Spencerport Instructional Team
Spring Newsletter 2018-2019
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
Technology continues to play an increasingly large role in our personal and professional lives. Because it has become such an essential part of society, it is necessary to integrate its innovative use in education in ways that engage students and ultimately improves achievement.
The Spring issue of the SIT Times Newsletter will share some of the instructional resources, as well as current concepts and trends in education technology. Learn about some of the ways that technology has helped redefine learning. As always feel free to contact your building Technology/ Enrichment specialist to receive assistance in successfully integrating instructional technology projects in your classroom. The Spencerport Instructional Team
Spencerport Instrctional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
APP SPOTLIGHT Over the past few years, many teachers have used Schoology Discussions as platform for student communication in class. Online discussions, are a great way to engage students to communicate through writing by sharing their thoughts in text, easily connecting to writing, critical thinking and digital citizenship skills. YoTeach (http:// www.yoteachapp.com) is a free online backchannel tool which allows your students to communicate in real-time. Much like the now defunct TodaysMeet, teachers can set up a room and share the link with their class to discuss a particular topic. Student comments will be displayed in real-time and a teacher has the ability to moderate comments, save, or even delete the room. Unlike TodaysMeet however, students have the ability share more than text. There is an option which will allow the sharing of images or annotated images featuring drawing. To get started simply log onto the YoTeach website and start setting up your room.
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
ONLINE COURSE Last Spring, Spencerport announced the plans for Online Professional Development. If you recall, the online course model helps eliminate some of the logistical challenges associated with delivering and completing professional development. Rather than holding classes at a specific time and date, participants can complete an online course this upcoming Spring. During the Online PD pilot, four online courses were offered to participants. This year, there currently are openings to register for 5 additional Online PD Courses. Teachers can register and sign to take any of the courses below. Once registered, teachers may complete the course at their own pace, any time outside of the contractual day between March 1st and May 25th. After the entire course is completed, you will receive 1/4 credit toward in-service. All course participants have between March 1st and May 26th to complete an entire online to receive credit. Below you can find some of the online offering for this Spring. Click any of the links to register through Frontline. DIGITAL ASSESSMENTS WITH H5P: Digital assessment allows students to receive immediate feedback from their teachers. Digital Assessment also makes it easier for a teacher to have a self-paced classroom, which helps the teacher better meet the needs of all the learners within the classroom. In this first workshop of the series, teachers will learn the basics of h5p tools. Teachers will learn how to create the quick and easy assessment tools in h5p and embed them in Schoology for student use.
REGISTER
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
ES ARE BACK! ADOBE SPARK: COMMUNICATE WITH IMPACT: Turn your students into movie makers and designers with Adobe Spark, a free digital production studio. Adobe Spark allows students to create dynamic, engaging presentations that demonstrate their understanding and connect to an authentic audience! In this session learn how students can become creative content creators by using these digital storytelling tools. In this workshop participants will use Adobe Spark to create a social post, a website, and a movie.
REGISTER ONLINE LITERATURE CIRCLES: Are you looking for a way to transform your literacy instruction? Literature circles are a student centered approach used to delve into literature. Using a variety of strategies, students learn to unpack the depth of a text through rich book discussions.
REGISTER ONLINE LITERATURE CIRCLES 2: *There is no prerequisite for this workshop.* Are you looking to revive your literature circles? Literature Circles II introduces 10 new literature circle roles to use with any novel or informational article!
REGISTER SCHOOLOGY 101: This online workshop is designed for participants who are new to Schoology, have limited experience, or just want a refresher for school year. Participants will learn about the basic features of Schoology while beginning to develop their course for the upcoming school year. This includes: Becoming familiar with the Schoology interface; Discovering the multiple ways to share resources with students (including website links, embedded media, files and video); Learning about opportunities for assessment through creating and scoring paperless tests/quizzes, assignments, and more.
REGISTER
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
FIELD TRIP TO A The students in the Julie Dallo and Nicole Marino’s co-taught 6th grade Social Studies class went on a field trip in January- and it didn’t cost a thing! As part of an introductory stations activity on Ancient Egyptian culture, students used Virtual Reality (VR) goggles and smart phones to tour a tomb that is over 3,500 years old! The VR station had students looking at archaeologists digging up mummies in tombs, and walking through a tomb with lots of hieroglyphics on the wall. The purpose was to give the students a more in depth schema of Egyptian culture using VR to make a firsthand experience. Nicole said, “Students often forget that the pyramids were actually used as tombs, and not religious prayer structure, so this activity also helped reinforce that information. Ultimately, Julie and I wanted to spark enthusiasm, and using the VR headsets was a way to expose students to a tool they haven't used before.”
