This is a log of our Google App journey. If you would like to write a comment, click here. Thank you, Ms. Edwards |
Journal/Blog
Grading Online
 Parents can create an account using their student's particular student id. Students also have their own account. Now it is easy to check for missing work and positive progress. Mr Erickson, Mr Johnson, and Ms Edwards all have trained themselves to use the program during the first quarter. By mid-quarter science, math, reading and writing were ready for student access. By Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences on 11/28/11, all three teachers provided instructions and ids for the families of our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. The program also allows for lessons, wikis, flashcards, quizzes, and more as assignments and links for students. Nespelem School moves forward as more and more of our teachers and students now find technology to be ubiquitous in their daily work. It's not an addition; it is the pencil and paper, journal and publication, encyclopedia and account book of the 21st Century. We are there: are you? |
iPads and School Improvement
Six staff members will receive iPads as part of our improvement focus. We will incorporate an app called Teachscape to collect data on teaching and learning in classrooms. Training is Wednesday, August 24th, 2011. We look forward to the learning, and to the other benefits of iPads in the classroom. What do you think? |
Celebrate Course 1
 The focus: Learn and Implement Google Mail, Calendar, and Blogs with an emphasis on family and global connections. Our Stories We learned mail, calendar , and blogging in seven one-hour sessions. The exciting part of our class occurred after each session. Ms. Sanger, Miss Wells, Mrs. Douglas, Mrs. Adolph, Miss Van Brunt, and Mrs. Armstrong-Montes would practice on their own by logging in and using the tools. They emailed, chatted ideas, created calendar events, and shared events and calendars. They organized their email through labels and filters and felt more comfortable each time. An emphasis on Internet Safety and Netiquette resulted in excellent discussion. After each teacher created their own blogs, they explored designs and gadgets to enhance the look of and information in their blogs. Most teachers have a separate calendar page on their blogs for their class events. During class, we customized the sessions for the needs of each teacher: some needed to learn to include pictures, others wanted to add to their calendars, and one already added links for parents. Blogs
Each teacher created a blog to begin a class newsletter written bi-weekly next year as we start a new year. Please look at their first issues. Note the similar addresses to help families remember: nsd + last name. http://nsddouglas.blogspot.com http://nsdvanbrunt.blogspot.com http://nsda-montes.blogspot.com http://nsdedwards.blogspot.com Please visit and comment ! Learning with Google Apps...
Envision a model for effective communication with staff, students, and families to build skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in elementary and middle grades. Email -- Email to families as notification of activities; contact authors directly or through websites; contact other experts through various sites. Calendar -- Note events; share and embed calendars in blogs Blogs -- Document classroom events; allow comments by students and staff Evaluate possible literary activities and/or staff/parent connections including management techniques to ensure successful implementation in their own teaching setting. Email -- Email to families as invitations or notification of activities; share sites to contact authors directly or through websites; contact other experts through various sites; use labels and filters to organize email Calendar -- Collaborate with others classes (ours or other schools) using calendar to plan/set-up shared events or meetings; embed calendars in blog pages Blogs -- Plan a bi-weekly post of class lessons and student work -- set a reminder in your calendar Explore each application through overview, exploration, videos, review/question, and implementation to build literacy skills and/or parent/staff communication. Each session includes: Presentation, Tips, Literary Connections Find pragmatic solutions to individual questions or practical problems of their teaching situation. Mail: Your own preferences, such as disable threaded conversations in settings; label or just search; call families through gmail if phones are out Calendar: Share/Add Events/Reminders/Personal and Work calendars Blogs: Edit any post (Settings--->Postings--->Edit posts) Follow-up implementation with starter sheets and tips to plan and conduct literacy/parent communication activities in their own teacher situation. An emphasis on Internet Safety and Netiquette resulted in excellent discussion. The Basis: Simply Said http://www.nsdeagles.org/home/technology-information/net-safety/simply-said Further Information  Further information about our course, including presentations, videos, tips, and literary connections can be found here (this site): Create, Circulate, Connect, Collaborate, Consider, Curate Staff and Students… for lifelong learning… Technology: greater productivity, meaningful data, empowering instruction and learning... What will our next course be? |
Tech Travelers
It's official: we've created tech travelers at our school as they trek through our Google Mail, Calendar, and Blogger to create, circulate, connect, collaborate, and consider. Our tired trekkers meet each Tuesday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM, taking on new challenges and overcoming tech fears. Each step makes us one step closer to confidence. In fact, look at our wordle for sessions 1-5 combined, to show how much we've grown. Wordle takes a group of words (our reflections) and translates them into a cloud in which the most frequently used words display larger.  "Login," "know" and "use" are now part of our tech vocabulary ! Look how prominant they are! Wowser to us! Check out what we can do: Our links: If you read the comments there already, you will notice links to two wonderful posts by Denise Krebs, a teacher who took part in a blogging challenge at Edublogs along with Ms Edwards and her students. The Do's of Classrom Blogging: Create, Contribute, Connect, Collaborate, Curate Joining the Conversation " Online we can all be on a level playing field. We can all make valuable contributions. Even the weakest writers can do the work of the 21st century when they share their own genius." Our teachers have created and contributed to the conversation. We step closer to a global conversation, a collaboration and connection that creates authentic learning for our teachers and our students. Soon our teachers will have "trackbacks" to their blogs when others learn from them. Another commenter, Nancy Carroll, recently wrote a blog post on Lifelong Learning that is pertinent here: Lifelong Learners Even though our teachers did not grow up with technology all around them, they see the value and need to continue learning with what kids today consider "natural" learning tools. As of this writing, another commenter joined my call on Twitter to encourage our new bloggers. Paula Naugle and I have shared many Classroom Live Eluminate sessions learning about technology. Paula's blog post, A Teachable Moment - Pay It Forward, shows how in one small classroom blog in one corner of the world, a lesson can be shared across borders. Class blogs do "Pay It Forward" through shared lessons and student successes. And sometimes our failures are shared as we reach an "Aha!" moment that guides someone else to success.  Thanks to Denise Krebs, Nancy Carroll, and Paula Naugle for their blogger courtesy, showing the power of our personal learning networks (PLN). And thanks to Nancy, Jama, Gloria, Kayla, Sharon, and Terrie for taking their precious time to consider new ways of creating, contributing, connecting, collaborating, and curating (Thanks, Denise -- those verbs rock!) Keep Trekking, Techies ! Cross Posted at What Else
|
Session 3: Chat,Picture,Signature
 Pictures, Signatures: Simply Said.
