BittyBlog

I saw this template from Pear Deck today. It is an add-on for Google Slides. Here is an example of how Slides can be used with the Littles. This is a template.

https://www.peardeck.com/pear-deck-blog/2019/10/30/pear-deck-templates-for-littles

Pear Deck adds interactivity to slides. Teachers can have students do this in small groups as a station, or do these with the whole group before students practice with paper and pencil.

I know when teachers of K-2 see these, they will get more ideas. That's just what teachers do. :P)

How To get the Pear Deck Add-on:

>In Google Slides, click on Add-ons.

>Choose Get Add-ons

>Choose Pear Deck

>TaDa!

>Now, go back to Add-ons>Pear Deck for Google Slides

Below is a little how-to to get the Pear Deck add-on.

http://bit.ly/37zTJmu

Pear Deck Add-on

Bitty Blog #20, October 15, 2019, Tools for Change: Check out this book by Dan and Chip Heath, Switch.

I had the good fortune to win a copy of this book at a Google Innovator Energizer. (I rarely win anything, but this was a great moment!!) They explain it much better than I, but here goes. You have to read the book to learn the wonderful description from the brothers Heath. Imagine a rider on an elephant on a path. My three takeaways from the book are:

Direct the rider. Make sure you have specific, actionable steps toward your change goal already decided. (Don't be generic or vague.)
Inspire the elephant. No one is going to want to change unless they are motivated to do so. Appeal to feelings and inspiration.
Clear the path. Allow the steps to lead somewhere to see results fast. Get somewhere.

If I can get these things in my head and do them, we may see some pretty cool changes going on around here. Until then, enjoy the book and all the resources these two brilliant folks have for you!

Heath Brothers Website: https://heathbrothers.com

Bitty Blog #19, August 11, 2019, Use Your Teacher Voice

As the school year starts, I reflect on the idea of "New Beginnings and Possibilities". Teachers will be readying their rooms, making lists of students, rostering and creating special places for students to learn. Administrators will be working with teams creating the master schedule, trying to make room for new students, and accommodate for those with special needs. Hallways have been cleaned, dusted, and the floors waxed and polished.

We only get one shot at a first impression.

When you think about the important things you have to say, do it with confidence and love. Use your teacher voice, the one we listen to instantly. You are a person who really will touch the future because you are teaching those who will live in the future. You can make a difference, you are making a difference in the lives of all of your students.

When you get a moment, lift up your eyes. Look at your team, your faculty, your administrators, and your campus. There are quite a few of you, as a unit, you can change the culture of your school and even your neighborhood. You are powerful together. You all are a force that can make life better.

Maybe one day you will run for office, or maybe one of your students will do the same. Don't get too busy to look up because you are making a difference today. I appreciate you and your efforts to educate our future leaders. Have a great year, and thank you.

Bitty Blog #18, July 20, 2019, We all Need a Mentor Sometimes

I have had many great friends in my lifetime. Many people to cheer me on when I needed it, and many to give me the "difficult to hear" advice. I am thankful for those people. Not all of them have been around to professionally challenge me or my ideas. Some have become longtime friends, and some were only in my life for a short while. For some reason one stands out, she has very different perspectives about things than I do. She always seems to be encouraging and challenging me at the same time. It is a great mixture because I feel like I can ask her the hard questions or tell her my weaknesses and she will not pounce. This is my definition of a mentor. Danielle has been a mentor to me for over a year now, and I respect her boldness and humanity all at the same time.

We presented at a conference in Texas last February about what mentoring is to us, and how we came to be paired through the Google for Education Certified Innovator Program (https://teachercenter.withgoogle.com/certification_innovator). I'm finding out that the mentor piece of that program was a tremendous value to me. I think we both decided that we would become friends - we just decided. I make a point of contacting her every so often with a random question or a suggestion or just to say hello. It has made me a better, more bold person.

I recommend you find a mentor if you don't already have one. If you have someone you learn from, whom you also build up on occasion, why don't you give them a call? Keep that connection going, you both will be better for it. Here is the link to our website/presentation at TCEA in San Antonio, 2019. https://sites.google.com/view/mentoring-each-other/home

Bitty Blog #17, April 8, 2019, April is National Poetry Month

I've always thought you could teach anything with poetry. I'd love to share some "poetry using technology" resources with you. Eric Curts always shares quality resources, this is a bit from his April Newsletter:

BONUS - April is Nation Poetry Month, so here are some additional resources from the blog to use this month to get students writing!

