JEFFCO ED TECH

Empowering Digital citizens

9/21/2021

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Tech-empowered learners, requires ongoing opportunities to learn and practice in a safe environment where mistakes are encouraged.
However, we know that students will not master collaboration skills in simple, one-and-done lessons. Above all, they will need your guidance and support on this learning journey.
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Use this four-step process to help design repeated learning opportunities that will empower your students with the critical life skill of confidently being an "Internet Awesome" citizen.

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4 STEP Steps to Empowered Citizens

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  1. Teach digital citizenship skills.    Growing up with tech, even with a phone in hand does not mean learners have mastered all forms of technology, and it doesn’t mean that they have been taught the social and emotional skills to collaborate and problem solve in these spaces.
  2. Design collaborative, tech- empowered lessons. Create lessons and systems where students must effectively collaborate in digital spaces and problem solve is essential. We need to provides a safe playground for our learners to  discover strengths and weaknesses, ultimately empowering each learner to grow at his/her own pace. 
  3. Debrief and reflect. Our students will undoubtedly struggle and even fail at times, but we can give them a safe space to fail forward. The reflection process can help empower students with a growth mindset. It’s important to recognize that reflection should not only occur at the end of an activity; it should be integrated throughout the process. 
    Reflection Wheel in Google Draw 
    Reflection Starter Questions
  4. Repeat this process regularly. We all need repetition to really develop our skills, and students will need repeated opportunities to practice their digital citizenship skills.  

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Internet Awesome REsources 

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  • ELEMENTARY - Christy Yacano, DTL at Sierra has a “Geek Squad” composed of 1-2 students per class, K-5th. Students are sometimes recommended, but all students can apply via a Google form. The Geek Squad meets monthly, has lunch together, and trains. Their main focus is to assist their classmates, teacher and substitute teacher with technology issues. They also help orient new students to Sierra. New student checklist (Yacano, 2020) Other supports they offer include: troubleshooting interactive boards, AV equipment, connections, and Chromebooks  The skills the students gain and share, can easily be transferred to learning and leadership opportunities in the future.​​

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  • MIDDLE - Karrie Zanetti, and Lori Guyll, DTL's  at Deer Creek Middle School and Sierra Middle School empower their 6th, 7th and 8th graders differently. They are working smarter not harder by investing time upfront to develop step-by-step resources and video tutorials that equip students, families and staff to troubleshoot technical issues independently. Both schools  launched website resources Chromebook Help Page, (Zanetti, 2021)  1:1 Device Help Page (Guyll, 2021) on their library websites.  These are chalk  full of ideas including: video tutorials, flowcharts, Infographics and checklists to provide a self-service IT pitstop . Both DTL's also provide next steps and avenues if further assistance is needed to empower their digital citizens.

  • HIGH - Leah Linblom @Arvada West HS and Jim Bartuska @Chatfield HS both teach and certify Cyber Crew high school students (see video below) upon completion of a credited technology class. They recruit students who seem “techy”, love learning, and/or enjoy helping others. They offer industry certifications upon completion of each of the courses they provide. (Instructor Agreement and Instructions, Lindbolm,2020)
    • The big event that CyberCats and CyberChargers look forward to attending each year is Jeffcon.net   This is a tech conference designed for students interested in “all things technology.” All Jeffco high school students are welcome to attend. Jeffco.net launches in late January, 2022. Be on the lookout!
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Teacher spotlight: Book Creator

9/21/2021

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"Not Techy"

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Self-described as “not techy,” Stephanie Flynn is one of the top Book Creator users in Jeffco Public Schools.
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How did Stephanie get to be one of the top users? She has been using Book Creator for the past three years at Vanderhoof Elementary School. After learning about the digital tool from an Ed Tech specialist, she was given time to explore the tool. She and her fourth grade team realized the platform would be a great way to publish and present student work.

