Pump Up the Jam: Get your PD Work(out) Done!

Pump it up! Work out your brain while gaining unexpendable knowledge you can turn around and use immediately in your role in education! What if I told you, just by being staff for a school district, private, or charter school you have access to free or greatly reduced professional development from your regional service center!!!

The Education Service Center Region 11 in White Settlement, Texas has so many opportunities for learning and growth as an educator or educational support personnel. Not only do they offer in person conferences, professional development opportunities, training, and collaborations, they have so many online sessions on their website www.esc11.net. It is like a total brain workout! 

You can search by specific subject and topics or browse their upcoming sessions. Get your brain activity strengthened with virtual live online meet ups, online self paced courses, in person trainings or mini conferences, and so much more!! ESC Region 11 will even take requests! 

Along with professional development, Region 11 has so many chances for you to meet up with like minded individuals in user groups, mini conferences, and training. Find your kind of people to collaborate with and have for continued support! Group workouts are the best! 

ESC Region 11 serves 10 counties, 76 school districts, 90 charter schools, and 143 private schools, plus so much more! They serve tens of thousands of educators, school staff, and leaders! They are always looking for ways to serve the needs of their counties! Curious if you get to take advantage of all of their amazing resources, follow this link to find out more: Schools Information / Who Do We Serve?

Now that you know of this amazing resource, go get your PD on!! 

Make Scheduling SIMPLE with Appointment Schedules

So... parent conferences are around the corner. Dread the back and forth emails about scheduling? Do you want to make it SIMPLE for both YOU and PARENTS?! Yes, of course you do! Try Google Calendar Appointment Schedules. It's so SIMPLE to: 

• set up;
• send guardians a booking page; and 
• then watch your appointment schedule fill up. (It even sends one or multiple reminders to participants based on your customization.)

Google Appointment Schedules rolled out this past April (2022) and allows users to share their availability via a booking page, which can be used by external participants to schedule time. Note: Google still has Appointment Slots in place which is helpful for internal users inside your domain.

If you need this in your life, here is how to get started:

Need more support?

How to Set Up Google Calendar Appointment Schedule

Great video resource: Parent Teacher Conference Sign-Up Appointment Page in Google Calendar!

Let's Go Explore.org!

 

Experience the world through media housed on Explore.org, a philanthropic live nature cam network and documentary film organization that brings the world to you! This division of the Annenberg Foundation provides a vast range of humanitarian topics featuring animal rights, the environment, educational topics and so much more! 

Become global explorers right from your Chrome browser utilizing Live Cams to see various biomes, habitats and animals! Live cameras capture the magic of African animals, birds, coral reefs, sanctuaries and other wild life experiences. Students can truly experience playful Pandas while learning about the region the animals live in, the current weather, and even the non-profit organizations helping them and how they can support animal rights. Join in real time to engage and see first hand observations of animals like sharks, bats, horses, alligators, bears, etc  

Explore.org/education provides lesson plans and links to additional resources for you to utilize their media content! Plus, calendared events help you prepare in advance to watch Bear Cams, the African Show, Orcas and more and pair it with the amazing instruction already happening inside the classroom.

You can filter by animal types such as the page “Nestflix”,  which gives you 50 streams focusing on anything with wings. African wildlife follows animals such as tigers, elephants, gorillas and more. 

No matter what animal you are interested in and which biome you are studying, Explore.org has a live cam for you!

Breakthrough the Beginning of the Year Apple Classroom Barriers

It's been a nice, long, HOT☀️, summer (if you were here in Texas)! Just the kind of lazy, summer days that make everyone want to sit by the pool, at the beach, or in the air conditioning and forget about the hectic school days.  

You most likely left your teacher iPad 📲 at school and IT took a nice, long break as well. So much of a break that maybe when you open the Apple Classroom app:

• you still see last year's classes; 
• or your students aren't connecting right; 
• or your students won't connect at all; 
• or even better you still see classes from remote teaching 3 years ago! 😳

If you are confused about the goodness of Apple Classroom and you are a teacher with a MacBook/iPad and student iPads, READ this blog post about the amazing Classroom app that assists you with guiding students during learning; sharing exemplary student work; and managing a classroom of student devices. 

