eLearning

This is very late - finally coming up for air!

4 weeks ago, the superintendent called in the Tech team and asked us if we could pull off some sort of distance learning K-12 we said YES and he said GO. In a little over a week - with administrators and teachers on board we crafted a plan. schedule etc below On Monday 3/9 (In case) we did staff development (more details here). We spent the weekend crafting a plan for the high school and after coming up for air, I only share this in case other schools might find this useful. and on Monday 3/16 teachers were meeting and then packing their stuff to go home.

We are so fortunate to be in a state that values technology (Angus King 2001) and a district that continues to support technology K-12 We have a 4 year cycle for our equipment in Grades 7 -12 and after that they go to spares and 5th and 6th graders. iPads 1-1 in grades 1 -4 that don't go home and KG has class sets. The 1 - 4's are going to be deployed this week and the KG's are
Grades 7 -12 already take home
Grades 5 and 6 use the computers that were in the previous cycle but they didn't take home. The middle school deployed all of those devices, alerted parents and

Our main goal was to keep it simple for staff and students. Our high school is built on relationships and we wanted to make that our priority. We also understood that teachers were going to have to scramble to take remake their classes online, something most of them had never done. And the students also needed support - while they may be tech savvy, this online style doesn't work for every learner.

Staff Prep:
At our staff meeting on 3/9, I introduced the eLearning Overview and the Online Teaching Resources. The three tools that everyone will use are Gmail, Google Classroom, and Google Hangouts Meet. All teachers were already using Gmail and most use Classroom, so we needed to prepare them for how to use Hangouts Meet. We suggested using this Netiquette guide. After the introduction, teachers went back to their classrooms. Each learning area leader hosted a "Hangout" for their group. The department brainstormed ideas for how they would use it with students.

Schedule:
Our normal schedule is a 2 day Block schedule. We changed it to be a three day rotating schedule so that we could have more office hours for student support and give teachers time to craft the changes to their classes. Each Day Blue, White, and Gold have links to the all classes, attendance, and the support staff that are available to help students. Next was making sure that there was a consistent way to access classes for both parents and students. Feedback from students was that they wanted every teacher to have a landing page. So we created a master sheet of teachers with a link to each teacher page.

More information coming

I am so thankful to the online community.
Resources -
Online Learning Guides from International Schools
Lucy Gray
Wes Fryer

Tour Creator

I tried out the new Google Tour Creator and found it to be very user-friendly and pretty intuitive to use. I made a tour of my recent trip to Iceland. Definitely putting this into summer professional development.



I used Richard Byrne's video tutorial and Andrew Caffrey's directions. You need to have the tool turned on in your school domain if you are using this with students. Here's the published tour

Maine Summit 2017

For more information

Announcing the EdTechTeam Maine Summit

For more information

Registration form for Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

GRADUATE COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Teachers will explore the use of online tools that support student learning, collaboration, and communication that extends beyond classroom walls. They will also become knowledgeable about curricular best practices and skills as they fit into the K- 12 classroom. 

Emphasis is given to cloud computing and collaborative technologies for a digital age school. GSuite for Education as well as digital based learning theories will be explored. Educators will be exposed to many of the GSuite Applications as well as create a final project and presentation of how they will use the tools in the classroom setting. Cr. 3 M

Registration Form

Google Expeditions comes to Yarmouth High School

Recently,  Yarmouth High School was invited to take part in the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. This program uses virtual reality to take students on tours of different kinds of places they may never be able to visit in real life. There are hundreds of curriculum based “tours”. The Expeditions Team will be coming to YHS on Thursday, April 7th for the entire day.

Coincidentally, our Teacher Technology time on Wednesday March 30 will be about using Google Cardboard and virtual reality. Teachers will have some time to try it out and see what it’s like.

The idea is for a teacher to pick an expedition and then create a mini lesson around it. Many expeditions fit with what we are doing right now in our curricula. Google brings all of the equipment. The list of expeditions is here.  There are over 180 options, so be prepared to browse! Use Command-F to search for keywords to see what is available (try World War, Rome, Asia, Biome, etc.). 

You can read more about Expeditions here. We are very excited to be able to bring this opportunity to our students. Stay tuned!

GAFE New England Summit

Links to the sessions

Reading for November 13, 2013 at 11:26AM: Teaching In The Cloud: How Google Docs Are Revolutionizing The Classroom

Any experienced English teacher knows the drill: on the dreaded due date, students bring printed copies of their essays to class, where we collect them, take them home, jot inscrutable comments in the margins, bring them back to class, return them, and then watch students promptly toss them

via Pocket via Mike Kalin:
http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2013/11/12/teaching-collaborative-technology-mike-kalin#.UoNHoJjFHKc.twitter

Summer Learning Opportunities

This is one of most favorite places on Earth!  I hope that you are enjoying your favorite spot(s) as summer gets going. But after a week or so I get antsy to keep up with my learning. If you're ready to take on something new when you're not able to bask at the beach, camp, or the weather outside is lousy, why not try some new learning with technology? Here are a few courses and workshops that you might be interested in:

Technology Teacher.ME - July 8 - 10, 2013
Cloud Camp New Hampshire - July 11, 2013
21st Century Teaching and Learning with Technology - July 15 - 19, 2013
MLTI Summer Institute - July 23 - 25, 2013
Technology for Innovation at Tilton Academy - August 1 & 2, 2013
Maine Google Summit and PreSummit -  August 6 - 9, 2013

SEA STaff Tech Camp #seatechcamp

The Sebago Education Alliance Tech Camp was a 3 day conference for teachers to learn all kinds of new ways to integrate technology.

If you were in my sessions and want resources, here they are:

• Google Certified Training
• Paperless Classroom
• Be a Gmail Master

Thanks to @topher8 and crew for a terrific three days!

