The Innovator's Mindset - Book Study NRSD starting October 17th

Our district will be offering "The Innovator's Mindset" as a book study option for our four upcoming PD sessions on 10/19, 12/7, 1/11 and 2/8.  Our full day of PD this year in on Friday, March 8th and our keynote will be the book's author George Couros on twitter at @GeorgeCouros 


Session One will focus on Part I: Innovation in Education (Chapters 1-3). We will be setting up a  google classroom and will be using twitter to share out during our readings using #InnovatorsMindset and our own district hashtag #InnovatorsMindsetNashoba.

Let's start with "What does innovation mean to you?"

more information to be posted (presentation 1 10/19, presentation 2 draft 12/7)

  

EdCamp Grafton

EdCampGrafton was held on Saturday, September 29th this year!
It's always great to connect with other educators.

I presented three sessions along with my colleague @csheil this past weekend.

In the spirit of EdCamp we waited to arrive to see what the need of the audience would be for the day.  We focused on creativity, video and formative assessment

• FlipGrid and Clips
• Managing Classrooms with Chromebooks (showcased PearDeck and FlashCard Factory)
• Adobe Spark

More info here
Link here http://goo.gl/DK4ryY 

Here are some for twitter links for #EdCampGrafton








I think this year I may attend EdCamp Boston again.  It's been too many years since I have attended.

When showing tools that allow students to create and publish it's always important to remember "Pedagogy is the driver, technology is the accelerator"  when you implement technology alongside the correct pedagogy, it can take both teachers and students to new levels. The mix of pedagogy and technology is a balanced method and by far the most effective. Teachers using technology to complement their ideas are able to address the different learning styles of students and allow students to be creative, innovative and engaged.

Flipgrid Updates

Last spring I worked with a group of teachers during a PD session on Flipgrid. Since that time, Flipgrid was purchased by Microsoft and is completely free allowing teachers to make as many grids as needed.  In addition, there is a new "mixed tape" feature

Here is the link to the Flipgrid blog http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/mixtapes  and directions http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/mixtapesgridtip and quick overview below.

Flipgrid Tip - Create a Mixtape from Flipgrid on Vimeo.

I had my first flipgrid remix tape today by following the directions on the blog.  This could be a great way to highlight certain students in a class for a variety of reasons.  A portfolio, book review, feedback on an assignment.   I always learn from following Flipgrid on twitter! or #mixtapes #gridtip
Again, it's about taking the time to process the post and learn by doing!

It reminds me of using Let's Recap and the review reel that I have used for student reflection on Adobe Spark pages for presentations.

A few more new features to test out! blog.flipgrid.com/makemagic


I will be linking more resources for FLipgrid here in the near future!

Document Camera - options

When returning to school this month several teachers are inquiring about document camera options.

I have used two different models

1. i Pevo  Point and Click - Amazon around 69.00 - https://www.ipevo.com/prods/Point-2-View-USB-Camera  and I've been informed this month that it has "Visualizer software"  https://www.ipevo.com/ipevo_visualizer 
that make it easier to use.

Video


2. For the more serious document camera user there is the HoverCam Solo 8 that several of my Math and Science teachers used.  The cost is closer to $330.00,  There is also an adapter for the science microscopes.  Here is a link to the updated software - for windows 8 or 10.

http://www.thehovercam.com/download/hovercam-flex-10-pc/  and videos.

Why not take a picture of you notes and add to a Google Slide for an electronic notebook!

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - Student Summer Read

Summer Read  Nashoba Book Club- Friday 9/7 Activity Period

More Happy Than Not by  Adam Silvera

Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Adam Silvera's extraordinary debut confronts race, class, and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx. 

Sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. He's slowly remembering what happiness might feel like this summer with the support of his girlfriend Genevieve, but it's his new best friend, Thomas, who really gets Aaron to open up about his past and confront his future.

As Thomas and Aaron get closer, Aaron discovers things about himself that threaten to shatter his newfound contentment. A revolutionary memory-alteration procedure, courtesy of the Leteo Institute, might be the way to straighten himself out. But what if it means forgetting who he truly is?

Discussion Questions

Chromebooks 1:1 - Presentation to Students & SMAR for staff

It's finally happening!  Our high school will be a 1:1 Chromebook school starting with the distribution of Chromebooks on Friday.  Last year we had grades 9 and 10 with chromebooks but grades 11 and 12 required the teacher to signout carts.  This could be a very time-consuming process to book the cart, bring the cart to the classroom, powerup, try to determine if any of the devices had issues, teach, power down and deliver the cart back to the media center or to the next teacher.  Not to mention it was a nightmare if you had a sub.  Well, I believe all that is about to change!

I will deliver the following presentation to all students tomorrow as part of an overall larger presentation. I know there will be a shift and learning process with classroom management and some issues that we may not be able to avoid, but I do know that we are on the right path.



Hopefully, the distribution of Chromebooks will go smoothly!

The Chromebooks connected to using the SMAR model (video) which teachers have been using to help guide their lessons design using technology.

Below is a Hyperdoc  or https://goo.gl/UcH7oD for teachers to evaluate the SAMR model that I presented to staff leadership at the high school last year. 

Previous post and reflection for teachers using SAMR. 

Back to School Newsletter with Tech highlights - Fall 2018

I am always looking to model technology in a way that is helpful for teachers and admin to communicate with colleagues, parents and students.  Below is a newsletter created with Smores, the program used to be free for as many newsletters or communications you needed to create, however it is now limited to three.

I plan to share with staff during the first week of school and follow-up with some sessions to review the new features.  It may seem a little overwhelming but students having their own devices (no more signing out carts) and with the new features of Google Classroom this should help streamline delivering of content and allow for more collaboration.

Link - https://www.smore.com/bh9ce  or see below!

When using Smores, you can email or tweet out the newsletter!