Using Social Media Professionally

In today’s extremely social world it is increasingly easy to connect with family, friends, co-workers and the community. The good news is that this gives those of us in education an opportunity to communicate, share and grow as educators in a way that did not previously exist. Using social media to build a professional learning network (PLN), reach out to students and families and connect to the community at large is fantastic, but it is also important to remember your personal online presence.

Fair or not, as an educator, your personal life is on display a bit more than the average person. Personal Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter accounts can still be seen publicly in many cases and educators should exercise caution in posting, liking, sharing, pinning and tweeting. But does this mean you can’t have a personal online presence? Absolutely not, but it does mean that you may need to take time to adjust your privacy settings and be aware of tagging others in your social media activity.

On Facebook, for example, you might be only sharing with those you have approved friendships with, but do you know the friends of your friends? Chances are, you don’t.  While you cannot control everything, it is wise to regulate your personal and professional online presence by changing your settings, reviewing postings, occasionally “Googling” yourself and using professional common sense in what you allow to be posted with your name attached.

If you have questions or concerns about the privacy settings on any of your accounts, see your Ed Tech or check out some of the helpful links below. Happy and safe posting to all!

Facebook Privacy Help 

Instagram Privacy Help 

Twitter Privacy Help

Pinterest Privacy Help 

Photos for Class

One of the difficulties we deal with in using our technology to produce projects is finding appropriate photos. This is especially true in the elementary schools. It is not just finding appropriate photos as far as content, but also following fair use and copyright guidelines, and teaching students how to properly cite the photos in their projects.

A new website was introduced a few months ago that solves all of these issues. The site is called Photos for Class. Photos for Class was created by the people from StoryboardThat.com. This site is a great resource for finding appropriate photos. Here are the main things you should know about the site.

1. Photos for Class pulls it's images from Flickr. Now you may say, whoa, Flickr, have you seen the images you can find on Flickr, I don't think so. However, the Photos for Class people use Flickr's safe search mode to find the photos. They also use their own proprietary filters to keep searches safe. One thing that I really like that they do is they have a default response if someone searches on an inappropriate term. For example if you were to search for the term "sexy" on Photos for Class, the default response is to return pictures of adorable dogs (and they are cute). This is the default for searches of inappropriate terms. I tried quite a few searches and the lack of inappropriate results was impressive. One search term that I did use was "body", this search did bring up several images that were not appropriate. I found contact information and emailed the group. Within 30 minutes I received a response thanking me for the information and telling me that those images had been removed. When I checked they had been. They also told me about the Report Photo link. 
   
   Clicking on this link immediately removes the photo not only from your view, but from all future results. I found their response to my inquiry very satisfying.
   
2. Photos for Class only pulls from Creative Commons licensed photos. This means that the results you get from searches are photos that can be used in student projects without worry of fair use or copyright violation.
   
3. Photos for Class automatically attaches a citation to every photo that is downloaded. 

   

   Download result from Photos for Class

   
   

   The citation includes the photographers information so gives them credit, it gives a direct link to the photo on Flickr, and then it includes the attached Creative Commons license. This helps students remember the importance of citing all materials they use in projects.

This is not a site that will have results for everything, but it the results you do get you can trust to be gathered through a safe search process and will be cited appropriately when a photo is downloaded. I now include this in my list of sites for finding images when asked by teachers. 

Disclaimer:  Neither I or Photos for Class can guarantee you will never come across inappropriate images, but they do a great job of filtering and give you a tool to remove a questionable image, so this has gone to the top of my arsenal for finding photos for projects. The most important safeguard when having students search for photos, is for the teacher to be very vigilante in monitoring the students activities online. 

SAGE Writing - Are we ready?

As I watch students and teachers preparing for SAGE writing, I am reminded that we are really not ready yet, but there are a lot of great ways to get ready!

1. Use a whiteboard app on the iPads. Have your students write introductory sentences, then switch iPads. Have them continue through the writing process. The kids will get a kick out of writing together.

2. Use the website "Wonderolopolis" and use the day's topic as a writing topic. It can easily be transferred into a persuasive essay if desired.

3. Have your students use their iPads and use the camera. Send them out to the playground, lunch room, or other common areas. Have them take pictures of students following PBIS and students who are not. Assign them to use the writing app Pages and write a persuasive essay as to why students should follow PBIS and the effects of not following it.

4. Have your students use the camera and interview a teacher. Have them write using the Notes app about this teacher and how teaching has shaped him/her. (Explanatory)

5. Use Utah Compose on a daily basis between now and the test. VERY IMPORTANT. Kids need exposure to the tool!

6. Go in with your students into the SAGE training test at least once. Make sure they know how to use the tools, such as highlighting.

Most importantly, make sure they know that writing is a great skill. It can be a lot of fun and can engage them if given the proper tools.

Happy writing!!

Reading and the Common Core

There are resources available that can help teachers determine the reading level for a text that educators can use that meet the the Common Core Standards.  The Lexile range is used to determine the Lexile framework for reading.  The following resources are available that will help educators determine the Lexile range of published works.

Lexile.com
This is a free analysis tool to help parents, educators, and students measure the Lexile ranges of books already published.  This will help determine if books are age appropriate for students or if they will be too difficult or easy for students to read.  The tool basically matches readers with texts! Creating a free account allows users to create and save reading lists that been compiled based on Lexile measures.

