The CA BOCES Summer Tech Camp 2023 is a 2-day event that highlights resources and tools to aid with technology integration for the classroom. It is a great way for participants to stay up-to-date with the most current trends in technology and to get new, exciting ideas for implementation. This year, the event kicked off on Tuesday, August 15th and culminated on Wednesday, August 16th. It was the first time Tech Camp had been held entirely in-person since 2019. Dr. Angie Ridgway and Nate Ridgway, dynamic educators and co-authors of Don’t Ditch that Tech, joined as the Keynote speakers for the event. Their sessions on student differentiation and accessibility by utilizing different types of technology inspired and delighted the attendees, over 40, each day. Topics for other sessions this year included Microsoft Office updates, Chat GPT, the SAMR model, Castle Learning, coding, the Computer Science & Digital Fluency Standard, district round tables and the ever-popular Osmo. Heather Francisco, STEAM Instructional Coach from Wellsville, also presented on Canva, a tech tool that has revolutionized presentations, poster creation, video creation, and more. Participants were able to choose which of these sessions they wanted to attend so they could create a learning experience that was most meaningful to them.
Participants also got to explore our “playground” each day with a variety of digital resources and physical resources that can be borrowed through Learning Resources, via the Insignia page. The digital playground included links to resources like Gimkit, BreakoutEDU, Padlet, CodeMonkey, and more. The other resources that were on hand for participants to experiment with included a variety of Osmo games (the Monster drawing activity and the Coding Awbie games were a hit). There were also robotics available, including like Sphero-Mini and the new Sphero-Indi. Couldn’t attend but interested in viewing some of those resources from Tech Camp? Visit our Wakelet with a variety of presentations, websites, and other resources. There is also a Padlet with even more resources. Please check them out! If you have any questions or would like further information about any of those topics, please feel free to reach out to me at brooke_neamon@caboces.org so I can connect you with the staff specialist who can best meet your needs. Summer Tech Camp will return next summer in August of 2024. Stay tuned throughout the year; look for announcements about the Keynote speakers and other exciting topics that will be featured at next summer’s event. We hope to see you there! By: Brooke Neamon, CA BOCES Model Schools
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![]() I’d used Osmos before going to Ellicottville Elementary. When I returned to work at Instructional Support Services, I went to learning resources, worked with Clay Nolan and figured out some of the learning games available through learning resources. One that I really liked was the Osmo. Osmo is an educational technology platform designed for elementary classrooms. It combines hands-on manipulatives with digital gameplay to create an interactive learning experience. The Osmo system typically includes a base that holds an iPad or a compatible tablet and a variety of physical objects or manipulatives that interact with the tablet's camera. These manipulatives include tangible shapes, letter tiles, number tiles, and drawing boards. Using Osmo, students can engage in various educational activities across subjects like math, spelling, coding, and creativity. The physical manipulatives are placed in front of the tablet's camera, and the Osmo software recognizes and interacts with them in real-time. The tablet's screen then displays the corresponding digital activities or challenges. For example, in a math activity, students might use number tiles to solve equations or arrange shapes to learn geometry concepts. In a spelling activity, they can use letter tiles to form words and receive immediate feedback on their spelling accuracy. ![]() Osmo is designed to make learning more engaging and interactive for young learners, combining physical manipulation with digital elements. It promotes hands-on exploration, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills in a fun and educational way. Students in Mrs. Norton’s 2nd grade class loved using Osmo. It’s easy to reserve the Osmos. Just go to the Ensignia Page on the Learning Resources website to reserve them. Don’t forget to make sure to reserve the bases with the Osmos. By: Rick Weinberg, CA BOCES Model Schools ![]() The transfer of skills from one computer program to another is an important skill. When students graduate, they will be required to take something they know and apply it to something new that they have never experienced before. On March 21, 2023, I had the privilege of going into Julie Saylor’s Franklinville Elementary classroom. I facilitated a lesson where 4th graders had to transfer skills that they learned in Pyonkee to the program, called Blockly, to control a small robot called Dash. Pyonkee is a program on the iPad that is built off of Scratch 1.4. MIT is up to 3.X Scratch now. You can access Scratch at Scratch.mit.edu for free and without having to create an account. ![]() Whenever I introduce students to a new computer programming language, I always have them make a square. When I taught 4th grade students at Franklinville how to program with Pyonkee, I taught them how to make a square with a repeat (loop) and without a repeat. The code with the repeat was more efficient and easier to write. Fewer coding blocks were involved. I asked students to create shapes with equal side lengths all the way up to a 12-sided figure. Students had to use trial and error to find out what the “turn degrees” (angle) is for each shape. Students picked this up quickly and able to program their avatar to draw multiple shapes. Next, I had students close Pyonkee and open Blockly. On the interactive digital board, I showed the class how to make a square with a repeat. They then created the code on their own iPads. One-at-a-time, we paired the Dash robot, using Bluetooth, with 4 student iPads and split student into groups. I then asked students to apply what they learned using Pyonkee to have your robot draw a hexagon, octagon, and nonagon. Students were able to easily transfer what they learned on Pyonkee to Blockly and the Dash robot. (The Dash robot can be checked out of the Learning Resources library if your school does not have these robots.) Students learned a lot more than just coding and computer programming. Since students were in groups, because we only had four robots and about 14 4th graders in class, they had to work together. This is not always an easy thing to do for anybody. Not only did they learn to work together, but they also shared, took turns and communicated ideas to each other very animatedly.
