Facilitating Courses

Past Course Blurb

The opportunity to read does not exist only between the covers of novels, picture books, or magazines. In fact, much of what our students read on a daily basis is on a screen. With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, and the 21st Century Technology Standards, and with the real-world demand that employees be well acquainted with technology, it is essential that we infuse digital literacy across grade levels and content areas. Digital literacy simply refers to a student’s ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate, and create information using a range of digital technologies. This course will look at the 6 components of digital literacy and how to foster critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and evaluative reading through the use of educational technologies including SubText, teacher websites, Adobe Voice, Notability, and Storehouse.

Past Course Blurb

A staple of a student-centered classroom is publishing work for authentic audiences. As teachers integrate technology into their classrooms, they will discover a wide collection of apps, websites, tools, and services that will allow students to transform their thinking and knowledge into published, digital presentations. Including apps and services like ThingLink, Google Slides, Padlet, Educreations, and Blendspace, this class will explore ways to improve communication, speaking, and listening skills, and will provide practical ways to increase ownership, accountability, and motivation in the classroom. We will also model instructional strategies that will result in students gathering information from multiple sources and displaying it creatively through a variety of mediums. In this class, teachers will collaborate as they experience presentation tools for a variety of devices, including tablets, laptops, and desktops that give students universal access to showcase their work

Past Course Blurb

Google Apps for Education can transform a classroom. Join this class to become more familiar with Drive ( Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Slides), Chrome, and YouTube and learn how to best use basic and more advanced features to enhance teaching, learning, and student achievement. District 47 has “gone Google,” so make the most of your time by learning the ins and outs of Google’s tools, improving communication between students, parents, and colleagues, and becoming a full-fledged Google Ninja! We believe in the philosophy that you will use technology in your classroom if you are comfortable using it for personal use. Throughout the course, we will model and explore first-hand ways you can make Google Apps your toolbelt of choice for any task.

Past Course Blurb

Have you heard the news? All certified staff will be receiving teacher iPads to enhance instruction and learning. With the addition of these powerful devices, the time of whiteboards and document cameras can be updated and revolutionized. This five-week course will discuss strategies, tools, apps, and activities that will help you adapt your classroom with your teacher iPad. Learn how to create digital worksheets and graphic organizers in Notability, annotate websites, flip your instruction using Explain Everything, record student work using the camera, and combine Google Apps with your iPad.

To better navigate the integration of the iPads, we will be comparing the educational use of the device to the technology integration model- SAMR. This course will be taught by current and past 1:1 iPad teachers with the knowledge to help you navigate the pitfalls and triumphs of having a teacher iPad.

Past Course Blurb

With close to 40 iPad teachers among the three middle schools, we will need a way to collaborate, communicate, and create as a team. This online course will allow teachers of all grade levels, content areas, and range of expertise to share lesson ideas and classroom tips/tricks, while also problem-solving issues we may encounter day-to-day. Throughout this 5-week course, we will use the time to share successes and pitfalls within our own classrooms, while also exploring new apps and services that will enhance teaching and learning. Taught by two middle school iCoaches and former iPad teachers, our goal is to better support you as you take on this task of being an iPad teacher. Any iPad teacher will tell you that collaboration is the key to success, and as a team, we can make iPad integration successful. This course will last 5 weeks with the chance of extension if there is a need.

Past Course Blurb

Starting this Fall, all Google Apps for Education educators will have access to Google’s newest tool for education- Classroom for Google. Similar to Edmodo, Classroom gives teachers the power to assign, track, and collect student work, while also streamlining communication with the class. Classroom is based on the principle that educational tools should be simple and easy to use, and is designed to give teachers more time to teach and students more time to learn. During this 5-week session, we will demonstrate the step-by-step process to creating your Classroom and allow you to build a ‘Classroom’ customized for your learning environment. This is the all-in-one solution that combines all previous work-flow tools and strategies, through Google Apps, to create a seamless student management system built into Google’s ecosystem. Google Classroom- more time teaching, less time tech-ing.