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Upcoming Events
(App-Related Only):
MON. (8/19) STUDENTS REGISTER FOR THE LOS AL APP
Seniors & Juniors on Monday, 8/19
Juniors & Sophomores on Tuesday, 8/20
Freshmen On Wednesday, 8/21
***In Order To Achieve Full Integration & Functionality,
Students Enter Their Name, D.O.B., And Grade Level
As Part Of App Registration***
8/19 - 8/28 TEXT MESSAGE DOWNLOAD LINKS ARE SENT TO
REGISTERED APP USERS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS
As part of our "Beta" roll-out, users will be able to
download the Los Al App directly from a text message link
that will be sent to their phones. By the start of school we
hope to have most users online :)
***The Los Al App Will Also Be Available For Download In
The Android And Apple App Stores... However, That
Version Of The App Has Limited Functionality (no #losal
social posting, Edmodo integration, etc...)***
TUES. (8/27) TEACHERS REGISTER FOR LOS AL APP
That's right everyone... as a content contributor to our
campus, you can have FULL functionality of the Los Al App if you'd like.
8/28 - ??? ENJOY USING THE LOS AL APP :)
We imagine they'll be bumps and bruises as we roll out
this novel technology tool across our community... but
we'll be open to feedback every step of the way. (And we
can institute App Store updates to users' phones at
anytime to enhance the functionality of the app!)
Unlimited Possibilities...
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Los Al Has An App!!!
And It's Ready Just In Time For The Start Of The School Year...
Don't go heading over to the "App Store" just yet, ladies and gentlemen... Los Alamitos High School does, indeed, have an app that we'll be debuting this Fall, but it's not as simple as just downloading it to your phone and taking it from there.
Hence, this Memo...
As many of you have witnessed first-hand, our school and district are committed to exploring innovative technology tools for the purpose of maximizing student learning. We'll have more 200 Chromebooks on campus next year serving nearly 1,000 students, as well as 100+ iPads impacting student achievement for well over 500 Griffins.
And while our proliferation of technology has certainly helped individual learners be more successful in the classroom... how well has our technology really connected us to each other?
This was the "essential question" that drove the development of the Los Al App. With 3,200 students, 125 teachers, and countless parents, alum, and vested community partners, our school needs a simple solution for connecting everyone to everything that's happening on and around campus.
To achieve this, we built an app that, at its core, CONNECTS.
A CONNECTED CAMPUS
A CONNECTED CLASSROOM
A CONNECTED COMMUNITY
CONNECTED CAMPUS. One feature of the Los Al App is the ability to search social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for content labeled "#losal." This tool provides access and images to the many academic, athletic, and artistic endeavors our Griffins participate in.
CONNECTED CLASSROOM. From the palm of one's hand, it is now possible to search Aeries for the latest update in student grades, log on to Edmodo to double-check homework assignments, and check the School Calendar to see what time 4th Period starts on an Assembly Day. Students will have access to everything they need in order to be successful, on time, and on top of all their classroom responsibilities.
CONNECTED COMMUNITY. With parents and alumni being able to have read-access to the app, we can keep in touch with key stakeholders to let them know the latest campus goings-on. As a result, we'll all be able to support each other at critical junctures in the life of each and every
program we offer to students.
So, how do you get the app?
Scroll back up to the top of this Memo and read the latest "roll-out information" for students and staff.
To protect privacy, we'll be REGISTERING all users that want full-functionality of the app during Student Registration and Teacher Welcome Back Days. (The Registration Process is simple... it just pairs your name to the phone you're using the app on.)
Otherwise, the app will be available to the general public on the Android and Apple App Stores around August 28th for free.
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Classroom Tools Galore!
Our App Connects Students To The Classroom In Ways That Extend Learning Time And Increase Success
When you and I went to school, class time was signified by two bells: one at the start of class, and one when it was time to go.
In fact, it was almost like no learning could (or was supposed to) occur outside those bounds. If you had English for 3rd period, then that's when your head was in "English Mode." Not later at 4pm, and definitely not on the weekend.
Flash-forward a generation or two and the notion of "class time" has been extended to mean 24-hour, anywhere access to materials, assessments, classmates, and even the teacher.
The Los Al app was designed to capitalize on the idea of extended learning time, and provide students with easy tools to facilitate collaboration and production at times that go further outside the bounds of a 55-minute period than ever before.
It's our hope that increased access to content and learning tools will better prepare our students for successful college admissions and career opportunities in highly-competitive fields of industry.
Our students are learning to be responsible digital citizens in the 21st Century, and the Los Al app is will develop their ability to explore, share, and manage their ongoing learning goals.
