Episode Topic: When we meet as a team on Fridays, we have roundtable discussions resulting from teachers’ questions throughout the week. Many ideas and initiatives have evolved from these talks. We now invite you into the conversation. In an effort to support the learners we serve and help you connect better with us, we have aptly named this episode style DISconnectED. Today we will be answering questions submitted by our A5 teachers.

Introductions: Who is on the Anderson School District 5 Digital Integration Specialist Team?

• Danae Acker serves T.L. Hanna and Westside High Schools

• Ashley Pursley serves Glenview Middle

• Melissa Looney serves AIT, C.F. Reames, Special Ed, and Whitehall Elementary

• Erin Darnell serves Centerville, Midway, West Market, and the Early Learning Preschools

• Anna Baldwin is the Director of E-Learning and Integration

• Sheri Richey serves McLees and Homeland Park Elementary Schools

• Mel Hahn serves Robert Anderson Middle School

• Paige Mitchell serves Concord, Nevitt Forest, and North Pointe Elementary Schools

• Alicia Madison serves Calhoun Academy, New Prospect, and South Fant Elementary Schools

• Adam Cobb serves Varennes Elementary and Southwood Academy of the Arts

• Beth Brannon serves McCants Middle School

Teacher Questions and DIS Team Discussions:

1. Is there a way to have some workshops to learn how to create digital breakout sessions?

The DIS team is happy to come into your classroom and help you integrate innovative tools like Digital Breakouts. There are incredible resources already available for you on Digital Breakout EDU. Contact your DIS to receive the login information. Starting with a digital breakout that has already been created allows you to get your feet wet when facilitating a digital breakout. The experience will help you understand how you and your students engage with digital breakouts. When you're ready to create, you can use many tools to get the job done like Google Forms, Sites, Thinglink, and Wakelet. Start with ones that have already been created, and then reach out to your DIS to help you with the next step.

Teachers are not the only ones who can create digital breakouts. Students can utilize their creativity and understanding of content to create their own digital breakouts. You will be surprised at the kind of products you get and the innovative thinking students will apply to the learning experience.

2. Do you know of any good P.E. or health apps that we can utilize in our curriculum?

We have added a Wakelet of P.E. resources to our show notes; check it out below! There are a variety of ways you can find good resources when you are looking for something specific like P.E. apps. If you are on Twitter, use #PEedu to find resources. The outside community is becoming very comfortable with virtual conferencing. Maybe you could go to the YMCA and ask someone to guide your students through a workout activity or explain how to play a sport for a PE class. Even though we can't physically travel to locations, how can we bring some of those experiences and experts into our classrooms. Special area teachers are looking for great ways to incorporate technology and searching your area on social media is a great way to find resources.

3. As a counselor, I would love to learn more fun ways to incorporate technology into not only classroom guidance, but also individual counseling. Do you have any ideas?

The same great tools that our teachers are using in the classroom can be utilized by guidance. Our counselors have created Nearpod lessons for Erin's Law. Classroom teachers would be a great resource to help you formulate ideas and lessons. Unfortunately we can't host experts to visit us live in our buildings for career days, but you can create a Google Site that will take learners through videos of community members and you can include interactive activities. The outside community is becoming very comfortable with virtual conferencing, so teachers can ask for volunteers to do a Google Meet or have a parent read a chapter in the class book they are reading. The world is now familiar with these tools, and this is how they are communicating.

There are many tools for 360 and virtual field trips. There are a lot out there on careers for guidance counselors to utilize. Nearpod, Google Expeditions (only through June), Google Arts and Culture, and 360 videos are some of those resources.

4. What else can I do to help my ESL students with their work using technology?

Brian Whitson presented a session at NCTIES and provided several resources including a website called Vialogues which allows you to have conversations within videos. Learners can have a discussion about the video and gain a better understanding through text.

Rewordify is a great resource for our ESL students allowing them to simplify text that they are having difficulty understanding.

Immersive Reader is another great resource that's embedded inside of many programs we are already using like Nearpod, Wakelet, and Flocabulary. Immersive Reader for Flocabulary is in beta right now, but teachers can go into settings for their classrooms and turn on the feature for each student. Now, when they get quizzes or other Flocabulary assignments they will see the Immersive Reader button. (Beta means a trial period for new features to gain feedback and understanding of how it may be working for users.)

Wakelet was initially created as a curation tool for various webpages and resources. Teachers have used Wakelet in much more innovative ways. It could be used as a portfolio or a presentation tool. You can also use it to build digital breakouts in a new platform.

Also, don't forget when you use present mode in Google Slides, you can turn on closed captioning.

Google Chrome Extensions like Talk + Comment and Mote allow teachers to record oral directions and insert directly into tools like Google Slides, Docs, Forms, and Classroom.

5. I'd like to create a digital RAN chart for my students to edit. My first thought is to create the RAN chart using a Jamboard, but I believe that would be too small for the students to edit at the same time; what tool would best fit this need?

A RAN chart is a chart with columns that stands for reading and analyzing nonfiction. Without technology, students typically use sticky notes to write answers or assumptions or questions and add it to the column to categorize the note. It's like a different version of the KWL with deeper thinking. Actually in elementary classrooms across the district, teachers are using Jamboard for their RAN charts. Students use the sticky notes feature to add their part and move them around the board once they understand the learning that's there. It is a great possible tool to meet the need. Jamboard has SO MUCH potential! We as a DIS Team are very willing to help you learn the tools, and we will add it to our resources. It's okay to use a Jamboard; just start small. You can use up to 20 different pages so each child could have a page if they wanted their own.

