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7 Gifts for the Ed Tech Teacher

11/26/2021

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      With Christmas fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to look at some Ed Tech gifts for teachers. While subscriptions are outstanding, we will primarily focus on hardware because many subscription services are school-based purchases. I want this to be things spouses, kids, and other relatives can get.

The gifts: 

  • Logitech Spotlight Advanced Remote
    • $89​
    • I love this remote, and every teacher needs a good presentation to stay mobile in the classroom. This remote is simple, has excellent highlighting features, and, best of all, charges via USB-C. It’s also incredibly well made as it feels like a piece of metal rather than the plastic pieces you see in so many other places.
  • Pluggable Dock
    • Prices vary based on model​
    • We will leave this a little more general as Pluggable has many desktop docks for different needs. The key to this is that it gives me various ports to easily plug-in peripherals. Just on this one doc, I have two monitors, speakers, a webcam, a stream deck, a microphone, a hard drive, and a ring light. The best part is I only have to plug in one cord, and it works both on my Mac and my wife’s Yoga Book.
  • Stream Deck
    • Prices vary based on number of keys​
    • Steam Deck is meant more for Streamers, but I find it invaluable in my duties. It’s a panel of programmable shortcut buttons but can become invaluable when I am in an online presentation. I could see teachers using this as an avenue to demo all the online resources they need effortlessly and seamlessly.
  • Anker Mobile Docks
    • Prices vary based on features
    • If you live in multiple classrooms or travel to do any presentations, this becomes invaluable. Again, it’s about being able to plug in my needs, and with computers having just a handful of ports these days, this is a way to increase that value.
  • Anker Multi-Port Chargers
    • Prices vary based on number of ports
    • You also need to charge all the devices in your classroom. Some teachers have also taken the initiative to create device spas, so students aren’t on their phones the whole time. Having good chargers makes this all happen, and the Anker brand is an easy way to get there.
  • A second monitor.
    • Prices vary on deal
    • There are a thousand ways to accomplish this, but the beauty of it is you can get one very cheaply by thrifting or using eBay. Check your local Goodwill, and be willing to take one with a slight defect. You can fill that need for less than $100
  • Amazon Gift Cards
    • Is there a better way to fill a tech need than giving a gift certificate to the everything store? Let’s them get what they want!
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TETC Conference Preview 12/1-12/2

11/26/2021

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   Time for another conference preview! It’s been a few years, but I am headed back to TETC in Tennessee. This will be my third conference back (after GAETC and NYSCATE), and I am fascinated to see the conference attendance and response
   As of this writing, I just did GAETC, and while the attendance was down, the energy was still palpable. You could tell people were ready to be back and do conferences again. It was also a great time to see old friends, and I can’t wait for all of the future opportunities for that in the coming months.

So, sessions I am doing at TETC


  • 12/1 App Smash Madness 1:00 PM Broadlands B
    • I am always looking for creative ways to use Ed Tech, and that’s what this session is all about. We look at the keys and tools and practice combining ed-tech tools to make great learning experiences. Attendees also get time to share!
  • 12/1 Building an Inclusive STEM Driven Classroom 3:30 PM Mirabella B
    • Every student deserves a chance to experience a STEM-driven classroom, and this session is all about allowing folks to share ideas and make that happen. We talk through unconscious bias, personalized learning, and building a great space. We have the discussion, and teachers get to share ideas!
  • 12/2 So, You Want to Be a Creator? Getting Power Out of Video in the Classroom 8:30 AM Broadlands B
    • Video is an excellent creative tool that can be manipulated in many ways in the classroom. It’s also a future-ready skill that students can take and use in their life. On top of everything else, it’s also a great way to present content. This session aims to hit all those points in an easily digestible format for the teacher.
  • 12/2 The Super Spark: 60 Tools to Start the Fire 1:30 PM Broadlands A
    • I hate sessions that only give me one good tool or idea. This session focuses on preventing that. We use different tools to hit on new teaching ideas quickly. The goal is for teachers to be able to find five that really help. They can then explore on their own and take the concepts in a way that really makes their classroom great.
  • 12/2 We are the World, so Why Not Bring it to Kids? 3:05PM Broadlands A
    • Having a global connection can make a class great, and this session is all about showing folks how. We dive into things like the UN SDG’s and examples of student projects that offer teachers the power that they can give folks. We then move into letting teachers dream big and build their own stuff
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10 Things to Ask About a Coding Curriculum: Question 1 Curriculum

