EVOLVING EDUCATORS
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11/14/2017

10 Ways to Evolve as an Educator

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  1. Attend the 4th Annual Tomorrow’s Classrooms Today Conference being held at Rider University on May 18 and 19. Salome Thomas-EL and Eric Sheninger are the keynote speakers. Over 80 innovative presentations that touch on learning, teaching, and leading in the educational world.
  2. Become one with the E V O L V E as an Educator construct. Understand what it means to engage, value, orient, launch, validate, and embody.
  3. Browse through the #HackGoogleEDU and #140EduTips hashtags to learn about new ways that Google and Twitter can be used in educational spaces.
  4. Participate in #Satchat, a Saturday Twitter conversation for educators from all walks of life that takes place from 7:30-8:30 AM EST.
  5. Read one or all of our books that are currently available on a bookshelf or a device near you. All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities; Personalized PD: Flipping Your Professional Development; Connecting Your Students with the World; Using Technology to Engage Students with Learning Disabilities; 140 Twitter Tips for Educators; and Hacking Google for Education.
  6. Subscribe to and read the monthly Evolving 8 Best Practices Email Blast.
  7. Stay current with all things G Suite for Education by watching the 3 Minute Google Tip.
  8. Bring the Evolving Educators to your school, district, or educational event. ​We offer Google Apps and Microsoft for Education training. The Evolving Educators also keynote events throughout the country. 
  9. Take the Getting Started with Twitter online course from our friends at Participate. 
  10. Read the Evolving Educators Blog to stay current with innovations in the field of education.

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11/5/2017

5 Ways to use twitter in the middle

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Twitter is a great social media tool to use in the middle school setting. ​​It provides classrooms and schools with an opportunity to connect with stakeholders in the virtual world. Classrooms can share out pictures related to learning experiences. Schools can highlight events or disseminate important information to the masses. Here are five ways middle level educators can use Twitter...
  • Set up a classroom Twitter handle to keep parents in the loop about the child's learning experiences. Check out @MrsMooreFRSD that can serve as an exemplar for creating and maintaining your very own Twitter handle. 
  • Create a school-based Twitter handle that stakeholders can use in their social media posts to highlight all the great things that are going on within the school community. Check out the #FMSTeach hashtag to see the sort of things that are posted from a school standpoint. 
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  • Hold a Twitter workshop for staff before, during, or after school to support those who considering or starting out with using Twitter. The Evolving Educators also conducting Twitter workshops for schools and districts. Contact us evolving@evolvingeducators.com for more details. 
  • Participate in a Twitter chat to stay current with middle level education trends and innovative practices. Check out these hashtags: #mschat, #satchat, or #140EduTips. 
  • Follow and educational events like AMLE's National Conference in Philadelphia through the #AMLE2017 hashtag. Whether you are at the event in person or sitting on your couch at home, the next great idea is just a tweet away. 
There are so many wonderful ways to use Twitter in the middle school setting. It's a great way to inform stakeholders and highlight student and staff achievements. So what do you say? Take a risk and set up a classroom or school Twitter handle. It will change the culture you are a part of for the better. 
Get your copy of 140 Twitter Tips for Educators: Get Connected, Grow Your Professional Learning Network, and Reinvigorate Your Career by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Dr. Scott Rocco. 

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9/17/2017

5 Ways to Go Google in the Middle

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Imagine a world where students can collaborate on a document at the same time from two totally different places. Better yet, imagine using a program that no longer requires the user to click the save button. Google has made this a reality for people inside and outside the educational world. Middle schools near and far are going Google to make their environments more engaging and efficient. Here are five ways you can make Google work in the Middle...

  • Create and maintain a Google Classroom for your advisory group. One of the main tenents of AMLE's This We Believe is that every child must have an adult advocate. Communicating and sharing in the virtual world can help further strengthen the relationships that have been established in the physical world.

  • Monitor student's appropriate use of Google Drive with Gaggle. Anytime a student's content raises an alarm, Gaggle sends an alert to the appropriate school authority. A healthy conversation can then take place with the family of that child to ensure critical issues are addressed. It's less about "We gotcha" and more about "We care."

  • Organize and run a one day Middle Level Google Summit for your own staff and also educators from outside the district. This event will provide your colleagues with a chance to share their innovative methods and learn from others. Need help with this? Contact the Evolving Educators at evolving@evolvingeducators.com.

  • Go 1:1 with Chromebooks at your middle school to drive student creation, collaboration, and connectivity. Students should not have to learn in isolation. Technology has provided the educational world with an oppportunity to support environments that are real-time and interactive.

  • Stay current with best practices in the Google worrld by following the #HackGoogleEDU and #GoogleEDU hashtags.

