3 Tools to Kick Off the School Year

Earlier today a few teachers stopped by my office and posed this question to me.

"Joe, we noticed on Facebook you did quite a bit of professional development this summer. Name the three most awesome tools we need to check out...and Minecraft can't be your answer."  

Naturally, my response was, "Only three...and what's wrong with Minecraft? It is amazing, you'll see."

There are a ton of great tools out there for you to use with your students and I am a firm believer that one size does not fit all classrooms. That being said, here are three resources I encourage you to check out as the school year begins in a little over a week. While they are all easy to use, I have listed them in order from the quickest to most time intensive to set up. These are also some of the tools we'll be talking about in upcoming technology workshops.

1. Snagit App & Extension for Chrome

Many of us at Natomas Charter are big proponents for screencasting. It is a quick and easy way to create videos and basically clone yourself for your students. Every teacher and our computer labs are equipped with Apple computers and the built-in QuickTime Player application is a handy way to create a screencast (this tutorial will show you how).

However, what if you're not using Mac? Maybe only the Chromebooks were available for checkout or you want your kids to create screencasts and you have no idea what technology they have at home? Check out the SnagIt App & Extension for Chrome. This free tool allows anyone with the Chrome browser (Mac, Windows, or Chromebook) to take screenshots (photos) and create screencasts (videos). These files are automatically saved to a folder within the user's Google Drive account called TechSmith and from there they can be easily uploaded to YouTube or shared with another user. As you're planning out your year consider having students create screencasts to narrate a slideshow, explain how they pieced together an essay, or take you on a tour of their Minecraft virtual world. This tutorial will show you how to set up Snagit for Chrome.

2. Google Classroom

Is your Google Drive folder a complete mess after having students share their project with you? Would you like a tool where you can ensure every student names their document correctly and when the project is due you can actually embargo the file, no longer allowing the student to edit it? Then Google Classroom is for you!

Released just a few weeks ago, Google Classroom is an amazing resource for managing documents and student workflow. It is very similar to the Doctopus app/script some of you have used in the past, but the process for sharing resources with your students is much similar. Take a couple of minutes to watch this overview and tutorial video. You will be glad you did!

3. Schoology

Are you looking for a tool that will help you make outside-of-class work (aka homework) more meaningful through online discussions? Have you found that your teacher website is a great place for static information, but you would like a tool where students can submit work digitally or use online assessments? Then Schoology is the tool for you.

This coming year teachers in all five academies will be using Schoology in a variety of formats. For example, VLA will be using it as the heart and soul of their academy, PACT will be using it with their ProjectX, student-paced middle school program, and Leading Edge will be using it as a resource for extending learning beyond the traditional school day through online forums and discussions. It has applications for any subject and grade level and could completely replace your teacher website. If Schoology sounds interesting to you check out the Schoology page on the NCS PD Portal.

The Value of PD is in What You Create

I was lucky enough to attend this week's Google Geo Teachers Institute in Mountain View. My intention was to listen and learn. However, I ended up being reminded that it is what you create that makes pd powerful.

I car pooled with my colleague, Kristina Greene and a third colleague also attended, Peggy Chapman. During the drive to San Jose, the first day of break outs, exploring the incredible Google campus, and enjoying the heated toilet seats, we eventually moved far beyond the obligatory, "What did you do this summer?" and "How are the kids?" conversations.

Our conversation turned to our school's mission and culture. We talked about the incorrect perceptions others have about our practices and student body, specifically that we are a homogeneous population that excludes others. Later, we discussed how to create meaningful pd for staff that would support staff in serving students. We decided that an off campus, relaxed experience focused on answering the question, "What would happen if.......?"  would result in the most creative and collaborative lessons and solutions to problems. Sharing a hotel room that night resulted in  more personal revelations, that my husband was born in the UK and her husband's mother in Ireland.

The next morning, as we sat in a session on Google Maps Engine Light, Kristina and I realized the power of collecting data from our students on a Google Form and importing the data into a custom Google map when one of us asked the question, "What would happen if we had all of our students at NCS tell us where they were born? Or where their parent's were born? Or their grandparents?"

A light bulb went off in both of our heads.  Instantly, we created the Google form and custom map called "Natomas Charter School: Where are We From?" map. We filled it out for my son, a student in our home school program and her children, students at our Performing and Fine Arts Academy.

Then, we asked..." What would happen if teachers took it further?" English or History teachers could have their students interview and write about their families’ experiences. They can share pictures or videos from these locations. All of these could be put on the NCS "Where are We From Map"! I thought about the pictures of my husband as a child in England and the conversations that they would start between my son, his dad and his grandparents.The idea of a collection stories and images collected on a map instead of in a book or Google doc. will be a powerful way of showing our learning community's geographical and cultural diversity.

When Peggy returned from her session and asked what we learned, I realized it wasn't about what we "learned", but what we created that was of value.

We created the beginning of a shared learning and teaching experience for students and teachers across five distinct programs that has the potential to widen our view of the world and the view of our school community.

Tuesday Tech Tip #5 - Tracking Lost Apple Devices

When devices go missing one of the first questions we're asked in the IT department is, "Can you track it?" All of our school-owned devices have Meraki Mobile Device Management Software installed and this software allows us to do many things including track a device's location. It often comes in quite handy.

Did you know that you can do the same thing with any your Apple devices? Whether you own an iPhone, iPad, or a Macbook Pro you can track your device's location using iCloud's Find My Mac or Find My iPhone/iPad software. It's built right in and all you need is an Apple ID (aka iTunes account).

