Washington Tech Tidbits

On Wednesday, you will have the opportunity to learn what the overall vision of Otus will be for D64 and how it fits into our district's Technology and Learning Ecosystem. Secondly, you will learn how to navigate and access our students’ Winter MAP data within Otus.

Please follow the steps (outlined in the emails I sent out on Friday afternoon) to initially log into Otus before Wednesday so that any difficulties in logging in can be troubleshot before our meeting. This applies to ALL certified staff members.

Google Santa Tracker is full of festive videos, games, and activities--and a few coding coding programs, too! It is a must see, especially on Christmas Eve, when you can track Santa's journey around the world! NORAD also offers a Santa Tracker and various holiday activities. I'm looking forward to sharing Santa's adventures with my little ones this weekend!

The Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) Conference will be taking place February 28-March 3, 2017 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. I will be attending one day that week (exact date TBA) and have the opportunity to bring 2 Washington teachers with me. If you are interested in this opportunity, please email Steph and me.

Are you a big fan of Seesaw? Do you want to learn more about its newest features and teach your colleagues about its benefits? If so, apply to become a Seesaw Ambassador! According to their website, "Seesaw Ambassadors are our trusted advisors who we rely on to shape the future of our products and to help spread the word about Seesaw."

Ambassadors are expected to:

• Use Seesaw regularly in their classrooms.
• Attend periodic Seesaw training webinars so you are a Seesaw expert.
• Host at least 2 PD sessions or conference talks per year about Seesaw.
• Provide regular product feedback.
• Serve as a teacher or media reference as appropriate.
• Help spread the word about Seesaw on social media.
• Participate in #seesawchat on Twitter (2nd and 4th Thursdays at 6:00pm)

Special benefits for Seesaw Ambassadors:

• Seesaw Plus for free for as long as you are an Ambassador ($120/year value!)
• Listing on the Seesaw website as an official Ambassador, and a badge to include on yours.
• Early access to Seesaw BETA releases.
• A dedicated Ambassador help line & Google+ group to connect with other Ambassadors.
• Free SWAG any time you need it.
• A meal on us if you visit San Francisco!

Please apply before December 25th to be a part of the January 2017 cohort! Here is a link to the application. (I submitted my application last week!)