Another amazing idea from Eric Curts!

Build a Snowman with Google Slides

Build a snowman with Google Slides and write about your creation with the free "Build a Snowman" template. From Control, Alt, Achieve

See you there?

NYSCATE's annual conference is in just a few days! I'm excited to be presenting on Monday and Tuesday. Monday is "Travel the World with Google MyMaps."  Tuesday, come hear us talk about how we started our GETT and SETT (Girls / Students Empowered Through Technology) summer camps. Have you tried Google CS First, Lego EV3, Finch Robots, Makey-Makey, Little Bits and Dash and Dot? During this session, we will share successes and obstacles from our technology camps and clubs, give you pointers for running your own club and time to play too.Learning creative ideas for running two technology camps and clubs within our school district, participants hopefully will be inspired to take this idea back to their own district. 

http://www.nyscate.org/conferences.cfm?subpage=920 

November 20-22, 2016

Annual Conference

 

November 19, 2016

Mini-Maker Faire and Pre-Conference Workshops

 

 

Coming soon, to a skyline near you!

Email 101

... and a Big Tip About Forwarding Emails

When you forward an email, don't forget to strip out the email addresses included!  For example, when I click "Forward" on this email, addresses are sent with the message I might be forwarding to an outside person!

Do you??

From Commonsense Media

Check this out:

… and most parents are using devices while driving — with kids in the car!

56% of parents admit they check their mobile devices while driving

51% of teens see their parents checking/ using their mobile devices while driving

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/2016_csm_technology_addiction_executive_summary.pdf

GETT Wraps Up!

The Girls of GETT (Girls Empowered Through Technology) Summer 2016 club culminated their project yesterday. They presented a check in the amount of $2,2373.09 to the Ann and Carl Meyers Cancer Center at Noyes Hospital.

These girls did an amazing job and went over their initial goal of $2,000. In just one week, they created a "business," learned technology and business skills, designed a t-shirt, gained sponsorship and sold their product.

Great job, girls! Way to make us proud.

Why, Google???

It's All About the Branding!

We need to begin teaching our students to thinking about BRANDING themselves in social media! Start talking to your students today about their digital footprint!

We are finishing up all students in grades 7-12. The response has been incredible!

"The Ivy League Method"

A new school year and I'm going to try this to keep myself organized.  

The Ivy League Method of Getting Things Done!

Interesting read! "Do the most important thing first each day. It’s the only productivity trick you need"

• It’s simple enough to actually work
• It forces you to make tough decisions
• It removes the friction of starting
• It requires you to single-task

To read full article (written by James Clear) click here!

Hundreds (thousands!) of educational videos!

Collection of Educational Videos

Check these out! Collection of all kinds of educational videos… from MIT videos, to GreenTV environmental videos, to math.org videos to science videos!

Pinterest board by Board by Eric Sheninger

Educational Videos

GETT Recap

The GETT girls got some great press (well deserved!!!) and are now meeting to order shirts. The first week of September will wrap things up for them when the make delivery.

The girls hope to make a size-able donation to the Ann and Carl Meyers Cancer Center. Just as important, though, these amazing girls learned how to work at a TEAM and how to be LEADERS along with learning a lot of new technology and business skills.

Our next challenge? How are we going to top this for next summer!?!?  Take a look at the great article in a local newspaper:

http://www.thelcn.com/lcn05/tech-camp-empowers-dansville-girls-20160809 

GETT Day 4!

GETT Update: Today's activities included wrapping up contacting sponsors (close to our goal!), finishing all advertising, and then meeting with Mrs. Cripps to talk about how GETT ties into the Leader in Me with the Seven Habits.

Also, the girls finished up developing their website (using Wix)... take a look! 
http://petrilloj.wixsite.com/gett-tshirts

THE BIG REVEAL!!

GETT (Girls Empowered Through Technology) reveal their T-shirt design.

Proceeds from our t-shirt sale go to the Ann and Carl Myers Cancer Center to help our community. Our design consists of a hot air balloon with motivational words. We are flying high to help save lives!

