Happy New Year!! Tech Bytes 2018!

Click to access this week's Tech Bytes with clickable links

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Ring in the New Year with EpicPals!

Our January EpicPals primary and intermediate collections

 are ready and waiting for you. 

This month's primary board again includes a Read To Me Flipgrid selection! Flipgrid, coupled with a Read to Me book, is a great way to give your struggling readers the opportunity to participate in EpicPals independently! Of course, ANYONE can participate on the Flipgrid response and students don't have to use the Read to Me function for the book selection. Personalize the experience for your students how you see fit for their needs!! The Flipgrid videos are fully moderated by me so please give me a 24-48 hour turn around time to approve them. Please also talk to your students about appropriate digital citizenship when creating their videos. Videos that include questionable language, gestures, etc will be not be approved. 

Also new this year is the ability for students to leave likes on other students' posts on the Padlet boards. Encourage your students to read others' posts and if they like their post, have them click on the heart at the bottom of the sticky note. Being reflective and having an authentic reason to like something is a great first step towards leaving meaningful and authentic feedback. 

We encourage you to have conversations with your students on what constitutes a good post and how to be a good digital citizen when working online. You can find several resources to help you with these conversations on this previous blog post. My hope is to add the comment feature to our Padlets later this year as students' reading, writing, and reflective skills improve.

Without further ado, here is the link for January's EpicPals Google Doc with this month's books and QR codes/links to the Flipgrid and Padlet boards.

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If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can find both of us on Twitter- @smalchow (primary boards) and @bhopteacher (intermediate boards)

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New to EpicPals and need some additional information? If so, head on over the the #EpicPals page at the top of the blog for additional information.

Tech Bytes~ Dec 18-22

Malchow's Tech Bytes- Click to access the doc with live links

Merry Christmas!!!!

Tech Bytes Dec 11-15

Have you tried the new Seesaw Activities feature? Did you know that you can now share your activities with others simply by sharing the Activity link? Check out two fantastic coding resources that you can add to your Seesaw activity library this week. Just click on the images to see how easy it is!!

Malchow's Tech Bytes ~ Dec 11-15

Tech Bytes~ Dec 4-8

Are you a Seesaw user? If so, you don't want to miss this week's Tech Bytes. Several fantastic resources for you to use to build and create Seesaw Activities!!!

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Dec 4-8- Click to view w/ live links

"Tis the Season... for #EpicPals!

Click here to access December EpicPals Google Doc

Our December #EpicPals primary and intermediate collections are ready and waiting for you. This month's primary board again includes a Read To Me Flipgrid selection! Flipgrid, coupled with a Read to Me book, is a great way to give your struggling readers the opportunity to participate in EpicPals independently! Of course, ANYONE can participate on the Flipgrid response and students don't have to use the Read to Me function for the book selection. Personalize the experience for your students how you see fit for their needs!! The Flipgrid videos are fully moderated by me so please give me a 24-48 hour turn around time to approve them. Please also talk to your students about appropriate digital citizenship when creating their videos. I understand that this venue may be new to many but if there is inappropriate language, gestures, etc, videos will be deleted. 

Also new this month is the ability for students to like other students' posts on the Padlet boards. We have turned on the new Reactions feature this month. Encourage your students to read others' posts and if they like their post, have them click on the heart at the bottom of the sticky note. This is a fantastic way to lead students toward commenting- start with being reflective and having an authentic reason to like something so they can then move forward to explaining. 

We also encourage you to have conversations with your students on what constitutes a good post and how to be a good digital citizen when working online. You can find several resources to help you with these conversations on this previous blog post. My hope is to add the comment feature to our Padlets at some point this year as students' reading, writing, and reflective skills improve. More on that in the near future.

Without further ado, here is the link for December's EpicPals Google Doc with this month's books and QR codes/links to the Flipgrid and Padlet boards.

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If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can find both of us on Twitter- @smalchow (primary boards) and @bhopteacher (intermediate boards)

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New to EpicPals and need some additional information? If so, head on over the the #EpicPals page at the top of the blog for additional information.

