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2018-2019 TCEA Microsoft Professional Learning Opportunities

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Are you an Office 365 school district and wondering how to maximize professional learning opportunities? Then bookmark this blog entry so you can check what exciting professional learning opportunities are upcoming this spring and summer. In this blog, I’ll share some of the events taking place that you will want to attend. Remember that in addition to these activities, you can always request a dedicated session, like Area 2 has done for a two-day Minecraft: Education Edition Academy.

Did You Know?

Want to sign up? Go to http://ly.tcea.org/attend to register for Lunch and Learns! TCEA Lunch and Learn events do require a TCEA membership ($49). If you have one, then the event is free.

Benefits of Attendance

What is in it for you? Attending TCEA Microsoft workshops and academies garner several benefits, including:

  • Membership in the free, Texas-wide community of Microsoft Innovative Educators (MIE). You get to interact with educators in public/private schools, as well as Microsoft, who are committed to accelerate your learning. Come learn with us!
  • Earn digital badges and certificates via the Microsoft Educator Community (MEC). All workshops, academies, and events earn you points that enhance your status in the MEC. And those certificates and badges can be easily printed to share with your employer.
  • Share your insights with others about using Microsoft products in your work. How are you using Microsoft Teams to transform communications in your district? Assist others as you learn more yourself.

If those aren’t enough reasons, you will also get access to a wealth of professional learning via TCEA, a non-profit education association dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through the use of technology.

Did You Know?

Join the TCEA MIE Facebook Community and connect to Texas educators from all around Texas, as well as Microsoft folks.

2018 Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

Attend these regional events in Fall, 2018. Registration is open now. Click links to access information form and registration link for each session.

October, 2018

November, 2018

Questions about content?

The facilitator for all sessions listed above is Miguel Guhlin, MIE Certified Master Trainer. Reach him via email at mguhlin@tcea.org or on Twitter @mguhlin

Professional Learning for Summer 2018

Robyn Hrivnatz, Keynote Speaker, 2018 TCEA Microsoft Academy

An amazing amount of TCEA learning opportunities abound. Let’s focus in on a few where Microsoft professional learning will be available.

Webinars

Not able to join us for face to face sessions? Then be sure to jump start your learning with online professional learning offerings via our Lunch and Learn series as well as other offerings. See you soon!

Did You Know?

TCEA features a team of MIE Certified Master Trainers, Certified Minecraft Trainers, as well as Google Certified Trainers and Administrators. They are ready to help you learn, whether that involves a technology audit or amazing professional learning experiences.

But wait, there’s more! Check out this collection of one hour, free webinars from Microsoft on a variety of popular topics. Topics include the following:

  • Six Steps for Building a Collaborative Classroom with Microsoft Teams
  • Bring the World to Your Students with Skype in the Classroom
  • Build a Digital Classroom with OneNote
  • Authentic Assessments with Forms, Sway, and More
  • Ten Things You Can Do with Office 365 Online that You Never Knew

Don’t wait. Time to get busy learning.

