Hello and welcome back to another great episode of #dcsdtransforms – the best 10 minute edtech conversation for teachers you’ll hear all week! This week we are highlighting Hoopla Kids Lab – which is really targeted toward elementary level science. Our shout out this week goes to LeVernice Edwards at Darlington Middle School. Thanks for tuning in – enjoy the show!
Monthly Archives: February 2018
#dcsdtransforms episode 80: Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Rhett, that’s who.
Hello Everyone! Thank you for joining us this week for our 80th episode of #dcsdtransforms! This week we are honoring the Olympics with some cool 5 minute videos put out by the National Science Foundation on the physics of the Olympics. These are really cool for lessons, bellringers, or maybe just something fun for students to think about during a “fun friday” activity. Click here to go to the NSF’s video playlist on YouTube. Our shoutout this week goes to Jason Oakes at DHS. Thanks for tuning in! Enjoy the show!
Goodbye Google Photos!
Guilty As Charged
I’m definitely guilty of it. It’s so easy to just go to google.com, find the picture you want and download it. And we know it’s wrong – we as adults know it’s wrong. But in our speed race lives, it’s easier to go with it.
Who’s what you need to know:
- Google Images is not a good option. Most images are protected by copyright (and the advanced search filter to find images available for reuse can be complicated). You can be prosecuted for using images that are protected by copyright.
But, what if I told you that there are resources to use that are just as easy as using Google Photos? And legal?!
Classroom Resources
Below you’ll find resources that have been shared to me through Kathleen Morris that will provide a snapshot of what some of the more popular sites do and do not offer.
Most of these websites are simple to use, because they don’t require attribution (citing where the work came from). The only exception is Photos for Class, but the instructions on how to do that is on the site!
So basically you will just need to know how to search for an image, save it, and add it to your work.
Task Cards
1. Task Card for Students Under 13
This document walks your younger students through the process of finding an image on Photos for Class and openclipart.
I am so thankful for Kathleen who provided two printables for your classroom. You can print these off as handouts, place them on the wall as posters, embed them into your class website, or add them to your Schoology course.
Download
2. Poster for Older Students and Teachers
This document references the five sites that are useful for 13+ students (remembering Pixabay requires permission for users aged 13-18).
Download
Next Steps
I encourage you to start using the resources in the post so that we can stay above the reaches of the law. 🙂 Let me know how things go! And if you’re interested in learning more, check out Kathleen’s full blog post here.
Until the next time,
#dcsdtransforms Episode 79: Rhett learns command shift v while Carla smacks some gum
Hello Loyal Listeners! We are excited to be back this week with a great show featuring the Play and Learn Science app from PBS Kids. Our shout out this week goes to the amazing Paulette Lunn at Mayo High School. And as a bonus, we get to play a game this week. As you Loyal Listeners know, we include some of our outtakes at the end of every show. This week in addition to the outtakes, I have included a game called “How long can you listen to gum smacking before you stop the podcast?” Yes, Carla will destroy me for this one later as it was her gum smacking that you get the honor of listening to; however, as the editor in chief of the podcast, I get to have a wee bit of fun at my favorite edtech phenom’s expense. Hope you enjoy the episode this week, and post a picture of how long you could listen to the gum smacking before cutting it off!
Spending Quality Time With My Geeks!
This year I am spending soooooo much more time with teachers – which I love. In addition to that, a few principals have initiated Student Tech Support groups or, as we call them, “Geek Squads”! I try to meet with the students once a month and show them how to use tools and troubleshoot through usage. As many of you who follow me know, the hardest part about this job is being away from kids – I miss them terribly. So now, I get the best of both worlds. Today I met with my elementary Geek Squad and we had an amazing time!!
When I meet with each group, I try to combine showing them technical skills through instructional ways. So today’s technical focus was Google logins, Schoology Assignment split screen on the iPad, annotating through Adobe Acrobat, and Flipgrid. That’s a lot isn’t it. But they did a fabulous job of it all!
We used main idea as the curriculum skill and used text about Ruby Bridges to practice the technical skills.
Ruby Bridges with US Marshals on the school steps.
Students opened a Google Doc that I created asking two questions that focused on main idea and supporting details. They then watched a short video clip about Ruby Bridges and took notes in the app. It was so cool watching them work in real time!
After that, I airdropped a piece of text to them using Apple Classroom and they opened it in Adobe Acrobat. They used the Split Screen feature to follow allow with the text (I read) and we discussed potential main ideas and supporting details which they annotated in Adobe.
Using the information they highlighted in the text, they answered the questions and then used that information to put into a FlipGrid video. It was their first time using most of these tools – especially FlipGrid and without headphones and microphones it got pretty loud.
All in all though, I think they did a fabulous job! I’m so proud of the work that they’re doing and always look forward to our next interaction!!
Their FlipGrid videos!
Until the next time!