Hour of Code Week is Over but Coding Never Ends

Thousands of Westerville City Schools students enjoyed exploring coding activities during Hour of Code Week.  It was wonderful watching our students work through self-paced modules learning and discovering code or at least the building blocks of code.  If you missed this opportunity, no worries, the modules are still on the Hour of Code web site.  With Friday, December 18th being our last day before break and the opening day of the Star Wars movie, it might be a fun learning experience for your students to work through the Star Wars coding module. The modules are self-paced, easy to navigate and best of all you do not need to know code to enjoy working through the activities.

If you decide to introduce your students to the site for the first time, have them choose to build with Blocks. The site provides all the directions and navigation from there on. Have fun learning!

https://code.org/starwars

Revised Ohio Technology Learning Standards are open for public comment

The revised Ohio Technology Learning Standards are now open for public comment. Please click here to participate in the online review of the draft standards. Ohio educators from all content areas and the public are invited to participate. The survey will remain open through December 31, 2015.

We appreciate your feedback!

Connecting Outside the Classroom

How Tech Tools Help Us Learn Together Globally

A Walnut Springs student conducts an interview with a researcher at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK.  See below for the 7th grader's comments on the project and click the link to watch the interview.

In looking for an interview for my National History Day 

project, I contacted the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK.  I spent 30 minutes in a Skype Interview.  We used an iPad, a microphone, and a camera to record the session.  Through this process I experienced a connection from halfway around the world and I met a professional in the field of my research.  She shared interesting facts that I would not have found otherwise.

Brendan Smucker

7th Grade

Walnut Springs Middle School

Click here to view the interview:

Brendan Smucker conducts an interview with the Scott Polar Research Institute 

#WestervilleWay

If you are not using Google Maps to teach Geography, why not?

I found this short article, "Explore Machu Picchu in Google Maps and the Google Cultural Institute,"from Richard Byrne about Google Maps and more specifically Google Street View.  If you go to Google Street View you will find 360 degree views of locations from around the World.  If you have not looked at this, it will amaze you.  There are image collections from over 65 countries including Loch Ness, Northern Lights in Finland, Taj Mahal and even under the oceans of the World.  It is a phenomenal collection and paired with Google Maps a powerful resource to teach Geography.  

3 Tools to Video Conference

As we work through the Teaching and Learning Roadmap, I am continually looking for more opportunities to connect with the outside world.  Over the past several weeks I have seen Westerville teachers and students connecting with a weatherman in Texas, Marzetti Dressing and with a classroom in China. The connections have provided students with opportunities to ask questions of experts, gain new perspectives and hold conversations with other students from around the world.
Below is a list of things to remember when connecting to an outside resource and three excellent choices in our district to support your connections. These are not the only choices but we have tested these connections and they work well within our network. 

Things to Remember when connecting outside our district:

1. Test your connection to the other site with microphone, speaker and projector before the video call.
2. On a Chromebook the microphone is built in.
3. On a desktop, an external microphone will be needed if your students will be interacting with the connection site. Contact your WCSOH EdTech Coach if you need a microphone.
4. Mute your microphone when on the conference call. Unmute when necessary.
5. Make sure the lights are on and sunlight is not behind you.
6. Position the camera at eye level.
7. Look at the camera when talking.
8. Speak up
9. Introduce yourself before talking.
10. If more than one site, give your name and location before speaking.
11. If more than one site, direct your question to a specific site.
12. Set up a backchannel to communicate with the other group you are trying to connect with.

Three Great Tools to Video Conference

1. Google Hangouts -Works with our desktops(remember to connect an external microphone) and Chromebooks.  Check out "How Educators and Schools can Make the Most out of Google hangouts," for a great description of how teachers are using Hangouts with their classroom. After reading the article join the Google Hangouts in Education Community or Mystery Hangout.  Here you will find teachers from all over the world looking for classrooms to connect with and your students.  If you need assistance setting this up, contact your WCSOHEdTech Coach.

2. Skype in the Classroom - Skype only works with our desktop computers. Again, please remember to use a microphone if you plan to have your students talk during your connection.  Start by reading "Skype Connects Classrooms with Field Trips Around the World."  The article explains how classrooms are connecting around the world and gives links to make connections with teachers.  Check out Sypke Field Trips and Mystery Skypes when you are ready to begin Skyping with other classrooms.

3. Big Blue Button in Schoology - Big Blue Button is the video conference tool provided to all Schoology Enterprise districts. It works on both desktops and Chromebooks. Using Big Blue Button allows a teacher to set up conference calls with other Schoology classrooms.  The nice part is that students can enter the call on their own using their Chromebook but cannot create their own video conference call.  This allows the teacher to create small group calls and assign students to the group call. This is great for classroom to classroom collaboration. Here is directions how to use Schoology Big Blue Button. If you need help finding other Schoology teachers to connect with, contact your WCSOH EdTech Coach.

