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The Jeffco Ed Tech team is excited to announce our Fall 2018 online book studies.
 Click here to read more about this title from the publisher. K-2 can, too! Young children are naturally curious about the world around them. They love to explore and play; in fact, that’s how they learn! The Google Apps for Littles book study will provide educators with ideas on how to get students playing and exploring using the G Suite. Empower your littles and shift your thinking to believe that even the youngest kids can do more with technology! Interested?Interested in learning more about our Jeffco Ed Tech book studies? Want to register? Looking for more professional learning opportunities from our team? Click on the image below for details. We hope to learn alongside of you this Fall! 
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August 9th Learning Day
Due to the overwhelming success of this event, we want to make sure that all educators have access to the learning. Attached is a document with the course descriptions and linked presentations! A huge thank you goes out to Golden High School for hosting our event, as well as events for several other departments in the district. We are very thankful to all of the schools who partner with us throughout the year to help us deliver learning to so many educators! Hello!This year we are excited to share that we have 2 new members joining our Ed Tech team!  Jamie Kelley Jamie joins the team as a former Jeffco Instructional Coach with a passion for technology. She’s returning to work after taking a year off to spend time with her family. Jamie will serve as a point-of-contact for most of our middle schools this year.  Nick Steinmetz Nick joins us from Aurora Public Schools where he worked in a similar role as Ed Tech and Personalized Learning support for a wide range of schools in the district. We are excited to tap into his great wealth of knowledge and expertise. Nick will serve as a point-of-contact for most of our high schools this year. Goodbye.A new year also comes with some exciting new transitions for our amazing teammates.  Karrie Zanetti We wish Karrie continued success as she transitions from an Ed Tech Specialist position to a Digital Teacher Librarian position at Deer Creek Middle School. We will certainly miss her many talents on our team and feel fortunate that she will continue to make a difference for the Deer Creek community.  Amanda Thanos Amanda has accepted a position as a Digital Literacy and Instructional Coach at Thunder Vista P-8 in Adams 12. She spent countless evenings and her summer break working hard to open this brand new school. We wish her the very best in her exciting new adventure! Other ChangesMarnie Roush Rather than support a sub-set of our schools (as she’s done for the past few years), Marnie will be charged with developing a strategic vision for Computer Sciences working in close partnership with schools, central departments, communities, CDE and vendors in shaping this exciting work. Julie Carlson We are excited to welcome Julie back from maternity leave. As an Ed Tech Specialist, she will continue as a point-of-contact for a subset of our elementary schools this year. Amie Adams Amie will move from a Title I-funded position to one that supports all of Jeffco. She will serve as a point-of-contact for a subset of our elementary schools this year. Rounding out the Ed Tech team are continuing team members:
It's time to engage your Tweeting skills as we kick off the school year with the first Ed Tech Twitter challenge of 2018! So, grab your coworkers and challenge yourself to get connected and grow your Professional Learning Network! Here's your Challenge... Should You Choose to Accept it. Beginning August 15th (the first day of school), log into Twitter each day and complete the following activities, using #JeffcoChat in each of your Tweets. You may also choose to include #JeffcoGenerations or mention us (@JeffcoEdTech), as well. Jeffco educators who complete all 8 challenges can be entered to win a 3 month premium Pear Deck subscription! Visit this Google Form by midnight on August 27th and upload a screenshot of each of your Tweets! We will draw the winner on the 28th.  Need Help getting STarted?Last year, we hosted 2 different Twitter challenges to teach educators how to start using Twitter to build their professional learning networks. So, if you are new to Twitter, check out the resources below, before you get started.
 Educators across Jeffco have an amazing opportunity to win a $100 Classroom Mini-grant. This communication has recently gone out: Are you interested in winning a $100.00 Classroom Mini-grant?
Have you been thinking about uploading Resources or Assessments into the Bridge to Curriculum? Do you have some great resources that other Jeffco teachers could use with their students? If you upload any Resource or Assessment into the Bridge to Curriculum, you are eligible to win a classroom mini-grant of $100.00! Each time you enter a Resource or Assessment, just put your name into the form below and you will be entered into a monthly drawing. https://tinyurl.com/Bridgeminigrant Questions: Ask here Directions for uploading here. Here are the facts:
Have you bungled with Bee-Bot? Spun with Sphero? Collided with Cubelets? Or muddled with Makey-Makey? Ed Tech wants YOU to join fellow JeffCOders to create dynamic robotic infused lesson plans. Apply for this exciting opportunity today!
The application for teams to join this professional learning opportunity is now open! Teams of two elementary educators are encouraged to apply. Team members can be from different schools. Fifteen teams will be notified of acceptance. Teams must agree to meet all the required components of this opportunity listed below. Select robotics equipment will be available for use.  Important Dates and Deadlines
Questions? Contact Julie.Carlson@jeffco.k12.co.us 
Inspired by a desire to create a unique and valuable experience for students, Kyle Walker- Digital Teacher Librarian at Kullerstrand Elementary, started a robotics club at his school. It is incredible to see how students light up at the opportunity to use their creative and logical brains to solve problems using the robots.