​Digital Citizen- Best Practices

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Stephanie presented the tool to her own students. “Kids know what to do. Show them the tool. Give them parameters to use it, and they will figure it out more than you.” She planned out the lesson, set expectations for students and parameters for a new tool’s “best practice.” 
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TIPS From Stephanie for behavior management in a digital age:
  1. Be sure not to just give them free time-- “It’s a tool, not a toy”
  2. Set clear expectations and success criteria
  3. Set student outcomes for using the tool
  4. Present exemplars for students to work from
  5. Be present and mindful of what students are doing
  6. Learn the collaboration settings to prevent co-sharing books and students working in others’ books

​Empowered Learner- Teach the Teacher

Students were given time to explore the tool and dig into its resources with a clear question in mind:
How could we use this tool for our own learning?

​While we typically pair digital tools with content, sometimes the learning should be about the tool and its potential uses. This provided Stephanie’s students with the WOW factor and engagement. Exploring also gave Stephanie’s 4th graders not only the confidence to navigate the tool themselves, but a platform to construct their own ideas of how Book Creator could support their learning.  
Stephanie reflected that her students ended up “teaching the teacher” about the tool and felt confident moving forward with this new tool.

Knowledge Constructor - 4th Grade Natural Disasters Unit

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At first, they used Book Creator to publish writing. Students conducted research from books and websites to hand write their drafts before publishing with Book Creator. 

The 4th grade team team created a mentor text/exemplar for students to follow. 
Projects included:
  • Student-led research
  • Text features 
  • ​Sharing with peers for collaboration
  • Publishing to the Internet for an authentic audience
  • ​Student Earthquake example 

​Creative Communicator - Book Creator Evolved during Remote Learning

During Covid, the students shifted from a publishing tool to a creation tool. Students created Word Work notebooks to take notes on different figures of speech. Stephanie kept track of their work through the Book Creator dashboard and provided timely feedback to her students. 

In another unit, students conducted a research project. They were paired up to teach a younger class and recorded their voices to provide support for younger students. Not only did their younger students learn, but Stephanie learned about the students’ fluency skills.

​Student Use of the Tool Changed during Covid

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Students needed a way to present their learning to parents. Using Book Creator, the students created a “Learning Portfolio” for the year including; 
  • Each page included a writing prompt for student reflection and as one to two examples of the their work 
  • Portfolios were published and shared with a larger audience. 
  • Vanderhoof’s Digital Teacher Librarian, Lisa Polacsek, displayed the Learning Portfolios on the class website. Student Example- Why I’m ready for 5th Grade!

​Empowered Learner- Resistant Writers

​“This tool is very motivating for resistant writers.” 
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One student of hers was a twice exceptional student who refused to write in class. This student was so engaged with the tool, they “produced more with Book Creator than they ever did on paper.” It gave them a platform to not only type but also use speech to text and recordings to share their thinking. In addition, the photos and pictures feature gave them more motivation to write. After experiencing a newly-found interest in writing, Stephanie’s student realized that they have the capability to write, but needed a platform that allowed them to reach their potential.

​Global Collaborator

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After COVID, Stephanie sees the potential that Book Creator has to continue elevating her students’ learning. Upcoming projects planned:
  • ​​​Students will each make a one page book focusing on different aspects of their assigned vocabulary word. 
  • She will use the “Combine Books” feature to combine four students’ work into one vocabulary book in one Book Creator. 
  • Supplement her fossils unit with the Dinosaur Dig Journal extension that she found in the Discover tab in Book Creator.

​Up your Book Creator Game

The Ed Tech Team and Book Creator have created a variety of resources for both teachers and students to up their game using an overview, an ebook, a student course, and a certification.
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Effective Parent Teacher Conferences with Tech Integration

9/14/2021

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​As we begin thinking about next month’s parent teacher conferences, things will probably look different. Virtual conferences will be a probable solution to safety concerns as well as being convenient for busy families. Most likely schools will be offering a virtual option for conferences this year. Below, you’ll find guidelines for parent-teacher conferences during remote learning, tips for getting students involved, and more!

Getting students involved

With district provided tools available to all students, put them to work. When students are involved in sharing their own work in parent teacher conferences, it encourages them to take responsibility and ownership of their learning. Family and teacher conversations become more rich and transparent when students have had time to prepare material and reflect on their own learning. Teachers can set the criteria for what is to be presented to parents. Students can then choose a tool that helps communicate their learning. Here are some tools with samples and ideas. ​
Picture5th grade, Student Led Conference example

​Students can use Google Slides to share work exemplars, content from multiple subject areas, MAP & other assessment data, and any other creative ideas that teachers have empowered the students to share. Here is an example from the 5th grade team from Deane Elementary. 


