North Idaho EdTech

One of my most favorite ways to give feedback to students is using the Private Comments feature in Google Classroom. Much of my love for them has come from what I've learned from Alice Keeler, both on her blog and from her session at our Tech Kickoff this past August. I like this so much because it allows for personal, instant, and constant feedback to students on an individual level from anywhere, anytime. I know many teachers in my district don't like the fact that they are getting notifications from students at all times of the day, but I think it's great to see that my students are interested in their work for me when they have the time to do it. Plus, it gives me a great way to talk to students about time management, commitments, and prioritizing the things in your life (even if it ends up that my class works isn't the priority, it still opens up that window!). One quick note: I've found that many people don't see the difference between the Private Com

We all know that we shouldn't put a lot of text on slideshow slides and the last thing we want to do is watch someone read their slides to us during a lesson or presentation. However, many people don't know just how flexible Google Slides are and how to "hack" the use of them to make presenting information more pleasing to an audience. Recently, I went to the IETA conference in Boise, ID, the annual conference for the Idaho Educational Technology Association (IETA). While there, I attended a session by the illustrious Sarah Windisch ( @slwindisch on twitter) about using Google Slides. While I have always tried to keep my slides more focused on images than text, I learned some new hacks from her and other presenters at the conference. Here are my top 3 additions to slide decks that we should all try at least once: Use topical images that draw interest Your slideshow should support what you are talking about, not be the centerpiece. Use images that relate t

Trying Something New   In the beginning of February I had the privilege of attending the Idaho Education Technology Association   (IETA)   Conference in Boise, Idaho.   I'll say that I certainly felt out of my element---an elementary art teacher at a tech conference?   I was sure the woman behind the counter handing out registration information could see the neon signs above my head flashing, "Tech Newbie!", "Here for the Freebies!", or "Just an Art Teacher!"   Although sometimes my tech knowledge is admittedly "low tech", I was so excited for the opportunity to take risks to grow as a professional by trying new things out of my comfort zone.     My background is in a general K-8 setting so I knew that I wanted to focus on learning how I could gain new knowledge about instructional technology best-practices to bring back to share with the teachers at my school.  If I learned things I could actually use in my art room-now that was an