Past Events

  • 9/27/2018 – 1-Day Physical Computing and Its Role in Education – FREE EVENT
     Location: Arlington, TX
  • 9/13/2018 – MIE 1-Day Office 365 Teacher Academy (BYOD) – FREE EVENT
    Location: Arlington, TX
  • 9/1/2018 – MIE 1-Day Office 365 Teacher Academy (BYOD) – FREE EVENT
    Location: Edinburg, TX
  • August 2-3 – Two-Day Minecraft Education Edition Teacher Academy: This exciting two-day event, closed to the public, will be available for Burleson ISD teachers. If you would like a similar event for your district, please let us know. Location: Burleson, TX
  • July 12-13 – 2018 TCEA Microsoft Academy: The keynote speaker will be Texas educator and Microsoft Fellow Robyn Hrivnatz. In addition to sessions that will have an immediate impact on your classroom and use of Microsoft tools, attendees at the Academy will also be able to earn badges. Digital badges will be available in the Microsoft Education Community. Two  six-hour academies will be available. The first is the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Certified Trainer six-hour session. The second is the Minecraft: Education Edition Certified Teacher. Location: Austin, TX
  • July 17-18 – Minecraft Teacher Academy: Attend one of the all-day Minecraft: Education Edition academies being held at the Denton ISD Technology Integration Academy (TIA). You can register online at the TIA Conference website.
  • July 24-26 – Technology Learning Extravaganza: Come join us for three days and gain a wealth of knowledge and first-hand learning experiences in our Technology Learning Extravaganza in San Angelo, July 24-26. The sessions will provide educators learning opportunities to enhance knowledge in a variety of Microsoft-related areas such as Office 365, OneNote, Minecraft, Makecode, and more. Location: San Angelo, TX
  • July 31 – MakeCode for Micro:bit and Minecraft: Education Edition: The micro:bit is sweeping the globe as an accessible, inclusive approach to computing education that combines the magic of making with the power of code. The maker education movement has proven to engage and interest girls and other nontraditional CS student populations through creative, personally meaningful projects. Learn how combining the maker mindset with computational thinking can result in transformational learning experiences for all students.By the end of this session attendees will know how to construct and download simple programs to their micro:bit, and they will know where to find curriculum & resources for their classrooms. You will also learn how to use MakeCode to control the Agent in Minecraft: Education Edition. This is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) hands-on session for all levels (no prior computer science experience required). Location: Austin, TX
  • June 4 – MIE 1-Day Teacher Academy: Ready to begin your journey as a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE)? You will get certified as an MIE and receive support and guidance on this journey. Location: Laredo, TX (Area 1)
  • June 10-12 – Elementary Technology Conference: Read more about this conference online. There will be several Microsoft sessions offered at this event. Location: Galveston, TX
  • May 9 – PBL in the Minecraft: Education Edition Classroom: In this session, you’ll learn how to design Problem/Project-based Learning (PBL) experiences in virtual worlds like Minecraft: Education Edition. Participants will also experience PBL lesson-based design opportunities. They will develop a lesson plan, build a sample student product, and engage in world building. Location: Amarillo, TX (Area 16)
  • May 15 – Productivity Tools for Administrators: This conference will feature a variety of Microsoft tools that can enhance your productivity as an administrator, an administrative clerk, classroom teacher, or docent. Sessions offered will allow you to earn MEC points and/or digital badges and certificates. Location: Austin, TX (Area 13)
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Microsoft Classroom
Microsoft Tips and Tricks

Ten Ways to Customize Microsoft Classroom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Looking for quick ways to customize Microsoft Classroom so that it better fits your teaching style or how your students learn? Or just looking for things a teacher needs to know how to do in Microsoft Classroom to be successful? Either way, I hope you find this infographic a quick reference to Classroom’s main features and possibilities.

Note: An Adobe PDF version is also available.

ten

#1 – Add Students to Your Class

  1. Login at MS Classroom.
  2. Click on Teachers & Students in top right section of page.
  3. Add students after quick search. Click DONE after finding all students.

#2- Add Co-Teachers

  1. On the same screen where you add students, you can add teachers.
  2. Search and select them.

#3 – Create OneNote Class Notebook

  1. Click on Class Notebook tab.
  2. Create Class Notebook with desired settings.
  3. Open it as OneNote Online and then EDIT in OneNote 2016 to sync a copy to your Windows 10 device.

#4 – Start Conversations for Student Participation

  1. Create Conversations around identified class topics.
  2. Edit members in the group by clicking on the ellipsis in the top right corner of the screen.

#5 – Make Assignments

  1. Click on the Assignments tab.
  2. Click on + New Assignments.
  3. Set title, due dates, and description.
  4. Set assignment for all classes for whom it applies, attach relevant documents, and enable Conversation.

#6 – Grade Assignments

  1. Click on the Assignments tab.
  2. Click on the Assignment name in the “In Progress” column.
  3. Review “Submissions” and then easily enter grades, assigning comments as needed.

#7 – Share Files and Resources

  • Click on the “Files” tab to access the shared files for the class.
  • Place Word, Excel, or Powerpoint Online documents and other files for students to access.

#8 – Use Class Calendar

  • All assignment due dates appear in the calendar.
  • Add new dates for events (e.g. field trips) to class calendar for students to access.

#9 – Manage Class

  • Modify course info using the Manage tab.
  • Update class banner, icon, and course description.

#10 – Update Notebook Settings

  • Add/remove sections.
  • Update teacher/student button if changes to the roster have been made.
  • Lock/unlock Class Notebook Collaboration space for student use.

Attending the TCEA 2017 Convention & Exposition?

