LPS @ ISTE

Littleton Public Schools is happy to share that a number of our talented educators have been selected to present their innovative practices to an international audience at the 2016 ISTE Conference, which is conveniently located in Denver this year.  We'll post more information as we get it, and look for attendance scholarship information soon.  The LPS Instructional Technology Team hopes to be able to take instructional leaders from all our schools to the summer conference!  

Those chosen from LPS, and their session titles, are:

Name	School	Title	Day		Interactive Lecture
Betsy Sise	Runyon	Book Blogs - Digital Literacy and Collaboration in the Classroom	Wednesday	8:00 - 10:00	Poster
Penny Potts	Franklin	Book Blogs - Digital Literacy and Collaboration in the Classroom	Wednesday	8:00 - 10:00	Poster
Betsy Sise	Runyon	Student Feedback - Various Forms of Communication and Differentiation	Monday	2:30	BYOD
Penny Potts	Franklin	Student Feedback - Various Forms of Communication and Differentiation	Monday	2:30	BYOD
Erin Gonshor	Franklin	Student Feedback - Various Forms of Communication and Differentiation	Monday	2:30	BYOD
Penny Potts	Franklin	My Twitter in the Elementary Classroom	WAITLISTED	WAITLISTED	Poster
Mike Porter	ESC	Student Panel			Panel
Dana Levesque	ESC	Online tools and strategies for reading and writing in an online environment.	Wednesday	11:45	Interactive Lecture
Nate Ubowski	Heritage	Mile High Google Slides and Drawings: Take it to the Next Level	Wednesday	10:15	BYOD
Nate Ubowski	Heritage	Google Classroom: Drink the Kool-Aid [	Monday	11:00	BYOD
Nate Ubowski	Heritage	Google Cardboard, Virtual Field Trips, and Visual Learning: The Power of Maps	Wednesday	11:45	BYOD
Jim Reiner	Centennial	Moving Thinking Forward with MoveNote	Wednesday	1:15	BYOD
Kelly Almer	Centennial	Moving Thinking Forward with MoveNote	Wednesday	1:15	BYOD
Nicolette Vander Velde	East

Hour of Code Week December 7-13 2015

The Hour of Code, is during Computer Science Education Week Dec. 7-13 2015. 

It is a one-hour coding activity where students choose from self-guided tutorials.  The Hour of Code is designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics

Click Here to get started and learn more.

Innovative Education 2016 ISTE Conference Stipend / Special Project Grants 16-17

Applications Open Oct. 1, 2015

Innovative Education Grants, funded by InnEdCo (formerly TIE Colorado), is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for two different grant opportunities for Colorado educators:

1. Need-based stipends to attend the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, June 26-29, 2016 at the Denver Convention Center - The stipends will provide $500 towards conference registration and other expenses. Please review the ISTE 2016 Program Guide to be sure the conference will meet your needs.

Qualified educators must be certified teachers. Administrators need not apply. Applicants must demonstrate: a focus for their learning that will impact their classroom and/or school, and be willing to share their learning with others in their organization. and complete a follow-up evaluation/survey.  Administrator support is also required. Application deadline is midnight Nov 15. Awards will be announced Feb 1, 2016.

2. 2016-17 Special Project Grants to improve student achievement through the integration of technology into K-12 classrooms, a school, or district - Applicants could include Classroom Teachers, Information Technology, Media, and Library specialists, etc. Teams are encouraged to apply. They could Include other specialty areas, i.e. gifted and talented, STEM, literacy, the arts, etc. Grants will be awarded in the amount of $500 to $5,000. Application deadline is midnight Jan 15. Awards will be announced March 1, 2016.

Visit the Endowment’s web pages for grant specifics and updates:

Innovative Education Stipends

Innovative Education Special Project Grants

Applications are accepted online. This is a professional application - high quality content and writing skills are important. Be concise, yet thorough in your responses.

