Your End-of-Semester Tech Checklist For Google Classroom

Wrapping up a semester takes more than just accounting for all the class laptops, cleaning off your desk, and unplugging the printer; you should also spend a few minutes organizing your Google Classroom.

The emergence of technology in the classroom has given teachers something else to think about before locking up their classrooms for a long winter’s nap (or a much-needed summer break).

Google Classroom is a wonderful tool, especially when it is organized and maintained year after year. Here are a few suggestions to help you clean up after your last semester so that you can strike the right key with the next one.

Return all student work.

Google Classroom makes light work of homework by adjusting sharing permissions when it is assigned, and then once again when it is turned in. When you are done grading the assignment, don’t delete it; instead, turn it back to the student. This will remove the file from your drive and return it to the student (and they can delete it if they want). Emptying classroom files of assignments is a fairly cathartic process. Enjoy it.

More directions on how to return Google Classroom assignments here.

Remove students from old classes.

If you don’t want past students accessing (and potentially sharing) current class content, it’s a good idea to remove former class members from your student roster at the end of each semester. It may not prevent all forms of cheating, but it can be a strong preventative measure. 

Learn more about how to remove students from a Google class here.

Archive completed classes.

Archiving classrooms allows you to remove the class from your main Google Classroom page while still allowing you to copy, reuse, and access previously created material. The biggest reason to archive is that it helps make your page cleaner and easier to navigate--something most teachers appreciate, especially when logging in the first time after break. 

More about how to archive a Google class here.

Don’t forget about class calendars.

Every time you create an assignment with a due date, you automatically create a calendar entry in the class’s Google Calendar (yes, Google Classroom is just that good). Once the class is done, however, that calendar link just becomes one more thing to clutter your sidebar. Delete or hide the unwanted calendar in the Google Calendar Settings.

Clean up Google Drive.

Google Classroom is just a shinier, automated interface for Google Drive, which is doing all the heavy lifting of creating folders, sorting documents, and more. You may never want to dive this deep with your cleaning, but on the off chance that you want access to files in a different way, here’s your chance to keep your current files where you need them (in the Classroom folder) and to remove old ones to other locations as you see fit.

A good tip here is to create a Google Drive folder named “Archived Classes” and drag and drop completed classes from Google Classroom into this folder for safekeeping.

NOTE: You may never need or want to do this. This process doesn’t affect Google Classroom performance; it simply makes it easier to work within Google Drive for current classes.

Google Classroom has quickly become an invaluable tool for many teachers around the world. To keep it--and you--running most efficiently, it’s important to keep it maintained and organized. The good news? Unlike your physical classroom, where you have to move desks, take inventory, and haul boxes, you can clean up your Google Classroom at your kitchen table, coffee in hand, and in your pajamas--and it will still feel just as good when it’s done.

Want to learn more about what Google Classroom can do for you? We'd love to talk.

How To Password Protect Notes In OneNote For Windows 10

The password protection utilized in OneNote keeps your notes safe. Whether used in a scholastic, corporate, or business setting, the encryption and versatility of OneNote will give you control over who, and when, specific sections in your notebook can be accessed. 

OneNote is an incredible tool for getting organized and creative. The ability to lock, and unlock, specific sections within a notebook lends itself to many educational applications. Teachers can sharing the entire semester’s notes in one Notebook and unlock one section at a time. They can also place different versions of tests, quizzes, and study guides within each section, and then alternating between them and a new section to prevent hacking. 

If you haven’t used this capability before, it’s a relatively straightforward process. Locking down sections of your notebook is the easy part; coming up with a password you won’t forget, on the other hand, may be a bit more difficult.

Adding a section password:

When a notebook section has been protected with a password, all of its pages are locked and hidden from view. For additional security, password-protected sections will automatically lock after a designated period of inactivity.

1. Right-click the name of the notebook section that you want to protect.

2. Choose “Password Protection “

3. Choose “Add Password”

4. Type the desired password into the Enter Password box.

5. Retype your password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter, and you’re set.

How to lock all password protected sections

If passwords have been applied to one or more sections in your notebook, they can all be locked simultaneously.

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section, choose Password Protection

2. Choose Lock Protected Sections. All protected sections will be locked immediately. 

In order to unlock a protected section:

Protected sections will be locked automatically when you exit OneNote. To unlock, simply:

1. Click on the section you want to unlock.

2. Type the password into the Password box

3. Press Enter. 

How to change the password for a protected section:

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to change.

2. Choose Password Protection

3. Choose Change Password. (If this option isn’t available, then you must create a password for that section.)

4. Enter the current password into the Old Password box.

5. Enter the new password in the New Password Box.

6. Re-enter the new password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter.

NOTE: Each section in your Notebook is independent of the other sections. Changing a password for a section will only affect that section. The above steps must be repeated in order to change passwords for all other sections.

Removing the password from a protected section:

1. Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to remove.

2. Choose Password Protection.

3. Choose Remove Password.

4. Enter the current password in the Remove Password window, and press Enter.

Important notes about passwords:

• Passwords cannot be applied to entire notebooks, only to sections within notebooks.

• All passwords are case-sensitive.

• Protected sections will not be included in notebook searches. Sections must be unlocked in order to be searched.

OneNote uses 128 bit AES encryption to secure password-protected sections. This is the same level of encryption that banks and the government use to protect military intelligence and personal banking records. If you forget any of your section passwords, no one will be able to unlock those notes for you (not even Microsoft Technical Support). Use caution when adding passwords to your notebook sections and when changing them. It is strongly recommended that you write down all passwords and store them in a secure location.

This is one of the many features that Microsoft offers. Want to learn more about what OneNote and what Windows 10 can offer for your classroom? Click below.

10 Ways To Use The Windows 10 Fall Creator’s Update

Windows 10 just keeps getting better, and this fall’s Creator’s Update is worth downloading. Here are ten things you can expect with the upgrade, and how you should use them.

