Store It, Don’t Ignore It

The year is winding down and many of you have been saying, “Wow.  There is a lot of technology in my classroom.  What do I do with it over the summer?  What is the best way to store it all?  What about my favorites in Internet Explorer?  Will my iTunes files be safe?  What if I want to access the documents on my H:/ Drive while I’m at home?”

Here at the iCafe we want to make sure your equipment and information are as safe as possible over the summer months, so we’ve developed a few checklists and cheatsheets to help you prepare the technology in your classroom for those long, glorious summer months. We recommend that you read each piece below, but if your are looking or a specific part of this post, click on the main point below to be taken directly to that section!

• Backing up your files
• Files on your H:/ Drive
• Saving your Internet Favorites
• Storing your technology equipment
• Technology Checklist

Your computer’s new “image”

Let’s start with your computers.  The district may re-image your classroom computers or laptops over the summer.  What does that mean?  It means EVERYTHING you have saved on your computer will be erased.  Gone, see ya, hasta la vista baby!  So before you leave campus for the summer, be sure to back-up or save any files on your desktop or in your “My Document” libraries to your H:/ Drive, a flash drive, or free online storage such as Dropbox, Google Docs or SkyDrive.

I need something from my H:/ Drive!

What about your H:/ Drive?  There are times you would love to access it during the summer. This would be a great time to start moving all your files to your Web Locker or Edmodo Library so you can access them from anywhere you have internet, but maybe you’re running short on time.  Burn the information onto a cd or two now, and then work on the file transfer over the summer from home.  You can burn cd’s on your workstation using Roxio.  Check out our Roxio Cheat sheet to learn how.  Don’t have Roxio installed on your LCISD computer?  No worries!  Just open the ZenWorks icon on your desktop, click “All” and double click “Roxio” to begin installation.

Prevent “Teacher-Freak-Out” Syndrome

Most people remember to save any files they have on their computer, but Internet Explorer favorites are often forgotten.  Speaking from experience, I can honestly say that there is rarely anything more frustrating then coming back to work at the beginning of the school year and finding that all the awesome sites you’ve saved as favorites on your computer are now gone.  AAAKK!!!  There are a few simple things that you can do NOW to prevent a syndrome we CITS call “Teacher Freak-Out.”

First, you can save your Internet Explorer favorites to a flash drive, your H:/ Drive or other storage.  To learn how, check out our Saving Your Internet Explorer Favorites Cheatsheet.   A more long-term solution, however would be to move your favorites to an internet bookmarking service such as Diigo or Xmarks.  Once you’ve taken your bookmarks to the cloud, you never have to worry about backing them up again!

Your iTunes library is also something that often gets left behind in the “It’s summer, I’m outta-here” rush.  It’s now easier than ever to restore missing apps and songs from iTunes, but in case you’d rather just have your music saved on discs so you can re-load it, if needed in the Fall – check out our Backing Up Your iTunes Library Cheatsheet.

Hubba Hubba!

Finally, there is all the equipment.  With new images, new installations, construction, and folks coming in and out of your room all summer long to clean, there is always a great risk of items being moved or misplaced.  A way to keep that from happening is to make sure all your equipment is properly stored and secured.  A big item overlooked is the usb/bluetooth hubs for slates, student response systems, etc.  They are often left plugged into computers and lost.  Remember to store those with the item it belongs to.

Tech Check

There are many other items you may have in your room:  Flips, cameras, iPods, document cameras, interactive white boards, and student response systems, to name just a few. Storing them properly is a big key to having them function properly next year.  A good tip is to make sure removable batteries are taken out of any item you can to keep it from corroding.  You should also be sure things like Promethean/Smart pens are stored away to keep them from getting lost.  You’ll also want to check out our End of the Year Tech Check-List.

Have a great summer!

Once again Lamar CISD is preparing to deliver one of the most innovative, progressive professional development sessions in the country. During the week long INTERACT academy, 140 participants will dive deeply into strategies for great instruction based around Dr. Robert Marzano’s work, “Instructional Strategies that Work”. During the week participants will explore various strategies while being immersed in seamless, realistic technology integration. At the end of the week, participants are given $10,000 to spend on technology tools that best suit their teaching style and student’s needs.
Due to the nature of this event we receive many requests from other districts to come in and observe. While we LOVE to share this program with others, we need to stay organized! If you would like to visit during this event, please signup using the form below.

