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Our latest blog posts…
Digital Babies: How Lower Elementary Teachers are Harnessing the Power of Chromebooks with their Students
"My kids can't do that." This is one of the most common (and incorrect) statements I hear as a Tech Coach. But this isn't what I see when I work with students. I witness students, as young as 5, logging into Chromebooks, navigating the internet, and utilizing apps-...
Practice is Best Practice
As I have sat down with students who are not doing well in my class over the past 17 years, one recurring conversation has gone something like this: "Mr. Harrison, I'm studying for your tests, but I'm still not doing well on them. I don't know what else to do." I...
Technology Help for Parents of Preschoolers
Today, the Tech Coaches had the opportunity to assist at the GSRP's Parent University held at River Oaks. We helped parents of preschoolers locate and download teacher-approved, interactive apps for use with their children at home. Upon recommendation from...
Tech Coaches’ Corner Dec. 7
Join us for our next Tech Coaches' Corner December 7th in room 13 at ASC (18700 Audette, Dearborn MI 48124). We will run two sessions, one at 3:00 and the other at 4:00 to accommodate both secondary and elementary teachers. During these sessions, we will Help you...
#GAfE4Littles Recently, I was fortunate enough to stumble across a blog by a very talented elementary teacher, named Christine Pinto. Christine's site, called #GAfE4Littles, is a treasure trove of Google Apps for Eduation resources geared towards lower el teachers...
Developing an Online Academic Presence
Today, students in Joe Shannon's 2nd hour history class at Fordson generated QR codes for their "My Learning Plan" Pages and submitted them to Mr. Shannon's iLearn course. Mr. Shannon can now print the QR codes so students can place the code in a location like their...
Student-Centered Assessment in Moodle
Over the past couple weeks, Dearborn teachers Scott Apple, Marla Wiacek, and Julie Wooton have had their students using the Moodle (iLearn) Workshop module to submit writing and then self- and peer-assess that writing based on the rubric designed by the teacher. The...
Stop testing like it’s 1930: How Dearborn Teachers are changing assessment with Moodle
It's really tough to change education when our thinking is, um, well... 80 years behind. At a foundational level, we will always need to know what students know before we can effectively address their needs. The way we do so, given the available resources and...
An Interview with a District Moodle (iLearn) Superstar!
The Tech Coaches have had the pleasure of working alongside an exceptional teacher at William Ford, Ms. Jazel Fakhreddine. Jazel is using her Moodle (iLearn) course to help her ELL students and their families access information in her classroom. By using Google...
Calling All Google Classroom Teachers!
For those teachers who are utilizing Google Classroom, or thinking about utilizing Google Classroom, this post is for you! Updates This summer, Google rolled out a few updates to Google Classroom that will enhance the user's experience and make the Classroom easier to...
Fordson Photography Students are using Mahara to Display their Amazing Work
Over the past several weeks, students at Fordson have been using Mahara ePortfolios to collect and curate their best work. This morning, I worked with students in Mrs. Bridget Patrick's classes to help them learn new ways to manage their files and display them in...
Cornell Notes on Google Docs
One tool that is being consistently used across the district is the notetaking format called Cornell Notes. In order to support teachers who are using Cornell Notes + technology, I've created a simple Cornell Notes Google Docs template (click here). The Doc consists...
Updated Google Classroom Guide and More Google Help
For those teachers who use Google Classroom, we have updated our help sheet to reflect the new changes in Classroom for the 2016-2017 school year. This includes updated screenshots and explanations of new tools available to teachers and parents. Check it out here!...
Model Courses You Can Use
One of the projects Amy and I were involved with last year was creating a set of lessons following the model of engageNY and EUREKA Math within Moodle. We completed a set of more than 6 complete lessons for the 6th grade math module on Statistics. Today, I began...
Elementary Students are Starting Off the Year with Mahara ePortfolios
This school year started off with a specific focus on goals and artifacts in several elementary schools around the district. Teachers at Geer Park, William Ford, Haigh, Maples and McDonald have begun using Mahara ePortfolios with their classes to keep track of goals...
Tech Coach Tip: How to make last year’s iBlog posts invisible to students
With the start of the new school year, many teachers are looking to save their blog posts from the previous year, but make them invisible to students. This is a great idea to save yourself from "re-inventing the wheel" and also to help keep yourself on pace with the...
One tool EVERYONE should be using
Yesterday, I encouraged teachers to download one of the most potentially useful apps you can have on your mobile device: a QR-code reader. This is a simple app that allows you to use your camera to scan a code that looks like this...and go directly to a website,...
William Ford’s Virtual Zoo
Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to work with first graders in Ms. Miryam Shajrah's class at William Ford on a very exciting PBL project, the Virtual Zoo. Ms. Shajrah's first graders conducted research on an animal of their choosing, including such...
ISTE Standard*S: Standard 3: Research and Information Fluency
The third standard in our series on the ISTE Standards for Students is Research and Information Fluency. The standard says, "Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information." While it used to be the "librarian's job" to teach students...
Radical Learning Transformations in Mrs. Maynor’s Algebra 2A Class
Edsel Ford Math teacher Mrs. Angela Maynor recently created a virtual lesson using Moodle (iLearn). Her lesson consisted of several content pages that introduced the concept of radical equations. Her lesson is expertly organized, modeling sequences used by effective...
Maples 5th Graders Go Digital with My Learning Plan
With the help of their teacher, Mrs. Danielle Currie, and the Tech Coaches, fifth graders at Maples Elementary began to create their My Learning Plan using the district's Mahara platform today. Students were introduced to the concept of a portfolio, saw exemplars, and...
Technology for Lifelong Learning
Our Goal
The goal of instructional technology coaches is to help teachers become effective at using technology to provide the most technology-rich, positive learning environments possible. To this end, we believe effective teachers…
- Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.
- Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.
- Model digital age work and learning.
- Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.
- Engage in professional growth and leadership.
from Standards for Teachers.
