Blog Posts

Must Read Article: How Teachers Should Think About Educational Tech Tools

11/1/2015

I recently read this article linked here (Forbes Online) which discussed educational technology tools and the different views teachers have in integrating it in their classrooms. Please read this article--you will be glad you did!

This excerpt below particularly struck me:
"Fortunately, computers aren’t human. Used appropriately, video games and adaptive learning technologies offer tools that can empower teachers to do their jobs more effectively, more precisely, and more equitably.
Even on his or her best days, human teachers are not capable of recording and assessing as many data points as a computer for even a single student, let alone an entire classroom full of students. But imagine what the best human teachers would be able to do in a classroom when equipped with the kinds of personalized assessment data that digital learning technologies can provide."

I must admit that I completely agree with the author in that technology really helps make great teachers even better...in that it allows them to collect formative data like we could never do before. Instead of gathering feedback visually or by asking students to raise their hands and assuming they understand concepts until we find out when we test them they do not grasp the concepts as expected; we now have the ability to have technology SHOW us via immediate feedback results if our students are truly learning, or need reinforcement/support. By embracing and integrating technology resources, the guess-work is removed and all that is left is an accurate portrayal of where your students are and what needs to be done to further them along and help them succeed. There will never be a "perfect" system to do this, but technology is allowing teachers to enhance learning and give assistance in the process of assessing our students.

Having each student with a device also allows for much more interaction outside of the classroom walls, and narrows that "digital divide." Just this school year I have seen students interact with teachers via Google Classroom, email, Twitter, Remind, and other sources and ask for more assistance and clarification. Technology is another tool for the teachers' toolbox, and used effectively, it can shed much more light on how we are helping students learn and taking them to the next level in order to succeed in their future endeavors.

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Reading with a Digital Platform

10/27/2015

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Mrs. Carol Tonsing's Senior English classes recently worked on an assignment using the Chromebooks which incorporated reading and writing at the same time in a digital platform. Students were reading from a digital text on one side of their screen, while completing an analysis on the other side. As you can see from the images above, each student found a way that worked best for them and thanks to the technology being readily available to them, the students were able to interact with the text AS they were reading. Mrs. Tonsing wrote in an email, "It creates more a visual transaction of text for them. They are annotating and commenting as they go...a few kids even used their headphones to listen to the audio version of the text."
This is just one lesson on one particular day at the high school. Imagine the possibilities that exist as we continue to learn new ways to integrate technology resources with our students!

Thanks for sharing your lesson with us, Mrs. Tonsing!

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Know How Nordonia Web Tutorials

10/22/2015

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Teachers: Please take a look at our Know How Nordonia Tab (click on link at the top-right of this page) for some new, updated, tutorial screencasts going over some short, helpful, and easy to use resources and tips.
They cover the topics of publishing a Google Slide presentation to the web, using SlidesCarnival.com and enhancing images, as well as how to set up email notifications in Google Sheets-when someone edits a sheet, you can get emailed right away!

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Parent Tech Talk Evening: Learn all about your child's Chromebook!

8/16/2015

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Now that we have passed out almost 1,200 chromebooks and school is beginning soon--some parents may be feeling out of the technology loop at home now! Please join us on Thursday, September 24th at 6:00pm-7:00pm at the HS LIbrary (IMC) for an informal session on all things chromebook provided by our very own Nordonia Technology Team! We will have overviews on Google Drive, Google Classroom, submitting assignments electronically, and also answer any parent questions or troubleshooting questions!

Please plan to attend!
If you have ANY questions, please email Angela at angela.wojtecki@nordoniaschools.org.

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Forms and Announcement For 1:1 2015-2016

6/1/2015

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It is our vision to incorporate 21st Century Skills into our classrooms. A classroom environment that encourages collaboration and online learning will better engage our students, preparing them for the adult world. It is our goal that every student in grades 3-12 will have their own computer to use by the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.