11/19/2021

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     As we get near and progress through the holidays, it’s time for a blog series! This series focuses on what to look for in a coding resource, and we will do one step each week. We might take a well off here and there o do conference blogs or special holiday ones, but you should see these carry through to the new year. Hopefully, these will give you the ideas and questions you need to choose wisely.
      Before we get there, though, let’s look at the marketplace. As a whole, Ed-Tech is contracting. There was a period in the late 2000s where startups ruled. Companies were new,  innovative, and there was a place for them in the market. Now, many companies are moving to acquisition, and the major players are either big curriculum companies or big tech companies. There are a few academic fields where that contraction hasn’t come yet, and coding is for sure one of them. There are just a ton of curriculums and other resources out there that you can use. How do you choose?
       The first thing to look for is the actual curriculum. CSforAll Scripts training has this as the first point of their rubric, and it just makes sense. You have to start with the teaching side of it. Some tools and resources would rather stick with the flashy or something cool. The actual curriculum usually comes second there, and it’s somewhat of a reskin to fit the game, resource, or robot. 
      So, what should you look for in a coding resource? It comes down to two things: What is the ceiling, and can the platform grow with the student? If you look for both of those things, you will narrow the field down quickly because only a few fit those needs.
​       Looking for the ceiling means the kids can create multiple things off it easily at any level of experience. That eliminates many of the robots right off of the bat. It also removes items that are focused on one type of character or game. There just isn’t enough for kids to do there.
        If you combine ceiling with the ability for students to grow, you can eliminate many more resources. Many resources focus on one grade band or one language, and you would have to get a multitude of them just to hit every student’s need. While it makes sense to put students at about the same place, you will have some further ahead and some further behind. You want to have that resource that can grow with them at their speed. It also makes it easier to manage when the number of coding tools is limited. You just have to have the right resource to make that happen,
       The other thing to look at with curriculum when you consider both the ceiling and the ability for students to grow with it is what coding languages does the platform or resource support. Many only support one, which hinders both what students can do with it and their ability to advance in the field. You can have more than one language in resource, and by having it, you allow the students who need more and are ready to advance to a scripted language to do so.
        Scope matters in a coding curriculum, and there are platforms out there that have it. It’s what attracted me to join the Tynker team (we go k-12, have a host of languages, and you can create almost anything), but I hope you can find it in whatever you use. Keeping instruction to one platform will help you train teachers, students, and just makes everyone more successful. It also limits IT’s work to one platform, which I know they will like! 


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NYSCATE Preview

11/12/2021

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     It’s my third year at NYSCATE, and I am so excited to say they have entrusted me with8 different sessions! It seems like a bunch, but I think they bring value and will be fun to bring to NY teachers. I want to take this blog to preview the sessions that will be there. 
    This blog also is not just for New York teachers. If you are not at NYSCATE, you can simply become a Bow Tie Member, and you can have access to ALL my presentation resources. If you’re a conference organizer, you can just email me at [email protected] for access.

Sessions at NYSCATE 21
  • Bring the Future to Any Class with Coding
    • ​Saturday, Nov 20 12:30 Hyatt Regency C
    • Not every student needs to be a programmer, but we are to a point where almost everyone will need to understand code. If we keep trying to do it in specialized classes, we will never get to where we need to be. Thankfully, coding is a creative avenue, and you can implement it in any class, including core classes. This session is all about giving awesome and concise ideas to use. Anyone can do it!
  • ​Building an Inclusive STEM Driven Classroom
    • Saturday, Nov 20 3:00 Hyatt Grand A
    • ​The beauty of STEM is that it can include anyone! This session focuses on practices to make that happen, including recognizing unconscious bias, personalizing learning, and building an inclusive space.
  • Ask us Anything! Coding Edition
    • ​Sunday, Nov 21st 11:15 Highland F
    • Are you a little nervous about bringing coding to your classroom? If so, bring your questions here.
  • ​Drive Your Own Story: Creative Presentation Building
    • Sunday, Nov 21 2:45 Cascade AB
    • ​Presentations are boring, but they don’t have to be. In this session, let’s talk about strategies to make them more engaging and bring them to students in great creative scenarios.
  • Apple Lovers Delight 
    • ​​Monday, Nov 22 8:00 Highland A
    • Want to fill your iPad bucket with some great tools? This session gives you a ton to make that happen.
  • App Smash Madness
    • Monday, Nov 22 10:45 Cascade AB
    • You can create great learning experiences by combing a few tools together, and that’s what this session is all about. Let’s look at strategies to develop, some tools to make it happen, and we even give you a chance to try!
  • We are the world, so why not bring it to kids? 
    • Monday, Nov 22 1:30 Highland A
    • Kids can do amazing things! They really can change the world. This session is all about stoking them with unique scenarios to do so (like the SDGs)
  • The Ultimate Chromebook Guide
    • Tuesday, Nov 23 8:45 Cascade AB
    • Do you teach with Chromebooks, and you just want strategies to improve practice. This session is all about giving you just that!
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Scenario Spotlight: Putting Students at an Event

11/5/2021

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      Scenarios matter in getting students to create, and one of my favorites is to put the student at an event. By doing so, students can imagine they are Joe Schmo, and they can retell the story of what they see. Making them go the first person will give them a deeper understanding of that event, and the best part is that you can make those events up. They can be abstract.
    You would think that scenarios would have to be actual events, but they don’t.  Obviously, you could do this with literature events. If the author paints a picture, it should be easy to be imaginative off of it. You could also be even more abstract. You could put students inside an animal cell, they could be present in an abstract concept, or it could be an original scenario concept. It’s up to you! The possibilities are endless. 

Products you could get include:
  • Social Media Post
    • ​​​Social Media is where many of us see breaking news now. It’s just faster. Why not have a student be the first person reporter. The creativity they can get in social media posts makes this a great opportunity. They could use something like Padlet to fake it as well.
  • Blog Post
    • ​​Blog posts are perfect ways for anonymous users to write about at an event. They can fill the blog with emotions from the vent and make it very visceral.
  • Newspaper Reports
    • ​​Writing a newspaper article is a perfect way to put someone at an event, and it’s easy. The Newspaper doesn’t even have to be real.
  • News Broadcast
    • Newspaper reports are easy, and you can always change that format to video to make it a little more creative. Think about having students do onsite reports. They can even interview someone!
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