rosterSync for Admins and Teachers - sync your SIS to Google Classroom

rosterSync is a great new, free tool from New Visions Cloud Lab, the same people behind the Chromebook Inventory Tool. rosterSync has two versions: Super Admin and Teacher.



rosterSync: Super Admin Edition
The Super Admin edition allows GAFE super admin's to create and update Google Classroom, including populating classes, using CSV exports from Student Information Systems. SIS systems that are currently supported include Blackbaud, Infinite Campus, NYC DOE STARS and PowerSchool.

This tool means that teachers don't have to create classes and have students join using a code.

rosterSync: Teacher Edition

The Teacher Edition allows teachers to sync a Google Classroom course roster -- including student email addresses -- directly with Google Sheets for handy use with Add-ons like Doctopus, formMule, autoCrat, formRanger, and others. This will save teachers and students who use those tools a lot of time. 

Related:

Google for Education Resources (Google Apps, Chromebooks and more)

Google Classroom resources for Educators

Chromebook Deployment Help Resources

GAFE and Chromebooks Admin Console Best Practices and Tips

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Remembering 9/11 14 years later

I was in EMS for 22 years before retiring due to a back injury. One of my most memorable experiences was responding to New York City as a Paramedic in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I will never forget that experience. What I saw and did are still with me, as is a type of asthma from breathing the dust. My Experience as a Paramedic on 9-11-01 

As the years have gone by, I've noticed that people are not remembering this terrible event like they did the first few years after. I know that my EMS, Fire and Police colleagues all do, as do the brave men and women of our armed forces who fight every day against terrorism.

I've also noticed less being done in schools lately. Most of today's students weren't even born when 9/11 occurred. Please teach them about it (facts only please) and make sure they understand what it means.



Yesterday, this photo was taken showing a rainbow leading right to the WTC site and the Freedom Tower!

United We Stood, United We Stand Today is a day Americans will never forget. It is a day of remembrance, a day of reflection and a day to be proud. It is a day we honor and remember the thousands of lives lost, the survivors, and those who rose up in service in response to the attacks on 9-11-2001. It is a day we pay tribute to and reflect on the sacrifices of the public safety workers and the men and women in our military who serve us and protect us 365 days a year. It is a day Americans can be proud of the way we came together following the attacks on 9-11. United We Stood. United We Stand.

Here are some more resources about my experience on 9/11 and 9/11 in general:

My Experience as a Paramedic on 9-11-01

Remembering 9/11 (from 2009)

Great collection of sites about Osama bin Laden, terrorism, and the wars in the Middle East from Larry Ferlazzo.

http://www.history.com/content/9-11/102-minutes

http://makehistory.national911memorial.org/

http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=New_Home

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1921566_1932073,00.html

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/08/13/the-best-sites-to-help-teach-about-911/







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Welcome Back to School! Here are some great resources to get the year started right!

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a great summer and was able to relax and recharge. My wife's district started back on August 24th, some other schools around here started last week, and many start today.

The beginning of the year is always a little crazy for all teachers. Getting your room setup, implementing new ideas into your lesson plans, getting to know your students, and just settling back in to the routine can be busy and stressful. Remember to not over do it and take time for yourself. 

One thing I've done in the past that helped me is using a check list of everything I have to do when school starts, including setting up my room (computer, bulletin boards, etc), things I want to post in my room, lesson ideas and more in Evernote. I modify it each year, adding new things for the following year. 

Here are some more tips, resources, and help to get your school year started on a positive note, and keep it that way. 

Advice to New College Graduates about to enter the Teaching profession 

Summary of new teacher tips, urban schools issues, technology resources

My Favorite Resources for Teachers and Students

Evernote for Education Resources - the ultimate note taking, web clipping, lesson planning resource

Create a Personal Learning Network - a PLN is an excellent resource for help, advice, and sharing ideas.

Google for Educators - Google has a huge number of free resources for teachers and students. Check them all out (they're all free).

Overview of some free technology that can help you be more organized and efficient.


Good luck and I hope everyone has a great school year!!



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September is National Preparedness Month - Here are some great resources!

It's National Preparedness Month, and start of the Hurricaine Season. With all of the crazy weather we have seen, it's good to be prepared.

It is important to consider three scenarios when planning for an emergency: 1) an escape route and meeting point if everyone is in the house; 2) what to do during a school day; and 3) how to handle an emergency during the weekend, when family members might be scattered.