Event Details:
Interact Visitors Planning Guide
June 4th-8th (8:00-4:00)
8181 FM 762
Richmond, Texas 77469

Contact Chris Nilsson for additional details
cnilsson@lcisd.org
832-223-0206

Answer:  A PDF document, that’s what!

As educators, I’m sure you can imagine the benefits of being able to share a document confidently, knowing that the document can be viewed universally using Adobe Reader (free!) without parents/students needing expensive software installed on their computer or device! Newsletters, presentations, student information pages, handouts, worksheets, and other important documents (especially documents you’re posting to the web!) can all be turned into .pdf documents.

Ready to make your own PDF? It’s super simple!

 Microsoft Word 2010

First…Create and Save your MS Word document just like you would normally. Then… Click File Select Save as Adobe PDF Navigate to the location where you would like the file to be saved Save Wait a moment as the document is converted and saved Your document is now ready to be shared as a pdf!  The same basic steps can be used in Microsoft PowerPoint, or Excel.

Don’t have MS Office?

No worries! Simply install a freeware program such as CutePDF Writer. Once  you’ve got the program installed, click “Print” from any program and choose CutePDF as your printer. I know it sounds totally crazy – but instead of actually printing out somewhere, you’ll be prompted to save the document and a pdf will be created in the process.

Voilà! From editable document to pdf in a matter of seconds!

Below you’ll find a comparison of apps to help you determine which app best suits your note-taking needs!  Most of us here at the iCafe regularly use several of these apps, as the situation warrants.

T3 2012 – Mark Your Calendar!

We are so excited to announce the date for this year’s T3 – Teaching Through Technology – Conference. T3 is a one day conference put on by the LCISD Technology Staff Development team where teachers, technologists, trainers, and more come together to share ideas and learn from each other on how they use technology in their classrooms! The goal is to learn the best instructional practices for integrating technology in the classroom. So, here are a few of the details for you:

Date: Tuesday, August 7th

Time: 8:30 – 4:00

Where: Reading Junior High

Call for Presenters!

One of the most important parts of T3 is YOU! Without you, we can’t put this on! So, we need your help…we need presenters! We are looking for teachers or trainers that have great ideas and lessons of how others can be using technology in their classroom. It could be on a specific tool, a new way of tackling a skill through technology, or simply a discussion of how technology has changed your classroom! Visit the the session proposal page and send in your session idea! All proposals are due by May 11th. We will notify you if your proposal has been accepted on May 18th.

LCISD educators – are you ready to get your iOS devices off the guest network, and onto the LCISDiOS network?  CLICK HERE to learn how!

Felt Board $1.99 Designed for iPad Think of it…all the fun of using a felt board, but none of the clean-up or lost pieces! Thousands of combinations of characters, backgrounds, props, numbers/letters and more! Click Here to find out more   Project idea – ELA Individually or with a partner, have students use the Felt Board app to tell or retell a story. Students can save each scene as a picture on their iPad camera roll Apps such as Book Creator or Evernote can be used to record and playback audio of your students telling or retelling their story.   Project idea – Math Individually or with a partner, have students use the Felt Board app to create a “scene” showing objects 1-10 Students use the felt board app and label each scene with its corresponding number. Older students could tell number stories.  Felt Board has all basic operation symbols needed to act out number stories. Students save each scene as a picture on their iPad camera roll – later recording audio using Book Creator or Evernote app (or a wide variety of other apps with audio recording capabilities.)

