Technology Professional Development

Taos Municipal Schools

Check out Freerice.com for vocab, grammar, math, geography, and SAT quizzes that students actually enjoy! Every correct answer nets 10 grains of rice donated, so its also a lesson in altruism. Teachers can create groups and student accounts to track. Check out Delicious.com for a great way to store and share your internet bookmarks. Check out Commoncraft.com for a great library of videos on technology, social media, net safety and more! Dont forget to use the iSafe Curriculum! Every student needs to have been taught at least one lesson from each categoryAppropriate Online Behavior, Social Networking, and Cyber Bullying (classroom teachers K-5, social studies and resource room teachers 6-12) Are you using iPads in your classroom? Check out Guided Access for a way to lock students into one app, which prevents them from surfing the web when you want them to be practicing multiplication. Turn on Guided Access in Settings -> General -> Accessibility Calendar Link for Professional Development: Bookmark this link so that you can keep track of our PD schedule, and so that youll know when Im scheduled to be at your school o http://bit.ly/PDcal Before Winter Break, we brainstormed Teaching styles- where do you fall on the Sage on the Stage vs. Guide on the Side continuum? Well continue our discussions and identify effective methods for integrating technology into your classroom to maximize student learning, engagement, and support. What projects do you plan for this semester? How can you integrate technology into end-of-year projects and maximize: o efficiency o engagement o parent and community connections o mastery of content knowledge and skills o Common Core Standard mastery

January 2014

Schedule of PD: Check online here for an up-to-date calendar of PD. http://bit.ly/PDcal

In general, the schedule will follow this pattern: Enos- Every other Mon/Wed Middle- Every other Thursday Ranchos- Every other Friday Taos High- Every other Wed/Thurs Arroyos- Every other Tuesday Admin, Chrysalis, Cyber Magnet, Vista Grande, Food Warehouse BY APPOINTMENT Gamification in Education Are you on the fence about the role of game design elements in education? Check out this inforgraphic for a great overview: http://www.knewton.com/gamificationeducation/ In short, game players regularly demonstrate behaviors that include persistence, risk-taking, attention to detail, problem solving, and collaboration, all of which wed ideally like to see regularly demonstrated in school as well.