Googley Poem Projects for National Poetry Month - Googley Poetry

Black Out Poetry with Google Docs - Blackout Poetry

Springtime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings - Springtime Magnetic Poetry

Create "Pi Poems" with Google Sheets - Pi Poems with Google Sheets

2018

Bitty Blog #16, August 29, 2018, Encouraging Intrinsic Motivation in Students

Intrinsic motivation is a desire that comes from within. It is the energy that we find to explore a topic because it feels good to know. To gain knowledge is satisfying in itself. Intrinsic motivation urges us to keep planting seeds in our garden because we know that one day those seeds will grow. We determine in our hearts and minds that the final product is worth the effort we have given.

These moments of intrinsic motivation in students are like gold to teachers. The learning that comes from intrinsic motivation sticks in the mind. We don’t easily forget those lessons. This kind of motivation causes students to want to share their success, apply their new found knowledge, and experience the value of that lesson. Nothing is as deflating or defeating as to find out that hard effort and work was done for nothing. What is the point of trying if the learning has no meaning? There is tremendous value in Meaningful Work.

Autonomy means to have control over one’s actions. The key to getting students to use their autonomy for good, is to convince them of the value of their work. Most students will pick autonomy with valuable work every time. A good example is play. Many students will work for hours at games that are physically demanding because it is fun. The value of the effort is the enjoyment of the activity. Good examples of this are after school activities like pick-up games of soccer, basketball, music, surfing, or running. The effort can also be mental work, like solving puzzles, gaming, or writing.

The key to intrinsic motivation is not “making” students use it. It is allowing students to choose the valuable idea that makes them want to do the work. Give students the autonomy and show them trust. Let them know that you will be there to assist them, but that you want the learning to be inspired by their own interests. Their goal should not be to please you, but to work hard enough to achieve their goal or solve the problem that puzzles them.

Work as a team with your students to find their learning interests. They will need you to show them it’s ok to fail, or make mistakes along the way. That doesn’t mean they cannot achieve, they just have to figure out where they went wrong. Then assist them in planning the steps to achieve some goals. That planning help with take them far after they leave you. Those experiences will help them to replicate other goals - steps - goals - failures - steps - successes. Learning and living is a process we go through in the time we have.

Bitty Blog #15, April 12, 2018, Physical Therapy - Technology

Some of you may know I have struggled with plantar fasciitis for several years, but have only recently started to address it. My doctor sent me to physical therapy and I was fortunate enough to spend some time on an anti-gravity treadmill. Anti-gravity, you say? Yes! Just like astronauts! My physical therapist said that when the pain is removed, I can begin to retrain my gait, which I had ruined by avoiding the pain. Heel/toe, heel/toe.... Walking without pain was something I hadn't felt in 10 years. It was magical. I call it the time machine because it reminded me what it was like to walk 10 years ago. It works by relieving the pressure from gravity on all of your joints, muscles, and tendons. I am not trying to sell you a treadmill, but I had some time to reflect while I was walking (completely pain-free!) on this magical device.

As educators, we live with pressure every day, which is a part of life. However, sometimes it slowly builds, or sometimes it crashes down on us. I would like to encourage you to find a way to relieve some of that pressure, even for a little bit of time. Experience what it was like to live without that extra pressure and enjoy the feeling. It may be playing catch outside, riding a bike in the cool of the day, or fishing. Retrain your gait, by repeating the action. Remember what it was like to be a positive person. Whatever your pressure reliever is (and make sure you choose one that is positive in nature!), do it. Remind yourself what it was like to be light, creative, and strong. Perhaps when you are finished, you will be able to permanently put down some of those extra weights that cause you pain.

If you want to see what the anti-gravity treadmill looks like, here is the link. (https://greatist.com/fitness/tech-review-alterg-antigravity-treadmill)

Cheers,

Bitty Blog #14, March 18, 2018, Reflection on Ripples in a Pond

At one time in my life I wanted to be a poet, so my title today is probably a bit more poetic than it needs to be. Hopefully, the metaphor will stand up to my explanation.