Sync files On-Demand

The update’s new on-demand feature allows OneDrive to select data from the cloud when it’s needed—without having to sync full files and folders to a particular device. File Explorer will identify what folders are on the local drive and which ones need to be downloaded, a useful feature for folks who like to travel—and travel light, data-wise.

Add your favorite faces to your taskbar

Now you can pin family, friends, and co-workers to your Windows 10 taskbar, making keeping everyone in the loop that much easier. Drag and drop pictures, gifs, and files right into a contact for a quick way to show sharing is caring.

…and your text messages

Speaking of favorite faces, Microsoft is making sure emojis are front and center (and abundant) for messaging with a separate emoji panel. Access it by holding down the Windows button and the period key at the same time.

Get a Mixed-Reality check

You’ll need to purchase a separate headset from your favorite PC makers (Acer, Dell, HP, to name a few) to take full advantage of Microsoft’s answer to virtual reality, but it could be worth it if you’re a bigger gamer.

Find a design that moves you.

Microsoft is speaking a new design language with the Fall Creator’s update, and it’s moving. Literally. You’ll see the subtle difference in how the operating system looks and reacts; blur effects, menu transparencies, and detail in light, depth, and material make this upgrade one you can see and almost feel.

Game the system

GPU gurus can get their game on with improved performance trackers and metrics, allowing gamers to specifically track and control GPU utilization and memory usage.

Live on the Microsoft Edge

One of the more exciting additions to Windows 10 is the improved Microsoft Edge browser, which brings back the beloved pinned sites on the taskbar. It’s now easier than ever to shop at your favorite online stores, watch your favorite online shows, and keep tabs on your favorite talking head.

Write it down

Microsoft Surface owners will rejoice in the improved touch and inking features of the Fall Creator’s Update, and they’ll also love the new feel of the keyboard (with text prediction) and easier emoji access. For those who avoid typing in general, the new voice commands and dictation features are pretty spot on.

Call it as you see it

If you’re using an Android phone, Cortana will display all call notifications, syncing notifications and giving you the ability to text someone from your PC if you’re too busy to take a call. You can even “tell” Cortana to perform certain actions on your PC with specific voice commands.

…and hear it and say it.

Those who have used headphones with previous Windows versions can lament the poor setting interface. The Fall Creator’s Update remedies much of this with a new volume mixer, easier access t the sound icon, and individual volume control for apps.

These are our favorite additions to Windows 10 from Microsoft. What other features would you like to learn about?

Experiential Learning: To Learn By Doing

How and what we learn is determined in large part by how and what we experience—at least if Psychologist David Kolb has anything to say about it. His experiential learning theory combines traditional cognitive and behavior theories to create a more holistic approach.

Kolb believes that experiential learning incorporates emotions, environment, cognitive function, and experience as part of the transformative process of knowledge acquisition. We don’t learn in a vacuum; our feelings, the classroom, the concepts, and our past experiences influence how we absorb, retain, and recall information.

In other words, we don’t just have to learn the meaning of something to retain it fully; it has to be meaningful to us.

One-to-one technology can be a vital tool for the experiential learners as it’s often been shown that we as humans learn better by actively participating in our own learning and exploring. To fully harness the power of this type of learning with technology, a thoughtful approach is in order.

How to use technology for experiential learning.

• Use technology to relate curriculum to real life and personal experience, rather than rote recitation of facts and trends.

• Encourage online collaboration and positive relationship-building

• Record lectures and teaching plans so they can be accessed by students in a more familiar or comfortable environment.

• Empower students to use given technological tools to uncover their own research, resources, and opportunities.

• Adapt social networks as part of the interactive learning experience.

• Use technology that employs sensory input, like being able to take pictures, record sounds, and take notes.

• Virtual and game-based environments can increase the ‘fun-factor’ for many lesson plans, increasing the rate of retention.

While you can’t always make every lesson mean something for your students, you can give them tools to be active learners in their own lives. By stimulating them emotionally, developing a positive classroom environment, and providing them with self-guided resources, you can help them use technology to transform their experience in real and impactful ways.

To give your students the tools to be active learners, click below.

7 Reasons Why Technology In The Classroom Makes Today’s Schools Better

Tablets are replacing textbooks. Keyboarding is replacing cursive. Coding languages are just as important as developing conversational Spanish, French, and Mandarin. Technology in the classroom is changing schools just as much as it has changed the world we live in; it has made the world smaller as we become exposed to the different-yet-similar lives that live upon it, and made it bigger in revealing all there is still left to learn about the planet and the universe it swirls in.

Here are seven ways technology has improved the classroom experience. 

1. Technology makes classrooms more fun.
   Technology allows teachers to reach students with ways and means that interest them, whether by digital cameras and Smart Boards or a deep-dive into a subject matter with videos, interactive STEM experiments, and self-guided learning opportunities.

2. Classroom technology preps kids for life beyond school.
   Studies have shown that students believe technology helps them prepare for life in the digital future. Almost every career—even the sought-after trades like mechanics, electricians, and plumbers—has been transformed with technology, and the advancements aren’t slowing down. Students need exposure at every level to keep up with trends and to be able to positively contribute to them.

3. Technology creates an improved classroom experience.
   We’re learning more and more about learners; it turns out we all absorb, retain, and process information in a myriad of different ways. Technology helps teachers identify the specific ways their students handle new material in order to teach them where they are and in a way they best understand it.

4. Technology connects students.
   Technology, when used appropriately, connects us to the world in ways we've never seen or experienced. Social media can bring cultures to life, live streaming videos can connect us to current events, and digital libraries can bring a wealth of knowledge and adventure right to our fingertips. Forming the connections is an important part of making the most of them, and that’s advice we could use both online and in person.

5. Classroom technology makes teaching more effective (and enjoyable).
   Technology has allowed teachers to move away from abstract theory and into hands-on learning by tapping into their collective knowledge, skills, and resources. Audio-visual presentations, online videos, live interviews with experts—the opportunities are endless to give students the breadth of knowledge needed in any subject.

