In this episode, we talk about some great digital activities to start off a new school year. We recognize that we are all starting the school year differently – face to face, remote, or even a hybrid model that involves both!

These activities will help you to get to know your students, build community and get your students comfortable with however they will be learning for the year.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

We would love to hear from you – leave a comment on our website OR check out our FLIPGRID! Also, access detailed show notes here.

News and Updates

• Wakelet Spaces
• Jamboard - shapes and text boxes have arrived! Also integration with Meet is being rolled out!

Featured Content

• Are you starting fully remote, hybrid, fully in class? We'd love to hear how your district is approaching this new school year
• Planning for hybrid learning - allow for student choice of path and place, embrace the blended learning approach!

Start with Relationships & Community Building

• Getting to know the tools with scavenger hunts, escape rooms
• Slides - students create a slide show about themselves
• Adding a personalized profile picture to Google account - have this as a conversation starter with community building discussions
• Identity Chart activity from Facing History - try out this template
• Getting to know you survey with Google Forms - George Couros questions
• Two truths and a lie in a synchronous Meet - Jamboard template here
• This or That - Would you rather type questions in Jamboard
• Virtual meet the teacher event - invite student/parents/guardians etc.; consider flipping it too
• Newsletter via Google Slides (download as a PDF) or Wakelet
• Face-to-Face learning for collaborative activities, flip your direct instruction to video/EdPuzzle
• Explain your why to students & parents
• John Meehan - Edrenaline Rush website & Gamifying your class syllabus - Class is Lava and setup with various Google Meet rooms
• Ditch That Textbook - 10 Jamboard Templates for Distance Learning
• Erica Taylor - see pages 3 - 17 for both chemistry games
• Scavenger Hunt - Think big and take it school wide!
• Informal spaces for discussion - Google Chat Rooms
• Check Ins -

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As we gear up for a new school year, we thought it was a good idea to go back and talk about all things Google Classroom. Whether you are remote, in-person, or a hybrid version of the two, there are ways that you can set up Google Classroom so that it is optimized for whatever comes your way.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content! Check out our website for more detailed show notes.

We would love to hear from you – leave a comment on our website, OR check out our FLIPGRID!

Show Notes

News and Updates

• Blog Post for all Google Updates announced at the Anywhere School event
• Google Classroom Updates:
  • To-do list on the classes page
  • Join via a link
  • Available in 54 languages now
  • 5 originality reports for free accounts and slides coming soon
• Google Assignments - incorporate into your LMS (Brightspace, Canvas, Schoology and others)

Featured Content

• Map out your plan first before setting up your classroom - uses for stream, classwork tab, topic setup (weekly vs unit), assignments, multiple vs single classroom
• Idea - Use classrooms as mastery-based modules; inspired by EdPuzzle certifications
• System of naming can help with Google drive folder organization
• Settings:
  • Stream - do you want students to post and comment, comment only, or only teacher; play with the settings
  • Classwork on the stream - hide notifications to declutter your stream
  • Turn on guardian summaries - super useful to keep parents/guardians in the loop!
  • Google Meet - turn the link on or off or regenerate new codes in the settings panel
  • Grades - can be set up in the settings panel for categories, overall mark calculation, show overall mark to students

Tips

• Template classes - take some time to set one up to save you team each year. Everything copies in draft form which can be easily scheduled
• Reuse posts, assignments etc. from old classes
• Explicitly teach students how to use classroom - some students lack language or experience
• Google calendar linked to your classroom - linked to your classwork page; use if for your topics & lesson planning to keep your students organized
• Materials under each topic - unit overview doc to organize/hyperlink resources; use "anyone with the link can comment" to turn it into a Q&A board
• People tab
  • Clicking on a student name shows a summary of work for that student
  • Can also filter for handed in, returned, or missing in the left-hand panel
  • Use the mail symbol to email the student, guardian, or both & attach a work summary here too
• To-do list - review all work here; bookmark each class to navigate here easier
• Assignment submission - turn in or submit vs. mark as done
• Create a sandbox with your colleagues!

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This episode is Part 2 of our Brightspace Series. If you haven't had a chance to listen to part 1, where we talk about the basics of Brightspace, and how teachers can start out with this program, click here to listen! 

Today, we are speaking with Tanya Williamson, who is knowledgable about all things Brightspace. She will take us through some more advanced features and tools within Brightspace, and she will also give educators some advice as they begin to plan and prepare for a new school year. 

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don't miss out on any new content! Check out our website for more detailed show notes!