Computers are in every career and every “walk of life.” The ubiquity of computing devices is starting to cause people to question their use. Regardless of your thinking on the subject, computing devices are here to stay. It would be great if students understood how computing devices worked. Not only could it help a student have skills that might make them more attractive to employers, but coding also changes the way we think and look at the world. Every student should have this opportunity. By: Rick Weinburg, CA BOCES Model Schools Welcome to 2023, a brand-new year that grants us the opportunity to prioritize student engagement, learning, collaborating and exploration through technology. In this era, our students are practically being born with tablets, iPads, videos, games, and apps at their fingertips. Teaching students how to properly utilize technology can enhance learning and strengthen core skills like reading, writing, math, science, and more. Before the winter break, I was able to work with students at Hinsdale Central School to strengthen these skills using technology. The first graders had been learning all about the “Gingerbread Man”, an elusive sugar creation that runs away to protect himself from being eaten. I utilized Breakoutedu.com, an awesome resource that is offered through CABOCES, to adapt a physical breakout box activity to help the first graders to “catch the Gingerbread Man”. ![]() What is a breakout box? It is literally a metal box with a variety of different locks that need to be solved to be opened; there is a lock with a three-digit code, one with a four-digit code, one with letters to spell a word or phrase, a directional lock, and the final lock- a key. Students receive different “clues” of varying levels (you can choose how difficult you want it to be), and they solve the clues to find the correct code to open the lock. The students usually have a certain amount of time, and a limited number of hints, to solve all the clues and “breakout”, meaning that they have successfully completed the activity. The Breakout EDU website offers a variety of different breakout style lessons for all age ranges. There are some that require a physical breakout box, which can be borrowed from the CABOCES Learning Resources Center. There are others that are completely digital, so you do not need to have the physical box and locks. Either way, this resource supplies you with a list of exactly what you will need to do to set up the lesson, and it will provide any materials that you may need to print out or organize. ![]() The “Gingerbread Man” breakout activity required a physical box. We used four different locks and the students had to complete a series of activities to find the “codes” or the keys to the locks, so they could help to find the gingerbread man. Some of the activities required math skills (reading a graph), and others required reading skills (coloring the words that included long vowel sounds, short vowel sounds, etc.). To do the activity as a full class, I adapted the PowerPoint that Breakout EDU provides, and the students were able to follow along on the classroom Promethean board as we completed the “clues” to find the Gingerbread man. ![]() The students were so thrilled to have received these “messages” from the Gingerbread man, and they were so proud of themselves every time they figured out a clue, shouting, “We did it!” When being asked if they thought we could figure out the next clue, a choral, “Yeah!” rang throughout the room. When we finally figured out the last clue and found the remaining key to open the box, you could feel the suspense in the air. In both first-grade classrooms, we were successfully able to open the box to discover where the gingerbread man had been hiding! He was sneaky enough to get himself out, but he left a note and a candy cane treat for each student, telling them that they had done a great job following his clues. The students’ excited exclamations, with a few hugs peppered in, demonstrated just how proud of themselves they were to solve the clues and find the “Gingerbread Man”. Is this something that could be achieved without the use of technology? I am sure there are ways, but I am grateful for the Breakout EDU resource because it made the planning and executing of this lesson so much easier. If you are interested in learning more about Breakout EDU, or if you are interested in bringing in other types of technology into your classroom, including fun review games like Gimkit, interactive presentations like Nearpod, or coding technology like Puzzlets or Pyonkee, please contact me at brooke_neamon@caboces.edu so we can make an appointment. I would love to help! By: Brooke Neamon, CA BOCES Model Schools ![]() I have just discovered that my favorite phrase to hear in a classroom is, “I did it!” I heard that a lot while working with students in Ellicottville. As of November 2022, I am back at CABOCES as a tech integrator and one of the first schools to have me come in was Ellicottville. The first day I was scheduled to come in got snowed out, so I went in on for my first visit on December 1st. December 1st in Ellicottville was challenging. I had Shawne Hunt, Director of Technology, push out the app Pyonkee to all the student iPads I would be working with. Pyonkee is built from Scratch 1.4, a free program from MIT (scratch.mit.edu). Pyonkee works on iPads and is a whole lot more like regular Scratch than Scratch Junior. ![]() I learned the hard way that Pyonkee was too hard for first and second graders. So, the next time I was in on December 7th, I asked Shawne to push out LightBot Hour, which is an app for students who are emerging readers and is one of the free “hour of code” apps. This was much more successful. First and second graders could work on their own and at their own pace. The teacher and I had to help with some basic reading, but the “learning game” was played independently. Eventually, what seems to happen in every classroom is a student saying, “I am on lesson 2-1.” Then another student says, "I am on lesson 1-7”. I always state to students in plain language that learning is not a race, and that we all learn at different rates of speed. ![]() With the older students, third and fourth graders, we used Pyonkee successfully. Students experienced right angles (90 degrees was not familiar to students). Students programmed the iPad to draw a square and then learned to modify their code to draw a square using a repeat. Repeats are possible in all coding languages, so for third and fourth graders to learn this concept is important when moving forward with technology. Students were given the learning adventure of creating a hexagon, an octagon, a heptagon, a decagon, and a dodecagon (12 equal sides). Students were not given the “turn degrees” to these shapes and had to use trial and error to figure them out. As they did this, I said, “You are being computer scientist because using trial and error is what scientists use all the time.” I saw some students doing math on post-it-notes to try to figure out the angles. Students and teachers had fun and learned a lot. Currently, we are building skills to help with math. After these foundational skills, I will be teaching students and teachers how to make their own video games. Don’t tell anyone, but there may be more math involved! If you are interested in having me come to your school or classroom to do some coding, or other ed tech things, please email me at richard_weinberg@caboces.org. By: Rick Weinburg, CA BOCES Model Schools One of the common questions that arises when CA BOCES component schools inquire about the Model Schools Cooperative Service (CoSer) is, “How can you work with our school [through Model Schools]?” In short, our work through Model Schools focuses on effective educational technology integration. There are examples of what this might look like on CA BOCES Professional Development’s webpage as well as our regional professional development offerings catalog. In practice, the on-demand professional development through Model Schools has always been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my work, and my most recent trip to Genesee-Valley Central School not only reaffirmed that but also served to summarize well what that on-demand work can look like: In the second and third photographs, students in Mrs. Halley Kasperski’s class worked through a “low-tech” task facilitated by Mrs. Lindsay Simpson to best catch the mischievous (or perhaps misunderstood) leprechaun. While I have seen and utilized it many times before, the slide Lindsay used to help students work through the Engineering Design Process struck me a bit differently as I was reflecting on our work. Whether a Model Schools coordinator works with educators in your district to help facilitate lessons on coding, lessons using physical kits through the Learning Resources program CoSers, or lessons emphasizing computational thinking, nearly all of these lessons work through a similar process to the Engineering Design Process.