Using Maker Workshop Theory in the Math Classroom

I was reading through my Twitter account last night when I came across this article from Mindshift, "How Turning Math Into a Maker Workshop Can Bring Calculations to Life." The article is a phenomenal read about how a Middle School Math teacher turned her remedial math class into a thriving student empowered learning community. The most fascinating line from the article to me is the teacher saying, “I didn’t know how to do it, but I could teach them how to learn,” when explaining the process of transitioning her classroom to a Maker workshop. Later in the article she shares her findings from her classroom in a report about how to start a Fab Lab in the classroom.  If you have a moment this weekend, this is definitely worth a read.

Uploading Files and Folders into Google Drive

In Westerville City schools, we are currently in year two of our Learning and Teaching Roadmap. The Roadmap is a plan put in place by the district to create a culture of 21st Century Learning. The plan looks at teaching and instructional practice as well as access and support in the implementation of technology. One technology resource we have adopted in Westerville is Google Apps for Education.  Google Apps for Education(GAFE) is an online productivity and organization tool provided to school districts through Google Education.  As we continue to use Google productivity tools, one of the first things teachers should do is upload their previously created files and folders to Google Drive. Doing this has several advantages. First, all your files will now be saved to the Google Cloud server.  This allows you to access your files from anywhere that has an internet connection.  Second, now that your files are online, you can take advantage of the wonderful sharing tool Google provides. Every Google file has a unique URL and can be shared with students, peers, community members or the public.  Third, by uploading your files you will now have easier access to sync and combine your work with other Google tools to build web sites, blogs, newsletters or anything else to support your teaching and learning. As always, contact your Ed Tech Coach if you have additional questions about how to upload your previously created files.

Read directions from the Google Drive tutorial here.

Additional Google Apps for Education tutorials can be found here.

Upload files and folders

You can upload files, images, and videos to Google Drive on the web so you can work on them anywhere and anytime.

Upload files

There are two ways to upload files to Google Drive.

Drag and Drop

If you’re using the latest versions of Chrome or Firefox, you can drag a folder from your desktop into Google Drive. You can also drag files directly into folders or subfolders.

Upload files using Google Drive

To upload files using Google Drive:

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. On the left, click New.
3. Select File upload.
4. Select the file you want to upload. To select multiple files, press Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) and click all the files to upload.
5. You’ll see a box that shows the progress of your file upload. To open the file, click the filename. To close the box, click the X.

Upload folders

There are two ways to upload folders to Google Drive using Chrome. Uploading folders is not available on other browsers.

Drag and Drop folders

If you’re using the latest version of Chrome, you can drag a folder from your desktop into Google Drive. The folder, all subfolders, and files will start uploading right away.

Upload folders using the “NEW” button

To upload folders using the “NEW” button:

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. On the left, click New.
3. Select Folder upload. If you see "Enable folder upload," you'll need to update Chrome to the latest version.
4. Select one or more folders to upload.
5. You’ll see a box that shows the progress of your folder upload. To open the folder, click the folder name. To close the box, click the X.

The WCS Learning and Teaching Roadmap (a teacher's perspective)

Read about the Westerville City Schools Learning and Teaching Roadmap from the perspective of Hawthorne Elementary ESL teacher, Chris Poynter.

Click here to see the article.

Comic Strips with Google Drawing/Slides

Earlier this week I had the pleasure to work with Jennifer Furey of ITSCO in Mrs. DeMooy's 5th grade classroom at Emerson Elementary. Jennifer led the students through a lesson creating comics using either Google Drawings or Google Slides.  Using comics is not only fun but it makes students think about how text and images work together to tell a story.  The finished comics can then be downloaded as PDF's or photo formats(PNG, JPG) to be inserted on a web site, tweeted out, added to a blog or embedded in a classroom newsletter. Thank you Jennifer for the great idea!

Google Smarty Pins Game

Students love learning with games.  Try out the new Google Smarty Pins Game! It’s a great Geography lesson.

Go to: http://smartypins.withgoogle.com/

Click the “Start a game now” button

Optional – Click “Select a category” to filter the type of questions. (History is my favorite)                 

When the game loads, you’ll see the question on the left.  Grab the pin and drag it to the correct location on the map.

.

Click the “Submit Answer” button.

If you submit the answer within 15 seconds, you get a bonus!

