Sep
27
2015

Getting Ready for the Global Read Aloud

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It is only one week until the lgraaunch of The Global Read Aloud! We were so honored that during this busy time, Pernille Ripp, founder of The Global Read Aloud was able to join us for part of our discussion of The Global Read Aloud. If you missed the live session, please listen to the recording here.

Recording of TLP-C The Global Read Aloud using Blackboard Collaborate

or watch here for video only

[kaltura-widget uiconfid=”11958342″ entryid=”1_29gjsjrw” width=”400″ height=”333″ align=”center” /] We began the session by describing what TLP-C is and what our goals are. If you are already familiar with us, you might want to skip ahead to minute 9:49.    If you’re reading this and wondering what The Global Read Aloud is, let us clear things up a bit. The Global Read Aloud is an opportunity to read a book at the same time as other classrooms around the world. As the classroom teacher, you decide how you want to connect with other classrooms. It is a great opportunity to give students a global perspective, let them write for authentic audiences and connect with a book in a powerful way.

It was wonderful to hear from Pernille directly about how she got the idea to create the Global Read Aloud. I think we got a real sense of her passion for reading and for turning students into readers; as well as a sense of how big this project has become. When talking about how the Global Read Aloud impacts students, Pernille said,

“It starts a revolution in their brain that all of a sudden leads to them identifying as readers and writers.”

Looking for advice about the Global Read Aloud? “Do it, ” says Pernille. Just get involved. Read the book and try one tool.

In addition to Pernille joining us, classroom teacher, Denise Radomski, also joined in for this information-packed session. Denise teaches sixth grade at George Washington Middle School and participated in The Global Read Aloud last year. Melissa King, Technology Integration Specialist, also shared her thoughts since some teachers she works with will be joining The Global Read Aloud this year.

GRAmapWe had fun sharing ideas about why it is valuable to participate in The Global Read Aloud. We also had loads of tips and tricks to share that will guide anyone who is new to the project. The best part of this program is that you can really pick your level of involvement. Maybe you’ll just read the book with your student and read what other classes are doing as part of their read aloud. Maybe you’ll find another class in another school that wants to share ideas about the book through Skype, Edublogs, Padlet, WriteAbout or some other virtual format.

Let us know if you join the project this year. We’d love to hear about your experiences, the excitement and the challenges.

Sep
17
2015

The Global Read Aloud

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globeSeptember 24th 4-5pm EST (-5 GMT) is our 2015-2016 launch to the Teacher Leadership Project – Collaborate! We are excited to be back for a third year and are looking forward to the amazing apps, lessons, ideas and inspirations that will come from our presenters and our participants. If you are new to the group, welcome! We know that you will enjoy hearing about what your colleagues are doing in the classroom. You will get great ideas about how technology can fuel learning in your classroom and we hope you will share your own thoughts and questions with the presenters. We are all learners in this group!

In addition to getting to know each other at our first session, we’ll also be learning about a fantastic opportunity known as The Global Read Aloud. The Global Read Aloud is a world-wide digital endeavor created by Pernille Ripp where classrooms sign up and agree to read a common book during six weeks in the fall. At our TLP-C session, we will talk more about how the program works, the experience of a 6th grade teacher that participated and plans for ACPS classrooms that will be participating this school year.book

We hope you join us to learn more about this powerful program! To do so, use the link below to connect. The link will be available starting at 3:30pm EST on September 24th with the session officially starting at 4pm EST. Can’t join us then? Watch this space for a link to a recording afterwards.

Link to join us live for TLP-C The Global Read Aloud

Check here to find out when the event is for your time zone.

Jun
17
2015

Kahoot, QR Codes, Gizmos and More!

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We had a fun final session of TLP-C the other week. We were lucky enough to have Dr. Elizabeth Hoover, Chief Technology Officer for ACPS, with us. She gave us a “state of technology” update. We are excited about the expansion of using tablets in the elementary schools as well as more robust infrastructure to support web based learning activities. If you missed our final session, you can listen to the recording here:

Recording of TLP-C Technology Round Up

Also with us at the Round Up was Yuan Gao who shared a fun online review style game called Kahoot! We had fun trying to play as a group. We then chatted about powerful uses for QR codes in the classroom. Thank you everyone who jumped in and shared their ideas. Caroline Doughty shared a fabulous app called Green Screen by DoInk. We loved hearing her ideas about how her 2nd graders proposed businesses for her economics unit with cool backgrounds. Sandi Slaven then told us about great simulations and online labs using Gizmos by Exlore Learning. Kyle Dunbar also reminded us about the Global Read Aloud which happens every October with classrooms around the world reading the same books at the same time.

