TCEA Take-away #1 TextingStory

It is great to be back after TCEA. If we have had a chance to visit with you, then you know our heads are reeling from the new tools, connections, and inspiration we received while attending the TCEA conference. Major recurring themes of the week included fostering creativity with iPads, virtual and augmented reality, digital citizenship, and global collaboration.




The conference themes emphasized for us the advantages that 1:1 iPads have to offer our learners. Are learners reaping those benefits in your classroom? As digital learning coaches, we are passionate about adding digital elements to your lesson design and would love to share our TCEA take-aways. Each week we will  highlight a new tool we are excited about. This week’s TCEA tech tool highlight take-away is sure to add spice to your lessons and engage learners. TextingStory allows users to create fake text message threads and export the feed to a video. Below are just a few examples of fun ways you could incorporate the app into your lessons.




•    English 1 class could simulate a conversation between fictional characters as if they were facing their problems in a different time or place.


•    AP Human Geography could simulate a conversation showing differing viewpoints on a topic of study.


•    Environmental Science learners could create a conversation using the vocabulary a current unit.


•     Learners in foreign language classes could practice casual written communication in their language of study.






If you would like to learn more about TextingStory app watch this short tutorial 

and/or contact us to meet one-on-one or with your team during team time.

Leave a comment below sharing a way TextStory could spice up your lessons.

Apple Keynote-Not just a presentation tool!

Written by Monica Champagne

Over the last few months, as I've been preparing for our TCEA Apple in Education, We Say Yes presentation, I have enjoyed exploring Keynote. It has quickly become an asset to my digital learning toolbox, not only for dynamic presentations, but also for storytelling and animation. Using Magic Move to create animations and to tell stories has excited the Media teacher in me. The intuitive, embedded voiceover feature could make adding character voices to animations, practicing translations in foreign language classes, telling a stories in a creative writing class, or simply allowing students to share their learning verbally and graphically very simple. 

Check out my Teacher Tech Tools in Under Two Minutes video to quickly see how easy the Keynote narration feature can be.

Want to dive deeper into keynote? Explore the resources curated below and take on one of my challenges.

Device Type	Resource	Challenge
iPad	Keynote for iPad Starter Guide iOS 11 Multi-Touch Book	Create a presentation that uses Magic Move, shapes, and lines to illustrate a series of events or steps within a process. Reference pages 33-40
iPad	Online Help for Keynote for iPad	Use the Keynote All About Me Template to construct a Thought Portrait for a historical or literary character.  Use the shapes, text, and images to add to your silhouette.  View in “play. Reference the “Add images, shapes, and media section.
Mac	Keynote for Mac Starter Guide (Mac OS Sierra)	Check out the “Going Further” section for content specific ideas! Use one of the lesson ideas as inspiration to build a similar learning experience of your own.
Both	The Keynote to Storytelling	Design a lesson that involves learners using Keynote to tell stories or share their learning.
Both	Animation Studio: Creating Dynamic Animations Using Keynote	Think about a difficult concept in your curriculum that could be clarified through animation. Reference pages 10-18 to learn how to create a basic animation.
Both	Lesson integration ideas by content area	Choose one of the suggested integration ideas and design a lesson for your learners.

I am excited to share that my teammate and co-presenter, Alli Pryor, has started an excellent Apple a Week Blog and Podcast series. Visit her blog to learn more about Apple Edu native apps and grow your digital tool box, as well.

Visit Alli and I, along with our teammates Brian Timm and Sam Neal at TCEA as we present Apple in Education, We Say Yes next month.

Live Tweetup Recap and Joining a PLN

Thank you to all who attended and/or participated in our Digital Learning Party and Live Tweetup!  Missed it? That's OK, you can still participate in the next steps.

What's Next?

This year, our Digital Learning Team is facilitating the creation of mini PLNs (personal learning networks) throughout our district. From January to April of this year, you'll be able to learn with your PLN through a variety of modalities. Your PLN might choose to do a book study, participate in a Twitter chat, meet in person or virtually. The sky is the limit, whatever will help you meet your digital learning goals. Interested?  Visit this form to join a professional learning network by Friday, December 15th. You will receive an email from your PLN facilitator the week of Jan 3rd with next steps on beginning your PLN journey.

