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As educators, we are always looking for new ways to engage students in the learning process. During this course, we'll give you a basic overview of Padlet and how to use it. We'll also give you some tips on how to use Padlet to elevate the learning experience such as introducing new topics, virtual gallery walks, and reading logs.
Including Inquiry-Based Learning Into Your Classroom
Sometimes you just need to shake things up in the classroom! Engagement can be a struggle, especially right before or right after long school breaks. Join us for this course where we will look at the benefits of incorporating inquiry-based learning into your classroom practice. Whether it is in a stand-alone project or incorporating the tenants of inquiry into your already existing curriculum, this course will give you the "why" behind inquiry-driven learning as well as activities, lessons, and ideas you can use right away!
Using Jamboard to Support ELA Standards
Looking for a way to support students in ELA and align to the Next Generation ELA standards? In this session, we will be utilizing Jamboard as a way for students to apply targeted skills in a collaborative way. Join us as we explore some of the standards in depth, create interactive activities, and use Jamboard to promote reading, writing, and discussion at the secondary level.
Serve Your School Community with Sora
We will explore the many features and benefits of Sora by OverDrive, including how it can be used to support literacy and learning in the classroom and beyond. We will also demonstrate how to get started with Sora, including how to sign in, borrow books, and customize your reading experience. Whether you are a teacher, librarian, or student, Sora by OverDrive is a must-have tool for anyone looking to discover and explore the world of digital reading.
Using Social Studies to Foster Effective Writing Skills
Writing happens in every classroom and in every area of life! Social studies is the perfect place for students to hone their writing skills as they craft evidence-based arguments, explanations, historical analyses, narratives, and more. In this session, we'll help you discover strategies and activities that you can use to help your students foster effective writing skills that they can use wherever they go!
Creating Digital Books for a Multicultural Book Festival
Digital books are the perfect way to reinforce literacy concepts while also tapping into key 21st century skills. In this session, we will discuss strategies for having students create their own digital books that explore their unique cultures and backgrounds. We will explore specific platforms for digital stories such as Book Creator, StoryJumper, and Google Slides. We will then dive into ideas to include in our multicultural books, tools to support English language learners, and how we can share these books to a larger audience during our multicultural book festival. Let’s celebrate reading & writing and learn about other cultures along the way!
PBL in the Secondary ELA Classroom
Learn how to implement PBL activities to promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration in your secondary ELA classroom. Embracing technology in a traditional ELA classroom will not only help engage your students, but it will also improve their literacy skills and foster a classroom environment in which the traditional elements of ELA become more hands on.
Tools to Support Digital Book Cover Creation
Students already know that an impressive cover can make a book stand out on the shelf. In this course, we will go over how you can challenge your students to be illustrators for the day by designing their own digital book covers. Join us as we take a deeper dive into the different programs that you can use, and the handy design tools within these websites!
Supporting Your Flipped Classroom Using IXL
IXL is a digital education platform that personalizes students' learning and helps them practice targeted skills. Teachers can help students reach their learning goals through the use of IXL's comprehensive curriculum, skills practice, and diagnostic tools. In this session, we will discuss the flipped classroom and how IXL can support this instructional model.
Using Jamboard to Support Writing Stations
Looking for ideas and graphic organizers to support your students thoughts during the writing process? Jamboard can be a great location for research, brainstorming, prewriting, and more. Join us to learn how your students can use Jamboard to organize their thoughts before writing an informative, argumentative, or narrative piece.
Using Book Creator to Create Digital Stories for ELLs
Digital storytelling is the perfect way to engage your English Language Learners. Join us for this session where we will review the power of digital storytelling and discuss the benefits of storytelling for your students. We will then dive into Book Creator, a website for creating digital books that incorporate drawings, narration, video, and so much more. We will explore how to get started with this digital tool and brainstorm ideas for your students to bring their stories to life. We will also explore digital story topics and examples that are sure to engage your English Language learners. Let’s get creative with this literacy tool to support our students with their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills!