Microsoft ClassroomMicrosoft believes in empowering every student to achieve more. In our mission to support educators in guiding and nurturing student passions, we are offering pre-conference professional learning to TCEA convention participants. Attendees at these sessions will be eligible to receive a complimentary Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) and Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) exam voucher for attending and earn badges on the Microsoft Educator Community to recognize their achievements.*  Preregister to secure a seat.

2-Day MIE Trainer Academy

  • Monday, February 6 and Tuesday, February 7 | 8:30AM-4:00PM Register Here

1-Day MIE Teacher Academy

1-Day MIE Teacher Academy:  Minecraft Education Edition

Visit aka.ms/TCEAresources to find session schedules and other information about Microsoft’s presence at TCEA.

 

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math and science
Content AreasGood Teaching

Open Resources for Math and Science

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Need to model complex math and science concepts for your students? Use any of the 130 award-winning PhET math and science interactive simulations. Available for grades three through adult learners, these are  open educational resources (OERs), which means they are free to use. Each simulation will work on any device, making it perfect for 1:1 and BYOD classrooms, as well as those with only teacher projection.

Explore Simulations

Each PhET lesson (e.g. Balloons and Static Electricity simulation) comes replete with resources. Included are a video primer, lesson ideas, and teacher-submitted activities. Watch this video for an overview. A main goal of PhET is to assist students in becoming scientists. As learner-in-chief in their classroom, teachers ask questions (combine them with Quizziz or Kahoot for quick assessment) to highlight key concepts and spur deeper inquiry.

Measure Learning with Your Favorite Learning Management System (LMS)

Combine PhET and the Learning Management System (LMS) of choice to further support student learning. This can help students see what factors affect friction. Students can then respond to multiple choice questions or elaborate in short answer form.

Did you know? You can learn how to blend technology into instruction. Schedule an online or face-to-face professional learning session with TCEA’s Certified professional learning team.

Support Open Inquiry

Another approach involves using a student-centered strategy called POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning). Students work in small groups with individual roles or in cooperative learning groups if the learning needs to be scaffolded. POGIL activities focus on core concepts. They encourage a deep understanding of course material and develop higher-order thinking skills. Find out more | See it in Action

Engage in Video-Based Reflection

Deepen reflective interactions focused on a simulation with video. Use Flipgrid to pose video questions about a simulation’s key concepts. Students respond via their mobile device’s built-in video camera.

Conclusion

These approaches and technologies are so easy, you can get going quickly. Select your interactive simulation and scaffold the inquiry with POGIL. Then, assess learning with retrieval practice tools (like Quizizz/Kahoot), and Flipgrid. Your students will be thrilled you made the effort!

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MIE
Microsoft Tips and TricksProfessional Learning

Celebrating the 2016 TCEA MIE Cohort

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Microsoft has a huge presence in classrooms and offices. Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, librarian, or administrator, you probably often find yourself interacting with powerful Office 365 tools and mobile apps. Through the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) program, Texas educators in 2016 were able to become certified, earning the coveted MIE badge.

Purpose of the MIE WorkshopsMIE

Microsoft and TCEA partnered to bring Texas educators comprehensive and engaging face-to-face workshops that spanned the state. Participants explored tools like Office 365, Microsoft Classroom, Microsoft Forms, OneNote 2016, Sway, and many other fantastic resources. These courses are designed to help educators deepen their grasp of Office 365 tools for classroom use and student learning.

Celebrating the TCEA Microsoft Certified Educators

We would like to congratulate the almost 340 Texas educators who have earned the MIE designation as of December, 2016. You can see all of their names here. This is a tremendous accomplishment and we are so very proud of each of these innovative educators!

Become a Member of the MIE 2017 Cohort

Interested in learning more about scheduling a face-to-face workshop or webinar series on Office 365 tools and gaining your Microsoft certification? Contact Ashley Weiler at aweiler@tcea.org. Group discounts are available for districts/campuses who want to register a group of their educators as a cohort; contact Dr. Bruce Ellis at bellis@tcea.org for more information on group discounts.

 

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community
Microsoft Tips and TricksProfessional Learning

Building a Community

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“We are longing for a community,” said a session participant at one of my Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) workshops. “Most of us have adopted Office 365 tools, but we don’t see ourselves in the numerous edcamps and workshops offered. Each of us is struggling to connect.” As instructional coach and author of The Art of Coaching, Elena Aguilar says, “With a powerful community I can do so much more. I am happier. I learn and expand and, possibly, I can transform.” The strategies below seek to answer the challenge of community building.