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
ANCIENT EGYPT
The VR goggles were all of the “cardboard” variety and were prizes won by different teachers at EdCamps, Power Hours, and other events. Google Cardboard headsets are built out of simple, low-cost components. The headset specifications were designed by Google, which made the list of parts, schematics, and assembly instructions freely available on their website, allowing people to assemble Cardboard themselves from readily available parts. Once the kit is assembled, a smartphone is inserted in the back of the device and held in place by the selected fastening device. A Google Cardboard– compatible app splits the smartphone display image into two, one for each eye, while also applying barrel distortion to each image to counter pincushion distortion from the lenses.The result is a stereoscopic image with a wide field of view. The phones used were all student devices on the BYOD network accessing YouTube. There was enough phones in the class to allow for each student to have 1:1 access to goggles as they visited this station. Many YouTube 360 videos have a VR toggle to allow true 3-dimensional viewing in a headset.
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
STUDENTS VIDEOS HELP IN Last fall, the SIT Times shared WeVideo a new cloud-based editing software available for High School students. As you might recall there were several positive attributes for using this platform to complete collaborative student video projects.
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Recently, students in Thomas Kanaley’s Principles of Marketing course had the opportunity to use WeVideo to not only complete an innovative video project, but also one that communicated important information for all shareholders in the district. Educators and other school related staff are very much aware of the numerous policies and procedures designed to improve overall safety for all members. It is important to share the many ways that Spencerport is working to build a safe school culture. With the help of Spencerport Communication Specialist Lanette Cypher, Mr. Kanaley created an assignment where students would create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to reach community members and families. Their goal was to explain the policies and procedures that the High School utilizes in conjunction with the Ogden Police Department, to ensure a safe educational environment. In order to accomplish this task, students worked in groups and utilized WeVideo for the shooting and editing of their work The process began with developing a slogan and storyboard on procedures which emphasized school safety (lockdowns, fire drills, ear buds in the hall, entry into the building, and overall building security). Groups then developed a pitch and shared their suggested PSA idea to an audience of not only Mr. Kanaley and Mrs. Cypher, but also Superintendent Dan Milgate, Odgen Police Chief Chris Mears, and High School Principal Sean McCabe. This committee provided each group with some helpful feedback and after their evaluations, students further developed their storyboards.
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
NFORM THE COMMUNITY With their concept solidified, students then filmed their actual PSA’s. Groups utilized their smart phones and the WeVideo mobile app, to capture most of the footage. This app also allowed their video clips to sync directly into the WeVideo cloud. Once they were finished filming, rather than editing on their phone’s small screen, they were able to edit through WeVideo from their school laptop. The editing process included selecting video clips, trimming footage, adding graphics and titles, as well as recording voiceovers and inserting music. Upon completion, students exported their work to a digital video file and submitted for review into Schoology as an assignment. The students loved the ability to develop their own ideas and turn them into actual films. It allowed them to be the directs and producers of their own ideas. This assignment also placed a high emphasis on collaboration and self-sufficiency, as Mr.Kanaley made sure not to look at the films during the production so as not to influence the final project. The final products turned out so well, that Mrs. Cypher will be sharing their work through the district’s social media account. In fact, in the future the district will replicate this process into a new series of PSA’s on other safety-related topics. This will allow the community to understand the policies and procedures that are embedded into school culture.
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
ELEMENTARY ARCH Walk by the computer lab this winter and you will not see students practicing their keyboarding skills or coding. Students in fourth grade technology classes are doing an archaeological investigation. They are using their powers of observation and collaboration to determine what might have been on a spot in Portageville, NY long before a family started farming there. In this engaging simulation, students learn what archaeologists do to determine if a site has historical importance.
Based on physical evidence they find on the surface of the ground – some limestone slabs, coins, nails, and part of a doll - they choose areas to “dig.” They look under the surface at soil compaction, post mold, and other patterns and discuss what that means about the land use in the past.
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
HEAOLOGISTS! Students use hand lenses, old catalogs, and the Internet to analyze artifacts. As the investigation continues, they examine historical and contemporary maps, study historical structures, and read a memoir of one farm boy’s life. They record their data in PowerPoint presentations to share with others. As they share, students compare their ideas and evidence, so the entire class can agree on one conclusion about what was on this site.
This experiential activity encourages students to construct and verify hypotheses with their groups. They practice future ready skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and technology integration. Students learn to figure things out for themselves. And have fun doing it!
Spencerport Instructional Team Newsletter
Spring 2018-2019
DON’T JUST TYPE YOUR WORDS‌..TALK In 2019, voice recognition technology is becoming a frequently used feature on many of our devices. Everything including phones, cars, and televisions are including digital virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. The ability to speak commands as opposed to typing them, can help make us more productive.
Recently, Microsoft announced a new Dictation function in the Office 365 apps which hopefully also increase the productivity of teachers, students, and staff in Spencerport. You will now notice a Dictation button on the Office Apps which allows users to speak their words, as opposed to typing them in.
This can be extremely helpful for several different reasons. Some students have difficulties typing for a variety of reasons. The ability to translate their words into text, can assist their ability to communicate by eliminating the need to type out their thoughts.
Teachers and staff members may also find the Dictation feature beneficial as well. If you have ever had to transcribe handwritten notes or older documents, it can be quite an arduous task. Dictating your text, as opposed to typing it out, can save a lot of time.