Hi everyone,
We are pleased to release a fresh batch of various video tutorials to help you better use your device and technology in the classroom in general. Check out the directory below and click the link to view the videos. Pinning a folder to Quick Access in Windows File Explorer Advanced Windows Keyboard Shortcuts Posting a Question to Classroom Advanced Google Chrome Shortcuts Google Docs Voice Typing Task View in Windows 10 Click here to check out our master directory of every training video we have done. Expect 5 more videos after April Vacation! - the WHS Connect Team
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The Internet is an important tool that is becoming a vital part of a student’s education, but it can be used for many other things; sometimes the wrong things. As more and more of our students have access to this tool, it is our responsibility that they are acting responsibly on the Internet. Teaching students about Digital Citizenship and the appropriate use of the Internet needs to begin sooner than later. This year, I was invited by the Walton Elementary School Fourth Grade Teachers to speak to some students about Digital Citizenship, and the importance of using devices appropriately. The fourth graders were taught to take care of their online resources and respect each other’s online work. Together, the fourth graders and I had a discussion about how different phrases can be interpreted in several ways, and to be careful how they say things on the internet. Students were shown several different phrases, and asked how they could be interpreted. Through this activity, students realized that words can be read differently and sometimes misunderstood. Here are some phrases the students were shown: Following this activity, students were reminded about how they should think about what they say on the internet. Below is an image students were shown regarding this: After going through all this in detail, students made a social contract. Each student added a statement about how they will interact and behave in their online classroom. Students used their Chromebooks and Google Documents to do this. Click here to view the 4th Grader’s Social Contract.
Digital Citizenship is an important skill to have, especially when technology is being used a lot in our district. The Internet is an instrument that we can use to enhance our education, but using it appropriately is important. All students should learn the importance of the internet and should learn to treat their online resources with care. Senila Yasmin is a senior at Wakefield Memorial High School. She was a founding member of WHSConnect, the student-led technology team at WMHS. She manages the WHSConnect Twitter... follow her at @whsconnect. 1 Books & Magazines
There are many books available in the WMHS Library. All books have been donated or purchased by the school. You can take out as many books as you want, and there are no overdue fines. The library also has a ton of new magazine subscriptions, including Thrasher, Vogue, The Nation, Bon Appetit, Time, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Wired, The Economist, Road and Track, Runners, Forbes, Seventeen, and many more. 2 Online Research Center Aside from books, the library offers digital information via databases. It offers you all the information you could possibly need for research, for quick homework questions, study tips, as well as recreational information. You can find the library databases at whslibr.weebly.com/databases. 3 Exceptional Instructional Support Teachers The library is staffed by a group of wonderful instructional support teachers. Each of them help students in the space with projects, papers, math assignments, etc. They are willing to drop everything and help you get that “A” on that quiz! 4 Discovery & Recreational Space The library is also a really good space to consult a trustworthy adult (see #5), a place to relax and listen to music, study, take a test or quiz in a separate setting, or to learn something new. There are coloring pages, pictures books, craft materials, and such to take your mind off of school stress. 5 Our Librarian Ms. Kelly is one of the most reliable resources in the entire school. She is trustworthy and is a really nice person to talk to. She is helpful when writing essays. She has degrees in Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, and Classics, as well as a Masters of Library and Information Science (which means she can help you find information on almost any topic). She is also freakishly good at typing. I always feel comfortable going to the library. The library hasn’t always been used correctly. Often students do not take full advantage of all the resources offered to them by the school and by Ms. Kelly. You can reach her at [email protected]. Hello everyone! It’s Nina and Hannah from your E block Technology Integration class! Last week, we had the opportunity to speak to other classrooms around the world during #digcitathon! It helped both us and the other classrooms grow and learn together. We discussed everything from BYOD to your personal privacy when you are online. We talked about our use of technology and how we have incorporated it into our daily life in school in comparison to how they use technology. We provided each other with tech tips on how to better our technology usage. We had the opportunity to talk with multiple classrooms from places ranging from Canada to Georgia and everywhere in between. We discussed at lengths with a class of seventh and eighth graders from Georgia about what it means to be digital citizens. The kids that spoke to us are very involved with technology in their school and are looking for any ideas to make it better, the two classes had a very unstructured conversation about our their personal ideas for improvement. Digital citizenship was a big topic of conversation. How can the student body best use technology? We discussed how we both can improve our digital citizenship in our schools and work to spread it to other schools as well. It was privilege to have this opportunity to discuss our digital footprint with others of different backgrounds. The very unique opportunity was given to hear the Canadian National Anthem and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance, that just goes to show you the different cultures that took place in #digcitathon. It was great to reach out to these different classrooms from all these different states, countries, and time