For example, when Lindsay’s lesson was finished, I worked with separate groups of students to explore the littleBits kits that GV has available for students in the Innovation Center. When students arrived, we opened our inquiry with a Notice/Wonder dialogue to ask questions and imagine specific outcomes using the resources available; then students planned and created using those kits to see if their imagined outcomes were plausible; and lastly, we concluded by suggesting possibilities for extending the learning and revisiting what had taken place. So what does Model Schools work look like? It can look like a mess. It can look like excitement. It can look an awful lot like an inquiry process or the Engineering Design Process. Ultimately, it looks like it’s worth it. By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Professional Development It’s true…the Minecraft: Education Edition frenzy has finally hit the CA BOCES region in a big way over the past year-and-a-half. While Minecraft: Education Edition has been around for a few years now, many schools in our area are just now discovering the power and resourcefulness that comes with using it in the classroom. When the pandemic hit in spring of 2020, a lot of teachers were forced to pivot to many online resources that might now have always been familiar to them. One of these software tools was Minecraft: Education Edition. The digital nature of Minecraft: Education Edition makes it an ideal tool for meeting students in an area they mostly enjoy (video games) and combines to form over 1,050 different pre-made lessons and activities of varying age levels, subject matter, and needed skill sets. The lesson library (https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/resources/explore-lessons) is vast, fully-loaded, and includes some starter subject area kits to get started including lessons for Science, Math, Computer Science, History & Culture, Digital Citizenship, Social Emotional Learning, Equity & Inclusion, and much more. Each lesson comes with student outcomes pre-determined, links to outside resources that might be referenced in the game, and even downloadable world files, as needed. Everything to get started is found here in this one-stop-shop for educators to browse, gather, and deploy. Minecraft: Education Edition is free for Microsoft 365 schools, with the licensing coming alongside their M365 accounts. After downloading and installing the Minecraft: Education Edition software on their laptop or iPad, students login with their M365 credentials, and then can begin enjoying all the resource available. Some lessons focus on the creativity side, like Build Challenges such as a Treehouse Building Challenge, a Pumpkin Carving Challenge, and more. Other lessons use the Minecraft worlds and blocks to create giant immersive worlds where students go on a journey to discover learning along the way, such as navigating their way through a plant and animal cell while seeing the organelles up close and a description of what each one does that they can add to their in-game journals. It has been a hit with the students and teachers alike in the CA BOCES region thus far. More trainings are scheduled later this spring and summer, and we cannot wait to see what the teachers and students get to discover next! By: Ryan McGinnis, CA BOCES Model Schools
Canva is a free graphic design platform that's full of templates to create posters, presentations, videos, infographics and just about any graphic you can need. A drag and drop interface makes customizing the thousands of templates simple and easy while giving you the freedom to make them your own. Canva's wide array of features allow you to edit projects like a pro, even if you have little or no experience. Many of us have used Canva personally and professionally, but recently we have been given the opportunity to explore Canva for Education. As soon as this became Ed Law 2D compliant (Thank you, Ryan McGinnis) districts immediately became eager to try it out and see how it can be used for both teachers and students. Cattaraugus Little Valley jumped on board right away and tried it out with students and noticed the benefits to learning and student ownership that it can bring. Dave Conner, 7th grade social studies teacher used Canva for students to brainstorm and ultimately create/present their upcoming projects. They began with a simple template that was already on Canva. Dave began with the above template, then was able to edit and make it match the exact needs he had for his project and his students. When the template was ready and to his liking, he could deploy it (assign it via Microsoft teams) directly to his students so they could have and edit their own copies. Dave could then review each students work and give them with feedback. This is just one simple example, but as these students become more comfortable, they will be choosing and creating their own graphic pieces. I think of the many times our student clubs need to promote things such as school events or showcase things they have done. Rather than us, adults doing that for them they can now take ownership and create them themselves. To me, that student voice and ownership is the most important and useful part of Canva. If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at Canva for education! This is a link to a helpful blog post of ideas for using Canva in the classroom!
By: Chelsea Skalski, CA BOCES Professional Development A new month brings exciting new Microsoft Teams technology designed to help your classroom stay organized, save time, and collaborate in the months ahead. A slew of new features and updates are rolling out now and will be available soon to support both students and staff as they move into spring. Look at the included PDF for more info, as well.
