Hour of Code

We are back working on Activities for the #HourofCode this week!
Lots for Resources https://comsen.se/347DEBN
Updated information on iRobot Google Lessons and more!

Link to the the presentation http://bit.ly/nashobahoc or here

Google Trainer - Re-certification and Resource

It's that time of year again to re-certify as a Google Trainer. This involves a multi-step process.
Quick Summary
- Submit Evidence of training's
- Re-certification test
- New this year (Create a Workbench Account)
- Submit a Resource (Google Keep update - http://bit.ly/usinggooglekeep )

More Google Specifics here.
There are 3 requirements that you will need to complete by January 31, 2020 to ensure your recertification. Please note that this year’s requirements slightly differ from previous years.

1. Report at least 12 training sessions from 2019 in Activity App (gweb-edu-activity-app.appspot.com)◦ There is now a “bulk upload” option to easily upload all your training sessions at once via Google Sheets (vs previously, you were only able to log them one by one)2. Pass the short recertification product update exam http://bit.ly/2RgH4zu (with at least a score of 70%)◦ All of the answers are in this study guide: What’s New from Google for Education (http://bit.ly/2Rfo0l1)3. Sign up for a Workbench account (edu.workbencheducation.com) using your Activity App email address◦ Our private Trainers resource database is now on this platform, which houses thousands of useful resources and lessons submitted by the community
*Your voices and opinions are very important to us, so based on the recent concerns on our recertification announcement, we decided to make this year’s recertification process easier on you by removing the requirement of having valid L1 and L2 certificates (of course it is still highly encouraged)!

Please visit the comprehensive FAQ doc (https://bit.ly/33K7jAH) for more details on each of the 3 requirements. If you still have further questions, please contact the recertification alias listed in the doc.

Google Updates with Audio in Google Slides

Google announced last spring we would have the ability to insert audio into a Google Slides presentation.  We are starting to the roll out this month.  Eric Curts provided a a great blog post last spring on adding audio - here

Populating Portfolios with content

Now that grade level portfolios are made, content teachers have been adding pages for Business, English, Social Studies and Science with images, text and slide decks to be used for labs!

So awesome to have teachers share!

Portfolios for high school - just do it!

I’ve been using a combination of the new google sites and classic.
I been waiting fir the new google sites to have the ability to created a template for high school students. It’s been a few years and the new google sites still doesn’t have this capability, like classic sites does. So I decide to work with my English teachers to create high school sites. Over the last or so week or I hit every freshman class to create a portfolio for all four years and moved into sophomore students this week. I am collect them all with a certain naming syntax, by year of graduation  along with English teachers name and class period. In addition, I am have student add other portfolio links from photography, video, multimedia and graphics.at the same time I am working with teachers to determine what a “Freshman - English 10 page might collect as an artifact.
I also want to provide freedom for students to add work they are proud of to their sire. I hope to have all of the portfolios created over the next few weeks and discussed at parent conference at the end of  October along with leadership, department chair, teacher and student buy in. Lots of work but long over due! Stay tune for updates.
Presentation http://bit.ly/portfoliosatnashoba and screencast
Example a student site https://sites.google.com/nrsd.net/portfolio2023msmith/home
more details coming on a Google Site https://sites.google.com/nrsd.net/portfolio2023jdoeexample/home

Fall - PLT form with EQ
Description:Student Portfolios & Web Tools:
 Are you looking for a way to showcase student work? This PLT will provide you with the framework to build robust, innovative, and collaborative portfolios unique to your subject. Join us in this session to explore portfolios and learn new web tools to enhance your teaching.
Lesson Plan and Applied Skills with Sites

Back to school

Post #pineapple charts
Rotation stations
Design thinking challenges

Learning with multimeida

What is multimedia?


