AACPS OIT Byte

By Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist If you have students doing research projects and you haven’t discovered Keep and Docs, you might be doing it wrong! The combination of Keep and Docs has cut the time it takes me to produce a quality research paper in half! No joke, in half. I used to waste hours rereading articles to find that quote I remembered seeing or to remind myself which one included that information I wanted to cite. I had so many tabs open during the writing process it was hard to keep track of where anything was and hard to get a rhythm going as I kept starting and stopping to reread. Sometimes I wrote entire paragraphs only to delete them and start over because it didn’t align with the point I was trying to make. I was just lacking the organization I needed to make the process more efficient. That’s when I decided to add Google Keep into the mix and just like that cute little logo, a light bulb went off for me. My Efficient Research Process My proc...

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...

b y Tracey Brown, Office of Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Are you ready for the possibility for your school to offer virtual learning for a few days or a few weeks? Community spread of COVID is leading to staffing shortages and large numbers of students in quarantine. Neighboring districts have already made the decision to close individual schools for a period of time, and while nothing has been determined surrounding virtual learning in AACPS, we need to be prepared for a seamless transition to the virtual environment. The good news is, if you were teaching last year, you already know how to do this! You just need to dust off that knowledge, throw in a dash of “how to do this in Brightspace” and a pinch of “what is new in my favorite applications” and you have the recipe for success. So let’s break down some top tips to get ready for virtual learning: 1. Create your nicknamed Google Meet link(s). Nicknamed Google Meet links provide important added security like preventi...

 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...