As the year continues on, stay tuned as more updates and feature improvements to the Microsoft Teams platform head out to teachers.
By: Ryan McGinnis, CA BOCES Model Schools Flipgrid has been a favorite of many teachers both virtually and in person. Recently, Flipgrid launched a series of weekly virtual field trips to help bring experts from around the world into classrooms to engage students. Events take place on Wednesday at 12:00pm CST. January field trips are focused around the theme of literacy: February field trips are focused around the theme of Black History Month. In these sessions, students will get to hear from authors and experts who will inspire them and spark meaningful conversations. Each session also provides teachers with a link to premade activities and Flipgrid conversations to do with students beforehand and spark their thoughts leading into the event!
To register for Flipgrid events, go to THIS LINK where you will find all of the upcoming sessions! By: Chelsea Lobello, CA BOCES Model Schools In my last article, SharePoint: A Microsoft Teams Alternative, I highlighted a few benefits to creating a SharePoint site and using SharePoint in the classroom. Since then, I have spent a good amount of time exploring some of the features within Microsoft’s Power Platform: Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents, two of which I think are well worth your time. Power Automate
There are three ways to create a new workflow:
2. from a template; or 3. from a connector. Take a look at Power Automate and start exploring how you can automate processes to save you time, money, and energy! Power Apps
Power Apps allows for three types of app creation: Canvas app, Model-driven app, and Portal app. While I don’t yet fully understand the Model-driven app, the Canvas app uses the device screen (whether a tablet, phone, or other screen ratio) as the canvas to construct the app, and the Portal app functions more like a website that is not limited to internal use. [Disclaimer: Portal apps may require additional licensing so communicate with your Microsoft 365 administrator before pursuing this route.] Furthermore, just like the other Microsoft services, Power Apps provides access to guided learning in the Microsoft Education Center, support documentation, and a community forum (hyperlinked in each image below). To help me (and hopefully you) better understand Power Apps, I worked with Jay Morris, Director of Technology, at Cuba-Rushford Central School District to brainstorm ideas for meaningful apps. For me, the easiest place to start was a Help Desk app similar to services such as QWare or Spiceworks. To make this happen, we needed to create a SharePoint List that would allow us to collect and update each ticket, and then we used a Power Apps Canvas app to connect to that data. The Help Desk app can be opened by the app’s administrators/owners and general users either online or through the Power Apps mobile app to view, update, or delete existing tickets or create new ones; regardless of the modification, the SharePoint List is updated automatically through the app. Additionally, we could have the Help Desk automatically email the ticket creator as well as the technician to whom the ticket is assigned any time changes occur. Shown below are four of the seven screens used to make the Help Desk App (Home, Create Ticket, User Tickets, User View/Delete Ticket, Successful Submission, Admin Tickets, and Admin Update Ticket): Then, on the same SharePoint site where we created the List, we can create a dashboard similar to what you would see using a service like QWare and Spiceworks.
I look forward to exploring Power Apps further to see what processes we can automate and apps we can create. In theory, I am thinking that we could make apps for lunch orders, teacher evaluations, daily check-ins, etc. If you have an idea, send it my way. If you’re interested in getting a copy of the Help Desk app template and putting it into place, please do not hesitate to reach out (Mark_Beckwith@caboces.org). By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Model Schools As many schools continue to navigate remote and hybrid learning, we often think about our youngest learners and worry about how they will connect with their teachers, view lesson materials and complete learning activities at home. Seesaw has become a great tool for doing exactly that! Seesaw is described as “Student driven digital portfolios and simple parent communication,” and I have found that this quote is exactly what Seesaw is. Add the pandemic into the mix and these portfolios and simple communication become a lifeline to student success in all learning situations we may be in. Students log into Seesaw Class App using their home learning code. Once logged on, they are connected to their teacher’s class and able to view and complete activities, view teacher videos and share photos and videos to their personal journal. This is especially helpful when we have students at home, in the building and anywhere in between. Teachers are able to create their own activities, as well as collaborate and share with teachers around the world in the community library. Families log into Seesaw Family App where they can see all of the activities the student has done, message teachers, and leave comments on student work. This meaningful feedback connects home to school to further support student learning. For example, a student can work on a writing piece in Seesaw, then view compliments from family members, teachers, and even their principal right under their work.
