Creating Email Signatures

Many of us have created email signatures in Gmail so that we can distinguish ourselves when we are reaching out to parents or co-workers housed in another building. Have you considered adding your signature to the mail app in your phone?  This short video will show you how you can add a signature to Gmail on the web or in an app.

Tech Tips 05 - Clearing your Data in Google Chrome

If you see a "502" error, clearing your cache and cookies may help!

Performance Matters

PowerSchool's purchase of PeopleAdmin has meant that it is no longer supporting or investing in Assessment and Analytics (formerly known as Interactive Achievement). Instead, PowerSchool's new online assessment platform is Performance Matters.

Performance Matters is a robust testing platform with capabilities that will help Colonial Heights' teachers administer tests because of some of the following features:

• Built-in Text-to-Speech capability for audio accommodations
• ability to create assessments for project-based learning using rubrics
• built-in Desmos calculator
• ability to attach YouTube videos to assessments

To learn a little more about the Performance Matters assessment platform, you can watch this video:

PowerSchool Performance Matters Assessment & Analytics

Performance Matters also has an incredible reporting interface that will help teachers view results and trends in an extremely user-friendly way. 

With this new reporting ability, teachers will be able to quickly see where students are struggling or excelling. 

To learn a little more about the Performance Matters analytics platform, you can watch this video:

PowerSchool Performance Matters Analytics

As you attend training in the coming months, you will learn even more about how to use the testing and reporting features.

Introducing... ClassLink!

ClassLink is our new Single Sign-On (SSO) solution for all CHPS staff and students! Read to find out how ClassLink will help you with your daily computer use and get into programs that you frequently use. 

Based in Florida, ClassLink is an educational technology company that has been in business for over 20 years.  The Office of Technology and Learning felt strongly that using a well-established company who values teachers and students was the best decision for our school division. In fact, their chief academic officer is a former superintendent of Orange County Public Schools in Florida. His trust in ClassLink translated to working for a company that helped his district excel. 

Julie Bowles, Student Data Administrator; Mike Zaweski, Systems Administrator; and Piotr Kaminski, Systems Administrator have been working hard to populate ClassLink with apps (websites and web tools) that our district subscribes to. 

You will see 2 different types of apps in ClassLink:

1. A Bookmark
2. Single Sign-On

A bookmark functions just like a bookmark that you have created in a web browser. It is simply a quick link to a website that you use frequently. 

A single sign-on app links to a website that asks for a username and password. ClassLink is able to remember your username and password for specific sites. In some cases, our technology administrators have created the single sign-on setup so that you do not even have to enter a user name and password for a particular site. 

CHPS ClassLink Dashboard

Currently, all staff members have the ability to start customizing and using ClassLink!  All you have to do is go to 

classlink.colonialhts.net

or find the link in "My School Bookmarks."

To view incredibly helpful how-to videos created by Mike Zaweski, please go to the district web page he has created for our school system.  Also, we will be holding training sessions during the summer and during the pre-school work week to get you going!

There will be more video resources coming soon!

As always, please contact Erin Ford and Debbie Walwer if you need any help!

Google Drawings & The Ripple Effect of a Teacher

If you need innovative ideas for integrating technology into the curriculum, visit Matt Miller's Blog, DITCH THAT TEXTBOOK. Matt's blog provides information on a variety of topics including Google Apps for Education, technology tools for the classroom, even behavior management strategies. Last week he posted this drawing he created using Google Drawings. Google Drawings allows you to add some color to your documents, presentations, and websites with easy to create charts and diagrams. All your drawings are automatically saved and stored in Google Drive. You can learn how to use Google Drawings during our Summer EdTech Week- August 12-16, 2019.

The Office of Technology and Learning appreciates all that you do for our students. I hope this Google Drawing reminds you of the impact you make on your students.

Brain Boosts for State Testing Time

Our testing window is officially open. There is no escape from this time of the year. It can be stressful for both students and teachers. Most of our students' success comes from what they have learned throughout the year. Cognitive Science, the study of thought, learning and mental organization can help us to get students ready to succeed on tests. 

Retrieval practice is the act of calling information from our long-term memory. Re-reading notes or chapters won't provide the best results. Simply asking students to recall what they remember about a topic can have benefits for long-term memory.

Retrieval Practice.org has a collection of strategies to help students use this powerful brain-friendly technique. On this site, you will also find Retrieval Warm Ups that you can download and use with your students. "Retrieval Warm Ups" are a perfect way to show students that we retrieve all the time, without thinking about it. 