After 15 seconds, a hint will appear under the question.  .You start the game with 1000 miles. If you get the answer right, you keep all of your miles;  If you  “miss”,  the miles are subtracted from your total.  See the “Miles Remaining” gauge under the question. Keep answering questions until you win or until you use all of your miles. Have Fun!

Inspiring Students through Genius Hour

Today I was honored to witness and take part in a wonderfully creative and innovative student experience facilitated by Mrs. Amici at Alcott. She expertly led her students through their first Genius Hour providing prompts, asking clarifying questions and encouraging her students to push further into creativity and innovation.
Genius Hour is said to have come from Google as part of their creative process. Google encourages their engineers to spend 20% of their time to think about and create whatever interests them. In the classroom, teachers can give students a set amount of time to explore what interests them. They provide students with journaling and brainstorming strategies, facilitate the creation of driving questions, support research skills and techniques and provide students a place to publish their work. Students have the freedom to explore any idea and create any project.
Below are students thinking about their innovations just before they were given time to share their ideas with each other. We used a combination of paper and pencil to record personal ideas and a shared Google Drawing to capture the student ideas during the share out.  The video is what Mrs. Amici used to introduce Genius Hour.

The Hour of Code will be happening December 7-13.  This is a wonderful and easy opportunity to get kids involved with coding skills as early as Kindergarten.  We have had several WCS classroom participate in past years with a high level of engagement from students.  You do not need any coding skills to participate, just a willingness to let students visit the website and participate!


It only takes one hour to do the Hour of Code lesson.  If you organize an official Hour of Code activity at their website, you will receive a gift card to iTunes, Amazon or the Windows Store as a thank you.  Register today!
https://hourofcode.com/us


In addition, there is a local opportunity for elementary teachers to be trained in the elementary code.org K-5 curriculum, for free, at ITSCO on November 14, 2015 from 9am-3pm.

If you know of any teachers who would be interested in attending, please have them register here https://code.org/professional-development-workshops/5038620

For more information about the elementary Code.org program, please check out https://code.org/educate/k5

Tech Walk

Have you ever heard of a Tech Walk? We often read about the components of a 21st Century classroom and creativity is one of the main ideas mentioned. How do we teach and support creativity? What does it look like in the school or classroom setting? This week I had the pleasure of seeing one strategy to support creativity in action. I was working in Mrs. Griffith's classroom helping to create habitat projects using Google Drawing when she stopped her kids and said to take a 3-5 minute Tech Walk.  The kids then stopped creating their Drawings and moved around the room looking at each others creations. They were able to quickly see each others work, gather ideas, ask questions, be reflective of their own work and take back new ideas to include in their project. It was an easy, quick, non-tech technique to support the creative process in her classroom and it was extremely effective. Nicely done Mrs. Griffith and her students!

Why haven't you tried Google Drawing yet?

Google Drawing gets no respect. First, it is not listed as one of the first applications available in Drive. Users need to click the New button in Drive and More to find it.  Second, we tend to think of Docs and Slides as the go to productivity and presentation tools. I believe this comes from the years of working in Microsoft and making the transition from Word and PowerPoint. Third, users do not realize the tools available in Drawing. It does so much more than simply provide users with rudimentary drawing tools.

From Google Support: A list of things users can do with Drawing.

1. Edit drawings online in real time with others and invite people to view your edits in real time.
2. Chat with others who are editing your drawing, from within the drawings editor.
3. Publish drawings online to the world as images, or download them in PDF, JPG or PNG formats.
4. Insert text, shapes, arrows, scribbles, and images from your hard drive or from the Web to enhance a diagram or painting.
5. Lay out drawings precisely with alignment guides, snap to grid, and auto distribution.
6. Insert drawings into other Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides using the web clipboard.

Here are a few examples users can use in their classroom.

1. Use Drawing as a digital whiteboard.  Create the Drawing, share it with your students and use it to create a Sticky Note board, a graphic organizer, a timeline, or whatever you and your students can think of.
2. Use Drawing to annotate a screenshot.  Capture a web page or diagram from the web, insert it in Drawing and use the text, shapes and arrow tools to annotate the captured photo. 
3. Create hyperlinks on a photo or diagram.  Insert the diagram or create a drawing. Using the Polyline or Shape tool, draw a shape around the area where you want the hyperlink. Insert the link to the webpage you want to add. Change the shape color and line color to transparent. You have now created an invisible hyperlink for students to click on to find more information. Even better, your students can create hyperlinks to connect web sites and additional Drawings to present their work on a topic.

There are an endless number of ideas that can be created in Drawing. I hope you find Drawing to be as cool as I do and it becomes a valuable tool in your classroom.