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Summer TimeThe school year is winding down and those last minute assignments, projects, graduation requirements and finals are all being feverishly completed, turned in and studied for in these final weeks of school. The weather is starting to change for the better, and there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Summer can be a refreshing time for educators and students looking for a break, a change of pace, or just some time to get outdoors and enjoy the weather. For some, it is a time to take a college course, revamp a website, attend that professional development webinar, or tutorial, that there just wasn't enough time for during the school year. The summer months can afford this time for growth, reflection and edits without the disruptions of the regular school year. This year the tech team will not be collecting educator devices at the end of the school year as in the past. In fact, we encourage you to hold onto them and use them to enhance your own learning, or create that jaw dropping lesson that you have been meaning to accomplish during this busy year. New devices for professional staff K - 6 and 9 - 12 will be shipped to the schools during the mid summer weeks. The tech team will be on hand to schedule some times to come in and swap out devices (calendar invites will be sent out). The tech team will then assist you with Apple's "out of the box experience" to setup your new device(s) with your own preferences and needs. Once again you will be the administrator of your own device. Be sure to backup your vital data and files prior to swapping out your machine. This can take hours if you have a lot of files and you may not be able to setup your machine and take it with you on the day of the swap if a backup has not been performed ahead of time. Before backing up, it is a good idea to weed out files you no longer need, and organize the ones that you want to keep. It's easy to say that this can be done at a later date, but a clean backup is really worth the time and energy. It is not necessary to have all of your files located on your new machine either. Photos and video files take up a lot of space. For this reason, it may be a good idea to place these file types onto an external hard drive, the school server, or a cloud storage solution (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.). For tips and best practices for backing up your essential files, refer to the Teacher Laptop Backup Guide embedded below. Along with new teacher devices, we are looking at teacher presentation tools within the learning environments as well. Whether you have an interactive white board, TV, projector, or even an overhead projector, we want to make sure you have what you need to deliver your content in the best way that you can to your students. The tech team is walking around and updating the inventory and budgeting for new dongles, Apple TVs, external disk drives and converters. An Apple TV would allow teachers and/or students to wirelessly broadcast what they have on their Apple devices up to the screen at the front of the room. (To learn more about the wireless streaming solution in the classroom, refer to the previous blog post, "Apple TV: Will it Replace the Interactive White Board?") If you need any assistance weeding and/or storing your files, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the tech team. Also, if you have any known problems with your current device, please let a member of the tech team know about that as well so that we can address these issues during the summer months to get them ready for redeployment to students. Lastly, remember that technology is everywhere you look, and has become a huge part of our daily tasks in our busy lives, but balance is always the key. Technology can enhance and share your experiences, provide collaborative and efficient ways to communicate, and offer ways to be creative, however, sometimes you just have to put down your device, look up and enjoy all that life has to offer in the physical world. Have a wonderful summer! Eric York Support Sites
York Technology DepartmentTech support for all of your needs. Check out the tutorials section for website transitions and creation. REMINDER all First Class and iWeb pages will no longer exist after July 1st, 2014.
GAFE Support SiteAll things Google Apps for Education. Watch tutorails, research helpful links and get started on your journey through GAFE.
Summer Institute / GAFE PeakHave you registered for Summer Institute featuring GAFE Peak yet? Don't miss the fun June 23rd - 26th.
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New Links for TeachersShut the Front Door! Digital Differentiation With Google FormsBy “branching,” I am referring to the option in Google forms to, “go to page based on answer.” You may or may not have noticed this little check box when creating a Google form. This little box can make a big difference, and can offer ways to use Google forms to differentiate for students.
5 TIPS FOR TEACHERS AS LEARNERSAs educators, we are continually trying to help our students learn. We’re always telling them the importance of learning and that the skills we teach them will be useful throughout the rest of their lives. But, sometimes we, as educators, forget that we should also be learning. An educator is a life-long student. Educators should always be bettering their craft and finding the newest and best ideas to share with their students. How can we continue learning?
The Importance of Teaching
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