Another great way to use a Jamboard is to add a background image and color over it in white. Students can use the eraser feature to reveal what's behind the white similar to a scratch-off ticket! Eric Curts's Control Alt Achieve website hosts a variety of templates for you to use. Meredith Akker has also created some of those scratch-off templates. Esther Park is another great resource because she has a website with free resources as well! You can find all of these in the show notes below!

6. There have been a lot of questions about resources and where to access resources for teaching and learning.

One of the greatest resources that we have as a DIS Team is our DIS Webpage. If you are not familiar with it, you can find it on Classlink; it's the icon with the colorful lightbulb. There's a wealth of resources on the Webpage like our badges, the podcast, and our Innovation Learning Lab. We are happy to add more resources as the needs are communicated.

7. Would it be possible to get more instruction on the Makey-Makeys and Ozobot tools that are in our media centers?

On the left panel in the DIS Website, you will see ILL for Innovation Learning Lab. There are excellent resources for each tool like Makey-Makeys and Ozobots. The Innovation Learning Lab is a very valuable section of the website that has resources for the tools that we are supplying to each school for classroom checkout. We are revising that initiative and listened to your feedback. We are making specific instructional videos for you to access as you utilize these tools in the classroom. It will be everything from unpacking the items to how to charge and update devices, The media specialists are receiving all of the tools and information as the host of those items.

8. What is the Innovator Magazine?

Another super resource that we launched in the month of February is our Innovator Magazine. It is sent to Anderson 5 staff by email, and in the magazine we get to celebrate some of the greatest innovators that we have here in Anderson School District 5. There is also a gold mine of resources located within the magazine. The Innovator started out as a way to share resources that connect with what teachers are already doing in the classroom like flipped learning and SEL strategies. We are putting those resources and making the connections in the Innovator Magazine. When you receive the email you will find there are clickable links and images that lead you to more resources and deeper dives. Take your time and check it out; there is one particular section that is rich with resources called "The Download." It gives you a deep dive into that month's topic. It hosts links and resources but it also explores the connections between the pedagogy and technology.

Another section highlights our district's greatest illuminator educators. In this section you will find a form to nominate someone who you believe is an illuminator educator. Help us and let us know who we should be celebrating within your school! Illuminator educators can be teachers, administrators AND school leaders! The characteristics of illuminator educators are not necessarily someone who is using a lot of technology in the classroom. Illuminator educators think outside of the box and do new things to make learning authentic, engaging, and relevant. The definition of an illuminator educator is on the form when you go to nominate your person.

9. Can the district offer more Google Training rather than a class that requires payment?

The "Get Googlely" section of the Innovator Magazine will keep you up-to-date with the latest and greatest from Google. Our Brag Boards offer training on the most commonly used GSuite tools in our district. It can be used as a personalized learning pathway for you to discover and create using the best Google tools for the classroom. Google hosts a training for free online called Google Certified Educator. The only cost requirement is for the test, but Anna Baldwin, our director, has some good new to share.

We are looking to be able to fund teachers who are interested in taking the Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2 tests in the future. Complete our Badges and do the Google Certified Educator online training and when you're ready to take the assessment, we'll have a form for you to complete. You will be provided with a voucher that will cover the cost of the assessment. Be on the lookout for it in the near future!

10. Many questions we get are about purchasing technology tools for use in the classroom. A survey was sent out asking teachers to review and request resources. How can we locate the resources we already have?

The best option for asking for new tools is to try the tool out in your classroom with the free features. Once you try it out have your colleagues or team try it as well. Talk to your DIS about what you have tried, why you like it, and what makes you want the upgrade. At that point, you and the DIS can have conversations about purchasing upgrades and/or subscriptions through the school or the district. Sometimes we have tools that are already purchased or free that will accomplish the same goal or task, so make sure you're communicating with your DIS about new things you're trying because we love to share, and we love to be able to assist you in your classroom.

11. For our upcoming Read-a-Thon, we're wanting to create a short video kick-off. What is the best tool to use to created this video?

I recommend WeVideo, and students can use it from their Chromebooks. It is one of the only ways you can utilize Green Screen without iPads or Apple software.

Flipgrid is another tool to use when creating short videos. 10 minutes is the longest a video can go. If you set the Flipgrid to "public" once all the videos are made. You can pull the link of the grid or download one specific video and post the responses in School Messenger to send to parents or post it on the school website/ social media to share with the community. You can use the Mixtape feature to collect all the responses into one video. You can also share the Mixtape using a link. As long as it is public, no one will have to login to view it. The best way for students to access and participate in the Flipgrids you create is to push out the grid to Google Classroom. The Flipgrid mic-only feature allows students to create audio without having to record video which is a great resource when looking to create podcasts in the classroom!

12. Is there a way to block sites on student Chromebooks?

The district policy is not to block specific sites, but to block by category. If we want to play an educational game like GimKit with our students, then the educational game category needs to be open. Unfortunately, we know there are games kids get into that don't have any educational value but are categorized as an educational game. As a teacher, those are the ones that get on your nerves because it seems like the kids are engaged in those particular games that don't really serve any purpose. We have NetOp that you can use to block sites that you don't want to use. Check-in with your DIS if you need help. Also, reach out to your ITSAs for assistance. We're going to have a great conversation in our next podcast with an ITSA about your year-end procedures!

We want to thank you for joining us on this iTalks episode of DISconnectED. Remember, if you have any questions for our DIS team, you can fill out the Google Form below.