Five Strategies for Community Building

A few strategies that have worked include the following:

#1 – Connect

“Involve and connect with stakeholders,” I shared in a recent Skype call with USA MIE trainers. As I look at pictures from TCEA Area 1 and Area 8 participants attending the one-day MIE Teacher Academy, the connections with campus principals, regional service center staff, and library coordinators jump out at me. Some specific ways to connect include the following:

a) Amplify Their Voices

Each person has a story to tell. Here are three conversations that capture the heart of MIE events. I recorded them using the free Voxer app on my smartphone:

  • Voxercast: Listen to Crystal Just, Instructional Technology Specialist in Navarro ISD, share her insights in a spur-of-the-moment conversation about helping principals embrace technology.
  • Voxercast: Listen to Mireya Galvan, Coordinator of Library Services in Harlingen ISD, on using OneNote Class Notebook for Professional Development
  • Voxercast: Listen to Cris Chonka, Campus Technology Specialist in San Marcos Consolidated ISD, sharing her insights. Both Cris and Joanne Priest, an Austin ISD high school teacher, had just attended TCEA’s Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA) workshop in December, 2016.

In addition to amplifying the voices of session participants, crafting solutions to common challenges remains important. For example, the TCEA TechNotes blog entry, Top 10 OneNote FAQs responds to specific questions that participants have asked.

b) Create an Online Sharing Space

“I appreciate the info you post,” said a technology director on the TCEA MIE Facebook Group. Creating an online space with shared learning opportunities stimulates dialogue. This dialogue also provides just-in-time support. When a critical service stopped working, TCEA MIE Community members shared their insights and knowledge to resolve the problem.  In another situation, after sharing Amplifying Creativity: Minecraft Fairytales, Javier Aguilar wrote, “Awesome!!”

#2 – Engage

“Excellence is possible without perfection,” I read one day. The quote captures the essence of my rough-hewn videos about Microsoft Classroom and OneNote Class Notebook. Videos can engage others in a wide variety of ways, making complex topics approachable. Another way to engage others is to curate content relevant to your community. For example, I rely on ReadItLater’s Pocket to capture content relevant to my community and then share it using IFTTT.com to Twitter and Facebook. Re-tweeting old content that is still helpful helps latecomers to the community or those who missed it the first go-around.

#3 – Model

“We have to be able to share resources with everyone, as well as only with those who are TCEA members.” Some people get access to workshop resources; others do not.  Microsoft’s OneNote 2016 makes it easy to create notebooks with unlocked and locked sections. Locked sections require a password to open. Then the notebook can be published online with non-passworded and passworded sections.

To encourage the use of OneNote for these purposes, I proposed sharing TCEA’s session resources with Academy participants. These actions helped expand internal understanding of OneNote’s functionality, as well as garnered positive praise from participants. We have to “dream the possible” so others can see and experience it.

Some examples include TCEA Connect!, Campus Technology Specialist Academy, and TCEA Area 20’s Tech-a-palooza Conference. Now that OneNote Online has shown itself as usable in this way, new initiatives such as the Technology Leadership Summit: Security are relying on OneNote’s passworded section feature.

#4 – Partner

“When can we have a Minecraft: Education Edition workshop in our area?” asked TCEA board member David Luna. “We definitely want to have one!” As a Microsoft Training partner, TCEA worked to seek out professional learning opportunities to better be able to facilitate training for Minecraft: Education Edition and Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA). Then, TCEA’s Microsoft Certified Trainers/Experts reached out to collaborate with regional education service centers and TCEA area directors. This outreach program enables both TCEA members and non-members to take advantage of these two new initiatives from Microsoft.

#5 – Learn

Set time aside to tap into the stream of ideas, insights, and information available via social media. TCEA has built online social communities via the TCEA.org website, but also reached out to non-members via Facebook, Voxer (a mobile technology that makes audio-based chats possible, rather than text-based a la Twitter), and others. National and global communities of MIE Trainers and Experts employ Group.me, Twitter chats like #OneNoteQ, #msftedu, and Facebook to problem solve and get fresh information. These connections have a positive effect on learning and professional development worldwide.

Consider examining the TCEA MIE Facebook Group (open to all Texas educators using Microsoft tools; now with 200+ members) and the TCEA Campus Technology Specialist Voxer group as two examples.

