If you like Fakebook, consider using emoji, memes and social media for class as explained here. 
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/use-memes-fakebook-and-emoji

 Below is a short video walthrough of how to get started making a Fakebook page for class.  If you give your fakebook famous friends, their image will automatically populate, otherwise you can find and use images from google image search (select - "search tools- usage rights- labelled for noncommerical reuse"  below the search bar!) 
To view a Fakebook example, check out  Rasputin as created by Ms. Thornburg.  

The presentation below demonstrates why and how to integrate maker movement into your classroom or school, via both creating a dedicated "Makerspace" as well as content integration of the "maker" ethos:

• Scroll down for 5 easy steps for starting a Makerspace in your school's media center or other locale. 
• To integrate maker movement into content classes, please see http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/maker-movement-how-to-introduce-a-project-to-students for specific steps and view the presentation for inpsirational photos of integration in math, science, social studies, language arts, and the arts.
  

Click here for Interactive session note sheet from the February CMS Tech Meeting
Click here for  printable QR coded handout 

5 Steps to Starting a Makerspace on a Shoestring Budget:

1. Gather any educational science toys, and creation supplies you now have (cardboard, tape, glue, stop motion video character toys, even an old sewing machine. See here and here for some of what we have at Piedmont) 
2. Include things to both take apart (like an old watch or computer CPU as well as put together (legos)
   
3. Cull some DIY tutorials and print QR code posters like these for items you have gathered or DIY ideas.
   
4. Place items on work tables in the media center,in boxes for checkout to classrooms, or on a coffee table with floor pillows in the lobby.  Have computers nearby for tutorials (if no computers are available, you can place QR codes near items if students have phones or BYOT devices.
   
5. Advertise your new offerings or just wait for curiosity to strike naturally.

Maker-friendly Sites for Students:

• Make -click projects for electronics, workshop, craft, science, food, home and garden crafts and many more.
  
• DIY.org -for all kinds of great maker projects
  
• More Maker Sites for Students 

Free Coding for Students: 

• Scratch - play with code
  
• Code.org -free and fun way to learn coding
  
• Tynker - link goes to the free hour of code tutorials and games
  
• More Coding Sites for Students - includes video game making and app making
• 
  

Free CAD (computer assisted design) for Students:

• TinkerCad drag and drop then export the STL file for your 3D printer 
• Apps also support 3D printing. There's a new one called Draw in 3D that looks amazing!  Or try any from AutoDesk like 123Design 

(Thingiverse great for ready made designs and inspiration. Browse then download the ready-made file with one click to export the STL file. Use Makerware or 3D printer software to open the file)

Robotics, Electronics, Computer Science, Design and Engineering 
Products to consider as you acquire funds:

• Sphero - The apps are free but the codable robotic toys are about $100

• littleBits
  
• Makey Makey
  
• Mindflex Duel or other brain wave controller game
• Snap Circuits 
• K'nex and Legos
  
• Squishy Circuits
  
• 3D printer (we have the Makerbot Replicator 2)
  
• Laser Cutter
• Raspberry Pi
  
• Arduino
• R/C Toys and Drones
  
  

Shop for Techy Maker Supplies

• Makershed.com
  
• Adafruit.com  
• LED Wearables
• for artsy maker supplies, ask your music and art teachers for resources and extras

Inspiring videos, lessons, and ideas:
A few to get you started. Most sites and tools listed above have project lists as well.

• Caine's Arcade -includes info about the "Cardboard Challenge"
  
• Easy PBL Starter idea
  
• Scratch+ MakeyMakey= Language Game 
  

Further Reading for Educators:

• What is a Makerspace?
  
• New Milford High School Maker Blog
  
• and just for fun...a 3D printed cup of coffee 

• Related Posts:
  http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/makerspace-resources4pbl
  http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/whirligigs-an-example-of-maker-movement-in-education
  http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
  http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/gamification

• http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/maker-movement-how-to-introduce-a-project-to-students
  
  

Twitter Hashtags to Explore:
Also, use these as Google search terms (search your content area keyword/s  plus...)

#makermovement
#geniushour
#dtk12chat
#makered
#3dprinting
#STEAM
#STEM
#engineering
#cardboardchallenge
#PBL
and don't forget...
#artsed #musiced #slowchatpe

Mr. Parkins, Dean of Students notes 

2 new programs purchased for everyone to use. (Passwords must be requested from CMS)

http://www.problem-attic.com/
http://www.edgenuity.com/ (information site)
https://learn.education2020.com/educator/ (educator sign in)

These are in addition to CMS purchase of GAFE (GoogleDrive, Google Classroom) Compass Learning, Dreambox, DiscoveryEd, and others you may already be familiar with.


 Check here for a full list http://www.cmslearns.org/blended-learning/

If you've wondered

• Can I get some PD on how can I use these Chrome books to differentiate?
  
•  Is there more to 1:1 than not having to go to Signup Genius anymore, having to charge the device at night, and creating a class job called "Google jockey" to look up questions that arise?  
  
• Am I using my Google Classroom or Edmodo or Wiki or Weebly its utmost?
  
• Is there a way to more efficiently reach each student so no one is bored or in over their head with my content?
  

CMS offers a quick series of self paced courses for you on the concept of differntiation. Click through them anytime between now and May 15th. You can register for any or all of these courses, do them at your own pace, at school or home, with friends or alone. There is no homework, and they will give you confidence and a better overall vision of how to best use 1:1 to  personalize and blend. 