I love to travel. All of it. I love the lines, empty airports, crowded airports, buses, vans, car rentals, open vistas, rainy drives, breezes off the water, breezes in the hot deserts, humid evening air, cold, brisk nights…

2010: In my doctoral program, there was a travel component: decision made. No matter that I had to write a dissertation, I really wanted to go. My cohort traveled to Austin, Washington DC, and Europe to learn about education. Travel and education, how can that get any better? I thought that was the last time I would ever go to Europe. It wasn’t.

Fast forward to February, 2017. My Temple ISD Instructional Technology Specialist coworkers were invited to a get-together with EdTechTeam. Lots of folks were there, even a Googler or two. (I was a little star struck, ok?) We were discussing technology stuff and the conversation turned to the Google Innovator program. Travel? Google? Why not? There were 3 destinations left in the year: Australia, Sweden, and Brazil. Mike Schwab suggested, “Are you all going to go?” We balked. “Why not,” he said. “Go and do the Innovator Academy if you want to. So you have to travel. You can.” From then on, I couldn’t forget that conversation and the fact that I didn’t have an answer to that question, why not?

I started to look for a project I felt strongly about. I found fascinating content: student agency, hyperdocs, and the Google infused classroom. Enter Trevor McKenzie, Lisa Highfill Holly Clark, and Tanya Avrith. April through June of 2017 was the summer of questions for me. When July arrived I had formed my Google Innovator idea: Teacher Agency Experience. In a nutshell, TAE allows teachers to determine their 3 learning goals, and assists them to the resources they need to become the teacher they want to be.

My Google Innovator window had narrowed. Australia was closed, Sweden was open, and I can’t speak Portuguese, so Brazil was out. So I had to be selected for Sweden or wait until next year. I created the presentation, made my 1 minute video (!) and submitted - accepted! Eek!

Now, where do the ripples on a pond come in?

I knew the experience in Sweden would be unforgettable, and it was. I knew it would change my perspective on the challenges of education, it did. What I didn’t realize was that the connections I made in Sweden, rippled out into my life in the here and now - and the lives of teachers and students in Temple... Two weeks ago, we welcomed Mark van de Mortel (@MarkvandeMortel) from Holland. Mark is a member of my Google Innovator cohort #SWE17.

He visited a teacher Professional Learning Community meeting at our high school (Temple High School). As a result, he arranged to digitally meet with a German teacher and his class so their students could converse in English and German.

Mark visited one of our middle schools (Bonham Middle School) and spoke with students and teachers about what his school is like in the Netherlands (Sint Ursula). The History teacher will be contacting him to make another connection of students.

Another campus leadership team visited with us for a more informal conversation about the challenges of education (Jefferson Elementary School).

Our elementary school principal gave Mark a tour of our newest energy efficient, “green” school. (Thornton Elementary School)

Lunch was most fun for me because I got to introduce Mark to my fantastic coworkers, the people who make my job the greatest. job. ever.

Finally, he presented to another elementary school faculty meeting (Raye-Allen Elementary School), sharing the differences and similarities between our education systems.

We may not know what kind of effect our actions have, but this event has touched more lives than I ever thought possible. As educators, we plan, we learn, we teach because we know it is right and good. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we get to see something wonderful as it develops, and we know we may have played a part in it.

Bitty Blog #13, February 13, 2018, I just had the pleasure of presenting several times at the Texas Computer Educator Association (TCEA) 2018 in Austin, Texas.

I have to say, it was the most exhausting and exhilarating time. Usually, I get to enjoy being a participant in workshops about half of the time I attend. This time, not so. As soon as I got finished with one presentation, it was on to prep for the next!

What I'd like to talk about today, however, is Pear Deck. This awesome presentation tool was created by teachers for teachers. They made me look good, y'all. In my "Sparkling Screencasts Using Chromebooks" presentation, I was able to check for understanding, crack a few jokes, and allow my audience to share their knowledge. I hope the attendees had half as much fun as I did.

Here is a link to my Sparkling Screencasts presentation.

See you next year at TCEA19

Bitty Blog #12, January 10, 2018, Having fun and being productive with iorad, an extension made to create your own tutorials.