6. Technology makes communication smoother.
   Parents have more access than ever to their student’s progress in the classroom. Google Classroom, Blackboard 24/7, Dreambox, and more allow parents to check in on their students from time to time, giving them big-picture and detail access to the ins and outs of their child’s day. It’s not quite eyes-in-the-back-of-their-heads, but it’s just as useful as a conversation starter and a way to connect more deeply at home.

7. Technology has improved collaboration.
   Online apps and tools offer a unique way for all students to engage in a group project without having to fight for attention or the turn to speak. Contributions are tracked, and students are held accountable for their roles and responsibilities so that no one is left out and no one is left doing it all.

Naysayers protest that classroom technology is disruptive, and supporters may agree wholeheartedly; disruption, after all, is what keeps us moving forward. Classroom technology allows us to teach kids as the world continues to learn, preparing them for the future as it forms around them.

If you're looking to disrupt the classroom, reach out to us.

5 Easy Tips For Cleaning Devices In Classrooms

Tablets, laptops, smart boards, and digital cameras are just a few ways technology is connecting kids to the world, each other, and a new way of learning. And, especially this time of year, it is also connecting them to something a little more unexpected: germs.

Keeping classroom devices clean at any grade level can be a challenge, but if you keep these tips and processes in place, you can help keep your students—and yourself—healthy all year long. 

1. Start at the source. A little prevention can go a long way to keeping your classroom technology clean and free of debris. Remind students to cover their mouths with their elbows when they cough, to wash their hands regularly, and to stay home when they are contagious.

2. Stick with a schedule. Grime, fingerprints, dirt, and spots can accumulate quickly on classroom devices, so it’s best to set aside time every week to clean them.

3. Use only water on displays. Touchscreen technology is created with the intention of being touched, and most screens are treated with chemicals that work with the natural oils on fingertips. Abrasive chemicals can remove this layer, and the instant shine they provide may end up costing you in the long run; stick with plain water on a soft microfiber cloth and lightly buff out smudges.

4. Clean keyboards with compressed air. Compressed air is one of the most effective ways to clean keyboards; it forcefully blasts dirt, crumbs, and lint out from hiding. While compressed hair handles the nooks and crannies, use a damp (but not wet) disinfectant wipe to clean the tops of the keys and stop germs in their tracks.

5. Restore brilliance to laptops. There’s nothing like those foam cleaning erasers to bring back a laptop’s former glory. Use only on the exterior (NOT the display) and be careful not to remove identifying numbers; foam erasers can’t tell the difference between permanent marker and day-to-day grime.

As anyone who has ever cleaned 20 laptops after a sixth-grade class knows, it can be a pretty gross world out there. With the above tips and a little luck, you can keep germs at bay, your technology in good shape, and your students healthy and ready to learn. As always, feel free to reach out if you need more tips about technology in the classroom.

How To Save Work Offline In Google Drive

When they say Google Drive is everywhere, they mean it. Not only is it in the cloud, providing you access whenever and wherever you have an internet connection, but it can also live right on your hard drive, giving you access to the files you need, even when you’re offline.

Uses for offline Google Drive:

• When driving or flying (as a passenger!)

• When poor internet connections keep interrupting your workflow

• When traveling to areas of unknown or insecure internet

Students can also take advantage of this when they're at after-school practices without reliable connection, but want to get a head start on their Chromebook homework. To take advantage of the most useful aspects of Google Drive, you should access it through the Chrome browser. Installing it on your computer is pretty straightforward; just go here and follow the download instructions. If you don’t have a Google or Chrome account, get one (it’s worth it, and it’s free), then follow these instructions.

1. Download all the Google Drive onto all of your devices.
   If you want to edit your Google Doc (or worksheet, presentation, etc) from anywhere, all of your devices need to be on the same page. The Google Drive app is available on Android and Apple; download it on the devices you’ll be using for access. You’ll also need to download the Google Drive app onto our computer.

2. Log into Google.
   Signing into your Google account usually triggers automatic offline access so you’ll have instant access to the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

3. Enable offline access.
   If you use Google Apps for Education or Google Apps for Work, you’ll have to manually enable offline access, which is as simple as going to google.com, click on the menu icon, and select Settings. Find “Offline Sync” and toggle it to “on.”

You’ll know you’re working offline in Drive when a gray circle with a lightning bolt appears next to your page title. Here's how to do it for Google Docs.

Remember, in offline mode, you can create, edit, and write until your heart is content, but you won’t be able to sync those changes to the online file or see anyone else’s contributions in a collaborative document until after you return to wireless. Syncing will happen automatically once your computer detects a familiar network. 

Did you learn something new today? How about getting to know us more?

Tech-Free Family Time: 5 Ways To Make It Possible

While the National Day of Unplugging runs from sundown on March 3rd to sundown on March 4th, we think a dedicated unplugging as a family should happen more than just once a year. Here are five things you can do right now to disconnect from technology and connect with the ones you love.

Start on a fun note.

Once a week (or as often as needed), have everyone come to the kitchen with their devices and stand in a circle. Instruct everyone to hand their device to the person on their left. Give everyone 5 minutes to hide the device and then come back together to complete any one of the following activities. After the activity is done, the hunt can begin. To make it fair, change the wifi password until all devices have been found.

Revive family game night.

Maybe it’s a quick game of cards or an elaborate game of bingo. Maybe you make completing a crossword a group effort. Maybe you all gather around a puzzle and commit to locking in a minimum number of pieces. It doesn’t matter what game or activity you play, when you sit down as a family for a good ol’ fashioned night of bonding, everyone wins (even if they won’t concede the point until years later).

Get out of the house.

One sure way to distance yourself from technology is to create literal distance between you and your technology. Leave phones and tablets to charge at home while you pile in a car and treat yourself to a nice meal, ice cream, a walk in a park, or a family volunteering opportunity. If you feel uncomfortable traveling without a phone, bring yours along, but remind your family to hold you accountable, too; I had one friend who promised to buy ice cream for anyone who caught her using her phone during a tech free outing.

Get messy.

