Can I tell you a secret? I have a love-hate relationship with the summer on a school campus.

As a school administrator, my days extend quite far into the summer. That’s okay – I knew what I was signing up for. Yet, it’s such a weird experience on a campus. On the one hand, it’s lighter and quiet. There is time to think, plan, and recuperate. On the other hand, it’s eerily quiet and lonely. It’s so strange to go from 100 mph to residential speeds in a few days. Mostly, I greatly miss our staff and students. That being said, I have greatly come to appreciate the time to slow down, think, and plan for the future.

As a part of the planning process for next year, our team is making some big pushes toward increasing the amount and quality of professional development on our campus. We will be making a huge push with amplifying our PLC’s and pushing writing across the curriculum. In addition to this, we will have a variety of staff meetings, optional PD’s, and district PD’s in which our staff can participate. To help organize all of this information, I developed a simple “Professional Development Calendar” with all of the trainings, dates, locations, and links to upcoming PD to keep our staff informed.

Here’s a quick example of what it looks like:

(View) (Sample) (Copy)

As you can see, the calendar is broken into four sections:

• Staff Meetings – Monthly staff meeting with a specific sitewide focus. This year, it will be on “Amplifying our PLC’s”
• Academics – PD specifically aimed towards improving our academics. This year, we will be offering writing PD’s, continuing our learning walks, and a Rookie Rap for new teachers.
• Student Well-Being – Any PD for our SEL & PBIS goals to support teachers as they navigate the ever-changing behaviors of our students.
• District PD – Any PD being offered by the district office.

If for some reason one of my amazing teachers is reading this PD, I know that none of this is new information but please note these dates are all simply examples and may not be accurate. Your “legit” version is coming soon!

As with anything, I always want to make sure the “why” is understood when developing, creating, or implementing something new. While this PD calendar has a low impact on staff, the “why” is quite simple but still important. Clear, accurate, and timely communication is always appreciated by school staff. We have a lot of amazing opportunities happening on our campus. It’s important that our staff can easily access these trainings and plan for their year.

Finally, as a leader, the goals for the year must be communicated to your staff. As simple as this calendar might be, it is another way to remind our staff of our sitewide goals for the year. After all, how effective are your professional development and goals if it is unknown by your staff? Simply sharing this calendar is another way to increase the awareness of our goals for the year through visually seeing the professional development that is offered to support it.

How does your school share their important events and/or dates with staff? I would love to hear about it, so share in the comments below!

Last month, I wrote a blog post on my favorite game-based learning platforms which inspired me to create a PD presentation for a conference within my district. When I was asked to present at this conference, I figured that many educators may be overwhelmed with SO many things right now that I wanted to create something easy, fun, and enjoyable for my attendees. While it may not be the deepest or pedagogically based presentation, it was fun and introduced educators to new tools that they could use in the classroom to introduce and review academic content.

The presentation is broken into three sections:

• The Pedagogy
  • While these tools are fun to use, it is always important to start out with the “why”. Why are these tools beneficial and how do they support students?
• The Tools
  • A quick list of my favorite game-based learning tools.
• The Tutorials
  • These slides are built for educators to view during AND after the presentation. While I was presenting these slides, I introduced the tools and started games for attendees to experience.

If you are looking to introduce educators at your site and/or district to game-based learning, here is a free presentation for you to use! Feel free to use, edit, and modify in whatever way will most support your educators.

(View) (Copy)

Happy November! It is hard to believe that we are almost through the first semester of school! I hope you are doing well and surviving these crazy times – because it really is SO crazy right now.

In fun news, I am starting a new series of blog posts that will come out at the beginning of each month – the Rundown! This is a simple post with a TON of links to Google Workspace Updates, helpful videos, blog posts, and a variety of instructional and educational resources that I have discovered over the last month. It is a short post this month but I plan on growing it over the next few months to contain more categories, blog posts, videos, and resources.

I hope that you enjoy these easy, quick blog posts and find something useful to use in your classroom and/or school!

