Monthly+Newsletter

=My Newsletter =

= November 17, 2017 = =Welcome to my newsletter. Once a month I will update this newsletter with tools and ideas to help you use technology in your classroom. In this newsletter you will find:=
 * Tech Academic Vocabulary: This introduces a Tech Academic Vocabulary word.
 * This Week's Take-a-Way: This highlights a tool that is available or will soon be available to teacher
 * ISTE Standards for Teachers: This introduces an ISTE Standard for teachers.

= Tech Academic Vocabulary: TSIP = TSIP stands for Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel. All new hires should review the TSIP options and work with their ITC to meet the TSIP requirements. = Technology competency may be shown in one of the following ways: =
 * 1) **College course work** -You have completed a technology integration course **within the last 7 years** in an education program from a college or university. You will need to save a scanned copy of your transcript and course description in a shared folder on OneDrive or OneNote Notebook that is shared with your administrator and your ITC. The ITC will review your documentation and verify that it meets the requirements and will submit the ** TSIP Completion Form ** with the necessary signatures to Instructional Technology Services.
 * 2)  **Virginia license** - If "Technology Standards Have Been Met" is noted on your teaching license, save a copy of the license in a OneDrive folder or a OneNote Notebook that is shared with your administrator and your ITC. The ITC will submit the TSIP Completion Form with the necessary signatures to Instructional Technology Services.
 * 3)  **Technology Portfolio Options** - You have not met TSIP requirements through options 1 **or** 2 above. Therefore, you will complete ** one ** of the Technology Portfolio found under Instructional Technology on the Intranet.

=This Month's Take-a-Way: Tech4Learning's Pixie =


 * [[image:Pixie.png width="141" height="137" align="left"]] Tech4Learning's Pixie. ** Pixie is software that students can use to share their ideas and understanding of content, create original writings, artwork, voice narration, and images. Pixie allows students to create projects using technology that can be accommodated to learning levels and styles. Pixie can be used for several grade levels but is primarily used at the elementary level. It spans all content areas and allows students to show what they know.

= = = = = = =Pixie has Great Tools for Self-Expression=
 * Record narration
 * Paint original images
 * Paint with symmetry
 * Add backgrounds and clip art from a large library
 * Add photos directly from [|Pics4Learning]
 * Capture images from web cams
 * Use hundreds of curriculum templates
 * Collaborate on projects in real-time
 * Add and edit text

=Pixie lets Students Share their Learning in Many Ways=

Students can create products such as eBooks, comics, and public service announcements. All products can be shared by printing them and creating videos, eBooks, and HTML files.

media type="custom" key="29445837" width="363" height="221" align="center"

Lesson Plans and other Resources can be found at:



On the [|Creative Educator website], resources are divided into several topics. These include



Lessons are organized by topic and grade level. Here is a link to one of their terrific lessons on Idioms; [|Idiomatically Speaking]

Here are some more features: Pixie also offers FREE Curriculum Guides. Click on the guide and it downloads as a pdf. [|Pixie Curriculum Guides]

The Tech4Learning Trading Post has lessons and ideas that have been shared by teachers. There are many ready to go lesson ideas here and they are organized by topic and grade level. [|The Trading Post]

And one more really cool feature is Pics4Learning. Pics4Learning is a curated image library that is safe and free for education. Teachers and students can use these copy-right free photos and illustrations for class projects, videos, eBooks, and anything they are creating. [|Pics4Learning]

Tech4Learning's rubric maker helps you to create a rubric for your students' creations. Rubric design is divided into Primary, Elementary, and Secondary levels and has several topics with ready made rubrics. Here is an example of a science experiment rubric. The rubric maker can be found at [|Tech4Learning Rubric Maker]

= Ideas for Using Pixie in the Classroom: =
 * __ Early Elementary __**

Sorts Click and drag using the mouse Using paint tools Copying and pasting Inserting clip art and other images Adding text

newsletters comics digital storytelling geometric objects project-based learning Holiday cards Book Reports
 * __ Elementary and Middle __**

= This Month's ISTE Standard =

**ISTE Standard 1. Learner**- Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve students learning.
 * **1c** Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.

