A big thank you to Lois Lansing, 3rd grade teacher from MacArthur Elementary School, for sharing how she has used Skitch in the classroom. It was so helpful to hear her ideas about how she used Skitch and to listen to stories from her classroom. If you missed our live session, you can watch the recording by clicking right here:

Recording of TLP-C Skitch Lessons You Can Use October 30, 2014

Skitch is an app as well as a desktop application that allows you to annotate images   with captions, arrows, and other drawing tools. This is a great tool for anytime you want students to show what they know about an image. And, it is a great tool for app-smashing because the images you annotate in Skitch can be pulled into other apps or software or websites to create awesome digital stories and presentations.

Lois shared a wonderful lesson she did when she was a 2nd grade teacher. After spending a few days learning about erosion, students were charged with the task of identifying erosion around their school building. Students then used Skitch to annotate those pictures: using arrows to draw attention to what they saw, using text boxes to explain what they saw and using other drawing tools (circles, squares) to highlight these examples of erosion. Next, Lois had the students import their Skitch images into PowerPoint to make recommendations about what the school should do to improve the school and slow down the erosion.

As we discussed using Skitch, we talked about some good tips like:

• giving students some “play” time to take selfies and learn the Skitch tools
• be clear about expectations if taking iPads outside
• have iPads set up to email images to teacher to use the images with other applications on the computers OR set up Dropbox accounts on iPads for image sharing
• partner students to promote collaboration

Another great tip Lois shared was that you can use the blurring tool in Skitch to blur students faces. So if you want to post public pictures of students but don’t want them to be identifiable, you can use this helpful tool to do so!

Lois shared another fantastic way to use Skitch which is for highlighting text features. This was a really neat idea where students could highlight topic sentences, add questions they have, or even point out citation information like the URL for the website. More ideas that were shared were:

• let the students take the selfies and then label (eyes, ears, nose) in a target language (Spanish, French, Chinese, etc.)
• take pictures of student artwork and have students label skills they are working on (perspective, lines, negative space, etc.)
• have students make addition stories using counting bears and use Skitch to explain the addition
• take pictures of primary sources or maps and have students label important items

Have your own ideas about using Skitch or questions about how to use Skitch? Leave us a comment below!!

Join us this Thursday, October 30th for a great session on ways to use the app Skitch in the classroom. Lois Lansing will share some successful lessons she’s done, showing student work and exploring the best ways to use the app.

Already familiar with Skitch? Join us and share your ideas and tips.

Never heard of Skitch before? Come by and learn a little bit about this versatile and easy-to-use app.

The lesson starts at 4pm EST (-5 GMT). Use the following link to log in.

https://acps.blackboard.com/webapps/bb-collaborate-bb_bb60/launchSession/guest?uid=6ea0fbca-0459-4bd0-b427-16c3fd7113a3

Hope to see you there!

We are super excited to launch our 2014-2015 TLP-C. We are looking for some great teacher leaders that want share how digital tools are impacting teaching and learning in the classroom.

If you would like to be a Developer for the 2014-2015 school year, please indicate your interest here: Developer Interest Form

If you would like to be a Committed Participant for the 2014-2015 school year, please indicate your interest here: Committed Participants Interest Form

The professional development strand in ACPS called Teacher Leadership Program – Collaborate (TLP-C) is an opportunity to build and continue a community of practice collaborating, modeling and implementing relevant, engaging and innovative technologies in the classroom.

Each month we have a virtual meeting that is co-facilitated by ACPS teachers through Blackboard Collaborate, an online collaboration platform. Teachers present virtually on digital topics based on teaching and learning in their classrooms.

All teachers are welcome to participate in TLP-C. Levels of participation are Drop-in and Committed Participants. Drop-ins will attend sessions as they are able or can listen to recorded sessions posted on this blog. Committed Participants must be active participants in at least 6 of the 8 live sessions (active participants will be engaged in chatting, raising hands, active in polling, etc) and be present for the entire live session.  Committed Participants will also complete 3 reflections throughout the year and provide evidence of the implementation of the tools and strategies presented in the sessions.