What is a PLN?  

Take a look at this quick video! 

Want to relive the Live Tweetup experience?

Check out this highlight video.

Missed the chat?

Check out the chat questions here and leave a comment below with how would you respond.

Live Tweet Up and Hour of Code!

Live Tweet Up PL Launch Party

    

Last week was spent with gobble, gobble, gobble. This week it’s time for tweet, tweet, tweet. Sign up for the PLN Live Tweet Up Launch Party in Eduphoria. 

• What is a live tweet up?
  
• A face to face chat about a given topic that is also being documented on Twitter using a specific hashtag, #CISDchat.

• What if I don’t have a Twitter account?
  
• Please see this document to setup a Twitter account before the party.  There will also be a Genius Bar to help you setup your account. If needed, you can arrive at 4:30 pm to get setup help and have any of your Twitter questions answered.
  

• What if I can’t attend?
  
• You can still participate in our live tweetup from any location by following #CISDchat on Twitter from 5-6 pm.
  

• Can I get FLEX credit?
  
• Yes. If you attend the event, you can earn up to 1 hour of FLEX credit.
  

• What is the QR code on the invite?
  
• I’m glad you asked! Please view the video of our learners’ voices as they describe what learning means to them.

Hour of Code

This year, our DLC team has built some awesome resources to support our educators and learners as we celebrate Hour of Code. We especially love the Learner Choice Board Padlet! All educators Pre-K - 12 are invited to sign up and participate with their classes.

How do your classes participate in Hour of Code? Comment below.

Assessment and Learning PL Week Wrap Up

A huge thank you from your DLCs to everyone who participated in last week’s Assessment and Learning PL opportunities.

For those of you who were not able to participate this week or would like to revisit some of the resources, we have Storified the Twitter discussions (linked below) and are leaving the smackdown Flipgrid link live. When viewing the smackdown Flipgrid, we would love for you to contribute your own tools or strategies. You can also reply to those that have already posted with your questions or by sharing other ways you use the same tool or strategy with your learners.

Twitter Chat Day 1

Twitter Chat Day 2

Twitter Chat Day 3

Twitter Chat Day 4

Let's keep the discussion going!

iOS 11 Game Changers

Written by Kelly Skillingberg and Monica Champagne

What we love about Apple is that they always seem to take the best pieces of different apps and make them a standard part of the device, like the camera’s new build in QR Code reader, for example. With the iOS 11 update, users may also no longer need their old QR Coder readers, screen recorders or preferred note taking apps. Take two minutes to see a quick highlight of some of our favorite features. 

As digital learning coaches, we are passionate about adding digital elements to your lesson design. If you would like to work with us to learn more about how you can use the new iOS 11 features with your learners or any other tool, here are some ways we can help.

iOS 11 Update Information

By Kelly Skillingberg and Monica Champagne

Important

**Please read BEFORE updating your Apple device to iOS 11**

Apple has released iOS 11 and this upgrade is now available. To prepare your device for the iOS 11 update, it is good practice to backup to iCloud. However, a backup is not mandatory for the update.

**Please note, if you have an iPad 4, the iOS 11 update will not be available for that device**

Due to internet connections and wifi traffic, we strongly recommend that you complete your backup and update from home. Be sure to plug in your device so it will have enough power to complete either task.

• How to backup your device to iCloud

After updating, be sure to check out all the amazing new features that iOS 11 has to offer.

• New features of iOS 11
  

Keep an eye out for future posts where we will share how some of the features can be used to support your lesson design.

If you have any technical difficulties with your iPad, please try the tips and tricks located on this iPad troubleshooting guide. You can always submit a help desk ticket if you continue to run into any issues. You can submit a ticket by navigating to coppellisdhelp.zendesk.com and signing in using your full email address and district password.

Already using new iOS 11 features in cool ways with your learners? Please share, below.