**What does this mean?** The first part of this standard refers to educators staying current on educational practices by using twitter, RSS feeds, and attending presentations, webinars, and subscribing to edtech journals or other media sources. Learning Sciences means implementing learning innovations and improving instructional practices.


 * How to use this in practice: ** Join twitter and find fellow educators who have similar interests. Make use of the many courses our school system provides that are FREE, research the internet for lesson ideas and new ways to integrate technology, and make use of the [|Microsoft Educator's Network]. This network has several tutorials and lesson ideas that integrate content with Microsoft applications.

= = = = = October 8, 2017 = =Welcome to my newsletter. Twice a month I will update this newsletter with tools and ideas to help you use technology in your classroom. In this newsletter you will find:=
 * Word of the Week: This introduces a Tech Academic Vocabulary word.
 * This Week's Take-a-Way: This highlights a tool that is available or will soon be available to teacher
 * ISTE Standards for Teachers: This introduces an ISTE Standard for teachers.

= Word of the Week: GIF = GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) Pronounced "jiff". A file format created in 1987 and is used for for pictures, animations, photographs, and drawings; suitable for sharp-edged line art with a limited number of colors.

=This Week's Take-a-Way: Animoto = **Creating book trailers using Animoto.** When teaching Language Arts, I always found at least one student who was a reluctant reader. There's no silver bullet for getting kids to read, but I often found that these kids had trouble finding books that interested them and to become a better reader, these students need to read and often. Reluctant readers visit the library and are faced with shelves and shelves of books. Much of the time, these students would grab a book that was on display, check to see if it was a "boy" book or a "girl" book and then go to the circulation desk to check out. This is unfortunate because chances are, they won't like the book because it doesn't interest them. It was a quick grab and no thought went into selecting the book. The book may not be at their reading level and selecting it was just an opportunity to get the book choice over with quickly. After all, these kids don't like to read so choosing books doesn't bring them much joy. One way I have found to help students find books that interest them is to give book talks. A book talk is a way of presenting a book, telling the setting, main characters, and the conflict or problem, but not it's solution. You don't want to give away the ending because your main purpose for giving the book talk is to entice others to read the book. A traditional book talk is usually about five minutes long.

Book talks are usually presented in front of an audience. You can take this a step forward and make it digital. Making a book talk digital eliminates forcing students to stand in front of the class to present because the presentation is made in advance and can be shown on an interactive white board screen, posted to a blog, or a webpage. Having students create their own digital book talks allows them to show their knowledge and understanding of a book and also taps into their creativity. There are lots of mediums you can use for this: iMovie, movie maker, and Photo Story are just a few. In this article, I am going to discuss creating book trailers using Animoto.

Book trailers are another form of a book talk. Book trailers are similar to the movie trailers we see at the beginning of a movie. Animoto is perfect for this. Animoto is user friendly free technology that allows students to combine images, words, photographs, and music to share what they have learned and understand. Animoto has a rotate, spotlight, and duplicate tools to enhance images and you can add two lines of text to each slide. Animoto also has a large library of Creative Commons (copyright free) music you can add to your presentation. Finishing your video is called rendering. To do this you can choose three resolutions for faster or slower paced presentations. Mistakes can be fixed by using the editing tool to generate a new video. When the presentation is finally finished, you will get a link to the video emailed to you so you can share with others. This is how students may share their book talk with their class. No more standing in front of the room, no more shy kids hating presentations, no, you are giving your students the gift of creativity and the flexibility to use their strengths to show what they know. Ideally, you would create a rubric to evaluate these book trailers and share the rubric with your students prior to beginning the project. Here's how to use animoto to create a book trailer.

= Ideas for Use: = =Making a Book Trailer Using animoto=

** 1. Set the tone ** - select a theme and your music.
Next, use a story board to plan out your book trailer and plan out your script. Digital book trailers are much shorter in length than a traditional book talk so you will probably only need one minute's worth of material. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is.

**2. Collect images and/or videos** - Collect images that will show what you want to share about your book. You will get these from the internet so save the URLs so that you can put them in your credits. Students probably won't be able to find the actual images from their book so they have to be creative. Have them look for images that show a concept or a theme from the book. Make sure the images and/or video used compliment the theme and are appropriate.