StopMotionHD $0.99 Designed for all iOS devices with cameras Create stop-motion animated videos with your iPod Touch or iPad! Note: Your iOS device (camera) must remain completely still while all photos are taken Volume control on your Apple earbuds can be used as a remote to trigger the camera shutter without jiggling your iOS device Click Here to find out more about this app  Project idea – Cross Curricular Partners or Small Groups choose a topic of which to demonstrate understanding Students plan their animation using notecards or the Stop Motion Animation Storyboard Planning Form Students collect needed animation materials (paper, clay, markers) and create props/backdrops Make iOS device stationary Students use the StopMotionHD app to take a series of photos.  Props move a tiny bit for each photo, creating the desired animated effect. Delete unneeded photos within the StopMotionHD app Add audio from iTunes and narration using the StopMotion HD app Finalize video and share!   Not sure what stop-motion animation looks like, or how you could use it with your learners?  Check these out:

Tip #1 –  Don’t Move the Cheese.  Create a folder on your desktop and name it Video Keepsake. Save copies of all of your photos in this folder.  Do not move or delete this folder until your project is 100% completely finished.

Tip #2 – Animoto, Animoto, Animoto.   Be serious.  You don’t have time to load 300 photos into some software and then customize all the transitions, and mess with adding titles by hand.  Let a photo slideshow site like Animoto.com do all the heavy lifting for you!  Animoto will customize all the flashy transitions and make adding text and music a breeze so you don’t ever have to sweat the details.

New to Animoto? Visit Animoto’s sign up page for Educators 

Need to Renew your Animoto Educational Account? - Your Educational Accounts expire every six months, so you’ll need a new code to renew your account.  You can re-apply for a new code and extended access by visiting animoto’s education page.  Once you’ve received the code you have 1 month to share it with students and colleagues (it’s good for 50 accounts – Hello Student Project!!)

Never seen an Animoto video? Check out the memories Jane Long Elementary made during their 2010 “Pie In the Face” Contest:

 Tip #5 – Start Now  With a project that’s as close to your heart as this one is, you’ll want to give yourself enough time.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done plenty projects like this the night before I absolutely HAD to have them done, but it’s pretty stressful.  Do yourself a favor and start now so that you can slide right into summer without an ounce of stress – and earn countless “#1 Teacher” mugs, pens, and totebags along the way.

Recently, Janis Knuckols, Jane Long Elementary – Art Teacher Extrordinaire, approached me with the idea of having her students use QR codes to create a talking art museum. I immediately got ridiculously excited about the idea, my teacher-brain nearly spinning out of control thinking of all the great ways this idea could be used across the curriculum!

Think about it! Posting student work throughout your campus attached to a QR code that links back to a student’s audio explanation of what they learned. This same idea could also be used to create an indoor scavenger hunt, give audio directions for a learning center, create an talking picture book…and so much more!

Is your brain spinning too?  Ready to get started? Here’s what needs doin’!

Your Kiddos

Have your kids write about their work.  We don’t want this to be super short, but we don’t want it to be super long either…students are going to want to grab their audience’s attention and use great voice in their writing!  “Ba-da-bing!” is a great way to encourage this type of writing.  Here is a short Ba-Da-Bing! and Ba-Da-Bing Sample Lesson that will help explain “Ba-da-bing”, if you’d like to learn more! Feel free to use and share. This lesson and powerpoint were created by the lovely and talented Lisa McNally from George JHS. (Thanks Lisa!)

Microphones

Our district is lucky enough to have sets of microphones that can be checked out from your CITS.  Microphones are a very inexpensive addition to your classroom toolbox.  If you’d like to have  your own – Logitech makes several inexpensive versions (I have a $9.99 model that works fine).   Simply plug the microphone in to the front of your computer where you see the small microphone symbol.

Recordmp3

Once your microphone is plugged in, navigate to http://www.recordmp3.org/ and click to allow the site access to your microphone, and then begin recording!

Once you’re satisfied with your recording, click “Save Recording.”  Finally, Right-Click and Copy the web address that your recording is given.  Hang on to it for a minute, because you’re going to need it for the next step!

QR Stuff

Finally, it’s time to create your QR code!  To get started, visit http://www.qrstuff.com/ and follow these steps:

• Data Type – Website URL
• Paste in the URL (address) that you copied from Recordmp3 into the “step 2” box
• Change the QR code color, if you’d like
• Click on the “Download QR Code” button on the right
• Click “Open”
• Right-Click and “Copy”
• Paste the image into the Talking Museum QR Tracking Sheet

**If you have several students working on creating  QR codes:  You can have students download and Save their QR image into a folder you’ve created on a shared student drive, HOWEVER… you’ll want to have them name the file in a way that will make it easy for you to know who’s code is whose (tip…have them include their initials in the file name!).  You don’t want to have to sift through 35 QR codes trying to figure out which one belongs to each student!