As we enter the online world, we begin to leave footprints of ourselves, bits and pieces that add to our personalities, connections, and dreams.
First we took pictures in Photo Booth, which is a fun experience. We added them to our gmail account so when we people see our profiles, a picture will appear.
Next, we added a signature to our emails; signatures are the bits of information that readers of your email may need to know: Name, Email, School, Address, Phone, Websites.
We tweaked our signature through the "Labs" settings so it is placed at the top of the email where we reply.
It was a fun session, and participants learned that "I like that this mail settings and Google Chat is not as hard as I thought it would be."
A few questions were:
One of you said, "We rocked today!" and we did ! Here's a visual of our reflections:
Thank you for your patience with me as I guide you; I'm still learning too!
 I'll follow your footprints on the Internet beach !
Note: all our presentations, some videos, the Tip Sheets, and "Assignments" are here: Important Documents
|
Google Sessions 1 and 2
Thanks for two great Google Workshop sessions ! Here's a "tagxedo" "Apple Art" of our reflections:
|
Google Contacts and Groups
We have finished our first Google Training: Mail contacts and groups. Teachers tried new tools and succeeded. Thanks to their willingness to venture into 21st Century tools, they will become experts and expert learners along with their students. Here's a word cloud from Wordle based on our reflections from the first session.  See you next week to learn organization: labels and filters. |
Google Apps in the Our School
How do other schools use Google Apps?
A January Edutopia Blog by Suzie Boss challenges all of us to learn the tools that students use daily so that all of us learn the responsibilities of digital citizens. In Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action, media literacy expert Renee Hobbs makes a strong case for deepening digital literacy -- not only for youth but for Americans of all ages. Boss pulled this important quote: "To fulfill the promise of digital citizenship, Americans must acquire multimedia communication skills and know how to use these skills to engage in the civic life of their communities."
At our school, we are moving forward by bringing media literacy to our staff and students through Google Apps. Google is more than email; it is a set of collaborative and communication tools that allow our students and staff to create and collaborate so everyone can contribute and learn, from any connected computer, any where.
We've been ready to roll since Fall, 2009. Several staff have created their own sites: Nurse, Sports, Writing, Science, Program Facilitator. Student work through Google Docs, Forms, Spreadsheets, and Presentations exist in their own domain requiring a log in. With new Superintendent John Adkins, staff have undertaken many challenges with NWEA testing, reading programs, math programs, and now a science curriculum. Mr. Adkins encourages us to develop a professional learning community. What would that look like? Google Apps provides the integrated online applications to do so.
Listen to how Google Apps changed the work of schools into professional learning communities. Large or small, rural or urban, schools every where build collaborative communities with Google Apps. Our staff have access to the tools needed. Let's continue our journey.
"Not just about showing data anymore -- it's now about teaching and learning."
How are you supporting our school, staff, and students to develop media literacy and global citizenship through learning communities built on Google Apps?
