Author: Jacqui

Here are the most-read posts for the past month:

1. 40+ Word Study Websites
2. 15 Webtools in 15 Weeks–the video
3. Creating and Using Curriculum Maps Video
4. Tech Ed Resources for your Class–K-8 Keyboard Curriculum
5. Tech Ed Resources for your Class–Digital Citizenship
6. Tech Ed Resources–K-12 Tech Curriculum
7. Tech Ed Resources–Lesson Plans
8. 35+ Online Audio Resources
9. 20 Online Resources About Digital Storytelling
10. Here’s How to Get Started with Ask a Tech Teacher

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up:

1. mBot2: An Educational AI Robot for Coding
2. 18 Digital Tool Musts–a video
3. I’m traveling most of September–see you in October!

–image credit to Deposit Photo (more…)

Monday, September 2nd, is America’s Labor Day. It was originally organized to celebrate labor association strengths and contributions to the United States economy. Now, it has become a day of rest, the traditional end of the summer, and a last chance to make trips or hold outdoor events.

Here are some wonderful websites that will generate organic conversations about The Day:

1. Child Labor
2. Cybraryman’s Labor Day page--comprehensive as is his way
3. History of Labor Day–Movie
4. Labor Day activities, games, drawings for kids
5. Labor Day infographic
6. Labor Day for Kids: Read-aloud book
7. Labor Day’s Violent Beginnings
8. PBS Kids: Labor Day
9. Ten Labor Day Facts (from Forbes)
10. Today in History (Labor Day)–from Library of Congress
11. Why Americans and Canadians Celebrate Labor Day–YT video
12. Why do we celebrate Labor Day (from How Stuff Works)

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I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’ll take a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to know learning is organic and granular.

Today: Mentoring and Coaching

Tech coaching/mentoring is available from experts who work with you via email or virtual meetings to prepare lesson plans, teach to standards, integrate tech into core classroom time. If you’re new to tech education and wonder how to teach kindergartners to use the mouse, first graders to keyboard, third graders to sagely search the internet, pick the brains of our seasoned team of technology teachers.

Note: If your District has purchased a license, you get some coaching for free. Check on that before signing up.

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Here are a few of the popular resources teachers are using to

• BTS resources from Microsoft
• BTS resources from Teachers Pay Teachers
• Back to School Survival Kits
• BTS Toolkit from Education.com
• Make a class photo in Pixton EDU

We write about back to school often on Ask a Tech Teacher. Here are some of the past articles I think you’ll like:

1. 3 Apps to Help Brainstorm Next Year’s Lessons
2. 5 FREE Web Tools for a New School Year
3. 5 Tech Ed Tools to Use this Fall
4. 5 Top Ways to Integrate Technology into the New School Year
5. 5 Ways Teachers Can Stay on Top of Technology
6. 5 Ways to Involve Parents in Your Class
7. 6 Tech Best Practices for New Teachers
8. 8 Tech Tools to Get to Know Your Students for Back to School
9. 11 Back-to-school Activities for the First Month of School
10. Back to School–Tech Makes it Easy to Stay On Top of Everything
11. Dear Otto: I need year-long assessments
12. Great Activities for the First Week of School
13. Great Back to School Classroom Activities
14. How to Build Your PLN
15. New School Year? New Tech? I Got You Covered
16. Plan a Memorable Back to School Night
17. Ready To Go Back To School? 7 Fun Lesson Ideas To Start The New Year

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Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching.

September 1-8, 2024, we’re offering a 20% discount on any Survival Kit. Pick one from this link:

https://www.structuredlearning.net/product-category/all-in-one-resource-collections/

Use this code:

3XAR9WZU

Click through for additional hidden discounts!

Questions? Email us at [email protected] (more…)

I get thousands of visitors a day–over six million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is for resources. I have lots of them–lesson plans, tips and tricks–but one area I have not enough depth is the experiences of fellow teachers:

• your personal teaching experiences
• your informed take on tech ed topics
• Education pedagogy

If you’re interested in guest posting on this blog or start your own column, leave a comment below and I’ll be in touch. It’s a challenging time but one we-all can get through if we talk to each other.

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I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’m taking a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are from members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, from tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to know learning is organic and granular.

Today: Lesson Plans

There are lots of bundles of lesson plans available–by theme, by software, by topic, by standard. Let me review a few:

• STEM Lesson Plans
• Coding Lesson Plans
• By Grade Level
• 30 K-5 Common Core-aligned lessons
• 110 lesson plans–integrate tech into different grades, subjects, by difficulty level, and call out higher-order thinking skills.
• singles–for as low as $.99 each. Genius Hour, Google Apps, Khan Academy, Robotics, STEM, Coding, and more.
• Holiday projects–16 lesson plans themed to holidays and keep students in the spirit while learning new tools.

Who needs this

These are for the teacher who knows what they want to teach, but need ideas on how to integrate tech. They are well-suited to classroom teachers as well as tech specialists.

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I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’m going to take a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to know learning is organic and granular.

Today: K-8 Digital Citizenship Curriculum

Overview

K-8 Digital Citizenship Curriculum—9 grade levels. 17 topics. 46 lessons. 46 projects. A year-long digital citizenship curriculum that covers everything you need to discuss on internet safety and efficiency, delivered in the time you have in the classroom.

Digital Citizenship–probably one of the most important topics students will learn between kindergarten and 8th and too often, teachers are thrown into it without a roadmap. This book is your guide to what children must know at what age to thrive in the community called the internet. It blends all pieces into a cohesive, effective student-directed cyber-learning experience that accomplishes ISTE’s general goals to:

• Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
• Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
• Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
• Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

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Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching. This month:

(more…)

I get a lot of questions from readers about what tech ed resources I use in my classroom so I’m going to take a few days this summer to review them with you. Some are edited and/or written by members of the Ask a Tech Teacher crew. Others, by tech teachers who work with the same publisher I do. All of them, I’ve found well-suited to the task of scaling and differentiating tech skills for age groups, scaffolding learning year-to-year, taking into account the perspectives and norms of all stakeholders, with appropriate metrics to know learning is organic and granular.

Today: K-8 Keyboard Curriculum

Overview

K-8 Keyboard Curriculum (four options plus one)–teacher handbook, student workbooks, and help for homeschoolers

2-Volume Ultimate Guide to Keyboarding

K-5 (237 pages) and Middle School (80 pages), 100 images, 7 assessments

K-5–print/digital; Middle School–digital delivery only

Aligned with Student workbooks

Student workbooks sold separately

__________________________________________________________________________

1-Volume Essential Guide to K-8 Keyboarding

104 pages, dozens of images, 6 assessments

Great value!

Delivered print or digital

Doesn’t include: Student workbooks

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