Here is the link. What do you think?

Here is a direction sheet that I created: How to Create Captions with Google Drawings.

I think Google Drawings is the most important G'Suite app ever created -- well, OK, next to Google Docs. People are such visual learners, they can grasp information and turn it into knowledge by using illustrations. Seeing is teaching for many people. When you combine that with allowing students to teach others, (which confirms our knowledge) - wonderful things can happen. How about it, allow your students to create tutorials about what they know? Be amazed at what you will discover.

Iorad, the Tutorial Builder

https://www.iorad.com/

2017

Bitty Blog #11, December 3, 2017, What will the future hold, and what should we focus on as educators?

The MNC/CoSN Horizon Report - 2017 k12 Edition

This report brings up some excellent points about the different types of challenges that education will face this year. We are facing them now. Some are defined now, some are coming into focus, and some challenges are "wicked", to quote the video.

How do we solve problems? Large or small, all problems are solved with thought, reasoning, optimism, and determination. Let's get to it. Let's pick one and get started.

Here is the Horizon Report Digital Toolkit

Bitty Blog #10, November 13, 2017, Teacher-centered V Student-centered.

Based on the age and ability of your students, you can turn Teacher-centered into Student-centered. Technology tools can be transformative: a T-centered technology tool can become student-centered one based on who is doing the creating. If they are ready for it, allowing students to create a screencast to explain their thinking is powerful learning. Allowing students to create their own vocabulary list using Quizlet gives them ownership. It is all based on who is doing the creating. Stop doing all the learning work, let your students do it.

Bitty Blog #9, November 8, 2017, Pause Procedure

I wanted to pass along a High Impact Practice. This is called The Pause Procedure: if you must lecture, pause every 12 to 18 minutes and encourage students to talk with each other, ask questions and (generally) process. They can consider their understanding, ask questions, or share insights with each other. It significantly increases learning. Simple, but powerful.

Bitty Blog #8, November 3, 2017, Failure is Always an Option

I had the most wonderful time yesterday speaking to a class of 5th grade students. They were in their computer lab and about to start working on some lessons in code.org. They are getting ready for the Hour of Code! I was happy to help them get ready to make some spectacular mistakes! I learned some things recently at the Google Innovator Academy - the most important to me was that it is OK to make mistakes. When we fail, we learn, it may be that we learn what not to do, but we learn nonetheless.

Think, reflect
Play
Become a life-long learner
Become an engineer
Today's rock stars are coders!
Begin small, prototype fast!
Iterate
Start with 1 simple thing to try, then test, think, try again.
Fail forward.

Bitty Blog #7, October 23, 2017, Fake Text

I have enjoyed writing texts from the big, bad, Wolf to the three little Pigs in the past, but it was on paper and not too authentic. Until now! Just found this fun little site: iFake Text Message. Since it is a website, just make a shortcut on your preferred device in the classroom and reuse the activity for different books or stories and purposes!

Here are some possible instructional uses:

Conversations between characters in a story or book
Descriptions of events in history through conversation
Have students practice writing a script.
Create "evidence" texts to support an idea in a story
Have students describe the step-by-step instructions about how to do some task.

Bitty Blog #6, September 17, 2017, Expert Hour

Have you heard of 20% Projects? I have always thought the idea was fantastic, but I never really learned how to accomplish them. How do you organize 25 students, 25 different directions? The answer is, you let them organize it. You keep them on track by having a well-planned schedule. You do the organizing, then hold them accountable for their own learning. (That is what they will remember, the learning they did). Here is the most awesome plan I have found to date. Shared below. Please note slide 57 for all of these very smart people who put this all together. I am inspired.

Expert Projects

Bitty Blog #5 , September 13, 2017, Padlet Participation

I created a Padlet and showed participants how to add to add a note. Then I asked them what kind of technology training they would like to do throughout the year. They seemed genuinely pleased that I asked for their input. Then they discovered how to reply to each other on the Padlet and they started helping and answering their own questions. (!) It was lovely, and frankly, amazing.

We created a list of topics they wanted to study this year.

When we exhaust the list we are going to start over and make another list of Professional Development topics.

As I drove home I realized, "Hey, we just started an Inquiry Learning Professional Development plan."

I'll let you know how it goes.

