Blendspace

Blendspace is a really great organizing tool to use at any level and any subject. In the high school, I have actually had students create their own Blendspaces to present information too. I have been researching appropriate Google Apps, and this is one I thought anyone could use. Check it out! (Easy to use also).

You can go to blendspace.com, or find it in Google Apps. There is a tutorial in written format, and a short video. Here is a link to one of my Blendspaces:

http://blnds.co/18SRdkk

Happy exploring!

Anna

Two productive uses for Google Forms

A HS SPED teacher is using Google forms on her iPad to track a student's behavior.  There are many strengths to this idea, one is the ability to create charts to share with students, parents, and staff.

Another idea - Use Google forms to create a pre-unit survey to help make decisions what needs to be taught and to whom.  The results of this survey can be compared year after year.  The same survey can be given after teaching, too.  I also like the ability to regroup the information collected.

Anyone know how. . .

. . . to get the "blogger" on my toolbar?

Is your laptop screen blurry?

If your laptop screen appears blurry, this might be because it is hooked up to a projector. This can be frustrating when spending longer periods of time looking at your screen.

  On some laptops there is a shortcut key to switch between display options.  On many elementary school computers this key is F4. Pressing that button will bring up several display options: Computer Only (which will get rid of the output to the projector), Duplicate (which will output to the projector an exact clone of your screen), Extend (which will act as an extension of your screen - so you can drag items over to it), and Projector Only (which will turn off your display and only show through the projector).

STARS!

Most of you probably know this but it was a revelation for me!  You can "star" certain documents and search by starred items to make finding your stuff faster--I found it really helpful when I imported all my WORD documents over to my googledrive.

Calendar

I've created a google calendar with Faculty, BLT, Collaboration, and Department meetings--if anyone would like a copy let me know and I'll add you to my "share" list!

The google calendars work well with my iPhone too!

Touch Pad Troubles

While talking with some different colleagues during our school inservices  the past few days, I've heard that  laptops take a little getting used to.  That is certainly true as it is with anything new or different!  As things come up, I’ll try to post some tips and tricks to help the transition be a little smoother.  J

Here is a tip that may help you out with typing.  Sometimes your hand may accidentally touch the pad as you’re typing and change the placement of your cursor (which messes up your typing!).  On the touch pad in the upper left corner there is  a circular indention.  If you double tap it, it turns off the touch pad.  To turn it back on, double tap it again.  If you have a mouse, you can leave the touch pad turned off.  If you do not have a mouse, you may just want to turn off the pad while you type.

100,000 Teachers Can't Be Wrong!

Over 100,000 teachers use Blendspace to help them organize their resources.

As you plan your units for the upcoming school year, take a look at Blendspace (formerly called Edcanvas). This neat site can be used by teachers to help organize resources for a unit. For example, I created a page (called a canvas) for a unit on drawing underwater portraits. The canvas contains links to videos, Wikipedia pages, art images, photos of scuba gear, and an closeup picture of a child wearing a dive mask.  All of these links were found by using the search tool within the Blendspace site. It took me less than 5 minutes to find these resources! When teaching the unit, I just pull up my canvas and all of my resources are shown on one page.

Students over 13 can also use Blendspace to create their own canvases to help them organize resources. Their Google accounts will work as their log-in.

If you haven't tried it out, try it today! You can log in with your Google account, a Facebook account (if you have one for school - please don't use your personal Facebook account for school), or create an account with Blendspace.

http://www.blendspace.com/

Library Web Page

The 6-12 Library web page has been updated.  Notice in the left column at the bottom is a link to publishing tools. There are many tools - only a few are listed.  Included is a tutorial video to help get started. Notice the caveat at the top, most Web 2.0 tools are meant for students over the age of 13. Parental permission is needed.

Also notice the reminder to use the links to copyright free resources.  When published out of the school realm and available to the public, copyright free images or permission from the owner is needed.

MSD 6-12 library web page  http://www.mosineeschools.org/faculty/swurdeman/library.cfm

Looking forward,
Sandra Wurdeman

Three new things I tried this summer. I'm still learning but, I like!

1. http://www.weebly.com/
Weebly is super for creating classroom websites. My site is in its infant stage but I find weebly to be user friendly.

2. https://www.teachingchannel.org/
What a terrific site for teachers. There are gobs of videos to watch from preparing your classroom, to learning/understanding/utilizing the CCSS, to teaching a lesson, etc. Again, new to this site, but have been finding myself lost in it as of late.

3. A book:  Common Core Curriculum Maps written for Teachers by Teachers
I got a tip on a great resource this summer that really ties all the new curriculum together in a fast and easy way. The title is Common Core Curriculum Maps K-5, although I do believe there is a secondary version as well. It's written by a coalition of teachers for teachers so it is nicely organized and easy to follow. It lists all the standards, gives an overview of each module with trade book titles and shares sample lessons. This book is ready to go.