**3. Plan your structure** - Make sure your book trailers have a **beginning, middle,** and an **end.** Students are telling a story, they are just leading the reader up to a point, and then dropping them to entice them to read the book.

**4. Use a concise script** - Interactive book trailers are not long so the wording will be in bits, probably not complete sentences. Students will need to be to the point, not wordy.

**5. Review and edit** - Once students have created their video, they can peer edit with another student or conference with you to make sure their video meets the requirements of the rubric.

Finally present the interactive book trailers in class and post to your blog or class web page. Another great idea is to make QR codes for each Interactive Book Trailer. You can also make photo copies of the book covers for each Interactive Book trailer and paste the QR code to it. Then have students use iPads and QR codes to view the trailers. Have a Gallery Walk so that other classroom can use the QR codes to view the book trailers.

Resources: []


 * See it in Action: **

__The Outsiders__ written by S. E. Hinton - []

__Esperanza Rising__ written by Pam Munoz Ryan []


 * Where do I Find It? **

[|https://animoto.com/]
= This Week's ISTE Standard =

ISTE is an acronym for the __ International Society for Technology in Education __. It is an organization that helps educators around the world use technology in their classrooms. This organization has created standards, similar to Virginia's SOLS, but these standards are technology based. ISTE also has a yearly conference, a community of members, sponsors professional learning, provides resources, and is involved in advocacy.

This month we continue the first standard, **Learner**

**ISTE Standard 1. Learner**- Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve students learning.
 * **1b** Pursue professional interests by creating and **actively participating** in **local and global learning networks**.

**What does this mean?** The first part of this standard refers to educators participating or starting social media groups or chats, blogs, webinars, edcamps or unconferences. Local and global learning networks refers to local and virtual learning communities such as social media groups or chats, virtual PLNS, conferences, Edcamps and school-based professional learning communities. The Edcamp that PWCS is sponsoring October 14th is a great application of this standard.


 * How to use this in practice: **

Discovery Education has weekly twitter session where educators across the country share their ideas and usage for Discovery Education. Edmodo also has a teacher group. You create an account and then search for groups based upon your interest. Following a wikispace page, a Facebook group, and attending conferences are other ways of applying this standard. **See the ad below and attend the PWCS EdCamp!**

= PWCS Announces its Second EdCamp =



**Calling All Educators! Been to an Unconference? ** Come out to **Potomac Middle School** to share, collaborate, connect and learn with colleagues from all the region! Edcamp is an unconference. This exciting **FREE** format puts attendees in charge of their discussion topics. It's a total networking opportunity that will leave campers energized with hands-on tech tips to take back to the classroom. The content is proposed and provided by the participants, and is often determined on the day of the event. If you don't like the discussion, move on to another topic! Come join amazing teachers, administrators, coaches, library media specialists and instructional technologists for a day of networking, conversation, and learning at Edcamp Prince William, hosted by Potomac Middle School in Prince William County on **October 14, 2017, 8:00-12:30.**

**Find out more and register at ****edcamppwcs.wixsite.com/2017 ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; font-size: 14pt;">Recertification points will be awarded. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; font-size: 14pt;">Register in ERO: Course INT 1256, SRN: ****<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; font-size: 14pt;">20171800125601 **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; font-size: 14pt;">Questions? Contact pwcsedcamp@gmail.com

= My Newsletter =

= September 20, 2017 = =Welcome to my bi-monthly newsletter. Twice a month I will update this newsletter with tools and ideas to help you use technology in your classroom. In this newsletter you will find:=
 * Word of the Week: This introduces a Tech Academic Vocabulary word.
 * This Week's Take-a-Way: This highlights a tool that is available or will soon be available to teachers.
 * ISTE Standards for Teachers: This introduces an ISTE Standard for teachers.

= Word of the Week: Microsoft Apps = Apps is a shortened form of the word Applications. With Microsoft, we have many apps we can use. Word, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and OneNote are just a few. When people hear the word Apps they often think of their Smart phone or an iPad. The apps on those devices take a different format because a phone and an iPad are not computers; they are tablets. You can download SMART phone and iPad apps from the App store and put them on your personal device. With Microsoft, we can find Apps in our Software Center located on our school computer. We can also pin them to our Start Menu for quick and easy access. To do this, click on the **Start menu**, and the click on **All Apps**. When you have your Apps open, simply drag and move them over to the Start Screen. They will drop right into place.