Not sure what to do? Try these:
|
Lyrics: Need My Teachers To Learn
Version 2 Lyrics: Need My Teachers To Learn 2.1 In the 27th row of her college class she was working real hard and tryin to pass She studied all night for the test she took but she couldn’t use the notes on her own Macbook He told em that notecards we all they needed and he wouldn’t change his mind even though she pleaded The dark red F was no surprise as the tears formed in her eyes She said kids are changing any fool can tell and the way that ya teach em has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In detention hall there’s a quiet young man, head hung low, with a phone in hand time to tell his parent’s bout the school’s outrage cuz he tried to post the essay on his Facebook page He was hoping more people could have read those words cuz an audience of one well it’s so absurd What ever happened to compromise he said the school should realize Aww those kids are changin any fool can tell and the ways that you’re teachin have to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In a third grade room in a tiny town a little blue eyed girl is feelin down she tried to bring her daddy to her show and tell he was gonna Skype in just to wish them well she showed em the camera on her Mom’s netbook but they wouldn’t let her do it on a school network that man in camo never called they got him blocked by a firewall I said things are changin any fool can tell and the way that you’re teachin has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn the world is changin like it’s always been and you gotta update software every now and then if you want to keep your version well that’s OK but there’s too many kids who need the tools of today it’s not a problem you can start real small and a baby doesn’t walk until he learns to crawl if a teacher’s not a learner till the day they die well then man I’m askin this well why should students try They need their teachers to learn We want those teachers to learn So come on teachers and learn I Need My Teachers To Learn 2.1 In the 27th row of her college class she was working real hard and tryin to pass She studied all night for the test she took but she couldn’t use the notes on her own Macbook He told em that notecards we all they needed and he wouldn’t change his mind even though she pleaded The dark red F was no surprise as the tears formed in her eyes She said kids are changing any fool can tell and the way that ya teach em has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In detention hall there’s a quiet young man, head hung low, with a phone in hand time to tell his parent’s bout the school’s outrage cuz he tried to post the essay on his Facebook page He was hoping more people could have read those words cuz an audience of one well it’s so absurd What ever happened to compromise he said the school should realize Aww those kids are changin any fool can tell and the ways that you’re teachin have to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In a third grade room in a tiny town a little blue eyed girl is feelin down she tried to bring her daddy to her show and tell he was gonna Skype in just to wish them well she showed em the camera on her Mom’s netbook but they wouldn’t let her do it on a school network that man in camo never called they got him blocked by a firewall I said things are changin any fool can tell and the way that you’re teachin has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn the world is changin like it’s always been and you gotta update software every now and then if you want to keep your version well that’s OK but there’s too many kids who need the tools of today it’s not a problem you can start real small and a baby doesn’t walk until he learns to crawl if a teacher’s not a learner till the day they die well then man I’m askin this well why should students try They need their teachers to learn We want those teachers to learn So come on teachers and learn Lyrics I Need My Teachers To Learn 2.1 In the 27th row of her college class she was working real hard and tryin to pass She studied all night for the test she took but she couldn’t use the notes on her own Macbook He told em that notecards we all they needed and he wouldn’t change his mind even though she pleaded The dark red F was no surprise as the tears formed in her eyes She said kids are changing any fool can tell and the way that ya teach em has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In detention hall there’s a quiet young man, head hung low, with a phone in hand time to tell his parent’s bout the school’s outrage cuz he tried to post the essay on his Facebook page He was hoping more people could have read those words cuz an audience of one well it’s so absurd What ever happened to compromise he said the school should realize Aww those kids are changin any fool can tell and the ways that you’re teachin have to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In a third grade room in a tiny town a little blue eyed girl is feelin down she tried to bring her daddy to her show and tell he was gonna Skype in just to wish them well she showed em the camera on her Mom’s netbook but they wouldn’t let her do it on a school network that man in camo never called they got him blocked by a firewall I said things are changin any fool can tell and the way that you’re teachin has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn the world is changin like it’s always been and you gotta update software every now and then if you want to keep your version well that’s OK but there’s too many kids who need the tools of today it’s not a problem you can start real small and a baby doesn’t walk until he learns to crawl if a teacher’s not a learner till the day they die well then man I’m askin this well why should students try They need their teachers to learn We want those teachers to learn So come on teachers and learn Lyrics I Need My Teachers To Learn 2.1 In the 27th row of her college class she was working real hard and tryin to pass She studied all night for the test she took but she couldn’t use the notes on her own Macbook He told em that notecards we all they needed and he wouldn’t change his mind even though she pleaded The dark red F was no surprise as the tears formed in her eyes She said kids are changing any fool can tell and the way that ya teach em has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In detention hall there’s a quiet young man, head hung low, with a phone in hand time to tell his parent’s bout the school’s outrage cuz he tried to post the essay on his Facebook page He was hoping more people could have read those words cuz an audience of one well it’s so absurd What ever happened to compromise he said the school should realize Aww those kids are changin any fool can tell and the ways that you’re teachin have to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast but prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn In a third grade room in a tiny town a little blue eyed girl is feelin down she tried to bring her daddy to her show and tell he was gonna Skype in just to wish them well she showed em the camera on her Mom’s netbook but they wouldn’t let her do it on a school network that man in camo never called they got him blocked by a firewall I said things are changin any fool can tell and the way that you’re teachin has to change as well You might not like it cuz we grow up fast prepare us for the future and not your past There’s not one minute to burn I need my teachers to learn the world is changin like it’s always been and you gotta update software every now and then if you want to keep your version well that’s OK but there’s too many kids who need the tools of today it’s not a problem you can start real small and a baby doesn’t walk until he learns to crawl if a teacher’s not a learner till the day they die well then man I’m askin this well why should students try They need their teachers to learn We want those teachers to learn So come on teachers and learn Lyrics |
1-10 of 12
