Welcome back everyone! I'm excited for another year of 1:1 in the Elbert County School District. We have hit the ground running! We have had over 100 teachers participate in either the 1:1 bootcamp or the kickoff for the Level 1 Certification academy. A BIG thanks to Pam Harris, Sandra Guest, Kim Bowen, and Donna Baker for helping out with the 1:1 Bootcamp.This will be year 4 that we have rolled out 1:1 for students in all of our schools! Another big thanks to Bruce Stewart, Sherri Rampey, Joe Dawson, Matt Johnson and Hector Santiago for supporting these devices. I'm excited for all the new learning opportunities that our students will have access to this year.

During our school closure in the spring I worked on updating our Instructional Technology Site for the district. This is a one stop shop for everything that has to do with instructional Technology. There are resources for introducing your students to chromebooks, a GREAT video that ECCHS students created on caring for your chromebook, and help guides for all programs that we support. You can access the site at Bit.ly/ecsdtechnology.

Google Meets are now part of Google Classroom! - If you need to have a Google Meet with your class you can generate the Google Meet right within Google Classroom. This can be the same meet link for the semester or for the school year! The great thing about using the Google Meet within Google classroom is added security. Students can only enter and exit the meet once the host (aka teacher) starts and ends the google meet. More information HERE

Originality Reports - Teachers can now run originality reports to check work for authenticity. The report compares a student's Google Doc vs webpages and books on the internet. Click on the originality report for more information

To-Do lists - The To-do list is great because it helps teachers and students see their "To Do" list for all Google classrooms they use. Google CLassroom is rolling the "To-DO' from the classes page.

You can keep up with everything that is going with Google Classroom on the What's new in Google Classroom page. I am excited to hear from you what you are doing with your Google Classroom.

We are fortunate to be able to have the new tool "Pear Deck" in Elbert County. This is a tool to make google slides interactive for all students. Teachers who attended the 1:1 bootcamp before school started were able to hear about these features. Below are a couple of resources about Pear Deck. If you would like to learn more I will be leading a virtual training at 3:30 on August 24th. You can sign up HERE

Getting Started with Pear Deck

Cool Things you Can Do

Pear Deck Knowledge Base

One of the main things that I have learned in the last few weeks is that our tech tools during this time are changing rapidly. There are lots of changes and improvements that have happened in the last few weeks. It can be hard to stay on top of this and not feel overwhelmed at the same time. Below are my Top 5 places to get good information about tech tools

1) Google for Education Blog - This is a great resource and has lots of information about new features that are rolling out. For example, Google Meets is now part of Google Classroom!

2) ControlAltAchieve.com - Eric Curts is a Regional Edtech Professional in the midwest. He is not only a great human being but he has lots of great information during Covid-19. He has been a go to to me personally as I have prepared for distance learning. Eric is fantastic about responding to teachers via social media or through E-mail during this time.

3) Free Tech for Teachers - Richard Byrne is another one of my Edtech Heros. I have been reading his blog since 2011. There are lots of great resources here! Like myself, he is also a fan of ESPN Jock Jams.

4) ShakeupLearning - Kasey Bell has lots of great resources on her site and also hosts a podcast and writes books about technology in the classroom.

5) Ditch that Textbook - Another great resource with lots of videos, books, and podcasts in the area of digital learning.

Google Teaching from Home Hub is a temporary hub of information and tools to help teachers while we are out of the building. See the link below for information about the Teach from Home Hub

Joe Dawson - Elbert County Elementary School

Matt Johnson - Elbert County Middle School

Sherri Rampey -Elbert County Primary School

Hector Santiago - Elbert County Comprehensive High School

Bruce Stewart - Technology Director Elbert County School District

Clint Winter - Instructional Technology Coordinator Elbert County School District

Website: elbert.k12.ga.us
Phone: 706.213.4000
Twitter: @elbertcoschools