Impactful Integration With Amy

This issue of Power PD includes some creative ways to increase student engagement.   You can check out the slidedeck with all the links here. 1. Try Wakelet Check out this post by TCEA to see more creative ways to use wakelet. Have you had a chance to try out Wakelet yet?   Ditch that Textbook recently put together a great post about using Wakelet.  Y ou can read more about it here .  Wakelet is a tool that can be used to organize or curate your information.  Students can use it to show what they know or to respond to others.  It can be individual or collaborative.  There is so much possibility with using this tool. Check out this wakelet about using wakelet created by Holly Clark. 2. Choice Boards I recently used Choice Boards in my Capstone Research Project lesson series. Giving students choice is a great way to build engagement.  I love using choice boards with my lessons.  If you have never used choice boards, I would suggest s...

Choice boards have been around for awhile, however I have noticed they are really trending lately.  When I was an elementary teacher and librarian, I did use choice boards in a low tech way.  I gave students options in how they might respond to a lesson. Now that our campus is one to one with devices, I realized I hadn't tried digital choice boards with my high school students.  I decided to go with combination of stations and choice boards to flip my instruction with my 11th graders last week.  I knew I wanted to structure their library visit in a way that we could cover four areas: finding a good book, researching colleges, exploring test prep materials and checking out a book.    So how do we start using choice board in way that works for teachers and students. Tip 1: Use a template I'm always so inspired by what Mrs. Howell is doing with Gold Edu and I decided to use a template she shared with our group.  Here is the template I used: Inspiration/ t...

This issue of Power PD includes some creative ways to engage students and to keep your momentum going as we fall back into the routine of school.   It's time for Power PD issue #2!  We are back in the campuses with students here in my area.  I'm looking forward to all the opportunities to collaborate with my staff to make this year amazing.  I recently had a chance to present in our district technology conference and I was able to listen to over one thousand educators as they shared their word for 2021 using an EduProtocols strategy called Thin Slides.  The overwhelming majority of educators in my district are excited, but nervous as we approach a new school year in a pandemic.  I'm right there with them.  I admire their persistence and optimism moving forward, and I look forward to all the potential this year holds for each of us.   Let's Collaborate- Please reach out and let's collaborate on your next project.  I'm so excited to h...

Hi friends!  As the return to school quickly approaches, I am preparing materials to share with my staff.  One of the items on my to do list is to put together a list of tools that would be the tools I'd recommend to any teacher to try out.  During the school year, I made a list of all the technology tools I am familiar with and I categorized them by how I would use them, for example- collaboration, video editing, creative response, screen casting, etc.  It started out as a Google Doc that you can check out here.  Since then it has evolved.  I knew I wanted to take this to the next level and make it more visually appealing.  So I did a thing... I made an ebook using Canva!  I put together some tips on lesson planning with technology integration and some tools I'd recommend based on the 4 C's.  I wanted to make sure it was not too overwhelming.  So you will find a few tools for each category.   Can I ask for your help?  Wil...

This post is week 6 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.   This time I'm looking into what I will keep, lose or try in the upcoming school year.  I really liked this question posed by the Hot Lunch Tray blog: "What makes educational technology a keeper?"  To me this is an essential question to address because as we come back to completely in person instruction my goal is to help teachers feel empowered to continue using technology in impactful ways with students and not just say well we are back let get out the worksheets.  In order for educational technology to be a keeper for me it has to address the 4 C's- creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration and it needs to be simple enough that we aren't wasting too much time explaining how to use the tool over and over again.   Which Tools Will I Keep? Canva - 100% yes!  This year I attended a session by Kristina Holzweiss, author of Hacking School Libraries and @li...

This post is week 5 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators. This week's topic is all about the successes and challenges of communication during the pandemic.  It became crystal clear that during virtual learning the focus of communication needed to broaden to reach students multiple ways.  Without students coming to the virtual space of the library or classroom, I couldn't rely on signage on walls, tables and doors to spread the news of upcoming events and new resources.  Also I had to consider, how can I get my learners talking in a virtual environment? During this past year, communication had to get an over haul to meet the needs of the different learning styles of my learners and to ensure accessibility to make learning equitable for all.  When instruction was happening in person, many times I would give the directions and model how to do something.  I would include written directions for multi step assignments.  This strategy alone did...