FlipGrid Fever Ignite Discussion!

Ignite Discussion

There is a FEVER out there in the education world and it is with FlipGrid! This can be used amongst staff and/or students. Many teachers are also getting parents on board at Back-to-school/ Open House events or within class projects too.

• It integrates with Google Classroom and is simple to use : Pose a question and let responses fly!

• Book studies, introductions, get-to-know-you, goals, wishes, dreams, fears, passions, explanations, debates, digital storytelling, demonstrations, reflections, connections with others outside of class and hold discussions (start with another class in the district, then state, country, world!) and sooo much more. Check out 15+Ways to Use FlipGrid in your Class & Another 15 here across the curriculum. Our very own Sue Lehner planted the seed to us about FlipGrid and has many awesome ideas for integrating it into classroom learning adventures as well!

• Being on video can be an intimidating step for some students (and adults too). ~Visuals can be used instead. A student can use a still image to represent him/herself, a character, historian, concept/idea, etc. There are many options and the student still gets his/her voice heard... (You'll be surprised to see some students open up on camera though too).

• Some teachers set up Recording Booths in their classrooms for FlipGrid to be used on chromebooks, laptops or iPads.

Let us know if you want to catch the FlipGrid Fever and explore together. Keep in mind this is just one tool in your bag-o-tricks to incorporate into teaching & learning. Use now and then to mix up your format for conversations, spark discussions and empower student voice.

As always, Take or Toss.

Google Classroom & Forms -What's New (updates)

I'm sure you may be aware of many of the updates to Google Classroom since many of you have been into your digital classrooms already this school year; However, just wanted to share this post that highlights some of the awesome updates (to forms too).

One great thing about Google is that they do listen to feedback. If you have a feature that you would like to see added, be sure to give your feedback. We've had a couple of PG peeps say they received an email that a feature they suggested was added. Awesome stuff!

Take or Toss

Back-to-School 2017 Reminders

8/1/17

Hello Teachers!

Hope you are having an amazing summer with family and friends!

Archive/clean-up your Google Classrooms from last year if you haven't already done so. Let us know if you have any questions about this process.

1. Many of you may be sending out family letters, which might be a good time to put a little blurb about any of your home-school connection apps/sites (sorry if I'm too late). Whatever platform you use, it often takes some time to get parents to sign up. Perhaps via your letter and then another sign-up at Meet-The-Teacher will help.
2. Many of you may be sending out family letters, which might be a good time to put a little blurb about any of your home-school connection apps/sites (sorry if I'm too late). Whatever platform you use, it often takes some time to get parents to sign up. Perhaps via your letter and then another sign-up at Meet-The-Teacher will help

That's it!

Looking forward to seeing you soon. Start thinking about some of your goals regarding curriculum & technology ~ We'd love to meet with each one of you one-on-one or in teams to work towards achieving those goals.

Just a few thoughts to ponder :

• Classroom Websites (spruce up or make less stagnant > more interactive with live docs, photos, slideshows of work, surveys, student-generated news, etc)
• Going Google -Ready to explore moving from Libre/Pages to Google tools?
• Students - explore learning adventures for your students to create, communicate and collaborate.
• Going further with Google : Are you confident with Google apps and ready for more extensions and apps to rock your teaching and learning?! I'm in awe at what's available at our fingertips in the click of a button.
• Organization/Note-taking : There are so many amazing apps & extensions to help streamline your daily routine and save you time! Google Keep (notes, lists, collaboration) is a great one for both teachers and students.
• Interactive bulletin boards : Interactive learning stations, digital galleries, student book recommendations...
• Knock down the walls! Connect your teaching and learning with others in another state, region, or country! Get your students collaborating on projects, blogging for an authentic audience….
• Going "green" in the classroom? We can help! Digital tools to check for understanding, digital portfolios, student-created newsletters or teacher infographics instead of traditional newsletters, online galleries for families instead of work displayed on classroom bulletin boards....