Thank you everyone who joined us over the year whether it was for ever session or you just dropped in when you could. A special thanks to all our presenters, you keep us inspired and moving forward. Look for information about signing up for TLP-C 2015-2016 on this blog and in your email.

May
28
2015

Final TLP-C of 2014-2015!

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roundupOur final TLP-C for the 2014-2015 school year is  Thursday, June 4th from 4-5pm EST (Click here to find out when the event is in your time zone). We are excited to have Dr. Elizabeth Hoover, Chief Technology Officer for ACPS with us who will be giving us an update about technology trends and promising practices. The link for our session is

Link to TLP-C Technology Round-Up

We will be doing a Technology Round-up for our final session.  That means that several different teachers will be sharing a tool they have used that they think others should know about. It will be quick, 5 minute presentations, highlighting the best part of the digital resource and how it can be used in the classroom.

Come find out what other teachers are using or share a new tool yourself. This last session is always a lot of fun and will give you lots of fun things to try out over the summer. Hope to “see” you there!

Apr
29
2015

How to Amplify your classroom

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Thank you to Matt Henry, English teacher at T.C. Williams High School , for sharing his experiences using Amplify in the classroom. Amplify is a classroom management system for tablets in the classroom. It was great to have his perspective on what can be done with Amplify and how it has impacted teaching and learning for him. If you missed this session, you can still check out the recording here:

TLP-C Amplify Your Teaching Recording

Matt began by reminding us all that the first year of an implementation of any technology is going to have some ups and downs but that this presentation was going to focus on the best aspects of using Amplify in the classroom.

amplify1We then learned about playlists and teacher tools. Participants were able to see how a teacher can send out materials to students, freeze their screens and create discussions all via Amplify.

It was great to hear from an actual classroom teacher that is using the technology everyday. Matt was able to explain how the features work in the classroom and how he’s be able to use the features to really enhance the learning in his classroom.

amplify3Matt also highlighted an app called Sketchbook that he found very effective for non-traditional assignments in his classroom. Check out this great drawing he did! Matt shared that this is an excellent tool for visualization or teaching setting and character study.

If you didn’t get to join us, we hope you can watch the recording. We are also looking forward to our last TLP-C of the 2014-2015 school year on Thursday, June 4th. The last session is a Technology Round-Up where participants share a website, digital tool or resource they have been using. Each presenter shares for a few minutes and then we move onto the next technology. Please email the facilitators with your technology idea (Kyle Dunbar, kyle.dunbar@acps.k12.va.us, Jacqueline Mechanic jacqueline.mechanic@acps.k12.va.us, Melissa King melissa.king@acps.k12.va.us).

 

 

Apr
22
2015

Amplify Your Teaching

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Join us tomorrow, April 23rd from 4-5pm (Click here to find out when the event is in your time zone) to learn more about the Amplify system for tablets that is being used at T.C. Williams High School and in MacArthur Elementary School, Tucker Elementary School and Polk Elementary School. Matt Henry, English teacher at T.C. Williams High School will be sharing the fey features of the Amplify system that make using tablets in the classroom a powerful learning tool. Use the link below to access the presentation.

Link to TLP-C Amplify Your Teaching

amplify tabletThis link will be active beginning 30 minutes before the presentation. You can join any time during the presentation. If you can’t make it during the live presentation, watch this space for a link to the recording.

Whether you are just curious to learn more about Amplify or have been using the tablets with Amplify yourself, please join us and share in the conversation!

Apr
14
2015

Assistive Tech = Great Tech

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We were lucky enough to have Jennifer Holloway with us for our last session. Jennifer is the Lead Assistive Technology Specialist for Alexandria City Public Schools. She shared a whirlwind of amazing tools that can be used to assist students who need scaffolding, audio or visual support and other technology that allows them clearer and faster access to school content. If you missed our March session, please listen to our recording here:

TLP-C Assistive Technology for All Recording

Jennifer began with a brief overview of what assistive technology is. Jennifer’s definition is that assistive technology is anything that helps students access the curriculum. She also pointed out what a lot of us know which is that tools that help some students often help all students. Included in this is Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which is a flexible approach to ensure that all students can access content. The three principles of UDL are multiple means of engagement, multiple means of action and expression and multiple means of representation.