Day 2 of GETT

The Empowered Through Technology summer club is so close to revealing their design!

I was totally amazed and inspired by the girls today. I was a little worried how this club would work out... we are asking the girls for a huge undertaking in one short week - 15 hours!  But at the end of day two, they have finished their order forms, the spreadsheet for tracking order and sponsors and their letters to sponsors. In addition, the advertising team is ready to show their flyer tomorrow morning, and the design team will reveal their design as well.

Tomorrows agenda includes building the website to begin generating excitement about their product.

Stay tuned--tomorrow is the big reveal!

GETT-ing Inspired!

The Girls of GETT (Girls Empowered Through Technology) met today for the first session of year two of summer camp. This year, girls in grades 7-10 will be designing a t-shirt and selling to the public. Proceeds will go to the Noyes Cancer Center. Today, girls met with Dr. Nicole Alioto, DJ Schimizzi, Mrs. Jen Howe, Mrs. Susan DeMuth, and Mrs. Suzanne Markowski to talk about design, advertising and positioning their product.

"Campers" will be learning how to record radio spots, create print advertising, create a social media presence, design shirts, create a spreadsheet to track orders and delivery and much more!

We're excited to be a part of this program! If you have any questions, please contact one of the "camp "counselors" (Mrs. Lynne Blum, Mrs. Sheila Cripps, Ms. Kim Derrenbacher and Ms. Joie Petrillo).

Shirts will be offered to the public soon -- please keep an eye out for how to order a shirt and support our community!

Fun for first day of school!

Use Bitmoji or Androidify to have your kids create their very own avatar!

 

https://bitmoji.com/

https://www.androidify.com/en/#/

Hooked on HyperDocs!

I'm just finishing up an online class... creating HyperDocs to transform teaching and learning. I'm hooked!

The first HD I created was for presenting professional development on how to use ThingLink in the classroom. Then I created a HD for a presentation I'm making to our district administrative team--how cool that they can see how these work in the classroom!

What is a HyperDoc?  According to the authors,

"... innovative ways to engage students and package digital lessons on a Google Doc. The HyperDoc Handbook is a practical reference guide for all K-12 educators looking to transform their teaching into blended learning environments."

If you get a chance, I highly recommend the book and the online class--the 2nd cohort will be starting later in the month.

HyperDocs

I'm in the first cohort for the online learning group called "HyperDoc Boot Camp." It's hosted and run by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton and Sarah Landis. I saw Lisa present at a conference last year, and have been wanting to try HyperDocs, but just didn't have the time (or energy) to try to figure it out on my own. Thankfully they're guiding a group of us on this journey!

I highly recommend this online class the next time it comes around. In the meantime, check out their book, "The HyperDoc Handbook; Digital Lesson Design Using Google Apps."

Day one is done, and here's what I've learned....

Lesson 1: What is a HyperDoc?

Transformative, interactive Google Docs that replace the standard worksheet method of delivering instruction.

A HyperDoc shifts the focus from teacher-led lectures to student-driven, inquiry-based learning allowing students to actually learn through exploration.  

The reason HyperDocs work is because each one begins with a strong lesson design, curates quality instructional content, and packages learning in a way that engages learners.

The role of the teacher changes from lecturer to facilitator.

(The HyperDoc Handbook)

Androidify Yourself!

How fun is this???? With so many options, it's easy to make "you"!

Try it yourself: https://www.androidify.com/en/#/

Doing Science Experiments on Smartphones!

Google's new science app to do experiments on your android phone!

Science Journal is a tool for doing science with your smartphone. You can use the sensors in your phone or connect to external sensors to conduct experiments on the world around you. Organize your ideas into projects, make predictions, take notes and collect data in multiple trials, then annotate and explore your results. It's the lab notebook you always have with you.


And Google is selling "hands-on learning kits" to go along with this app.

With Android apps being pushed out to Chromebooks, this could be big thing!

Check this out: https://makingscience.withgoogle.com/