Beyond Integration

Remember growing up playing with Legos or Lincoln Logs? Maybe you are one that still dabbles in building with Legos. Yes, we know there are many adults that build Legos and we are good with it. It taps into your creative side so we think it's great. This is pretty much what Minecraft is - a 3D world where our kids are building anything they imagine. Tune into the latest podcast episode and learn more about this game our kids are playing.  Available on Spotify I Heart Radio Google Podcast Amazon Music Anchor Resources: Podcast Transcript https://www.webwise.ie/parents/a-parents-guide-to-minecraft/   https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/about-minecraft

  Many Richland 2 employees had a chance to play around with MobileMind during our August in-service. The focus then was on learning about the district’s Responsible Use Procedures. But MobileMind is so much more than that! MobileMind is THE platform for any busy teacher who has a “need to know now” skills-based question!  Take a micro-course (usually less than 10 minutes) to learn… how to force copy a document for each student (so they don’t type on your master copy);  how to bring drawings / images into a Google Doc from Google Drawings; how to set up templates in your GMail or Classroom to save time when typing commonly-used phrases; OR how to use “Add-ons” to expedite turning a Google Doc into a Google Form … just to name a few! Not to mention: Learning paths to help you “Master a Google App” like Google Drive or Google Earth Badges to become a “Google Researcher” or a “Google Certified Educator!” Teachers can explore all that MobileMind has to offer by signing in ...

     As schools return to in-person learning, a number of feelings are emerging from students and teachers about using technology. One reoccurring feeling described has been exhaustion. An Education Week article and survey calls it "Tech Fatigue". 1  As teachers and students return to the traditional classroom spaces post-pandemic, one big technology factor has changed: Access . More students and families now have access to the internet through individual devices and with that access comes an open door to limitless possibilities. One of the rising arguments in tech exhaustion from teachers as well as parents has been the lack of guidance and boundaries for students in the new world of access and possibilities. This has led to the rise in digital misconduct. 2     Misconduct is an intentional word because many students don't realize what the appropriate conduct is as they discover and interact with the web. In the classroom, this is continuing to be a grow...

Whether you're just getting started using the platform, or you've been in for a while, watch this to see a few things that you may want to know about using Pathblazer. 

        B elieve it or not, students naturally possess the skills to process and think. They naturally explore the things in their world that interest them. 1 As an educator, part of our responsibility is to help them make appropriate connections and explore other connections and why they don't logically connect. Since we don't have the ability to literally look in their brains, we have to find ways and teach our students to demonstrate how their thinking is working. We often refer to this concept as visualizing their thinking. There are a number of tools that can be used to help visualize thinking, but I'd love to highlight VoiceThread.  VoiceThread provides students a number of ways to visualize their thinking. Students can use video, audio, as well as visual medias such as images and drawings. Because of VoiceThread's flexibility, assignments can be placed in a way where students can show process instead of just produce a product. Students can reflect o...

What is all this buzz going around about Roblox? What is Roblox and should I be concerned if my kids are playing it? In this spotlight episode, Amanda and Nikki discuss this 3D Virtual platform that allows them to share experiences with friends and play games that were created by users their age. Available on Spotify I Heart Radio Google Podcast Amazon Music Anchor Resources: Transcript of Episode Parents Guide to Roblox and How Your Kids Play it Safely

  If you haven’t been to Discovery Education in a while, it’s time to go in and get check it out again. They have really revamped their website adding different types of media, and readymade created activities to engage your students in their own learning, to virtual field trips. I can go on and on about the new updates. We will get into those resources in later posts, I want to focus on the video quiz feature Discovery Education now has. If you are familiar with using EdPuzzle, there will not be a big transition for you, as the process of creating and assigning a video quiz is similar. I think the biggest benefit of using Discovery Education, over EdPuzzle, is the fact it is free and you have unlimited storage space. EdPuzzle’s free basic plan allows you to store up to 20 videos before you have to pay for more storage. For our friends in our district, you would access Discovery Education through Classlink.  Once you’re in Discovery Education, you will click on the Quiz tile ...