Add a video

Wrapping up another school year and thinking about a new fall approach

Reflect 

Summer Academy in August / back to school with design thinking approach to kick off the new year 

Leadership Design Thinking experience

Overview

Slides 

Reflection

Next steps

Design Thinking phase 2 - reflection- redesign of collaborative learning spaces

To do
Link google site
Presentations
Pictures
Reflections
Newspaper link

Exploring Bauhaus with VIVE for AR Experience for German and Art Field Trip

Our German and Art Teacher will be taking a field trip to Boston next week to see the Goethe-Institut presents Virtual Bauhaus,  they were given the opportunity to borrow the equipment for students to try out prior to the trip.  We setup the desktop and equipment after school yesterday in order to test out with the german classes today. The Bauhaus centennial, an exhibition on the German school of art and design using innovative Virtual Reality technology that will allow the teachers to prepare for the German class & field trip.  The equipment is Vive Pro which we were allowed to borrow and test out!
Below are some pictures below from our class today.

This also makes me realize the are many new and upcoming opporttunites to explore AR/VR in education.  There are some low cost solutions along with very high end opportunities.

This month I have seen advertisements on twitter Oculus the date has been revealed a release date for their Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S headsets: May 21st.  

The Oculus Quest is a much-anticipated standalone VR headset that Oculus announced last year. It works without external tracking cameras or a separate computer, using a Snapdragon mobile chipset. The Oculus Rift S is a refresh of the 2016 Oculus Rift; it’s not a “Rift 2,” but an upgrade that replaces the old Rift’s tracking cameras with more convenient inside-out tracking. Neither one is a definite must-buy, but we’ve been impressed by the new Insight tracking system, and Oculus consistently backs some of the most ambitious VR games. There appears to be several education experiences for Oculus along with Oculus and YouTube VR here is a recent post.  

I plan to have students research more on the the role of AR/VR in the job market. Here is an interesting article and video https://youtu.be/Zy9mVWHvaos  Bring immersive technology resources to your district and conference with ARVRinEDU training. Get more resources at ARVRinEDU.com and on twitter #ARVRinEDU  So much to learn!

Other companies discussing and posting about AR/VR such as @PTC and PTC in Education 
We celebrated our move from Needham to #Boston's Seaport Innovation District with the official grand opening of our 250,000-square-foot headquarters. Check out the coverage of the event via

@BosBizJournal :

(link: http://ptc.co/RN9C30oF7Fi) ptc.co/RN9C30oF7Fi #lifeatPTC

@lifeatPTC READY FOR THE AUGMENTED WORKFORCE? Learn how emerging technologies like IoT and AR are reshaping the future of your work.

I will be looking for resources for next fall!

Innovators Compass - Design Thinking

This week we had Ela Ben-Ur from Innovators' Compass  check them out on twitter  #innovatorscompass visit our school to kick off our Phase II of our Design Thinking Project, "Collaborative Learning Spaces" with a group of 9th grade english students from Ms Foley-Procko's class and Ms. Grigas Business Class.  The Innovators' Compass is a 
powerful tool that helps people move forward in any challenge, big or small—in one usable, shareable picture.

Thi is the passion work of Ela Ben-Ur, MIT alumna, former IDEO coach, Olin College Adjunct Assistant professor teaching courses from product design to life design, and parent - Here is an article on the process. I met Ela at MassCUE last year when she visited us in the Poster Section of the conference when we showcased our Design Thinking Project - Classroom Redesign.  I then had the privilege of connecting with hear at the SXSWedu conference in Austin last March, where she presented The Innovators Compass to a large group of educators.  I reached out to Ela to join us and we kick off the project and to introduce to the  the high school leadership team.  Prior to Ela joining the class we showed two videos. Innovators Compass About and Examples (5 minutes) along with the INNOVATORS’ COMPASS 2: GETTING UNSTUCK This 2-1/2 minute video walks how we find breakthroughs for our challenges in each Innovators’ Compass question—and will answer your questions about compass design, too!

Students came up with a few challenges to work on during our time together.  One group focus on being hungry, another tired during long block as they do not eat until fourth lunch which can be a very long stretch for them! They came up with several "experiment ideas" to pitch to the teacher.  One was to allow for a break during the long block to allow for a snack, walk or just some downtime before lunch. It was great to see the teacher allow for the experiment and reflect on the results.  It was amazing to see, if given a short amount of down time, the students were more focused during the rest of the class.


