On the DL
Notes from Digital Learning and School Library Services
February 2021
Have you checked out our Be Cyber Safe (BCS) resources yet? We include an "At the Table" feature that you can send to parents or put on social media. These conversation starters are meant to generate discussion with our stakeholders. This month's theme is:
We are responsible producers and consumers of information.
BCS Staff,
NCTIES is fully virtual this year and the registration fee is only $15 (actually pays NCTIES membership fee). This is a rare opportunity to attend some amazing conference sessions. Visit https://www.ncties.org/ for more information. (Our own DLS, Jeannie Timken, is conference chair!)
This year’s Google Doodle contest has launched and entries are due by February 26, 2021. This year’s theme is “I am strong because…” I encourage all teachers to use this contest and theme as an opportunity to give our students a voice in a time in which many may not see their own strength.
February 25, 2021, is Digital Learning Day. While the last 12 months have included more digital resources and tools than any of us imagined it would, I challenge you, on Digital Learning Day, to allow your students to be creators using these tools and not just consumers. This may be a good time for reflective digital journals using video or other tools. How has their learning changed? What tools do they like and not like? What have they learned to do that they didn’t think they could? How would they like to use digital tools in their learning? Be sure to share on February 25 and every day what is happening in your classroom! #DLDay #bcsedchat
Finally, our Be Cyber Safe! Theme for February is Consumers and Producers of Information. This theme deals with the how and with whom we communicate online, what we share, and what makes us uncomfortable. We need the assistance of all teachers to help us create safe and aware consumers and producers of information. You can find all of this month’s lessons at http://bit.ly/BCSFeb2021. This is the link to the full Teacher’s Edition of this month's theme. You can visit the appropriate slide for your grade level to locate all of your resources. On each grade level slide, there are key features for teachers to notice highlighted in the image below.
The linked student ready slide can be shared with your face-to-face or remote classrooms. Remember, the slides are all formatted the same, so make sure you always double check the grade level on both the teacher and student slides. Student slides have the grade number prominently placed in the lower left corner.
PLEASE NOTE: This content is grade appropriate and specific.
Thanks for all you do,
AD
Copyright Corner
(click the down arrow to see the response to the question)
The Great Gatsby is now in the public domain. What does that mean?
If a book, song, movie, or artwork is in the public domain, then it is not protected by intellectual property laws (copyright, trademark, or patent laws)—which means it's free for you to use without permission. As a general rule, most works enter the public domain because of old age. (https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/). You may ask, then why is Amazon still charging even for the digital copy? The producer may still charge for their costs to produce and distribute said copy but you should see the costs greatly reduced. Amazon's latest Kindle version of The Great Gatsby is now $0.49. While it isn't there yet, you should soon see The Great Gatsby available at https://www.gutenberg.org/ for free. Notice this is a reputable distributor of public domain texts. Many online resources are not.
Also, should you need them, here are some Copyright FAQs.
School Library Spotlight
We Are Thoughtful and Thankful
At Town Creek Elementary School, we know that learning doesn’t just take place inside the walls of the school - teachers and staff cannot do it alone! We know that true success happens when families, schools, businesses, and community groups band together to support learning.
Our school wants to continue our partnerships in the Leland community. During these unprecedented times, it has been challenging to keep connected with the community and continue with our normal outreach activities. It has been our goal to keep our students and staff safe, but still work beyond the walls of our building and maintain these ties.
Ms. Burke, the new librarian at Town Creek Elementary School, had a vision to grow the whole child and build strong relationships in our school community - bringing students, staff, and families together. In November and December, Ms. Burke organized and led a school Food Drive. What started with staff quickly led to participation by eager students and families that wanted to help the community and the food drive efforts.
Students and families donated canned and non-perishable items. Our school family collected over two thousand items that were donated to Manna Ministries. We are extremely proud of these efforts at Town Creek Elementary School and hope that the collected food items help families in need during these difficult times.
What an awesome way for our children to learn about gratitude, and do something positive for others!
by Chanda Renee Burke, School Library Media Coordinator - Town Creek Elementary School
Digital Learning Resources
Scholastic News is a digital resource offered in Clever for grades K-5. It is rostered via Powerschool with any teacher that has an ELA roster giving students quick and easy access to a variety of resources provided monthly. Teachers can assign homework in Scholastic News and Scholastic News syncs with Google Classroom! Class paper sets of magazines are also offered to each teacher. Resources are provided in both English and Spanish versions.
For students K-2, resources include
Listen and read
Videos
Games
Skill-building sheets
Slideshow of vocabulary terms
For students 3-5, resources include
Issues by month
Text Sets
Specific subject area focused content such as
Videos
Articles
Skills Sheets
Games
Reading Skills Practice
Please contact your Digital Learning Specialist for the access code so that you can have access to all these resources in Clever!