![]() Another great feature is the use of class and school announcements. Families can easily view announcements about reminders, class happenings or school wide information. Cattaraugus Little-Valley Elementary principal Jenny Conklin-Frank uses Seesaw to post her morning announcements to both students and families. Classroom community is crucial, but in a time like a pandemic it’s imperative that we keep the fun in learning and continue to bond over shared activities as much as possible during these trying times. Seesaw is a great way to keep us all together, even while we are apart. By: Chelsea Lobello, CA BOCES Model Schools I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that Microsoft Teams is the learning management system (LMS) of choice for nearly every CA BOCES component school district with the exception of very few. Teams is a dynamic application that allows educators to work productively in a digital environment. Want a platform that can monitor student participation? Teams Insights has at-a-glance data. Need to video conference with one student, groups of students, colleagues, parents or guardians, or other stakeholders? Teams meetings “include audio, video, and screen sharing,” and “they're one of the key ways to collaborate in Teams.” Want students to submit their work but you struggle to store and keep track of physical papers? Teams Assignments are the solution you need. Whatever the problem may be, it is likely that a solution can be found in Teams. Because Teams is so robust, it can also stir up strong reservations for educators who either struggle with integrating technology or those who need a simpler tool for their students. So if you are in one of these or similar categories, what do you do now that our school districts, for the most part, have gone all-in with Microsoft Teams? Microsoft still might have a solution for you. Microsoft SharePointWhen you find that you are no longer struggling to keep your head above water in the midst of a pandemic trying to simultaneously teach students in your classroom and others at home, then I would strongly recommend exploring some of the other applications available through your Microsoft 365 account. My first recommendation for those of you seeking an alternative to Teams would be to spend some time in SharePoint. You can find this app by selecting the SharePoint icon (shown above) in your Microsoft 365 Home page. SharePoint is the service that supports the other Microsoft applications. This is why you’ll see “sharepoint.com” in the URL when you share a file from your OneDrive (go try it if you haven’t seen this before). Another way to think of SharePoint is that it is a no-code, web-design tool. For example, the 3 Tools to Improve Results site was designed to replace the NYS Assessment Items OneNote file and allows members of the site to seamlessly transition from released assessment items to benchmark assessments to data analysis documents without the sync errors and delays that can often come with OneNote. Also built on SharePoint, the Drone Education site was built with two objectives in mind: (1) to provide resources for educators seeking Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification and (2) to provide drone labs that can be utilized to teach content learning standards. Once you are signed into SharePoint, you can create a new site by selecting the + in the upper left-hand corner of the page and then navigating through the prompts to get started. After you pick an initial theme, you can start building your site by adding elements anywhere you find a +, or you can select the ⚙️ in the upper right-hand corner near your Microsoft 365 account initials and choose one of the options such as “Change the look” to get the theme that works best for you. To make your site work best for you and your students, you can add a variety of media to your pages such as text, pictures, embedded videos, Microsoft Forms, and more. The best part is that your site will only include exactly what you want it to and nothing more (like that pesky Chat feature in Teams).
The biggest downside to SharePoint worth noting before you go exploring is the fact that SharePoint sites are designed to be used internally (i.e. users of the same Microsoft 365 tenant) as a means of security and protection. In order to enable access to guests such as parents, community stakeholders, or your friends at CA BOCES who may not have district accounts, you will need to get permission from your Microsoft 365 administrator who maintains the authority to change this setting. For more help getting started with SharePoint sites, review Microsoft’s Create a Site in SharePoint resource or reach out to your friendly neighborhood CA BOCES coordinator. By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Professional Development With Remote Learning plans factoring into many Districts’ plans for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, one of the platforms that many teachers in the CA region will be using is getting some long-awaited and powerful updates to enhance learning remotely this fall.
Microsoft has announced over 50 updates for its Microsoft Teams platform, both major and minor, that will make the product a much more enjoyable software application for remote learning. Some of the new features coming to Teams are introduced below. Meeting Updates Meeting with students and other teachers just became a more supercharged, with the addition of Large Gallery view, that enables seeing 49 participants on the screen at once, as well as Together Mode, which strips away the boxes behind the video participants and puts them into a virtual assembly hall to make them appear as if they are back in the classroom together. Alongside these updates, more features such as extended meeting Attendance Reports (up to 24 hours after a meeting has concluded), the ability to “hard mute” participants so they cannot unmute themselves, breakout rooms for smaller discussion-based settings, the ability to share a new collaborative Whiteboard experience with text, pens, and sticky notes, a raise hand feature to signify wanting to talk, and more settings for students to be “participants” (ability to chat and share), “attendees” (view only), or “presenters” (ability to share screen) will be hitting teachers’ screens soon. Assignment Updates Teachers will also see updates in the Assignments tab across the top of the General channel in their Teams. This includes the ability to now have students see a thumbnail preview of attached websites prior to clicking on the link, the ability to attach up to 500mb worth of file attachments to Assignments, “Anonymous Grading” as an option where the students’ names are stripped from their work to focus solely on grading the work and reducing any “grading bias” that may exist, whether purposeful or not. There will also be the ability to set a default due time for all assignments in that class, so you won’t have to change it every time! There are also lots of new kid-friendly animations when they turn in their work that are new to the Fall 2020 update. For more details on the Fall 2020 updates to Microsoft Teams, or for more information about when to expect more of the announced update features, please check out this article https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/25-updates-for-microsoft-teams-for-education-for-back-to-school/ba-p/1554445 By: Ryan McGinnis, CA BOCES Model Schools Teachers and students in the Cattaraugus and Allegany County region have all-access to many high-quality online resources. Check out our guide. All resources can be accessed at http://resources.caboces.org Contact anyone on our team for username and password assistance. All Access Content Includes:
What are the odds that two coordinators would schedule different lessons with the same grade level educators on the same day? While we don’t know the exact odds (perhaps a probability and statistics lesson for those of you interested), we do know that we were able to make this unlikely event happen. With what was seemingly conflicting lessons, we then had to make a decision. Which lesson would stay and which would be rescheduled: coding or fossils? After a quick discussion and a lot of excitement, we decided something different altogether. Why not both?! With Kevin Erickson, Cuba-Rushford Elementary School principal, and the 2nd grade team on board, we set out to make our lessons a pairing better than peanut butter and jelly (if that is even possible). Based on the response from students and teachers, we may have come close. Students were placed in quasi-random groups and assigned with unique roles (i.e. excavation director, materials specialist, recording specialist, and site manager) to complete their task: locate anything at all from the dig site using only the appropriate tools, the excavation robot and the excavation trowel. Once each excavation team made a discovery, each member fulfilled his or her role to ensure that the dig site was properly cared for, all team members were participating, and the appropriate materials made their way to each group’s respective work site. Depending on what the excavation robot and trowel uncovered, each excavation team explored a variety of fossil concepts such as types, formation, and locations.