Conclusion

“He who learns from one who is learning, drinks from a flowing river.” Never before have we had such easy access to “people in our lives,” as Matthew Kelly points out, “who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.” Join us at TCEA in helping you find your essential purpose and allow us to provide you with the assistance you need to become the best version of who you can be!

 

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Office
Microsoft Tips and Tricks

Steps to a Tech-Powered Classroom with Office 365: Part 2

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Note: This is part 2 of a two-part series on Ten Steps to a Tech-Powered Classroom with Microsoft. Read Part 1 here.

6. Digitize your print documents.

Tired of dealing with paper? Your students are as well! Take advantage of MS Office Lens app (available on Android, iOS, and later this summer, Windows) to digitize documents and go paperless with OneNote. You simply start the app, take pictures of the paper, and it organizes it into pictures or a PDF file or enables you to save it to OneNote for easy sharing with students. Or alternatively, use the built-in capture of OneNote app on your mobile device of choice. Make it a goal to digitize your documents during the summer and avoid the time sink during the school year. Once you have a digital copy, you can easily annotate (draw/write on it) in OneNote.

 

Office

7. Convert your multiple choice assessments to paperless Microsoft Forms or Excel Online Surveys.

Did you know that Microsoft Forms features an assessment component? Students submit responses to an online assessment and Forms takes care of scoring it for you. Watch this video for a quick introduction to Microsoft Forms.

 

8. Explore MIE Expert videos to fuel your learning and spur classroom innovation.

You have access to a global cadre of Microsoft Innovative Educators and Experts, all eager to coach you on how to transform teaching and learning in your classroom. This means you are not alone in blazing  a trail in your teaching, learning, and leading environment. Our children are learning directly from YouTube, so why not get inspired in the same way to make your classroom learning environment even more engaging than it is now? For example, you can see tutorial videos for MS Sway, Office 365 in the Classroom, OneNote Class Notebook, and many more.

 

9. Manipulate Portable Document Format (PDF) files to save paper.

OfficeAre you accessing materials from Lead4ward and other online PDF documents? Instead of printing everything, you can quickly split PDFs, printing only what you need. Use the no-cost PDFSAM Basic.

After you split PDF files, you can insert them into your OneNote Class Notebook’s Content Library as a file printout. This means you can then distribute those PDFs to students, and then they can use their Surface or iOS tablet device to fill things in by interacting with the PDF.

 

10. Create Podcasts with OneNote audio recordings on your mobile device.

Are you doing awesome things in your classroom? If you and your students are learning, then the answer is “YES!” Why not record audio into a OneNote, describing a picture or screenshot of a student artifact?Then,students, parents, and others can access that OneNote Online to listen to student reflections about that artifact.

Teaching in a Microsoft-empowered classroom can be much more than just being about the technology. It really is about the transformations your students can accomplish with information, converting it into knowledge that is useful and meaningful to them.

Note: This blog entry was inspired by Tom Mullaney’s blog entry at Sustainable Teaching, Ten Things You Can Do This Summer To Prepare for Teaching in a 1:1 Classroom with Chromebooks. Thanks, Tom!

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Office
Microsoft Tips and Tricks

Steps to a Tech-Powered Classroom with Office 365: Part 1

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“What’s Office 365?” asked a second grade teacher last week at a casual meeting. “My district is moving from what we have now to that.” The transition, of course, was from MS Exchange and web-based email to Office 365. For the school district, moving to Office 365 will result in much greater efficiency and functionality than they have ever enjoyed. But that means this large urban school district has a lot of professional learning to engage in.

If you are a teacher in a district that is launching Office 365 in August, you have some time to get ready. Take these ten steps (five in this blog entry, five more in the sequel) to ensure you are successful in supporting blended learning opportunities that the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires.

Office1. Ask your administration for a MS Surface tablet or Windows 10 computer to use this summer.

The Windows 10 operating system boasts many powerful features, among them access for educators to a free Office 365 account. That means you can start learning how to use Microsoft Classroom, OneNote 2016, and Class Notebook tools, which are easy ways to blend learning in your classroom. You can find a wealth of resources online, and, of course, TCEA is offering one-day Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) professional development sessions around the state of Texas at no charge.

2. Become a Microsoft Innovative Educator.

If you want to successfully use blended technology into classroom learning, the TCEA Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) training sets you up with the tools and skills you will need. This process (watch this overview video of how to become an MIE Expert) involves you getting a free Office 365 account, which comes with free copies of MS Office 365 Online and OneNote 2016 for Windows (OneNote works on all mobile devices as a program you install or via the web with OneNote Online). You will also get access to Microsoft Education, a website with free professional learning activities that are 100% online. Register for this free training today!

