Tech Bytes

 Looking back at this year, there is something you should know.     Upon reflecting on this past year and the role we play as educators, a common theme of broad understanding comes to mind. We've often pondered whether our students should have to take all of the courses we require or if we are doing the right thing for kids who may never be headed to college.      Most of us know, however, the disservice we have done by only focusing on the testable skills (language arts and math) as we've struggled to incorporate science, social science and citizenship skills. High stakes testing and the push to squeeze it all in has left educators frustrated and exhausted for decades.      But there's another reason these singular-minded priorities are fatal for our students. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen the need for innovative and flexible thinking. The ability to jump into and out of new information and make sense of it has been crucial. A lack of ability to adjust has wreaked

Accelerate, Don't Remediate!     Don't stress about where the students are going to be next school year and how to catch them up. This study shows that accelerating learning benefits students more than reviewing previous standards that they may have missed.  Findings include: Students who experienced learning acceleration struggled less and learned more than students who started at the same level but experienced remediation instead. Students of color and those from low-income backgrounds were more likely than their white, wealthier peers to experience remediation—even when they had already demonstrated success on grade-level content. Learning acceleration was particularly effective for students of color and those from low-income families.     Join them for a webinar discussing the findings on June 1st at 11:00 am PST. Here is a copy of the report.

Give Your Families this Page of Resources  "Helping you make technology work for your family" Google Families - Resources for families How much screen time is okay? Search trends Fun learning activities Online safety Parental Controls Popular tech Be Internet Awesome Kids Space Youtube Kids and more.....

  Learn and Grow as an Educator - Free               Summer reading...why not?! Free Ed Tech Books

 Virtual Field Trips by Google      Use Google Arts and Culture along with their easy to use Applied Digital Skills lessons to show your students new and exciting places. Totally district approved - you use your kids Google accounts to sign them up and Google Classroom to assign the lessons.     It is certainly a more complete learning experience when they do more than just explore images of a far-off land. They will need to use reading skills, critical thinking and even create art in some instances!  Try it today for end of the year educational fun! Explore the World with Google Arts and Culture - Applied Digital Skills

 Check Out These STEM Activities     Here are a few hands-on STEM activities that are also thought to promote mindfulness. When you read them, you may understand why they are "mindful". I think many of us could use some of the "therapy" that these activities provide. Can you imagine how much your students would enjoy these lessons IRL (in real life)? Fun STEM-focused Mindfulness Activities

Keep Students Busy This Week with Creative, Skill-filled Projects!          Teacher Appreciation Week is something teachers seems to both love and loathe. We work hard all year long and try not to show it. Suddenly we are noticed and now have to acknowledge the sudden accolade with humility and deference. What we want to say is, "It's about time!". Not very humble though.         Instead, give your students this project which is both creative and SEL filled. It comes fully loaded (video tutorials and the works) from Google and helps students reflect and practice being grateful.         Show Appreciation with Google Slides  is an activity that comes from Google's Applied Digital Skills lesson collections. No expertise is needed on the teacher's part. Who knows, maybe you'll get some much needed shout outs!