Sometimes three means more than three. And it’s OK if I say that because I used to be a math teacher, and I know all about these things.
A note to all you amazing educators before I get started: I reference multiple tools in the bullets below. During our start of school PD you heard about many more. It is VERY DIFFICULT to absorb and learn a number of new systems at once. Try to add one new digital tool to your toolbox each quarter. That way, you will have it down and know how to get the most out of that tool. Don’t add things to your classroom just to add them. Your students will be learning the tools you like AND the tools your fellow teachers are using as well. It will get overwhelming very quickly for teachers and students alike. You’re doing a great job! Add things to your lessons when you are comfortable doing so. And don’t forget to ask the help desk if you’re stuck or book a jam session with Team Innovation for some inspiration and support. Also think about ways to add analog, non-tech things to your virtual classrooms as well. Everyone is going to need breaks from their screens during this remote learning landscape.
Without further ado, here are all the things.
- Nearpod Premium has launched for all teachers. You should have received an invite by now. If you haven’t checked it out already, here is Nearpod’s Resources Page. It includes live webinars, how-to videos and other resources to get you rolling with Nearpod. And as a final reminder, don’t forget Jamie’s awesome Nearpod PD from last month.
- A quick note on Help Desk etiquette – use concise, descriptive subject lines. In our Spiceworks help desk system, your subject line helps us help you. Be concise, but be specific, like “Bobby Student is unable to join Zoom calls” or “Flipgrid Canvas Integration not working.” Don’t be vague, like “computer issues” or “Internet”. Also, if we respond to you via the help desk system, please respond back within 48 hours. If all we hear are crickets, we’re closing those tickets!
- And speaking of Canvas integration. We have a few tools that require each teacher to add the tool for it to integrate properly in Canvas, like Flipgrid. For those tools, I can’t do it at the admin level. Here is a Canvas LTI cheat sheet (expanded info from the COVID resources sheet we shared last spring). The sheet now includes info for many of the tools we promote and how to use them within Canvas. FYI, LTI stands for Learning Tools Interoperability, which is a coding standard for ed tech tools to communicate and integrate with one another.
- Insert Learning – we now have a school subscription to this tool as well. Teachers can go here to get started. Insert Learning allows you to annotate and markup any webpage thus turning it into an interactive lesson. Works best with the Insert Learning Chrome Extension. A good place to get started with this resource is their YouTube page.
- GoGuardian Co-Teachers should now be working. We synchronize your rosters for GG through yet another tool called Clever. Huge shoutout to April for finding how to add co-teachers in Clever which then populates them in GoGuardian. We weren’t able to do this last year. If you have never used GoGuardian and would like help getting started, email the helpdesk and we’ll schedule a session. You can check out GG’s teacher support page for tips and help articles.
- Parent Resources – I am compiling Parent Resources for our families and hope to send them out early next week. Included in the blast will be instructions for accessing Canvas, the current process for updating their contact info with us, basic at-home tech troubleshooting (reboot, reboot, reboot), etc. I will copy all staff when I send that out so everyone can support that process as a unified team.
Thanks for all your help and patience so far. Based on many other reports from family, friends and neighbors, we’ve started the year pretty smoothly all in all. That’s a testament to everyone’s hard work and dedication to the monumental task at hand. Keep up the good work and keep sending tickets. I lose all sense of self worth without them 😉