Simmons Classroom

Hello, Blog Followers! With the end in sight, we wanted to send out one last update from your favorite (ok, only) instructional tech coaches before we all take off for the summer. If you have any questions about any of our updates, please feel free to reach out to us and we'll do our best to support you. ~Stephen & Susie StephenAndSusie.com Make Future You Happy … Write down important logins and passwords that you may forget if you aren't typing them out all summer (or meet with us for help backing them up) (Google, Synergy, etc). Make sure you have back up codes printed or take a photo with your phone for 2 factor authentication. You can also sign up to receive texted codes on your phone. Save your limited working memory! Send yourself a scheduled email that lists important "where did I put that…" information (remotes, cords, files, manipulatives, etc) Software/Apps/Etc: If you find new tools or resources that you are excited about this summer, share them. We wil...

Hello, fellow educators! We hope that you have been enjoying watching the snowflakes falling today. We have a shortish update for you today on three items: interactive Promethean boards, an awesome update from Google Classroom, and then our thoughts on AI after the conference in Portland a few weeks ago. As always, if you'd like to connect with us feel free to drop us a message or make an appointment with us . First off, a brief follow up to the email I forwarded along regarding being blocked Padlet last fall. It is officially going to be blocked starting next Friday because they no longer agree to the student data privacy agreement we had with them. If you would like to explore other options, please make an appointment with us so that we can understand your needs as we guide you to an alternative. Last Call for Prometheans! Stephen and I have to finalize the list of where the Promethean boards need to go for grades 6-12. If you have a lackluster projector in your room (too small...

Happy New Year, Blog Followers! It has been quite a while since you heard from us. Alas, the end of 2023 seemed to go out with a roar and suddenly we're half way through the school year (almost). Insanity! In a continued effort to keep our emails brief, here are three things you should know as we hit our stride in 2024: How we sign in to Canva has changed . We now connect through Clever which means that everyone has an account and won't need to wait for our approval to get in. Plus it has created "classes" for students to match their schedule should you want to use Canva Classrooms instead of the Google Classroom integration . As always, feel free to book time with us if you'd like a co-pilot introducing Canva to your students! You can now convert Google Forms into Practice Sets for Google Classroom . Why would you be interested in that? Well, if you have a collection of Google Forms you use with students, you can now leverage the awesome set of tools offered Pra...

Hi, Blog Followers. You have officially survived fall testing. Phew! We wanted to drop out our update today as there are two especially important updates to share with you after our last message. As always, you can make an appointment with us right on our website  if you'd like to chat further. Want to check out our past messages and catch up on anything you've missed? Click here! 1 Awesome Tip FIFTY TIME-SAVING CHATGPT PROMPTS FOR TEACHERS : Since ChatGPT became a hot topic about a year ago, we've been digging into and experimenting with ChatGPT and a plethora of other AI tools. But, for some of you, the mere mention of ChatGPT may make your skin crawl. We would highly recommend dipping your toe in the AI waters because there are so many ways that it can help save you time, which we know you have very little of. If you'd like to learn more about how AI can help you work more efficiently and give you back time to do what you love, just book a time and we'd be happy ...

Hi, Blog Followers. We thought that sending out anything in the first month of school would be too overwhelming. So we saved our updates for you until now! Rather than sharing everything in a slide deck like in years past, we're keeping it all in the email to make it easier for you to access. As always, you can make an appointment with us right on our website if you'd like to learn more about any of these nine items or anything else in the world of instructional technology. 3 Awesome Tips: CANVA FOR EDUCATION - TEACH WITH CANVA TUTORIALS : Did you know that Canva is an amazing graphic design platform? You can create all sorts of cool stuff like posters, slide decks, and even podcasts. The best part is, we have free access to Canva for all teachers and students at Bonny Eagle! We've been working with a bunch of teachers this semester and their students have been making some seriously awesome assignments with it. If you're interested, we can set up a time to chat and sh...