Hour of Code 2017

Is your class participating in the Hour of Code next week? Not sure what it's all about? Check out the video below and then commit to having your class take part next week.  

Ready to jump in? Try a one hour tutorial designed for ALL ages in over 45 languages!! My first graders loved taking part in the Hour of Code and really enjoyed working through the Minecraft activity. (The one on the Code.org website has been updated and is now listed for grades 2+). 

If you're not familiar with coding, DON'T let it hinder you from giving your students a chance to try it. You'll be surprised at what your students will figure out on their own. You may even be surprised at which of your students grasp the concepts right away. It never ceased to amaze me how some of my struggling students were the ones that excelled at coding. What a wonderful opportunity for ALL students to experience growth mindset, critical thinking, and problem solving... all while opening doors to their futures. 

Check out this week's Tech Bytes newsletter for a variety of resources to get you going. Who knows, you may decide that you'll even want to continue beyond next week! If that's the case, Code.org has a wonderful, FREE curriculum that you can use. Check out the Beyond an Hour of Code website.

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Hour of Code Edition

Still wondering why you should invest in the time to teach coding? Check out the 10 reasons below by Brian Aspinall.

Thanksgiving Kahoot fun!!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and conferences are now behind us, but we still have a couple of days until we can relax and enjoy some extra time with our families. 

If you are in need of a little something extra for this week, consider using one of these Thanksgiving Kahoots that I put together. 

Read (or watch) Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano and then treat your kids to a coordinating, comprehension-based game of Kahoot!


Here's one more that I put together that you and your students may also like~

Read (or watch) Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey and then play this coordinating Kahoot! 

And in case you want something a little more low key...here are a few YouTube stories your kiddos may enjoy during snack time:

Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving

10 Fat Turkeys

There was an old lady who swallowed a turkey

Talkin' Tech and Turkey!

Lots of resources this week for Thanksgiving as well as a wonderful resource from Ann Brucker, a tech integration specialist from Billings, Montana, that will help you when your students change various settings on the Chromebooks. A definite "Print off and keep handy!"

Click the image to access Malchow's Tech Bytes~ November 13-17

 Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break with family and friends. I'll be taking the week off as well to enjoy time with my family so there will not be a Tech Bytes newsletter posted next week.

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Nov 6-10

This week's newsletter has lots of odds n' ends. Hopefully there will be a tidbit of two that you'll find helpful.

If you're looking for a wonderful, global collaboration opportunity, I would highly suggest checking out the Holiday Card Exchange by Projects by Jen. This year's theme is stars. My 1st graders always enjoyed this project. It was a great way for us to learn about others, practice geography skills, and connect with others through Google HangOuts. 

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ November 6th

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Ceating Rainbow Word templates in Pic Collage

Have you tried Seesaw's unbelievably awesome Activities feature? Since creating a boat-load of Rainbow word cards, literally 3 days before the Activities release, I've been pondering the best, and easiest way to share these words with students since Seesaw only allows one image to be drawn on at a time. I'm sure many of you introduce multiple words in a week and don't want to upload individual words so here's my work around... 

Pic Collage!

Creating templates is simple! Watch the video below to see how to do it so you can customize the templates you need for your students. If you are going to insert these templates into Seesaw, be sure to follow Step 6 by going into your Camera Roll and rotating your image to landscape view so your students will have more room to work on the template.

Need the Rainbow words files? Click here

Want to know how to download the files to your iPad from Google Drive? Click here

How to get pictures from Google Drive to your iPad

Are you using the Rainbow Words templates from this post? 



Are you wondering how to get these images from Google Drive to your iPad camera roll? Watch this Clips video for easy directions.




Coming soon... how to use PicCollage to create your own customized weekly word lists!

Check out Reactions on this months EpicPals

Click the image to access the November EpicPals doc

Our November #EpicPals primary and intermediate collections are ready and waiting for you. This month's primary board again includes a Read To Me Flipgrid selection. Flipgrid, coupled with a Read to Me book, is a great way to give your struggling readers the opportunity to participate in EpicPals independently! Of course, ANYONE can participate on the Flipgrid response and students don't have to use the Read to Me function for the book selection. Personalize the experience for your students how you see fit for their needs!! 