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Show Notes

• Brightspace Tutorials

Community Building

• Strong teacher presence is essential! First impressions are crucial to establishing this. 
  • Activity vs news feed - Depends on needs! Or use both!
  • Virtual learning spaces can be modified! Make it your own - meet the needs of all students
  • Video Note Tool - available anywhere HTML editor is available. Great for building community, differentiation.
  • Discussion Tool - use text, video and audio. Also create a cafe/lounge for non-curricular related discussions
  • Other tips - post clear expectations, co-construct class/discussion norms
  • Virtual Classroom
    • polling features, chat pod feature, whiteboard available
    • Different subscription levels; check with your Brightspace contact for more info

Learning Brightspace

• Learning Curve - Advice: start with one unit first, you don't need the entire course ready to go!
• Streamline/Simplify
  • Start with news/activity, content, dropbox and discussions; dive into quizzes when you're ready!
  • Customize your homepage - get rid of anything you're not using
  • Create your own widgets

Advanced Tools

• Quiz Tool: Special access, Question library
• Portfolio Tool: 
  • Showcase progress over time, expectations for use should be clear
  • Visible only between teacher and student (no other students can access)
• Accessibility: No specific features within Brightspace, however extensions such as Read&Write do interact with Brightspace! 

Prep for Sept: Big Advice for Teachers

• Welcome email to students
• Welcome Message posted!
• First week: Online icebreakers, focus on COMMUNITY!
• Incorporate student voice/choice
• Include different ways to learn (text, simulations, videos, etc.)

Tanya’s one piece of advice as they are navigating BS and trying to get ready for a new school year:

• Keep your students’ needs, interests, etc. at the forefront; Build your course from the perspective of the student - easy to access? do they see themselves? is it accessible? how will i be supporting how they learn? It might take them longer to learn the curriculum - 2-3x longer than you might think! They are on their own during eLearning, so pare down content

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In this episode we are talking all about Brightspace by D2L, a Learning Management System (LMS) that many Boards or Districts will be using this coming school year. This week will be all about the basics: how to access your courses, how to sync your G Suite account (or One Drive account), and some useful features to get you started.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode, as we will have a guest speaker with us who will explain some of the more advanced features of Brightspace!

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content! Check out our website for more detailed show notes.

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Show Notes

News and Updates

• Google Junior Training Series
  • Global GEG – Google Jr Training Series
  • YouTube – Google Jr Training Series Playlist
• Google Meet Updates
  • Updating the interface
  • Moderator – Require the moderator to log in first
  • Blocking anonymous users for education accounts
  • If you kick someone out, they can’t automatically join right away
  • More controls for teachers – disable chat; mute all students at once; end meeting for all;
  • Larger tiled view (up to 49 participants)
  • Custom and blurred backgrounds
  • Hand raising – icon so that students can raise their hand
  • Jamboard integration
  • Blog Post for all Google Updates announced at the Anywhere School event

Featured Content

• Brightspace/D2L official website
• Topics covered:
  • System landing page
  • Linking to G Suite or One Drive
  • Adding teachers to a course
  • Using old course shells to begin your prep
  • Content area - create new and add existing
  • Activity feed vs. News feed
  • Discussion boards (and terminology)
  • Dropbox (and terminology)
  • Rubric builder
  • Quizzes and the question library
• Brightspace Resources
  • YouTube Playlist of training videos
  • Brightspace Help

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This week is Part 2 of our series on Assistive Technology and supporting all learners. Our guest, Judy, has returned to speak a little more about some awesome tools that will benefit all students, particularly those with learning difficulties.

In this episode we speak about Fluency Tutor, Book Creator, Screencastify, Reader Pens, and more. These apps and/or tools are all forms of assistive technology, and while they are particularly ideal for our students with IEPs, the rest of our students would benefit from these tools as well.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

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Show Notes
Our guest today is Judy Sackville, an assistive technology lead. Connect with Judy on Twitter. Did you miss part 1? Listen here.

Assistive Technology Tools

• Fluency Tutor - TextHelp product; Reading Assessments - you can assign levelled text and have students record their reading; paid version provides ability to track progress with running records
• Interactive Games via Google Slides - great for motivation and engagement
• Book Creator - great for students with early literacy needs as support for them at their developmental level. Ability to add images, text, audio, and video to a page. 
• Screencastify - we love it and so does Judy! 
  • Have students create tutorials or training resources for others. 
  • Check out Episode 2 for more details. 
  • Have students create problem-solving videos to explain their thinking.
  • Use it as an overview video to connect with your students.
  • Use it as a presentation tool for students to record themselves.
  • Make screencasts of your lessons - use the webcam feature to humanize it!
  • Screencastify Submit - still in beta. No prices on their website yet but they do say they will have a free plan as well as an unlimited paid plan.
• C-Pen Reader Pen by Scanning Pens - scan across text and the pen will read it out loud! Also includes audio note feature, scan to file to upload to computer later or connect via USB for immediate transfer, and dictionary. No wifi needed! Also great for ELLs.
• Bitmojis
  • Create a bitmoji classroom to provide a humanizing aspect to the classroom. Increases engagement too.
  • Check out the bitmoji classroom facebook group.
  • Create feedback stickers using Google Drawings and your Bitmoji!
  • Create custom banners for Google Classroom or your LMS
  • Play peek-a-boo in your slide decks
• EquatIO - TextHelp product; it's like Read & Write for math, speech-to-text

