Join us on Monday, March 20th from 7:00-8:00 PM CST, and hear from a panel of education stakeholders (parent, coach, admin, etc.) to explore both the potential and pitfalls of ChatGPT. We will discuss and generate a variety of ideas for potential uses as well as discussing how we can help navigate potential misuse.
In a world with on-demand access to information, our brains can easily be overstimulated which in turn can mark it hard to focus. How might we employ mindful breaks in our day to recharge from overstimulation?
The fitness tracking app for your mind, Focusable, helps you improve your mental health through intentional routines of mindful breaks and deep focus.
Leverage a wide range of activities to help recharge such as eye trace. In this activity, you will be prompted to picture a shape on a nearby wall such as a square. Focusable will then provide soothing background music and a timer for 30 seconds as you keep your head still and trace the perimeter of the square using only your eyes.
Focusable will also track your daily activity, highlight your streaks and streamline the ability to share your progress with others. In addition to helping improve your own mental health, you can set up private groups to monitor how students are spending their time and assess how ready they are for deeper focus
School/District: North Linn Elementary (North Linn Community School District)
Years Served:2 years incurrent position (11 years at NL & 17 years overall)
Favorite Tech Moment:The excitement from students when they successfully code one of our robots.
Tip for other educators:Take advantage of the professional development & grant opportunities that are being offered in our state for computer science. I have gained valuable knowledge and received many different tools for the classroom!
Colleague Comments: "Computer Science has become an incentive of Iowa Education. Ms. McNeill was given an opportunity to develop the curriculum for K-6 students at North Linn. She engaged in many learning opportunities and wrote several grants to create and expand this new area. Jennifer has always been a learner when it comes to technology. North Linn recognized this when they created a position, Technology Integrationist. This position allowed her to help teachers develop their usage of technology. She now has the opportunity to engage her students in computer science.
Know a colleague who deserves some recognition for the incredible work they are doing to support students and staff with technology in a digital learning environment? Consider giving that colleague a "Shout Out!" and help ITEC recognize rockstar Iowa educators!
A recent update that you may have missed, is the Follow feature in Google Slides. Just click on the avatar image of the person you want to follow when in a Google Slides file, and you will jump to the slide that they are on.
You will continue to move with them as they move through the slides. You will know who you are following because there will be a label under their avatar image.
This is a great way to collaborate with others on a slide deck and know exactly where they are or even when you are working with students, so they can follow along as you move through the slides that have been shared with them.
π Pear Deck Corner π
Ninjafying the Unicorn of Pear Deck: The Teacher Dashboard
Waitβ¦.Ninja and Unicorn in the same sentence? Sold! Tell me more!
One of the unicorns of premium access to Pear Deck is the teacher dashboard. You might be familiar with using the projector view when facilitating a session in Pear Deck. However, if wanting to ninjafy your Pear Deck skills, you need to dive into the teacher dashboard and discover the additional features you can unlock to create a more dynamic experience for your learners.
Here are just a few ninja level skills the teacher dashboard provides:
Spotlight specific student submissions when showing responses by staring their replies
Provide real-time feedback to individual student responses
Hide replies that might distract from the overall learning experience
Open the dashboard on a separate device (phone, tablet, etc) for greater mobility
We hope these teasers about the teacher dashboard spark some insights on how you can ninjafy your Pear Deck skills further!
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