AACPS OIT Byte

 By: Samantha Wilkinson, OIT Elementary Teacher Specialist Tomorrow is March. You know the saying... In like a lion, out like a lamb! Of course for us it has been more like experiencing every season in a week. Either way, there is a lot going on in March, especially in Discovery Education.  To start, Read Across America Day is on Thursday, March 2nd. Did you know DE has a channel that is a collection of storybooks brought to life through animation and voice? In partnership with Vooks, this collection of stories is great way to have students hear someone else read a favorite book, or to access text that might not be available in your school library. See the collection here .  Consider choosing " Sweet People Are Everywhere ", written by Alice Walker. After students listen to the story, they can use the studio board questions for discussion. Or perhaps share this video , which features the author reading the book and being interviewed along with the illustrator, Quim Torres...

  By Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist The Project At the start of this school year, like many central office teachers, I was asked to teach a class. I taught a one semester 6th grade science elective called Mission to the Stars. Throughout the course students learn about space exploration, what we have done, what we have planned for future missions, what we have learned and what we hope to learn. The overarching question is, “why are we exploring space?” And the answer (for the purposes of this course) is to find habitable planets, Earth-like planets that we could someday travel to and possibly colonize. The course culminates with a project in which the students are supposed to design and build a colony on a habitable planet that we have yet to discover. Their project must include 9 elements from throughout our course that colonist would need to survive on another planet: A research center A medical facility A recreation center Dormitories Bathrooms/showers...

By: Samantha Wilkinson, OIT Teacher Specialist Let's celebrate Black History Month by using our instructional technology applications to highlight the lives, contributions, and impacts of Black Americans, Black culture and Black history.  Wixie: Give students a choice in how they show their learning and new information from Black History Month lessons and research. Have students create a historical newsletter, trading card on a historical figure, and more . Consider using the Black History Month Choice board : Discovery Education:  Black History Month Channel “The resources in this channel can be utilized to offer new perspectives, drive a deeper cultural understanding, and help students see themselves in history.” K-2 Beautiful Shades of Brown  Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. This DE board has students hear a reading of the book, an...

By Samantha Wilkinson, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist The year is 1986. The chief association for the software and digital content industries,SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association), wants to acknowledge revolutionary educational technologies. They want a method for peer evaluation and a way to honor innovative companies, products, and people as leaders in the ed tech field. And so, the CODiE award was born.  As you can probably guess, the name CODiE came from the word “code”. This is a nod to the program’s basis in the software industry. Years later, the logo was redesigned to include the “i” symbol for information. According to their site, “This is to visually represent the CODiE awards’ focus on the software and digital content industries.”  To determine finalists for the award, all of the ed tech products and services nominees are first reviewed by educators and administrators, followed by SIIA members voting. Scores from both rounds determine t...

by Tracey Brown, OIT Teacher Specialist A lot of airtime has been dedicated this year to talking about the new world of virtual instructional days for weather and other unplanned events. Maybe you are still unsure if you’re ready. Most teachers seem uncertain about Asynchronous days. If that is you, check out the January 17th Planning for Asynchronous blog post by Kerri Lambert. But if you just want a refresher on how to teach synchronously, this post is for you! The number one tool in your teacher toolbox for a synchronous VID is Google Meet. Below is a recap of tools and features you may need to dust off and brush up on. Also, it has been over a year since we had to rely on this tool daily for instruction. There are some cool new tools that you and your students should know how to use, and you should know how to manage before they take over your virtual classroom environment. What's New in Meet Push to Talk -  To unmute yourself, press and hold the spacebar. To mute again, relea...

  By Samantha Wilkinson, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist As we come to the end of January and see February on the horizon, we also approach the 100th day of school. ONE HUNDRED DAYS. Congratulations! This can be a fun milestone to acknowledge in your classroom and below are some easy ways to integrate technology to celebrate.  When I’m 100 years Old in WeVideo : Students will use WeVideo (or Wixie) to record themselves talking about what they hope for themselves when they are 100 years old. They can use text boxes, images, and music to showcase their hopes and dreams for the future. Optionally, students can dress up and speak as themselves from the future! When I am 100 in Wixie: For little learners, consider using Wixie where students write a sentence about when they will be 100 years old.  Have them use the paint tools to create a picture about the sentence. Teach them to use the Microphone tool to make a recording of the sentence. Biden’s First 100 Da...

By Kerri Lambert, teacher specialist, Office of Instructional Technology The forecast is out. SNOW is on the horizon! Everyone is on the edge of their seats with the age old questions: How much snow will we get? Do I have enough toilet paper, bread, and milk or do I risk going to the store? Will the street get plowed? Will the kids have a snow day? And now, add a new question to the mix: will it be an asynchronous virtual day? Wait, what? That’s right, no longer is it a simple question of school or no school. Now the options include a traditional snow day, regular school, a synchronous virtual instruction day or an asynchronous snow day (and don’t forget the possibility of a delay!) There’s a lot to consider in each of those scenarios, but the one teachers are the most unfamiliar with is the idea of an asynchronous lesson when students will be working independently through assignments. So what should you consider when planning for these days? Let’s take a look at a few key points that...