Whether the topics are technology and dinosaurs, Science and Social Studies, or Restorative Practice and mathematics, reach out to your friendly neighborhood Instructional Support Coordinators to help with your next interdisciplinary, co-teaching lesson. By: Lance Feuchter & Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Learning Resources & Professional Development P.s. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Karen Insley, Distance Learning coordinator, for her valuable assistance and Wendy Sprague, CRCS Elementary Librarian, for allowing us to utilize the necessary space to conduct such learning opportunities. As adults, many of us travel to countless places, cities and even countries. We have access to unique experiences, cultures and pieces of history. Our students, however, do not always have those opportunities and experiences. I remember going to Boston while teaching 4th grade and taking so many pictures to bring back and show my students, wishing they could experience that themselves. When a 7th grade social studies teacher was looking for an engaging way to let his students expand their recent learning of The Liberty Tree and Boston’s history, I remember that feeling I had and we decided to introduce virtual reality using Nearpod VR. Using a teacher led tour, students answered questions, posted on a collaborative board, and of course, experienced Boston in VR. With each location, students were able to walk around, look around them and make inferences and discoveries relating to the lessons they had recently learned. Rather than just hear about the monument plague where the Liberty Tree once was, they got to see it with their own two eyes in relation to the other stops on their tour. Some students have never been to a large city, so seeing the buildings and focal points of a major city was an added bonus experience. The student engagement I was able to witness was what I found most exciting. Students were asking questions, pointing out interesting features to each other and showing genuine excitement over connecting their learning of Boston’s history to the amazing sights in front of them. There are so many opportunities we can bring students through VR and truly bring learning to life! By: Chelsea Lobello, CA BOCES Model Schools
Let’s face it. Much of the technologies recommended for teaching and learning need to undergo greater scrutinization since many of those technologies are too far down the wrong end of the spectrum of shiny only to beneficial for learning. However, a shiny technology tool should not be dismissed simply because it is attractive; we must evaluate the tool to determine whether teaching and learning can be meaningfully improved. Rather than focusing on a specific tool, let’s now consider more generally the tech. tools that utilize coding. The robots in this category have (and rightfully so) raised a lot of eyebrows. For example, it would be ill-advised to bring the tooth brushing robot into your classrooms as a tool for teaching and learning (feel free to email me with a counterexample if you’d like to prove me wrong). While the tooth brushing robot isn’t available for reservation, there are many robots that reside in the CA BOCES Learning Resources warehouse that can yield a meaningful impact on learning. Lastly, unless the course objectives specifically include a focus on a specific technology, we are creating a disservice for learning when the tech. tool is the end goal rather than a means to reach other learning targets. To help avoid this trap, I have given a few reasons technology, such as augmented or virtual reality (AR or VR) or robotics, can be a meaningful tool to help students master learning targets. 1. Explore Content Learning StandardsWhether used for pre-teaching or re-teaching, technology can provide meaningful interactions with social studies topics (pictured left; the AR app 1600), science topics (pictured right; the AR app Quiver), and more. The benefits demonstrated above are amplified because the technology was integrated with effective instruction. The tech. tool didn’t replace the teaching. The teaching didn’t require students to imagine only. The pairing of technology and effective teaching created more meaningful connections to content learning standards. 2. Foster Creativity and Problem SolvingFor struggling learners, students who don’t eagerly or correctly construct sentences, paragraphs, etc. or solve mathematical problems, technology can provide opportunities for increased engagement and flexibility. Parrot mini drones are one of those technologies that, arguably, fall too far down on the shiny end of the spectrum at first glance, but this tool does not have to be attractive only. For instance, Chelsea Lobello, CA BOCES Model Schools coordinator, worked with an Ellicottville Central School student to complete provided and self-directed missions using block programming; this student not only demonstrated his ability to code and sequence blocks in order for the drone to complete a mission, but he also demonstrated his ability to code and sequence words to meet his language goal. Later that same day, two other students also programmed the drones to complete self-created missions. During these missions, I was able to have students simplify expressions and solve equations using rational numbers, a topic directly related to their mathematics learning goals and standards. 3. Character EducationOf all the technology integrations that have taken place recently in the CA BOCES region, the upswing of VEX robotics has been the most exciting for me. This year’s competition, Tower Takeover, as well as those from previous years, is more than just an engineering challenge. Students must demonstrate more than academic ability if they want to be successful in this arena.
The REC Foundation includes a similar sentiment on their website: “In addition to learning valuable engineering skills, students gain life skills such as teamwork, perseverance, communication, collaboration, project management, and critical thinking. The VEX Robotics Competition prepares students to become future innovators with 95% of participants reporting an increased interest in STEM subject areas and pursuing STEM-related careers.” Almost always, technology should be a tool, not the goal. The scenarios above followed this approach of utilizing technology as a means to an end, providing meaningful benefits on teaching and learning. Hopefully your pursuits with technology are equally as fruitful. By: Mark Beckwith, Model Schools If you heard a buzz coming from the Main Center of CABOCES in Olean on August 20th and 21st, there was no need to worry! Our annual CABOCES Summer Tech Camp was going on and the energy, excitement, and participation was through the roof! If you missed out, keep reading for a recap of the event.