If you would like to be a Developer for the 2014-2015 school year, please indicate your interest here: Developer Interest Form

If you would like to be a Committed Participant for the 2014-2015 school year, please indicate your interest here: Committed Participants Interest Form

Our last session of TLP-C will be this week on Thursday, June 12th from 4-5pm EST. This will be a very special meeting since we will be joined by Dr. Elizabeth Hoover, Chief Technology Officer for ACPS. She will share a few words about technology education. We will then have a lightning round of digital tool sharing!

Everyone who is able will share a tool they love and brag about why it is so much fun to use and the impact it has on student learning. We will have one slide per tool with the title and a URL with more information. It will be super fun to hear about more digital tools and to get some great ideas to investigate over the summer!

We hope you can join us!

Link to TLP-C June Session – Technology Round-up!

We were very lucky to have guest presenters Brandy Scott and Rachel Lorintz with us last week sharing what they knew about Doceri, a digital whiteboard that allows students to record their voices along with images and drawings. Brandy and Rachel are first grade teachers who have been using Doceri during math time as a formative assessment. Students record what they know about the current math topic. The best way to get a sense of how Doceri works, is to watch one of the videos their students have made!

Click here to see Addition and Subtraction Number Stories

Click here to see a student describing Shapes

Click here to see a student explaining Place Value

Aren’t these wonderful? What a great way to hear how students are thinking about math concepts and to understand where their thinking is accurate and what might be a little off.

Rachel and Brandy shared a lot of tips and tricks about what worked best with Doceri. Here’s a quick summary:

• Do it more than once! As students get used to using the app, their stories become clearer and easier to analyze.
• Model! Show the students what you want.
• Get another adult to help out. Ask your TIS, co-teacher or a parent if they can be there when students are recording. This will help, especially with saving
• Get headphones. If all 20 students are recording at the same time in the classroom, there will be background noice. Headphones for iPads will cut down on this.
• Set up a Dropbox account. One of the ways to get the videos from the iPads to your computer is to save to Dropbox. This will allow you to watch all videos from your computer instead of on each individual iPad.

Brandy and Rachel shared some great insights about the power of this app as well. One thing they both noticed was that students that rarely spoke in class did phenomenal whiteboard videos. Doceri became a bit of an equalizer, allowing all students’ voices to be heard. Doceri was also empowering for many students. First graders found tools in the app that the teachers didn’t even know about and improved their videos all on their own. What a great lesson for a seven-year-old. Finally, for young children that have a hard time expressing themselves through writing, Doceri gave them an opportunity to explain their thinking in another way. And for English Language Learners, this was a great way for them to practice their spoken language skills.

If you missed our session but want to know more about Doceri, check out the recording. Let us know what you think about Doceri in the comments below!

Recording – Show What You Know with Doceri – May 15, 2014

Let us know if you start using Doceri or how you think it compares to similar apps, Educreations or ShowMe. Similar things can also be done with the Recorder in SMART Notebook. Try letting your kids show you what they know!

A HUGE thank you to James Draper, GW Middle School Technology Integration Specialist for stepping up to present to us last week. Jim did a fantastic job introducing us to the many, many features of Google Drive and getting us excited about how we can use it with students. If you missed our session last week, please take a moment to listen to our recording. As with all things technical, we had a few glitches, so if you are watching the recording, please know that at three separate times the facilitators were all knocked out of Blackboard Collaborate briefly. *blush* Technology happens.

Click here to listen to Jim’s session: Recording of TLP-C Google Drive April 24th

If you were at the session and are interested in clicking on some of the links that Jim shared but didn’t get a chance in the session itself, here is a link to his presentation in…. wait for it…. Google Drive. As Jim shared last week, one of the awesome features of Google Drive is that you can publish your documents (or in this case presentation) to the web so that anyone with the link can see your work but can’t edit it. So, here is Jim’s presentation in slide only form: Google Presentation on Google Drive.