Contact: grants@innedco.org

What we did on our summer "break"

Created with Tagul.com

Google for Education Summit

We invite you to join us for the 2015 EdTechTeam Colorado Summit featuring Google for Education. Join Us!   Register now for two full days of learning! This two-day, high-intensity event focuses on deploying, integrating, and using Google Apps for Education (and other Google tools) to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education.  Pass along to colleagues & friends and enjoy special discounted group rates! Register before 8/11 for early bird pricing! REGISTER NOW Facebook Twitter Google Plus

Copyright © 2015 EdTechTeam, Inc., All rights reserved. You're on this list as a former attendee of an EdTechTeam Global Summit. Our mailing address is: EdTechTeam, Inc. 5405 Alton Parkway Suite 5A-305 Irvine, CA 92604 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

SAVE the DATE! Share Fair Nation is coming to Denver - September 26, 2015 Join us for a day of hands-on, brains-on adventures! Share Fair Nation is a FREE two-part event for educators, students, and communities to come together with education leaders to experience  innovative education practices and strategies. Join us on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at the Morgridge College of Education and be part of the transformation of teaching and learning. Part 1: Classroom Intensives for Educators Educators will select from a variety of thought-provoking professional development workshops. Part 2: STEMosphere for Learners of All AgesStudents, families, teachers, and communities will enjoy an expo of highly interactive, STEM-inspired projects.

GafeSummit Oct 10th & 11th 2015

GAFE = Google Apps For Educators

Gafe Summit Website

Come join hundreds of educators at this years GAFESummit on October 10th and 11th (Saturday and Sunday) at Monarch High School in Boulder Colorado. Littleton teachers have presented at this event for the last several years.  Maybe this is your year to share what you know.  "This two-day high intensity event focuses on deploying, integrating, and using Google Apps for Education ( and other Google tools ) to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education."

There is also a Pre-Summit Workship available on October 9th.  "This one-day experience is designed to inform, inspire, and empower educational leaders. Workshops include sessions for leaders, educators, and technical staff. Breakfast and lunch are provided for all ticketed workshops."

The conference does have a registration fee of $275 if you register before August 10th.
REGISTER NOW

DENapalooza Denver - Learn more about Discovery Education

DENapalooza Denver

Littleton uses Discovery Streaming and Discovery Techbook K-12.  This professional development opportunity is a great way to learn more about the online resources that we all have access to.  Read more about DENapalooza and how you can participate.

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Discovery Education, provider of DEstreaming, is proud to bring the DENapalooza Tour back to Colorado on Saturday, May 16th, 2015at Castle View High School in Castle Rock! Now in it's third year, this tour continues to bring educators together for a day of professional learning, networking, and sharing.

With a mix of presentations by STAR Discovery Educators and members of the Discovery Education team, you'll be sure to leave with new ideas and strategies you can use in your classroom immediately. This FREE learning opportunity is open to any Discovery Education user.

Colorado is a special DENapalooza tour stop! We are fortunate to have Dr. Lodge McCammon joining us to kick off the day! In his opening session, Lodge will share the idea of kinesthetic lessons and engaging our students with movement. He'll get us moving as we learn a variety of his educational songs including "El Rio Colorado" from his Fifty States Project. To learn more about Lodge and his work, visit his web site (http://lodgemccammon.com/) or search for his content within DEstreaming.

Do you use Discovery Education resources with your students? Would you like to share your experiences, project ideas or lessons with other educators? The Colorado DENapalooza team is looking for educators who would be willing to share the projects, ideas, resources, and tools they have used in their classrooms. These 45 minute sessions will be open to all educators at the DENapalooza event. If you have an idea for a formal presentation in the morning, submit your proposal here. Contact Emily Murn with any presentation questions:Emily_Murn@discovery.com If there's something you'd like to discuss during the Strategy Sharing Showcase, be sure to indicate that when you register. 

So join fellow educators for a day of connecting, collaborating and learning on May 16th from 8:30AM-2:30PM. A light breakfast, as well as lunch and PRIZES will be provided! For more information or to register, visit http://www.denapalooza.com. You may also contact Jennifer Jensen, jennifer.jensen@dcsdk12.org, STAR Discovery Educators in DCSD, with questions you might have about this event.

Shared by: Kim McMonagle

2015 Inspired Learning Conference

Inspired Learning Conference - Teachers Leading Best Practices

Littleton Public Schools was proud, for the 7th time, to host the Inspired Learning Conference on April 25th, 2015.   Teachers from Littleton Public Schools as well as Weld District 6, Falcon District 49, Weld Re-8, Academy 20, Brighton 27J, Denver Public Schools and Douglas County Schools were leading and sharing best practices. We were excited to have 4 school board members and our new Superintendent Brian Ewert attend and address the conference participants..