Here's a brief breakdown of the education tools embedded in the first iteration of the Los Al App:
EDMODO --- Like Facebook for teachers, students, and parents (but wayyyyy better.) It's a free and safe way for students, parents, and teachers to connect and collaborate. [You can only collaborate and interact with people in your class... it's not "open" like Facebook.]
SOCRATIVE --- Socrative is a smart (and free) student response system that empowers teachers by engaging their classrooms with a series of educational exercises and games. Basically, it's like taking a quiz on your phone, and getting instant results. The quick feedback allows students to learn more, and learn much, much faster than ever before.
AERIES --- Of course, Aeries is our Student Information System that keeps track of grades and course progress. ABI (Aeries Browser Interface) is the mobile version that will run seamlessly via the Los Al App.
DAILY SCHEDULE --- This neat tool will allow students, teachers, and parents to keep track of slight changes in the Bell useful point of reference.
EVENT CALENDAR --- Another useful tool, this application will allow users to view all campus events taking place that day, week, or month depending on how you view it. This will ensure students, parents, and teachers know about games, dances, activities, and promotions so that they can come out and enjoy, support, and participate in all of our school events.
The Los Al App is full of ways to extend class time and increase student engagement well beyond the bounds of the school day. Try them out, give us your feedback, and look for additional tools to be added to our app as they become relevant and meaningful to student learning over the next few months.
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What Is A #Hashtag?
And Why Should I Care?
Just try this... Log on to your favorite social media site (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and type in "#LOSAL".
What do you see?
It's likely that what you're looking at is recent news, commentary, and pictures all related to Los Alamitos High School. And that the information is all in descending order --- sorted by date to highlight the most recent information first. These posts are happening by the thousands every day... and students, parents, alumni, and various other stakeholder groups in our community use the "LOSAL" hashtag to categorize their musings as being related to our school.
Hashtags are a sorting mechanism.
By not including any spaces, and adding the "#" sign to the front of a word, phrase, or idea, other users of social media can easily find interesting content on topics that they're interested. For us, "#LOSAL" identifies posts that are related to school.
The modern social media user hashtags just about everything. In a culture that's all about sharing, the only way to show other users what you think, where you've been, or who you were with is to tag a post or pic thoughtfully so that other interested users can find it, like it, or comment on it.
But there are some "uncool" ways to tag posts and pics as well. For example, #YOLO (based on Drake's breakout hit from 2012) is becoming far too overused on social media outlets... to the point where it's hard to find specific content related to #YOLO (You Only Live Once), because there are too many items tagged with it. The same phenomenon happens when people use generic hashtags like #FOOTBALL or #LOVE. To help with this, here's a quick guide on HOW to hashtag and WHEN to hashtag that any new social media user will find helpful:
1. DON'T OVERUSE --- Use a maximum of two hashtags in
your posts.
2. KEEP THEM SHORT --- Tweets are restricted to 140
characters, and you don't want a
hashtag taking up 50% of the letters
in your post.
3. DEFINE YOUR TAG --- Give your tag a meaning, or search for
the meaning of an existing tag and
use that.
4. NO SPACES --- Make sure there are no spaces in the words
following the hashtag, or punctuation, as it
will break the link.
Happy tagging! And don't forget to use #LOSAL in all your school-related pics and tweets :)
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Publishing:
It's A 21st Century Skill, For Sure!
Parts of what "Common Core" will entail are still up for grabs, but most teachers are fairly confident that 21st Century students need to learn the skill of publishing.
But what does that mean?
In 2013, it's becoming clear that just about everybody is an "author." Whether you author your blog, your YouTube site, your Facebook account, or some other web venture, almost all of us publish content to the internet for friends, family and/or the general public.
And some of us are good at it. In other words, people want to read what we publish.
And that's because publishing is a skill. It requires "authors" to do things like consider your audience, edit, engage, and articulate. These are all skills. And they can (and should) be taught to students entering a world full of digital natives who were all born after the internet was invented.
So when you're planning your year this August, and you're thinking about what Common Core evolutions you'd like to make in preparation for 2014 and beyond... consider adding PUBLISHING to the list of units (or underlying skills) you plan on teaching this year.
From Tumblr to Blogspot, and everything in between, our students will likely publish something every week of their adult lives...
Wouldn't it be cool if they were good at it?
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DOWNLOADING SITE
From now on, if you need a picture from any of these
Monday Morning Memos, Just find us on FLICKR
The pics there are high quality, easy to access,
and always downloadable.
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Los Alamitos High School
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
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