Family Tips - Family Dinner Project

Consider incorporating Device Free Dinner Challenge to your families meal time.  The Family Dinner Project site gives fun tips for families of all ages to have great dinner conversations and leave the devices off the dinner table. 

Device Free Dinner Starter Kit

Google Drive - Add a File to Multiple Folders

Save a file to multiple locations in Google Drive without making copies. Open Google Drive Select one or more files or folders You can use the Control key on Windows, or Command key on Mac, to select non-consecutive files and folders. Press SHIFT + Z and you’ll see an “Add to Folder” pop-up Select the folder where you wish to add the selected files Click OK This makes Drive organization easier and if you edit the file inside one folder, all the other instances are updated as well since they are essentially pointing to the same file. 

Google Slides - Facilitate Classroom Discussions & Student Choice

Using Google Slides for Classroom Discussions / Feedback

Only 24 hours after Heritage students received their Chromebooks, Patty Gravitt a math educator at Heritage High School already had plans for them in class. Patty used GoogleSlides along with SnapShots to collect (digitize) handwritten math work to start a class discussion and provide peer feedback.  This strategy can be used in any content to encourage students viewing their peers work, giving feedback and sharing handwritten work to a group.

Resources/Links:
Google Slides
SnapShots and Screenshots on a Chromebook

Google Classroom - Topics

Use Google Classrooms new feature Topics.  This feature allows you to chunk assignments together by chapter, unit, notes, quizzes.... and gives students and you a better way to filter through all of your content over a semester or even a year.

Learn more here

Filter Bypass

Teachers have the ability to bypass our Internet filter using their network login credentials. This can be useful if you have YouTube videos you wish to show to your class. Click on the link below for step-by-step instructions.

Directions here

District Instructional Technology Support

District Support

TECH TUESDAY - Monday Models has been moved to Tech Tuesdays.  We will be sending an email announcement for this.

GOOGLE CERTIFICATION BOOTCAMP - interested in becoming a Google Certified Educator?  Join us for peer mentoring sessions to get ready to take the Google Certification test.  These sessions are NOT trainings but a place to collaborate with other LPS teachers that have this goal of Google Certification.  Stay tuned for more details on this.

SUPPORT TO GO - don't have time to meet in person? Add us to your Skype or Google Hangouts contacts list and we will connect virtually for some "take out" PD!

Dana’s Skype Name: danalevesque Google Hangout: danalevesque3

Randy’s Skype Name: randy.stall Google Hangout: rstall

PLN ( Personal Learning Network ) -  join Twitter and follow the #littletontech  hashtag to join our district PLN (Personal Learning Network) to share out your successes, tips, resources, and research. Free PD

PILOT CLASSROOMS - interested in trying out new tools/strategies?  We periodically need teachers to help us test in their classroom? Contact us to find out how to get involved.

Building Support

LUNCH & LEARN - have us come out to facilitate a Lunch & Learn session for your staff on a topic of your choice or use a Genius Hour approach. (expert answering individual needs/questions) This can be scheduled regularly (weekly, biweekly, monthly).

PLC Support - schedule us to work with specific PLC teams around PLC focus areas (formative assessment, data collection/organization/interpretation)

inTECHgrated PD WORKSHOPS - schedule us to visit your staff or specific departments to offer PD on a specific area of technology integration.

DESIGN IT YOUR WAY - contact us to consult with you to create an offering that meets your building needs.

Individual / Team Support

ONE-TO-ONE COACHING - an opportunity for you to receive one-on-one, personalized support from us.

GET ME STARTED - for beginners or those struggling with the vast technology

at their disposal. Sit down with us to walk you through the basics of what you need to know to get started.

REFRESHER SESSIONS - there's been a lot to learn over the past couple years.

Have you had some technology training a while ago and need a refresher to use it to its fullest potential. We are more than happy to meet with you to refresh your memory!

ASSESSMENTS / PLC Work - explore how to use the power of technology to meaningfully enhance both formative assessment, summative assessment and data management (sorting and organization)

ASSISTANCE - receive assistance from us to support you with special projects you are working on in your classroom or personally assist you in learning our system supported software/apps to enhance your practice. ( Infinite Campus, Google… )

APPY HOUR - gather a group of teachers to explore online tools/extensions that scaffold learning for teachers and students.

BRAINSTORMING SESSION - time with us  to generate innovative ideas for technology integration and enhancing student learning.

CONTENT AREA UPDATE - invite us to your department meeting to discuss specific content tools/practices being used at other buildings in the district.

CO-PLANNING - we can collaboratively plan lessons/units infused with meaningful technology to support student learning.

MODELING - have us visit your classroom to model a specific software or tool of your choice that supports teaching and learning.

PEER COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES - interested in collaborating with other teachers in the district? We can assist you in finding the right partner(s).

REFLECTION - time with us to follow up, reflect, and explore next steps.

SHARING SUCCESS - talk with us  to either draft a story of success to share from your classroom/building on the IT blog, monthly newsletter, or record a short video celebrating your success to inspire others in the LPS Share Space.

TEACH US - are you doing something innovative in your classroom that you would like to share? We are eager to learn from you! Give us a call.

TEAM TEACHING – have us come out to your classroom to team teach one of your lessons that involves a technology component.

DESIGN IT YOUR WAY - don’t see what you need.  Contact us and we will collaborate to create an offering that meets your individual and/or team/department needs.


Modified from RCSD.CA

Google Forms - Add images to questions and answers

Google Forms now has the ability to insert images into questions and also has the ability to add images to multiple choice or checkbox option answers.  This gives teachers the ability to have students analyze images/diagrams/equations... in an assessment.

Learn more here

Password Reset

You have the ability to change your network and Google passwords without any assistance from the ITS department. You can go to the Password Self-Service Portal to do this.


Follow DIRECTIONS

Password Self Service Portal

edcamp Denver, 2/6/2016

Saturday, February 6th, 2016 – Grant Beacon Middle School

Register Now for your FREE ticket! bit.ly/edcampdenver16

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edcamp Denver will begin at 8:00am with registration, breakfast refreshments, networking, and session-building with your colleagues. This is when you can sign up to lead a session, prepare for the day’s events, and meet some new friends. At 8:20am, the organizers will kickoff the unconference and edcamp Denver will get underway!

Sessions will be 45 minutes in length, and there will be 10 minutes in between each session to allow participants to navigate the building, tweet, pause, write, and reflect on their learning.

Bringing a laptop or Chromebook is strongly recommended. WiFi will be available, and we encourage you to use it!

2016 Special Project Grants Program

Request for Proposals

Innovative Education Special Project Grants to improve student achievement through the integration of technology into K-12 classrooms, a school, or district will be awarded for the 2016-17 school year. Applicants could include Classroom Teachers, Information Technology, Media, and Library specialists, etc. Special Project Grants 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.

Special Project Grant guidelines and requirements: 2016-17 Special Project Grants Guidelines
This is a professional application high quality content and writing skills are important. Be concise, yet thorough in your responses. Please keep a copy of your Request for Proposal for later reference. You may download the 2016-2017 Special Project Grants Application to prepare your answers ahead of time.

Link to Special Project Grant application
  Contact: grants@innedco.org

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