Google Reboot 2013

On Friday, I attended the Google Certified Teacher and Trainers Reboot in New Your City. We had a fabulous day with a mix of GCT's, and Googlers. It was great to reconnect with everyone and meet some new folks. The networking at an event like this is really inspiring!

As always, Google is an amazing host and Jordan Pedraza was a spectacular planner and master of ceremonies! I was lucky enough to work with Jordan, Cheryl Oakes, and Susan Ettenheim on the planning team. Here are the resources.

And, #gctreboot2013 was trending on Twitter! Here's what we had to say!

A few of us debriefed after the session. Thanks to the NY Tech Ed Group!

Google Apps for Your School Community

Presentation to RSU 87 Carmel and Levant, Maine
March 14, 2013
Resources 

Google in Education Cloud Camp

Google in Education Cloud Camp NH 

July 11th at UNH Manchester

This day long event with be chock full of fun and inspiration for educators, administrators and like minded professionals looking to leverage the cloud! This is a full day of sessions with Google Apps Certified Teachers, Trainers and Experienced Professionals that will facilitate and lead collaboration and sharing.

This will be an 'interactive' day.  Plan to 'get going' or 'level up' whether you are new to Google or a seasoned Googler looking to further your pursuit in the cloud.

Highlights of NH's 1st Ever Google in Education Cloud Camp include:

• Beginners Strand - ALL DAY.  Attend them all or pick and choose which beginner course you need.
• School Community - Administration, Teachers/Classrooms, Student Perspective
• Leveraging Drive & Forms for a Paperless Classroom
• Picassa WebAlbums
• Sites for Beginners & Advanced
• Chromebook & Nexus Tablet - Make and Take 

For more information

GAFE Maine Summit

Yarmouth High School hosted the Google Apps for Education Maine Summit. Kicked off by Governor Angus King and Senior Education Evangelist +Jamie Casap, the uber learning experience began!

For two days, 250 learners from Maine as well as all over the United States joined us for amazing professional development. There were four sessions the first day followed by a demo slam. The second day featured another four sessions. There was a wide range of levels and experiences for attendees. All of the session links are posted. Thanks to all of the presenters both local and from other places. Thanks to the students who helped. Thanks to the Googlers who joined us - Tia, Tina, and Kelly. Thanks to Sarah Sutter and Kern Kelley and his students for taking pictures. Thanks to Kern Kelley, Richard Byrne, Mark Wagner and Michael Wacker for helping with the organization. I hope we can do it again next year!

Link to Slideshow

Google Apps EDU Summit by EdTechTeam originally shared thispost:

The new fiscal year is here, and there is less than six weeks until the Google Apps for Education Maine Summit! The limited time "T-Shirt" promotion for individual registration is still available, but only while supplies last - and early bird pricing is only available for 10 more days. Group registration is still available online too. The California summit on July 12 & 13 sold out almost two weeks early, and Maine will sell out soon. In short, now is the time to register. :)

Register Now: http://me.gafesummit.com/registration

We invite you to join us for the first annual Google Apps for Education Maine Summit to be held at Yarmouth High School on August 16 and 17, 2012. This high intensity two day event focuses on deploying, integrating and using Google Apps for Education to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education. The program features Google Certified Teachers, Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers, practicing administrators, solution providers, Google engineers, and representatives from the Google Apps for Education team.

Learn More: http://me.gafesummit.com

Join us for Lobster and Learning!

Yarmouth High School

August 16 & 17

http://me.gafesummit.com

We invite you to join us for the first annual Google Apps for Education Maine Summit to be held at Yarmouth High School on August 16 and 17, 2012. This high intensity two day event focuses on deploying, integrating and using Google Apps for Education to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education. The program features Google Certified Teachers, Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers, practicing administrators, solution providers, Google engineers, and representatives from the Google Apps for Education team. 

Register now to send teachers, administrators, tech directors, library media specialists, tech support staff, CTOs, and anyone who is interested in finding out more about leveraging Google Apps for Education to support student learning.

Google Apps for the School Community: Google Education on Air

Yesterday was the Google Education on Air Conference. Here are the session notes, presentation and the video from my session on Google+. If you watched, please give feedback here.

ACTEM 2011 Workshop

Google Apps for Ed in the English and Social Studies Classroom

Design activities for your English and Social classroom that promote the collaborative process through the use of Google tools. Current classroom models will be provided. Time will be given to create your own classroom activity. 

Here's the site we'll be working from.

Google Geo Institute

On September 26th and 27th, I attended the Google Geo Institute at The University of Southern Maine in Lewiston/Auburn. The two mornings sessions were presentations and the afternoons were split between learning Google Earth and Google SketchUp. I enjoyed Toby Lester's speech about the Fourth Part of the World (his website is fantastic) and the Giant map of North America.

It was fun to have Wes Fryer, Mike Arsenault, Kern Kelley, and Cindy Lane there to hang out with. I also enjoyed meeting a number of people from all over including Jerome Burg, Michael Hathorn, Bill Bass and "The Montana Guys". Thanks to Tina and Alyson from Google and MICDL for hosting us!

2011 Sakai Institute, Deerfield New Hampshire

D Sharon Pruitt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/4452232419/

Session 1: Google Earth

Description: There are so many innovative ways to use Google Earth with your students. Come learn about some projects teachers are using in their classrooms. We will also do a beginner's tutorial on how to get started with Google Earth.

If you would like to contribute how you are using Google Earth in your classroom, please add to this document. I hope you find it useful. Here is the resource page.

Session 2: Search Strategies

Description: Using the internet for searching can be a remarkable research tool for students. However. they often can use your assistance when encountering information overload. Come learn about strategies that will help your students become crack researchers. Here is the resource page.

If you want to follow the conference #sakaiTLC