Check out this month's issue of the Cadet Tech Buzz

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Google Meet has made some really great updates in the past two months that make synchronous video lessons that much easier! It's seamless integration into Google Classroom and Student Google account integration ensure that your Google Classroom students are in your meeting with their Google Account Username. New video settings such as tiling participants, recording meetings, integrated whiteboard, blurred backgrounds, and just released background images make it everything you need to easily host live classes with students. Additional extensions such as Google Meet attendance and Google Meet Breakout Rooms make it so you can quickly take attendance from your class and use multiple windows and links for breakout rooms. Google Meet Icon Source: https://icons8.com/icon/6GXiHvXGq8VF/google-meet

We are here to help! Here are a few brief guides to kick start eLearning resources in your classroom.



k 6 Digital Learning Resources by Jacquie Gilmore



7-12 Digital Learning Resources

Earn 200 points for CTOD On the Hunt by participating in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge!

The NPR student podcast challenge is back, and it is amazing! NPR is hosting an opportunity for your students to submit a podcast they create to be nationally recognized. Podcast topics could be embedded into the curriculum, Genius hour topics, current event-related, anything of interest or importance

4 Reasons to Podcast with students
1. Easy to do - Students can use basic recording software on their Chromebook or phone.
2. Portable - You can listen anywhere.
3. Students Own it - Students own the entire process from inquiring, researching, creating, editing and producing.
4. Students have an authentic audience.

Check out the deets here:
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/22/771843477/the-npr-student-podcast-challenge-is-back


Guidelines to Remember
The contest is open to teachers with students between fifth and 12th grades.
Podcasts must be between three and 12 minutes long.
Podcasts must not include music.
Students can work with a class or extracurricular group to make their podcasts.
Students will need the help of a teacher to submit their podcast. The entry form is open to teachers only.

Possible Prompts
You can create your podcast entry in any class or extracurricular group, on any topic. If it helps, here are some suggestions.

Tell us a story about your school or community: about something that happened there — recently or in the past — that your audience should know about.
What is a moment in history that all students should learn about?
Show us both sides of a debate about an issue that's important to you.
What do you want to change about the world? What's a big change that you want to make in the future?
Explain something to us that kids understand and grown-ups don't.

Check out these resource guides:
Teachers: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662116901/teaching-podcasting-a-curriculum-guide-for-educators
Students: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662070097/starting-your-podcast-a-guide-for-students

Introducing our new Instructional Technology Team/Department/Grade level scavenger hunt. Here is how it works:
- We release the tasks
- Your team/ department/ grade level completes the tasks
- You Earn Points
- At secondary the team/department with the most points wins awesome prizes and becomes the ultimate tech guru!
- At primary the grade level with the most points wins awesome prizes and becomes the ultimate tech guru

Let the games begin!!!!

Your first challenge and opportunity to earn points... Invite your Instructional Tech to a grade level, team, or department meeting worth 25 points.

This year we launched our new technology-centered professional learning program: There's a Badge for That! PD badges for learning and trying new things in your classroom.

In our inaugural year, we awarded 99 Badges... That is right, 99! We had 68 people earn at least one badge this year. Pretty Exciting! Now, we are entering those individuals into a drawing to win some swag. Our grand prize winner will get a teacher Chromebook



We have created a portal to check on the available badges, get details on how to apply for them, and track your badges. You can find that here on the blog:


We can't wait to see what we make available for next year and see some fresh faces in our There's a Badge for That! Program.

Teacher Appreciation Week All Month Long at Flipgrid!

Win a Voicepod for your classroom: Give thanks to a teacher or share a great idea in the Flipgrid Disco Library and get a chance to win a voicepod. Five voicepods given away every day!
Flipgrid Fridays! Shout out a teacher with the #FlipgridFriday and get a chance to win a free t-shirt.

Details here: http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/teacherappreciation

Mystery Skype Awesomeness

Mystery Skype is an amazing way for students to engage in the world around them, use problem solving, map and geography skills, collaboration and cooperation. Check out this great story on @NPR and even hear our own Annmarie Young participating with the teacher! Use #mysteryskype to connect with educators all over the world

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/29/712173682/teachers-use-mystery-skype-to-give-students-a-window-on-the-world

NewseumED is So Hot Right now

I am absolutely over the moon for NewseumED - Use their amazing library of lessons and resources to authenticate, analyze and evaluate information from a variety of sources and put current events in historical context through standards-aligned lesson plans, videos, primary sources, virtual classes and programs. Check it out: https://newseumed.org/

It's free to make an account and unlock all of this awesomeness!