When you are trying to de-tech your family for a set amount of time, you may have to fight dirty. You can’t (or shouldn’t) use your devices when your hands are underwater or covered in flour or deep in mud, so get your crew together for a dip in the pool, a family baking party, or a gardening work day/mud fight.

Set boundaries.

If creating dedicated tech-free times is too difficult, try creating tech-free areas in your home. The dining room, for instance, is one sacred place where no devices should be allowed; not only does it distract from the conversations taking place, but food and beverages around devices are a recipe for disaster. Keep mealtimes mindful and inclusive with a firm no-tech policy at the table (and this goes for you, too, mom and dad).

You can also use technology to your advantage on a daily basis, offering the wifi password or a charging cable as the carrot for completing homework, a list of chores, or good behavior.

How do you balance family time with tech time in your home?

These STEM Lesson Plans Will Make You (and Your Students) Think

Coming up with creative, fun, and collaborative STEM (and STEAM) lesson plans is easier than ever thanks to Microsoft’s Hacking STEM library. From building machines that emulate human physiology to creating contraptions that help students understand speed, earthquakes, and electricity, these projects and activities are teacher-tested, student-focused, and budget-friendly.

Each complete lesson plan uses commonly found materials and includes a step-by-step guide, a customized Excel workbook, and a list of the technical and supply requirements (plus a shopping list!) to adequately capture the data necessary to learn. 

• The Anemometer: Students learn to understand wind by creating both basic and connected anemometers. From analyzing windspeed manually to physically representing the wind speed for locations around the world (using live data from a global weather service, no less), these motorized and sensor-enabled anemometers will blow them away!

• The Robotic Hand: This project actively integrates robotics with life science using materials like cardboard, string, straws, and servo motors to create a robotic hand. This project is not only hands-on, it’s also “hands in;” by the end of it, students create a glove that senses and tracks their own flexion while measuring the strength and dexterity needed to complete a certain set of tasks.

• The Speed Trap: Developed in partnership with the Mattel Children’s Foundation, this project uses a Hot Wheels ® car and track to measure speed by learning about forces and motion and is perfect for 4th through 8th graders who are always on the move.

• The Seismograph: Predicting earthquakes is one thing; visualizing them is another. The California Academy of Sciences and KQED joined together to create a lesson plan aimed to help students who have never experienced a tremor, and as those who have them as part of their daily lives, understand plate tectonics.

The goal of both STEM and STEAM is to make science, technology, engineering, math, and art both fun and accessible for both the students gearing up to learn and the teachers responsible for making it happen. Microsoft’s library of activities includes everything from weekly projects to “bite-size” projects that take just 15 minutes to 1 hour of classroom time, making it a great resource for teachers who want to make the most of STEM subjects.

This isn't the first time that Microsoft has made things engaging for students, and even Windows 10 has contributed. For other ways to incorporate STEM and STEAM into your curriculum, please contact us.

10 Ways To Geek Out Over Google Docs

Google Docs has reshaped the way we write, edit, collaborate, and comment, but it can do so much more than we often give it credit. How many of the following ten cool features are you actively using?

1. Type with your voice.

Google Docs allows you to say it like you mean it—literally—with its voice typing technology. This is great for those of us who like to multitask and for those of us who don’t necessarily love typing all the time. This feature includes punctuation (comma), as well as commands like “select paragraph,” “new line,” “all caps,” and “underline.” View the full list of Google voice typing commands here.

How To Voice Type in Google Docs: Head to “Tools” and then “Voice Typing” to get started.

2. Notify your team.

Need to assign a task or pass the baton in a collaborative document? Just create a comment and tag a teammate using their email, and then check the box to assign the task to them. The team member will receive an email notification that something in the document requires their attention. 

How To Assign a Task in Google Docs: Create a comment and type “+” with the desired email address. Follow the remaining prompts. 

3. Find a previous version.

Google Docs automatically saves every version of your document, so if too many hands in the pot have ruined your delicious prose, you can reach back in time to your preferred paragraphs.

How to find previous Google Doc versions: Head to “File” and click “See revision history.”

4. Easily source links.

Google Docs makes very light work of sources and resources when it comes to creating live URL links within a document. Simply highlight the text you would like to link and hit CTRL+K; Google docs will find the most relevant link for you. You can also copy and paste the URL if you want.

How to create a link within a Google Doc: Psst. Read the above.

5. Translate into another language.

While not infallible by any stretch, you can get a head start on creating documents in many other languages by using the Google Doc translating tool. Make sure to proofread, though. A lot. 

How to translate a Google Doc into another language: Click on “Translate document” under the “Tools section.

6. Create a digital signature.

Parent consent forms could get a lot easier and emails more personal if you used the drawing tool for signatures. This feature uses the Google Doc drawing function, which is also useful for drawing diagrams and sending handwritten notes.

How to create a digital signature in Google Docs: Open the Drawing tool in the Insert menu. Select “line” and then “Scribble.” Autograph, save, close, and insert as needed!

7. Free faxing!

We’ve all had that weird situation when someone asks us to fax a document. I mean, who has fax machines anymore? Luckily, Google Docs allows you to fax up to 5 pages for free through their online system; as long as the file is in an accessible folder, you’re good!

How to fax via Google Docs: Click the “Fax This” bookmarklet, type the phone number, and away you go.

8. Add an outline. 

Document outlines not only help with organization, but they also can serve as a table of contents when building a large document that may not be otherwise easy to navigate.

How to make a table of comments in Google Docs: Head to “Tools” and click “ Document Outline.” All headers will be listed automatically, allowing you to navigate your pages quickly.

9. Explore your options.

The Google Docs “explore” feature lets you work and search at the same time, be it additional articles for research, more images, video and more. 

How to learn more about your topic in Google Docs: Head to that trusty “Tools” section again and hit the “Explore” menu item. A right sidebar will pop up, offering the information you’re looking for (and probably more than you need).

10. Work online and offline. 

Contrary to common belief, don’t need an internet connection to work on a Google Doc, but you do need an active sign-in to Google Chrome. You can view, create, and edit existing files as needed, and all the changes will sync up as soon as you plug back into the interwebs. Remember, you won’t be able to actively collaborate, but you can create your comments and tags in the meantime.