Spanning the course of two days in August, over 75 participants took part in a refreshing look into new and exciting instructional technology applications and programs to take back into their classrooms for the upcoming school year. There were 14 different school districts and three BOCES represented by the participants. On the first day, Matt Miller (author of Ditch That Textbook, Ditch That Homework, and Don’t Ditch That Tech) presented a keynote all about bringing new and innovative approaches to educational activities using a variety of technology tools that most of us already have access to on a daily basis. He showed how to take virtual field trips using Google Maps, using the Quizizz app to replace general homework review assignments, new ways to combat Kahoot/Quizlet overuse. Matt also demonstrated the use of Pear Deck to make classroom presentations more interactive and engaging. He finished the first day with a meaningful and enlightening discussion regarding the relevancy and educational impact that homework may play in our classrooms. A participant commented that “Matt showed some things that were new, some that I already knew, but the approach to using them in the classroom has me excited and ready to go for this school year! He made everything seem so easy and relatable to my classroom.” On the second day, we had the opportunity to shine the light on some of our local teachers who had put in requests to present to their peers on what they do, software programs they do, and much more. With over 20 teacher-directed presentations to choose from, as well as other sessions from vendors like Apple Education, Castle Learning, Spider Learning and the CABOCES Professional Development team, Day Two had a more “conference” feel to it. Regional teachers were able to choose from sessions such as “Beyond being Nice Online” by Fillmore teacher Eileen Anderson, “The Art of Storytelling” by Mark Beckwith from CABOCES, “iBooks” from Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Chelsea Lobello, and many more! If you missed out, you can follow along with what the discussion and buzz was about on Twitter, just search for the hashtag #CABOCEStechcamp to see the resources and more that was shared during the conference days. Teachers left Summer Tech Camp with a tremendous buzz and excitement to use what they learned in their rooms and looking forward to next year’s CABOCES Summer Tech Camp 2020! By: Ryan McGinnis, Model Schools Pixar in a Box Meets Khan AcademyWe are storytellers. Notice that I used “we.” Some people prefer sharing stories through writing, others through video, and others through song. Regardless of the medium, we are all storytellers--every one of us. The question then becomes, “How do we go about telling our stories?” To find the answer, look no further than Pixar’s collaboration with Khan Academy, Pixar in a Box. While the curriculum contains 15 units, The Art of Storytelling is central to story creation and development and is bolstered with six modules to help anyone guide their storytelling much like Pixar has done for over three decades. The Art of StorytellingModel Schools Coordinator, Rob Miller, and I first explored The Art of Storytelling curriculum this past March at the South by Southwest EDU (SXSW EDU) conference with Elyse Klaidman, co-leader of the team at Pixar that created, developed, and promoted Pixar in a Box. In her two-hour, hands-on session, Elyse shared her recommendations for utilizing the curriculum on Khan Academy in the middle-high school classroom (disclaimer - I must have been so engrossed in learning that I excluded a piece of the puzzle and numbered incorrectly):
English Language Arts Collaborative Learning CommunityAfter returning from SXSW EDU, Rob and I shared our learning with the Professional Development team at CA BOCES. Seeing our enthusiasm and a clear connection to the NYSED ELA learning standards, Sarah Wittmeyer and Brendan Keiser collaborated with us to include The Art of Storytelling in the next Middle School/High School English Language Arts Collaborative Learning Community (MS/HS ELA CLC). Educators from Allegany-Limestone, Bolivar-Richburg, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Friendship, Portville, Salamanca, Scio, West Valley, and Whitesville school districts followed a process similar to the one I experienced with Elyse by working through the Getting Started with Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling document in conjunction with the available video lessons over the course of approximately two hours. However, The Art of Storytelling could be easily extended to one week, one month, or one marking period (or longer) if desired. This process could even be developed into a course to include not only storytelling, but also design, effects, simulation, animation, character modeling, and more.
Maybe you aren’t convinced that you are a storyteller; perhaps you feel like you don’t have what it takes to write, produce, or create something valuable. If that really is you, I think the Introduction to Storytelling with Pixar in a Box can help. If that isn’t you and you are interested learning more about Pixar, or if you are looking to expand your storytelling strategies, you can start there, too. By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Professional Development Teachers and students in Cattaraugus-Little Valley are exploring 3D pens and their possible uses in the classroom. Imagine students being able to instantly draw their learning in the air! Students can draw geometric shapes, bridges, and music notes in a matter of minutes. A lot of schools and classrooms have experimented with 3D printers. They can be expensive, and prints can take a long time. With a 3D pen, students can create 3D drawings in a matter of minutes.
Freshman ELA students in Ms. Lobello’s class are using 3D pens to create tools for characters in a story they have written. In Mrs. Purdy’s Art class, students are learning to design bridges and animals with a 3D pen. Some students have requested to borrow the 3D pens to complete self-paced genius hour projects. The 3D pens come with simple designs for students to develop skills. They learn by creating cubes and large structures with triangles and squares. The pens work as a manually operated 3D printer. Heated filament made from plastic is extruded through the pen’s tip, which quickly cools down to form a stable 3D object. The possibilities are only limited by a teacher or a student’s imagination. Here are a few ideas that teachers can explore:
By: Rob Miller, CA BOCES Professional Development Ms. Pelligrino’s 7th and 8yh grade students are bringing literature to life by creating virtual reality reenactments of their favorite scenes. Virtual Reality is a 3d generated image or video that makes users feel like they are actually inside that environment. Users can view virtual reality through the use of head mounted viewers (Google™ Cardboard).
