Agenda for September 29th-October 3rd

It is hard to believe that September is winding down and we've been in session for a month now. Wow, has it been a busy start! Now that I have finished the middle school's iBook applying for Apple Distinguished Schools, I finally feel like I can get into a routine for the year and not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. We should hear sometime in November if all of our hard work has paid off, so cross your fingers.

With that in mind, I'm going to work on catching up on my screencasts from the workshops I've covered already this year. Topics forth coming include:

  • Easy Peasy Video, Audio, and Screencasts
  • Classroom by Google
  • Navigating Campus Instruction Beta
    • If you are looking for gradebook help, I already have an in depth screencast about that posted on my Guides & Tutorials page, so I won't be recording a new one. But I will discuss the other aspects that have changed and been added with Campus Instruction like planner, seating charts, etc.
In honor of finishing my very first iBook and because it has been requested by teachers at the middle school, this week I am going to cover an introduction to iBooks Author as my topic of the week. The program itself can be very overwhelming, but I certainly learned a lot from creating my first iBook and can get you and your students up and running with it. Why iBooks Author? Here are some ideas as to how it can be used in your own classes:
  1. For courses using kitchens, imagine having your class compile a cookbook of all of the recipes that they've cooked during your class. You could include photos of the dishes once they have been prepared, videos demonstrating the different techniques, and definitions of the terminology they used.
  2. For ELA courses, this is a great example of publishing their work! Your students could utilize it to compile a portfolio of their work from our class or you could do it as a class project showing off their best work. At the high school, imagine a digital version of "The Greenlight"! You could include student videos from video production and music produced in the music classes. Talk about engaging!
  3. For fine arts classes, students could assemble portfolios of their work from your class or you could assemble a book of exemplars from the projects you do. Talk about a great way to show off what you are doing in class!
  4. Tech Ed Classes, imagine working with your students to create a guidebook for all of the projects that you complete in class with step by step directions, images, and videos. It would incorporate technical writing, which is a great skill for our students to learn!
The possibilities are endless! Come to my session (Thursday at the HS, Friday at the MS) to check it out.

If you'd like me to cover a specific topic or tool during my weekly sessions, feel free to let me know! The next few weeks I'll be covering the topics that I'll be presenting on at ACTEM and MAMLE since I know some folks wanted to attend both of those and weren't able to.

Happy fall!

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