Also new this month is the ability for students to like other students' posts on the Padlet boards. We have turned on the new Reactions feature this month. Encourage your students to read others' posts and if they like their post, have them click on the heart at the bottom of the sticky note. This is a fantastic way to lead students toward commenting- start with being reflective and having an authentic reason to like something so they can then move forward to explaining. 

We also encourage you to have conversations with your students on what constitutes a good post and how to be a good digital citizen when working online. You can find several resources to help you with these conversations on this previous blog post. My hope is to add the comment feature to our Padlets at some point this year as students' reading, writing, and reflective skills improve. More on that in the near future.

Without further ado, here is the link for November's EpicPals Google Doc with this month's books and QR codes/links to the Flipgrid and Padlet boards.

***************************************

If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can find both of us on Twitter- @smalchow (primary boards) and @bhopteacher (intermediate boards)

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New to EpicPals and need some additional information? If so, head on over the the #EpicPals page at the top of the blog for additional information.

Malchow's Tech Bytes ~ October 30th

Parent- Teacher conferences coming up? There are a few resources you may find helpful this week. 

Click the image to access Malchow's Tech Bytes

Interested in having the Tech Bytes newsletter to come right to your inbox? Sign up on the Google Form below and I'll add you to my mailing list! 

Tech Bytes October 23-27

EdCamp GB is just around the corner! Not sure what an EdCamp is? Check out the video included in this issue of Tech Bytes. Hope to see you there!

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ October 23rd

Go Pack Go!!!

Rainbow words the Seesaw way

My kiddos have always loved practicing their sight words using rainbow writing! This week I saw a post on Twitter where a class did their words on Seesaw using the drawing tool to create their rainbow words. 


I was inspired to play around with the idea and tweak it to make it work with our district's sight word list. I also played around with a format that I felt would work well for kindergartener's and 1st graders. 

I ended up creating two sets of words! One set is created with a "trace the dot" font on handwriting lines like you see on the right and the other set other set is done with a solid font on handwriting lines. You can choose what you prefer depending on the amount support your kiddos need or on your preference.


I also debated if I wanted to do each word like this for the entire year or if I wanted to work students towards being more independent, so I also created a blank handwriting line template that can be used with any words. 

I then uploaded these words as png images to my Google Drive where I can easily access them from Seesaw by clicking on:
Add file > Select from Google Drive > Choose the folder and the item and add to the class feed. 
When you add them to Seesaw the original Google file link shows up on the post. If you click on caption, you can delete that information and add whatever you'd like. I added a little note with simple directions.


I have these words organized into folders based on our district grade level expectations, but if you're interested, you're more than welcome to take a peek and make a copy to add to your own Drive of any of the file you'd like for your own use! I have the first 3 lists done which are kindergarten and 1st grade words. I'll be adding on to these in the near future, so feel free to check back for additional resources. Here is the link to get to the folder that has both the trace the dot font and solid font words as well as a blank handwriting image like you see above.

Seesaw Task Cards

Seesaw Task Cards

Have you seen these awesome Seesaw Task cards that were created by Seesaw Ambassador, Becky Barrett? She has cards for Read to Self, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading with Epic Books and a couple of math task cards.

These can be a great way to add accountability to your Daily 5 stations. If you decide to use these, be sure to click File > Make a Copy. She has included images on the last slide so that you can also make your own task cards! Thanks Becky for sharing!!!

Tech or Treat?!

Tech or Treat! This week's treat includes several resources for Halloween that you may find useful as you begin your planning. 
Also, if you are a 3rd-5th grade teacher who is using Seesaw, I highly encourage you to register and take part in the Digital Citizenship webinar that is linked in this newsletter.

Malchow's Tech Bytes

Digital Citizenship- EVERY day

Have you started talking about Digital Citizenship with your students yet? Although some may say that they will cover it at a certain point in the year and that the topic is part of their grade level curriculum, it's my opinion, that this topic is a LIFE SKILL and one that we need to cover in our classrooms DAILY! 