Although many people are familiar with the concept of developing a family plan for emergencies, most fail to take the time to sit down and actually come up with one. One great resource is the FEMA-sponsored website: http://www.ready.gov/. Check out their kids section too: http://www.ready.gov/kids

Schools need to be prepared themselves, as well as teach their staff and students how to be prepared.

Each household, business, and school should have an emergency plan, emergency kits and people trained in emergency preparedness and response.

I started my training in emergency preparedness while on my trail to Eagle Scout. Emergency Preparedness is a required merit badge and the Boy Scouts emphasize emergency preparedness among the scouts. I am also a paramedic, special operations paramedic and FEMA trained in Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Management. Here are some of my favorite resources for learning about Emergency Preparedness.

Ready.gov is the US Government's web site for information and resources on emergency preparedness and response. There are resources for making a plan, an emergency kit, and how to stay informed. Information is included for individuals and businesses.

The Boy Scouts of America, who train all their Scouts and Adults in Emergency Preparedness, has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to provide resources for the public on getting prepared. The site has planning resources, how to make an emergency kit, and other resources.

The American Red Cross website also has information for creating an emergency plan and how to prepare for different emergencies. They also sell emergency kits (they are very good and a decent price). You can always make your own using their lists though. There is a full section on preparing schools and students. The Preparedness Fast Facts page is an excellent, one stop resource.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Emergency Management Insitute
The FEMA EMI offers free, online courses for anyone to take. The courses are well done and there are plenty of downloadable materials to help you. If you pass the test at the end, you even get a certificate.

Here are a list of the courses that I think all educators should take: (I've taken these, and more)

IS-7   A Citizen's Guide to Disaster Assistance
IS-22 Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness
IS-55 Household Hazardous Materials - A Guide for Citizens
IS-100.Sca Introduction to the Incident Command System for Schools
IS-362 Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools


Education Administrators should also be involved in community emergency planning because schools are on the top of the list as emergency shelters and field hospitals and the building administrators know their buildings.

You can even join your local Community Emergency Response Team. These are teams of citizens that are specially trained to help out in major emergencies, sort of like the reserves. Find out more here. Here is a list of CERT's by State: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertIndex.do?submitByState


Emergency Preparedness is everyone's responsibility. The Japanese know this and that is one reason why the disaster over there is not worse that it is. Share these resources with your students, colleagues, and family.

Some app substitutions for iPad apps to use on a Chromebook

Chromebooks - apps recommendations and substitutions

Many “apps” made for iOS and Android aren’t meant to be used as apps on a Chromebook, anymore than they would be on a Mac or Windows device. You can just use the website. Others have web apps and/or extensions.

1. Google Maps web app
2. Kindle - use website or Kindle Cloud Reader web app
3. Stage - no direct alternative, but there are “whiteboarding apps”
4. PS Express - Pixlr Editor or PicMonkey
5. Dropbox - Dropbox Web App
6. Educreations - (Lensoo) - go to Educreations website and login,
7. Chatterpix - use Pixlr or PicMonkey (see #4)
8. PhotoFun Animal - no direct alternative (doesn’t seem educational either)
9. Wikipanion - just go to Wikipedia site
10. QR Reader - use ScanQR
11. Accelerated Reader (AR) - Renaissance Learning AR, Achieve3000 Mobile
12. BookPress - (Book Creator) - PictureBook Creator, 5 Online Tools for Creating Picture Books
13. Popplet - go to Popplet website and login and use online
14. Ebackpack - login to eBackpack website
15. Edmodo - login to Edmodo website
16. Nearpod - login to Nearpod website
17. Adobe Reader - Acrobat Reader web app, Google Drive will also open PDF files
18. Overdrive - try the Overdrive web app,
19. Pages - use Google Docs
20. Numbers - use Google Sheets
21. Keynote - use Google Slides
22. iMovie - use WeVideo
23. iPhoto - use Pixlr or Pickmonkey (#4 above) for editing. Google Photos (part of Google Drive) can also be used to organize your photos and do basic editing.

More:

• Google Drive
• Can use Office Editing web app to edit and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.
• Find more here: Google Apps and Chromebooks Web App Recommendations - a whole lot!

