Brenham Tech Daily [BISDwired]

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Tech Tip Tuesday: Gimkit Thanos Mode

We all love the game of Gimkit, and this weekend, we received an email about the Thanos Mode. 

Here is what the email stated:

It is only for a limited time, so I encourage educators to try it out now.

One teacher, Mrs. Kenjura, stated that "when someone wins in Thanos Mode it snaps and goes through the list of players and says who survived and who is snapped."

Gimkit is a great way to review, and now this add-on has upped the engagement to the game, too.

Daily Check-Ins for Student Support

I enjoyed reading this article and watching this amazing video from Edutopia.  This video highlights what Fall-Hamilton Elementary School is doing in regards to providing support for students.  Daily, students who need extra social and emotional support have a quick check-in with an adult at the start and end of each day.  Enjoy this excellent school-wide strategy and see if and how you could implement this on your campus or in your district.

Security Check-Up 

on Your Chrome Account

Consistency is key with keeping your Google Chrome account updated and safe.  Last year I became much more consistent with keeping up with my Google Chrome account.  I even created Google Calendar reminders that pop-up monthly to remind me of the purposeful upkeep I'm suppose to be conducting.  

Now that you have done the above tasks, you are ready to complete the final step in securing your account!  

Visit: myaccount.google.com

At this link, you can now go through a check list to double check your account.  You can edit your Chrome photo, transfer your content, review your privacy settings, keep your account protected, and make Google yours by personalizing your Google experience.  Also, you can check your account storage that is shared across Google services, like Gmail, Drive, and Photos.

To SECURE your account, click on:

"We keep your account protected" > Get Started.

  From this point you can check the devices you are currently signed into.  Review your recent security events.  Sign-in and recovery methods that you can verify.  Finally, you can check all the apps with access to your data via Third-party access controls. 

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Morning Meetings, Huddles, Coffee Breaks and More!

Call it what you want: morning meetings, huddles, or coffee breaks, no matter the name, these morning meetings are beneficial for both the teacher and the students.  These meetings are especially imperative after extended breaks/holidays.  Last year, while observing classrooms, I was able to join this morning meeting in Mrs. Kubos' 4th-grade classroom.  Mrs. Kubos usually held these morning meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings as a beginning of the week, middle checkpoint, and end of the week wrap up.

"It's a great way to talk with them and build relationships" 

-Mrs. Kubos (4th Grade ELAR, Brenham ISD)

There are many versions of morning meetings.  Some are had throughout morning centers with small groups, some are held as a campus in a central location, and some are in the classroom like Mrs. Kubos' class.

Coffee Break in Mr. Spall's room

Back when I was teaching 4th grade at Alton Elementary School, we used to do informal morning meetings prior to the beginning of the school day.  Students would come into my classroom usually around 7:15, grab their Chromebook and work on genius hour passion projects or check their Gmail for messages sent by myself, peers, or our amazing administration.  Students could collaborate in groups, work independently, come converse with me while I prepped for the day, or work anywhere around the classroom while sitting in my alternative seating (couches, bean bags, etc.)  Eventually, I started having students bring in their own breakfast and coffee.  This extra 45 minutes every morning gave my students the ability to:

Morning Huddle (Whole Campus)

I first experienced a "whole campus" morning huddle while working up in Oklahoma City Public Schools.  Most of the schools had gone through a program called, "Great Expectations".  One of their core beliefs was to have schools hold morning huddles (Rise and Shine) as an entire campus at the beginning of each school day.  This idea transferred down to Alton Elementary School here in Brenham ISD.  Mr. Ogg, the Principal of Alton, has been implementing morning huddles for a couple of years now.  The students LOVE it.  They go over announcements, say the pledges, congratulate various student accomplishments, celebrate birthdays, and much more! 

Taking Your URL to the Next Level

This post is basically a follow-up from Troy Kuhn's awesome post from last year.  Troy talked about the amazing Google Shortener Chrome Extension that went away and became an obsolete tool.  So, in his post he gave examples of two other URL shortener options:

• Thinfi- is an AWESOME URL shortener because it allows you to password protect your URL.  Great for websites where you only want to allow certain people access to your link.  (videos, documents, etc.)

"I can't wait to finally be done with testing so we can start having fun!"

Why!? Why do you have to wait until May to start having a fun environment in your classroom?  Projects, PBL, hands-on activities, outdoor learning environments, unconventional teaching strategies, increased use of technology, etc... can all be utilized throughout the ENTIRE school year!  

If you haven't started yet, how about starting now?  Instead of busting out a countdown clock, or crossing out dates on a calendar until the last day of school, how about trying some of the great teaching ideas listed below!

Love this quote from my buddy +Michael Ogg (@PrincipalOgg)

Remember we don't have a few more days until summer break. We have a few more days to make a differences for our children. #BISDconnect

— Michael Ogg (@PrincipalOgg) May 6, 2016

During this time of year, I always felt like it was an entirely new year.  A "second chance" to make right any failed attempts during the year.  We were done with testing, positive attitudes took over, engagement and student inquiry went through the roof, and my students were having fun!  Here are some of my ideas followed by a couple helpful links to some more great suggestions:

How about letting students explore their Google Drive.  Let them learn how to upload, create folders, and organize their Drive.  Let them explore with Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Drawings and more!  Give mini-tutorials or even let you students create tutorials to teach peers in the class.  Have your upper-grade students go down to the lower grades with their Chromebooks and teach the younger students how to use them before next year.

Have students create end of the year Posters in Google Draw.  Or let them create a newsletter in Lucidpress exploring their recent school year or what their plans are for this summer!  Have them create a Google Slide Presentation over a content TEK they had trouble with this year but now have mastered.  Talk about what confused them about the objective, misconceptions they had, and how they finally mastered it.

Create and plan a summer connection series with your students through Google Classroom.  Fun summer assignments, book study, or even summer journal assignments to increase writing/typing skills.  Send home summer tutorials about next grade level objectives, standards, or TEKS that they will see at the beginning of the next school year.  Share with them bios about their awesome new teachers coming up in the new school year.

Here are many more ideas:

6 Engaging End-of-year projects 

From: Edutopia

Top 12 Effective End of the Year Activities

From: Teachhub

Collaborative Year-End Projects

From: Scholastic

8 Sweet Ways to Wrap It Up!  Our Favorite End-of-the-Year Activities for Grades K-2!

From: WeAreTeachers

Creative Book Trailer Ideas / EOY Projects
From: #BISDwired

Enjoy the rest of this AWESOME school year!

Flashback Friday: Google Cast for Education

2.) Wait for the options to get populated.

3.) Right click on the cast icon in the top right of the browser.

 (Thank you, Brian)

*Hope this tip helps you start Google Casting again!

A while back we talked to you about Google Cast, but have you noticed something extra added to your three dots, in the top right hand of the screen, on your chrome browser?

Google has added the "cast" option now under the three dots.

Now, the teacher just has to open the Google Cast app on their laptop, and then the students can start casting to the teacher's screen (students click the three dots and click cast). No need for students to have the extension.

Teacher Instructions:

1. Click on apps.