Ask a Tech Teacher

Join me Jan. 23rd for a Webinar

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Jacqui

Please join me on Jan 23, 2019 for a webinar on Building Digital Citizens:

Being a responsible digital citizen is critical to success in school and beyond, which is why integrating digital citizenship lessons across the curriculum at every grade level is so important. Join educator, coach and editor of the Ask a Tech Teacher blog, Jacqui Murray, for this free webinar to learn the essentials of digital citizenship and best practices for blending digital citizenship into lesson plans. Jacqui will share: – Your and your students responsibilities when using the Internet – The easiest way to teach Internet safety – Strategies to keep kids safe on social media – Fourteen proven strategies for dealing with cyberbullies – Which online images can safely be used — at school or home — and why

Click the image below to register:

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today and TeachHUB, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Categories: Digital Citizenship, Online education | Tags: webinars | Leave a comment

It’s Here–the High School Technology Curriculum!

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Jacqui

The High School technology curriculum prepares students for their college-and-career future not by teaching widgets and programs—though that happens—but by showing them how to use the tech they have acquired throughout their education. How do they decide what program works best for what inquiry? How do they acquire the use of tools they have never before seen? How do they self-assess their knowledge, ensuring they acquired what they need? Don’t expect black-and-white answers. Success is more likely predicated on student transfer of knowledge than their ability to check off boxes on a rubric.

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find in this textbook:

Scope and Sequence aligned with ISTE and Common Core
Themed units tied into inquiry
Experiential learning with real-world applications
Opportunities for students to express and grow in their creativity
International mindedness
Articles on tech pedagogy

Each Unit includes:

an emphasis on comprehension, problem-solving, critical thinking, to prepare for career and college
Common Core Standards covered
ISTE Standards covered
essential question
big idea
materials required
time required to complete
domain-specific vocabulary
problem solving
steps to accomplish goals
assessment strategies
ways to extend learning
project examples where appropriate
grading rubrics where appropriate

Categories: High School, Reviews, Teacher resources | Leave a comment

Last Chance for this College-credit Class

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Jacqui

MTI 558: Teach Writing With Tech

All-online, college credit, MTI 558 starts Monday, January 21, 2019! This is the last chance to sign up. Click this link; scroll down to MTI 558 and click for more information and to sign up.

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Categories: Online education, Teacher resources | Tags: pd, summer pd | Leave a comment

Best Software Programs for Desktop Publishing

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Jacqui

For a decade, when I thought of desktop publishing, I turned to Microsoft Publisher. I loved its flexibility, adaptability, and ease of use both for classroom projects and home. But then I moved on to other alternatives, like Lucid Press that were more flexible and affordable for educational purposes.

Really, I didn’t see a lot of other alternatives until Sara Stringer, from the Ask a Tech Teacher, came up with this great article about desktop publishing options. Some of these–like Word–have changed so much over the years that they are now a provide reasonable alternatives to laying out an attractive professional design in a program everyone is familiar with:

Technology advanced drastically in the past few years, allowing people to create different products with the aid of a computer. One of the most popular products that were drastically improved by the presence of technology is printed materials, which were commercially printed from a single file that was created using desktop publishing software. Printing digital files can be performed in a short period of time, with the finished product being bound with the help of a strong type of glue or screw posts, which securely holds the pages together.

With the prevalence of digital computers, tablets, and smartphones nowadays, people could easily create their own digital files with the help of software programs. Publishers would have total control of the things that they wanted to do, and their ideas could produce high-end digital published materials such as brochures, menus, books, and magazines, among others. It is important to find out the best software program that will be used by a desktop publisher. Because there are many available software programs in the market today, the preference among publishers varies. The following software programs are the most common desktop publishing tools used by amateurs and professionals:

Categories: Guest post, Microsoft, Web Tools | Tags: desktop publishing, lists, stringer | Leave a comment

Top 10 Product Reviews of 2018

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Jacqui

Throughout the year, I post websites and apps the Ask a Tech Teacher crew’s classes found useful, instructive, helpful in integrating technology into classroom lesson plans. Some, you agreed with us about; others not so much.

Here are the reviews you-all thought were the most helpful in efforts to weave tech into the classroom experience:

Oh–I don’t get enough followers on Twitter! Would you mind adding me to your list? Here’s the link:

@AskaTechTeacher

Thanks! Have a wonderful 2019!

Categories: Websites | Tags: lists | Leave a comment

Join me for a free Webinar on Building Digital Citizens

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Jacqui

Please join me on Jan 23rd for a Free webinar on Building Digital Citizens:

Click the image below to register:

Categories: Digital Citizenship, Online education | Tags: webinars | Leave a comment

Free Lesson Plans from Study.com

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Jacqui

Study.com is an online distance learning portal that provides over 70,000 lessons in fifteen subjects (including algebra, calculus, chemistry, macro- and microeconomics, and physics) aligned with many popular textbooks. Resources include not only videos but study tools, guides, quizzes, and more. You can read more detail on my Study.com review here.

What a lot of educators don’t know is that Study.com offers thousands of lesson plans for teachers — hundreds of them for free — to simplify lesson preparation and save time that is needed for student guidance. These lesson plans were created by teachers for all different grade levels and subject areas. They include:

learning objectives
materials
length of time
curriculum standards alignment
key vocabulary
instructions
extensions
related lessons

Once you select the lesson plan you’re interested in, you’ll see the credentials of the teacher who is providing the lesson as well as where it fits into a bigger course if that’s your interest (Though standalone, lessons often are aligned with a particular textbook). Many lesson plans include a video overview and a quiz to assess understanding of the material (though you can’t grade it without an account).

Categories: Lesson plans, Reviews, Teacher resources | Tags: website review | Leave a comment

2 Free Martin Luther King Day Lesson Plans

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Jacqui

Subscriber Special

Until January 18th:

Free Martin Luther King Day Lesson Plans

Two lesson plans to prepare for Martin Luther King Day in January: 1) Students research events leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s impact on American history and share them with an Event Chain organized visually, including pictures and thought bubbles. 2) Students interpret the words of Dr. Martin Luther King in their own words in a visual organizer. Great project that gets students thinking about the impact of words on history.

Designed for grades 4-7, it’s aligned with Common Core and ISTE Standards.

What’s included in each lesson plan:

brief summary of the project
Essential Question
Big Idea
Common Core and ISTE alignment
materials required
teacher prep required
step-by-step instructions
extensions to dig deeper into the subject
assessment strategies
sample grading rubric
sample project
resources

Categories: History, Holidays, Subscriber special | Leave a comment

What You Might Have Missed in December

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Jacqui

Here are the most-read posts for the month of December:

Categories: Teacher resources | Tags: lists, top monthly posts | Leave a comment

2019, I Resolve…

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Jacqui

New Years–a time for rest, rejuvenation and repair. A time to assess life. Do we settle into our routine, enjoy where it’s headed, or is it time to grab our purse, iPhone, car keys, and get out of there?

As a teacher-author, New Year’s Resolutions are more of a To Do list. I break it down into Edtech Coaching/Mentoring, Blogging, and Fiction Writing (my novel writing):