AACPS OIT Byte

This year Computer Science Education week runs from Friday, December 6th through the 12th. Hour of Code, one of their main events, kicks off Monday, the 9th. Hour of code encourages students to code for an hour to hone their skills, but it also allows teachers to discuss careers in coding and computer science how students can explore their interests and plan their path to achieve their goals. Below are several suggestions for how you can get your students involved in CS week or Hour of Code. Hour of Code Activities for PreK through high school. No coding experience necessary! Filter topics by grade level band and then by content to find something that works for your classroom. Topics include Art, Music, AI, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and more! Explore the Hour of Code library directly from Classlink. Minecraft Hour Of Code The 2024 theme is The Show Must Go On! Minecraft invites students to step into the theater to find the show’s missing star, unlock hidden gags, s...

By Kerri Lambert, Academic Specialist, Instructional Technology Anne Arundel County Public Schools has partnered with Discovery Education for over 20 years, and for good reason. Beyond offering high-quality resources, Discovery Education continuously evolves, introducing new content and features that enhance its value for both teachers and students. The 2024-2025 school year is no exception, with the release of numerous, high interest new updates, channels, and series. New Search The big new feature in Discovery that rolled out in time for Back to School was a completely revamped search functionality. You currently have the choice to use the new format, and I highly encourage you to turn it on! The new search functionality highlights all of the best that Discovery has to offer, not just videos. When you do a search, the page is divided into Top Lessons & Activities, related images, channels, Top Videos, and even related keywords if the search didn’t return exactly what you were loo...

by Tracey Brown Instructional Technology Academic Specialist Did you know that October 14th through the 18th is Digital Citizenship week? While it can be difficult to find time to add more content to your already packed curriculum, in today's digital age, it's essential for students to understand and practice responsible online behavior. Teaching digital citizenship in K-12 schools prepares students for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world including the permanence of your digital footprint, and critical thinking to evaluate the quality and accuracy of online information. If you can find some time during indoor recess, after school clubs, advisory period, or other flex-time, here are some ideas for what to do with students to boost their digital citizenship knowledge: Adobe Express Adobe Express contains multiple templates for students to create a Digital Citizenship pledge or to share what they know. Templates include posters, infographics and web pages. One en...

By: Koralina McKenna, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist  Have you ever used a Studio Board in Discovery Education? I hope so, because if not, you are missing out on one of the only customizable digital worksheet creators out there! Today, I am going to discuss two options for using this amazing tool right inside Brightspace. We all deserve to work smarter, not harder so let's get more from Brightspace with Discovery Education.  Embedding a Discovery Education Studio Boards Directly in Brightspace. Studio Boards designed as a way for students to gather information from multiple sources are easily embedded into Brightspace and allow students to manipulate the board directly from Brightspace. Students do not have to leave Brightspace in order to access the board.  Studio Boards make great choice boards or can be used to house a content collection on a specific research topic. The example to the right was used in a 6th grade science classroom. Students used this Stu...

by Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist In OIT, we are often asked how we learn “all this stuff” and how do we keep up with all the changes across our platforms. There are several ways, but one of our favorite ways is to peruse Twitter when we have a moment. This allows us to get information from one place and in the small snippets of time- and it doesn’t fill up our inboxes! If you are on Twitter and looking for people to follow, here are a few that we recommend. It’s no secret that OIT supports a variety of instructional applications and yes, sometimes it can feel overwhelming! But, many of the programs we subscribe to are active on Twitter. Not only do they tweet out updates or upcoming features, but also showcase ways educators across the country are using their products with students. This is also a great way to find out about learning opportunities such as webinars or conferences. Following the companies gives you the best of both worlds- updates and inspir...

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist, Office of Instructional Technology It’s that time of the year again; perhaps the most dreaded time of year - testing season. Where teachers everywhere scramble to keep their students engaged with meaningful content in between this test or that. For me my greatest challenge during this time was trying not to overwhelm the brains of my fresh-out-of-testing students with brand new material or highly rigorous activities without completely blowing off my instruction.  I spent my planning periods trying to delicately map out how to keep my classes in sync, debating whether to introduce new content or review prior content, all while managing my own stress brought on by testing.  This is the tightrope walked by teachers everyday but I found it particularly arduous during testing season. With this post I offer you the gift of ready-to-use activities, challenges, games and more. Below you will find a wide range of whole group or individual optio...

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Back in the spring of 2021, we were searching for a vodcast idea that would give our teachers a strategy to manage the stressful world of hybrid teaching. We landed on the idea of digital choice boards; choice boards were not a new idea for most teachers, but the idea of making them digital allowed all students- both those in school and at home- to take part in the activities. Plus, by creating digital choice boards, students had access to accessibility and multimedia tools for both consumption and creation of information. For teachers, digital choice boards made it easy for them to keep track of all the various pieces that the students completed. So why are we revisiting it now? Because this is the time of year when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it’s finally getting warmer and the playground and ball fields are calling, so it takes every trick in the book to keep our students actively engaged in learning in th...

 by Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, Office of Instructional Technology This is the second in a two part article on digital holiday activities.  To read Part 1, click here .  We love the idea of having students conduct research on holidays around the world as explored in Part 1 of this article , but sometimes you want something more specific. Keep reading for ideas that fall under that category.  Giving Thanks As Thanksgiving approaches, we often reflect on the people and things we are grateful for over the last year. Wixie offers many Thanksgiving activities that are perfect for reflecting and sharing on family traditions. Students can complete a gratitude journal , fill a cornucopia , share a special family recipe , or even reflect on their blessings . Can’t decide on which you like best? Give your students their choice, using the primary or elementary choice board. Wixie has plenty of ideas to choose from for November (and all the other months!) in their Month...

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, Office of Instructional Technology ‘Tis the season for thinking about ways to keep students engaged in learning as the holiday season begins. Traditionally, this has meant cutting out turkey feathers with the things we are thankful for, writing persuasive letters on alternatives for the turkey dinner, and taking a ride on the Polar Express. Those are all classic, enjoyable activities, but this year consider taking your holiday activities up a notch with these digital options: Researching Holidays Around the World Now, I know what you’re thinking. We do this already! This type of activity is one that many teachers implement in their classroom, and for good reason. It brings in the opportunity to discuss the diverse cultures in our classrooms and around the world, but it’s easy to get stuck in a rut using the same books and paper packets to learn about the same cultures and traditions year after year. Shake things up by substituting or supplementing...

By Kerri Lambert, OIT Teacher Specialist (Before selecting any links below, make sure you have opened Discovery Education from Classlink first) AACPS students and staff have had access to Discovery Education for over twenty years; in fact, a few of you out there may still refer to it as United Streaming! While the service is best known for its videos, Discovery has over 200,000 resources including images, podcasts, audio clips, virtual field trips, and interactives. This past summer, Discovery expanded their offerings even more, launching over 2,100 ready to use student learning activities that leverage the rich multimedia resources found within the platform. Like to create your own? You’re in luck. Discovery also added activity templates based on their popular SOS Instructional Strategies to Studio; teachers simply add their DE resources and within minutes have a high-quality lesson ready to roll. Let’s take a closer look at each of these options. Ready Made Student Learning Activiti...