How to work offline in Google Docs: Click on “Settings” and then find “Offline Sync” to turn it on.

Google Docs is impressive right out of the box, and it doesn’t stop there. It offers tons of free add-ons that are specific to the tasks you need. Easy Bib, for instance, makes light work of bibliographies. HelloFax allows you to both send—and receive—faxes online. You can also use the apps to encrypt your document, shorten URLs, launch a conference call around a document, and more.

Have another hack you’d like to add? We're all ears.

Fighting Fatigue: How To Prevent School Sleepiness

Exhaustion. Burnout. Stress. From Kindergarten to college, every student has been there. Whether your student is fighting a growth spurt, school sleepiness, or academic fatigue, there are ways you can help keep them awake and alert in the classroom.

1. When in doubt, ask. There are many reasons why a student may fall asleep or tune out in the classroom, so if you have concerns, start asking questions. Have they eaten? How much sleep did they get the night before? Is the room too warm? When was the last time they moved around? Is the desk too far away from the action?

2. Encourage healthy habits. Growing kids need plenty of rest, fruits, vegetables, and water to keep their bodies alert and humming along. Both parents and teachers can model good habits and teach the benefits of self-awareness and self-care.

3. Address the overwhelmed. Kids today are pushed to pack more and more on their academic and athletic plates, yet the fact of the matter is there are only so many hours in a day. Be aware of the symptoms of burnout: long-term fatigue, intellectual exhaustion, decline in academic performance, apathy toward learning, and procrastination that replaces a previous excitement. Find out what can be removed or adjusted to create a little breathing room so more focus can be paid on what’s important.

4. Make learning fascinating. One way to fight fatigue in the classroom is to up the ante. Studies have shown that students learn better when they are extremely interested in a topic; instead of tasking them to read on their own about a topic, get them out of their seats and engage them in the presentation and the discovery. Allow for self-expression both in and out of comfort zones, and use educational technology as a tool to track and monitor student progress.

5. Provide plenty of breaks. Long lectures or long times in front of a tablet can make anyone a little sleepy. Remind students to get up and move about the classroom, eat a snack, stretch, or attempt a different task at regular intervals to give their eyes and brains a break.

When it comes to academic and physical fatigue, it’s important to keep the conversations going between students, parents, and teachers. The joint effort can go a long way to finding the source of the problem—and the solution—so that everyone can wake up to a better day of learning something new.

Learning On The Move: How To Get Kids Out Of Their Desks

It’s been well-established that everyone benefits immensely from regular physical activity. Kids benefit from the way exercise promotes growth and development, and both adults and kids alike see drastic benefits in their physical, mental, and cognitive health when they make exercise and movement a priority in their day.

This study from the National Academy of Sciences reports that active children “show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed and perform better on standardized academic tests” than children who are more sedentary. Regular exercise has also been shown to improve mental health by preventing and reducing conditions like depression and anxiety, which can also interfere with a student’s ability to learn. 

Of course, students don’t come to school to move and exercise (at least not primarily); they come to learn. While incorporating technology in the classroom can help with learning, so can a physically active classroom. Here are a few methods that can engage both the mind and their bodies, to the benefit of both. 

Stop sitting still.

Children (and adults!) start to fade if they are told to remain quiet and motionless for an extended period of time. While self-control is an important skill, so is the ability to check in with your class to see where you can invite a stretch or some activity into the curriculum. Sometimes simply standing up and leading a stretching exercise is all you need to refocus your classroom and awaken their minds.

Be flexible.

Introduce a little yoga into your classroom by drawing a random yoga pose from a deck of yoga cards or assigning a new pose every day of the week. When the class gets a little listless, you can all learn the poses together. Amp up the learning by talking about the physical processes that benefit from each pose.

Introduce adventure.

One teacher we know wrote questions related to her lesson on index cards and taped them underneath her kids’ chairs before school started, so they’d have to get up and move around to complete that day’s assignment. Exercises like these are especially useful across the variety of subjects in the common core.

Stand for something.

More and more adults are using standing desks at work, and it “stands” to reason that kids could benefit from a shift in blood flow from time to time. Dedicate a time during the day for “standing room only” and have kids complete an assignment or project to see how well they think on their feet.

Make a classroom playlist.

Another teacher assigned each student in her class with the task of bringing in his or her favorite song to share with the room. She then used this song to allow the kids the chance to express themselves through movement during a set part of her day.

These are just a few ideas, and we’re sure you have a few more. Share them in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

How The New Generation Of Chromebooks Are Upgrading Classroom Technology

There’s a reason Chromebooks are the #1 best selling device in schools in the United States, and why more than 20 million students worldwide are turning them on each day.  Google Chromebooks have been a reliable option year after year because they make learning accessible and affordable without compromising security or forward-facing features. 

And that’s what makes the next generation of Chromebook that much more exciting. 

Interactive touchscreen and stylus pens. 

With touchscreen and stylus pens, the latest Chromebooks put the right technology in a student’s hands right when they need it. Visual learners can watch it happen. Kinetic learners can sketch it out. Auditory learners can interact. And this is all before they even learn to type, code, write, and present—although it won’t be long before that happens, too. 

External camera.

The Chromebook’s outward facing camera allows students to take pictures of their progress. This has numerous applications for reporting and presenting, as well as developing a better understanding of how others see the world. 

Powerful, lasting charge. 

Perhaps one of the most remarkable features of the newest Chromebooks is the USB Type-C charger, the dedicated super-fast charging adapter that will be the standard for Chromebooks to come, making it powerfully future-proof. This is especially helpful in school environments that share devices as it ensures technology is always ready for the next student. 

Built-in security.

Privacy and security have never been more important, both to protect our students and our devices from malicious content. Google SafeSearch and YouTube Restricted Mode keep kids focused. Multiple layers of security thwart viruses, which means no external antivirus software is necessary to purchase or keep updated. Administrators are given complete control of the devices for testing and assessments. And Google is right there when you need them for 24/7 support and automatic updates. 

