5 Ways Graphite Helps Teachers Implement Common Core State Standards

Common Sense Media has been a terrific place for resources in teaching with technology. Their new GRAPHITE does a great job aligning apps, games, and websites to CCSS. Check it out below! 

5 Ways Graphite Helps Teachers Implement Common Core  State Standards by Amy Wilson December 11, 2013 Around the country, educators in states adopting the Common Core State Standards have expressed how important it is to be able to discover the best apps and websites mapped to specific standards. Here's how Graphite can help. Learn more

FREE Online Courses on Google Apps for Education

Great way to become familiar with using Google Apps in the classroom and recieve PD credit at your own pace, and all while in the comfort of your own home or favorite place to be!

Click on the offerings below:

• Home
• Internet 101
• Apps for Education
• Gmail
• Drive
• Chrome & Chromebooks

Online courses

Learn how Google apps and other web tools can help you meet your teaching and learning goals. Your educator peers have created a set of self-paced online courses to help you learn when it's convenient for you. Review videos, toolkits, and reflection questions to build your skills and confidence in using the right technology to meet students' needs for today and the future.

Trying to navigate in Office 2010?

Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010 and related products

Wondering where your favorite menu and toolbar commands are located in
Office 2010?

You’ve come to the right place.

What do you want to do?

• Use an interactive guide to find my commands
• Get a printable list of Office 2010 commands and buttons 
• Install guides to multiple computers

Tech-Tips: Caution about Software Installations and Updates

Thank you Ken Bolia for this helpful document:

"Generally the IT department grants the primary faculty/staff user “administrator privilege” over their assigned computer. This allows faculty/staff the ability to update software, add new software installations, and grants the ability to change computer settings in which they would otherwise be denied access. However, this level of control, if not used carefully, can quickly lead to an accumulation of various “malware” installations which pose a security risk to the primary user and the district as a whole. The following tips will help you avoid infecting your computer."

WRSD Best Practices in Software Installation and Updating

Free Computer Tutorials from GCFLearning.org...

Computers

Whether you are new to the computer, returning for review or just want to gain more 21st century skills, these free computer tutorials can help. From Computer Basics to Microsoft Office to Apple, here are a wide range of free technology tutorials to choose from.

• Computer Basics
• Internet Basics
• Email Basics
• Social Media
• Mouse Tutorial
• Google
• Google Drive and Docs
• Apple
• iPad Basics
• Mac OS X Mountain Lion
• Microsoft
• Windows 8
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Access
• Tech Savvy Tips and Tricks
• Information Savvy

   Reading and Math activities too!

Go to http://www.gcflearnfree.org/

Brainpop "Game Up" with Common Core Alignment

I'm sure many of you who have used the Brainpop videos series and lessons are aware of the tie to CCSS.  But did you know the "Game Up" section has interactive activities and games that reinforce the lessons and connect to the videos AND identify which CCSS being addressed as well?  Be sure to check out this section or the Brainpop websites either from the main login by selecting the "Game Up"  icon or follow the links below:

Brainpop -        Brainpop Jr -   

Many of you have received upgraded desktop computers in your classrooms with Windows 7 operating systems on them.  Are you wondering where has everything gone? Are you having trouble navigating through the menus and new gadgets?  Well, here are a few tutorials that may help you get started with this new look and feel.

Getting started with Windows 7

Delete you cache and other browser data in Chrome

Delete your cache and other browser data

You have control over your browsing data. This data includes things like your browsing and download history and saved form data. Use the "Clear browsing data" dialog to delete all your data or just a portion of your data, collected during a specific period of time.

Delete all your data

1. Click the Chrome menu  on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Tools.
3. Select Clear browsing data.
4. In the dialog that appears, select the checkboxes for the types of information that you want to remove.
5. Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data that you want to delete. Select beginning of time to delete everything.
6. Click Clear browsing data.

Delete specific items from your browsing data

Instead of deleting entire categories of your browsing data, you can pick specific items to delete. Click these links to see more instructions.

• Specific pages from your browsing history
• Specific downloads
• Specific passwords
• Specific cookies and site data
• Specific Autofill entries

Details about the data that gets deleted

Internet4Classrooms.com...Rediscovered for ALL Grades and Subjects

When I first started at the middle school, I discovered the website, Internet4Classroom,  as a resource for technology tutorials.  I recently rediscovered this website is loaded with information, projects, and lesson activities that are easily found by grade, subject or even common core standard.  The activities given in Internet 4 Classrooms are especially designed to enhance curriculum.  It brings together so many resources to be viewed in one place and groups them the way it makes most sense for teachers.

Take a look for activities that can enhance your next lesson by starting with your grade, subject or standard and see what you can find?

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http://www.internet4classrooms.com/
Internet 4 Classrooms ("i4c"), is a free web portal designed to assist anyone who wants to find high-quality, free Internet resources to use in classroom instruction, developing project ideas, reinforcing specific subject matter areas both in the class and at home and even for online technology tutorials. The portal is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages on six of the seven continents (there are not many classrooms in Antarctica) and is available to anyone with an Internet connection. 

What do the icons stand for?

To help teachers quickly find what they are looking for. Icons used on the site are to identify what type of information or file will be found at a linked location.

Icons used include:

	designed for the teacher		MS Word document		a lesson plan
	video format		MS PowerPoint document		a quiz
	something to print		MS Excel document		an interactive lesson
	sound included		Adobe Acrobat document		up to a higher grade
	added recently		something on another i4c page		down to a lower grade

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7 Habits of Highly Effective Teacher Who Use Technology

7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teachers Who Use Technology

Re-post from TeachThought Staff (Original Blog entry) 5/11/13

In most ways, teachers that use technology in the classroom aren't much different than those that don’t.

Any teacher worth their salt assesses, and then revises planned instruction based on data from those assessments.  

They manage their classroom in a way that works for them, create a positive learning environment, and (great teachers especially) collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to make sure every humanly possible attempt is made to meet all students need.

But using technology in the classroom–and using it effectively–might require some slight adjustments on the part of the teacher to sustain the effort, creative problem-solving, and innovation required to actually improve learning through the use of technology. (And great administrators, too.)

In this context, Always Prepped recently released the following infographic that clarifies some of the habits highly-effective users of technology might possess. (We especially like 1, 3, and 4.)

101 Ways to use Document Cameras in the Classroom

Several of you have been given a document camera to use recently and may be asking yourself, now what?  I'd like to share a presentation and resources that Bonnie Jean Kuras (principal at SCS) and I created for the Technology Days Workshop in June of 2012.  Although this information is easy to follow, I can certainly come by and spend time with you on making the most of your document camera.

This Google Drive Folder has many resources for ideas of using your document camera in the classroom.

The Best of the Best for Learning: Apps, Games, and Websites

Since many of you are looking for new resources to use with your projectors and whiteboards, I wanted to share the article and link below:

2013 ON for Learning Award Winners

Common Sense Media's ON for Learning Award is given to the very best in 
kids' digital media. Recognized this year over 50 apps, games, and websites that received our highest rating for learning potential.  To see this year's awards winners, click on the "ON" button -->

Additionally, the website Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/) let's you search for reviews on many other Apps, Websites, Videos, Software and Online Activities that can integrate technology into the classroom.  You can search based on age appropriateness, learning potential, topic, skill, genre and more.   

I will be reviewing several of these resources in the coming weeks, if you find one particularly useful to your specific class or curriculum, please share your thoughts and I will gladly pass it on!