Monday, March 20, 2017

Scholarship Opportunity - 2017 InnEdCO Conference


There is still time to apply for a registration scholarship to the 2017 InnEdCO Conference.  

The deadline for applying for a scholarship is Friday, April 7th, 2017.

INNEdCo Scholarship Application - you must be signed into your .us account to fill out the form

The conference dates are June 13th through 15th.  It will be held at the Keystone Resort.  For more information on the conference go to innedco.org.

Just a reminder that this scholarship is for regular conference registration ONLY and does not include lodging or additional events.  If you have any questions feel free to contact Randy Stall rstall@lps.k12.co.us.


Wednesday, March 15, 2017

InnEdCo Scholarships 2017

We are pleased to announce that the ITS Department will again offer registration scholarships to the 2017 InnEdCo (formerly TIE) Conference.  In previous years, LPS has fielded a large contingent of attendees and presenters at the conference and we want to continue that tradition.  The scholarship will cover only the cost of the regular conference registration (not housing, accommodations, the Google for Education event or the Leadership Academy).  This year’s conference will be held at the Keystone Resort on June 13th through 15th.
We encourage schools to put together a team of teachers to attend the conference but each individual teacher must fill out a scholarship application form.  Scholarship recipients will be asked to provide a staff development session in the building during the 2017-18 school year informing the staff of the ideas and take-aways they gained from the conference, so as you attend, think about how you can “pay it forward” to your colleagues.
Below is a link to the scholarship application form. INNEdCo Scholarship Application - you must be signed into your lps.k12.co.us account to fill out the form
Innovative Education Colorado (InnEdCo) formerly TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION COLORADO, INC. (TIE) is a Colorado-based organization founded in 1986 by a group of teachers with a vision of hosting a conference focusing on the increasing role technology plays in education.
InnEdCo organizes the premier statewide conference helping teachers integrate technology tools with 21st Century skills, including technology and information literacy standards, into all content areas. Its major objective is to run a four-day, hands-on, technology-focused conference each summer that models and promotes the use of technology integration in the classroom. Last year’s conference highlighted 100+ different workshops, featured speaker sessions, and roundtables with more than 170 different presenters and co-presenters, primarily classroom teachers
If you have any questions feel free to contact Randy Stall  rstall@lps.k12.co.us

Tuesday Teacher Tips


Every Tuesday Google for Education releases tips on three (3) of their tools:
  • Google Expeditions
  • Google Forms
  • Google Classroom

The tips are submitted by everyday users.  See if you can get your tip included.  The tips are cumulative, so you can go back and reference tips from weeks ago.

Google Classroom Teacher TIPS Also check out


Google Forms Teacher TIPS
Also check out
G+ Community (Docs and Drive)













Google Expeditions Teacher TIPS
Also check out

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Screencastify in the Classroom

Screencastify is a chrome extension that can capture video/audio on a computer screen or webcam. It is being widely used by students and teachers in LPS. If you have not heard of Screencastify yet or need some convincing that this tool can widen what you do in your classroom, take a look at how your peers in LPS are using it. Screencastify Help Document


Makendra Silverman - Science Newton Middle School
There is never enough time. Create a science lab demonstration video with steps/expectations that students watch for homework. Students get started right away in the beginning of class. They can also refer to the video throughout the lab for clarification. This provides the teacher time to stretch student thinking rather then repeating directions. "This saved us because kids are ready without me needing to do the demo in person for class time. Such fun! Next video in the series may have to be how to clean up so they know that to."

Contact Makendra Silverman for additional questions msilverman@lps.k12.co.us


Erin Gonshor - Franklin Elementary 4th grade As a busy teacher, I often feel frustrated that I can not conference with every student or give meaningful feedback after I've graded their work in a timely manner. I use Screencastify in Writers Workshop for: conferring, next steps or goals, and feedback on assessments. I will typically have the video go right to my students' drives or send in through Google Classroom attached to their grade. Making two or three videos a day before I head home, allows me to start my workshop with a clear job for each writer. The key to making this tool time efficient, is not to get too picky about the editing! Screencastify also helps me get important information to parents and students regarding homework or administrative messages. A video is often easier than writing multiple emails with long-winded directions.
  • Book Project 
  • Video Helping a Parent with Math 
  • Small Group Instruction 
  • Assessment Feedback

Contact Erin Gonshor for additional questions egonshor@lps.k12.co.us


Julia Bransgrove - Band Newton Middle SchoolWhat a great way for students to show you their most polished performance and an opportunity to retry/rerecord their work. Additional benefits include students practicing more often and time saved in class to listen to each student individually. 

Contact Julia Bransgrove for additional questions jbransgrove@lps.k12.co.us

Twitter in the Classroom

Twitter in an LPS classroom

Penny Potts a 4th grade teacher at Franklin Elementary opens up her students audience by having them share their book recommendations on their class Twitter account @MsPottsLearners. Students are receiving likes, retweets and comments. What a great way to share their love of reading and knowing that others are listening and commenting back. 


Find more of her students book recommendations here #pottsbookrecs


Getting Started Twitter Resources
Why Twitter?
Getting Started
Twitter in the Classroom
Building your PLN
Advanced Steps


Franklin LPS student highlighted on Chris Colfer's Twitter page.


Wednesday, March 8, 2017

3D Printing in Elementary schools

Fifth graders at Franklin elementary are 3D printing original designed objects using Tinkercad (directions). They are learning that multiple iterations are a part of learning how to print in a 3-dimensional world. As Ms. Goutell said this past week. "The printer is not broken your design needs to be modified" Students are using printing failures as opportunities to understand the need for design supports. 
(This is an optional opportunity for students, who are designing on their own time after school because of interest.) 















First graders heard about the 3D printing and wanted to see what it was all about. They were studying 3D shapes (rectangular prisms, cones...) so a 3D printer was brought in to talk about what it is and print 3D shapes for the class.