WeVideo is a video editing application that can be found in the Clever Portal. This application can assist teachers in creating videos for classroom instruction, allowing them to record their screens, use their webcam, edit footage, and more.
Would you like to learn the basics of WeVideo creation? Click here to access a quick start guide that will teach you how to import media,
If you would like to learn more about your specific recording options, click here.
Students can use WeVideo for product development individually or collaboratively! Student project ideas using video include...
Introductions,
Recording reading responses,
Tutorials,
Movies,
Trailers,
And podcasts.
If you would like to learn more about making a podcast using we video, click here.
Kami is a free Chrome Extension that can be installed to enhance student experiences with annotation and document transformation. You can share documents directly from Google Drive or upload your needed document from your computer (PDF, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, sheets, slides, images). Kami will also directly integrate with Google Classroom and Canvas! Follow this guide to learn how to install the extension and start your Kami use!
With the free version of Kami, in addition to autosave with Google Drive, you can...
Highlight,
Underline,
Strikethrough
Add a text box,
And add shapes.
Schools who have purchased paid subscriptions to Kami can also provide the opportunity for students to...
Insert signatures,
Insert images,
Leave voice and video comments,
Use the equation editor,
Use text-to-speech and dictionary features,
And add a page using a blank, gridded, music, or lined template.
Kami created or altered documents can be saved to Google Drive or shared via a link.
Sign up to attend Pear Fair! This virtual event will have two tracks: one for administrators and one for classroom educators. Best of all - it is FREE! Pear Fair: Spring Edition - February 20, 2021
NCTIES, The North Carolina Technology in Education Society is partnering with NCDPI for their annual conference, March 4-8, 2021, will be 100% virtual this year. Some of the featured presenters are Eric Curts from ctrl+alt+Achieve, Dee Lanier from Solve in Time, and Library Girl, Jennifer LaGarde. Attendance is free to NCTIES members (membership is $15) Register at the NCTIES website.
Friday, February 5, 2021 - 3PM - Distance Learning with Common Sense: There's More to Black History Than Slavery and Civil Rights Join educator Tory Wadlington as he shares his experience celebrating Black History Month. Tory will share resources for exploring Black individuals who have shaped the world we live in. We’ll learn how he shares with his community to make Black History and culture a part of every day. RSVP here.
Virtual Seating Chart-Rearrange your virtual classroom by dragging and dropping your tiles to create a fixed configuration that does not change when people are speaking.
Multi-Pinning-You can disable the active speaker view and pin multi students/teachers to the top. This is useful if a student needs to pin their partnership teacher.
Multi-spotlight -Spotlight up to nine students in the multi-spotlight view. This allows those students to be viewed by everyone. Useful when you have group work.
Unmute with Consent-Teachers can ask to have permission to unmute students without consent and this carries over to other meetings.
Canvas PD Mini-Course - Crafting High Quality Feedback in Canvas
NCDPI's next Canvas mini-course is now open for self-registration in NCEES. Learn all about the different ways you can give high quality feedback in Canvas.
This course is designed to be completed in one hour, and upon course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript in NCEES (within 48 hours).
Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3nxtogw
Interactive Panels in BCS
Brunswick County Schools is committed to making sure that teachers have access to technology to effectively teach our students. As part of the technology plan, interactive panels are maintained by the technology department and there is a focused plan to keep the technology up to date. Currently, the boards are on a 10 year replacement cycle. Once an interactive panel reaches that age, it is slated for replacement with the most current technology. As a result, we presently support three different types of interactive panels in our schools: SMART, Boxlight, and Newline.
While there are three different brands of interactive panels in our schools, due to our licensing with the company, the SMART notebook software can be used on all of them!
THIS SITE contains tips for using these interactive panels during instruction - both face to face and virtual.
Pear Deck Premium Has Arrived!
BCS educators now have access to Pear Deck Premium! This Google Slides Add-on allows users to add interactive elements to Google Slides. Content can be accessed asynchronously in Student Paced mode or synchronously in Instructor Paced mode.
You can add to existing content slides or choose pre-made templates from the Pear Deck template library. You can even quickly record and add audio right in Slides!
Use the dashboard tools to give students live feedback and analyze responses. Share responses with the class while students remain anonymous - even overlaying answers to note trends.
New features include the ability to add co-teachers to your sessions and provide learning Takeaways for students to encourage reflection, and even revision!
Learn more and get started with this Quick Tips Pear Deck Playlist.
Need help explaining access to your students? Here is a playlist designed for them!
