We held our second GSD Tech Meet on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, with more great discussions and sharing of ideas between Granite teachers. The discussion focused on techniques and ideas for increasing students’ engagement and participation in distance learning.
[Read more…] about Highlights and Resources from GSD Tech Meet, April 28, 2020Over 100 Granite educators joined us for our first GSD Tech Meet, a live virtual meeting for teachers held in Google Meet on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The meet was facilitated by Kacie O’Maley, School Technology Specialist at Upland Terrace Elementary and an incoming Team Leader for our department next year. In this first session, Kacie introduced the meet as a collaborative space for teachers to connect and share with one another, putting forth discussion questions that encouraged participants to share successes, ideas, and solutions they have developed during the distance learning period.
[Read more…] about Highlights from the First GSD Tech Meet, April 21, 2020Our GSD Ed Tech Tuesdays professional development sessions for teachers have already started up for the 2019-2020 school year, but we still have one session to go in September. Join us at the TLC on September 17, 2019 to learn the basics (and a few more advanced tips and tricks) of using Google Classroom and G-suite to enhance collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking with your students.
Click here to sign up to attend this or other future GSD Ed Tech Tuesday ‘Pick Five’ Sessions.
Helen White is a 6th Grade teacher at Whittier Elementary in West Valley City, Utah. Ross Pope is the school’s technology specialist. Mrs. White and Mr. Pope co-teach lessons often. In the lesson featured in the spotlight above, they led students in a collaborative writing exercise, which proved a great way to integrate the 4 Cs of 21st Century Learning in the classroom. Students utilized classroom Chromebooks and the collaborative writing capabilities of Google Docs to co-author stories based on pictures from The Mystery of Harris Burdick. Thank you to Mrs. White for sharing this great classroom activity with us!
Spotlight created by Heidi Meenen, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist
Tricia Fenton is the STS at Vista Elementary and Western Hills Elementary. She collaborates with teachers at both of her schools on the integration of technology into their lessons on a regular basis. Tricia is excellent at all aspects of her job as an STS. which includes front line tech support, helping implement district online tools, and training students and teachers in multiple programs and technologies. She notes that her favorite part of her job is going into classrooms and working with the teachers and students.
Katy Halliday is a 3rd grade teacher at Western Hills Elementary. She eagerly seeks out ways to enhance learning through the use of technology. She isn’t afraid to try new things, knowing that it doesn’t always go perfectly the first time, but that’s what learning is all about. She finds ways for her students to think critically, communicate, collaborate and create with the use of technology.
In this short video, students share the biographies they’ve been working on. They are able to wirelessly cast what’s on their Chromebook screens to the projector for the class to see by using Google Cast For Education. The students have done their research using the Chromebooks and have built their presentations using Google Slides. Katy sends out assignments using Google Classroom, which makes managing digital assignments a breeze.
Both Tricia and Katy are excellent teachers individually. Teamed up together, they make a Dynamic Duo!
Spotlight created and authored by Teresa Bruin, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist
The first 2016-2017 edition of our department’s monthly newsletter recently went out via email to teachers in Granite School District. If you missed it you can access it here.
Highlights from our September 2016 Newsletter:
The Granite EdTech Monthly Newsletter is edited by Teresa Bruin, District Educational Technology Specialist. You can access all of our past newsletters at http://etnewsupdate.wikispaces.com/.
@EdTechGSD Thursday ETEP Portfolio Highlights are awesome! Ana Alamo explains the power of Technology! pic.twitter.com/DFiWXn0Uho
— Pam Moeai (@pammoeai) April 7, 2016
Teachers from one of our cohorts of ETEP — Educational Technology Endorsement Program recently shared updates on the projects and activities they are engaging in with their students. Many great ideas were shared and it was exciting to have a glimpse into the incredible work these teachers are undertaking with their students. Pam Moeai, one of our ETEP trainers, shared snapshots of their portfolio updates on Twitter, and so we gather and share these tweets with you below. [Read more…] about Teacher Spotlight: Highlights of ETEP Teacher Portfolios
Kirsten Carroll is a 3rd grade teacher at Redwood Elementary. She makes excellent use of the technology in her classroom, creating fun and meaningful learning opportunities for her students. She finds online resources that help her students better understand the concepts they are learning in class. With several of the online tools, she is able to monitor their progress in real time. At a glance she can see who is struggling and needs help. She is able to provide reteaching and individual instruction in a timely manner. Kirsten’s class recently gained access to a set of Chromebooks for their classroom, and she didn’t waste time putting them to good use. She uses Google Classroom to manage and send out assignments. The students are then able to submit their assignments digitally, creating more efficiency and saving paper at the same time. Some of the other excellent online resources they are using are: goformative.com, xtramath.org or the XtraMath Chrome App, the Prodigy Chrome App, Google Docs, Google Drawings, and so much more. Thanks Kirsten Carroll for being such an awesome teacher!
Spotlight Creator: Teresa Bruin, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist
