#BRESA Tech Tips
May 2025
End of the School year is upon us.
May can be the busiest time of year for many teachers, administrators, and school staff. It is filled with anxiousness with testing, joy from knowing summer is right around the corner, but also sadness knowing that the students you call your own will be moving on to the next grade, class, or school. Know that feeling all of these emotions is normal, and there are many people around to help you get through it.
Thank you for all that you do for your students. You are appreciated!
John & Megan
Book Club this Summer!
Come join Megan in a book study around the book The Anxious Generation. The plan is to meet up a couple times to discuss the book. You will receive the book for FREE from us! Just fill out the form below to join in!
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.
Buchanan and Lawton Take Home the Titles
After an exciting day of esports amazingness, the Buchanan Bucks and the Lawton Blue Devils rose to the top. While Buchanan has a history of dominance, this is the first title for Lawton. Thank you to all of the teams for the exciting season this spring, and we can't wait to see what happens in the fall!
Contact John today if you would like more information.
FREE Conference
RenewED Conference 2025
RenewED Conference 2025 will be held August 5, 2025 at Calhoun Area Career Center. With multiple concurrent sessions to pick from, participants will be able to mix and match Ed Tech, wellness, AI, STEAM, and maybe even a yoga class too! Great prizes and MACUL scholarships, light breakfast, lunch, and SCECH available. The price? FREE for Calhoun, Branch, Barry & REMC District Educators (Find your Local REMC).
Registration is open NOW! Be sure to get your spot, so you don't miss this incredible day - we're almost 70% full already!
Quick, Draw!
Can a neural network learn to recognize doodling? Try your drawing skills out with Quick, Draw!
Field Day Learning Games
Based at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this group makes learning games that bring contemporary research to the public. They also use the game data to understand how people learn.
QR Treasure Hunt Generator
Want to get your students up and moving, but also working on reviewing what they have learned? You can import quiz questions, generate QR codes that you can hide around the school, and let them games begin! As students find the QR codes they can write down the answers. Team with the most correct answers wins!
Novel Effect
The Novel Effect app responds to your voice with interactive music and sound effects, creating magical moments when you read aloud from children's books.
Reach out to us for special pricing!!
Creating Digital Breakouts for the Classroom
FREE PD
Breakout boxes have become a popular activity that has students combine critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Create your very own digital breakout box to engage and educate your students using Google Workspace tools like Sites, Docs, Drawings, and Forms along with additional resource . By the end of the course, you will have a fully functioning digital breakout that you can use right away with your student.
TeacherCon
July 28-August 1, 2025
Scholarships available to attend for FREE!
The CSforMichigan Collaborative welcomes teachers to various CS workshops at TeacherCon. Come join us this summer for engaging discussions with great learning! It is sure to be one of the best professional development experiences you have ever had.
Whether you are new to teaching computer science (CS) or have previous experience, our Professional Learning Programs prepare you to teach with confidence and offers year-round support. No computer science experience is needed! The professional learning series will allow you to explore the curriculum with learning tools, practice new teaching strategies, discuss classroom management, and be a part of a community of teachers.
AI Prompting Essentials for Teaching
Learn how AI-driven prompting can boost teaching efficiency and classroom impact. This course equips educators with essential AI literacy and prompt engineering skills to create engaging and customized classroom applications. We'll discover techniques for lesson design and managing workload with AI prompts that save time and improve learning. Participants will leave this course ready to incorporate prompt engineering into their daily practice with clarity and confidence. . Register by May 29!
How can we help?
We would love to hear your suggestions on how we can best support you. Please complete this form if you have some ideas regarding content you would like to see in our newsletter or specific needs in your district. Also, please feel free to share this newsletter with others and if you are interested in subscribing, simply email info@berrienresa.org with the subject line "Tech Tips".
Finally, as always, feel free to contact John Phillips or Megan Roth directly for all of your educational technology needs.
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