Ed Tech Blog
On the pages under the drop-down menu on this page you will find archives for blogs written by Bob Frye and by Holyoke High School teachers Mike Cotto and Heather Fuller.
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Hello weary educators! I apologize for the share settings on the interactive notebook last week. The share settings are fixed and you can access those slides through the newsletter here. This week I will keep it short: I will be offering two Nearpod PD’s on Jan 4th; beginner and intermediate, as well as a Google classroom and gamify your curriculum on Jan 5. If a large group or fast-paced PD doesn’t work for you, or you just want support in fine tuning specific issues, please shoot me an email to set up a one on one meeting. Tech tool of the week: Classroomscreen is a virtual background that displays a variety of common teacher tools as widgets that are easily added, modified, switched between and deleted as you run your class. It also has simple classroom management tools that help students stay on task. Three features that seem most useful: A repeating timer to use for a jigsaw activity; A really simple whiteboard that you can layer (Open a blank whiteboard on top of a graph paper whiteboard); and a random name picker. It also features attractive customizable backgrounds both still and animated photos (or add your own) . Need more info or practice with any of these resources? Join me! I will be returning to office hours on Tuesday 12/15. Office hours Tu-Th 1:30-3:00 and anytime by email. I can also come to your school for an in-person session. [email protected] Join Zoom Meeting Hope you all have a wonderful well-deserved break! Hang in there!
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Hello distinguished scholars, It looks like the typical “reset” after the Holiday break will, like most things this past year, be anything but typical. Barring new surges, it is likely we will gradually move back to the classroom. However, the digital skills that we, along with our students, gained over the last year will continue to serve us well in whatever setting we’re in. The new year is a good time to review and reinforce skills as well as reexamine our Google classroom and digital structures, practices, and routines. That being said, this week I share some resources for your digital work with your students. There is also a resource to share directly with your families to reference. Tech tool of the week: Digital notebook for Google tools. Digital notebooks, made in Google slides, are a great method to work with students remotely. They are a reference tool that review (or present new) information and ask students to complete a few tasks that become a reference sheet to prepare for tests, or in this case, provide a reminder of best practices in Google basics. Make sure you read through each section and understand what you need to share with students in addition to the notebook. (for example, you need to send all your students the email that they are asked to respond to in the “using email” section. Here is a lesson plan resource for a “Unit zero” of “ready to learn” digital skills. Tech Resource of the week: Digital Skills reference spreadsheet. This resource is for both students and parents and is great to share with families to consult when they are first learning or run into roadblocks with common digital tools. At the top, there is also a link to a teacher version with more details on how to use these tools effectively in your classroom. Student facing tech of the week: Gimkit was a personal favorite for my students last year. I used it regularly as a warm-up, review, and exit ticket to lessons. It was developed by a High School student and is great for memorizing facts, concepts, and skills because it is based on time (you can set), as opposed to Quizizz or Kahoot, that takes you through a set of questions once, and repeats questions until the time is up. It combines answering content questions with the strategies for accumulating a cash balance. Once students answer a few questions correctly they can “buy” things such as insurance against wrong answers, more value per correct answers, streak rewards, and freezing competitors. As always it takes a few plays to uncover all the “jellybeans” hidden in the game, but that adds to the fun and competition for students. Lots of premade “kits” you can copy and modify. Here’s the bad news: Gimkit changed its pricing model this year. Thirty-day free trial then they only allow a small number of players per game in their free version. The good news? One of the most reasonably priced subscriptions available; $4.99/mo… well worth the small investment. Ask your tech lead or Principal for funding. As always, I am available to walk you through using any of these resources in your class. |
AuthorRobert Frye is a retired 33 year veteran Of Holyoke Public Schools Archives
April 2021
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