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In this episode, we are talking with Judy Sackville, an Assistive Technology Lead in Ontario, all about Special Education and Assistive Technology. She helps to break down what a learner profile is, and how we can approach each profile with practical tips and suggestions. Whether it be differentiation, or assistive technology, Judy has so much to share with us about how to become better and more inclusive educators.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

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News and Updates

• Anywhere School Event by Google - August 11/12; note that you must register to access all the content!
• D2L/Brightspace - Portfolio Tool updates

Featured Content

• Learner Profile
  • How do students learn, strengths, needs, etc.
  • Gives us the information to better understand our students and their individual learning characteristics
• IEPs (Individual Education Plans)
  • How can teachers leverage the data provided in practical ways? 
  • Examine the assessment info and baseline data
  • Intention of the IEP is to give teachers and students the licence to make the accommodations to help that student be successful
  • Team-based approach - collaborate with SERT (special education resource teacher) and outside professionals responsible for the assessment
  • Make the IEP as specific as possible!
• Self Advocacy
  • Consider through all lenses - parent, teacher, student
  • Modelling done by parents & teachers to allow students to see what advocacy can look like
  • We also need to keep in mind the age and maturity of our students
  • “We can’t assume silence means they understand!” No news is NOT good news for all students
  • We need to reach out, ask specific questions based on where they are not doing as well, and find out how we can help them to stand up for themselves
• Teacher Support
  • Look for signs/patterns that are unusual and trust your instincts!
  • Change/differentiate based on what you are noticing - for example, video/audio notes in Slides/Docs
• Google Read & Write by TextHelp
  • Read, Talk, Voice dictation, audio notes, websites can be read aloud or summarized
  • Normalizes assistive technology. All students can use and benefit from this tool
  • Swiss army knife of special education!
• Boardmaker Online
  • Symbols that provide a visual way for students to communicate
  • Online templates and activities for teachers to use to help make content accessible

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This week was totally unplanned! We did not anticipate or plan to talk about the return to school, but since it is sounding more and more like a full/normal return to school, we thought it would be a good idea to share our thoughts, reflections and also some of our ideas for how to prepare for the school year.

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Featured Content

We share some thoughts on:

• Exposure for students to tech/building community first
• Using Jamboard for getting to know you activities
• Devices - 1:1 vs BYOD, ensuring all students have one
• No share policies - no common supplies can be shared
• Chromebooks - reshuffling/inventory
• Tech tools for staff - wacom tablets for example
• Common spaces issues - cafeteria, library, etc
• Library spaces - engage kids online; online tutorials for staff and students; centre for school community; badge system for learning - students, and perhaps staff as well! Students: google search, plagiarism, databases; THEN tools (GSuite) - prizes (swag? badges?)
• Google Certification for teachers
• Pandemic paralysis - the struggle is real!
• Use your PLN!

Do you run a badging system to train teachers, students or that you use in your library/school community? Would you like to hear an episode on BreakOutEDU? We'd love to hear from you on our FLIPGRID!

Our Best Tips for Preparing For the New School Year

• Tip 1: Flipped Classroom regardless of format
• Tip 2: Intro Unit on your LMS
• Tip 3: Teachers are people, too!
• Tip 4: BreakOutEDU for Brightspace
• Tip 5: Self Care is Important

Resources

• BreakOutEDU
• EdPuzzle - Flipped Classroom Certification
• Flip Learning - A community resource
• Ontario Teacher's Federation - Teacher Wellbeing resource
• 10 Mental Health Tips for Teachers During COVID-19
• Check out even more resources on our website: EduGals.com/13

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In this episode, we discuss the Google Certified Educator program. We'll go over some of the benefits of the program and give you some tips to help you be successful on the Level 1 exam.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

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News and Updates

• Google Currents - new for G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education accounts