Google Workspace Updates:

• Replacing a Background in Google Meet
• Slideshow Button in Google Slides
• Making Google Classroom Video Meetings Easier and More Secure
• Google Classroom Unenrollment Features
• Create Meeting Notes in Google Calendar
• Easily Add to Google Docs with the @ Menu
• Page Break Before Paragraphs in Google Docs
• New Google Meet Host Features for Audio and Video

Instructional & Educational Technology:

• PearDeck: Reflect & Review
• 11 Things Coaches Should Look For in Classroom Observations
• Slides Mania Cardtegories!
• Top 5 Game-Based Learning Platforms

Inspirational:

• Don’t Let the Tough Things Keep You from the GREAT Things! (Video)

Going forward, I hope to add many more links and sections to this blog posts. Particularly, I would like to share some leadership blog posts and videos to help support education leaders and, selfishly, help me to grow, too!

Stay tuned for the next rundown!

Recently, Google has begun launching Smart Chips which allows users to quickly hyperlink and preview Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, Calendar Events, and email addresses within Google Docs. I know what you are thinking – I can already hyperlink in a Google Doc! Well, Smart Chips are a bit different than the classic hyperlink. To be honest, I just couldn’t think of a better word than hyperlink to describe how Smart Chips operate.

To create a Smart Chip in Google Docs, it is super simple:

• Type the “@” symbol into the Google Doc.
• Start typing the name of the Doc, Slide, Drawing, calendar event, or email address.
• Select the appropriate item and you’re done!

Below, you will find a GIF and short video on how to create a Smart Chip in Google Docs. As you will see, it is super simple to create and can be a great way to organize materials in a Google Doc. The OCD person in me absolutely loves the organizational possibilities for the future!

Now that I have shared what I love about Smart Chips, I feel that I must share a disclaimer about this new feature that I will also reference in the video. Currently, I am struggling to get Smart Chips to work with all the documents that I would like to attach. I’m not sure if this is just a bug that needs to be worked out or a user error on my part, however, I cannot find some of the documents (whether Docs, Slides, Drawings, etc) that I want to link within my document. I have tried it every which way but it only gives me the top four options and sometimes these are not the options that I need to attach. Hopefully, Google will update this to increase the number of options you can select from or better refine their search algorithm for users.

GIF Tutorial:

Video Tutorial:

Have you used Smart Chips? What do you think and did you run into the same issues as I did? Share in the comments below!

Hello EDU Friends! I hope you are surviving this crazy world that we are living in right now. Whether you are in distance learning, hybrid, or fully back in the classroom, I hope you and yours are safe, healthy, and happy.

Today, I will be sharing a simple, easy, and interactive presentation that can be given during professional development. The district in which I work is huge with the 4 C’s which, eventually, morphed into a personal passion through my Google Innovator project. I truly believe the 4 C’s in an excellent way to evaluate the depth of teacher lessons and improve these lessons for the future.

Recently, I delivered some PD to our new teachers breaking down the 4 C’s into a simple, short presentation. The 4 C’s can be a really deep and complex concept, so I tried to break it down to its simplest form, while also providing more depth for the future. In this presentation, you will find that it is broken into three parts:

1. What are the 4 C’s?
   • In this section, teachers are introduced to the lowest level and highest level of the 4 C’s, as well as provided rubrics for breaking down each C.
2. How Can I Assess the 4 C’s in my Lessons?
   • In this section, teachers are challenged to evaluate the current depth of 4 C’s in their own lessons and find next steps for improving their lessons.
3. Resources for Lesson Design
   • In the last section, teachers are provided links to lesson design ideas, websites, and resources.

Below, you will find a preview of the presentation, the view access, and a link to make your own copy:

(View) (Make Your Own Copy!)

I hope you find this presentation beneficial and feel free to drop any comments, ideas, or suggestions below!

In April and May, I Heart EDU released a variety of professional development webinars to support teachers with distance learning. I’m so glad many of you were able to tune in to these videos and I hope to plan a couple more soon!

Today, I am sharing a webinar on Jamboard and Google Meet that I had previously not posted due to my summer hiatus. In this webinar, Rosalinda Jaimes shares how to use Jamboard and Google Meet to amplify learning during distance learning.

I’m ashamed to admit it – but I had never used Jamboard until this presentation! I’m so disappointed that I didn’t because this would have been an AMAZING tool in the Math classroom.

Below you will find the YouTube video and helpful links to get you going with Jamboard. Enjoy!

• Presentation
• Jamboard Product Page
• YouTube
• Tech Fairies Website
• What is Google Jamboard? Blog Post

Have you used Google Jamboard in the classroom? If so, share in the comments below!