There are so many great opportunities for educators and students to leverage the power of Google tools in the middle school setting. Examine the ideas above and pick one to try out. The positive impact on yourself, fellow colleagues, and most importantly students, will be felt for years to come.
Get your copy of Hacking Google for Education: 99 Ways to Leverage Google Tools in Classrooms, Schools, and Districts by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Scott Rocco.

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8/12/2017

Open Educational Resources

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The August 12, 2017 #Satchat conversation guest moderated by Timothy Jaw focused on open educational resources. Here are five ways to learn more about this very important educational topic...

Cybrayman's Open Educational Resources Webpage

Wake County Moving to Free Online Materials


House of Edtech Podcast OER Episode

OER Commons Website

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#OER and #GoOpen hashtags
Get your copy of Hacking Google for Education: 99 Ways to Leverage Google Tools in Classrooms, Schools, and Districts by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Scott Rocco.

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7/30/2017

Make Google Work for You This School Year

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Believe it or not the 2017-2018 school year is upon us and with this comes an opportunity to leverage the power of some Google tools to enhance your effectiveness and promote the success of students. Here a four things you can do with Google Tools this upcoming school year...

Amplify Student and Teacher Voice
Sign up for a Flipgrid account and post the video discussion community on your Google Classroom feed. Students can share their insight about a particular through virtual discussion. Faculty members could conduct an online book talk during the school year. 

Brand Your Educational Environment
Sign up for Google Alerts to stay current with mentions of yourself, school, or district. Then, post online content to a Pinterest Page. Social media provides educators and stakeholders with an opportunity to archive digital content. 

Inform Stakeholders 
Sign up for Screencastify and create screencasts to inform students, parents, or community members of important information. Students can also use screencasts as a way to show what they know about the topic at hand. 

Organize and Display Information
Enable the Mindmeister Google Doc Add-on to turn any bullet-point item into a visually appealing graphic organizer. This is a great way for students to make sense of information or notes they are taking in class. 


Get your copy of Hacking Google for Education: 99 Ways to Leverage Google Tools in Classrooms, Schools, and Districts by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Scott Rocco.

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7/13/2017

G SUite release calendar

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Ever wonder how people suddenly find out about a new G Suite update? For example, Google Forms has a few new updates that you can read more about by clicking here. More often than not, this breaking news comes from the G Suite Release Calendar that contains release dates of various G Suite programs. 
Get your copy of Hacking Google for Education:99 Ways to Leverage Google Tools in Classrooms, Schools, and Districts by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Scott Rocco.

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5/14/2017

3 Ways to Use the New Google Sites

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The new and improved Google Sites is really easy to use. Feel free to watch the six minute tutorial above. There are so many neat ways to use Google Sites in an educational setting. Students can show what they know about the topic at hand. Teachers can house important information pertaining to class in an interactive way. Administrators can keep stakeholders abreast of school and district happenings. What unique things do you do with Google Sites? Please share! Click on the image below to get your free sample chapters of #HackGoogleEdu.
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3/11/2017

Formative assessment with technology tools

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Recently on #Satchat, Class Tech Tips creator and author Monica Burns guest moderated a conversation on formative assessment with technology tools. In fact, Monica has book titled #Formative Tech that can be pre-ordered on Amazon. You can find the Participate #Satchat archives by clicking here. There were hundreds of participants and thousands of tweets shared during the hour long conversation. Did you know that Monica will be presenting at the 3rd Annual Tomorrow’s Classrooms Today Conference at Rider University on Saturday, May 20? Get your tickets today before seats are no longer available.

The first question Monica tweeted asked about how teachers check for understanding in the classroom. Participants shared out a number of insights including the following…
  • Use Google Forms at the beginning or end of a lesson
  • Listen to student to student conversations about the topic at hand
  • Conduct turn and talks or short writes
  • Creation of a product
  • Use GoFormative to check for understanding in the moment

The second question Monica tweeted looked at the difference between formative and summative assessments. Some unique perspectives were shared…
  • Summative assessments are too late
  • Flipped Learning teachers have more time to use formative assessments
  • Formative assessment requires an understanding of the individual learner, while summative it too often one size fits all
  • Formative assessments allow for ongoing checkins with students & tight feedback loops. Ex: adaptive digital tools & tools like GetKahoot
  • Formative assessment gives teachers an opportunity to fill in the gaps as they occur

The third question Monica tweeted examined the way technology tools change the way teachers check for understanding. Educators posted their favorite tech tools…
  • Students love to use Spiral to check for understanding
  • Tech makes the check faster and keeps a digital record for me to go back to later.
  • Focus on building kids ability to talk about math with Recap so they can talk and show their ideas
  • Technology provides a wider range of opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery. Favorite tool is to allow student choice.
  • Explain Everything is an awesome tool to capture student thinking and create a shareable product for an authentic audience

