AACPS OIT Byte

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Summer! It’s coming! I swear I think I see it lurking around the corner! And with that, hopefully, will come some much needed down time to recharge and reset for the next school year. One of the things I most enjoy doing with my downtime is reading a good book. Now it doesn’t happen as often as I like (I’m the mom to two young boys after all), but when it does, it’s always nice to have a list of recommendations handy. So, if you’re interested in expanding your knowledge of instructional technology and how to use it more effectively in your classroom, here are a few books we here in OIT recommend (in no particular order): Tech Like a Pirate , by Matt Miller Why We Like It: This book is chock full of practical projects and activities that apply to all grade levels and content. The author provides resource links to his templates so you can easily implement the ideas in your classroom. Video projects, social media inspired proje...

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Brightspace can be overwhelming. There are so many ways to do things that it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and stick with what you know. But there are several hidden gems that are easy to use that will help you and your students get more out of our virtual classroom space. Here, in no particular order, are some of OIT’s favorites: The Glossary- Create a virtual word wall that students have access to 24/7. Brightspace has a glossary feature that has a lot of classroom potential regardless of the grade or content that you teach. Teach younger students? Use it to create a glossary of frequently used and misspelled words. Teach older students? Create a running vocabulary list. The glossary allows you to insert images, videos, and text directly into the definition. Even better though, it allows you to link to a content topic within Brightspace, so you can connect the vocabulary word in the Glossary to where you taught the concept ...