Happy May everyone! As we continue in these strange times with stay-at-home orders, I EDU is planning to continue with monthly webinars. I know that a lot of my posts recently have been based on webinars, but stay tuned for more posts as I have normally shared in the past. (Unfortunately, I messed up my back a bit this month so a lot my regular posts have been temporarily put aside!)

If you are interested in these webinars, you can pop onto our YouTube Channel or Facebook Page at the time of the event OR use the link to create a Google Calendar invite in your own calendar! As a note, the Google Calendar invite will contain a link to the YouTube channels but not the exact videos, since those have not been generated yet. 🙂

Jamboard & Google Meet

Date: 5/12 @ 4:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Rosalinda Jaimes

Links: YouTube | Facebook | Google Calendar

Description: Using Jamboard as an interactive whiteboard and collaboration space during distance learning.

Distance Learning & Student Voice with Flipgrid

Date: 5/19 @ 4:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Melissa King

Links: YouTube | Facebook | Google Calendar

Description: How can we offer assignments that are engaging, rigorous, yet easy to use? Flipgrid! Now teachers and students can even screen record using Flipgrid. See how to create Fliphunts, design reading group challenges, and more!

5 Google Tips & Tricks You Didn’t Know About

Date: 5/21 @ 4:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Meagan Kelly

Links: YouTube | Facebook | Google Calendar

Description: Join this quick and informative webinar on five GSuite for Education tips and tricks you’ve never seen before – unless you’re a Google Master!

Check-ins with Google Forms

Date: 5/26 @ 4:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Mari Venturino

Links: YouTube | Facebook | Google Calendar

Description: Use Google Forms to check in with students, both during remote learning and when we transition back to the classroom. It’s a great way to build connections with students and establish a routine.

We hope to see you there!

Adobe Spark is an online and mobile design app where users can easily create social graphics, short videos, and web pages. It is a great tool to use with students to allow them to show their learning in unique and creative ways. In addition to this, it is a great way for schools to easily create social media posts!

In this presentation, Jenn Calderon shares the following about Adobe Spark:

• Multiple ways to use Adobe Spark as a teacher and administrator
• Create Adobe Spark images, posts, presentations and videos
• Publish and share Adobe Spark creations

Below, you will find some of the resources that were provided during the presentation:

• Presentation
• Twitter
• Adobe Spark

Have you used Adobe Spark in the classroom or at your school? If so, share in the comments below!

As you may have noticed, I EDU has recently launched a series of webinars. Our first series occurred during the first two weeks of April and I am excited to share 2 more webinars from a variety of presenters for the rest of this month. If you are interested in these webinars, you can pop onto our YouTube Channel or Facebook Page at the time of the event OR sign up via the Google Form below for email updates and calendar invites.

Adobe Spark

Date: 4/20 @ 6:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Jenn Calderon

Links: YouTube | Facebook

Description: Learn how to create diverse images, a simple webpage story or narrate a quick video. Adobe spark is a versatile platform where students can create powerful projects, with a few clicks of a button.

Self-Care During Distance Learning

Date: 4/22 @ 4:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Meagan Kelly, Mari Venturino, Rosalinda Jaimes, Jenn Calderon, Melissa King

Links: YouTube | Facebook

Description: It’s amazing to see how educators are taking on distance learning with such passion and creativity for their students. However, distance learning and working from home can take a mental, emotional and physical toll on educators. Join us in this session to hear transparent talks about the ups and downs of distance learning and self-care strategies to stay mentally healthy.

Distance Learning Fun with Flipgrid

Date: 4/27 @ 3:00 PM (PST)

Presenter: Melissa King

Links: YouTube | Facebook

Description: How can we offer assignments that are engaging, rigorous, yet easy to use? Flipgrid! Now teachers and students can even screen record using Flipgrid. See how to create Fliphunts, design reading group challenges, and more!

If you are interested in signing up for any of these webinars, please sign up via the following Google Form:

Google Sites is an amazing resource for students to create their own portfolios online. During this webinar, Jenn Calderon provides a detailed walkthrough of Google Sites, including instructional strategies and ideas.

Below, you will find some of the resources that were provided during the presentation:

• Jenn’s Presentation
• Jenn’s Twitter

Feel free to share how you use ePortfolios in your classroom in the comments below!