Bits & Bytes

The results are in, and our newsletter has a title. "Bits and Bytes" won 46 percent of the votes cast, with "The Monthly Download" coming in second. Thank you to the many readers who participated in our survey.

This month, South Windsor's teachers and students are participating in the Hour of Code. Members of the math department organized this district-wide initiative, which introduces students to some of the skills required to design apps. By moving through a series of challenges, students use coding tools to build and play games, for example, or to learn how smartphone apps are built. Hour of Code resources can be found on each school’s website.

This month's edition features several apps teachers and students can use to organize information and work in a collaborative space. We're here to help. Please let us know if you would like help introducing these tools in your classroom.

Steven Albrecht, Curriculum Specialist

Debbie Matchett, Content Coach

Ed Duclos, Content Coach

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming tool that makes drawing diagrams fast and easy. Students can work individually on assignments or with an unlimited number of other classmates to create and edit diagrams in real time -- great for group projects.

Linoit works like an online bulletin board. It provides a digital canvas on which teachers and students can post images, videos, documents, and links. It's a great tool for organizing content, for collaborating with others, and for displaying information.

Ask Steve how he used it to prepare for formal observations.

Like Linoit, Padlet offers a virtual wall that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. It works like an online sheet of paper where people can put any content--images, videos, documents, and text--anywhere on the page, together with anyone, from any device.

We would like to know how you and your students use technology for creativity. Click here to tell us how. We will share some of your exciting ideas next month.