We had a helpful format where Jennifer walked us through some tools she loves and then we had some play time to check them out, bookmark them, comment on them before another round of great tools and play time. This was a great way for all of us to explore things more. If you ran out of time to see all the links during the presentation, here is a summary of what Jennifer shared:

  • GoAnimate – an animation site, sadly, no longer free, but a great resource!
  • Common Sense Media– a treasure trove of lessons on digital citizenship, also great for reviews of games, movies and TV shows for parents
  • Inspired Writing – organized by the writing process, links to dozens of resources to assist students with writing
  • ReadWorks – a series of lessons for specific language arts topics
  • ReadWriteThink – lesson plans, student interactives and print activties
  • WatchKnowLearn – videos on hundreds of educational topics
  • Shmoop – summaries of literature that can assist students with understanding challenging texts
  • GCFLearnFree – more excellent educational videos
  • YouTubeTimeMachine – watch videos from other decades! (In addition to finding good materials for background information, you might just have a really good time watching some of these)
  • Rewordify – allows you to insert text and have it adjusted to different reading levels, lots of options for definitions, word replacement and vocabulary activities
  • MathPickle – videos of students solving real-world problems (I’m excited to check out this one more!)
  • Graphite – brought to you by Common Sense Media, lesson flows that model how to incorporate technology
  • Epic! – hundreds of high-quality, high-interest, online texts. Students can select read to me or read on my own.
  • Pixton – retell stories or tell your own story in comic book format. Excellent site, probably worth it to purchase an account.
  • Class Tools – lots of resources including how to create a QR code scavenger hunt
  • UDL Tech Toolkit – Cool Tools for Schools – more links to more great sites and resources!!

We hope many of you find ways to incorporate these websites, resources and tools for your own learning as well as for implementation in the classroom. For more information, you can also follow Jennifer on Twitter or Pinterest.

Thank you again Jennifer! We are so lucky to have you in ACPS with us and we appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge.

Our next presentation will be on Thursday, April 26th from 4-5pm EST. Please check this space for a link as the date gets closer. The topic will be Amplify! Amplify is a table system that all 9-12 graders use as well as some elementary schools. Come learn more about what it is like to teach with Amplify.

Mar
26
2015

Weebly in the Classroom

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A huge thank you to Jacci Erney for a great presentation about how she uses Weebly in the classroom. Weebly is a website builder that allows you to create a great looking educational website quickly. If you missed our last session, you can watch the recording here:

Recording of TLP-C Weebly in the Classroom – February/March 2016

Jacci began by describing what Weebly is and how it works. Highlights include the many free templates and designs as well as the ease of adding images, columns and text. Also, by signing up for a free educator’s account, you get 40 student accounts. Students can then create their own website. Weebly also allows you to password protect student pages.

Jacci also shared how she has used Weebly for her own class website and for resources for her parents. Check out her class website: http://mrserney.weebly.com/ In addition, Jacci found she had a lot of parents asking about ADHD and strategies that she also created a website with ideas and resources for helping with ADHD. Here is her site for that http://helpforadd.weebly.com/

We then had a chance to learn more about how students are using Weebly in her class. The websites are password protected, so we won’t put links to them here, but we had a great time in the session checking out the work they did. Jacci shared that students loved the ability to create their own website and she found that their writing increased as a result.

For those of you in ACPS, please know that we don’t support Weebly but similar features are available in Edublogs, ask your TIS.

Thank you to Jacci for sharing your insights, ideas and knowledge with us!

 

Mar
24
2015

Assistive Technology for All

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Please join us this Thursday, March 26th from 4-5pm EST/-5 GMT (click here to find out when the event is in your time zone) for a presentation by Jennifer Holloway of the ACPS Assistive Technology Department. Jennifer will share a variety of resources that can make a difference for students with special needs. She will also show how these resources actually benefit all students. Hear her ideas about using innovative digital tools to get all students engaged and learning.

Use this link below to access our talk. (Link will be live 30 minutes prior to the start of the session on March 26th)

Link to TLP-C Assistive Technology for All

If you’d like to learn more about how technology can help diverse learners in your class, or if you’ve had good experiences using assistive technology, please join us!