To review some other highlights of the session, we learned that in Google Drive you can:

• Create documents, presentations, surveys, and drawings that will be accessible on any device with the Internet
• Share your files with others for viewing or collaboration
• Review the revision history of a document to see who has edited it or what kind of editing can be done
• Comment on a document – great for editing and giving feedback to students
• Organize files into folders and use similar formatting devices as in Microsoft Office

In addition to having us do some “hands-on” activities in Google Drive, Jim shared lots of good links and ideas with us. One that everyone will want to check out is called Flubaroo and it allows you to set up Google Drive forms that will self-grade. Lots of teachers have been using this and found it invaluable!

Finally, you’ll want to check out “100 Ways to Use Google Drive in the Classroom” by te@chthought. In addition to reviewing the features Jim went over, it will give you even more thoughts about how this tool can transform teaching and learning in your classroom.

Thank you again to Jim and we look forward to seeing you all on May 15th from 4-5pm EST. Two amazing 1st grade teachers will be sharing how their students “Show What They Know with Doceri.” We think you will all love learning about Doceri and will see lots of applications for your own students.

This month our TLP-C session is on Google Drive. ACPS has begun introducing this amazing digital tool over the last two years and it has proven to be incredibly useful and dynamic.

Jim Draper, Technology Integration Specialist at George Washington Middle School will be sharing with us exactly what makes Google Drive so great. You will learn how to:

• Organize your digital files
• Collaborate with others on documents and presentations
• Create forms that self-grade
• Create lessons that make sharing, collaboration and revision worlds easier.

Join us this Thursday, April 24th from 4 to 5pm EST (Click here to find out when the event is in your timezone!). Use this link to participate. We welcome everyone!

Click here – TLP-C #8 – Google Drive

If you have already been using Google Drive as a professional or with students, please join us and share your tips and tricks. Hearing how other teachers are using Google Drive in the classroom will add so much to the conversation. And, if you have only a vague sense of what Google Drive is, this is a great chance to learn more.

What an informative and useful presentation this week on Digital Citizenship by Jacki Mechanic and Melissa King. Jacki and Melissa put together an impressive collection of resources for us and gave us lots of time to explore resources and consider the importance of Digital Citizenship.

To listen to the recording, click below:

Recording of TLP-C session Digital Citizenship March 20th

Melissa and Jacki began by outlining the different aspects of Digital Citizenship and then lead us in a discussion about some the reasons is it so important to teach Digital Citizenship. They also shared the relevant National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers that address digital literacy, cyberbullying and copyright information. We also discussed how important it is to model the same behavior we are expecting from our students.

Some of the most popular resources that were shared were:

Commonsense Media – has a K12 curriculum with lessons on information literacy, creative commons, cyberbullying, and social media safety. Also has great parent resources (including movie and video game reviews).

Professor Garfield – In addition to this website, there are four iPad apps that deal with Digital Citizenship

Netsmartz – sponsored by the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, this site has a number of activities that students can complete as well as a wealth of resources for teaching about Digital Citizenship

EverFi Ignition – a series of online modules that walk students through several aspects of Digital Citizenship designed for grades 6-10. See Heath Brown (heath.brown@acps.k12.va.us) to create accounts for your students.

The other fun things that Jacki and Melissa tried out had to do with Blackboard Collaborate itself. They used the web camera for their presentation which was super fun – nice to be able to see the people presenting. We also tried out the web tour with mixed results. Was nice to be able to start the videos all together but for some reason, it didn’t seem to work for everyone. We’ll keep experimenting with these tools to see which we like using and the best way to incorporate them into our presentation.

While we were a small group for this presentation, I think we all appreciated the chance to learn more about Digital Citizenship, to share ideas about how we teach these topics to our students and to explore the great resources that are out there.