Welcome Back to School 2014 - 2015 Edition
New Tech FeaturesThere are a lot of new improvements in technology this year, and the York School Department has taken full advantage of some of these new technologies with upgrades over the summer.
In a time where bandwidth is king, we have taken the first step in improving our schools' Wi-Fi speeds and have doubled up our bandwidth from the state. The next big step will be to upgrade all of the internal network components within the high school and the two elementary schools to provide much needed internet access to a community with more than one device in hand. Professional staff were invited to come in during the summer to swap their current white MacBook for their new device(s). The tech team has put together a web page for MLTI support located on the schools' intranet sites. Staff can navigate to their individual school intranet site via the YSD Intranet site. There is also a page setup with helpful resources to help get to know your New MacBook Air Laptop on the YSD Technology Site with helpful tips and tricks for the changes that came with the upgrade.
One of the early items that staff may wish to setup with their new deivce is the automatic tabs that will open when the Google Chrome web browser is launched. It is a good idea to have Gmail, Calendar, Drive and your school's intranet site automatically launch within 4 tabs upon startup. This short video goes over the steps necessary to set this up. Students at the high school will also experiment with a pilot program of Chromebooks this school year. Four carts of 25 Chromebooks each will replace 3 iPad carts at YHS. This will offer a more streamline flow between students and staff and turning in work. It will also allow students to enhance their learning and customize their Chrome browser with Google Apps and Extensions just as staff members can on their new MacBook Air.
Lastly, Google Classroom was released just last week and was announced at the GAFE Summit in Yarmouth. Classroom was launched early by Google with expected iterations and improvements to follow. Staff can now create an online course management system to assign work, continue discussions and even assess students' work. Check out the introduction video below and then head to classroom.google.com to get started. York Websites and Resources |
Articles for Teachers
New Google Links and Tools
Now with Google Story Builder, you can build a video story that looks like it is being typed live between two collaborators in a Google doc.
New Links for Teachers
ClassCharts is an excellent tool for creating online seating charts, behavior charts, and behavior reports.
The Public Domain Review is a website that features collections of images, books, essays, audio recordings, and films that are in the public domain.
The Human Footprint Interactive shows you how you compare to others around the world when it comes to consumption of foods and consumer goods.
Newsela brings current event articles to your classroom and allows classroom, but allows you to deliver it to your students at their own Lexile level.
Hooda Math is a fantastic collection of math games that give students the opportunity for math fact practice while having fun.
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