Mrs. Tech

If you don't know already, I am using Apple Classroom in my technology classes this year. I talk about how it came about, how we use it, and what it is like to set up for multiple classes in another blog post here . Today, I want to focus more on what Apple Classroom does, and why I think that it is such a valuable tool to use in any iPad classroom. Here are my top 5 reasons that you should look into Apple Classroom. Screen Control: Did you know that you can view all of your students screens at one time? It also tells you what app they are on. You can see what program they are using, and close them out of it if they are not on task. Talk about having eyes everywhere - you're like Santa Claus. You really can see everything they're doing.     Instant App/Internet Opening: With just one click, you can open any app on the students device. You can do the same thing with any favorite that you have on the internet. How great is it to be able to say go here, and it open ...

About a year ago, my principal and I started discussing what it would look like to use Apple Classroom with our class sets of iPads. From what I had read, this was a relatively new tool and although lots of people enjoyed using it, there were still some kinks that needed to get worked out. My IT director and I began to work on setting up Apple Classroom about 2 weeks before school started. There was a steep learning curve and it took us a while (along with all of our other projects) to get this up and running. If you aren't a tech genius, and you don't have one at your school, this could be a big road block for you. The biggest thing you need is a CSV file with all of the students information. (talk nerdy to me, am I right?) If you don't pull a CSV file (it's just a fancy Excel spreadsheet), then you will have to input each students information by hand - no fun! **Again, I think that reason that it was so time consuming for us was that we were trying to get 10 class ...

One of the first things I do when I get a new tool is check out all that Google search has to offer about how other educators are using it. This year, I really wanted to use Pic Collage with my students. I found this post on the Pic Collage page and figured this was as good a place as any to start. I know that Pic Collage can be a fun way to incorporate technology into many different aspects of your curriculum, so I figured I would start out my tech lessons with teaching the students how to use this simple app. I went ahead and walked them through how to add a background, take pictures, add text, and doodle within the app. At the end, I had the students save it to their library, but I also had them Air Drop it to my iPad. I then collected all of the students portfolios, and I am going to put them together in a slideshow for our elementary team. I think it will be super fun to see all of the facts about our kids (and all their silly selfies!). Of course, I had to have a handout ...

For the last two years, my job has consisted of working with our 5-12 graders and their 1:1 devices. I set them up with emails, passwords, and train them on how to use Canvas, our Learning Management System. I have also worked with new teachers to train them on these same topics. The other half of my job was working with K-4 students one day a week when they came to the technology lab. In discussions after school last year, we decided that this was a little outdated and we needed to up our game in the technology field. Enter the mobile lab. We purchased a class set of iPads, put them on a jumbo charging cart, and decided the best way to integrate technology within the curriculum was to send me into the classrooms to work with the teachers directly. My job is to take what the teachers are teaching in their classrooms and find some technology that integrates with what they are learning. Sometimes it will just be using Word or Google Docs to type about a topic they are learning i...

How fun is it to hear all about this Solar Eclipse that is happening? I was doing some research to see how I could share it with my students! I found some great information about the Solar Eclipse 2017 on Space.coms website . It has a countdown until the eclipse and answers a lot of questions that your students might have.   This YouTube Video tells students what a Solar Eclipse is in terms that they will understand. Kids Discover has some great discussion questions to use in your classroom or with your kiddos at home.   Look What We're Learning shares an easy and inexpensive Solar Eclipse craft using coffee filters.  Any why not let your kiddos chew some Eclipse gum while you talk about this years Solar Eclipse? Are you planning to talk about the Solar Eclipse with your students? Tell me how in the comments below!  -Hilary