Last Monday I set up Find My Mac and Find My iPhone/iPad on all of my devices. This morning I was quite thankful I had thought to do this earlier in the week. In the midst of paying our bill and tipping the waitress I left my iPhone sitting on the table at breakfast. Naturally, I didn't realize it was missing for a good 15-20 minutes and we were on the complete other side of town. However, the moment I realized I didn't have it I was able to login to the Find My iPhone app using Kelly's phone and could quickly see that my phone was still at the restaurant. I was also able to send a message to the phone stating that it was missing with directions to call his number. Just a few minutes later after a quick trip to the restaurant the phone was back in my possession.

The Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac software will also allow you to remotely lock the device, play a sound, or just erase it all together. Take a moment to install it. You'll be glad you did. If you have an NCS Macbook or teacher iPad I would also suggest installing the software on those devices using your personal Apple ID. It is a useful back up to the Meraki software already installed and you'll be able to access the tracking software all by yourself.

A word of warning though - tracking software is not perfect. It only works if two conditions are met.

• The device is connected to the Internet (great for cell phones, not always great for iPads and laptops).
• The tracking software (Meraki or Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac) is installed and activated. Should someone erase the device the tracking software may also be removed.

You can find more information about Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac on Apple's iCloud website. Please let me know if you have any questions or need help setting it up.

Joe

Tech Tuesday Tip #4 - Backing Up

Back Up! Back Up! Back Up! No, I'm not referring to putting your car into reverse, I'm talking about saving your data incase when your hard drive fails. All hard drives fail, eventually. Unfortunately, sometimes they fail when you least expected it, your data isn't backed up, and you find yourself recreating files or hoping you have a paper version some place you can scan.

Here are some tips for making sure this does not happen to you.

Teachers & Macbook Users

Google Drive Sync Folder

Google provides every single one of our users 20GB of storage (it was only 5GB last year!) and anything you make in the web-based version of Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, etc.) does not count towards that quota. Believe it or not, this is actually more storage than we were able to provide users on our own server for many years. The best part is that if you install and run the Google Drive application on your computer saving to Google Drive is as simple as saving to the Google Drive folder on your computer. The application automatically syncs anything you store there to the Google servers. Should your computer suddenly die all you will need to do is run the Google Drive program on your new computer and within a few minutes all of your files will be restored. If you are a desktop user the Google Drive folder will also allow you to easily access your files from home through the Google Drive website (drive.google.com) or by installing the application on your home computer. This video from last school year will show you how to use the Google Drive folder on your computer.

Photos, Videos, Music - External Hard Drive

But what about my iTunes and iPhoto libraries? Many of us sync our phones with our computers or download content from iTunes to use in class. More than likely these file are way too large to save to Google Drive. If you have a ton of photos, videos, or music then you really need to periodically back these up to an external hard drive. This video will show you how. It is really easy to do.

Business Office, Front Office, and Clerical Staff

Network Storage

If you are part of our Business Office, Front Office, or Clerical Staff teams then more than likely you are working with data which would not be appropriate for saving to individual Google Drive folders. Please make sure that you are always saving to the correct folder in the NCS server. This data is regularly backed up and should a computer or hard drive failure occur the IT Team can easily recover your files for later use.

If you have any questions or concerns about backing up your data or just need a helping hand please let the IT Department know.

Joe

Photo: Hard Drive by Walknboston on Flickr

Tuesday Tech Tip #3 - Choosing the Right Device

One of the great things about Natomas Charter School is that we have multiple types of student devices from which to choose for academic projects. Between computer labs, Chromebooks, and iPads we have tons of options for student work. However, the choices can also be a bit confusing. In the past few weeks I have received a number of emails or phone calls where teachers realized that maybe they chose the wrong tool for the job.

This post is an attempt to clear up some of that confusion. The tables below are not meant to be all-encompassing, but some of the considerations you might ponder when signing up for a particular cart or computer lab. However, as with any project I strongly encourage you to check out one device after school a few days before the unit begins just to make sure it does what you need it to.

iMacs (Computer Lab)

Strengths	Challenges
Full keyboard and large screen Complete versions of MS Office, iMovie/Garageband, Adobe Can use Google Earth Students can easily access Google counts Flash, Sliverlight, Java all work	Not Mobile Limited Access Have to take kids from your classroom Digital projects (iMovie, Garageband) are stuck on that computer.

Chromebooks 

Strengths

Challenges

Physical keyboard and decent size screen Can access any online tool or resource Works very well with any Google Apps EDU tool (Gmail, Docs/Drive, Sites) Work is not stored on the device - kids can access from any other Internet-connected computer Flash animations and videos work well No apps need to be purchased or installed Easy to navigate - it's Google Chrome and nothing else. Multiple carts available for check out (outside of SBAC testing).

No Java Support Multimedia creation (video, audio, photography) can be challenging Internet must be on to work properly Can't install programs (it's Google Chrome and nothing else).

iPads 

Strengths

Challenges

Mobile Great for taking photos and shooting videos. Multimedia Creation - iMovie for iPad is very similar to the computer-based version. Can also do stop-motion animation (Lego Movie Maker) and short photo shows (SonicPics). Screencasting and Whiteboarding - ShowMe, Educreations Text-Annotation Tools - Subtext app, iBooks App Can access Google Drive and Gmail for limited editing and communications Touch-Interface for apps that allow students to manipulate data and objects.  Very small learning curve since many students have them at home.

No Java or Flash support Digital projects live on the device (and are accessible by other students) until complete. No physical keyboard, but this doesn't slow all kids down. Not all Google tools work well or work the same as on the computer or Chromebook Apps must be installed ahead of time and possibly purchased (one copy per device) if it is a paid app