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SAUSD Education Technology Newsletter | March, 2012 |
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Technology in Support of Teaching and Learning
The goal of this e-newsletter is to bring you information and resources to support you in your use of technology in the classroom and school.
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Technology Integration - The Flipped Classroom | |
The Flipped Classroom
A few days ago I had the pleasure of talking to Algebra 1 and Math Analysis teacher Crystal Kirch. Mrs. Kirch,who is also Segerstrom High School's Educator of the Year, was telling me about her progress this semester in "flipping" her math classes through the use of videos that she has created for students to view. Her students view the videos outside of class as homework, and they can pause or re-watch any segments of the video at any time. This allows students to learn at their own pace and become more self-directed, with the ability to go back over a certain concept they did not fully grasp. While watching the videos, students take notes of important concepts, write a summary of the concept they learned about, and write at least one question regarding the content. During class students review their summaries and work in groups to answer the questions they prepared, as well as work on practice problems and other learning activities to demonstrate their understanding of the learning concept. Most of Mrs. Kirch's teaching is now focused on working with student groups, including groups of students who need help on certain concepts, leading to fully differentiated instruction and support. For more information on Mrs. Kirch's progress with flipping her math classes, go to http://flippingwithkirch.blogspot.com/
Early adopters of flipping the classroom are Colorado science teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, and information on how they developed videos to use in their classrooms and how it enhanced student learning can be found on their website located at: http://mast.unco.edu/programs/vodcasting/
If you are intrigued with the idea of flipping your classroom, the following two articles have practical information worth reviewing. One of the best articles that I have read on the flipped classroom is "Five Best Practices for the Flipped Classroom" by Andrew Miller. In Miller's article he identifies five important considerations for determining whether to flip your classroom - a key consideration being the importance of the instructional model used in the classroom and how "flipping" the classroom can support the instructional process. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-best-practices-andrew-miller
Ramsey Musallam's article, "Should You Flip Your Classroom?" addresses questions that you should ask yourself in preparing to integrate these instructional strategies in your classroom. Musallam's article can be found at: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-ramsey-musallam
For opportunities for discussion with other teachers on using these techniques, the Teacher Vodcasting and Flipped Classroom Network is a social network for teachers located at http://vodcasting.ning.com/
Alexandra Ito
Director, Education Technology
Alexandra.ito@sausd.us
714-480-4771 |
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Meet the Author Videoconferencing at Adams | |
Students at Adams Elementary School "Meet the Author"
On Wednesday, February 8th, three classes of 2nd grade students at Adams Elementary School participated in a live videoconference with Henry Cole, author and illustrator of On Meadowview Street, one of the 2011-2012 nominees for the California Young Reader Medal (CYRM). The CYRM program encourages recreational reading of popular literature in California.
This event was part of the "Meet the Author" series offered through OCDE. Mr. Cole, who lives in Florida, was able to interact in real time via videoconference with students from Orange County and as far away as Maryland.
Adams' students had read On Meadowview Street prior to the videoconference and asked Mr. Cole questions through two-way, live discussion. He answered questions, told stories about how he became a writer and artist, and explained the inspirations behind his books. "This was really engaging because Henry Cole is so lively!" said Laura Van de Merghel, 2nd grade teacher. "My students said they enjoyed talking with a real, live author and seeing students from other schools interact with him too."
The videoconferencing equipment in Adams Elementary School Library was provided through a grant from the Target Foundation to give students and teachers the opportunity to use technology to travel beyond the classroom to collaborate and learn from experts around the world.
Another well-attended videoconferencing event at Adams library was the Discovery Science Center free Educators' Workshop held on March 5, 2012, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. The event titled "Chemical Reactions, Part I" was held for teachers in partnership with the Orange County Department of Education and included standards-based, hands-on lessons for students, grades 3-5.
Maggie Barnes
District Librarian
maggie.barnes@sausd.us
714-480-4784 |
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IMC - Where Your Classroom Comes Alive! | |
The Instructional Media Center (IMC) at the District Office
Open Monday - Thursday from 9am-5pm, Fridays from 2-5PM
(closed from 1pm-2pm for lunch)
Open House is just around the corner for Elementary Schools! Please see the attached flyer for an opportunity to sign up for extra hours at the IMC! Reminder: There's a wealth of supplies and equipment for your use - laminating, color copies, button maker, Ellison die cuts, binding machine, poster board, butcher paper, construction paper, and paper cutters.
Check with your Office Manager to be sure your school has an account to pay for laminating, buttons, or color copies. Remember that all other services and materials are free to district employees as long as they are used to create projects for the classroom.