​Flipgrid is a great tool for students to use their voice to share their learning. Teachers can give students sentence stems, a topic or an open share time in Flipgrid. Parents can also respond to students easily as a guest. Check out their blog for more amazing ideas!
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Give students a voice with Flipgrid
PictureMultimedia communication for students

​​Wevideo has powerful communication opportunities for students. Students can upload images of their work, slides they have created, pictures of class projects and so much more into a video that they can narrate (with or without sentence stems). See this powerful blog on using WeVideo for student voice in Conferences. 


​Did you know that you can create a "Conference" folder in Seesaw? Leveraging student work in Seesaw is a great way to present student data and learning. See their conferences blog on detail and resources. 
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Teacher tips

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Google Meet platform has made some changes over the past few months. Getting familiar with this tool will help make conferences more effective. Here is a help guide for creating a Meet link just for conferences, preparing families, and other helpful tips. As always, you can reach out to your EdTech specialist for additional support and resources. 

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Why Use a Learning Management system...

9/7/2021

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A Learning Management System (LMS) is a structure to provide consistent access to instruction and resources. It provides a pathway for students, families and teachers to access the learning and feedback at all times.  Many teachers and families had their first experiences with an LMS in response to Covid-19.  However, a Learning Management System, whether it be Schoology, Google Classroom, or Seesaw has a purpose and a place far beyond a pandemic.

In a world where all educators are working to guide students to become Global Collaborators, Creative Communicators, Knowledge Constructors,  Empowered Learners, and engaged Digital Citizens we need to provide the structures and spaces that authentically deliver these opportunities on a daily basis. A well organized and thoughtfully implemented LMS is the foundation to this work. 

For students

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Access to a Learning Management System provides students:
  • Continuity in accessing the learning, especially if the LMS is used daily to access resources and tools for learning.
  • Ability to easily review and revisit supports and scaffolds (videos, teacher feedback, digital resources, & more).​
  • A clear path of communication with their instructors.
  • Continuity in learning structures from elementary through high school and on into future career pathways.
  • ​Authentic and relevant technology integration when the LMS is utilized to its full potential.
  • When schools and teachers coordinate to use the same LMS, students can focus the cognitive load on their learning, instead of working to understand how to access the learning.

For Our Families

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Use of a consistent LMS means that caretakers will have peace of mind knowing their students have access to all the resources listed above. It also means that families will:
  • Be able to support their student's access of learning resources in a timely manner.
  • ​Potentially have consistent structures to support all the students in their family, K-12, lessening confusion and increasing access to the learning.  
  • Have a clear and direct communication pathway to their student's teachers.

for teachers

For Teachers, embracing and utilizing a LMS on a consistent basis means that they will have a structure built for student success.  A Learning Management System:

  • Makes it possible for students that are out ill to access the learning, including students that might be quarantined.
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  • Provides a format to support differentiation and build in resources and scaffolds for students to access the learning in a mode that works best for them. (videos, ebooks, articles, teacher/student feedback, and more!).
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  • Contains and organizes the learning resources in a format that provides a form of portfolio for students and families. This offers an opportunity for clearer communication keeping the focus on student learning and  builds stronger feedback loops for all involved.
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  • ​Allows teachers to build in rubrics and formative assessments into their structures.​
 
  • Creates an opportunity for collaboration for students as well as teachers.​​​
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Learning Management Systems in jeffco

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In Jeffco we currently utilize three different Learning Management Systems:   Schoology,  Google Classroom, & Seesaw.
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You can learn more about each of these tools by visiting our Ed Tech YouTube Channel: LMS Playlist, and exploring the collection of asynchronous eBooks from the Jeffco Ed Tech team.
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(Click on the slideshow at the left to explore just a few of the eBooks available)
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Additional Articles:
  • Edutopia: How to Align Your LMS with the Science of Learning
  • ​Edutopia: Four Tips for Managing Blended Learning
  • Schoology: What is a Learning Management System? Why does my School Need One?
  • Pearson: Advantages of Implementing a Learning Management Platform​​


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