Adding images to Forms

Now you can add images to Google Forms.  When in Drive and Chrome pulldown the insert menu, then add the image.

Looking forward to hearing about your successes,
SW

Smart Notebook Tip

Ever had that REALLY cool visual that you wanted to be able to write on with the Smart Board, modify, and/or save with your notes?  I’ve often been frustrated because Microsoft Office will let you write, but what you write won’t stay with the text in the program.  Same thing goes for Adobe PDFs.  Did you know you can put your documents/text into Smart Notebook?  A really cool feature is Smart Notebook Print Capture.  It’s very simple but SO cool!  First, make sure you do not have any Smart Notebook applications open (unless you want to insert this into an existing Smart Notebook document). Then, open the item you would like to put into Smart Notebook.  Click on “Print”.  Once your print dialogue box opens up, select “SMART Notebook Print Capture” as your “printer”.  Click on “print”.  Your document/text will then be imported into Smart Notebook.  You can then write on it and add  pictures and notes AND save it so that you can refer to it again without all of your work disappearing.  Hope this works for you!  I use this all the time with writing and math activities.  What a great “hidden” aspect of Smart Notebook!

Google Forms -

A great way survey your student's depth of prior knowledge before planning a unit! 

http://www.sgisd.net/Uploads/68/misc/f213765.pdf  A short note about the value for Google forms from  the 21st Century Fluency Project

http://wn.com/Google_Forms  an 11 minute video created by Anson Alexander

I hope to use Google Forms this fall as a pretest, gathering understanding of what is already known by a class.  The same test will be used at the end of the year to measure understanding.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts can be used to video chat with up to 9 people at once. Anyone with a Google account, a webcam and microphone can use the hangouts with just a few simple steps. Educators have found a variety of ways that Google Hangouts can enhance their student learning experiences. Mary Beth Hertz recently wrote about How Educators and Schools Can Make the Most of Google Hangouts at Edutopia.com. A film school uses hangout to broadcast their classes online so that absent students can catch up on what they missed.

If you want to learn more about Google Hangouts, visit http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/

If you want to watch a video that details setting up a hangout for the first time, view Account Setup for Google Plus Hangouts & HOA (Hangouts on Air).

The easiest way to try out Google Hangout is by going into your Gmail and click on the hangout button near your contacts list.

Try Chrome for your Classroom

Google's browser, Chrome, recently became the number one most used internet browser in the world - surpassing Internet Explorer.  If you haven't tried out Chrome yet here are some reasons why you just might want to give it a shot:

It's Fast! Chrome is faster when browsing some websites. I have found this to be true when using Google Maps here at school.

Access to Apps! When you use Chrome and log into your Google account you can download apps from the Chrome Store.  Then you can access those apps when you use Chrome.  Many of the apps are free but some are only free to demo - so be sure to read the details about each app.  Some are educational and work great when used with a SMARTboard.

Signing In! If you use Chrome and log into your Google account, everything you bookmark, your settings, and history will be transferred to other computers or devices you use that have Chrome too.  This means, when you log into Google (with your school account) at home, school, or computer lab, Chrome will look the same and have the same bookmarks in all locations.

Omnibox! Chrome was the first browser to implement the Omnibox, which just means the address bar at the top of the browser where you'd normally type your web site addresses is also a search bar now. Just type in whatever you would normally type into a Google search, hit your enter key, and it will take you to the search results! Easy!

Stability! When you open new webpages Chrome will put them into tabs on the top of the page.  Each tab is  separate so that if one site crashes, it shouldn't crash or lock up the computer. Just that one site will crash and can be closed down, leaving the rest of your browsing session running smoothly.

Click here to learn more about Chrome

Have you tried out Google Docs?

If you haven't taken a look at Google Docs, here is a short video introduction to what it's all about.  When you do try it out, use Chrome to minimize any glitches that might otherwise come up when using Internet Explorer.

Google Tools

Welcome to the world of Google!

Google Tools:

Google tools are what we call all the applications (apps)  that Google has created.  The most popular tools are called Google Docs, You Tube, Picasa, Google Earth, and Blogger, but there are many more to check out!

These tools/applications are of high interest to educators because they are exciting for students to use, are a great way to incorporate technology into your classroom, and best of all, are free!

Getting Started:

Before you get started you need to know that everyone that uses Google Apps needs an account with Google. Here at school, teachers should make their own school account.

Visit http://www.google.com/accounts/newaccount

Students already have one set up for them starting in Kindergarten.   

Student usernames are their first initial, middle initial, last name.  @mosineeschools.org

Student passwords are MSD 5-digit id or  M 5-digit id

When using Google in a computer lab setting, it is important for students and staff to log out of Google when done using the computer.  Otherwise others can access your email and documents.