We invited administration and teacher to visit and observe us while working on the compass. As you can see from the Jamboard setup we had student and staff ideas to work on .  The important piece was to let the participants pick a topic they cared about.















We the introduced the model to the leadership team that afternoon and they had the opportunity to experience the Innovators Compass as well.




 Next month we will be designating two days for leadership to learn more about Design Think.ing and apply to leadership topics in order to move forward.

Both faculty and students left the session with using and exit ticket about what they liked about the session and ideas to improve. Imagine if we did this with students and made them reflect on their learning and provided them with a opportunity to suggest new ideas.

Each time I see Design Thinking from a variety of consults and websites I am humbled to see how much more there is to learn about the Design Thinking process/ steps (The five stages of Design Thinking, according to d.school, are as follows: Empathise, Define (the problem), Ideate, Prototype, and Test. 

We are discussing with staff and students how design thinking is a skill set to be used by all!  It's been a great way to kick off the project and I am so grateful that Ella brought her passion to our school and shared her expertise!

Senior Projects and Choice Boards

What is a Senior Project?

A Senior Capstone Experience/Senior Project is a student-selected exploration of a topic which results in a research paper, a project or a product, and a presentation.

This approach is one which allows students to use a variety of skills in the areas of writing, speaking, research, and documentation.  I will be working with a teacher this month to review choices for presentations options and will be suggesting a Senior Project Choice Board. 

It will be interesting to review the options with students and guide their thinking!

Using Design Thinking to empathize with the Assabet Collaborative.

Last month the Assabet Valley Collaborative hosted a two hour workshop on Design Thinking.  The director Cathy Cummings has been trained an an organization and hopes to pilot sessions at the AVC.

We brainstormed on a session around the Innovators Mindset theme and spent a large amount of the time framing the question, using the HMW, How might we model.  We started out focusing on How might we insprire/encourage teachers to try innovative practices in their classroom.  Initially, I thought the empathy model was the teacher, but turns out it's the student.

We were give the following homework to complete this month.

For those of you who missed it - we'd like to catch you up because we'd like to continue our Design Thinking work next month.  So please do read over the notes and then do your homework - see below.    (Those who were there - please feel free to add your insights in the notes or in response to this email.)

HOMEWORK for next month's meeting:

Homework - Empathic Interviews

Each group member will conduct at least 5 short in-person interviews - of students, teachers, and administrators using the following 2 questions:

1.  Describe the most positive, lasting learning experience you’ve had.

2.  Describe a negative learning experience you’ve had.

Probe for:  what was being taught, how, why it was positive or negative, what the teacher was doing in that experience; what the interviewee and other learners were doing during that experience, etc

Take notes during this interview and share/upload in our google folder in time for our next meeting!  

We will work with these qualitative data points at our next meeting to better frame our problem with the actual “users” in mind.  I'm thinking we can have one group try on using a “journey map” or “service blueprint” using these data and the other group try doing some root cause analysis using “5 whys” - but, like we did today, we will pivot based on where we are then....  

I conducted interviews with student in my school today.  Here is the link  http://bit.ly/DTempathyinterviews 

I am particularly excited to push myself in the area and hope to bring  more back to our school.

Our district will be exploring more design thinking in June and hopefully as part of the PLT for next year!

Assessment with Peardeck

Teachers in Math and Science are using PearDeck as a tool to present, engage and assess student work. The new SEI template allows for communications with students.  The website addresses the  importance of these personal skills is getting more attention of late, and the numbers on school violence, depression, anxiety, and drug abuse indicate our urgency is warranted.

Helping students gain coping skills, resilience, emotional awareness, and empathy takes regular practice and reinforcement. The good news is, we can practice each day by incorporating questions that promote self-awareness into our regular lessons.

In the Pear Deck Slide Library, you can already find many templates that help students check in with themselves or consider another’s point of view. Today, we are releasing a new set of templates focused specifically on Social Emotional Learning. Here are some examples:

Stress Check
In this template, students are asked to check in with themselves and consider their current stress level. This not only alerts the teacher to students who may be unable to focus, but it also helps students learn to assess their anxiety levels. As students become more aware of their emotional state, they can utilize coping strategies to help them navigate stressful times safely.