Featured Content
Google Certified Educator, Level 1

• Benefits:
  • How to use the Google tools effectively and efficiently
  • Curriculum focuses on practices and applications
  • Boosts your confidence using the tools
  • Don't waste your time trying to figure out the tech stuff; focus on what matters in your classroom
  • Saves you time!
• How to get started:
  • New curriculum Center - Educator Level 1 is under the Certifications tab
  • Old curriculum Center
  • 3 main sections and 13 units in total
  • Review curriculum first then register for the exam ($10 USD) 
  • Exam details - 3 hours (180 minutes) - mostly task-oriented
• Our best tips:
  • Go through the curriculum provided by Google carefully - click on all the hyperlinks even if you know the tool/skill already - Example
  • Focus on the skills, not the knowledge - practice using the tools! 
  • Use checklists to make sure you’ve covered all the skills
    • Shake Up Learning
    • Eric Curts
  • Find ways to use the tools efficiently - get to know your keyboard shortcuts!
  • When writing the exam, don’t worry about making things pretty! They are not looking for pretty, just that you know the skills and can do the tasks - don't be a font snob :)
  • Try out the exam practice questions - there are some MC/Matching/Ranking types of questions and the practice Qs that Google provides in the Sample Exam as well as throughout the curriculum is good for practice
  • Exam is divided into a short MC/Matching/Ranking section and a task-oriented section. Spend the majority of your time on the tasks!
  • Don’t spend too much time looking up things during your exam - time is tight so if you do this, you’re likely to run out of time
  • Use a personal email instead of your work email in case you switch districts/jobs etc.
  • Choose the right exam provider for you! Kryterion/WebAssessor vs

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In the second of this two-part podcast, we will be diving deeper into how we as educators can prepare for a new school year, not knowing what it will look like. We will be discussing various blended learning models and how we can apply these models to face-to-face as well as distance learning scenarios. We also talk about various EdTech tools that can support blended learning.

If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

We would love to hear from you – leave us a message on our FLIPGRID!

News and Updates:

• We’re taking a short break to recharge! New episode is coming in July and we’ll return to our regular weekly schedule in mid-August. 
• Statement From EduGals About Events Unfolding In The U.S.A.
• Do you have any resources to share with us? Share on Flipgrid or on Twitter

Featured Content:

Blended Learning Models Resources

• Models - Blended Learning
• 12 Different Types of Blended Learning
• Blended Learning - Edutopia Resources
• Blended Learning Universe
• Blended Learning: Making It Work In Your Classroom Video 

Station-Based Learning

• Works great in all panels from K-12
• Breakout rooms using Google Meet for stations
• Choice boards for organization - Slides Mania templates!

Flipped Classroom

• Books
  • Flip Your Classroom: Reaching Every Student in Every Class Every Day
  • Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement
• Video recording apps: EduCreations or Explain EDU (iPad), Screencastify (Chrome extension)

Project-Based Learning

• PBL Works Resources

Individual Rotation Model

• Differentiated stations for students
• Fluency Tutor is a great tool to use for ESL students

Tool Recommendations For Blended Learning

• Screencastify
• Explain EDU
• Google Slides
• Jamboard - limitations: 20 frames max and 50 collaborators
• Google Keep
• ESL -

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In the first of this two-part podcast, we will be discussing how we as educators can prepare for a new school year, not knowing what it will look like. A pandemic is unpredictable, so it is important to consider the various options for what school could look like in September (or whenever it starts in your district) so that everyone is more prepared.
If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content!

We would love to hear from you – leave us a message on our FLIPGRID!

News and Updates:

• EquatIO updates - new science and math tools
• Wakelet - Wakelet Live on June 1st (lots of updates)
  • Join the Wakelet Community
• Zoom fatigue resources

Featured Content:

Tips for Teachers:

• Get Certified!
  • Google Certification 
    • Global GEG Level 1 bootcamp
    • Kasey Bell - Shake Up Learning
    • Google for Education Teacher Center
    • Level 1 - $10, Level 2 - $25 USD
  • Other certifications:
    • Apple Teacher
    • Microsoft Certified Educator
    • EdTech tools: Screencastify, EdPuzzle, Kahoot!
• Learn about your LMS (Learning Management System) and collaborate with a colleague!
  • Brightspace Training Resources
• Create a training resource library for teachers AND students
  • Build community - have teachers and students contribute to this library and create multilingual resources
• Community Building - create a Wakelet collection to share with others!
  • Example teacher intro video
  • Check out previous episodes for lots of other ideas

Tips for Students:

• Explicit teaching on tech tools
  • Start your course with skills needed to be successful online instead of with curriculum
  • Intro unit for your LMS
    • Practice the skills!
    • Self-paced
  • Instructions for parents on different tech tools you’ll be using
  • Use Wakelet for curating your resources!
• Use simplified language
  • Great for ELLs (and the rest of your students)
• Studying and Learning Skills
  • Watching a video and taking notes
  • Minimizing distractions from social media
  • Creating a quiet study space
• Classroom Culture and Mindset
  • Mastery-based approaches to move away from grades focus

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