Interleaving is the practice of switching between ideas while studying. Instead of studying a concept for one long session, switch between ideas during a study session. Go back over the ideas again in different orders to strengthen understanding. Make links between different ideas as you switch between them. Print this poster and try some of these strategies with your students. (LearningScientists.org)

Most of us need some training to learn how to study. Help your students to study using Spaced Practice. Start planning early for tests and set aside a little bit of time every day. Review information from each class sometime during the day but not right after the class. Make sure to go back and study and review older information to keep it fresh. 
(LearningScientists.org)

Students frame of mind on the day of the test determines a lot too. On testing day, life can be stressful for our students. Our normal routine has changed, there's a new set of directions, tensions can be high and that can lead to unhappiness. All of us are more successful when we are happier and positive. 

How can we build happiness into the day?
Happy lives are made up of a combination of positive emotions and meaningfulness, both contribute to a child's learning process and well being. 

• Having students work together on a common goal provides a positive class climate. Students can write notes of encouragement to other classes and deliver them before testing day.
• Allow students to spend a few minutes picking up litter from the school playground. This will give students a break from studying and they will feel good about doing something for the school community. A dose of sunshine can provide a useful jolt of energy.  
• Challenge your students to "Be Kind" every day to everyone. Compliment someone, help a classmate or teacher, and smile!

Provide some review activities that include movement. Movement, even walking around during a learning game can increase motivation and concentration. Use a set of task cards and play a SCOOT Game. Students will review content and move around at the same time. 

I am currently reading Practicing Presence and just finished reading The Art of Happiness.

Miller, M. (April 17, 2019). Ditch That Textbook. Retrieved from http://ditchthattextbook.com/

Interleaving

http://www.learningscientists.org/interleaving

RetrievalPractice
https://www.retrievalpractice.org/

Digital Learning Day 2019

Digital Learning Day 2019 will be on February 28th this year!  What is it, and how can you participate?

Digital Learning Day was founded by the Alliance of Excellence in Education and was first celebrated in 2012. The mission of that initiative was to promote innovative teaching practices through digital means. The goal of Digital Learning Day continues to be celebrating all the various ways teachers are using technology in novel ways.

Teachers who are fortunate enough to have multiple devices in their classroom can celebrate Digital Learning Day almost any day, but Feb 28th might be a great time to try something new!

We at the Office of Technology and Learning want to use the advent of DLD to introduce a technology model that you may find useful: the SAMR model, created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura.

You may have heard of SAMR before, but we are here to help explain it to you! Something you should really understand is that SAMR is NOT an instructional model; it is a technology integration model. Dr. Ruben Puentedura's work and research certainly includes instructional design components, but SAMR should not be used as a measure of teacher or lesson effectiveness; instead, it should be used as a tool for teachers to help them assess where a particular lesson is in the SAMR model in terms of integrating technology into their classrooms.

Substitution and Augmentation

The first two levels of SAMR show that technology can enhance learning. With substitution, teachers use technology to simply substitute a more traditional lesson. Augmentation means that the technology adds some meaningful function to the lesson or task.

Consider this example: Writing a paper examining the causes of the Revolutionary War.

• Substitution: Students simply type the paper with word processing software to substitute hand writing with typing. (There is no functional change for the students' task.)
• Augmentation: Students use the capabilities of MS Word or Google Docs to spell check and grammar check their papers. (Students still type the paper, but the function has been enhanced by the technology.)

Modifications and Redefinition

The last two levels of SAMR show that technology can transform learning.  With modification, teachers are able to redesign the lesson or task because of the available technology, while redefinition implies that particular lessons and tasks were simply not possible before the technology existed.

Consider this example: Reporting on the causes of the Revolutionary War.

• Modification: Students create and edit a video documenting the causes of the Revolutionary War. 
• Redefinition: Students design and develop a virtual reality tour leading classmates through events that perpetuated the Revolutionary War.

Teachers should note that one task or lesson is not better than another, rather, the lessons simply allow for students to exhibit different skills and knowledge. Having said that, teachers can assess whether they are substituting or augmenting tasks and lessons or if they are modifying or redefining them. The slides below can give you some ideas about how you can try Modification as you continue to grow as an educator.

(Click the square "frame" to enlarge the slide show.)

If you are interested in learning more about Digital Learning Day, below is the webinar from last year's DLD: