Instructional Technology Resource Teachers
Teresa's Tech Tip for the Week of October 28:
I always have my Tech Tip sent to my schools each Monday exactly at 7:00 AM. Wondering how I do that? I actually don't sit with fingers hovering over the mouse ready to press "send" at exactly that time. Instead, I compose the email during the previous week and schedule when I want to send it. To do this:
-compose your email like normal
-instead of pressing "send", click the drop down directly to the right of the word:
-you can then schedule the exact date and time that you would like for the email to be sent out.
I also do this for weekly parent emails for my students. That way, I can compose the emails when I have time then know that they will be sent out at the designated time and date so I don't accidentally forget when the time comes.
Have you submitted your Internet Safety lesson for the first nine week period? If not, click here for the rubric.
Teresa's Tech Tip for the Week of 10/21/19:
From Google for Education:
You can now personalize caption text size and position while presenting in Google Slides. These features can help make captions easier to read, like ensuring all audience members can view captions in a large room. Or, you could make your text smaller to maximize the number of words on screen at once. Full roll out of this feature will begin November 4.
National Literacy Week
National Media Literacy Week is October 21-25, and digital and media literacy for students is as important as ever. Emedia has some excellent resources to help you get your students thinking critically about what they see, hear and read in the media, including social media. Emedia can be accessed from your Clever Dashboard. Thanks goes to Anita Adams for this information because as she put it, "Literacy is not just text books."
DATE: October 11, 2019
TO: Division Superintendents
FROM: James F. Lane, Ed.D., Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT: Review of the Computer Technology Standards of Learning
The Virginia Board of Education has authorized the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to proceed with the Computer Technology Standards of Learning review process. It is anticipated that the review will be completed by May 2020.
An important part of the review process for the Computer Technology Standards of Learning is the formal solicitation of comments from teachers, administrators, curriculum supervisors, instructional technology educators, instructional technology organizations, and other members of the public. Please inform personnel in your school division and other stakeholders that they are encouraged to provide comments on the current standards. Information regarding the timeline, including the email address for submitting public comments, may be found at the Computer Technology Standards of Learning Review Web site. The Instruction@doe.virginia.gov email address will be open to receive comments from October 11, 2019 to November 11, 2019. However, additional public comments may be shared with the VDOE staff throughout the review process using the same email address.
If you have questions about the Computer Technology Standards of Learning, please contact Tina Manglicmot, Director, Office of STEM & Innovation, by email at
Tina.Manglicmot@doe.virginia.gov or by telephone at (804) 786-2481.
JFL/TM/ce
Teresa's Tech Tip for the Week of October 14:
Math teachers: Have you heard about Equatio? Equatio makes it easy to add math symbols to apps such as Docs or Google Forms. Equatio is a Chrome extension. Just go to the Chrome Web Store and search for the extension "Equatio", then add it to Chrome. After you give the app permissions, you are ready to go.
You can type the symbols, say it into the microphone, or use your mouse/trackpad to draw it. Equatio then converts it to text to add to your assignment. I use Equatio all the time for assignments I give in Google Forms. It has made my life as a math teacher much easier.
Check out Jennifer Harrison's blog for some cool Google tips including instructions for how to name a Google file with an emoji.
Teresa's Tech Tip for the Week of October 7:
From the Google for Education Twitter account:
In #GoogleDocs you can now see the word count while you type. This tool helps students with assignments that have minimum or maximum word/page requirements. Turn on the word count tool to start counting pages, words, characters and more. http://goo.gle/2mmWO6L
You can also check out Jennifer's EdTech Digest to learn more about Jamboard and Google Drive Offline Mode.
