Innovation 4 Everyone

Did you know YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world? Yes, coming right after Google. YouTube is a very powerful tool that is used extensively by all of us when we need to learn about something on our own. This is the type of learning that is called "just-in-time" as opposed to "just-in-case". You know it will be available exactly when you need it. Millions of videos have been uploaded to YouTube and many more are added daily. With all this content, it is probable that you will eventually run into inappropriate content. So, here are 3 simple tips to make your experience with YouTube a safer one when it comes to sharing videos with students: 1. Search for videos in trustworthy sites Instead of performing a regular search, try one of these video sources that focus on education. SchoolTube TeacherTube YouTube Education YouTube Educación 2. "Clean up" the video before sharing or posting These tools will eliminate ads, surround

If you are thinking of ways to transform your classes, then consider the possibility of communicating and collaborating beyond your classroom walls. A great resource that can help you accomplish this goal is  Skype in the Classroom . You'll find hundreds of lessons already created that you can participate in. Choose by subject area, age group, country, etc. Don't find what you're looking for? No problem. Create your own content. That's what first grade teachers did this year.  First grade teachers Ms. Mireya Almaguer and Ms. Claudia Martinez were looking for an opportunity to interact with classes from other parts of the world. Early in the start of the school year, first grade focuses on the Mapping Unit. In it they learn about such topics as directions, the compass rose, legend, and locating parts of a map. A project they work on is creating the map of what would be the students' ideal classroom or school. At this time, they were looking for partnersh

We never stop learning and students at our school are no exception! Students have embraced technology as a way to assist them in their learning. With the use of various devices, kids are able to capture their learning and gather feedback that will drive their learning.  Take a look at a few examples through these very short videos: Grade 5 Class Mr. Marco Trujillo's 5th grade class took a trip into the Huasteca Canyon to meet face-to-face the forces of nature that have shaped our land. They took along iPods and recorded what they saw. Spanish Class Ms. Gaby de la Garza and her first grade students took advantage of the shared iPads to record themselves reading Spanish books that they later listened to again. Music Class Ms. Misty Flores and Mr. Ryan Branta encourage students to record their practice and check on their progress. Kinder Class Ms. Magda Arechavaleta and Ms. Miriam Campas incorporated iPods when they took their group on a Nat

Hi! A couple of weeks ago, the grade 5 students set out to what promised to be an exciting field trip. Very nearby the school is a gorgeous canyon. With the guidance of an expert explorer and a young geologist, each of the grade 5 groups took turns to go deep into the canyon. I was lucky to be asked to accompany one of these groups and their teacher. So, here's my story. It turns out that we were the first ones to take the trip. I had no idea of what to expect. I carried my water bottle, a light lunch, my iPhone, sunglasses, and a cap. So did the kids. They were so excited! The ride getting there was really fun, but what they were about to see I think blew everyone's mind even more. Fifth graders had been studying the Changing Earth unit. They had learned about plate tectonics, erosion, deposition, earthquakes, etc. Imagine being able to witness the forces of nature first hand. Imagine being able to see where plates have collided; where layers of earth ha

Having a computer science background myself might explain why I always get so excited when it comes to coding. In my good old days, I learned to program in computer languages such as COBOL, Fortran, Basic, Pascal, 6502 Assembler, and Logo. Each problem I was faced with represented a new programming challenge. Bring it on! Well, many years have passed since then and throughout them I became more involved with education, which is why I appreciate even more how programming (or coding as it is commonly known now) can benefit children. Knowing that coding can develop important lifelong skills in children makes me even more excited! Imagine being able to develop critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, logic, abstract thinking, design, experimentation, and algorithmic thinking, in a fun, play-like way. What is coding? Computer applications and games, Apps, websites, etc., have all been developed through coding. In short, coding is putting together instructions (or commands) to

Greetings! In my previous blog post I wrote about my recent use of scripts and add-ons . I was thrilled to have found a way to make my work more efficient and effective. Shortly after, I was faced with a new challenge: How could we send approximately 170 emails (each one containing unique information, such as parent emails, usernames, and passwords) for each one of the second grade students? In the past, I must confess, I composed one by one, each of the emails. But this time, I was determined to find a better way of doing this. I had a feeling that an add-on would do the trick. I had time to explore beyond the two tools I had just discovered, and that's when I came across formMule . It didn't take long to figure out how to apply this tool to my personal needs. formMule is a free add-on for Sheets created by NewVisions CloudLab. I had a Google Sheet already filled out that contained all the information I needed. I opened formMule and with very little configuration

Hi! It's back-to-school time. I hope your school year is off to a good start. As for me, it's been a very busy season. I can tell you that, amongst many other events, two major situations take place each year at my school: Open House and New Google Apps accounts. What's so special about these two? They both require a great deal of prepping and tech assistance. For instance, during Open House, the Tech Integration Team takes advantage that all the parents are present to have them register for tech orientation sessions. A couple of years ago, we'd lay out long sheets of lined paper, one for each different session, with a limited amount of lines. In the next years, we decided to take it a step further and created a Google Form. We had laptops available during each of the Open House nights and asked parents to register electronically to a tech session. While parents were submitting forms, I'd be in the background, checking numbers against the capacity we had fo

