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Instructional Technology

November 2017

InstructionalTechnologyNovember 2017

Extensions, Add-ons, and New Educational Websites

Looking for ways to enhance your classroom technology? Need help making paper grading or sorting data more efficient? Check out these useful technology tools that are free!

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Check Mark

CheckMark by EdTechTeam makes the process of providing feedback on student writing in Google Docs faster and more efficient. After installing CheckMark by EdTechTeam, simply enable the extension and select some text in a Google Doc! You'll see an overlay of frequently-used comments that you can easily select. Click https://goo.gl/YPzdHn to learn more and install.
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ViewPure

ViewPure is a quick and easy tool that will filter, clean, and make any Youtube video you want to show in your classroom appropriate for student's eyes. Simply visit the ViewPure website (http://viewpure.com/) and enter the web address of the video you would like to view. ViewPure removes all advertisements, comments, related video pictures, or anything else that might not be suitable for your students. FREE and EASY!
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Mind Meister

At Mind Meister (https://www.mindmeister.com/#all) students can create visual mind maps with ease. These maps are useful for note-taking, brainstorming sessions, and collaborative group work. Creating an account is quick and easy, and basic functions are free, or upgrade for a minimal cost to access all benefits.

Google Security Changes

Recently Google renewed and enhanced several of their privacy tools that help protect your Google and Chrome accounts. If you have noticed that everytime you close your email window you are forced to sign back in, this update is a security measure pushed by Google. It may take a few extra minutes to sign back in, but your account is more protected from hackers.

Likewise, student Chromebooks have also received a security update. To ensure Chromebooks are fully updated and running current software, these devices, including teacher machines, will now power off when the screen is closed. This will require students to log back into their Coweta accounts. Please email john.vaughn@cowetaschools.net with any questions.

Coweta- Official Certified Google Reference District

In June of this year, Coweta was invited to apply to become an official Google Reference District. Google Applications for Education (GAFE) have become synonymous with districts across the globe that have transitioned to a more technological implementation of curriculum standards. Google for Education districts are districts that demonstrate excellence and leadership through the innovative use of technology, including the G Suite for Education and Chromebooks, to drive impact and positive learning outcomes. Benefits to being a member of the exclusive Reference District program include joining Google's trusted Tester program, having Coweta's "Story of Impact" shared on the Google for Education website, and the opportunity to share our experiences, successes, and learnings with the Google for Education tools within our community as well as being showcased nationally. In late June, Coweta was notified that we were accepted into the program and became only the second district in Georgia to earn this honor.

As part of the invitation-only application process, CCSS had to create a professional presentation explaining the ways we tackled the seven elements of transformation as defined by Google. These elements are:


  • Vision
  • Culture
  • Technology
  • Training/Professional Development
  • Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
  • Funding and Sustainability
  • Community Outreach

Highlights of Coweta's story of impact included details about our 1:1 initiative, our Chromebook roll-out, how we have addressed professional learning with all of the changes, and even how students who do not have access to the internet outside of the classroom can still benefit from the use of a personal Chromebook. Ellen Thomas of Winston Dowdell Academy and David Stanard of Arnco Sargeant Elementary were key players in completing the application and submission requirements.


Click https://goo.gl/N9XQsC to view the "Story of Impact" for Coweta County. This honor and the distinguished title were only possible by the hard work of all teachers in Coweta Schools and their ongoing commitment to 21st-century classrooms. Congratulations to all Coweta County schools, teachers, and administrators!

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The Importance of Email Signatures

As electronic mail has become the standard for communication in schools and businesses across the world, few things carry more importance than the aesthetics of your email, and more specifically, your email signature. Your email signature is a simple way to identify yourself, your title, your educational background, and even your place of employment. Email signatures are easy to set up through the "settings" menu and allow each user to personalize his or her signature. As a teacher, having an email signature is imperative simply because most students have multiple teachers on a daily basis. If parents have multiple children in different schools, identifying not only your name but the school at which you teach is helpful to those with whom you communicate. Click https://goo.gl/763U1D to watch a short directional video on establishing your email signature.
Classroom Technology Help Appintment
If you have any questions concerning classroom technology, or need assistance with Go Guardian or any G Suite tools. please click above and complete the form.

Techie Teacher Spotlight Techie Teacher Spotlight

Students Experience Math and Discuss Learning in a Low-Risk, High-Tech Environment

“I want my students to experience math, not just do the problems,” said Michelle Clarke, math department chair and 8th-grade math teacher at Madras Middle School. “I integrate technology wherever possible because my students live in a digital age and feel very comfortable using it to learn.”


Desmos is one of Clarke’s current favorite apps for technology-enhanced math lessons. Using Desmos, students can graph functions, plot data, evaluate equations, and explore transformations for free. “Getting students to talk about math is a challenge, but Desmos offers a way for students to experience math and become engaged in discourse about their mathematical thinking and problem-solving,” according to Clarke, a former educational technology support specialist who has been teaching math for eight years. The Desmos site also includes digital learning activities that address many math concepts and target common student misconceptions.


Spiral.ac is another web-based learning application that can help get students talking about math or improve participation in a variety of content areas. “My students love using this site,” Clarke explained. “It takes the ‘fear factor’ out of class participation for students who are shy or unsure about their answers.”


Using Spiral.ac, students interact anonymously and can see each others’ responses and comments. “It is a safe way to create a learning community. Whenever I want to get them talking about math and sharing their ideas, this is a go-to site,” she said.


Clearly, technology has always been a passion for Clarke. She holds undergraduate degrees in computer networking and computer management, as well as a master’s degree in K-8 education. She also presents math and technology professional development sessions at district-wide math meetings and West Georgia RESA conferences.


GoFormative is another online tool that Clarke believes works with math as well as any subject. “You can use the free version which gives students and teachers instant feedback. The worksheets and learning activities can be easily imported which allows teachers to move from traditional paper and pencil to more technology-enhanced learning. It is a wonderful tool for teachers who are not as comfortable with technology yet. Plus, GoFormative offers great data analysis, making it much easier to make data-driven instructional decisions,” she said.


“I try to find new ways to integrate instructional technology that my students haven’t experienced before. When I am successful, participation and student engagement are never a problem,” Clarke stated. “Many students come in with a preconceived notion that they don’t like math. Technology is one way I can help change this mindset and improve their feelings of success in math.”


“One new technology I'm going to integrate this year is ThingLink,” shared Clarke. “I think it will enable me to create virtual resources that visually link information, videos, and examples to help students learn new concepts.”



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Ms. Clarke's Math Class

Students in Clarke's math class excel in using technology to learn math.
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Math at Madras

Collaborative group work in math is a common theme in Clarke's math courses at Madras.
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Low-risk environment

Ms. Clarke creates a low-risk environment in her classroom.
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