Well why not open that opportunity for students beyond the walls of Kullerstrand? So, Kyle started connecting with teachers around the district and found many that were either already doing robotics, or interested in getting started. His enthusiasm expanded quickly into a VEX and Sphero competition with an open invitation to teams across the district. On December 2, 2017 schools came together with their robotics teams at Three Creeks Elementary to scrimmage using either VEX or Sphero. There was collective effort and planning to make the event happen because Jeffco teachers got equally as excited once they saw how the students light up. Mr. Walker is building on this collaborative success and hosting another event in February. Thirty teams will represent Jeffco schools on February 10th from 9:30-2:30 at Three Creeks K-8 in a VEX robotics competition. Event participants have an opportunity for official entry into the world-wide VEX competition. 
Almost 600 Jeffco educators attended the first ever Get Your Tech On professional learning event on Friday, January 5th at Green Mountain High School.
Jeffco Ed Tech hosted the all-day event which included an influential keynote speaker, prizes, demo slam, and 48 sessions facilitated by Jeffco educators. Thought-provoking sessions were focused on how technology is transforming teaching and learning in Jeffco classrooms. This was the best tech conference I have been to... including ISTE!! The sessions were applicable to what we are doing now in schools. Our entire instructional staff went and every teacher responded to my google reflection form that they were inspired and ready to try their new learning. The presenters and topics were very knowledgeable of what teachers experience and were able to relate to the classroom. Inspiring Keynote Ken Shelton, currently works as the Educational Technology Strategist for the Google EdTechTeam. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Innovator.
“Transformational Teaching and Learning with Technology” presented by international guest speaker, Ken Shelton, took us back in time for a nostalgic glance at how technology has changed the way we have lived over the last few decades. He gave us a glimpse at how technology has not only changed, but transformed how we learn.
Ken examined the impact on student learning when the focus shifts from solely making changes to transformative experiences.
Throughout the month of October, Jeffco Ed Tech hosted a Twitter Challenge inspired by Connected Educator month. Our schools offer a lot of face to face ways for educators connect and learn, and we wanted to offer a way to connect and learn digitally. We asked, what if educators in our system had the chance to learn from each other regardless of which building they work in? How might we grow our educators through continued work with PLCs, but also grow their Professional Learning Network (PLN)?
From that question, a Twitter Chat was born! Each week through the blog, we taught basics of Twitter in preparation for the Chat: Challenge 1 and Challenge 2. The questions were designed based on common questions/discussions that Ed Tech Specialists have in a variety of schools. On October 19, 2017, we invited teachers to engage with us in the evening, and encouraged them to extend the conversations beyond that time. Here's a little summary of some of the Tweets! Getting Googly at the Colorado Summit Some of the 250+ Jeffco educators that attended the Colorado Summit
Approximately 250 Jeffco Educators spent the weekend of November 4th and 5th at the Colorado Summit featuring Google for Education. Of those 250+ educators, 192 were from Jeffco's Title I schools. These schools were given the opportunity to send interested educators to the summit to learn how to build on the 1:1 technology initiatives that are happening in many of Jeffco's Title I buildings.
 Jeffco Ed Tech loves attending the Colorado Summit Featuring Google for Education
This summit was one of the best to date; it was overflowing with hands-on breakout sessions, inspiring keynote speakers, ignite sessions, and a dynamic demo slam! The summit offered a range of sessions that spanned from beginner to geeky. Participants attended compelling learning on apps in the G Suite, digital portfolios, digital solutions, and cutting edge best practices in educational technology and pedagogy. Many Jeffco educators also engaged in creating or building their professional learning network as they connected with other educators within Jeffco, in other districts and across the world using Twitter! #edtechteam
KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING
Learning is our main thing. There was energy exuding from Jeffco educators during the summit and that energy has proven to continue as teachers are already implementing what they learned at the summit in their buildings. Our teachers embraced a growth mindset as they engaged in this professional learning opportunity and continue to do so, as is evident in their willingness to share this new learning with their staff and students.
Our learning, as a community of Jeffco educators, ties into the Jeffco Generations vision. Everything that was learned and is now being transferred into Jeffco classrooms connects back to a leaf on the Jeffco Generations Skills tree. Sharing our great work! Jeffco's Colorado Summit Padlet
Did you take away an amazing idea from the Colorado-Ed Tech Summit that you are excited to share? Add that learning to our Padlet (click here or scan the QR code) under the Generations skill that it embodies!
As you create lessons that connect to Jeffco Curriculum, we also encourage you to add them to Jeffco's Bridge to Curriculum to share across the district! Lastly, we would encourage you to present your new learning and any additional technology integration ideas you have at our very first Get Your Tech ON! event on January 5th! You don't have to be an expert, you just have to be willing to share what you have tried and what you have learned along the way! Visit our Get Your Tech ON website to sign up to present or to attend (sign up coming soon). 
Digital Citizenship:
This is not a new topic, but it’s taken on new importance thanks to the omnipresent nature of students' online lives. With increased access to 1:1 devices schoolwide, educators will be looking for curriculum and programs to support teaching digital citizenship skills. Want to know more? Check out all of the Digital Citizenship resources on the Ed Tech Website. Project-Based Learning: It’s what’s hot right now! Using a PBL approach to learning fosters student empowerment, an essential component of the ISTE Standards for Students. The thoughtful integration of technology will enable students to take ownership of their learning and will make learning more active, both inside and outside the classroom. Remember, you don’t have to do a technology PBL to integrate technology. Technology can support all PBLs! Check out our recent blog on PBL in Jeffco! |
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