PBS Kids: Cyberchase
• US Cyber Challenge

Office 365

Microsoft Office is becoming Microsoft 365. With the retirement of Office brings new branding and logo. You will be able to view these changes beginning in November.

Teams

The Reflect tab is now available in Teams. Reflect is a new feature that gives students the opportunity to provide real-time feedback in a safe space.

How can you use Reflect in your classroom?

• Social emotional check-ins!

Do a quick temperature check or pulse of students' feelings, develop SEL skills, and build relationships with Reflect. Using The Feelings Monster visualizations, your students have a safe space to express their feelings.

• Assess Learning!

With Reflect, you can quickly and easily gain insights and feedback from students throughout a lesson and develop student agency in the learning.

• Texas Educators Vote

This website provides resources for building a culture of voting in your classroom.

• World History Encyclopedia

A reviewed and vetted online historical encyclopedia with searchable articles, images, videos, maps, and timelines.

• Visuwords

Visual dictionary and thesaurus that is fun for all ages.

• Peer Review in 3 Minutes

A simple video to describe the process of peer review to students.

• Exploratorium Science Snacks

Find ideas, instructions, and material for hands-on, teacher-tested activities for your classroom across science.

We are celebrating all month with La Porte ISD book fairs. Invite your students and their families to browse and shop the latest titles in picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and much more. Your contributions directly support student choice in building library collections on your campus.

You and your students have access to the vast ebook and audiobook collections from Harris County Public Library. Students have the ability to search, locate, and borrow books from their desk. Using district credentials, login with the Harris County LIbrary ebooks link on the Student Portal of the LPISD website. Follow the prompts to add Harris County Public Library to your account. You can print the following pdf to post on your wall or share with your students and parents.

Explore the fun fall events offered this month at the La Porte Public Library. Find activities for all ages, including Legos, STEM, and stitching. Download the calendar for a daily schedule.

The Technology Services Department serves to facilitate and support your technology needs. For help, submit a work order using the Track It! on the Faculty Portal, select the button below for the Technology Reference Manual, or call the HelpDesk at Ext. 7070.

Website: https://www.lpisd.org/departments/technology-services
Location: 9832 Spencer Highway, La Porte, TX, USA
Phone: 281.604.7070
Twitter: @lpisd_itc