Managed from the cloud. Deployed from the ground. 

Chromebooks are 93% faster to deploy and 68% faster to manage than desktops; simply open up and go. Administrators can oversee an entire fleet of laptops from a cloud-based management console, changing apps as they see fit to account for testing schedules and policies. The sub 10-second startup means a faster start to the day; No downtime means more opportunities for kids to become independent, proactive learners. 

Chromebooks have shaped education for a number of years, and they are only getting better, faster, and more affordable. Arey Jones is your educational technology partner in helping you close the digital divide. We’ll help you find the right technology and peripherals, and we’ll help you deploy them and keep you supported every step of the way. 

Microsoft Is Sparking Creativity In The Modern Classroom

Despite having a strong core offering for educational tools, systems, and management platforms, Microsoft has realized that no one technology partner has all the answers when it comes to how best to nourish and guide a nation of learners. As such, it has partnered with a number of organizations and applications from around the world to bring as much education to the table as possible.

And it’s all available at the Microsoft Store for Education.

Microsoft breaks down these partner apps into two themes: the Modern Classroom and Sparking Creativity.

Microsoft and the Modern Classroom

The goal of the Modern Classroom is to personalize education by providing students with the apps and platforms that feel most natural to the way they learn, and a lot of this is through gaming and collaboration. It also recognizes that fun shouldn’t be hard to manage or share; apps in this theme provide ways to facilitate activities while using analytics to track progress and ensure each student is making the most of each learning opportunity. Kids stay on task. Teachers stay connected. Parents stay informed.

Here are a few examples of Microsoft partner apps for the modern classroom.

• Classcraft, for classroom organization

• BrainPop, for content publishing

• Edmodo, for learning management

• Edsby, for communication and collaboration

• Explain Everything, for interactive whiteboards

• Pearson System of Courses, for e-readers and e-textbooks

Microsoft and Sparking Creativity

Now that you have a modern classroom, you can make the most of it with Microsoft partner apps that expose students to interactive curriculum along the STEAM spectrum. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math are represented well in the Microsoft Store for Education, fostering inspiration and innovation that go well beyond the classroom walls. Project-based learning not only helps develop skills in critical, design, and computational thinking; it also plays up a learner’s most crucial attribute—curiosity.

Here are a few examples of Microsoft partner apps for sparking creativity.

• SwopBots, a coding platform / adventure.

• PicsArt-Photo Studio, a powerful photo editor, drawing tool, and collage maker.

• Arduino IDE, an open-source electronics platform

• Fluid Math, a handwriting-based educational math app

• eMathsMaster, an online training software for non-Math teachers

Microsoft is making it easier than ever to connect more often and educate more effectively.

Want to learn more? That’s exactly why we’re here.

How Improving Typing Skills Can Improve Overall Communication

As someone who writes blogs as part of her job, I feel my words-per-minute more than most. I can pinpoint my early typing skills to particular summer I spent at a cousin’s house, stumbling inside out of the heat and falling into playing Stickybear Typing on their Apple II. This was during the era between electric typewriters and computer labs; computers were word processors and toys, not the educational, creative, data-collecting and professional powerhouses they are today.

Learning to type became just as crucial as learning to swim that summer, and it was a turning point in my confidence level and the way I put my ideas to work. I didn’t know it at the time because it was a game and I enjoyed it, but that summer spent typing was a game changer in my school and professional life.

Nowadays, kids learn their letters by the shape, sound, and where they are located on the QWERTY keyboard. How well they learn them, and how fast they can type them, could very well determine how well they do in school, how well they interact with others, and how well they communicate with the world at large.

Keyboarding gets their motor running.

And by this we mean motor skills. Keyboarding requires an artful application of fine and gross motor skills—locate keys by touch, applying just the right pressure when striking, and moving on to the next. It’s a common action those of us can do it take for granted; we simply think and the words seem to appear effortlessly on the page. The truth is, typing is a much more physical exertion, and one that requires constant practice, like playing an instrument or a sport, to maximize efficiency, accuracy, and confidence.

Keyboarding gets juices flowing.

This is where making keyboarding a part of early and ongoing curriculum just makes sense. Just like providing technology in the classroom on a one-to-one or shared basis is important to closing the digital divide for all kids, teaching keyboarding removes yet another barrier between inspiration and innovation. The faster kids can translate thoughts into sentences, sentences to words, words to letters, and letters into keys, the easier it becomes for them to use technology to express themselves, find what they are looking for, create what they mean to, and present what they intended. 

Keyboarding makes coding possible.

While coding will likely be a part of daily existence for our future workforce, it is simply another language our kids must learn to type. Basic computer skills start with typing, even in a touch screen environment. While Chromebooks and Windows10 laptops are becoming more and more hands-on with stylus pens and on-screen interactive elements, those advancements just give us more ways to use our hands to navigate the technological landscape.

Keyboarding apps and software abound, thank goodness, and the best ones, like Typing Instructor and UltraKey, teach children the correct finger-to-key movement as well as variety, drills, and tips on posture and how to improve accuracy speed. There are also typing programs geared for the younger set—Mickey’s Typing Adventure and Garfield’s Typing Pal, to name two good ones—that offer simple, fun, personalized games for the best results.

In the end, keyboarding makes students more proficient in educational technologies and the opportunities that come with them. The more exposure children get to a keyboard and what they can do with it, the faster and better they can learn.

10 For 10: Why Windows 10 Is Crushing It In The Classroom

Windows 10 keeps delivering more value to the classroom with a platform that is as fun to explore as it is to use while exploring.

Here are ten ways we think Windows 10 is a win for so many K12 schools and classrooms. 

1. Customized technology means personalized learning.
   According to PBS Learning Media, 73% of teachers say that technology allows them to create specific lesson plans tailored to individual learning styles. Teachers can specify the apps, programs, and settings for each student through their admin console, allowing them to create—and monitor—the learning environment for each student.