The fourth question Monica tweeted focused on collaborative spaces and discussion threads for students to share their thinking. Some of the responses from participants included...
  • Consider using Voxer with students to push conversations to new levels.
  • Repurpose the KWL chart with Padlet
  • Students can give peers a glow and a grow. What is 1 thing they like about a project/ paper? What's 1 thing they can do better?
  • Post signs around your room: Yes, No, Convince Me...ask a ? & have students move to their choice and engage in discussion

The fifth question Monica tweeted out examined the role data sharing with families. There were many effective methods shared out…
  • Encourage student to show their families not just finished products but all the drafts, celebrate how far they have come
  • Snap pictures of student work (with permission) and share on a classroom Twitter feed for families to see and celebrate
  • Share the Ss blogging journey. Parents can see what their child thinks and how they respond

The sixth and final question Monica tweeted out asked participant to highlight goals they have for the remainder of the school year as it relates to formative tech. Participants had some very useful insights…
  • Increase effective use of assessments. Using Google Forms to check for understanding
  • Use https://dotstorming.com/ to brainstorm and vote on items
  • Finding ways to increase sharing of data through tech tools

Overall this particular #Satchat session on formative assessment with technology tools was incredibly helpful. The number of resources and ideas shared will brought back to the school setting and directly impact students. When used properly, technology can help drive teaching and learning.

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2/9/2017

The Role of relevance in education

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The blog post originally appeared on the OnCourse Systems Blog...

The #Satchat Blog is a recurring retrospective on the tremendous insights and resources shared by educators from around the world. Learn more about the founders at www.evolvingeducators.com.

Recently on #Satchat, educator and author Denis Sheeran guest moderated a discussion on his newly released book titled Instant Relevance. Did you miss out? No problem, you can access the Participate Learn archives by clicking here. There is no doubt that relevance plays a critical role in classrooms, schools, and districts. It's what separates effective learning environments from highly effective learning environments. Throughout the hour long #Satchat discussion, it became abundantly clear that participants had a clear understanding of relevance, but also looking to enhance their toolbox of best practice strategies.

For example, Kevin Cullen, a middle school social studies teacher from New Jersey, tweeted out about the role of sharing personal stories, and Dan McCabe, principal from New York, shared an inspiring quote from Jean Piaget. Educator and Edupreneur Mark Barnes, from Ohio, highlighted the fact that we must meet kids where they are if learning is to be relevant and engaging. 
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Relevance in the digital world was also discussed in great detail during #Satchat. Kristin Kochheiser, a 6th grade teacher from Michigan, spoke to the roles that ownership and autonomy play in making learning relevant in student’s lives. Access to devices and online tools provide students with an outlet to gather perspectives, show what they about the topic at hand, and to share their work with others. There is no doubt that educators can leverage the power of technology to impact student learning through autonomy and differentiation.

Some of the most impactful parts of the book focus on applicable lesson ideas focusing on such things as the State of the Union Address, food and math, and integrating your surroundings into various units of study. Often what is relevant to students will engage them with the topic at hand in ways once thought unimaginable. Educators from all walks of life need to take risks, step outside of their comfort zone, and really ask themselves the question “is this relevant?”

Relevance will not be instant if educators do not build relationships with students, know their content, and implement effective teaching strategies. Furthermore, relevant learning environments will cease to exist if school and district leaders do not support efforts of teachers and students to do things differently. For educators, it's all about evolving one day at a time so the success of students will be promoted from now until the end of time.
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The #Satchat Blog is a recurring retrospective on the tremendous insights and resources shared by educators from around the world. Join the #Satchat conversation every Saturday morning at 7:30 EST on Twitter. #Satchat is moderated by Brad Currie, Billy Krakower, and Scott Rocco, Founding Partners of Evolving Educators LLC and the co-authors of 140 Twitter Tips for Educators. Learn more about #Satchat and other relevant professional growth opportunities by visiting www.evolvingeducators.com.


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1/16/2017

3 Ways for Students to Collaborate in the Digital World 

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The National Education Technology Plan and the ISTE Standards highlight the importance of collaboration with technology for all school stakeholders. John Hattie's effect size list is composed of various elements directly tied to the effect collaboration has on learning. Here are few tools that can enhance collaboration efforts in the digital world...

Ziteboard allows users to collaborate on an interactive online whiteboard. Think of the possibilities for students to show what they know about the topic at hand or collaborate on a project in real time.
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Poll Everywhere Google Slide Extension allows users to embed a previously created Poll Everywhere poll that automatically activates once the slide deck is in present mode. Students can use this feature in their own spaces to engage audiences in meaningful discussions.

Google Drawing is a wonderful tool for students to create, collaborate, and share in real time. Venn Diagrams, flow charts, mind maps, and other helpful graphic organizers can assist students to make sense of their own learning.
Take a risk today and provide students with an opportunity to use one of the these interactive tools during an upcoming unit of study.

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  • Home
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