If YOUR Apple Classroom STILL seems to be on summer vacay mode 😎, follow these best practices:

➡️ ISSUE: I only see my last year's Classroom classes and students.

1) Delete the CLASSROOM App - use a long press on the app and delete
2) Log out of the iPad from SETTINGS
3) Log into the iPad from SETTINGS
4) REINSTALL the Classroom app from SELF SERVICE
Open the app and check to see that this year's classes are loaded!

➡️ ISSUE: Some of my students aren't connected to my Classrooms. They say Offline or Authorizing under students' names.

1) Log student out of the iPad from SETTINGS
2) Log student into the iPad from SETTINGS
3) Check to see that the student iPad is connected to Keller ISD wi-fi and bluetooth is turned on
4) After a few minutes, student should 'connect' to your Classroom

➡️ ISSUE: A student still is NOT connecting to Classroom even after being logged out and back into the iPad.

1) Under Settings, go to GENERAL
2) Choose TRANSFER OR RESET IPAD
3) Choose ERASE ALL CONTENT AND SETTINGS
4) After several minutes, the iPad will reboot
5) Follow the following prompts to set up the iPad:

• Choose English and United States 
• Log into KELLERISD wifi with credentials (ID# & password)
• ENABLE LOCATION SERVICES
• Log into REMOTE MANAGEMENT with credentials (email address & password)
• Log into the iPad under SETTINGS with credentials (email address & password)

After several minutes of set up, student should show in Classroom.

➡️ ISSUE: I see Classroom classes that I no longer teach.

1) Go to KCloud > Service Portal and put in a tech ticket. Please list all of the classes that you no longer teach and need removed. 

There is so much that makes Apple Classroom amazing! Dig into more resources below:

• KISD KIC Site - Apple Classroom (Look for the Apple Classroom button under iPads.)
• KISD EdTech Apple Classroom Playlist
• Apple Classroom Help by Apple
• Want 1 EQ Credit for learning? Watch the learning in a Canvas course. Find it here.

Spark Creativity: Adobe Express

Now that most districts are one to one or at least close, we are onto the next phase of technology integration: meaningful use of technology. Empowering the students to use their devices to move beyond the four walls of the classroom and become true global citizens while adding a purpose to learning. How do we build a bridge over this chasm and jump into the true sense of 21st Century Learning and Skills? 

Creativity is the key to allow students to truly express their voice while simultaneously showing learning. You are the master of the subject you teach, let a tool like Adobe Express be your partner in learning to give students an amazing tool to support their learning and expand beyond worksheets, paper posters, and basic slide decks.

I challenge you to spark creativity! Adobe Express is the new, reimagined Adobe Spark. It has a robust set of tools Adobe users will know and love but appropriately developed for Kindergarten through 12th grade students. Tools such as Adobe Express, Photoshop Express, and Rush allow for students to dive into the Adobe tools and the creation possibilities are endless!!! Did I mention it is FREE FOREVER for Educators and students K-12??? Adobe power with zero cost??? Where do I sign up??

If you have Google Workspace, Adobe Express Education Edition is as easy as signing in using your Google Workspace for Education account! If not, your IT department can set up a sign on option for your school district! 

Log in with a school account.

Click Continue with Google.

Choose an account for Enterprise ID so it signs you in with the education version that is more robust.

Adobe Express is available through the web and on mobile apps! This allows for you to start on a tablet, then move to the web version with ease. They have a plethora of pre-made templates students can remix to make their own. You can also start from scratch. 

Adobe integrates with Canvas as a powerful LTI and with Google Classroom so students can submit their designs in Adobe Express. They  partner with big contenders like Wakelet and Flip to provide students and teachers with endless opportunities for creativity and sharing with the global community.  Simply use the #adobeeducreative #adobeexpress #createforedu #adobeforEDU when interacting with the global community on social media! 

One of my favorite things Adobe does are the creative challenges: https://edex.adobe.com/challenges . They put out a template regularly and challenge educators and students to remix it and share it out! It is so exciting to see what everyone creates!

Not sure where to start?  Adobe has a Creative Educator program https://edex.adobe.com/adobe-creative-educator that is amazing! They have so many resources https://edex.adobe.com/.  So jump right in and start expressing your creativity today!