Listen to this podcast by Jeffrey Bradbury (@TeacherCast).

3. Create a OneDrive and Docs.com account.

When working with students and colleagues, you will need to be able to create and share content online. Office 365 grants you free access to Word Online, Powerpoint Online, and Excel Online, as well as OneNote Online and one terabyte of cloud storage in OneDrive. This enables you to share and collaborate with students and colleagues (e.g. teachers working on lesson plans). Once you have completed the MIE training, you will be able to easily interact with content online for creation and sharing.

What’s more, with Docs.com, you can easily share documents (e.g. books, newsletters, presentations) you create (e.g. Word, Powerpoint, OneNote, Excel, Newsletters) with others. Listen to this podcast featuring Dr. Tom Grissom on using Docs.com (http://docs.com/mguhlin).

4. Get to know Microsoft Classroom.

Need a quick overview of Microsoft Classroom? Watch this short video about how a school in Spain is using Microsoft Classroom. Then ask yourself how are you doing this in your classroom?

As you can see, MS Classroom provides an actual environment where you can interact with your students online. What’s more, through the use of tools like OneNote Class Notebook, you can create a Content Library to which you can add class learning resources. Students can then copy items from the Content Library to their OneNote notebook, where they can begin interacting with documents. Microsoft Classroom comes with a Class Notebook built-in, and you can see the main components of a Class Notebook in the image below.Office

 

5. Learn from the experts.

“An expert is someone who isn’t afraid to share how they mess things up while they are learning.” That’s my personal definition of what an expert is. While there are many people you can learn from online, consider adding these individuals to your professional learning network (PLN). What’s more, take advantage of TCEA resources listed below. In addition to following the Twitter hashtag, which does not require a Twitter account, #MIEExpert, you can also add these folks to your PLN:

Robyn Hrivnatz @RobynHrivnatz

Mike Tholfsen ‏@mtholfsen

OneNote Central ‏@OneNoteC

@OneNoteEDU ‏@OneNoteEDU

Pip Cleaves ‏@pipcleaves

Anne Mirtschin ‏@murcha

Jennifer Mitchell ‏@jenemitchell

 

And, of course, follow @mguhlin on Twitter, as well as check out the TCEA Connect! OneNote Online notebook where I share my learning experiences. You will also want to follow the #tceamie hashtag online.

Be sure to come back to read the second part of this blog entry, sharing five more steps you can take!

Note: This blog entry was inspired by Tom Mullaney’s blog entry at Sustainable Teaching, Ten Things You Can Do This Summer To Prepare for Teaching in a 1:1 Classroom with Chromebooks. Thanks, Tom!

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MIE
Microsoft Tips and TricksPodcastsProfessional Learning

MIE Podcast #2: April Wagner on OneNote

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to TCEA MIE Podcast #2!  In these conversations, we explore how educators are using Microsoft tools to achieve instructional objectives. At the Tots and Technology 2016 Conference in Galveston, Texas, I had the opportunity to connect with April Wagner. April provides assistance to teachers of students in grades 4-6. She models how to use Office 365 tools in the classroom. In today’s chat, she shares how easily tools like OneNote can be used to collect information and share it with students’ parents.

Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into OneNote.  In fact, they have revamped the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Program to reflect new features.  For example, in only a few short months, Microsoft has added the ability to quickly embed a variety of media formats into OneNote.

Some of those media formats include Vimeo, Youtube, and Microsoft Snip, an easy-to-use screen capture and audio annotation tool, as well as Microsoft Sway. One of the ways I am using OneNote in my workshops is to setup an “anyone can edit” notebook. Then I ask participants to record an audio summary. The audio summary involves them sharing what they are learning in the session and provides an opportunity for reflection.

This is really a powerful way to introduce folks to how they can use OneNote to capture audio recordings of learners. It makes it easy to keep artifacts (e.g. digitized paper, photos) and audio reflections in one place. A neat tidbit of information is that Office Lens will be available this summer for your Windows tablet (it’s only available for Android and iOS when I wrote this blog entry).