1. Students learn by touch, by movement, and by heart.
   Windows 10 devices speak education as their first language, and they translate accordingly to a variety of learners. The goal isn’t to teach every child the same way; the goal is to help kids realize how much they love to learn by approaching it in the way that comes most naturally to them. Touch screens, stylus pens, gesture inputs, and voice activation are just a few ways students can use technology to bridge the gap between questions and answers. 

1. Assisted learning gets an assist.
   It’s predicted that nearly 10% of the population is affected by a specific or undiagnosed learning disability, which can—and often does—have a profound effect on educational outcomes. Windows 10 supports inclusive classrooms by providing a technological environment that is compatible with a wide array of assistive applications that helps all students engage, interact, and collaborate with each other.  

1. Windows 10 puts it in writing.
   A recent study states that students who diagrammed their thinking with a pen scored up to 36% better on science tests than their keyboard stroking peers. Windows 10 takes advantage of Microsoft’s premier inking experience to bring ideas to life on every advice and application.

1. Keeping student data secret and safe.
   Ask any parent about technology in the classroom, and you’ll get their fears in the first two sentences. In fact, 79% of all parents are concerned with the security and privacy of their kids. Windows 10 addresses this head on with improved tools for data security, log-in validation measures, student identity protection, and malware protection.

1. Deploy in minutes.
   This one is for the teachers and administrators who didn’t necessarily sign-on to be IT professionals when they took their jobs. Windows 10 is arguably one of the easiest classroom technologies to deploy, monitor, and manage, offering a seamless transition process for users as well as in-place upgrades and assistance packages.

1. A class that works together, learns together.
   Collaboration is a skill kids learn early and practice often; to do it well takes repeated exposure to different ways of thinking, communicating, organizing and delegating. Windows OneNote makes easy work of this, enabling students and teachers to work on files simultaneously, whether they are across the room or across the country. Students stay on top of their work and, with collaboration tracking, teachers keep an eye on who’s participating.

1. Bring on the peripherals.
   Windows 10 not only makes it easier for students to collaborate and share with each other, but it also makes it easier to work across devices and connect to printers, cameras, digital microscopes, and several other devices.

1. More free apps mean more accessibility.
   School budgets are tight enough without having to add additional costs to one-to-one and shared technology. Microsoft’s education partners are constantly coming up with free and inexpensive ways to help children learn, and all are available in the Windows 10 app market.

1. Windows 10 puts the fun into getting things done.
   All in all, Windows 10 allows teachers to demonstrate ideas and concepts in a way that couldn’t do with traditional methods; they have moved beyond the front-of-the-room lecture and onto white boards, interactive presentations, video, and exploratory maps and wikis. By making learning more accessible and approachable, more kids participate in lessons and fewer kids get left behind. And that’s entirely the point.

Want to know how you can implement Windows 10 into your curriculum?

How To Plug Into The Best School Year Ever With Apps

Make no mistake, the best way to have the most productive and confident school year ever is to pretend the previous one never ended. “Every teacher—and every parent—dreads the summer backslide,” says Erica Eichmann at Arey Jones Educational Solutions. “The good news is, there are several apps available to help kids retain the skills they learned in the previous year and help set them up for success for the ones that are coming around the bend.” 

Here are five of our favorite summertime—and all-time—favorite apps.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy does for math and science what summer reading does for everything else; it pushes people in the direction of growth. With lectures, videos, quizzes, and more, the Khan Academy app helps people improve their comprehension, round out their understanding, and give more meat to distance learning programs. 

DuoLingo

If you’ve never heard of DuoLingo, it’s probably because you’re not currently studying a foreign language; otherwise, most people learning second and third languages are already familiar with the way this amazing app turns language lessons into games. Listen, speak, and translate through the DuoLingo interface, and you’ll find yourself nearing native-speaker status. Several languages are available, and the database is growing all the time.

Brainscape

From language to geography to math skills, Brainscape makes flashcards in a flash. A free app with in-app purchases to customize your experience, Brainscape offers several ways for a student to recognize, name, and memorize math facts, locations, and vocabulary so that larger concepts are easier to understand and manipulate. Great for road trips, long commutes, and rainy afternoons.

Match Motion: Cupcake!

For those elementary students who are sweet on everything else but math, Math Motion: Cupcake! gives math facts the spoonful of sugar kids need to make the multiplication medicine go down.

The Periodic Table

The Royal Society of Chemistry has somehow managed to create an elegant app packed with information, videos, atom models, and more for budding and passionate chemists. Users rave about its accessibility and approachability of information; by simply clicking on an element, you can learn about its natural state and real-life applications, watch podcasts and videos, and watch it interact with temperature and other elements.

And educational apps aren’t just for kids. Several of the apps and articles we listed above work just as well for adult learners as they do elementary, middle school, and high school students. It goes to show that when you pair technology with a lifelong love of learning, it doesn’t matter when school starts and stops; it only matters that you have the passion and the tools to keep growing.

The Worldview: How US Academic Technology Compares

One of the biggest international cross-section of comparative tests is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures reading ability, math and science literacy and other key skills among 15-year-olds throughout the world.

The test is taken every three years, the last of which was 2015. In it, the U.S. landed right in the middle, #38 out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science.

Given the push for more technology in the schools over the last decade, these scores can appear disheartening; school budgets have been increased to incorporate new, better, and more computers, platforms, accessibility, and resources. While the scores are deflating, it may not be an indication of a wasted effort; it may simply be too soon to tell.

Consider the following statistics gathered by StatisticBrain in 2015:

• 98% of schools that have one or more computers in the classroom

• 3% of schools that have high-speed internet

• 7% of schools have laptops available

• 81% of teachers think tablets can enrich classroom learning.

• 64% of high school seniors say a tablet helps study more efficiently

This doesn’t reflect one-to-one initiatives, which, on a grand scale are relatively low; students are more likely to share devices in a classroom than to have one at every desk. It’s one thing to compare the United States to China or India or Japan with math and science scores alone; quite another to understand the significance of the disparities in access, funding, and challenges the United States must address on a daily basis.

