Tech Coach Log: 3.2.16

I big issue I deal with often is teachers not realizing the value of signing into Chrome.  As Google Apps Admin, I organize teachers into sub-organizations to I am able to have customized settings for them.  But if they don't sign in to Chrome, they don't get the customized settings.  In addition, teachers often sign in with personal Gmail accounts and often get their work settings and info mixed with personal stuff.  Great thing Google Chrome allows you to login to multiple accounts and toggle between them.  I usually have 3 accounts on at all times (personal, work, demo account).

For "tech newbie" teachers, I have found something as simple as a certificate, generated by me, goes a long way as an incentive to get them to be more adventurous in their implementation of tech.  As I look at my wall, I look with pride framed my various certifications.  "Tech newbie" teachers see my little certificates, given after I in-service their classes, as tangible evidence that they don't need to be afraid of the technology. This little gesture leads them to seek me out to continue their develop their implementation of education technology.

Tech Coach Log: 3.1.16

Busy is the best way to describe March 1, 2016.  Is it March already?  With CAASPP on the horizon and administration mandating the use of Chromebooks daily, March Madness began, for me, in February.  

I began the day working with 8th Grade science teachers on how to implement Doc Hub.  One drawback to Doc Hub is how the changes made within Doc Hub cannot be submitted through Google Classroom. Teachers are starting to get annoyed by that since students blow up their inbox when submitting Doc Hub assignments.  I'm going to have to contact Google and Doc Hub and integrating Google Classroom and Doc Hub edits.

7th Grade ELA teachers are jumped on my Google Hangouts bandwagon.  I conducted a demo with one class on how to use Hangouts and begin having Academic Conversations  via Hangouts.  Though Hangouts can be easily abused by middle schoolers, I am confident, with good classroom management, it will be be put to good, academic use.  

I continued my work with high school Spanish teachers as they are having students do all presentations via Google Slides and present them using Chromecast and the Google Cast Chrome extension.

As Google Apps Admin, I have been searching for ways to eliminate excuses for teachers not to use technology.  Since there has been a push to use Google Classroom and Gmail is the mandated email service, I set it up for those apps, and a few others, to open in separate tabs upon startup of Chrome.  As expected, some teachers freaked out and others questioned it.  Since, I have been working on separating grade levels into suborganizations to tailor the Chrome extensions and startup tabs to teacher preference.

Never a dull day in Orosi, CA.

#OrosiTechCamp

Tech Coach Log: 2.24.16

Successes

Wednesday was very successful.  I helped a new teacher take the Google Classroom plunge.  After some early hiccups, this teacher ended the day with a good grasp on how to use it.  From there, I assisted a Spanish teacher in using Google Forms to create rubrics for student Spanish presentations. In addition, I was able to inservice high school social studies teachers in using Doc Hub in order to have students do DBQ assignments digitally.  After school, I conducted a seminar for teachers to learn to use the Snagit Chrome Extension to create screencast videos in preparation to build flipped lessons.

What I learned

It appears I jumped the gun as a Google Apps Admin.  I enabled Hangouts to open automatically on startup.  While a handful of teachers use it, the majority were perplexed.  I haven't trained enough students to use it responsibly.

Twitter Ed Chats

Ed Chats are a great way to connect with innovative and engaging teachers around the country and world.  To participate, click here to view a calendar of upcoming Ed Chats.  

Ed Chats are labeled by a unique hashtag.  Most chats last an hour.  To participate, include the unique hashtag in each of your posts.  The moderator will pose a series of prompts and questions that begin with "Q".  For example, question 1 is posted as "Q1:"  To answer, type "A" and the question number. For example, the answer to Q1 would begin with A1.  Questions and answers follow this pattern.  

Don't be afraid or intimidated to jump in.  Moderators usually ask those who join to introduce themselves in the beginning.  

How do you find Twitter Ed Chats?  First, check the schedule on the link above.  Then go to Twitter.com or your favorite Twitter client or app.  Search the hashtag and follow along.  You may need to refresh the page to stay current throughout.   Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are very good Twitter web clients for managing your Twitter account(s).  For mobile, I recommend Hootsuite, Fenix, Buffer and Plume.  (On the computer, I like to use Hootsuite.  On mobile, I prefer Fenix.)  I save the hashtag search as a column.  This allows me to only see posts using that hashtag.  

Below is an Ed Chat column from Hootsuite showing #connectedtl

Below is an example of searching a hashtag using the Twitter web client

Have fun connecting and learning with Twitter Ed Chats.  I sure do!  Message me or leave a comment if you have any questions on this topic!