It's always rewarding to guide teachers when using a variety of methods to reach students.

Google Slides with audio - Pear Deck + Google Slides = #PerfectPear

Google Slides will be adding a feature to insert audio this month.  This will be great update.  I have used a workaround in the past, adding audio to youtube and the upload but this will make things a little easier.  Here is the post from Google, however it has not shown up in our school domain, yet. I checked our school domain and slides today to see if the feature was available while creating a slidedeck and it's not here yet!

I have done some research on twitter and it's important to keep in mind, although you can insert audio you must host it to another location.  There are a few programs to checkout and make sure they are compatible with our school filter. I have used https://online-voice-recorder.com and I should be able to add from google drive. We will be able to embed MP3 and WAV audio files from Drive into Slides.
I'm also curious to see this working with the new present with Close Caption CC feature in slides.

Here are some post from twitter on ways to use audio and slides.

• Richard Bryne tips
  https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2019/04/google-slides-now-has-native-support.html
• Shakeup Learning
  https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/25-ways-to-use-audio-in-google-slides-projects/
• “Podcasting with Google Slides” (link: https://link.medium.com/YCoRzGxlFV)  

When recording audio in Google Tour Creator Eric Curts post he recommended TwistedWave - https://twistedwave.com/online and a few other programs. More here https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2019/04/audio-recording-tools.html?m=1

The more #googleslides is update the more I realize it might be a staple tool to getting more staff onboard using technology.  A few teachers have started using Peardeck for Google Slides https://www.peardeck.com/googleslides and can easily check for understanding using a variety of questions.  Pear Deck + Google Slides = #PerfectPear 

I had great success introducing teachers to Interactive Notebook (INB) with Google Slides this year using templates from SlidesCanival  to help student organize their project and work. Here is a great post to learn more about designing INB's.

I hope to have the new insert audio feature available when I return from school vacation next week so I can share with teachers!  This will be a great way to keep teachers and students engaged this spring while working on projects.

Student Voice and Choice with Choiceboards

Last spring I started to use Choice boards in a few classes with teachers when working on projects. I blogged about it last spring, see post here there is also lots of information on choiceboards on twitter.

Last spring I used flipgrid to capture student project using Flipgrid.  This year when planning with Ms. Junkin we decided to create a choice board for storytelling options along with some engagement suggestions during and after the presentation.

Here is a link to the example of our choiceboard http://bit.ly/choiceboardsSS Along with some background from planning with the teacher and a link to the project and rubric.

World History Quarter 3 Project Most Influential Person of the 18th Century

Preface: The 18/19th Century was a time of creativity and discovery for those living in
Europe and beyond. Whether it was something that benefited mankind short term or
something still used today, had it not been for those scientists/inventors/philosophers,
the world today may not be as advanced as it is.
Project: Each person or duo will choose (first come, first served) an
inventor/philosopher/scientist from the 18th Century (from Chapter 21/23 of your textbook
or potentially elsewhere; see list on Pg. 2), produce a 5 minute video;

Note: ALL scripts are due on Tuesday, April 2rd, 2019), and a verbal presentation
(including the showing of your video) of no more than 5-10 minutes.

Link http://bit.ly/worldhistoryprojectlinks

Edcampbos

Yesterday I attended #EdcampBOS  - Edcamps are informal sessions by and for teachers, where anyone can present, and the focus is on collaboration and connections, group expertise, tech tools, and instructional design.  When teaching a #gafefsu is the weekends align I attempt to bring the class to experience the edcamp model for part of the day and then focus on the class materials in the afternoon.  Of course, it's always great to model the "building of the wall/schedule and typically if the days align our students present their projects to an authentic audience.  Where this was our first full day session, we modeled topics we would teach in our class.

We start out by sharing the Edcamp video and we sign folks up for the event.  The EdcampBos folks are awesome to support us on this initiative.  In the past, we have brought students to #EdcampGrafton.
What is EdCamp?

