Yes, you are correct! I'm usually in the classroom materials, planning, and coaching game, but I like supporting the wires and other do-dads to ensure we as educators can teach with them!

Chromebooks were and are a massive advantage and shift to education, closing the device access gaps for many districts and schools while presenting their unique issues with information and distractions being more readily available than ever.

Here are 3 quick tips to keep your classroom devices running longer and be ready for learning!

Turning off devices nightly allows the device to get some rest and crucial updates to the devices.

If you're an elementary or self-contained teacher, make it part of your routine before putting away devices!

If you teach secondary, remind them during an advisory period or in the day's last class!

You might be shocked at how many have never turned off their device!

Chromebooks are VERY durable devices, but every device has its limit, even the Nokia brick phone.

Remind students to have their Chromebooks closed like a book when walking the halls and to keep them securely in their backpacks away from jostling books when heading home.

When Chromebooks are open, keep water bottles and food away. Crumbs and food items can lead to device failure and, in some extreme instances, even pests living inside the computer. Yuck!

Enough with the finger-wagging.

Touchpads on our portable computers are INCREDIBLE!

They are so much more than moving the mouse and clicking play on YouTube.

Want to make your student more efficient while working?

Teach them (and maybe yourself) some touchpad gestures that can make your life easier.

Digital educator Eric Curts has some great ideas linked here on how Chromebook gestures can help out students. Plus, most all of these are standard on Windows devices (your laptop!).

This week's resources come from Project Look Sharp, a nonprofit out of Ithaca college to help K-16 educators enhance students’ critical thinking, metacognition, and civic engagement through media literacy materials.

They have plenty of free resources for all sorts of issues, subject areas, and themes to help students understand the media's effect on our lives and opinions.

Resources are free to download and use once logged in!

Here are my recommendations for Women's History Month!

Elementary (K-4): Heroes for Animal Protection

Analyze a book and video about songbird steward Rachel Carson and compose a social message about being an animal steward

Middle School (Gr. 5-8): How Women Got the Vote: Different Authors, Different Stories

Analyze excerpts from two children’s history books for messages about the fight for women’s right to vote

High School & Adult Learners (Gr. 9-16)- Female Superheroes: Changing Powers Over Time

Analyze female superheroes from comics of the 1960s and 2010s for messages about changes in media representations of gender and power across fifty years.

As part of National Reading Month, Book Creator is also celebrating our student writers in growing and sharing the love of writing and sharing it with their friends, families, and classmates.

Their specialty month page has templates for creating your own book, books you can remix with your students, and a daily writing activity journal.

Why does the letter A look like a flower?

A bee comes after it!

Made by MagicSchool.ai Teacher Joke Generator

Contact me to collaborate on your next project, troubleshoot what you do currently, or to just answer a question you have!

Email: bkrause@ltcillinois.org
Booking Link: https://calendly.com/bkrauseltc
Phone: (815) 362-4791
Twitter: @bmkeducation

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