MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Chat with Santa

Chat with Santa

Yesterday we had our annual Chat with Santa. Over 30 classrooms connected with us to listen and watch Santa read a story and answer questions about himself, the North Pole, Mrs. Claus and of course - the elves. This is such a special day for us and we hope it was special for our students as well. Thanks to all the teachers for connecting with us! We hope to see your class again next year!

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Holiday Fun from Google

Website Wednesday

Want to relax and have some fun after a day of grading essays or projects? Then I have the place for you. Or maybe you need a moment of peace? Then I have a website for your children. 

Visit Santa's Village at Google Santa Tracker

This site opens a new game or learning opportunity daily until Christmas. You or your children can

• Play games such as Wrap Battle, Gumball Tilt, or Gift Slingshot
• Learn about other countries' holiday traditions or how to say "Merry Christmas" in another language. 
• Complete coding Challenges to create snowflakes or make elves dance. 
• Track Santa's journey on Christmas Eve using Google Map. 

So after a long day of grading or taking exams, sit on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa, and visit Santa's Village for some holiday relaxation. 

Happy Holidays 

from EdTech with Howard and Feck

Edit Office Documents in Drive

Tech Tip Tuesday

You don't have to install Office to edit your Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations. 

The following instructions are from G Suite Learning Center.

If you’re using a Chromebook or the most recent versions of the Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on your phone or tablet, you can already edit Office files!

If you’re using a computer

1. Download the Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides Chrome extension.
2. From Google Drive, double-click any Office file to start editing.

G Suite Learning Center offers tutorials and tips on many Google App products. You can even download cheat sheets. Check out this Google Doc cheat sheet. 

For the Ipad also

Mobile App Monday

Edit and create content right from your device. 

It's becoming easier and easier for teachers and students to complete classwork or projects from any device. And don't forget that your students can type and store an essay, create and save a presentation, or complete that data analysis not just on a computer or a Chromebook, but from their ipad or iphone also. 

Using Google Apps such as Docs, Sheets and Slides as well as apps for 0365 such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint are a search away.

Just go to the App store on your device and search -

For Word Processing: Google Docs and/or Microsoft Word
For Presentations: Google Slides and/or Microsoft PowerPoint
For Spreadsheets: Google Sheets and/or Microsoft Excel
For taking Notes: Google Keep and/or Microsoft One Note
To Store your Files and Documents: Google Drive  and/or Microsoft One Drive
For Chrome Browser: Chrome
For Classroom: Google Classroom

 You will have to log in to each app with the appropriate account information to access your content. Once you've logged in your are ready to get to work.

Log in for SAISD Google Account: 

Teachers: username: firstname.lastname@saisd.org/ password: first time log in will be your idnumberlastname *It will then prompt you to change your password. If you forget your password, please contact help desk.
Elementary Students: username: idnumber@students.saisd.org/ password: date of birth
Secondary Students: username: idnumber@students.saisd.org/ password: network password

WARNING: If students use a shared device, they will need to remember to log out of their account. 
For Google Drive: Click the 3 lines to access your account information>the drop down menu triangle at the top>manage accounts>manage>remove.
For Chrome Browser: Click on the 3 dots in the top right corner>settings>then click the ">" next to name> then click the ">" next to the name again>remove account.

Hour of Code with Code.org

Website Wednesday

Code. org's message is simple. They believe that "anybody can learn to code". Their mission is to expose students to computer science just like all students are taught Science, Math, or English. It's free to join and users can log in using their SAISD Google Account. 

Code.org offers courses and tutorials for all grade levels and provide many additional resources such as lesson guides, how-to documents and videos, posters and guest speakers. Students learn to code and program by creating games, apps, and animations. An added benefit is that many of the Science and Math TEKS can also be applied and used with many of the skills when learning coding and programming. And even more important it gives students more opportunities to work on their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, learning how to work through failures and keep persisting until they find solutions. And all done in a stress free, fun, game-like environment. 

"Code powers our digital world. Every website, smartphone app, computer programme, calculator, and even microwave relies on code in order to operate. This makes coders the architects and builders of the digital age.
Over the next 10 years it is estimated that there will be 1.4 million jobs in computer sciences and only around 400,000  graduates qualified to do them." *International Business Times - Anthony Cutherbertson.

Save it as a PDF

Tech Tip Tuesday

There are a few advantages to saving documents and files as PDF. First, anyone, no matter the device used, can open a PDF. Second, it freezes your formatting and layout. Third, with programs like KAMI users can still annotate on the document while the original stays in its original format. 

To save a Microsoft Document as a PDF: Click File> Click Save As> Choose the Storage Location> File Name: Name your Document> File Type: In the drop down menu choose PDF> Click Save

To save a Google File as a PDF: Click File>Download as>PDF Document(.pdf)

It's that easy!

Coding Apps for all Ages

Mobile App Monday

We would like to spotlight "Hour Of Code" this week in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Hour of Code began as a one-hour introduction to computer science to show that anybody can learn the basics of coding and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. Participation in Computer Science helps students with problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. 

Join us for our Hour of Code Webinar on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016, at 7pm. You can sign up for the webinar on eduphoria. 

Here are a few apps that will help you and your students get started with coding all year round. 

Scratch Jr. is coding for young children in which they can program their own interactive games and stories. While at the same time learning how to solve problem, design projects, and think creatively. 

Hopscotch is for students who have no coding experience to learn the basics of programming, logical thinking, and problem solving. 

Daisy the Dinosaur is for the youngest of coders. It is easy to use with the drag and drop interface. Students will learn the basics for objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving challenges. 

CargoBot is a puzzle game where students code a robot to move crates. 

Cato's Hike Lite: A Programming and Logic Odyssey

Learn Java is free for androids. Java is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. No programming experience is  needed for this 3 hour comprehensive guide to Java. 

There are plenty more apps out their that are free or available for a small fee. These are just a few that we have tried and liked. 

Don't forget to check out our Blog on Wednesday for Hour of Code Websites that will get you and your students coding all year.