Tech and PD News of the Week

1:1 Rollout and 1:1 PD Resources and News

The 1:1 Chromebook deployment is nearly complete and has gone very smoothly thanks to everyone working together. It has been amazing watching the students get their devices, be so happy they don't have to log in and log out of them all day long. It's also been amazing watching the teachers adjust their lesson plans now that they know student have a device at their fingertips every day.  

I know some folks are still a bit hesitant. If that is you, please remember it is ok to move slowly and remember that you don't HAVE to use it just because you have it, and we definitely still want children moving and creating without a screen, as well. 

Most of what tech-infused 1:1 learning is, we already do at Piedmont, and we have done so for years (remember this blast from the past ? Or even back when we were open? centers? deep dives? curriculum compacting?) . 

And now that we are 1:1 we can have even more global and personalized learning which is what IB (and even open before it) really were. 

Check the A-Z guide for new FAQs (located at the end) and please send me any questions you have.  All questions that were submitted at the last faculty meeting are answered at the end of the A-Z guide.

Student and Faculty info on the Gaggle to Google mail switch is here 
The FAQ has answers to your questions about best practices and training, both content specific and general 1:1 PD, including these links:

• http://pl.cmslearns.org/toolkit/ These tools help you get the most out of our new 1:1 classrooms to personalize in a way that would be completely impossible in the pre-tech days if you also wanted to sleep or eat or have a life.
•  http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php  This link has example videos of tech being used in classes. The matrix starts with the lowest level of tech integration (you area all past that already)  and goes up to highest. Just click the icon by each core subject area to view a video of tech in that area for an idea of how it looks in math, science, language, and social studies.
  

Many more resources are found at http://www.cmslearns.org/ in the Digital Learning Tools and Resource Hub sections.  Email Lisa Gurthie with your PD needs and she can meet with you for tutorials on on one or with your team as desired.

If You Used Google Classroom this year...

You can decide what you want to do regarding the fact that your students have a new Google Apps for Education (which includes google classroom) login with their new Chromebook. Your choices are:

• Create new Google Classrooms for the New Year/New Semester.
  
• Have the students join your existing classroom with their new accounts then delete the old accounts from your rosters
  
• Ask students to switch accounts by going to Control Shift N and then typing in classroom.google.com and signing in as their old login.

Note that student accounts as well as teacher Gaggle accounts will disappear this summer so if  you've used gaggle for email you should forward to Evernote instead.

Video Opportunities for Your Students and Class

• Piedmont is lucky to have a new club starting next Thursday until April 25th. Professional movie maker Jermaine Coles will be teach the Art of movie making class until 6pm. Permission slips are in the media center and must be signed and returned. First come, first serve. 
• Would your students like a chance to meet Cam Newton?  Tell them to create a video, upload it to Youtube, answer the questions on this link for a chance to do so! http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/cam-newton-student-video-contest

• The new Chromebooks do have video and still cameras in them. If you'd like to make videos for class check out http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/videography which includes teacher lesson ideas.

• Don't forget there is also a student recruitment video contest happening now. Students should create a video showing why a 5th grader and their family should choose Piedmont for Middle School, highlighting their favorite things about Piedmont. See Mr. Joyce and his flyer below for details.