Summer was way too short! I still hold out that summer is here until the end of the Big E (The biggest fair in all of New England), even though we are back in school. We’ve had an exciting summer around here at Digital Learning and Assessment (DLA) and we can’t wait for the school year to begin. We hope that all the changes that we have made over the summer help you all use technology more efficiently. Over the…
For our final week for the OneNote series, we are looking at examples of how teachers can use OneNote in the classroom and even for their personal organization. In Digital Learning, we have 5 separate Notebooks that we use to keep each other up to date on meetings, information that needs to be shared, tracking of concerns, trainings that we have done, and so much more. For us, the ability to keep all the projects we are working on in…
We are in week two of our OneNote blog run and for this week, we are focusing on the Class Notebook. So, the Class Notebook is remarkably similar to OneNote but with a few key differences. Class Notebook If you are looking into going paperless, this tool can help. You can embed the Class Notebook into your Schoology course for students to have easy access. You can organize your lesson notes and examples. Essentially you can use this to teach…
We here at the SPS Digital Learning Hour love to spotlight teachers and this week’s episode is no different. I met Desiree Robinson from Glenwood Elementary. Desiree is a true homegrown teacher here in Springfield. You can hear her love for the city of Springfield in the way she talks about her job. She is a shining example of how you can go from being a para-educator to a teacher to a Math Instructional Leader. Her experience spans Kindergarten all…
We are kicking off a short series of posts dedicated to one tool. It’s one of my favorite tools and one that I would be using non-stop if I were still teaching. OneNote OneNote, in short, is a digital notebook. Think back to when you were a kid, or your older kids were in school, and everyone had to have a Trapper Keeper Binder with the Five-Star Notebook that you would click in. Each Trapper Keeper would have a combination…
Here at the SPS Digital Learning Hour we are excited to bring you this week’s episode featuring Kathryn Runyan from White Street Elementary. Having taught various grade levels throughout the last 22 years, Kathryn has used a wide variety of technology tools that we get into in this episode. Back in 2002 schools were still using floppy discs!!!! Throughout this episode we learn about what technology was like back in 2002 in the classroom (hint: there wasn’t as much as…
After last week’s post, you may be asking yourself “What’s the Difference Between Sway and PowerPoint” or “Why Should I Use Sway?” These are valid questions that I hope to clear up today. A quick recap: Sway is a presentation creation tool from Microsoft and PowerPoint is the most popular presentation creation software that we have used since the dawn of creation. (Kidding, I think it was created in 1987. So, it’s a little younger than me.) PowerPoint has a…
Here at the SPS Digital Learning Hour we are excited to bring you this week’s episode featuring KatieAnne DeMars from Springfield Virtual School. Having taught various grade levels throughout the last 22 years, which included time as a School Administrator KatieAnne brings a wealth of knowledge to Springfield’s Newest School. Throughout this episode we learn about what technology was like back in 2000 in the classroom (hint: there wasn’t as much as you would think). You can also hear how,…
If you have been to any of my Microsoft trainings over the last few years, discussed Office 365 with me, or noticed on your own, you might have seen a program in Office 365 called Sway. Sway Sway is an awesome way to do reports, presentations, personal stories and so much more. Once you have the content prepped, you could create a Sway presentation in minutes. When I first learned how to use Sway, I created a Biography/Resume Sway. You…
When it comes to interviews I hit the jackpot. I met with NJ Rivilis from the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts. NJ is a new teacher to our district, but I think that we are the lucky ones. As an Electrical Engineer Graduate, NJ has an interesting path to the classroom. NJ has a lot of experience outside of the classroom working at Mass General in a research role and now they are in the classroom. I can’t wait for you…