• Currently, we also support many of the 'freemium' based and 'Sign on with Google' enabled EdTech resources that have been covered in our district wide EdTech PD offerings

• Please click here to view the VVSD Tech Department Approved E-Resources List

With the increasing number of EdTech supports Valley View has been integrating into the suite of Instructional Tech and Curriculum resources, educators now have a greater number tools at their disposal to create meaningful formatives to check for understanding. 

• Pear Deck: Pretty much our go-to app for getting feedback from students in all learning situations! Get feedback while conducting a lesson in-person with pre-planned checks, create formatives on-the-spot and at any time with a Pear Deck Pop Up for quick evaluation of learning, or do this all remotely and at any time with a  student-paced activity.

  • PearDeck Templates to Help you Get Started

  • PearDeck Pop-Ups for speed and spontaneity

  • Pear Deck FlashCard Factory to evaluate vocabulary skill building

  • PearDeck Student-Paced Lessons 

• FlipGrid: What better way to check for understanding than to have students tell you directly? FlipGrid allows kids to record their voice using their webcam to show you what they've learned. Discover an idea you can use today!

• Padlet: Create Padlet boards for any topic/content area where students can go to answer and add their responses to!

• Google Classroom and GSuite Apps: Use the Google Classroom "Ask a question" prompt or use Google Forms for more in depth assessing.

Student Voice is more important now than ever before. Here are some ideas for supporting student voice in the remote/hybrid learning environment.

• WeVideo: Video creation is one of those 21st century skills that has skyrocketed since the advent of the modern smart phone and video editing apps that come bundled with modern day computers. WeVideo puts that power in the web browser and into the hands of students who can now demonstrate what they have learned through the power of video!

• Padlet: With Padlet boards, teachers can create discussion boards for students to add various cards to. You can start a discussion board for a required reading, or use it as simple 'parking lot' for Q&A. Samples: Book Report Padlet | Themes in Persepolis Discussion Groups Padlet

• Pear Deck: All of the available question types that Pear Deck offers enhances student voice as all engagement collected is private between you and the individual. There is no part of the Pear Deck Suite that reveals how your students are feeling, or how they have responded. With the Student Takeaways, the learning document is share only between you and the student to focus on their progress individually.

• Google Classroom and GSuite Apps: Google Classroom and the overall collaborative nature of the Google Suite of Applications allows for students to add comments to not only each others work during peer reviews, but also share with the Classroom as a whole within the Google Classroom Stream. 

• Hapara: Hapara Workspaces is built around learner agency. Workspaces allow you to enable students to post resources and independent evidence in your courses. Allowing students to be actively engaged in the learning process is a powerful feature when crafting the perfect workspace for your learners.

• Zoom: Of course, holding a remote class via Zoom is a great way to interact with your students. You can use Zoom to create class meeting times at Zoom.US to generate the links to share with your classes!

Some of the tools we use can greatly help enhance the remote learning environment for you and your students. Many of them rely on the all-too-important face-to-face interactions you have with your learners.

• Zoom: Holding direct classroom sessions with your students is a great way to model the in-person experience. It's really all that we have. Take advantage of scheduling Zoom calls and/or setting a routine for your classes.

• WeVideo: Instead of simply posting assignments, and writing/typing out descriptions that are related to classroom content or learning experiences, why don't you record yourself and describe it! Directly explain your reasoning and / or visually teach them by screen recording your lessons for use in direct instruction.

During remote/hybrid learning, executive functioning skills are key to a learner's success when navigating the many paths to learning they must navigate independently while away from the typical structure that in-person / at school attendance provides. Here are some ideas that can help you guide them as they develop these skills in a changing environment.

• Google Classroom and GSuite Apps: Depending on the apps that you choose to use, you can help your learners manage the structure of their workload by utilizing key features of Google Classroom and Google Calendar! Use Topics to organize your Google Classroom Classwork or Calendar Appointment Slots to schedule time to meet with students and / or their families.

• Hapara: The Hapara Student Dashboard for students organizes content 

Many of our resources in the district support our English Language Learners as well! All of the tools that are used to highlight student voice and learner agency can be used by ALL of our students to show their progress and understanding. In addition, here are some added resources to help you work with your ELL students in an increased capacity.

• WeVideo and FlipGrid - We have seen many language classes using tools such as WeVideo and FlipGrid to showcase what students have learned by having them create voice recordings or short video recordings of themselves.

• Google and Microsoft Translation Tools - We have all of the resources that you need to take full advantage of all of Google and Microsoft's translation tool set in one place! Click here to learn more about how to fully implement and use these tools!

• Bilingual Department Resources - Our Bilingual Department has a great number of resources that you can use to fully implement instructional practices and tools to support EL students’ learning when using district technology and resources such as Seesaw, ACHIEVE3000, Actively Learn, YouTube, etc. Click here to check out all of the available resources!

Digital citizenship is an extremely important component of remote learning. There are many facets to dive into especially with the greater number of tools that you have at your disposal. Each of the tools highlighted here have options that allow you to have control in how your students responses are shared with others. For example, you can oftentimes set whether posts need to be approved of by you, as the educator, prior to releasing it to the rest of the class. As an option, this may be a good starting off point until you can have your full expectations for how students respond to classwork in this new way of teaching and learning. Below are some good articles on digital citizenship during remote learning that can help you get into the right mindset. Plus, VVSD follows the guidelines outlined by Common Sense Media. Speaking with your LMC Directors and BTSS would be a great place to start as many of them are Common Sense Certified! Why don't you try to get certified as well!

• Common Sense Media - "Essential Digital Citizenship Lessons for the Coronavirus Pandemic"

• EdTech Magazine - "Ways to Boost Digital Citizenship During Remote Learning"

• LearnSafe - "Digital Citizenship and Distance Learning"