For this lesson the students chose a scene from a book they are reading or recently read. The students chose a part of the book that they wanted to share with other people. After choosing the scene the students examines the visual elements in the story, the character’s interactions with the environment and the critical elements. After noting these the students got to work creating their virtual worlds. We used a free website called cospace.io. The students got a quick tutorial in the software and quickly created. The students were able to build the scene and use computer code to create interactions. Dialogue for the characters was created using thought bubbles. Creating Virtual and Augmented Reality could be easy for students. Here are a couple free resources teachers and students and teachers could use to create content:
By: Rob Miller, CA BOCES Professional Development High School ELA students in Jessica Brassard-Moore’s ELA class in Cattaraugus-Little Valley decided that they would use it to solve problems. After reading Bram Stroker’s “Dracula” the students determined a character as their custome and used the engineering design process to create a solution for that customer. Most of the students chose Van Helsing as their customer and designed products that would help him defeat Dracula.
The students individually brainstormed solutions and then worked on designing. The used a free 3d modelling website called Tinkercad (https://www.tinkercad.com/) to design their projects. Some students were given a quick tutorial, but soon became experts in the program sharing their newfound 3d design skills with each other. When students finished designing their projects, they were able to 3d print an actual product and “pitch” the products to their teacher and classmates. The lesson idea originated form the website http://www.novelengineering.org/. In a Novel Engineering lesson: “Students use existing classroom literature – stories, novels, and expository texts – as the basis for engineering design challenges that help them identify problems, design realistic solutions, and engage in the Engineering Design Process while reinforcing their literacy skills”. Novel Engineering can be used for many different types of literature and across all grade levels. This is a great way to integrate STEM/STEAM lessons and the engineering design process into ELA classrooms. They provide many examples on their website These students used a 3d printer but any materials for making or designing could be used to develop a solution. By: Rob Miller, CA BOCES Professional Development ![]() The ROBOTC for VEX training at Pioneer High School was led by Jesse Flot, a Research Programmer & Senior Software Engineer for the Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and Josh Jarvis, the lead developer for CMUs CS-STEM Network. In attendance were nearly thirty participants from various districts across the region (Allegany-Limestone CSC, Andover CSD, Belfast CSD, Bolivar-Richburg CSD, CA-BOCES Belmont CTE, CA-BOCES ISS, CA-BOCES ISS, Cattaraugus-Little Valley CSD, Cuba-Rushford CSD, Ellicottville CSD, Franklinville CSD, Fillmore CSD, Genesee Valley CSD, Hinsdale CSD, Pioneer CSD, Salamanca City SD, Scio CSD, and Whitesville CSD). What is a robot, and what can we can we teach with it? These were the first two questions that Jesse Flot used to open the ROBOTC for VEX training. The first question is fairly direct: what is a robot? Perhaps you define a robot as something like Wall-E, or maybe to you a robot is Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Terminator. The definition is as simple as SPA: a robot is a device that has the ability to sense, plan, and act. What can we teach with a robot? This second question is more difficult to answer unless we first reflect on how we teach rather than the content of our teaching. When teaching Algebra 1, my students would struggle with the concept of completing the square to rewrite quadratic expressions. Rather than using the skill of completing the square as a tool to accomplish a goal, I made the skill the learning goal; ultimately, it was not until I provided students with the necessary tools and shift my focus (using GeoGebra) that they were able to better understand the process of completing the square, how to use it, and when to use it. Similarly, “project-based learning (PBL) involves learning through projects rather than just doing projects,” says John Spencer. In other words, the goal of PBL is to focus on the learning process rather than a culminating project. Jesse explained what can be taught with robotics in the same way; he said, “the Robotics Academy at CMU uses robotics as a tool to teach programming; however, you can use robots to teach many other subjects and skills such as mathematics, physics, communication, teamwork, and time management.” With these questions answered and an understanding that the VEX robots were a tool used to help teach programming, Jesse and Josh led participants through two days of hands-on training with the programming of ROBOTC as well as the hardware of VEX robots. Participants explored intuitive and basic commands using the block coding features of ROBOTC in conjunction with the physical features of the VEX robot the first day, and on day two, participants made the progression to virtual reality with Robot Virtual World software (RVW) and explored how the text commands of ROBOTC differ from its block coding commands. In addition to Jesse’s 16 years of experience at CMU (12 of which being in professional development), the Robotics Academy’s research-based practices helped guide the hybrid training model. From anticipating participant questions to providing examples of student questions that participants should anticipate, Jesse and Josh led participants through a highly productive two days of learning. Jesse and Josh will continue this hybrid training online from mid-February through March in which participants will gain additional knowledge of the ROBOTC language, continue to track their progress with CMUs learning management system, and explore additional features of VEX robotics.
By: Mark Beckwith, CA BOCES Professional Development When students and teachers are browsing Jody Thiel's library in West Valley School, they can expect an interactive experience to learn about her students' favorite books. Visitors can point their phones or tablets at the book Pig Pug by Aaron Blabely and a student video will "pop up" to give viewers a summary of the book. You can virtually explore 20 different books in her library.
West Valley students in third grade created "Augmented Reality" book reviews of books they recently finished reading. The students created props in the Library Makerspace to use on their summaries. To prepare for the video recording, students read their books and wrote a review that included the book's authors, the setting, the storyline and their favorite parts of the book. Some students listed similar books that piqued the interest of others. Augmented reality is putting a computer-generated layer in a real-world environment. The layer is not seen by the user until they view it through the lens of an augmented reality viewer on a phone or camera. The students used the cover of the books as "targets" and placed a video of their summary on the cover. The videos were recorded on iPads. We then used an app called Aurasma (https://www.aurasma.com/) to put a new video layer on the books. When a patron or another student in the library has the Aurasma app, they can point their tablets or phones at the books to view the student created videos. By: Rob Miller, CA BOCES Professional Development |
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