Sessions covered a range of topics:  Virtual Exit Slips, Student Conferencing, Formative Assessment, Google Classroom, Blogging, Personalized Learning, Gamification, Flipped Classroom, Student Feedback, Getting Started and more.  We are fortunate to have active professional colleagues who take a Saturday to learn and share with others.

This year we combined a traditional conference (pre-planned sessions) with an EdCamp strand that Chris Moore and Nate Ubowski guided.  See schedule of sessions here. This open discussion gave everyone a platform to share their experiences/success/struggles and was a great addition to the conference.

I would like to thank the following individuals who helped support/organize this event.

Our fabulous School Board Members, our current Superintendent Scott Murphy, and new Superintendent Brian Ewert, Mark Lindstone - CIO, Mike Porter - Director of Technology, Patty Turner - Director of Learning Services, Randy Stall - Instructional Technology Specialist

Amy McIntosh, Penny Potts and Erin Gonshor for co-leading the Inspired Writing Cohort and helping prepare these teachers to present at this conference.

Arapahoe for the use of their facilities

MORE CONFERENCE PHOTOS - CLICK HERE

Showcase: 2015 Innovation Avenue

Innovation Avenue was April 11th at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center

Innovation Avenue is Littleton’s yearly student showcase that occurs before the LPS Foundation Spirit Dinner.  This year the Spirit dinner was sold out with over 550 in attendance.  This was a great crowd to showcase the work happening in Littleton Public Schools classrooms.  We once again had a group of nearly 100 students and teachers proudly showcasing how technology supports the content standards they are learning.

Kindergartners confidently walking the crowd showing off their iPad project.

High school students explaining the construction process of building a prosthetic foot for a duck and more... 

Middle school showcasing the Middle School STEM programs and more...

A wonderful night for Littleton Public Schools. We are so thankful to have students and teachers that take time on a Saturday to share with the Littleton community their expertise and great work happening in LPS classrooms.

MORE PHOTOS of the evening

CLICK HERE

Showcase: Poetry Inspired by Art

Arapahoe High School Poetry Inspired by LPS Elementary Student Artwork

April is National Poetry Month.   This topic sparked a collaborative connection between  several of our Littleton elementary schools  Highland, Centennial, Field  and Arapahoe High School.  The outcome we were hoping for would be poems generated by high school students that were inspired by elementary artwork along with a greater connection between buildings and learners of all ages.

Here is one example of over 100 to choose from

Poem by: Kirk Zieser (Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream) CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO

First our elementary art teachers shared artwork with Arapahoe High School language arts teachers by using tools like Google photo albums or Google docs. (handout)

The language arts teachers Anne Smith and Maura Moritz had their students choose a piece of artwork from this list that inspired them and had them write a poem about it. These students then used tools like Screencastify, WeVideo, Prezi and SnagIt to capture a video or audio of themselves reading the poem with a picture of the artwork. These poems were then shared back with the elementary art students.  Imagine the excitement of a kindergartner that saw how a "big kid" in the district was inspired by their artwork.

Here is the complete 2015 collaborative Poetry Inspired by Art project:  

2015 POETRY INSPIRED BY ART

2014 Collaborative Poetry Inspired by Art project

Art Teachers:

Gayla Ruckhaus: Centennial Elementary

Jodi Turk: Field Elementary

Scarlet Lammers: Highland Elementary  

To see other amazing collaborative projects happening at Arapahoe High School visit Anne Smith’s or Maura Moritz’s websites.  Student voice is a centerpiece for these Master Teachers. Checkout their Wikified Research Project, Skyping with Authors like Daniel Pink and Ted Talks just to name a few.

Showcase: Celebrate Pi Day on March 14th ( 3.14 )

March 14th each year ( 3.14 ) is a special holiday for math-lovers.  It is called Pi Day.  This day is used to celebrate the mathematical constant pi. Pi is an irrational number and is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its radius, and it starts with 3.1415926535897…this number continues into infinity.

Lynn Duran a math teacher at Euclid Middle School celebrated today (March 10th) a few days early.

Here are a few great pictures of her students, working with online math simulations, learning from outside speakers (engineers..), using manipulatives, and of course eating Pi.

Incorporating technology with online math simulations

Working with guest speakers ( engineers... )

Using manipulatives

Eating Pi

To learn more about Pi day and what Lynn and other LPS math teachers do contact Lynn Duran at Euclid Middle School.