Open School ePortfolio for Authentic Assessment

An ePortfolio is a collection of student work that is used to document effort, progress, and achievement over time. Students become actively involved in their own learning as they engage in goal setting, decision making and self-reflection. ePortfolios are powerful tools for authentic assessment because they require teachers and students to dig deeper than a multiple choice test. As we scramble to fully implement the Common Core Standards, ePortfolios can be an extremely useful tool to help students develop skills necessary for success in school and beyond.

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On Getting Smart Today...

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Digital Differentiation Webinar Series in July

Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences to address the diverse needs of all students. At the most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand, and use information. When combined with student-driven learning experiences that are fueled by essential questions and offer flexible learning paths, use of digital tools can break the learning barriers that exist in our classrooms. 

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ThingLink Mobile App - Capture and Share Teachable Moments

Now you can create and share multimedia rich interactive images on the go with the free ThingLink Mobile App for iPad and iPhone.  Just take a photo, tag the image with video or text, and instantly share it through email, Twitter or FaceBook. The new ThingLink App provides mobile users with the ability to quickly embed video and text into any photo for a quick snippet of life as it is happening.

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LearnZillion - Help Students Avoid the Summer Slide

As another school year comes to a close we will soon be sending our students home for a much needed respite. It's time for them to play, focus on developing their nonacademic talents, and enjoy a break from the everyday routine of school. Unfortunately, we know that many of our students will return to school in the fall in need of 4-6 weeks of review to get them back on track. This learning loss is commonly referred to as "the summer slide".

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Tech Connections: Teach Above the Line with ThingLink

Shannon Sloger's Slogan in reference to the SAMR Model

For as long as I can remember I have been an advocate for helping teachers understand the stages of technology integration in order to effectively use tech as a tool for learning.

I've adopted a few different tech integration models over the years, discussed the ideas with administrators for use as a starting point for tech integration, and kept the ideas front of mind as I invent and discover new ways for using technology as a tool for learning.  
  
Discussing the stages of tech integration has led to some thought-provoking and inspiring conversations, but the ideas have not gained a lot of momentum in my face-to-face teaching environment until now. As many districts jump on board with iPad implementation, Apple's use of the SAMR model as a framework for tech integration presents a consistent, clear and powerful message that is spreading!

I recently met Shannon Soger, 1-1 coordinator and instructional coach from D100 in Chicagoland, who shared a brilliant PD strategy and challenge used with the Fab 40 teachers in her 100% 1:1 school. The goal for teachers working within this amazing environment is to teach above the line. Of course this simple mantra and point of reference serves as a quick and easy self-evaluation tool. Teaching above the line is a clear and attainable goal to strive for. Thanks Apple, and thank you Shannon for leading the way!

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I Teach Above The Line

At an Apple ShowCase Event in Chicago yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to the advice of many talented educators who have successfully launched and implemented 1-1 Mac learning environments. As I listened to their stories I found myself writing down many quotes for use as I begin this journey. Upon reflection, I realize that I can do the most with the quote from Shannon Soger, 1-1 coordinator and instructional coach from D100, Chicagoland.

"I teach above the line."

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Twitter - Powerful Bursts of Information

Twitter is a resource I often tap into. I am not a Twitter expert, nor do I utilize Twitter to it's greatest potential, but it is certainly one of my go to tools when I'm looking to share and learn from the ideas of others. 

Many people don't understand how Twitter can work efficiently. Many people don't think they have time for Twitter.  Perhaps they don't. We all have different learning styles and preferred methods of information gathering. We must all choose the tools that work for us and Twitter is in my toolkit because it works well for me as an efficient and effective tool for collaboration!

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Back to Mac

It’s been 3 years since the school district that employees me switched from Mac to PC. After the initial shock of the sudden change subsided, I had no choice but to embrace Windows 7. It didn’t take very long for me to become a highly knowledgeable and high powered PC user, although It never felt quite right. 

I'm fortunate to be a chameleon who can adapt easily to change and I believe this is one of the reasons I have been successful at using technology as a tool for learning. I'm happy to be able to have learned to work seamlessly between platforms to facilitate tech integration, but I'm really glad that my school district is going back to Mac!

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On Getting Smart Today

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ICE Cold Mini Conference

I had a wondrful time at the ICE COLD Spring Mini-Conference this morning despite the April snow and downright blustery day. The event was packed, the information was interesting and relevant, and there was a lot of excitement everywhere.

Kudos to the organizers of this well organized and fun annual event!. $5.00 was quite a bargain!

Here are a couple of resources from this fun-filled morning of learning:

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Webinar: Marzano's 6 Steps to Effective Vocabulary Instruction

Monday, April 08, 2013 @ 5:00 PM EDT

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