=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">This Week's Take-a-Way =

VoiceThread is a multimedia communication tool that allows you to insert images, documents, videos, and your voice to share and discuss information. VoiceThread allows you to share over 50 types of media and leave comments in 5 ways-using your voice with a microphone or telephone, text, audio file, or video via a webcam. Multimedia presentations can be created quickly and VoiceThread is simple to use. This summer a group of colleagues and I created our own PLC book club and used VoiceThread as our tool for commenting on each chapter. Sections were created for each chapter, a prompt was given, and we each posted our own comments and commented on at least two other members’ posts. It was simple to set up and to use. The feature I liked the most was that I could post my comments using different formats.
 * VoiceThread **

Here is an example of a VoiceThread created for R. J. Palacio's novel, __Wonder__. This VoiceThread is not complete but viewing it gives you an idea of how VoiceThread can be used in the classroom.


 * [|Wonder, by R. J. Palacio] **

Ideas for Use

 * Create a set of directions for any purpose
 * Create a virtual tour using primary and secondary sources
 * Out loud book reports-eliminates having to speak in front of the room, the student can record in advance and others can listen at their leisure and not in front of the student
 * Vocabulary development for ESOL
 * Use as a mini-course and a unit of study
 * Feedback on writing, poetry, and other assignments
 * Explanations for math problems

See it in Action
Click on the link below to see VoiceThread in action. See it in Action

Where do I find it?
You can find VoiceThread in your Apps store and on the web. If you work for our school system, you can find it in your bookmarks. Remember that you should not download to a school system iPad. I will do that for you.

[]

All staff will have a login created for them. Your login will be your PWCS username and password. Go to PWCS Sites using Chrome or Internet Explorer. I will send an email notifying everyone when VoiceThread is available.



If you would like to learn more about using VoiceThread contact me by clicking on the link below and signing up for a time.


 * [|Click here to schedule a time with your Instructional Technology Coach] **

= SMART Boards = I have added a wiki page for SMART boards. This wiki page will show you how to download your software from the Software center, create a SMART chart, and how to use the many tools and features in SMART. This week I include downloading the SMART software, creating pages, and Pen Menus-including the Magic Pen. **Click here to learn more about using the pens in SMART.**

If you would like to learn more about using your SMART board contact me by clicking on the link below and signing up for a time.


 * [|Click here to schedule a time with your Instructional Technology Coach] **

= This Week's ISTE Standards = ISTE is an acronym for the __International Society for Technology in Education__. It is an organization that helps educators around the world use technology in their classrooms. This organization has created standards, similar to Virginia's SOLS, but these standards are technology based. ISTE also has a yearly conference, a community of members, sponsors professional learning, provides resources, and is involved in advocacy.

ISTE Standards are divided into Standards for Students, Educators, Administrators, Coaches, and Computer Science Educators and are about learning, not devices, tools, or programs. In this wiki, I will focus on **Standards for Educators**.

**ISTE Standard 1. Learner**- Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve students learning.
 * **1a** Set professional learning goals to ** explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology ** and reflect on their effectiveness.

**What does this mean?** The first part of this standard refers to how educators improve their practice through their own professional learning. We can improve our use of instructional technology by learning from other teachers and specialists. Reading periodicals, blogs, and attending professional development training improves our understanding of instructional technology and helps us to help improve our students' understanding of how technology can be used for learning. **Proven and promising practices** refers to learning from a refereed source and actively seeking research based resources.

**Exploring and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology** means that educators use pedagogical practices that are made possible by technology. The lesson is made //better// by the use of technology and could not have been possible without it. After using the technology in the lesson, we //reflect// on its effectiveness and look for ways to make it even more effective.


 * How to use this in practice: **

Use Skype! You could do a Mystery Skype with an author. This enables students to meet an author, ask questions, and get feedback. This would not be possible without using the Instructional technology tool of Microsoft's Skype. You could read about an author on the internet, but this does not have the interaction provided by Skype. You could watch an author's interview on You Tube but this does not have the interaction provided by Skype; so using Skype is the preferred tool.