Called a one-to-one initiative, we are excited to inform you that over the next two years the district will supply each student in grades 3-12 with a Google Chromebook for school and home use. This initiative will take place in two phases. Phase one will be grades 5-8 during the 2015-2016 school year. We anticipate phase two will be grades 3, 4, 9-12 during the 2016-2017 school year.

We enjoyed our opportunities speaking with parents over these past two months about the 1:1 initiative.

If we unfortunately missed you, we want you to be aware of the following:

1. Dates to pick up your student’s Chromebook are:
August 1, 10:00-4:00
August 12, 4:00-7:00
August 15, 10:00-4:00

2. All pick ups will take place at Northfield Elementary, in the gymnasium. You do not need to schedule an appointment. Please just attend at your convenience and bring the following items:

a. Signed Acceptable Use Policy
b. Optional insurance fee (cash or check)
c. Optional Insurance Form signed
d. Loan Agreement
These documents can be found here: Forms & Documents

Please take a minute to review our 1:1 website. You will find more pertinent information such as the student handbook and testimonials regarding our program.

We look forward to continuing to serve you and your family. Please contact any of us if you have a question.

Have a great summer and we look forward to seeing everyone in August when you come to pick up your new Chromebook.

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What is Tackk...and How Can it Be Used in the Classroom?

5/18/2015

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As the school year comes to an end I wanted to share an awesome classroom resource that has a Nordonia Hills connection! Our very own Alum from the Nordonia High School Class of 1999, Kyle Stalzer is the CEO of a trending, innovative online website-called Tackk. This is a Cleveland-based company, with a sector also located in San Francisco (where Kyle is currently residing).
Tackk.com is an online creation tool for people to create and share information with others-and interact with that information in a visually-rich format. Tackk is an easy-to-use platform for publishing content of all types (think newsletters, flyers, blogs, how-to guides, and parent announcements).
According to the tackk.com website:
Tackk is a place to connect with friends, share creativity and have conversations. By combining creative moments and social content, we make it easy for users to create and chat about what matters most to them. It’s a fun way to express creativity wherever you are.
I was able to meet with Andria from Tackk last week at the high school and she shared with me some great information about using Tackk in the classroom from a student perspective as well as a teacher-creation tool. Students can create Tackks on virtually any topic and can add their own creative elements to it as well. It can be as simple or complex as they want to make it! Teachers can sign up for a free Tackk account at: www.tackk.com/ and try it out to see how they can utilize it in their classroom! I really liked the fact that Tackk allows programs such as ThingLink, Edmodo, and Youtube to easily be embedded and added to a Tackk in one easy click!
If you are interested in trying this with students, please check out this link to find out how they can submit to you by using the Tagging feature and tagging your name to the Tackk (like a Twitter hashtag).
To find out how more ways regarding how to use Tackk in the classroom, please check out this link!

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What Our Students are Saying about Google Classroom

3/1/2015

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Since Google Classroom was released in August of this school year, it has been a huge hit with teachers...read this previous post to see why. But what about our students? After all, they are the ones using this to turn in assignments and collaborate on their school work. I recently asked high school students using Google Classroom in a few classes to email me feedback as to why they like/dislike Google Classroom. To date, I have no dislikes, which I think is a testament to the seamless and ease Google Classroom presents to teachers and especially students using it in their classrooms.
Here are what a few of our high school students have to say about Google Classroom:

"I really like using google classroom because I am one to accidently misplace my papers and having everything online and easily sorted makes it easier for me to make sure all of my assignments get turned in on time." ~Stephanie, HS Student

"I overall love Google Classroom. It's helpful to have the dates and times that the papers and assignments are due by. It helps keep me uber-organized and on track every day. If you finish and turn in an assignment, it doesn't keep bugging you about it, which is great. I love how you can add private comments to your teacher. Also, I appreciate how Google Classroom shows you a list of your fellow classmates so you know who is also using the same Classroom as you. And the "announcement" box on the front page is cool!" ~Megan, HS Student

