EdTechnocation: Get your FREE Google Classroom iPad App User Guides!

If you are still on the fence about trying the Google Classroom app or fledgling along trying to figure it out on the fly, Michael Fricano's new resources for you and your students may just be the resource you need for moving all-in on the classroom and document management tool.

Get your FREE user guide for the new Google Classroom iPad App!

Google just released an Android & iOS app for Google Classroom. It's not full featured (yet) so it's important that teachers and students understand exactly what you can and can't do with the app.

Get the guides and read more at EdTechnocation: Get your FREE Google Classroom iPad App User Guides!.

Flocabulary Offers Free 90 Day Trial

Flocabulary is one of the tools we are using at Blue Star Elementary to engage students in boosting their academic vocabulary. It combines catchy hip hop music videos with all kinds of concepts from parts to speech to the Solar System to habits for being safe online.

The company is currently hosting a free 90 day trial for teachers. That is a great way to get through the rest of the Winter doldrums while infusing a little funk and fun into your pedagogy.

Check out the trial and then check out this sample of Flocabulary's take on order of operations.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zanq7gmXY88[/embed]

Check out all of the #cuerockstar Saugatuck awesomeness presenting at #MACUL15

We said last year that Rock Star Saugatuck Teacher Camp was all about launching the awesomeness within all of our attendees. On Day 1 last summer many were quietly questioning themselves as to whether they had bitten off more than they could chew. By the end of Day 3 we all were listening to and witnessing amazing transformations in so many of them. It wasn't that they had attended some magical session. They realized that they do indeed have a lot of insight into powerful teaching and a lot to share. Now six months later, 1/6 of Saugatuck campers are presenting at this year's big MACUL conference in Detroit from March 18-20.

Check out the great list of sessions below from last year's attendees and faculty. Then visit cuerockstar.org to register for this summer's July 7-9 camp presented by MACUL and Saugatuck Public Schools.

Thursday

8:00-10:00
Explore the Power of iPhoto - Dave Tchozewski (hands-on session, additional charge)

10:00-11:00
Blogging, It's Elementary - Heidi Gascon
Make a Presentation that will Wow your Students - Nicole Bauman, AnnMarie Willette

10:30-12:30
Creating Digital Books with iTunes Author - Dave Tchozewski (hands-on session, additional charge)

1:00-2:00
If you're Appy and you Know it, Come Smash with Us - Kristen Gavlas, Johnna Kline
Collaborate and Connect with Google Apps and Drive - Heidi Gascon
Inquiring Minds want to Know - Erin Mastin

2:30-3:30
These ARE the Droids you are Looking For - Andy Losik
Bring a new Dimension to Learning with Augmented Reality - Drew Minock
Going Paperless with Google - Kevin Kacel, Sam Sicilia

3:30-5:30
Create and Innovate with iTunes U - Rebecca Wildman (hands-on session, additional charge)

4:00-5:00
Beyond Paper and Pencil: Supporting Writing with Technology - Heidi Gascon, Stacey Schuh
No Tech to Lots of Tech - Keith Tramper
Student Data and Information Privacy in the App Era: A Panel Conversation - featuring Ben Rimes

Friday

8:00-10:00
If you can't Build it in Keynote, you don't Need It - Andy Losik (hands-on session, additional charge)

8:30-9:30
Needle in a Haystack: Internet Search Tips and Tricks - Colleen Robison
It Takes just a S.E.C. - Leveraging Schoology, Edmodo, or Classroom to Engage Learning - Nicole Bauman, AnnMarie Willette

10:00-11:00
Inspire Innovation by Fostering Collaboration and Creativity - Drew Minock
Teach Like a Transformer - Keith Tramper

10:30-12:30
Engage English Language Learners through Technology - Cheryl Prindle (hands-on session, additional charge)

11:30-12:30
Revitalizing Research in the Digital Age - Katie Aquino
The iPad's Killer App - Ben Rimes

1:00-2:00
Why Connect as an Educator? - Erin Mastin
Engage your Students with Free Web Tools - Dave Tchozewski
I've got a Brain to Pick with You - Jennifer Gwilt
The Battle for your Class: Google Classroom vs. Edmodo - Josh Hubbard

2:30-3:30
Closing Keynote: Culture, Innovation, and Learning: A 21st Century Paradigm Shift - Drew Minock

Wow! After the opening keynote you can do the whole conference front to back and you've got Rock Stars leading every time slot.