Let’s listen in on the conversation with TCEA member, April Wagner.
(Twitter: @wagnerwoman)

MIE Scenarios

One of April’s suggestions for helping teachers was to explore scenarios that illustrate how to overcome problems they sometimes encounter. Three scenarios that April mentions in our conversation are below. I created some quick “Snips” using Microsoft Snip to illustrate possible solutions:

  • How can you put information in separate sections? How do you put information back when you accidentally put it in the wrong section? Watch video response.
  • How can you delete information in Class Notebooks? Can students delete information in Class Notebooks? Watch video response.
  • How does OneNote Class Notebook interact with MS Classroom? Watch video response.

 

Thanks for listening to this TCEA MIE Podcast! I hope you will join us again. Subscribe to the TCEA TechNotes blog. You can enter your email and get email notifications, or follow @tcea, as well as @mguhlin, on Twitter to stay in the loop. New blogs are posted several times a week with great information and resources for integrating technology into the classroom. If you are interested getting access to more resources and ideas, please join us for the TCEA MIE Skypechat which will be kicking off in August, 2016, as well as leave a comment on this blog entry to sign up for the TCEA MIE Diigo group, where I frequently share links to web sites, breaking news and more.

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flip, flipping, PD, professional development
LeadershipProfessional Learning

Three Tips for Equipping and Empowering Educators

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

At a recent #TxEduChat, one of the questions asked was “How do school leaders go about equipping educators through professional development in a way that leads to authentic empowerment?” That’s a tremendously powerful question, so let’s explore how the strategic application of technology can lead to authentic empowerment.

Tip #1 – Amplify Teachers’ Voices in Campus Decisions

“You want me to be a member of the campus site-based committee?” I asked my principal. As a third-year teacher, I wasn’t looking forward to spending time sitting in after-school meetings. Yet in those meetings with my principal, I never felt like my voice was heard; rather, it was muted, too soft-spoken for meetings where few knew what would happen as a consequence of a decision. With mobile apps like Skype (10 Ways Teachers Motivate and Empower with Skype), Appear.in, and Voxer (read stories here of educational uses), campus leaders can create a no-cost virtual space to connect and quickly share ideas. In these spaces, quiet voices are amplified because, while the talkers may speak, the quiet educators can be heard in equal measure.

Tip #2 – Deepen Relationships

“Miguel,” asked the Athletic Director for the eleventh time since the start of the school year, “when is the FitnessGram data file going to be uploaded so we can conduct our assessments?” Unfortunately, the delay was that this program was in the midst of change. I accurately reported updates, if any, and followed up. When the information finally was released earlier, I was no longer employed in the district. But I made sure the Athletic Director had the information. We had started this journey together and it only made sense to finish it. Make the effort to be consistent, be predictable, share relevant resources that connect to people’s needs, and, by doing that, you build trust.

When we look at deepening relationships, we’re actually concerned with building trust. When we think of campus and/or district culture, we often think of the face-to-face interactions that people have in shared spaces. Having the right technology in place can help augment the positive connections that occur in those shared spaces. But deepening trust is really a person-to-person activity, isn’t it?

Tip #3 – Promote Quality Professional Development Opportunities

Looking for quality professional development? While there are many learning opportunities, including unconferences and #edcamps, YouTube videos, blogs, and just-in-time social media (e.g. Periscope, Voxer, Blab.im), you can always count on TCEA professional development learning and opportunities. From member-centric Lunch-n-Learn and Get Your Google On webinars, as well as a host of certification courses for 21st Century Administrators and Campus Technology Specialists, Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) courses, Chromebook and iPad academies, and IT Director courses in face-to-face and virtual spaces, TCEA has a lot to offer. You can find tons of resources online from TCEA’s directors of professional development, each of whom is committed to learning and sharing with and for you and is also a former educator. As an example, here is my collection of resources in a OneNote Notebook, TCEA Connect! (Aren’t OneNote Notebooks awesome?)

And you can join various Diigo groups that are focused on sharing great resources for all interested learners (not just members). For example, consider joining the 3D Printing Diigo group, which features a wide variety of resources for 3D printing. Or join the TCEA Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) group (and take advantage of upcoming training dates).

Authentic empowerment happens when you connect people together so they can collaborate with each other. Consider developing what Amy “@friedtechnology” Mayer suggests are individualized technology plans for teachers. These “ITPs” help close the learning gap.

And you know what? Everything shared in this blog entry can accelerate learning for teachers. If you accelerate teacher learning, you impact student learning. Isn’t that amazing? No, it’s TCEA amazing!

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