Digital Citizenship Week is celebrated October 14-18. During Digital Citizenship Week, we celebrate our ability to think critically about what we see and do online. Good digital citizens can see the benefits and risks of sharing information online and balance screen time while using technology appropriately. As educators, we have a responsibility to our students to model good digital citizenship as we teach them how to behave online.

You can kick off Digital Citizenship Week with our partners at Nearpod. Just click the link below.

October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month, and Microsoft has taken its immersive reader to the next level. Microsoft Immersive Reader is a great way to provide accommodations for your students that need them, and it is built into most Microsoft applications for easy and seemless use. Some of the new features include:

• Read aloud voices with natural sounding text-to-speech
• Immersive Reader for Forms
• Immersive Reader in TEAMS assignments
• Dictation in PowerPoint online
• Practice math quizzes in OneNote online

Check out the Wakelet below for resources, tutorials, videos, and more!

Instructional rigor has become a buzz word in and around schools for a while now. Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels. Rigor is not giving students more work, rather it is allowing them to apply knowledge to solve real world problems. Technology can help you reach this level of rigor, if used properly. For example, having students fill out an online worksheet is appropriate sometimes, but does not get students to the Quad D level of rigor. Using a shared OneNote for collaboration and Wakelet for resources to have students research the pros and cons of using various technologies to combat climate change is highly engaging and highly rigorous. By using various technology tools in your classroom, students' boundaries are expanded so teacher expectations can be raised. Using Skype to communicate with a class in a foreign country can give students the information they need to analyze a problem with a global perspective in mind. Technology is a powerful tool in the classroom. When applied correctly, it can help get students to that ever elusive Quad D/adaptation level more often and for longer periods of time.

TeachThought. (2019). How Technology Can Increase Rigor In The Classroom. [online] Available at: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/how-technology-can-increase-rigor-in-the-classroom/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2019].

The Instructional Technology team is hosting a monthly Twitter Chat this year. Twitter is a great way to expand your Personal Learning Network by connecting with educators in our district and all over the world. Have a unit coming up that you'd like ideas for? Search Twitter by keywords or hashtags to see others who have tweeted about the subject. Know an awesome educator and want to see the amazing things they are doing in their classroom? Follow them on Twitter. Connecting with others is so simple in this platform.

We would love for you to join us at our next chat on Tuesday, October 22, from 7-8 PM about Digital Citizenship. Questions post from our team Twitter account @emsisdits. If you aren't able to tweet from 7-8, feel free to join when you can.

Check out the questions and responses to past chats by searching our hashtag #EMSedchat.

You no longer have to use 3rd party applications like PDF Candy to convert your Word documents to a PDF. From your Word Document, do the following:

• Click on file and then save as or save a copy
• At the top of the page, there is a drop down next to the save button. Click on the drop down and choose PDF.
• Change the name if you want to, choose the save location, and click save

Prest-o, Change-o....you have a PDF copy of your document!

You can post a student-paced Nearpod lesson for your students in TEAMS. Simply click to add a new tab at the top of the TEAMS page and choose Nearpod. Log into your Nearpod account and choose the lesson you want your students to complete.

Did you know that your Platinum Nearpod membership gets you access to all of the pre-made resources that Nearpod has to offer? That means you can add any lesson to your personal library and edit it to fit the needs of your classroom. You get access to all of this for FREE! ZIP! ZERO! NADA! How cool is that?

If you would like to know more about Nearpod and its vast database of lessons, contact your Instructional Technology Specialist today.

Did you know that you can easily plan ahead with ready to run lessons in Nearpod? It is now possible for you create lessons for your sub that are both engaging and effective. You can also find hundreds of pre made lessons in the Nearpod Library. Once you have your lesson, it can be easily shared with your sub. Nearpod provides a simple and effective way for subs to teach your lessons across all student devices. Teachers and administrators can also monitor sub activity remotely via Nearpod activity reports to ensure subs are making the most of their classroom experience. Check out this short video for more information.

Single Sign On | Quick access in to your EMS Digital Resources

Device Checkout | Need to borrow something for a less? Reserve it here!

Microsoft Educator Community | High Quality, Anytime, On-Demand PD

The Jenallee Show | On-the-spot PD videos, featuring many EMS Superstars

Promethean Board Tips & Tricks | Growing playlist of quick instructional videos

EMS Tech Tools | Check out or recommended tools (scan QR code to save on your device!)

Need help planning a blended lesson? Do you need an extra hand while tackling a technified lesson with your students? Are you ready to add some technology to your classroom but don't know where to start? The #EMSTechsperts are here to support you! Contact your Campus IT today!

Follow the team:@emsisdits

Jeni: @jlo731 | Sallee: @salleeclark | Ricky: @rickygode

Scott: @scottboiles | Bob: @bobeikenberry
Jennifer: @jenniferprince | Cindy: @tuckertech

Tim: @Thuynh912 | Jason: @lumberaggie

Sasha: @SashaLBeavers | Emily: @EKillen817

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Email: its@ems-isd.net
Website: www.emsisd.com/its
Location: 1200 Old Decatur Road, Saginaw, TX, United States
Phone: 817.232.0880
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emsisdits
Twitter: @emsisdits