"I think Google Classroom is a great tool for submitting homework. It helps me stay more organized since all the assignments are clearly laid out. It also is a more efficient way to submit homework. I also like how announcements are posted on it. It allows information to get out fast which is very helpful. Everything about Google Classroom is great except one minor thing. After submitting a document, I am not able to copy and paste what I wrote. This makes it hard for writing papers because if I want to copy and paste what I previously wrote into a final document, I have to un-submit it, which shows that I turned it in late. But overall, I like using Google Classroom and think more teachers should use it." ~Elise, HS Student

"What I like about Goggle Classroom is that it allows you to easily type up paragraphs, and turn them in without the hassle. You don't have to print the entire paper out, try to set up a pesky folder on Google docs, or download it on a flash drive. I also like how my teacher can easily edit my work, and return it to my so that I can edit it fast and quick." ~Seth, HS Student

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Training Materials For Next Generation Assessments

1/16/2015

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As a result of online testing manuals and scripts being released later than we anticipated, below are the training materials to replace our face to face meetings that were canceled earlier this month.

Please go to this Doodle linkto schedule individual or small group training, if needed, on February 13th in service day. These training sessions are only for those that still have unanswered questions or feel uneasy going into the online testing environment and need additional support, in a face to face training.

Here is a link to all of the manuals and scripts through Google Docs for both AIR and PARCC. As mentioned in the AIR training video below, the AIR scripts for the test have not been released. As soon as those scripts are released, we will provide you those documents in the above link.

FOR TRAINING PLEASE SEE BELOW:

Here is the link for training for AIR assessments created by our team. It is a YouTube video, approximately 17 minutes long.

Here is the link for training for PARCC assessments created by our team. It is a YouTube video, approximately 19 minutes long.

Username for training site for PARCC: Practice, Password for training site for PARCC: Nordonia14!

Once you establish your personal PARCC account, you can also go into the training site as described in the video using that account.

Here is a linkfor asking questions (Google Doc). Kyle and I will review this document frequently to answer questions that you might have about testing. It will serve as our own districts F&Q.

You will find in both the Staff Google Document folder and also attached in this email two documents that are referenced in the training videos. First is the Emergency contact list on testing days, and the second is a handout that identifies what you will need to have on testing days.

The following PARCC websites (for ELA and math) have been shared before, and I strongly suggest that you take students through all of theme prior to testing. Teachers will NOT be able to teach students how to use accessibility features during the test. This must occur BEFORE testing using practice tests and tutorials listed below. Students can be reminded that they have access to features, but must navigate them on their own.

PARCC Tutorials

PARCC Sample Items

PARCC Practice Tests

In addition, to help students and teachers prepare for the PARCC assessments, PARCC has provided several opportunities for practice with the content, format, tools, functionality, accessibility features, and accommodations provided on the assessments. Please see the attached document (6 PARCC Tools Accessibility Features and Accommodations) as a reference.

The following AIR website (for science and social studies) has been shared before, and I strongly suggest that you take students through all of theme prior to testing. Teachers will NOT be able to teach students how to use accessibility features during the test. This must occur BEFORE testing using practice tests and tutorials listed below. Students can be reminded that they have access to features, but must navigate them on their own. Student Practice Resources

Here is a link full of resources to help prepare students for the technology side of an online environment.

Finally, I attached from PARCC the Top 12 resources guide. This guide places all of the resources that I have been sharing over the last couple years in one location with a nice description.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Todd and Kyle

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Teacher Feedback Regarding Chromebooks

1/15/2015

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This week, an article appeared in Dr. Clark's Superintendent's Corner column as part of Nordonia's local newspaper, The News Leader, regarding a new educational initiative the district will be implementing at the start of next school year. This is an exciting time for educational technology in our schools! As we approach the second half of the school year (yes, already), I wanted to gather some feedback from our high school teachers on their feelings about using the Chromebooks in their classrooms. At the beginning of this school year, the high school welcomed 9 Chromebooks carts (30 in each cart) that are circulated out through the school library each day. We have seen many teachers across all content areas using them everyday as part of their instruction and the increase exposure to a technology tool for student creation and research has been a wonderful thing for us all.
I plan to survey some high school students on their overall feelings about the Chromebooks in the classroom in an upcoming post, but as of now I wanted to gain some feedback from teachers at the high school.
Here is a sampling of the feedback I have received from teachers to date:

Mr. Nate Loman, U.S. History Teacher:
"I have found the use of the Chrome books very liberating – no longer am I bound by have enough copies – that, combined with the use of Google Classroom and everything is at the fingertips, literally, of my students! Allows for versatility and flexibility within the classroom."

