Upcoming Student Account Maintenance - Google Apps Data - Plan your backup!

Attention GLPS Teachers and Students!

In preparation for account changes over the summer, all student Google App data will be deleted. To keep your Google Drive Documents you must create a PERSONAL backup. Follow the directions listed below to make a backup of your data.

Watch the following video and/or follow the directions below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFc-OxPunGw

1. Log in to RebelNet

2. Click on Google Drive for Students

3. Once in Google Drive, select all documents to backup. A method to select all items in your Google drive is to press Command ⌘-A. You may also select the last document, hold shift and then click the first document.

4. Click the 3 vertical dots and then select download to start the zip file creation and download procedure.

5. Once the zip file is created and downloaded you may click the down arrow and select Show in Finder.

6. Copy the .zip file to a flash drive or upload the zip file to your PERSONAL Google Drive or to your PERSONAL dropbox account. 

Thank you and have a great summer!

Godfrey-Lee Tech Team

Introducing... Book Spins! October/Halloween Edition #OctBookSpin

What is a Book Spin?

A "Book Spin" is a collection of activities that correlates back to a specific book. The idea for this project came about after an exciting response after Dot Day - a "theme" day that was centered around a book. We saw teachers doing so many cool and creative things that we wanted to do more with the idea of a theme day that centers around a book. The Book Spin presented here was a collaborative project created by specialists, consultants, coaches, and teachers in Godfrey-Lee Public Schools.

For each Book Spin, you may choose to either read the book out loud with students or there is also a recording of the book that is read aloud and shared online. After reading/listening to the book with your students, take an opportunity to explore one of the curriculum spins based on the book. There are a variety of different activities to choose from! These spins are meant to be starting points - feel free to use them as they are, modify them, or create your own!

After completing an activity with your students, we would love to see what you have done! Share your book spin implementation on Twitter using the hashtag ​#OctBookSpin.

October Book Spin Reading Selection - Big Pumpkin
Below is the recording of the selected book for October's Book Spin, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.
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If you are unable to view the video below, please click here.

Curriculum "Spins" on Big Pumpkin
In the presentation below, you will be able to view many different curriculum spins you may use in your classroom that use the book "Big Pumpkin" as a starting conversation point. Feel free to use one, two, three, or all of them with your students!
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If you are unable to view the presentation below, please click here.

How To: Forwarding Student Email Account to Staff Email Account

As teachers have a separate email account in the student domain for email communication and Google Drive document sharing.  This can be helpful for keeping student communications separate, but sometimes creates an extra step in opening another tab/window/browser to access that account.  Google provides some flexibility within your accounts and allows you to forward email from one account to another.  This can be helpful in forwarding your email from your student account to your staff account.

To forward your email from one Google account to another Google account:

1. Open the Gmail account that you want to forward from (student account).
2. At the top right, click the gear .
3. Select Settings.
4. Select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
5. Click Add a forwarding address in the “Forwarding” section.
6. Enter the email address you want to forward to (staff email address).

Student Device Management Tips

Are you looking for some management tips for student devices in your classroom? Listed below are some suggestions that might provide some helpful tips.

1. Create a system: When managing devices it is important to have a system that your class is familiar with. Making sure your devices are labeled is a great way to keep track of what device is which. Try using a labeling method that is durable but doesn’t permanently engrave the device. If you need assistance labeling your devices feel free to ask a tech team member for help.

2. Create a Checkout Process: Assigning your students a number that corresponds to a specific device in your cart will help you keep track of which student has what device and will help narrow down the pool of responsible students if a device was to go missing or suffer damage. Try labeling your storage slots inside your cart so students know exactly where to place their device.

3. Use Collateral: If you are permitting your devices to be used outside of the classroom, make your students give you a piece of collateral. The best form of collateral would be a form of ID or a cell phone even. This will increase the chances that a student returns the device, but will also give you a way of knowing who took a device out of the classroom.

4. Do an hourly inventory: At the end of every hour, take a look at your cart to make sure all devices are in your charging cart and accounted for. If your storage slots are labeled, you will be able to do a quick glance and see which device is missing. You can then refer back to your checkout list to see which student last used the device.

5. Appoint a Student Tech: Appoint a responsible student who will be in charge of managing the device accountability system. It might be a good idea to appoint a few alternates as well. This will be useful when you have a substitute teacher in the room.

If a device of yours is missing from your cart, please alert a member of the tech team immediately. The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to track a device down. If it is confirmed that a device was stolen, we can notify the authorities and seek recovery or replacement of the device.

10 Minute Tech Tools - Dot Day Fun!

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to celebrate International Dot Day and creativity and inspiration?  Come check my blog and how you can use augmented reality to celebrate International Dot Day on the latest 10 Minute Tech Tools!

Rebel U 2015 - Looking to the Future

Our GLPS Tech & Media Team loves to make Rebel U a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone, but we do take our job very seriously as far as how it relates to district and school improvement plans.  Each year, we set goals and objectives for the day (2015 goals and objectives can be found here) and we use these to help guide

As part of the evaluation, we ask all attendees to rate the intended goals and objectives as they feel they were implemented and evident throughout the day.  Below are charts that reflect the answers to statements each attendee was given.  It is always part of our process to reflect on what our attendees think and areas for us to grow!

Students Show Some Teacher Love at Rebel U 2015 #rebelu15

The objective of Rebel U is to provide teachers with quality professional development that helps them leverage available technology resources to support student learning and classroom instruction.  This day would not be possible though if it weren't for the amazing teachers we have in our district, but also if it weren't for the students who show up everyday and have just as much of an impact on our teachers as our teachers do on them.

At the end of last school year, we asked students in all of the buildings to share what they liked about their teachers and how they have made an impact on their learning.  After gathering responses, we asked teachers on the final day of school to read what some of their students had to say.  It was truly touching to hear teachers read, laugh, and maybe have a few tears over their students' sentiments.  We recorded this readings as a way of documenting the great things that are going on in our district and the impact our teachers have on our students, inside and outside the classroom.

In addition to creating the video, we also created several "boards" that we posted in the building for everyone to see (and we were able to include more student comments this way!).  The questions we asked our students (to fit with our Disney Heroes and Villains theme):

• ECC K-2 students: Why is your teacher one in a "minion?"
  
• Godfrey Elementary 3-5 students: How has your teacher helped you or lifted you up this year?
  
• Lee Middle School 6-8 students: Which teacher has made an impact on your learning and why?
  
• 9-12 students:  What is your favorite memory of a teacher that you would like to freeze in time?
  

If you are unable to view the video below, please click here.