Digital Citizenship posters byKrystal Platt~
Click image for others

I'm not saying we need to prepare a formal 30 minute lesson each and every day, but rather, review proper digital etiquette, or Netiquette as it is also called. In today's day and age, this is critical and can be as simple as reminder on what types of items are ok to post on our Seesaw accounts, to how we leave appropriate comments for our classmates on Seesaw or on social media, to how we utilize shared devices in a respectful and responsible way. 

I had several foundational conversations with first graders this week. As we began learning how to use PicCollage, we talked about they would see others' creations when they opened the app, but being the respectful digital citizens that we are, that we know we shouldn't open another person's work and change it or delete it. We had a similar conversation when we started using Epic Books and how we needed to go into our own accounts and not a classmates. We also talked about what to do if we accidentally went into somebody else's profile and want to do if the person who was on last didn't log themselves out. Neither of these conversations were earth shattering neither took more than 5 minutes but both were important in helping to lay the foundation for these students for this year and years to come. 

With that being said, here is this week's Tech Bytes newsletter with various ideas and resources to help you get started with Digital Citizenship conversations in your classroom and a great article by Heather Mars, "Don't teach digital citizenship, Embed it!" that I encourage you to read and reflect on.

Malchow's Tech Bytes

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Moderated Padlet for Responses

We've all been there... somebody asks you to share a goal or an idea and although you have one, you're a bit nervous to share knowing that others will hear your crazy idea and judge you, or worse, you may have to admit to your weaknesses that are holding you back from attaining those goals. None of us wants to admit our weaknesses, yet we all want to grow and learn. It's such a double edged sword! In my position, it's hard for me to help others learn and grow if I don't know how I can help. I also don't consider these weaknesses, but rather our starting point. We all are in different places with our comfort in using technology and I simply want everyone to take a step further, a little out of their comfort zone, to try something new and let the magic happen


This past week I spent some time talking about global collaboration opportunities with the teachers in both of my buildings, a topic that can often strike terror in the eyes of teachers wondering how in the world they'll know HOW to connect with Google Hangout or WHERE in the world do I find classes to connect with, or WHAT happens if.... you get the idea.

After providing some of the answers on "the what" and "the who", I wanted teachers to share a goal they had for themselves this year based on something that piqued their interest from our discussion. That was simple enough, but I also wanted them to share how I could support them in achieving that goal. I wanted teachers to be brutally honest with me so I could best help them achieve those goals, but I didn't want anyone hitting the panic button because they were apprehensive about others seeing what they wrote. For my purposes, I also wanted to have this information in a place that I could access it throughout the year so I can continue to check in and work towards helping with these goals but I needed a private platform. Post-it notes wouldn't work, I'd lose them, they'd get ripped or lose their sticky. Email? Too many to keep track of- I want everything in one place and organized. And- I wanted to utilize technology so I could model a practical application as well as have the benefits of easy access from anywhere. Not too many considerations, right?!

What I ended up doing was creating a Padlet board that everyone could access with my unique link and with the posts set for me to moderate. In this way everyone was able to quickly get to the board, easily create their "sticky note" BUT not see others' posts. On the smartboard I displayed a screenshot of my empty board along with the link. I did not click over to the actual Padlet board during this activity as teachers would be able to see the unmoderated posts coming through since I am always logged into Padlet. Once my meetings were over, I went back into the settings for my Padlet board and changed the  board to private so at this point it is only accessible by me. I then approved the posts and rearranged them in order of priority. I now have easy access to the goals teachers chose and I can add notes to their posts as well. This really worked well and gave everyone a level of privacy. 

(Names as well as the areas teachers felt they needed help with have been removed from the sample screenshot above to maintain the privacy I wanted teachers to have)

Malchow's Tech Bytes- Oct 2nd

Are you participating in the Global Read Aloud this month? If so, have you seen the new BreakoutEdu games that go along with the books? Something to definitely check out this week!

Malchow's Tech Bytes

EpicPals is Flipping Out!

