We are overjoyed with the progress of all the teachers using Nearpod at the School District of Lancaster! Last November, elementary teachers launched 826 lessons in Nearpod. This year, after six weeks of school, these same teachers have launched 1,888 lessons! That's 129% increase in usage in half the time! You all are amazing! Many of you are using this tool in practical ways to differentiate instruction and to make your lives easier by using the on the spot data to inform instructional decisions. Some of you are engaging your students with content in new and innovative ways by creating your own virtual learning experiences. All of you are using Nearpod to teach digital citizenship and 21 century skills to your students! Thank you all for the hard work you are doing to promote technology usage in your classroom! Keep up the great work and let us know if we can support you along the way. We are so proud of you!
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by Garrett Derr @GDerrSDOL “What are some great math apps that I can use with my kids?" I’ve probably heard this question 100 times since the start of the school year. To be honest, it’s a great question considering how much is out there. Of course there’s Xtramath. And, with a little time and research, you’ll find platforms like Nearpod and Seesaw offer already-created lessons that can be easily edited to meet the needs of your students. Eventually, though, we’ll want to give our students something shiny and new. If you’re anything like me, I always dreaded the days of handing out manipulatives to each student, only to find pieces scattered around the classroom at the conclusion of the day. Look no further than the collection of math apps created by the Math Learning Center. The interactive collection created by MLC forces students to be creative, think critically, and show their understanding in a variety of ways. Below, you will find a brief overview of each app and the different features it offers to your students. Number PiecesNumber Pieces helps build student computational thinking skills. Within the platform, students use a variety of manipulative base-ten blocks to show their understanding. Students have the ability to add text, drawings, rotate and separate manipulatives, and add color. Money PiecesMoney Pieces provides students a blank canvas with all of the currency manipulatives they could ever want or need. The platform provides coins in base-ten form or in isolation. Included are visuals to help students make sense of word problems, drawing tools, color schemes, and symbols. GeoboardGeoboard is a rubber-band free platform that allows students to show their geometry knowledge. Teachers can use the app to allow students to demonstrate their understanding with shapes, patterns, line segments, perimeter, angles, area, and even fractions. The differentiation components allow teachers to utilize across several grade levels! Pattern ShapesPattern Shapes gives students the freedom to show their understanding with shapes, patterns, and angles. Students can explore symmetry and combine shapes to create visuals. Teachers can offer students a challenge using the grid and outlines features!
Give these powerful tools a try and see how they empower your students! by Wes Emlet @wemlet 1. View Screens
This ability to see what students are doing on their devices is priceless. I can focus on the group of students I am working with but also know what the students across the room are doing with a quick glance in the Apple Classroom app. This feature helps hold students accountable for the work they are doing on their devices. This also allows the teacher to pinpoint which students may need more assistance for on the spot intervention. 2. Lock Screen When I need to transition I give my students a 10 second countdown and then I lock their screen. The countdown gives the students a chance to mentally prepare for the lock and the the lock itself is the extra step that ensures that students are hearing the next set of directions they are about to receive. Don't forget to unlock! 3. Open & Lock There may be times when you need your class to stay in one specific app for an extended period of time. Using the open and lock toggle will ensure your students stay in that app as it removes the temptation to leave the current app and navigate to the web and/or a game as it locks them into the app you choose. (You're welcome;) 4. Groups Groups are easy to make and great for differentiation. When you leave the Classroom App and navigate to Safari, you can share the URL link with your entire class OR with the different groups you've created within the App. This allows you to easily share different links, images, files to specific students in a specific group. 5. Split Screen File Sharing Utilizing split screen with Apple Classroom gives you the ability to drop files to the entire class, your groups or individual students. Have a student who is distracted? Send a funny gif to that individual to get him back on track. It may sound silly but I've seen it work numerous times! What are your favorite Apple Classroom tools ? |
Wes EmletCoordinator of Instructional Technology Gidget Dejesus Instructional Technology Coach
@MsGMDeJesus Tara Morcom Instructional Technology Coach
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