Jeff Rew

Sunday, December 3, 2017

VSTE '17 Twitterers

I'm not at the Virginia Society for Technology in Education annual conference this year but I'm following along via the #VSTE17 hashtag. Here's a list of everyone that has added their Twitter usernames to the whiteboard so far. Follow me @jeff_rew.

@timstahmer	@katstaton	@dhorndorff
@waterskier1426	@htrude07	@MHSLewisHistory
@tkguiffre	@digiteacher	@MrsHLovesAPLang
@MissWootenVBCPS	@elemitrt	@crazy4edtech
@MegDiGiovanni	@tamaraletter	@techymargaret
@mra147a	@mamatech785	@sctaylorITRT
@ITRTpi	@Benzieal	@aliciabroughton
@cbdamasco	@laprofedfair	@MsRileeGHS
@Brainybio_bunch	@e_sheninger	@kimxtom
@mamatech785	@evereverlander	@tmays921
@TeachMsBarao	@nowmrshaines	@MusicHFB
@kbristeach	@tdmercier	@mclewis
@ErinWest_ITRT	@jzicari_ITRT	@EdTech_Beard
@rodcarnill	@vnfawley	@TCarpenterMath
@sarannwrap01	@TechinTeaching	@MAKERbreakit
@irasocol	@jcalderitrt	@divein2edtech
@ITRTSupaCoopa	@faycrum	@MrO_NRWarriors
@lauralissak	@PHausTech	@Rhall_ITRT
@TechWithParson	@ThatsWightman	@anne_bianchi
@CSatVDOE	@MrsJensen913	@IceTchr
@rltoy	@mrsdanish3rd	@vagtteacher
@H270	@apspersonal
#NoVAedchat	#WeAreNR	#flipgridfever

Friday, December 1, 2017

Hour of Code Activities and Resources

I originally posted the first half of this to the blog I run for one of my schools but I'm sharing it here too. Below it I've included additional lesson plans and resources for teachers as well.

Next week students at Albert Hill will take part in the global Hour of Code event as part of Computer Science Education Week to introduce them to computer science.

For students interested in pursuing it further on their own time I’ve put together a list of resources below.

Hour of Code - the original Hour of Code site.

Brain Pop Coding Games

Made w/ Code - Coding activities from Google.

Snap!- Drag and drop programming interface designed to help you learn how to program.

Blockly - Series of educational games that teach programming.

Codester - Create your own dance moves with this coding application.

Crunchzilla - Series of more advanced activities.

For teachers:
(From a handout created by Sara Butcher for the RPS ITRTs.)

Resources and activities for your classroom directly from the source.

Steps to spearhead the Hour of Code for your team or school.

Go beyond the Hour of Code with these activities for teachers and students.

Code.org - List of activities for middle and high school settings.

ISTE - Compilation of different activities teachers can use.

All You Need Is Code - Lesson plans for secondary teachers to use.

Friday, September 29, 2017

Social Media for Educators

Back before school started I did a presentation at our district wide professional development on social media use for educators. I've been an avid Twitter user for years and it's been an excellent source of ideas, resources, and professional networking. To a lesser extent I've also used Facebook and Google+ and from what I've seen there is a huge community of educators on Instagram as well.

My fellow ITRT Sara Butcher and I had put together a presentation on Twitter for Educators last year after attending a presentation on it at the VSTE conference a few months prior. (And to be fair, borrowed a few things from that presentation as well.) I took that and expanded it to include the other three networks mentioned above. My plan is to expand it further to include other networks such as YouTube and Pinterest and use it again in the future.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Becoming a Google Certified Educator

Last month I achieved a goal I set earlier in the year of becoming a Google Certified Educator. My school district has used Google Apps for Education for years now and as much as I know about and use them on a daily I felt like it was time become officially certified. In working through the training modules on the Google Training Center site I learned a lot of new things. To that end, even if you don't plan to take the certification exams it's still worth going through them to learn about the tools and how to effectively use them.

If you do plan to take the exams, it's $10 for Level 1 and $25 for Level 2 with a three hour time limit for each. It took me roughly two hours for the first and two and a half hours for the second. In preparing for them the review questions at the end of each training unit are great practice but I personally I found the exams easier. Because of the aforementioned time limit be sure to find a quiet, distraction free spot where you can devote the full amount of time to taking them. Once you start there's no pausing the clock.

A few weeks ago on Twitter I came across an excellent blog post by Eric Curts with skill checklists for the Level 1 and Level 2 tests. In them he breaks down what you should know for each tool in order to pass the exam. They're a great resource if you want to be thorough in ensuring you're familiar with each skill.

Having completed Levels 1 and 2 I recently passed the Trainer Skills Assessment as well. I'm now working on the application to be a Google Certified Trainer and hope to complete and submit that in the coming months.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Social Media Safety, Privacy, and Parental Controls

Last year I wrote a post on here about social media privacy settings. Last week, per my principal's request I took what I had from that and added some things in regards to general social media safety along with guides to cell phone parental controls, and posted it to the school blog. We've talked about next year doing a program at one of the PTA meetings on this because a lot of parents don't seem to know what their kids are doing online and need to be aware and monitor it.