Level It Books
This app can be purchased for an iOS or Android and returns Lexile information after scanning the bar code of a book.  The app also suggests a "Book of the Day" that students enjoy reading on a K-8 reading range.  Books are also suggested on a high school reading level.

The resources below can be used to help students increase their reading abilities and their Lexile Levels using the Common Core as a guide.  

Rewordify
This is a free online software that helps educators find text that is at a higher reading level for their students and also helps incorporate informational text into their curriculum.  Student accounts can be created along with word games and lessons that will help students increase their vocabulary and reading skills.

AbiTalk
AbiTalk offers a variety apps on the elementary level that will help students with their comprehension, phonics, building sentences, and vocabulary.  There is a Nonfiction Reading app that includes 20 nonfiction science stories and reading comprehension activities.  This is a great resource to help students develop their reading skills.

DoGo News
This is a site for kids of current events and nonfictional articles written at appropriate grade levels for students in grades K-8.  The articles are provided with common core state standard based activities and each resource also provides comprehension questions and a critical thinking challenge.

Evernote Peek

With Spring approaching standardized testing looms on the horizon.  How do you prep your students for the test?  Do you make reviewing the content you've worked on all year fun?  Evernote Peek is a great app that turns reviewing into a fun activity!

Evernote Peek is a fun tool that takes your notes and turns them into flashcards...but not just any flashcards. This app uses your iPad's Smart cover (if you have one) or an on screen version (if you don't have one) to display the content in sort of a game style format. It's very cool!

It's really easy to set up*.
1. Take notes in Evernote (on your computer, iPad, or phone)
2. Open Evernote Peek and sign into your Evernote account
3. Select the notes you wish to turn in to flashcards and it does it for you. Here are some tips on how to set up your notes.

One of the really cool things about this app is that it has the capability to add voice notes! You'll see a great example in the video below. There are also a bank of notes already created for you to draw from (like the periodic table, world capitals, etc.), or you can create your own. This app would be a great way to review as a whole class, or for independent practice.

If you were going to use this in an Elementary classroom for independent study you could set it up this way:

• Create a class Evernote account
• Prepare the notes ahead of time
• Have your students sign into the class Evernote account when they open the app
• Have students download your notes to begin using Peek

In a secondary classroom for independent study you could use Peek like this:

• Have students create their own Evernote accounts using their CSDdocs accounts
• Have students take or copy notes on the topic of study
• Have students sign in to Peek and download their notes to begin studying

*Click here for more detailed instructions on how to set up Evernote Peek.

SAGE Writing Summative Test

The time of year has come that we begin to look at preparing for the end of year SAGE Summative tests.  The SAGE Writing test window for Canyons School District is February 2-10. As teachers begin to prepare for administering tests, the EdTech Department has been working hard to prepare training and support for the teachers and students.  A few things that will help prepare your students for the writing test is Utah Compose.  Utah Compose will help your students learn, use and practice writing skills with instant feedback. Visit the department webpage or ask your EdTech for more information.  In regards to the preparation for the actual test, students should explore in the SAGE Training Test.  This training site will allow students to explore the format that most closely represents the actual test.  New features to be aware of include the dictionary feature and the tutorials.  The tutorial videos are a great resource for students to explore the question types.  The dictionary feature allows students to choose from a list of similarly spelled words as well as look up the definition. There is also a thesaurus to find synonyms.  More information will follow and include testing information on the English Language Arts, Science, and Math tests that will occur April 20-May 30.      

Timelines made easy!

I love timelines and maps, it's the history teacher in me, but they lack an interactive piece that my mind craves, it's the Ed Tech in me.  As a teacher, I used timelines all of the time and had my students create a timeline for the American Revolution and Civil War. Students can read a textbook but all of the dates will get lost (In our textbook there are 52 dates or years in the paragraphs from the French and Indian War to the signing of the Declaration), but the visuality of a timeline helps show cause and effect over time and increases comprehension of the topic.  No matter how great the timeline, I always wished it was interactive.  A timeline with large pictures, links, videos that added depth, and embeddable.

Thanks to my PLN on Twitter I found a great tool for making timelines, Timeline JS.  Timeline JS makes building visual and interactive timelines easy and its free.  It can pull media from twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, Youtube, vimeo, and soundcloud to name a few.

There are only four steps to making your timelines interactive (listed below).  The website does a nice job walking you through the steps.  If you would like help with step 4, embedding the timeline into a Canvas or a classroom website contact your Ed Tech.
    1)  Download a Google Spreadsheet template and fill out the spreadsheet.
    2)  Publish the Google Spreadsheet to the web.
    3)  Paste the "publish to the web" url on Timeline JS's website.
    4) Copy the embed code and add it to your site.

Whether you are creating a timeline for your students to interact with, having your students create their own timeline, or having your students collaborating on a Google Sheet to make a class timeline, Timeline JS makes it easy and fun.

My Sample:


Other tools that can be used for timeline creation:
Facebook (Article), Infographics (Sample), and Hstry.co (A vertical timeline)

Timelines are not only for history class:
1)  Have students plot a story your reading in class
2)  Have students create a timeline of their family or their future
3)  Have students create timelines about famous people in your subject area.

What are some other ways you can use timelines in your class?  Tell me in the comments below.