Printing

Once your students have made their recordings and you’ve placed their QR codes into the Talking Museum QR Tracking Sheet, just print out the sheet (in color, if preferred) cut out each QR code, attach it to the front of the corresponding student’s project, and post them around campus.

Listening In

Once QR’s are attached to student work, apps such as Scan can be used on generation 4 iPod Touches (the ones with cameras) iPad2/3′s or most smartphones to play back student recordings.  Super fun!!

Scan FREE Designed for iPad, iPhone, or iTouch Use a site like QR Stuff to create a digital scavenger hunt for your students.  Link your QR’s to book reviews, Discovery Education videos, and other online learning tools…then have students use the Scan app to follow your digital trail! Click Here to find out more about the Scan app

Hungry for More?

The CITS team hase started a Google Doc listing ways to use QR codes in school.  Click here to visit the doc.  If you have other great ideas, please add them to the list!  Don’t forget to save this link to your favorites.  Happy scanning!

QR stands for Quick Response.  They are the little matrix barcodes you are starting to see pop up on advertisements, in stores, on the tags for a product, and many other places too numerous to mention.  They link to information about whatever is being sold or discussed.  By using a simple scanning app that can be downloaded to smart phones, 4th generation iPod Touches (the one’s with the camera), and iPads 2 & 3,  you can scan the QR code and automatically get information associated with that code.  A great example was when I was at Home Depot trying to decide what plants to purchase for my yard.  Each type of plant had a QR code on its tag.  By scanning the code I was taken to a website that told me more about the plant, such as how much sun it wants, etc.  It was great information at my fingertips.

This concept has made its way into education. There are many ways to use them.  I have heard how a school that is very diverse is using QR codes to welcome students and parents in their own languages.  They scan a code that is posted at the front of the school  marked by their language.  The code links to an audio file that speaks to them welcoming them in their language to the school.  They are also using the codes to provide tours of the school in native languages.  What a marvelous idea!

A campus I work with uses QR codes to link to their website and also to a form for their parents to complete.  Other ideas I have heard of are linking to formulas in math (kind of like an electronic tutor), linking to newsletters, book reviews, schedule reminders, etc.  Your imagination is the only thing limiting you here as long as you have devices to work with.

@JenBrewer04 used QR codes with her 1st graders to help review contractions.  She placed the QR codes around their pod.  Above the code was a contraction (such as can’t).  The students had to write what the contraction stood for.  They then scanned the QR code to check their answer.  When they scanned the code next to can’t it showed “can not” in text.  The kids had a ball on their contraction scavenger hunt.  What a great way to keep the students focused!

Bonnie Kocurek, a 3rd grade teacher, had her entire class creating QR codes for a review.  They were reviewing geometric shapes.  On one side of an index card she had the students write a riddle to describe a shape or figure.  They then created a QR code for the name of the shape and placed it on the back of the card.  Students can then scan to check.

@jenemitchell has been busy creating QR code activities to review for the STAAR tests.  It sure gives going over strategies and concepts a new twist!

We have started a Google Doc that lists ways to use QR codes in school.  Click here to visit the doc.  If you have other great ideas, please add them to the list!  Don’t forget to save this link to your favorites.

Ready to get started?  Here is what you need to know.

1. To create your QR codes visit a QR code generating site.  My favorite is www.qrstuff.com.   It is very simple to use, and it works on an iPad!  There are apps you can download to create QR codes as well, but this website works great.  From the site you can click to download the image and then save it to your camera roll.
2. Print out your codes and post them for the activity.
3. Have devices ready for your students to use for scanning the codes.  You will need to have a scanning app loaded onto the devices.  Some apps that I have found quite effective, and free, are Red Laser and Scan.
4. Get ready for the students to have a ball integrating technology into their everyday school life!