Greetings! Last night I had the opportunity to host the #MexEdChat on Twitter. This time we were talking about "Blended Learning". I was not alone. My buddy Doug Frankish co-hosted with me. I have built a Storify archive of the conversation. Take a look. You'll find a lot of great resources, recommendations, and great people to follow! Tune in every other Monday at 9:00pm CST for a new #MexEdChat discussion. It's an awesome bilingual chat, in both English and Spanish, hosted by Google Educators. This group is out for the summer, but will be back in August with more chats. Follow the hashtag and stay tuned! Cheers! [ View the story "#MexEdChat on Blended Learning" on Storify ]

Hi! A couple of blog posts ago, I talked about the process my school was going through in  looking for a new LMS that would be suitable for all grade levels Nursery-12th. At that time, we were moving into phase 2 ready to test the two LMS finalists: Haiku Learning and Schoology . Fortunately, for this round, the testing group grew. We had new teachers join us, in addition to giving all the school administrators access to the platforms. All the different stakeholders were well represented. During the final days of phase 2, all pilot teachers were asked to submit a scored rubric evaluation of the LMS they each tested. Surveys were sent to parents and students. On a 5 point scale, Haiku Learning scored a whopping 4.66, compared to 3.33 for Schoology. During the last pilot group meeting, each LMS pilot leader had the opportunity to speak about the Pros and Cons of their system. Feedback collected from teachers, students, and parents was shared. Then, it was time to vote. It

The school year might be almost over, but at ASFM the learning just keeps on going! As a way to socialize the concept of blended learning, teachers spent the last PD afternoon learning more about this educational model. The elementary staff was divided into 3 major groups. With the purpose to introduce an innovative approach to problem solving, each group went through the phases of the Design Thinking process. 1- Discovery The advent of a new school wide LMS for the next school year comes along with other transformations in school. Challenge: How can we redesign the Blended Learning experience at ASFM? 2- Interpretation Now it's time to gain empathy. Teachers paired up and took turns interviewing each other. How much of your teaching is f2f and how much is it online? How have you modified student learning? Focus question: What is your experience with blended learning, from a teacher's perspective? 3- Ideation During the Interpretation phase, teachers were told

Hi! We just concluded an amazing #ADEchat (Apple Distinguished Educator) on Twitter. So many amazing educators participated and offered a tremendous amount of resources. I have created a Storify of the complete conversation so you can take a look at it and "beg, borrow, or steal" any ideas, recommendations or resources you like. Tune in every Tuesday at 8:00pm CST for a new #ADEchat. Topics are always relevant and interesting. Cheers! ---- [ View the story "ADEchat "Online Safety"" on Storify ] ---- [ View the story "ADEchat "Online Safety"" on Storify ]

Greetings all! This school year we have been revising the tools used at our school. One very important tool is our Learning Management System (LMS). We currently have a large number of LMSs being used. Three of them are used more consistently: SchoolWorld (N-2), Edmodo (3-5), and EDU2.0 (6-12). The task to find one sole LMS that would accommodate to the needs of N-12 began around October. After thorough research performed by the LMS task force, four LMSs were up for testing:  Schoology ,  Haiku Learning ,  Canvas , and  NEO . Four groups of volunteering teachers were formed, one each to pilot each different LMS. Once the phase 1 deadline was met, we all met to discuss any feedback regarding each of the LMSs we had tested. After casting our votes, the choices were narrowed down to two. We are now beginning the second phase of the piloting program, testing the finalists: Schoology and Haiku Learning. I have been fortunate to be personally involved with these two LMSs as the pilo

What do you do if suddenly at school you are granted (almost) one full day for professional development? You run a conference! That's what happened to us.  These were exciting times for the Tech Integration Team. Just a few weeks ago, on February 20th, ASFM offered its first in-house conference. The name of the conference was inspired by the TI Team's belief statement: Live Curious, Go Beyond _______.  (You fill in the blank.) With only a month to get ready, we were faced with an enormous challenge. A great deal of planning and organization took place. All the details could easily be taken care of, but, who would run the sessions? We sent out a call for presenters form. Fortunately, we can always count on the amazing group of digital teachers. ALL of them jumped right on and registered as presenters. Even a few other teachers participated too.  Results: Presenters - 32 Attendees - 225 Sessions - 32 Learning talks - 6 For all the details, visit the Live Curious

Hello everyone, At this time I would like to direct this post to all the Spanish speaking community. My friend Marybell Rodriguez and I will start an online program called "Minuto Edutec" . Minuto Edutec will offer weekly tips on how to use technology in your classroom. In 2 or 3 minutes you will see recommendations on how to integrate technology, how to promote a positive digital life, and other related topics. Each Friday we'll publish a new tip. Our goal is to share content in Spanish for teachers that are interested in integrating technology into their classrooms. By doing this, we hope teachers can generate meaningful experiences for their students. We start Friday, January 23, 2015.  Don't miss it! Every Friday! Follow us: Google +MinutoEdutec Twitter @MinutoEdutec URL  www.minutoedutec.com Heres' the video we created that explains better what our project is about. Cheers!

Hi! Wishing everyone the best for this new year! Just a few weeks ago all around the world we celebrated the Hour of Code. Remember? A lot of preparation took place at my school to ensure that all our students participated during that week. How was everyone involved? Students in grades 1-5 spent their regularly scheduled technology class time learning to code through various activities available on the Hour of Code site. I am very thankful with the Tech teachers who were kind enough to give up a whole week of classes that would allow all students to participate. (This in fact works pretty well!) As for the teachers, they were invited to accompany their class and learn together basic coding skills. Students in grades N-K participated in an unplugged activity. Nursery students don't even have a tech class. The other grade levels were on week B and did not have tech class at that time. Therefore, we came up with a plan to visit these classrooms and have the student