Author: Jacqui

Hello! Ask a Tech Teacher is a group of tech ed professionals who work together to offer you tech tips, advice, pedagogic discussion, lesson plans, and anything else we can think of to help you integrate tech into your classroom. Our primary focus is to provide technology-in-education-related information for educators–teachers, administrators, homeschoolers, and parents.

Here’s how to get started on our blog:

Read our varied columns

They include:

• Tech tips
• How-to’s–how to use web tools, software, hardware, more
• Dear Otto–questions from educators on tech questions
• Pedagogy that impacts tech in ed
• Reviews of books, apps, web tools, websites, tech ed products used in your classroom
• Subscriber Specials–monthly discounts (or FREE) on tech ed products
• Humorous life of a tech teacher

Read Hall of Fame articles

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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, are 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-12 Technology Curriculum

Overview

The K-12 Technology Curriculum is Common Core and ISTE aligned, and outlines what should be taught when so students have the necessary scaffolding to use tech in the pursuit of grade level state standards and school curriculum.

Each book is between 212 and 252 pages and includes lesson plans, assessments, domain-specific vocabulary, problem-solving tips, Big Idea, Essential Question,  options if primary tech tools not available, posters, reproducibles, samples, tips, enrichments, entry and exit tickets, and teacher preparation. Lessons build on each other kindergarten through 5th grade. Middle School and High School are designed for the grading period time frame typical of those grade levels with topics like programming, robotics, writing an ebook, and community service with tech.

Most (all?) grade levels include base topics of keyboarding, digital citizenship, problem solving, digital tools for the classroom, and coding.

Included are optional student workbooks (sold separately) that allow students to be self-paced, responsible for their own learning. They include required rubrics, exemplars, weekly lessons, full-color images, and more.

The curriculum is used worldwide by public and private schools and homeschoolers.

Who needs this

Tech teachers, tech coordinators, library media specialists, curriculum specialists

Classroom grade level teachers if your tech teacher doesn’t cover basic tech skills.

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In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Browser Problem? Switch Browsers

Category: Internet

Q: My browser doesn’t bring up stuff? What do I do?

A: The quick answer is: Switch browsers. Sometimes you load programs or system/operating files on your computer that conflict with your current browser. Or, the browser updated conflicts with your older computer set-up. Everything that had been working fine suddenly doesn’t.

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

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In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: How to Make a Small Window Big

Category: Internet

Sub-category: Problem-solving

Q:  When I open the internet (or a document), the window barely fills half the screen. What’s the quickest way to make it bigger?

A:  There are three easy solutions, each faster than the other:

• Click the maximize box in the upper right corner of the document.
• If you have youngers whose fine motor skills aren’t quite there and aiming/clicking that tiny box is a challenge, here’s a better way: Double click the blue title bar at the top of the document.
• Click-hold the bar at the top of the window and ‘throw’ it to the top of the screen. This automatically maximizes the window.

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

(more…)

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: Quick Browser Fixes

Category: Internet

Sub-category: Problem-solving

Q: The browser I’m using is quirky. Sites I know should work don’t. Is there a quick way to fix that without a reboot?

A: Here are four ideas you can try before rebooting your computer:

1. Refresh the webpage with the ‘reload current page’ tool. About half the time, that works.
2. Try a different browser.
3. Next, close the internet down and re-open.
4. Unplug the modem (or router–or both), wait ten seconds, and replug

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

(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: Classes

Ask a Tech Teacher offers a variety of classes throughout the year. All are online, hands-on, with an authentic use of tools you’ll want for your classroom.

To find out more, email askatechteacher@gmail.com

The Tech-infused Teacher

Certificate

By request; delivered digitally to your school or District

The 21^st Century lesson blends technology with teaching to build a collaborative, differentiated, and shared learning environment. In this course, you will use a suite of digital tools to make that possible while addressing overarching concepts like digital citizenship, internet search and research, authentic assessment, digital publishing, and immersive keyboarding. You will actively collaborate, share knowledge, provide constructive feedback to classmates, publish digitally, and differentiate for unique needs. Classmates will become the core of your ongoing Personal Learning Network.

Assessment is project-based so be prepared to be fully-involved and an eager risk-taker.

Price includes course registration and all necessary materials

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In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: How to Open a Program Maximized

Category: Internet

Sub-category: MS Office, Keyboarding

Q: How do I open the internet maximized on my screen. For younger students, clicking that tiny square in the upper right corner is often one step too many. Anything I can do to make this easier is good.

A: Here’s how you program a browser, internet site, or many programs to open maximized rather than as that annoying small size that makes it difficult to maneuver:

• Right click on the program icon.
• Select Properties>Shortcuts.
• Select the dropdown menu by Run and choose Maximized.

That’s it. It doesn’t work with every shortcut but most. I like this one a lot not only because it fixes this problem but because it introduces me to a lot more settings to personalize my computing experience (in the Properties dialogue boxes).

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

#techtips

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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 Keyboard Curriculum

Overview

K-8 Keyboard Curriculum (four options plus one)–teacher handbook, student workbooks, companion videos, 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 and student videos (free with licensed set of student workbooks)

Student workbooks and videos sold separately

__________________________________________________________________________

1-Volume Essential Guide to K-8 Keyboarding

120 pages, dozens of images, 6 assessments

Great value!

Delivered print or digital

Doesn’t include: Student workbooks or videos

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Delurking Week–the first full week of January

I joined Damyanti Biswa’s Daily [W]rite delurking week last year (though I regularly comment on her posts–she’s  a fascinating lady) and this year, thought I’d try my own.

I love the comments and interaction this blog gets, and today I’d like to catch on to the tail-end of the International Blog Delurking Week that traditionally takes place in the first full week of January, and is an opportunity for bloggers to find out who reads their blog  since, as Melissa the founder of this event says, “there is a huge discrepancy between the number of readers in actuality and the number of readers I actually know are reading. Or a tongue-twister like that.” Participation is easy: If you want to delurk, add a comment to this blog post. That’s it!

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: How to Activate a Link

Category: Internet

Sub-category: Search/Research, Keyboarding

Q: Is there a shortkey to search a website?

A: Yes. It’s Ctrl+F.  This highlights all instances of the word or phrase on the page, PDF, or website (see inset). Usually, it includes a bar (like #4 in the inset below) that shows how many instances of the word and allows you to quickly scroll through them.

If you didn’t know about Ctrl+F, don’t feel bad. According to an article I read, 90% of folks don’t.

Sign up for a new tip each week or buy the entire 169 Real-world Ways to Put Tech into Your Classroom.

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