Ms. Shannon Blair, 9th Grade Honors English Lang. Arts Teacher:
"Chromebooks are a wonderful tool to have in the classroom. I use them frequently in order to allow students to do research, write their papers, and do homework assignments. I use Google Classroom on a weekly basis in order for students to turn in assignments. Chromebooks allow students to work on typing their assignments in Google Classroom while in class and get assistance that they may need. They are able to sit at their desks and as they have questions, they can bring their Chromebooks to me at my desk, which eliminates roaming around the room and causing disruptions. It is easier for me to sit with students at my desk rather than bend over computers all day long.

While writing research papers, we use Noodle Tools which is an online tool for writing papers. Chromebooks allow students to access this site in the classroom and work on taking notes, make a works cited page, outline, and write their paper. Having access to other cites while researching is necessary and Chromebooks allow for this. Again, I like the ease that Chromebooks provide for students and teachers to work together.

Finally, I use Chromebooks for our Star Reading Tests and for preparation for the PARCC tests. It allows students to become familiar with them so that when they use them on the upcoming tests, they will be more prepared.
When given the choice to hand write or type poems in google classroom....majority picked google classroom.
Ex. 24 kids in 7th period....5 hand wrote...the rest google classroom
They ASKED me to make a folder for them to have the option to turn it in this way!!!!!"

Mrs. Erin Miller, 10th Grade English Lang. Arts Teacher:
"The Chromebook cart stationed in my classroom has been an invaluable resource. We use them three or more times a week in English 10 CP for access to Google Classroom and Google Docs, among other things, and we use them daily in Bridges to Writing. While schools will never truly be paperless, this tool enables teachers to run a more efficient and tech-savvy classroom and incorporate more 21st Century skills for our students. For instance, I am able to actually write with my students in the same document while giving a buffer of personal space, something valuable to a young writer. I can also set up sessions where they get instant feedback on their work, whether in Google Docs, Padlet, or any other tool we access in our studies. If I need them to access a list of websites for a particular writing assignment, I can develop it in Google Classroom and they have instant access without needing a paper trail to follow. To say the Chromebooks have changed the way I instruct is an understatement.

Having a cart readily accessible also eliminates stress for already harried teachers. Knowing that I d not have to worry about my students forgetting a book, story, or any other material in class gives me a certain degree of freedom as an instructor. Students are more prepared to dive into deeper thinking; they stay organized, using their Google drives to keep their written responses in appropriate folders and access them as needed. They have quick access to the Internet and any other digital tool that I use in instruction, eliminating the process of booking a lab at the last minute and rearranging plans if it is not available. Class runs more smoothly as a result, and we all stay on a successful path of learning."

Mr. Ray Killian, 10th Grade English Lang. Arts Teacher:
I use Google Classroom on Google Chromebooks daily. Through this resource I have noticed the following benefits:
· I can have students truly collaborate on projects.
· I can monitor and comment on their work in real time as they are doing it.
· I have reduced my paper consumption by more than half.
· I have a better organized portfolio of students' work that is date-stamped.
· I have noticed that when I type a comment or "suggest" a correction, it is more likely to be incorporated in the finished product than if I just tell them or mark on a paper in red ink.
· If I encounter a resource that would be beneficial to the entire class, I can share it with them immediately. For example, if a student wrote a paragraph that is an exemplar of a concept I am trying to teach, I can quickly pull it up on the data projector or share it with the entire class almost instantly.
· I have used Google Classroom to differentiate in the classroom by giving multiple assignments that are tiered. So I am able to accommodate by ability level and pacing.

~Post by Angela

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