Tech this out!

This is Distance Learning Week 3!

And what I want to do this week is CELEBRATE!

Have you thought about how you have grown, shifted, pivoted in the last 2 months? WOAH! As we celebrate teachers, take break from the busy and the parts that might be stressful and frustrating, and CELEBRATE who you are and what you have accomplished for/with your students in the last 2 months. The wins are there... do you see them?

**********************************************

Not like "hey, I know you!" but like "Hey, I see you and the hard work you are doing and I appreciate it". Maybe it is someone who translates for you, or someone who you are collaborating with, or someone who you haven't seen since March 13, but you miss working with them because it isn't the same.

Here's what you are going to do. Click the big button below and go to Flipgrid. You will sign in with your @hueneme.org account (hi, Google button) and record a quick shout out to someone. Or record 2. or 10. 15 is excessive, definitely stop at a dozen

Not sure what to do in Flipgrid? I got you! Here is a quick video where you can watch me record one. It is linked on the Flipgrid page, too.

Seriously, this week, today, right now, click the button, go record a shout out to someone. It's just Hueneme people who will see it. The newsletter will be waiting with more life-changing info when you are done.

**********************************************

I'm going to assume you are only reading this because you have already gone over to Flipgrid to record a video to recognize someone.

And now, you are thinking "This Flipgrid thing is AMAZING, my students would love it!" Heck yeah they would! Kids having a voice is what Flipgrid is all about.

Two things for you---

(1) if you haven't used Flipgrid before (see how easy it was?) go to Mission Control and look in BLAST OFF--- PD for DL (let me make it easy for you) and find Flipgrid on the page. Look through the slides or watch a video and you will see how you can get started with your students.

(2) if you HAVE used Flipgrid, then I know you love it like I do. Did you see their May announcements? Two cool things I want to highlight... NEW CAMERA FEATURES like whiteboard and blackboard so they can draw their thinking, and stop motion whaaat? (click that link to see a quick video) and I can't choose a second favorite--- so, whichever one of the other announcements is your favorite--- there are 6 of them. Click Here to see May announcement. Feedback visibility is totally in my top 3!

And... just in case you tried to sneak past the button above....

**********************************************

We are very aware of the time you are taking to help your parents get going with devices. Before now, you have been very intentional about introducing technology in the classroom in a very calculated way, because you know it can be tricky. You simply don't have those options right now. The need is now-- and including parents adds another layer. We realize this and are glad for your patience and the steep learning curve you and the families of your students may be experiencing. THANK you for your efforts and patience.

If you have never needed Google Accounts before... but now you want them

If you can't remember how students are supposed to sign into Wonders... and they ask you for help

If you have any questions about any student accounts... I have answers for you!

I think everyone has these two documents, but just in case.... here are the answers to the questions.

(also, PSA, don't have students google things to find sign in-- like Accelerated Reader, for example-- many times the links are district specific. Refer to the Student Shortcuts on the school webpage for district managed accounts)

The Distance Learning Help Desk has useful information. Please make sure parents have the link, rather than just the phone number. They might find the information they need there to solve their problem right away!

As a reminder, the proxy popups are gone in many many cases, but if they come up again, thank you for not panicking, but just reminding them to choose NOT NOW, or restart the device.

It's almost Friday--- have you reminded your students to SHUT DOWN their device to give it a fresh start? It really does make a difference and it needs to be a weekly routine!

I know many of you are excited that your students have their hotspots and you will be able to connect with them. Please keep a few things in mind-- students should be aware of this, too.

• There are daily data limits. Do school work first. Videos and music streaming burn a lot of data. This includes video conferencing....
• Limit the number of devices on the hotspot. The more devices are on a hotspot, the more quickly the data runs out. These are for school work specifically.

We talked about these two ideas last week---

• Streaming Video--- playing a video over video conferencing is inefficient and creates many obstacles. Consider sharing a link to a video before the Meet time so students can watch before or after the video conference
• Time on video conferences-- Expecting students to be on a video conference for several hours a day is going to impact how much data is available on the hotspot for the rest of the day. (Also, if you are uploading your own videos, consider not uploading at the highest resolution possible.)

How have you been getting your Meets started and keeping them fun? Here are some ideas from the Social & Emotional Learning page of the Mission Control site. Go there are find the Virtual Connection Activities link. Fun stuff!

**********************************************

We have had some INCREDIBLE collab-o-ramas with many fantastic ideas! You all are so amazing. If you haven't volunteered to share at a collab-o-rama, but could talk for 10 minutes about something that you are trying, we would love to have you!

One question is about uploading a video for students-- maybe one you have created with Screencastify. So, I made a screencastify video to look at the options. Want to see my think aloud video? Here it is--- uploading videos to Seesaw for students.

It makes me happy that so many of you are jumping into Seesaw and finding out how fantastic it is for connecting with your students!

**********************************************

Last Call on the YouTube information--- When you go to view a YouTube video when signed into your @hueneme.org account, you will be able to see a blue banner below that shows if the video has been approved or not. If it has, carry on. If it has NOT, but you want your students to view it, click APPROVE and it will be accessible to them.

A few reminders--- when you choose to approve a video, you make it accessible to all Hueneme students, including our Kindergarteners. Be responsible. Also, you may notice the "approve channel" option. Please don't do that unless you have viewed every video on the channel and will vouch for every video they post in the future. Video by video approval is a much safer option. Just sayin'.

**********************************************

**********************************************

Think you might have missed something? All the past newsletters are here. I bet the stuff we were talking about in 2017 might seem kinda silly now....

Because I know you are awesome and I am cheering for you!

Email: lhoppe@hueneme.org
Website: www.hueneme.org
Location: The Hueneme Tech Lab
Phone: 805-488-3588 9832
Twitter: @hoppeteacher