Remember to add these through the Admin Console as pushed or recommended apps for your users.(Scroll down to Force-Installed Apps and Extensions)

3D CAD and 3D Printing with Chromebooks

Everyone who reads this blog knows I'm a huge fan of Chromebooks, especially for education. One area that I get asked about often is 3D CAD and 3D Printing. So here is some info. I am by no means an expert on 3D printing though.

Tinkercad is a completely web-based, 3D CAD system that works on Chromebooks. I've used it and found it easy to use and pretty powerful (and I've used systems like CATIA, Pro-Engineer and SolidWorks). You can easily download the STL file to use with the 3D printer. Tinkercad also has some great resources to help you learn how to use it.

I haven't found a 3D printer that would work directly from a Chromebook, but even Windows laptop schools connect a powerful desktop to their 3D printer to do the rendering and printing and allow the student to use their device for other things while the job runs. Some printers even have built in support for accessing files from media devices like flash drives so you can print direct.

So, students can do their designs on the Chromebooks, and then the files can be accessed on the desktop PC and printed on the 3D printer.

Two more things Chromebooks can do!



Related:

What can you do on a Chromebook? Pretty much everything.

Google Resources for Education

STEM Resources for Students and Educators



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CK-12 Integrates Its Awesome Educational Resources With Google Classroom

CK-12, a great resource for free e-textbook and curricular resources, has just announced that it is integrating with Google Classroom. Google recently updated Classroom to allow third parties to integrate and share with Classroom and CK-12 has just done that.

The Google Classroom share button is now in CK-12 so teachers and students can access all of the content in CK-12 from within Google Classroom. A teacher can easily share any textbook, video, activity or assignment they find in CK-12 right into Classroom for their students to access.

Check out this video that shows how it works:

Related:

More about CK-12 and their excellent resources

More about Google Classroom

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10 Free Tools for Back to School for Teachers

Astute Hoot, a site, run by educators, that has reading and math strategy animals and accompanying books, hands-on tools, lessons, and graphic organizers, has a free download that has 10 template and sample files for teachers to help them get the new school year started a little easier.

The FREE Top 10 Tools for Back to School includes the following sample files:

1. Beginning of the Year Checklist
2. Golden Keys to Success Responsibility Chart
3. Golden Keys to Success Parent Brochure
4. Routines, Procedures & Transitions: Walking in line
5. Icebreaker Activity: Top 10 About Me
6. Common Core Reading Strategies Poster
7. Behavior Reflection Think Sheet
8. First Day of School Lesson Plan
9. Social Story--Following Directions
10. Parent Welcome Letter sample

Take a look.

Related:

Welcome Back! Some great resources to get your school year started

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Mozilla Foundation announces some new, free educational resources

The Mozilla Foundation is a global nonprofit that promotes openness, innovation and participation on the Internet. Their mission is to improve universal web literacy, or the ability to read, write and participate on the Web.

This summer, Mozilla is rolling out new, free tools and curriculum to help learners of all ages achieve web literacy.

Webmaker Beta is a free, open source Android app that allows smartphone users of any skill level to create original content online. Here is a blog post on Webmaker and you can download it here. 

Maker Party is Mozilla's annual global campaign to teach web literacy through hands-on learning. This year, from July 15 - 31, educators and students can use their curriculum and teach others how to read, write and participate online. Activities touch on privacy, HTML, collaboration and more. You can read more about it here.

It's very much a networked initiative: individuals and organizations (schools, libraries, etc.) can host and customize local Maker Parties. Visit the 2015 website for more information.

These are some great resources for schools to use to help teach web/digital literacy.

More resources:

10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

How to Evaluate Web Resources


Internet Safety Resources:

Internet Safety Resources - help students stay safe online

Discovery Education Web 20.14 - great internet safety resources.

Google Good to Know - online safety and data info

Google Family Safety Center - help promote safety online.

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The Teachers Guild - Teachers who create new solutions for students and schools

The Teachers Guild is a really interesting new initiative with the goal to "Bring together teachers, just like you, to collaborate and solve 30 education challenges in three years. Building on each others’ ideas, we will amaze our students, schools and the greater system with a flood of new and better solutions designed by and for teachers."

It is an ambitious, worthy goal that has some great potential. Finally, someone sees the fact that teachers are the experts in education and need to be part of any project or reform that has to do with education.

David Harrington, from Google, has a great explanation on LinkedIn (read more at the link):

This is about an enabler, and it’s brand new this week.

