I'm a Published Author!

Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for reading! This year I have a lot of goals personally and professionally, including integrating tech in more meaningful ways with my primary classes in the library.
In the meantime, after several resubmissions, my book Introducing:Asia is available for free in the iBooks store! We have a global focus at my school, with each grade level studying a different continent or geographic regions. The second graders are learning about Asia, which is what inspired me to try writing a non-fiction book. It was such a challenge, first writing the book, but then including all the interactive features and graphics. I feel like I barely scratched the surface in terms of what would be possible to include in an iBook, and I'm inspired to try to write more about the other continents if I can find the time.
You can download my book for free here https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/introducing-asia/id1182837421?mt=11, unfortunately only available for iOS (Macintosh computer, iPhone or iPad). If you don't have a snazzy Apple gadget check out a PDF of my book here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2LOAiHwC_HPNzB4SkY1S1RLWG8/view?usp=sharing, be warned that interactive features do not work with the PDF version.
Hope that you are able to download, and that you enjoy the book. If you do, please leave me a rating!
Thanks!

Hour of Code: Coming Next Week to a Library Near You!

Next week is Computer Science Education Week, and I am so excited to teach an hour of code to my K-5th graders in the library! Actually, I will probably use these lessons all of December because students love the activities so much.
Check out their website code.org to lead an hour of code at your school, or watch this video:

Students love the popular characters that are featured in the Hour of Code lessons, and the lessons teach logical thinking skills. Last year I used the lessons with my Kindergarten class, and this year can't wait to try it with my upper grades as well!

Give Me a Virtual High Five!

I'm so excited that today I passed the Level I Google Certified Educator exam! Yay! The exam was SO LONG! If you are thinking of taking it, I highly recommend to be prepared for it to last the full three hours! Also, don't do what I did and spend too long trying to figure out one little thing, keep moving through the exam and flag questions and scenarios to return to later.
I'll be studying to attempt the Level 2 certification exam over winter break.
Check out this video to learn about FREE training Google offers.

I love these resources, which are helping me plan tech PD at my school site.

Google Suite Training Resources!

I can't believe Thanksgiving break is only one week away! Over the break I want to keep trying to improve my spreadsheet skills. I'm wanting to use spreadsheets more to teach computational thinking to my students. I'm also wanting to improve my ability to create presentations using Google Slides, and learn how to create a collaborative slideshow that all my students can contribute to. Other than that, I want to learn more about Scratch.
which has been recommended to me by a 12 year old friend of mine who used it to learn to code. Sounds like it's going to be a busy break. Oh yes... and must remember to relax as well!
Have a great week everybody!

More Great Resoures

One thing that never seems to be lacking in edtech is resources. Sometimes, there is so much to choose from it can be overwhelming. As educators, we want to be sure that time that students spend using technology is meaningful and engaging, and that we are not using new technology just for the sake of using new technology.
This weekend I was introduced to a phenomenal resource for K-12 educators looking to integrate more tech in the classroom, Simple K-12. www.simplek12.com/
I had heard of this resource, but had not had a chance to check it out. This weekend I participated in a free webinar about using Google Suite in the classroom. This was perfect for me, since students in my district have Google accounts, and we are already using Google Classroom, and some other features of Google Drive. Beware, the webinars are Eastern Standard Time! I missed one because I didn't realize this, and I am in California!
One great thing I learned about was the use of Google Forms and Sheets to track student data. I had used Google Forms with my class to conduct surveys, and give quizzes, But, I hadn't really thought about ways that teachers could create a Form to track student progress. Right now, there is a tremendous push, understandably so, to make teaching data driven. By tracking student progress using Google Forms and Sheets, teachers can make better decisions about how to use instructional time.
I also learned about a TON of different Chrome extensions that enhance instruction and engage students. I'll definitely need to revisit these over our Thanksgiving break.
The webinar I missed was about Google Slides, which I am wanting to get more comfortable with. I want to learn more about creating a shared presentation, where each student can add a slide. Seems like it should be easy enough, but as with anything that we are using with students, we as teachers want to be crystal clear on our learning objectives and lesson procedures. So, adding that my edtech to-do list as well.
Have a great week everybody!

WebQuest

Happy Halloween everyone!
This week I learned about a new tool to get students researching information: a WebQuest.
I wanted to design a WebQuest about South America. My fourth graders are studying Latin America in Social Studies, and my undergrad degree is in Spanish, so I thought it would be a good way to create something I could use with the kiddos and build on my personal interests.
I used a site called Weebly that lets you design websites for free.
Let me say, this was SO HARD for me.
First of all, it seemed like the site was really geared to people creating wedding websites, or marketing some kind of product. It took me forever to figure out how to bypass all the "themes" and create simple pages like what I want to use with my kids. Then, trying to format the text to look the same on each page was surprisingly hard. Still not sure what I was doing wrong, but even when the font type and size was the same in the "Design" box, it was appearing differently on each page. In the end, I thought it came out OK for a first try, but definitely not up to my perfectionistic standards! I want to find more time to play around with the site and try and figure out what I can do to improve the layout of future sites.
In the meantime, you can view the fruits of my labor here:
http://msmckee0123.weebly.com/
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any feedback!

Discovery Education

This week I am taking a break from Google Classroom and trying something new with my 3-5th grade library students: Discovery Education. I am so excited to use this learning platform with them! Students met with a partner and created a Venn Diagram: "Me, Me and We." Then, students logged on to their Discovery Ed accounts. Students explored building a board about theirselves and their partners using the Board Builder tool. The wrote a headline, wrote 3 text boxes and included 3 images. I just introduced this program to them, so I plan to give them a few weeks to explore and work on the board. I heard students, even those that aren't always so enthused to produce classwork, say how fun it was. I'm excited to teach them to search using keywords, curate a list of resources, share their boards with one another, and create boards about what they are learning in class. Love this resource!

Technical Difficulties?

This week I am reflecting on how far I have come with my tech skills. I am very interested in work more training public school teachers in technology use. Teachers are under so much pressure with ever changing curricula, and managing large class sizes. Sometime using technology feels like "one more thing to learn." I really believe teachers need to be given time to explore tech tools that are available, and get more comfortable with them. Only then will technology make their lives easier. I should know, I was technically challenged, but lately I've been challenging myself technically, and like anything it gets easier with time.
My advice to technophobic people:
1. It takes time! Rome wasn't built in a day, and no one is going to be able to master all the different ways to use computers in the classroom overnight. But, once you start using more programs, you find commonalities and it becomes easier to learn new products.
2. Google it! If you're having a problem with your computer, or a piece of software, chances are someone has already uploaded a tutorial on youtube addressing that very issue. Discussion forums can also be helpful when troubleshooting tech.
3. Si se puede! If I can figure out how to use tech with K-5 students, anyone can!