Want To Register?:

1. Go to MyTalent 
   
2. Log in with the first part of your email address (before the @cms...) as your username.The password is Cm$xxxxx where xxxxx represents the last five digits of your Social Security number.
   
3. search by course number 413905, 413908, 414004, 413980 then click register.Then select the Professional Learning tab to search for the courses above.

• INS Self-Paced Differentiating Learning Environment (Online) 413905
  
• INS Self-Paced Differentiating Content (Online) 413908
  
• INS Self-Paced Differentiating Process and Product (Online) 414004
  
• INS Self-Paced Differentiating Tools of Depth and Complexity (Online) 413980

After registering for a course, return to your Professional Learning page and click on the course name to start!

I did all courses and quizzes in a few hours total, the resources were mostly review but good (except they still link to learning styles quizzes even though learning styles tests are scientifically invalid as we all use different modalities according to task, mood and interest)

To make sure the courses count for renewal contact your district specialist. Apparently there are differences in whether they are accepted or not. 

We have also put in an application for a grant to have experts come in to help us tweak our current system if you want. We'll let you know if we get them and offer anyone who's interested to have a helper come work with you. In the meantime, Lisa Gurthie is happy to come to your room, team planning, or department PLC.

Now that we have 1:1 devices every day; now that we can trust we have access to tech daily, how should that change our teaching? How do we ensure these changes are worth it to us and to the students? 

As Ms. Barone has said, we never want to be a school where children are glued to a screen all day and not doing the active collaborative IB learning that makes Piedmont so awesome. But, how do we use these screens for learning?

You can now earn professional development renewal credits from the comfort of your home or mobile device with Piedmont's new online professional development offerings. 

Separate self-paced assignments for the latest IBO training webinars are now available on the Piedmont Google Classroom PD site.  The online Google Classroom for Course 1 - IB Webinars 1-5 is running now . Course 2-  IB Webinars 5-10 will be offered next year.  

All you have to do is go to classroom.google.com, login with your work email and Google Drive password, click the + sign at the top of the home screen and join with the code that was listed in your weekly bulletin (see Lisa Gurthie if you need the code) and start earning at your own pace. 

Each of the 5 Google Classroom assignments consists of: 

1. Playing the one hour audio webinar with accompanying video slides (example in video above)
2. Completing and submitting the google form listed with each video assignment. (sample assignment questions )
   

Each assignment should take 2 hours for a total of 10 hours per course.

 Start learning and earning today from the comfort of your own home!

Information about how to receive credit in MyTalent will be forthcoming as soon as the course is available on that site.


Related posts: 

• Teacher Google Classroom Instructions
• Student Google Classroom Instructions
  

Update: video now has sound!

CMS has replaced MyPD with MyTalent  . Click the photo to be taken to the sign in screen and and follow along with the video below to find and register for your classes.

You will use MyTalent to register for courses that you want licensure renewal credits for. Here's how (beginning with how to access the login screen from the intranet):

From your powerschool homescreen click on Schoolnet and follow these instructions via the most talented plain english speaking tech facilitator I know, Mindra Wise:

http://westmecktesting.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/8/0/22803412/do-it-yourself_schoolnet_training.pdf

Be aware:

Chromebooks don't have java but desktops do
ipads don't have flash but chromebooks do
desktops are glitchy with google classroom when using chrome but firefox will work
explorer is still necessary for the intranet sites

so.... 

When in doubt try another machine or browser and when possible test out sites you want to use on the machine the students will be using it on.

tech signup slots are added through the entire first semester here http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0d4eaeab22a75-online1

5 Easy Steps To Add a File to Drive: 

Step 1- Log into your Google Drive so it will be open when you need it.
Step 2- Go to your download list, documents or even thumb drive list, 
Step 3 - Click and hold the file name you wish to add
Step 4- Drag it to the Google Drive Screen
Step 5- Let it go

That's it! It' "drops" into Drive and you see a big blue dot as it uploads.
They are there forever and you are now FREE to delete them (because I know half of you have run out of district document storage space on your school computers - and don't even get me started on your email space- you can now download all those attachments you've been saving in your email, drag them into google drive and delete!!!

How easy is that?

Here's how it looks with Downloaded Files (using Google Chrome but will work from other browsers):

And here's how it works from your documents library (file folder icon at the bottom of our  Windows 7 school computers)

If you want to convert those files make sure you have that turned on in settings. More info about that and how to publish to the web from Drive here http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/how-to-publish-to-the-web-and-embed-with-drive

You and your students can shorten or QR code anything that has a web address  - anything on evernote, google drive, your webpage, a public website or Youtube video or anywhere!  ( to learn how to publish to the web and embed go here http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/how-to-publish-to-the-web-and-embed-with-drive .  

5 Easy Steps:

1. Copy the link you wish to use.
   
2. Paste the link into the bar at goo.gl
   
3. take that short link, place it in browser and add .qr after it.
4. Copy that code and paste it into a document or slide 
5. Print email or share and that is it!
   

Anyone with a free scanning app available in their app store will be able to use it to immediately view your document, form, survey, presentation, augmented reality, animation, image or whatever!

See me if you want a tutorial!

Thanks to the wise helpful and tech savvy Mrs. Winegardner for the info on how to do this now that bit.ly is shut down.

Thanks to Mrs. Marshall for being the catalyst for this lesson and for being a great person all the time who makes me healthier just knowing her.