Introduction to Digital Storytelling
Are you interested in learning more about how to incorporate digital storytelling into your classroom? In this session, we will dive into an overview of digital storytelling as well as the benefits of using this activity in your classroom to encourage student creativity. We will discuss some ideas to get you started with digital storytelling and explore various platforms that students can use to plan and create. We will also share some best practices and things to consider when starting a digital storytelling project. Join us for some storytelling fun!
Many of us have a word wall posted somewhere in our classroom to help our ELL students learn vocabulary. What if you could bring your word wall into the 21st century? Join us as we explore and create digital word walls! In this session, we'll show you everything you need to create digital word walls of your very own and highlight the benefits for your English language learners.
Evaluating ELA Lessons Using PICRAT and SAMR
Are you looking for unique lesson ideas that incorporate technology? In this session, we'll explore an ELA lesson and share tips for selecting a technology tool that is going to help you transform your lesson. We'll dive into the PICRAT and SAMR models for technology integration to help you assign a level to the tools you are considering. We'll also use these guidelines to evaluate technology integration. With this new knowledge, you will be able to evaluate your own lessons and ensure that you are creating valuable learning tasks and activities for your students.
Digital Tools for Student Annotations
There are many online tools that can help your students annotate documents and files. In this course we will go over the value of teaching and growing annotation skills in your students. In addition, we will show you some useful tools that will not only help your students with their annotation, but also provide you with opportunities to provide feedback and corrections to grow your students' skills.
Utilizing Google Workspace for Summer Reading
Ready to transition your summer reading program to a more digitally-based process? In this course, we'll share tips on using different applications within Google Workspace (formerly G Suite for Education) to structure a summer reading program and push out materials. We'll also share book lists and reflection activities to keep students reading during the summer months and prevent that summer slide!
Using Google Chrome's Read&Write Extension in the Special Ed Classroom
Google Chrome’s Read&Write extension is a downloadable software toolbar that helps students that require literacy support to create and access the same content as their peers. Join us as we explore how Read&Write provides a personalized learning experience for each student in your class and helps them to meet their full potential.
Growing Great Writers with Schoology
Writing is an essential skill for every student, but it doesn't have to be a chore. In this course, we will take a look at some ways you can use Schoology to build great writing habits in your students, as well as different types of writing skills.
Using Edpuzzle to Teach Story Elements to Your ELLs
Edpuzzle gives you the opportunity to easily create interactive video lessons for your students that you can integrate right into your Learning Management System (LMS). Join us as we explore how to use Edpuzzle’s built-in question feature to teach story elements to ELLs in your literacy classroom. We will also explore the benefits of using Edpuzzle's interactive components to engage your ELLs in daily lessons.
Sight Word and Vocabulary Instruction Using Pear Deck
Building vocabulary is important for all students regardless of age or subject matter, and Pear Deck can help! In this course we will explore how to use Pear Deck to create and manage vocabulary lists, as well as how to effectively engage your students in vocabulary-based activities.
Reading Comprehension for ELLs with Thinglink
You may already be familiar with Thinglink as a powerful tool that can be used to create interactive photos, videos, and media. In this course, we will take the possibilities of Thinglink even further by incorporating text along with other media types to create rich, meaningful readings for the English Language Learners in your class.
Mid-Year Portfolios Using Seesaw
Are you looking for a unique way to check-in on student progress? In this session, we'll explore Seesaw, a learning management system that specializes in portfolios and student engagement. We'll discuss how to set up student portfolios and how students can add work samples to showcase their achievements as well as work-in-progress. In addition, we'll discuss how teachers and students can provide feedback to one another in order to enhance their portfolios and skills.
Blogging is an accessible method of writing and communicating to a wide audience. Join us for this session as we explore Blogger, a platform that allows you to publish and share your own blogs. We will explore the basics, and then talk about how to get started with content creation, and how to engage students across grade levels and subject areas.
Having a Class Debate Using Google Meet
Are you looking for a unique way to help students practice their debate skills? In this session, we'll explore how to use Google Meet, an online video conferencing platform to connect students. We'll explore activity ideas and discussion prompts, learn key debate concepts, and look at how to use Meet's tools and features to further engage conversation.