Apparently, you can buy really expensive Golden Wrapped Pears from Harry and David or you can use Pear Deck's amazing Flashcard Factory or Google Slides add on and get an even more fantastic pear for free.

Introducing the GOLDEN PEAR BADGE! Use either the Pear Deck Flashcard Factory or the Pear Deck add on for Google Slides to create an engaging activity for students to use in your classroom. Submit a quick reflection and share your file here to earn your badge:https://goo.gl/forms/WZIQAa72GBz0bkVp2

Pear Deck- Flashcard Factory

Use Pear Deck's flashcard factory to turn vocabulary review into an immersive learning experience for students. You supply the terms for students, they draw the definition and provide an example and voila - Flashcards! You can then import the set right into Quizlet and supply students with the study set for review. AMAZING!

1. Set up the terms you want students to use https://app.peardeck.com (you do not need an upgraded account)
2. Start The factory - Students follow on the screen.
3. Students build their examples and drawings for their vocabulary terms.
4. As a class, you vote for your favorite cards and teams get points
5. You can export your terms right to Quizlet
6. Your Pear Deck Vocab lists save directly to your Google Drive



We will walk you through the whole process start to finish!

Pear Deck - Google Slides Add On

Use Pear Deck add on in slides to add questions and activities directly into your lessons.
1. Go to Google Slides - Launch Add On
2. Choose a template slide- Feel free to edit them and add your own content
3. Present with Pear Deck - Choose whether students move through at their own pace or as a whole group

Quick overview video:



Google Slides + Pear Deck = Perfect Pear

Math Templates for Pear Deck

We are throwing out a Flipgrid Mixtape Throwdown!

Here is how it works... Make a sweet Mixtape from your favorite Flipgrid responses, toss us a link to your Flipgrid Mixtape, get a chance to win a Chromebook charging station for your classroom!

Mixtape submissions are due by Friday November 16th @ 8:00am next week - Winner announced by 3:30pm

What is a Mixtape you ask??

Flipgrid Mixtapes allow you to pull your favorite student responses from multiple Flipgrid topics and grids and pool them into a common shareable space.
Head on over to our blog post to get the deets on how to create one here: https://hiltoncadettech.blogspot.com/2018/10/mic-drop-moments-with-flipgrid-mixtapes.html

Send us your Mixtape

Email your link to Tony, Jason or Jacquie (whoever supports you) and say "Hey! here is my mixtape"


Queue Mic Drop...

Flipgrid Feature of the Week: Nicole Coppola

Flipgrid in Math?? Yes! Having students explain their thinking and showing a process is a perfect way to make learning visible for all students. Nicole posted this awesome topic to her Calculus class this week and the student responses are AWESOME!

Tweetstorm with the @HiltonMYPster

The great Diane Campbell is taking her MYP converstations to a whole new level with Twitter and Flipgrid. Join her MYP Professional Learning Community to talk about strategies and connect with others around IB. She is jumping on board and offering a sweet MYPster badge for participating.

We are excited about There's a Badge for that

Badges are up and running and there are multiple opportunities for you to start earning badges. Reminder to "Get Into the Know" and subscribe to this blog to receive updates on opportunities and cool things Instructional Technology will be doing throughout the year.

AWWWW..... Breakout! Shoutout to Lauren Steinebach

Students collaborating, problem solving, and working together to breakout of the box. What is better than that!

ISTE The Podcast

Attendees of last year's ISTE conference have started a podcast to share their knowledge and wisdom with you. Tune in to the prequel episode here:
https://sites.google.com/ga.hiltoncsd.net/ltt-podcast

Earn your Ultimate Tweeter Badge!

In the wake of our first CTOD Component: To Hilton and Beyond! We are offering your first opportunity to receive a badge.

To earn your badge by November 20th:

Participate in 1 twitter chat (See below)
Post at least one tweet per week about either something you are doing in your classroom, something that you learned from someone else, or a retweet of something that you found interesting.

