Connecting Educators

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2022 Innovation Camp Was a Huge Success!

There were 34 students(4th-9th grade) and teachers from 9 different school districts that participated in the two-and-a-half-day scholastic esports event. This was a competition-based professional development experience in which teachers learned and worked with their students to engage in graphic design, website creation, and an esports tournament.

Students and teachers were able to use the esports arena at Jackson College for a real immersive experience. On the last day of the event, students participated in a tournament the awards announcement.

Coding in the Classroom Professional Development

Multiple elementary through high school educators attend the Coding in the Classroom PD. Those participants came from 5 different school districts throughout Jackson and Hillsdale County. Educators participated in a series of learning activities that involved both the Sphero Bolts and Sphero Indis. These activities included hands-on time to try the two coding robots as well as discussions of how they could be utilized in their classrooms.

9 tips to create a strong password

How to Create a strong password

Don't use any personal information like your birthday when creating passwords.

Try not to use known words or phrases from songs, popular movies, or any commonly used expressions.

Using the same password for different accounts puts all of them at risk if the password is leaked.

How to Create a Strong Password Video

add photos to the stream

Google Classroom: Add images & GIFs to the stream.

You can now add an image to the stream in Google Classroom. This option will help simplify the content on the stream and add variety.

Click "Add" and then choose an option
File
Tip: When images and gifs are attached, a large version of the first one attached appears on your post as a display image.

Display Images on the Stream Video

easily see files in google drive

Google Drive: Easily see file locations

Google added a column to include location information in the Search, Recent, Starred and Trash web views of Google Drive.

This feature makes it easier for you to differentiate between similarly-named files stored in different locations and find exactly what you’re looking for at a much faster rate.

Easily see file locations in Google Drive

share appointment schedules

Google Calendar: Better sharing options for appointment schedules

The appointment scheduling feature allows people to share their availability via a booking page, which can be used to schedule a meeting or conferences.

Starting today, Google is making it easier to share appointment schedules on web through a new Share button. This update allows appointment hosts to copy a short link to all appointment schedules or a specific booking page, and add HTML to embed a booking page on their website.

Better sharing options for appointment schedules

accessibility preferences in docs, sheets, slides and drawings

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

Rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products, you’re now able to set preferences for each product individually. This change should make it easier to ensure accessibility settings are personalized to best meet each user’s needs.

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

easily assign tasks in google docs

Google Docs: Easily assign Tasks

In Google Docs, you can now assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. When edits are made to an assigned item in Tasks, such as a change to the title, due date or completion state, those updates will show in the Doc, and vice versa.

Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs

Google Docs: Stay on top of changes to document content with edit notifications

In Google Docs, you can now choose to receive email notifications for document changes on a per file basis. Edit notification emails detail what changes were made, when the changes were made, and who made them.

You can configure these notifications in multiple places:

Gmail
In Docs via the Notification settings dropdown (bell icon) or Tools > Notification settings.

Stay on top of changes to document content with edit notifications

diy stem projects

17 Super Cool DIY STEM Projects To Create With Your Students

The sky is the limit when it comes to STEM projects. Whether it’s creating a flashlight, fashioning a solar-powered light, or learning about factors and prime numbers, if a student or educator can dream it up, it’s possible with the power of STEAM!

17 Super Cool DIY STEM Projects To Create With Your Students

top 10 things to think about before you post

Free Classroom Posters

Display these colorful and informative posters to support digital citizenship in your classroom and school. Download below to print, share with students, or add posters to your class website. You can also:

Get swag at the Common Sense Education store

Get free virtual classroom backgrounds

https://www.commonsense.org/education/posters

Discovery Education User Update

As you head back to school, here are a few resources to help get you started:

Self-Paced Interactive Courses: Learn more about DE through these courses and receive a certificate of completion at the end for credit.

Community Favorites: Hear how other educators in the Discovery Educator Network are using DE in their classroom.
Educator Supports: Find resources to support integration of DE into the classroom, no matter what level of understanding you have.
Help Center: Find articles and support for every aspect of the product.

In case you’ve missed it, we have made some exciting updates to the platform:

Studio updates: From new fonts to animated buttons, Studio offers a quicker workflow and a few other fun tweaks that will make lesson building easy, creative, and engaging.
A brand-new Student Experience: Your students will see a new interface designed to build agency and promote time on task. No more excuses for incomplete assignments!
A redesigned My Classrooms: we've completely overhauled the My Classrooms section in DE, giving you a much more intuitive interface to easily navigate classes, assignments, and students.

statistics in schools

Statistics in Schools

Census Bureau’s 2022 Back-to-School Guide for Teachers Find easy-to-use classroom resources and activities created by the Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) program. As teachers across the nation begin mapping out lesson plans, they can incorporate new and updated SIS resources in core subjects like: Math, English, History, Geography, and Sociology, to introduce students to Census Bureau data and how to use them in the real world. For more information, go to: Census Bureau’s 2022 Back-to-School Guide for Teachers.

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