Bitty Blog #4, July 31, 2017, Visuality

I know my memory is imprecise and not always reliable. Some would say it is hardly reliable. https://goo.gl/sLiiD6 I have made an observation of my learning recently, though. When I save content for future use, more and more often it is going to be a screenshot or a snippet of a visual something. I noticed it tonight when I was taking a screenshot of an organizational tool that I want to use in the future. There was a time when I would open a document, title it, describe what was cool about my observation, type out the salient points, and record where I found it (in case I needed to revisit). Now, I take a screenshot tool (app, program, image....whatever) then create a folder in my Pictures folder, not Documents. And done. I might name it with some text that will help me remember, but that is it. I think I am either a visual learner who never realized it before, or I am becoming more visual. You? Please take this quiz.

Bitty Blog #4, July 31, 2017, Bitmoji, Hey, That's Me!

The purpose of a Bitty Blog is to share a quick thought, and give a link to the resource. That is, more than a tweet and less than a blog post. Here we go, I'm obsessed with Bitmoji now. My husband and I don't use words in texts anymore, we send Bitmojis. Why? It's fun!

Bitty Blog #3, July 5, 2017, ISTE Friend

Yet another learning moment. One of the most fun activities for me was the scavenger hunt/breakout EDU from the iSchool Initiative (https://www.ischoolinitiative.com/ ). My friend Cheryl and I were up to the challenge. We explored the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center , walked all around the exhibitor booths to find the 5 clues that would enable us to enter the drawing. Each clue led us to the next booth, where we interacted with vendors and other folks. It really got me out of my shell and helped me get to know others. I "made myself known" to ISTE, and learned what is sparking the interest of teachers in Texas. The ISTE Escape was lots of fun, even though I didn't win the drawing - but Cheryl did! Awesome.

Bitty Blog #2, June 29, 2017, Sketchnotes

Another learning moment from ISTE emerged from an uncomfortable experience of unsuccessful sketchnoting. I say unsuccessful because:

I didn't leave enough room
I didn't make the drawings cute
I didn't get all of the content because I got distracted trying to fit everything on my screen. (I was using my phone - probably not the best way to begin.)

Yet, sometimes unsuccessful events bring about the biggest change:

I can still remember most of what the presenter said
I used my stylus on my phone which was really cool
I learned some great resources
I tried something new and didn't die (hyperbole - I know)

Yay, and thank you @EdTechAmber for your presentation, encouragement, and reassurance.

Suggestions from the presenter: (@EdTechAmber) Practice on TED talks, sketch a song w/lyrics, #doodleaday, #sketchiste, #sketchnotearmy

Bitty Blog #1, June 28, 2017, Reflection is a Good Thing

In San Antonio, during ISTE, 2017 a reflective idea came to be. My fellow Instructional Technology Specialists and I were looking to enhance and promote our own learning and ability to reflect on the conferences and summits we had attended. We all concluded that taking the time to reflect on our experiences would be valuable both from a memory standpoint and from a deep knowledge point.

None of us have time to ready lengthy posts or lengthy musings about content and the newest trends in education. Therefore, we decided we would endeavor to write Bitty Blogs, become Bitty Bloggers. Definition: short, reflective pieces of writing on any and all topics that we encounter that have a learning component. Some may be themed, composed in a series format, or not. One or two links would be included if warranted. We decided we would have one rule: no rants, only learning.

There you have it. The introduction of Bitty Blogs, what they are and hopefully, where they are headed.

Reflectively,

Dr. J.

Blogs of a different "flavor": Moving on..., Out with the Old, in with the New

New Google Sites - This Blog

Dr J's Prescription for Tech https://sites.google.com/gcloud.tisd.org/drjsrx4tech/bittyblog?authuser=1

Old Google Sites

Dr. J's Prescription for Tech https://sites.google.com/site/tisdsamplesitekj/

Edublogs

Tech Journey http://karrieweb2004.edublogs.org/
Penny for Your Thoughts,Reflections on Learning, Technology, and Leadership http://techreflection.edublogs.org/

Blogger

ITS Tech Talk https://karrieweb2004-itstechtalk.blogspot.com/
KARRIEWEB2004_VOKI http://karrieweb2004voki.blogspot.com/

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