IHMS Tech Tips

If you are looking for lesson ideas or supplements to your current content, try using the Microsoft Educator Community .  " Connect and collaborate, find training and lessons, and earn badges and certificates on this personalized hub created for  educators  like you."  While you can certainly use content from the site with your students, it's really a site for teachers. Signing in is simple and connects to your Microsoft365 account.  This is the login you use for all Microsoft software (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word).  The username would be your network ID (ex. ihhuggin@smsd.org or 800001234@smsd.org for newer staff) and network password. To search for ideas, you can search by type, grade, subject, etc.   If you are interested in using Skype in your classroom, you can search by availability for guest speakers or look through their themed activities and calendar of events.  See this previous blog post for more on Skype/video ...

There will be a day or two at the end of May where your kids don't have MacBooks.  You might be thinking, "what the heck do I do with them?" Here are a few previous blog topics on what you can do in class that requires technology only on your end: 1. Plickers Both teachers and students can submit multiple choice or true/false questions as an assessment tool or simply to survey the class.  You will need to print off Plickers cards prior to your lesson. Technology needed: Your iPad 2. Sporcle Choose a category that relates to your content area and have students compete in teams or as individuals to complete the quizzes. Technology needed: Your MacBook/Apple TV 3. Virtual field trips Pick a location that you have talked about during the year and visit it in Google Earth, or check out the topics avalable at Discovery Education. Technology needed: Your MacBook/Apple TV 4. Skype Plan ahead and have another middle school in the district or any class anywhere...

Are any of your students NOT on social media? Didn't think so.  Instagram, Snapchat, and what I've been told is social media for old people (Facebook and Twitter), are tantalizing, mesmerizing, and distracting for today's students.  But perhaps we can re-harness this obsession to be not only positive for their digital footprints, but also integrated into your classroom. How many of your students do you think were actually trained on how and what to post on their social media?  They learn by observation and that's not always a great thing.  By using social media in your classroom, YOU are setting the example and becoming a role model for their future digital self.  Social media etiquette is rarely discussed as a preventative measure but instead as a result of poor choices.  We can empower our students to utilize their social media platform for good, not for evil. Why should your classroom jump on board? There is great value to having your studen ts shar...