While there are hundreds of technological tools for available to increase the breadth and scope of learning, we are only just beginning to harness the information that will enable teachers to make more of an impact on their students with customized lesson plans. The important thing is to get the hardware and framework in place so that the data can start speaking for itself.

Access to technology will have a huge impact on how students in America engage and compete with the rest of the planet for jobs and opportunities. The sooner and more completely we use technology tools both in teaching and in learning, the bigger the difference we can make in how students understand what they are being taught, and how well they test on the material.

While developing countries are gaining on the West in terms of cell phone and smartphone usage, they, like the rest of us, have a ways to go in incorporating all of its possibilities into our educational experience.

Ready for educational technology to make an impact on your school? Click here to learn more.

Bridge The Gap: How To Keep Parents In The Loop When Everything Is Online

As schools move toward paperless communication and less homework for elementary school students, parents feel less overwhelmed by the minutia of the school year. They also feel a lot more out of the loop when it comes to knowing what’s going on in the classroom and how they can help.

The movement toward less homework is supported by a study done by CNN, when researchers found that first graders received almost three times the amount of homework recommended by the NEA and the National PTA. While it’s clear children could use the downtime, what isn’t clear is how to engage parents in the learning process so that lesson plans can be supported at home—without the need to sacrifice sanity or trees in the process.

Knowing the material, however, is only part of the equation. Today’s technology not only allows parents to view their children’s progress in real time, but they also can see where and how they excel and struggle with subjects, tests, and organization skills.

“Parental and family involvement in a child’s education is essential,” said Erica Eichmann, at Arey Jones Educational Solutions. “We’re fortunate to live in a time when there are several ways to engage parents both off and online. The key is to keep educating and reminding parents where the resources are, encourage consistent and clear dialogue throughout the school year, and help families create learning-friendly environments at home.”

Here are 5 ways parents can engage more fully in their children’s education.

Define study time.

Parents who designate a time and space for studying and learning show kids that education is a priority. This could be as simple as designating a place in the home for homework that is close enough for questions and support, but far enough away so they won’t be distracted from finding answers on their own. In addition to the space, setting a schedule and routine around studying makes it just as important as games and dance events.

Learn the tools.

Parents should feel knowledgeable about every tool the school uses in their curriculum. If kids are using platforms like Blackboard, ClassTag, Wixie, Google for Education, and Dreambox during the day, parents should feel reasonably equipped to help and promote the use of these tools at home. Resources like bealearninghero.org are a great place to get started. Set reminders in your calendar every week to check classroom resources; this may seem silly, but we all know how fast time can fly. This holds you accountable as well; if your children have set study parameters, it’s good that you have set support parameters, too.

Reach out.

If you don’t receive consistent communication from the teacher, take on the charge. Find out how best to reach the teacher for non-emergency concerns, and make a warm introduction. Create a monthly reminder in your calendar to reach out, even if it’s just to say how much your child enjoys the classroom (teachers never tire of hearing positive feedback). If you have questions, ask. If you have concerns, state them clearly, and be just as clear that you expect to hear back if the teacher also notices something you don’t. If you have issues at home that may effect your child’s ability to learn (new baby, divorce, moving, etc.), make sure the teacher is given just enough information to be aware of any changes.

You and the teacher are two of the most important parts of your child’s educational team; you should be familiar with each other and help the other fill in the gaps.

Encourage accountability.

It’s always important to talk about goals, dreams and setting expectations for effort. Break goals into manageable steps so that students have the freedom to course correct. Not meeting a goal is disappointing, but not the end of the journey; the purpose is to teach resilience and resourcefulness in the hunt for the next best thing. If something goes awry, help students determine how they could have it differently for a better result, and help give them the confidence to manage the consequences and try again.

Engaged parents make a huge difference in the success of their students, so the sooner and more specifically you can get involved in your child’s education, the better off your kids will be.

Do you have any experience in a reduced-homework school? What are your thoughts?

8 Things That Are Obsolete In 21st-Century Schools

Times are a-changing. If you were born before 1990, chances are you can walk into today’s 21st-century classroom and only find a handful of the items you used while you walked those hallways as a student. Here are eight things that are missing from today’s schools and what’s replaced them.

The Computer Lab

Remember the computer lab, the room filled with huge monitors, the smell of static, and the hum of twenty small fan blades cooling off core processors? No more. Computer labs have been replaced by mobile laptop carts and in-classroom device learning, and they are now used as additional classrooms and space for STEAM and STEM learning environments.

The Oregon Trail

Goodbye, wagon wheels. Hello, SimCityEDU. Instead of working to avoid dysentery, students are braving a new frontier of civil engineering and anthropology.

The School Newspaper

Also phasing out is the paper copy of the school newspaper. Thanks to schools embracing social media, there are far more effective methods to distributing information, events, updates, and more. 

One-Size-Fits-All Learning

Thanks to improving technology, teachers can now more easily identify the types of learners in their classroom and provide customized instruction based on a student’s ability to process information visually, audibly, or kinesthetically. By using test scores and software, teachers are better able to equip students to learn in a way that is most efficient and most effective.

Three-Ring Binders

The Trapper Keeper is to Google Docs as the ditto machine is to the copier. Schools and students alike are using less paper and more cloud-based solutions for note-taking, homework, and collaboration.

Chalkboards

Gone are the dusty slate walls of yesterday, as is the dreaded end-of-day task of clapping erasers and washing the boards. Today most schools use white boards and smart boards to provide more than just math equations and verb conjugations; they can share informative videos, visual aids, guest speakers, and more.

Cursive

Dropping cursive from some curriculum has been a bit controversial as of late, but with typing and keyboarding such a crucial part of learning and connecting with the world these days, something had to go.

Floppy Disks

Five-and-a-half or three-and-a-quarter? If these sizes mean something to you, it may be hard to believe they don’t mean a thing to today’s learners, who operate solely on thumb drives and cloud storage.

These are just a handful of the ways today’s learning environments are different from the past. What are we missing from this list?