To kick the day off we met at Burlington, Microsoft lobby, what a beautiful building!  We discuss the setup for the day and then we modeled two sessions, require students to attend one and pick two choice topics.

Here is a link to the Edcamp wall with links to notes

Session One we offered reflecting with podcasting using Anchor.  This is the tool we used earlier in the month while attending SXSWEDU in Austin.  We modeled how we used to reflect multiple times during the day.  We also challenged the group to reflect on their learning at EdCampBos.

Here is our podcast reflection using anchor with Craig here 

Session Two we wanted to show all the different things you could do with Google Slides.  We initially started out with "designing and assessing with Google slides".  Too boring so we went with "pimp your slides" We showed a variety of topics, Slides Carnival saving direction to Google, using the insert camera function to take a picture/evidence of work and add to a slide.  We got a lot of wows on this one!  We then showed inserting a YouTube video with stop and start times and presenting QA in slides. Another big hit the new CC in slides. We then moved onto PearDeck.

I think teachers were pleased to see how easy it was to approach new features in slides and I would have to say a big success!

After lunch we regrouped with our class and this is the magic of an edcamp.  They experienced it with a larger group of teachers and loved it!

Nashoba hosts a day of learning

Nashoba hosted a full day of PD #nashobaempowerslearning and #nashobalearns on Friday, March 8th with our keynote George Couros @gcouros author of the InnovatorsMindset. 

I led a PD Book club with my colleague Gregg Newton over the course of the year on four dates discussing the book and modeling the use of technology. 


I have been fortunate to see George present on  a few occasions, last year at Medfield day of Learning.  It was a great vibe entering the auditorium and kicking off the day.  George was a combination of inspiring, thoughtful and engaging.  I don't recall ever seeing our staff so engaged in a day of learning. We had different exhibits showcased in the gym around drones, programming, showcasing portfolios, green screen, goosechase and I presented on the new Google Jamboard.

George talked about students leaving high school should have the following (A professional social network, Digital Portfolio
and About Me page). He also encouraged teachers to get on board with Twitter using #nashobalearns in order to learn from each other!  I had lots of conversations with  teachers that were left feeling very inspired.  I hope our PD continues down the road of innovation and creativity!

The afternoon sessions by teachers in our district and from other districts along with consultants and vendors filled the afternoon session.  I was delighted to see our district pull together and host such a great day!

We now need to keep the momentum going and help inspire teachers to step outside their comforts zones and take new risks in the classroom and in their own professional development!

Stay tuned for more!

SXSWEDU Austin

I’m attending the SXSWEDU Conference in Austin’s this week with my colleague
Craig Sheil. This conference has been on my bucklet list for severals years but I was reluctant to sign up.  When Craig told me he was booking and we started to discuss on the sessions around education, that were not all tech options, it made perfect sense to attend.  Not, to mention the airfare was under $200.00 roundtrip!

As part of our learning experience we decided we would use Anchor https://anchor.fm a mobile podcasting tool to reflect on our learning.  Below are some of the recordings:

• Day 1 - 3/4 podcast link
• Day 2 3/5 podcast Link

We have been using the program scheduler and wakelet to curate our learning.
About the conference https://youtu.be/ayGV_WAIcWQ

Craig presented as part of the Google Panel and we then got to visit the Google stations as students.  Here is a tweet/video about the Google Showcase  Google announced the App hub and showcased many tools along with the Jamboard, Google Expeditions and more!

This conference has me thinking about the Google Innovators program #GoogleEI that focuses on a Design Thinking Challenge, modelling the "Solve Problems of Practice Through the Gripe Jam"
A Google For Education Certified Innovator see blog post.
(link: https://go.shr.lc/2TgPJEc)
We were fortunate to attend film, Unlikely  see more here https://www.unlikelyfilm.com


It was very powerful to see how easily students can be lost in the system and how we are educating the wealthy.  It's time to rethink higher education and other options!

Building Community: Weaving Americas Social Fabric: Weave: The Social Fabric Project, an initiative of the Aspen Institute, operates with the premise that social fragmentation is the central problem of our time—isolation, alienation and division. Fortunately, all across the country people are rebuilding communities and creating social capital. Weave seeks to work with these groups to spur a movement to repair the national fabric—to identify and celebrate these groups, synthesize the values that move them, and help forge a common identity.