Martha Perez
IMC Department Specialist
martha.perez@sausd.us
714-480-4783 |
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 iPad News
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iPad Apps
The iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch have several apps that work with voice recognition. Try these free apps: Google Search and Bing use voice recognition for internet searches, Dragon Dictation jots down your dictation, Google Translate translates into other languages, and Vlingo is your personal device assistant to dictate emails and update social media.
David Lofink
Curriculum Specialist
david.lofink@sausd.us
714-480-4775 |
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SAUSD Webpages | |
SAUSD Webpage Tips and Tricks
Home page photo
When uploading a photo to your website, the size of the photo has to be: 315 pixels (height) by 715 pixels (length). A helpful and easy to use website to help resize photos is http://resize.it (Use the Advanced Tools option)
If additional photos are needed for your homepage, contact me so I can visit your site and take some photos.
File names and attaching
Try not to include the symbols below when saving your files to upload to the website:
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )
Doing so causes your Site Manager screen to freeze and the file will not attach.
Fernando Juarez
Department Specialist
fernando.juarez@sausd.us
714-480-4744 |
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SmartBoards |
Smart Notebook Version 11
If you have a SMART Board then you'll be excited to learn about Notebook 11. Available in spring 2012, this is a long-awaited update to the existing software for your interactive board. Your computer automatically checks for software updates every 30 days, so you may be prompted by the program to update once the new version is released in the coming months. Here are some features of Notebook 11:
- Activity builder - Creates activity objects that react to actions with animations or sound
- Embedded web browser - Inserts web browsers directly onto a SMART Notebook software page
- Enhanced contextual toolbar - Responds to actions by giving users the required tool choices when they choose a certain object
- Crayon - Creates authentic crayon drawings on a SMART Board interactive whiteboard
- Customized creative pen - Builds a unique creative pen from any image
- Reset page - Brings SMART Notebook software page back to its last saved state to instantly start again
- Audio recording - Records sounds directly into a file
- Shape image fill - Adjusts the size of an image to fit into a specific shape
- Updated tables - Supports scaling, moving and interacting within tables more easily
- New text engine - Provides improved text formatting and consistency
- Fade ink - Fades any regular ink
- Full-page frame - Allows borders of the page layout to be displayed
James Fowler
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Microsoft Outlook Web App | |
Upgrade from Microsoft Outlook Web Access to
Microsoft Outlook Web App
IT will be upgrading all District Staff to Outlook Web App in the next couple of months. Here is quick tip to help you navigate around.
You can set up Microsoft Outlook Web App to automatically respond to people who send you an email message. This helps inform people that you aren't in the office or that your response might be delayed due to conferences or meetings. In order to set up an Automatic Reply go to:
- Organize E-mail
- Automatic Replies
Below is an example of an automatic reply that has been set up.
Laura Moore (Melgar)
Technology Training Specialist
laura.melgar@sausd.us
714-480-4781
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Microsoft Office Tips |
One of the best sites for PC users to get Microsoft Office help is located on the Microsoft Office website. This site has on-demand webcasts, newsletter archives, and tutorials related to all the Microsoft Office versions. Follow the steps below to find what you are looking for:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/
- Use the Version dropdown to select the Microsoft Office version you have on your computer. The site supports 2003, 2007, and 2010.
- If you are not sure which version you are using select start, All Programs, Microsoft Office. You will be able to see the version on your computer.
- Select the program the Microsoft Office program- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Access.
- Check below the Search bar to see if the Popular searches has what you are looking for.
- If what you need help with is not listed in the Popular searches write in the search support bar what you need and select Search
For example: I have Microsoft Office 2010 and I need to know how to use animation in PowerPoint.
- Dropdown 2010
- Select PowerPoint
- Popular searches- select Animation
Juanita Fast
Curriculum Specialist
juanita.fast@sausd.us
714-480-4776 |
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Atomic Learning
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Atomic Learning provides web-based software training for more than 100 applications - including the ones that we all use every day - whether you work in the schools, district office, department or whether you are a teacher, staff member or administrator. The short, easy-to-view and understand tutorials are an anytime/anywhere resource for you to brush up on technology skills or to find out how to use a program. Atomic Learning is an integral part of our professional development program, a valuable curriculum supplement and extends learning beyond the classroom or training center. The link for Atomic Learning is www.atomiclearning.com. Please call EBS at 75657 for username and password.
Patty.arriola@sausd.us
Broadcast Specialist
714-558-5657
Patty Arriola |
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Discovery Education Streaming | |
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Discovery Education Streaming provides hundreds of thousands of standards-correlated videos, teacher resources and materials to use in the classroom. Did you know that all SAUSD teachers have a subscription to Discovery Education Streaming? Log on to www.discoveryeducation.com for access to videos, video clips, images, clipart, and much more! Call EBS at x75657 for your school's eight-digit passcode.
Patty Arriola
Patty.arriola@sausd.us
Broadcast Specialist
714-558-5657 |
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