AACPS OIT Byte

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 Kelli Welch, Teacher Specialist, Office of Library Media Did you know that MackinVIA is your one-stop shop for eBooks and online databases? Here are some of your essential questions answered! How do I access MackinVIA? Access MackinVIA through Classlink. MackinVIA will automatically assign students to their school locations.Teachers have the ability to switch between locations using the MackinVIA backpack. Need to read? Check out an eBook! How do I access eBooks? From the MackinVIA homepage, choose the eBook Icon. All of the eBooks available at a school's location will appear. eBooks are searchable by title, author, or subject. What do those symbols on the books mean? A gray icon on a book indicates it is available. Readers can open the book and begin reading immediately using “Open Now,” or save the book to their MackinVIA backpack using “Checkout.” Choosing the checkout option will place the book in the reader’s MackinVIA backpack for 7 days. If a book does not have a checkout...