Log all of your tweets on this twitter log and send it to Jacquie: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lGYX-fgNGc2WqW5ySaTThDl_-gUeIF4KYv6t0EOr9JU/copy


Earn your badge!

Twitter Chats

Twitter chats are an amazing opportunity to connect with other educators to talk about various aspects of education.

Use the second link to explore some of the twitter chats that are available and when they are. Couple of examples:
#OK2Ask (biweekly Thursday nights at 8:00 EST)
#edtechchat Meets Mondays at 5 p.m. PT /8 p.m. ET
#FlipClass Flipped Class Chat on Monday's at 8:00 EST

Choose a chat that peaks your interest and tune into it. I would recommend using tweetdeck. Laura has a great video, the beginning is short on set up and organization, but she also screencasts a whole chat so if you want to see what it looks like this is a great resource:




Here is nice calendar of Twitter chats: https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/education-chat-calendar


Resources:
All about hashtags and twitter chats: https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-twitter-chats/
40 Twitter Chats worth your time: https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=7

Set up Tweetdeck and Hashtags:

Instructional Technology is excited to announce our new program - There's a Badge For That!

How it works.... Take Tech PD, Do Cool Tech Things, Earn a Badge! This year, earn 4 badges and get your 5th Tech Guru Badge on us! Tech gurus will receive swag and an entry into our first ever - There's a Badge for That raffle. We will be raffling off a District Chromebook for you to use in your classroom for a 4 year refresh cycle.

How you earn badges

There is a plethora of ways you can earn badges some examples are: Submitting and completing a Tech Incentive, Completing CTOD series 4, Level Up opportunities inside some CTOD components, Challenge opportunies, and even Power Ups! Stayed tuned for more opportunities!

Raffle drawing will be held first week of June so be sure to get going on CTOD (Cadet Tech on Demand) and Level Up whenever you can!

I was a clear hot August with a clear white moon
Teachers out on the streets tryin' to consume
The last bit of summer before the kids return
But the Skypes lines were on, ready for us to learn

Just hit Virtual Field Trip
On the Skype website
On a mission tryna find
The Skype session that's right

Now, Hilton's got the skypes and that's a known fact
Before you plug the jack in let's get on the same track
Back up, back up, ‘cause there's Cring,
T-O-N-Y that's me, plus Jacquie to the G.


I'm not the lyricist that Nate Dogg & Warren G are, but I did what I could. It's a reach, I know. Now that we are back to school and the dust is starting to settle, you might find yourself wondering what new opportunities exist for our students to be global collaborators. I've curated a list of the hot new Skypes that opened up this summer while we were enjoying summer vacation. Check out the links below and let your friendly local Instructional Tech Support Specialist know if you would like to participate in any of these recently posted virtual field trips!

Every year Google hosts a competition that allows students to use their imagination and submit a drawing to Google to be featured on the Google Homepage.

Introducing Doodle for Google!

This year's challenge: What Inspires You? Here is the gist: Students in grades K-12 are invited to take part in the 2018 Doodle 4 Google contest, and create an uplifting doodle that tells the world “What inspires me.” From crayons to clay, graphic design, or even food, young artists can utilize any materials to bring their creation to life. Like all Google Doodles, each doodle must incorporate the letters G-o-o-g-l-e. One national winner will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 technology package for their school/non-profit organization, and a behind-the-scenes experience with the Doodle team to transform their Doodle into an interactive experience on Google.com. The contest is open for entries from January 8th – March 2nd, 2018 – only 8 short weeks!

Check out their overview and entry directions on their blog: https://doodles.google.com/d4g/index.html


They also have a library of teacher guides and resources - https://doodles.google.com/d4g/classroom.html

Exciting things are happening in the High School Library Makerspace. Starting Monday December 12th and running through December 23rd the library is hosting a holiday themed Makers Challenge. Students can come to the library Makerspace all day to design and create a holiday themed goodie using any of the Makerspace resources.

Here are just a few possibilities of creations to get the creative juices flowing.

• 3D Print a Christmas Tree Ornament
• Create a Digital Greeting Card
• Make an Animated Video
• Compose a Holiday Jingle with a Littlebits Synth
• Design an Ugly Christmas Sweater

Check out this great Hack the Halls with Holiday Littlebits Post for more ideas

The challenge is open to any and all who want to participate Mrs. Ashworth and Ms. Gilmore are available for support. Prizes for the winning design.