Do you have Flipgrid Fever? Flipgrid is an awesome tool that is rapidly gaining popularity. It is similar to Padlet in that students will be able to share their thoughts about a book but instead of having to write their thoughts, they will create a video which will post to a Flipgrid board.  The videos are incredibly easy to create and are done right on the site or on the free app. 

After a lot of thought about how this could benefit the students using EpicPals, I've decided to integrate this tool into one of the primary books this month to see how it goes. Padlet boards can be overwhelming for our struggling readers and writers so to level the playing field so all students can participate in some fashion, I'm going to include a Read to Me book each month which will have an attached Padlet board as well as a Flipgrid board option. Have your students choose (or you can choose) which way they would prefer to leave their thoughts. The Flipgrid board will also have a QR code for your students for easy access as you can see on the inset below. 

Since the Flipgrid board involves video and audio, please have a discussion with your students about proper digital citizenship skills and remind them that others can and will be viewing their videos.  I have the Flipgrid board set to be moderated so I can be sure that the videos are appropriate before they are posted. If there is anything that I deem questionable, I will not approve that video. I hope that this option opens up some new doors for you students and allows them a little more voice and choice with EpicPals!


On a side note, Epic Books just released a fantastic update which provides word by word highlighting for students with the Read to Me books. Another great feature for our struggling readers!

Happy Fall Y'all!

October EpicPals 

Our October EpicPals primary and intermediate collections are ready and waiting for you with a new little twist included on the primary board this month. Want to know more about that twist? Check out my next blog post for detailed information! 
Here is the link for October's EpicPals Google Doc with this month's books and QR codes/links to the Padlet boards.

Just a reminder that the Global Read Aloud starts this week as well. If you are taking part, we have a special Global Read Aloud (#GRA17) edition of EpicPals as well. You can find the MemFox version here and the Fenway and Hattie version here.

If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can find both of us on Twitter- @smalchow (primary boards) and @bhopteacher (intermediate boards)

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New to EpicPals and need some additional information? If so, head on over the the #EpicPals page at the top of the blog for additional information.

Global Collaboration

Each month I put together a mini PD session called, Breakfast Bytes, which is incorporated into one of our weekly staff meetings. I've always been passionate about global collaboration and connecting my classroom to opportunities that we otherwise may not have had without the aid of technology and to give my students opportunities to learn from others. As such, this month's Breakfast Bytes focuses on 5 different global collaboration opportunities that will hopefully appeal to those new to going beyond the walls of their classroom to opportunities for those that are already comfortable making global connections.

Looking for a few ideas for your own classroom? Feel free to take a peek. 

September 2017 ~ Global Collaboration

You can find all of the Breakfast Bytes I've done on the Breakfast Bytes tab above.

Fire Safety Week is just around the corner!

As the wife of a firefighter, Fire Prevention Week always has a special place in my heart. This week there are several resources you may find helpful including a Fire Safety Kahoot as well as a way to create a digital  class book of fire safety tips.

Malchow's Tech Bytes

Thicker? Thinner? Different color?

I feel like the blog is a little bit of a How To lately, but as we transition to MacBooks and questions come up, I want to be sure that we all have the same information as small as it may be.

Today's "How To" walks you through how to change the color of your Smartboard markers as well as the thickness.

Click on image to access the workflow poster

Project your iPad to your Smartboard with AirServer

2 weeks into school and hopefully those of you who have already switched over to MacBook's are beginning to get the hang of them.

As we venture into the next few weeks, it's likely that you will want to show your students what's on your iPad. Below you will find directions on how to use AirServer on your Mac so that you will be able to display your iPad to your SMARTboard. This is great when wanting to show students how to maneuver through an app, model directions for a project, or share various content, pictures, etc.

Click on the image to access the workflow poster

Malchow's Tech Bytes Sept 18-22

This week brings with it some resources for the Global Read Aloud. If you're not familiar with it, please check it out. It's a fantastic way to enjoy great literature with your students while also creating connections and collaboration opportunities outside of your classroom walls. Here are some of my prior posts about the Global Read Aloud.

Malchow's Tech Bytes