It’s called The Teachers Guild, created by an innovation group that includes the world-famous design firm IDEO and Google. Both Ideo and Google use Design Thinking, a process that was created pre-1970, expanded in the 80's and 90's, and has now moved beyond the narrower definitions of design. Design Thinking has its roots withStanford University and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

However, this story is not just about Design Thinking, but about how a few original minds created something that scales globally and put it up in mere months. The Teachers Guild is a site, accessed by teachers around the world, that tackles the really big problems in education, bigger than how to deal with a state testing requirement or a piece of literature that’s been called inappropriate. For instance, their first challenge is how to encourage innovation in your classrooms.

During the stages of the Design Thinking process:

• Teachers will submit ideas
• Refine those ideas
• Decide which ideas are best
• Vote on which ones they will be attempting to implement.

It’s a fairly simple process to understand; that’s a necessity when you’re asking people to crowdsource around an idea. But the really amazing part is that when you use this tool, you are actually using the process we are trying to instill into our students. It works for both the teachers and the students.

All teachers should take a look at this, since every teacher has something to contribute. You can read teacher stories about things that worked for the, look at the current challenges and add your suggestions, read articles and research on education, and even post your own challenge and solutions.

There is a lot of great information on the site. Check it out!







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Google Apps and Chromebooks for Special Education and Special Needs

Chromebooks and Google Apps are excellent assistive technology (AT) that help students with special needs access curriculum and information. Google Apps and Extensions in the Chrome Web Store provide many supports to students with learning challenges.

Chromebooks allow students to access curriculum while avoiding their triggers. Online curriculum and resources allow them to work without distraction, which lowers anxiety.

Chromebooks also allow students to access additional resources to support their learning and address their individual needs.

There are specialized web apps, screen readers, text-to-speech and speech-to-text, screen magnifies, curriculum resources, lesson ideas, collaboration tools and so much more.

The following links provide an overview of extension and apps available to support students with special needs.

Resources:

• Google Accessibility Features and Resources - resources about all of the accessibility features in all of Google’s products. The Google Products Accessibility site has a list of 18 Google Products with details and links about it's accessibility features.

• Google Accessibility Features in Chrome (OS and Browser) - Google Apps and Chromebooks, and the Chrome Web Browser, offer a tremendous amount of accessibility features to help vision and/or hearing impaired students.

• Google Tools for Special Needs -  a great, well-organized list of many useful Google-related tools and features for users with special needs.

• Voice Recognition- Dictate using Google Chrome.  Type with your voice.  Dictation turns your Google Chrome into a speech recognition app.  Students can use Chrome as a voice recognition app and type long documents and essays without touching the keyboard.

• SpeakIt!- Highlight text you want to read and listen to it.  SpeakIt converts text into speech so that students can access grade-level text even if they are reading at a lower level.

• Calculators- Visit this Google Web Store page to view a variety of calculators from basic to graphing.

• Dictionary- DIctionary and Thesaurus Apps and Extensions.

• Typing Club- The highest rated free typing practice app in the web store.

• Grammar Checker and Synonym Tool- The Ginger App helps students communicate better.  Students can correct and enhance their writing with support of this App.

• Khan Academy- Watch, practice, learn almost anything.

• YouTube - watch and learn almost anything
• Innovative Chromebook Teachers: Using Chromebooks in Special Education - video with tips and ideas

• Collaboration - Google Apps allows for collaboration and sharing so that students can share their work with their Special Ed teacher / Resource Teacher, who can assist remotely, comment, and support the students.

• Special Needs Students using Collaborative Google Apps - great article about using Google apps collaboration features with students who have special needs.

• Google Classroom - allows teachers to manage classes, share assignments and student work, and to communicate with students. Teachers can share the assignments to their students, the students work on the assignment and submit it back, all electronically. Teachers can view and comment on the student work at any time. Co-teachers/Special Ed Teachers/Resource teachers can be added to the class so that they can also view the student’s work, allowing them track the student’s progress and offer help and comments, even when they are not physically with that student.

• Google Chrome and Assistive Technology Applications - great article with a lot of resources and tips on using Chrome to assist students with vision, hearing, physical, communication, and learning challenges.

• PowerUp WHAT WORKS - free online resources for struggling students and those with disabilities.

Related:

Google Apps and Chromebooks Web App Recommendations - a whole lot!

What can you do on a Chromebook? Pretty much everything.

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