AACPS OIT Byte

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist They can’t log in. It takes too much time. They don’t do the assignment; they just play around on the Chromebooks. They need to write and draw and cut and paste! They spend enough time on screens. These are just a few of the reasons we hear on a regular basis as to why teachers don’t incorporate technology into their instruction, especially at the elementary school level. We get it; it can be a frustrating experience that teachers don’t want to deal with, especially during a time when there are so many other stressors and things on teachers' plates. However, technology is a tool that brings much to the table in terms of student choice, accessibility, and engagement that it’s well worth incorporating into your lessons. And did I mention that even at the youngest grades, Common Core standards explicitly include technology ? It’s all about balancing traditional activities with technology, and making sure the activities that are being done are worth...

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist - Office of Instructional Technology When I started teaching in 2016, I made it a point to ask students for their preferred name; I took notes on pronunciation and tried my best to get it right as soon as possible. But, it wasn't until 2020 that I added "preferred pronouns" to my first day survey. I created a way to keep track of my students preferred names and pronouns and made sure they were easily accessible for any sub or visitor in my classroom. These simple practices can affirm students' identity and help build a culturally responsive classroom. However, I quickly learned that I needed to do more to support my students and technology could make that seemingly daunting task a little easier.  In my early years, I often overlooked the Read&Write tool; mostly I found the purple puzzle piece to be an annoyance - until I came to appreciate how it could open up the digital world for all my students. During a reading heavy l...

by Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Have you ever tried to access a website on your AACPS laptop to find that it is blocked and then wondered, "why would anyone block this website?" Or maybe you have tried to share one with students only to have a similar frustrating result and thought? If the answer is yes, this blog post will help you understand how our filter system works and why so many sites that don't seem the least bit nefarious are blocked for staff, students, and sometimes both. How we filter web content AACPS uses a network filtering system that works on categories. When website creators publish their site, they select applicable categories. The category system relies on them to accurately categorize their sites, which most of them do since a website publisher usually wants their intended audience to easily find and utilize their site and possibly purchase their products. How the categories work Website categories include things like ...

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist - Office of Instructional Technology The Teaching & Learning Instructional Observation/Evaluation Rubric has 34 criteria in which teachers are rated. Some of the observation stems are straight forward like "Class is neat and organized; arranged for student interactions and reflects current student learning". A teacher should receive a rating of "Effective" if the classroom is organized in a way that promotes student-to-student dialogue (think: groups), the teacher has relevant bulletin boards and student work displayed and the teachers' area is neat. If you can demonstrate that students can independently access materials and make up work; then you jump to "Highly Effective".  Move further down the rubric and you will find stems that are more complex and require the teacher to think thoughtfully and creatively about how they will demonstrate effectiveness. Observations can be stressful no matter what grade yo...