We attended a very powerful session with
David Hogg and Dan Rather
David Hogg, co-founder of March For Our Lives, in conversation with Dan Rather discuss what our country and politics can look like when we let young people lead and dedicate ourselves to fostering that power in youth voice, advocacy, and leadership at SXSW EDU link here 


It was much different from many of the other edtech conference that I have attended and I appreciate the larger perspective it provided.

There were lots of other hands-on session on topics of interest.  I was able to reconnect with Ela Ben-Ur https://twitter.com/ElaBenUr  from Olin College where she showcased Design Thinking the "Innovators Compass Model"  http://innovatorscompass.org/

We made the most of every day, arriving early, attending as many sessions as possible and most importantly we reflected each day on the sessions and our thoughts!  I would highly recommend the conference to other teachers and hope to return again!

Rotation Stations for VR/AR self directed learning

So last week I introduced rotation stations in a few classes.
My goal was to bring awareness to using  Merge Cube https://mergevr.com/cube

We discussed the evolving roles of AR/VR in education and new job opportunities.  I showed the following Merge Cube video/demo and then set up the following stations:

Students we introduced to QR codes to scan the
app and download onto their ios/android phone)



The Stations Presentation -  Phase I
included the following options:

1. Station Merge Cube (with three options to explore)
2. Google Expeditions using AR/ VR over 300 Google Expeditions listed in this spreadsheet
3. 360 images, Street View App and the Thea 360 Camera with the setup to access Google Tour Builder

We set up prior to the week of vacation to use Google Tour Creator.
- here is a great tutorial by Eric Curts https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/10/tour-creator.html 

In addition, we will be building a tour together using https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/
Here are some tutorials and resources to set the tone for the rotation stations.  The directions were printed and provided in Google Classroom.

Here is a link to a tour of a few locations will visit in Italy this spring.

The next phase, phase II will involve students researching creating and review apps for creation start with:

• Metaverse 
• CoSpaces

Shark Tank - QBall an Interview with Shane Cox - let's Jam with entrepreneurship Class

This week we have been using the Jamboard in a new entrepreneurship class to prepare to interview Shane Cox learn more here https://www.buyqball.com and on Twitter @goPEEQ     

Shane appeared on Shark Tank to pitch his product.  We will be doing a Google Hangout/meet later today to interview Shane along with students from Bedford, NH entrepreneurship class. 

You can view the episode below!
Both schools use the Q-Ball!  Students tried out in class and researched the company.  Both schools modeled the use of our new Jamboard , which we both received as part of a grant from Google to "Transform you classroom environment"

We created a Jam and students using the web-based version jamboard.google.com along with the mobile app and added interview questions.

Students from both schools will alternate questions for Shane to learn more about his journey as an entrepreneur and the road that led him to Shark Tank.  I can't think of a better way to start a new semester of entrepreneurship!

Here is a sample of our jam! 
Students learned to use the collaboration tool on the web and by using the board!  This was a great way for business students to see the new ways business a collaborating for virtual meetings.  They will also get to experience a Google Hangout and bring that learning into the classroom!


We had students follow Qball on twitter to learn current information about the company by following them on Twitter https://twitter.com/goPEEQ 

I am looking forward to sharing this experience with the teacher and students!

The Innovators Mindset - Feb 8th Part IV - Concluding Thoughts (Ch 13-14)

Next week we will be wrapping up The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros

Part IV: Concluding Thoughts (Chapters 13-14)
Questions and activities will be posted to the classroom in presentation
http://bit.ly/innovatorsmindsetnashobapart4  along with a reflection on the process coming soon.

Transforming your Classroom with Google Jamboard

Earlier this year I posted about the Google Jamboard, I was intrigued by the integration with G-Suite.  I was notified last last month that I received the "Transforming your Classroom with Google Jamboard" grant and I have been using with teachers this month!

Jamboard Overview presentation
http://bit.ly/transformlearningwithjamboard 

Stay tuned for more!