See you in Detroit. See you in Saugatuck this summer.

Blowing the Doors off Google Apps for Education

Here is the slide deck I will be using today in Caledonia as we dig deeper into the cool stuff Google Apps can provide.

 

iPad Apps for Film-making | A Listly List

Here is a great post I came across today highlighting 9 apps for film-making. These are great app smashers where each one performs a certain task and those products can all be mashed into one project.

iPad Apps for Film-making

Listly by Cathy Hunt

These apps provide us with endless possibilities for innovative teaching and creativity in the classroom. Introducing apps and workflows should be a derivative of considered instructional design and pedagogies that stems from a focus on the learning.

See Cathy's full post: iPad Apps for Film-making | A Listly List.

Hey Michigan, #cuerockstar's Back!

Last year was so awesome, we couldn't not do it again this year!

CUE and MACUL are two of the premiere organizations in the US for promoting the integration of technology in the classroom and are teaming up for Act II of the Rock Star Teacher Camp experience.

For these three days, the attendees are the Rock Stars and the presenters are just the lucky folks who get to help facilitate amazing collaboration and learning.

​

CUE Rock Star Saugatuck presented by MACUL will take place this summer at Saugatuck Middle School from July 7th to the 9th.

Check out cuerockstar.org to register or apply for a faculty spot. Deadline for faculty applications is on Feb. 22. Faculty receive complimentary registration and lodging. If you are applying, please do not register. We will save room for you if you are not selected and you may pay your registration later.

This year's camp will follow much of the same format that last year's did. Lots of learning. Lots of fun. Treating teachers like they've never been treated.

We really hope you'll consider being a part of this experience and will bring lots of friends.

Third Graders creating scale models of the world's tallest buildings

Last year my third grade students went big Cane's Arcade style when creating scale models of the world's tallest buildings. This activity takes a while but it builds so many skills and hits so many tech and math standards.

• Research


• Sketchup 3D model exploration


• How to work in teams


• Converting to scale (division)


• Converting decimals to fractions


• Measurement


• Creativity

To me it's really what STEM or STEAM learning should be about.

This year we are greatly scaling down the size of the buildings. 100 feet of reality equals 1 inch of model. After weeks of prep and design we are finally into the making stages. Here is a quick glimpse of the energy we are generating today.





I will be sure to share some of the finished models when we progress that far.

Turn all of the sensors in your Android devices into learning tools

I recently read a great article from Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook blog about utilizing all of the different sensors that are part of so many mobile devices and turning them into learning tools.

Matt, a fellow Google Certified Teacher, recently did a Hangout with Rebecca Vierya. Rebecca and Matt met at the Austin Google Teacher Academy and she shared some of the Android software she and her husband developed to tap into all of the power that phones and tablets possess but isn't easily accessed for learning.

The Vierya's free Suite of Tools at Google Play is simple to use and contains the following apps:

• G-Force Meter - ratio of Fn/Fg


• Linear Accelerometer - acceleration


• Gyroscope - radial velocity


• Barometer - atmospheric pressure


• Roller Coaster - G-Force Meter, Linear Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Barometer


• Proximeter - periodic motion and timer


• Hygrometer - relative humidity


• Thermometer - temperature


• Magnetometer - magnetic field intensity


• Light Meter - light intensity


• Sound Meter - sound intensity


• Tone Generator - frequency producer


• Orientation - azimuth, roll, pitch


• Stroboscope

According to the developers, "Useful for education, academia, and industry, this app uses device sensor inputs to collect, record, and export data. in comma separated value (csv) format through a .txt file sent via an e-mail or through Google Drive. All analog data is plotted against elapsed time (or clock time) on a graph. Users can export the data for further analysis in a spreadsheet or plotting tool. The app also allows for a tone generator output."

Through the user interface a number of the sensors can be used together for all kinds of different explorations of math and physics concepts in the real world.

On her own site, Rebecca has compiled a ton of links where the tools have been referenced at all levels of academia from elementary schools to higher education.

Connected Educator Un/Conference returns

It's back! Jackson ISD hosts its annual Connected Educator Un/Conference April 18th, 2015.

A mashup of educational technology & conversation, this is an opportunity to get you moving with an innovative classroom! The #ConnectedEDU Un/Conference features active learning experiences alongside and led by innovative Michigan educators!

via Connected Educator Un/Conference - EDTECH TEAM.