zones who all share the same love of technology that we do! Mrs. Shilling is an art teacher at Wakefield High School and has been working in the Wakefield Public School system for 30 years. She has seen digital learning from its very early stages here. She remembers a time when she had no idea how to use a computer in the art room, but now she doesn’t know how she functioned without one. Mrs. Shilling states that in art it is hard to go paperless, but they are trying to use less paper for non-project related activities such as rubrics. Mrs. Shilling has learned so much about technology throughout her years at Wakefield High School, and now doesn’t know what she would do without technology in the art department. What is your go-to digital learning tool in your classes? My computer: that is where I get all my research. I show class information by projection on tv, and Google for inspiration exactly how to do things really good examples Why do use this tool and not another one? Because it is right at my fingertips easier and more organized. How do your students typically respond to your use of it? The most we do is graded rubrics on classroom. There is a learning curve, especially because rubric doesn't show up the same on every device. It is almost more work to do it electronically as opposed to paper, but I want to go paperless for rubrics. In your own opinion, how you have seen tech/digital learning change in your time at WHS? I can remember a time when I was unsure of how to use a computer in the art room, now I'm unsure how I would do things without it. When we brought in the first art program and started with adobe illustrator and taught in the PC lab it was difficult to try to deal with the size of the project and student’s would save/ render projects and it would take overnight to save projects, we use computer a lot to help with layout and design, with my own work, documents created for students, and image manipulation. There were no computers when I first started and the school has gotten much better technology wise. How have digital learning tools changed your practice? They really haven’t. We’ll never go paperless in art. students will always work with paper, pencils and paint, tech will always be secondary. What goals do you have for using digital learning tools in the future? I would like to continue to have computers in the room for students to use for image manipulation or reference material, right now I am looking for a giant screen (12 feet) so we could see giant images. I want to become more familiar with classroom, and use engrade maybe? #techteamma is a monthly Twitter chat led by students and digital coaches from around the country. Once a month, we "get together" to discuss what's happening in the world of student tech teams. This month, the WMHS Tech Connection will be co-moderating the chat with Shawn McCusker (@shawnmccusker), a team-member at edtechteacher.org. Our topic will be 1:1 vs. BYOD - the advantages and disadvantages of each. Join the conversation! Check in with Senila Yasmin or Mr. Gosselin for more details.
We are excited to introduce a new feature on our redesigned website: the WHSConnect Blog! We hope to utilize this tool to communicate what's happening in our school in regards to digital learning and technology. We'll write informational pieces, reviews of hardware and software and showcase teachers and students who are using digital learning to enhance their teaching and learning. Our first post is a Faculty Spotlight on Ms. Alison Sardonini, biology teacher, by Nina DiCarlo '18. Thanks for reading, and be sure to subscribe so you can stay up-to-date on all our writing! 1. What is your go-to digital learning tool in your classes? Why do use this tool and not another one? Quizlet and Engrade together are my best tools. Both allows students to take responsibility for their own learning, in a way that can be monitored by me as well. 2. How do your students typically respond to your use of it? 100% of students either find it helpful or don't use it. 75% of my students use it and the other 25% of my student who dont use it, it reflects very well . 3. In your own opinion, how you seen tech/digital learning change in your time at WHS? When I started here, I was new along with the BYOD program, and it has come a long way. I think that having the internet as an everyday resource in the classroom is awesome! 4. How have digital learning tools enhanced your practice? It has enhanced all of it. It opens opportunities for all of us. We wouldn't have this as an amzing tool to help us learn. It lets us learn in the class as well as it is helping us help ourselves with practice on technology. 5. What goals do you have for using digital learning tools in the future? I would like younger students to be taught to organize their digital lives because a lot of students have things such as their google drive which is all over the place. It is filled with random documents and makes things so hard to find. It is not organized and we don't seem to be looking at the organization factor of it all. I also hope to one day become paperless, that would be cool. 6. What do you find difficult about BYOD in the school now? I find it very difficult dealing with the diversity of devices. It makes it harder to help students because all their devices differ. The same goes for charging devices. All different devices have all different charger which means that we can't all charge our devices in school it was to die. Also, There needs to be a department of extra devices. Due to the diversity of devices, if someone's device was to die and they don't have their charger, they now have no device for the rest of the day. 7. Do you feel that over time, using digital learning has become easier for you? Yes. Anything and everything becomes easier over time. You get to practice with it everyday and discover new things! 8. How has it benefited you in the classroom as well as outside the classroom? It benefits me because I have a wider range of resources from them which i can also work with at home easily. It is all on my laptop so it makes it easy to work at home or in school. 9. Are you looking to implement for uses of digital learning than you are currently using? Yes, I think that i would like to bring most assignments online. I would like to go paperless, but it would be very hard for a lot of reasons and difficulties that we still have with the BYOD. |
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