XtraMath in the classroom and at home

Allison Donovan, our Watertown elementary curriculum coordinator, recently clued me into XtraMath. This is a free, online application that helps students become fluent with their math facts.  It is easy to use and can be used online in the classroom and at home.  Teachers can set up classrooms for their students, access progress reports about how all students are doing and students can even do this work online at home.  Whether they are working in school or online, as long as they are logged into their classroom account, teachers can watch and assess students' progress.  To learn more and watch helpful videos about how to set up XtraMath for your classroom, go to https://www.xtramath.org/

Read&Write Chrome Extension

Today I met with Leandra Elion, the Watertown High School reading specialist who utilizes many great tools to help her students.  I showed her how to add extensions to student accounts (students have to sign into Chrome).  She wanted to add Read&Write to a student's account. It was shown to her by our elementary OT and resident assistive technology specialist Beth Lloyd.  Read&Write is a multi-faceted assistive technology free extension from Chrome that supports Google docs by supplying

• Text To Speech with Dual Synchronized Highlighting.
• Talking Dictionary
• Picture Dictionary
• Vocabulary Tool
• Study Skills tools to capture Google highlights

Here is the menu

Here is a screen cast showing you more about Read&Write

Putting It All Together: iPads, Voicethead and Sketchbook Pro

Maggie Mattson, our exceptionally creative 4th grade teacher, had her students create the following project.  Students were learning about animal adaptations.  They sketched these on the iPads using Sketchbook Pro, sent their pictures to voicethread and then explained all about their animal adaptations.  You can watch the full project below:

Google Sites and knowmia

Tom Stezzi, 4th and 5th grade teacher at Lowell, has begun creating math videos in response to students who would like extra help at home.   Tom used Knowmia, a new app for iPads to record his video.  He then embedded his video on his google site.  You can view his site here.  You can learn more about knowmia here.  Here is Tom's first math video:
  

Google Drive

Google Drive includes Document, Presentation, Spreadsheet, Drawing and Forms.  If you've wanted to start using these and haven't yet because you are just not sure exactly how,  google provides detailed tutorials.  Here is one for google drawings.  If you are part of the Watertown School District, you can find all the tutorials about how to use Google Apps on your Google Apps for Education Course in itslearning.

Create a drawing

To start creating drawings in Google Docs, go to your Docs list, click the red Create button and select Drawing.
Then, use the menu options and the buttons in the toolbar to create flow charts, design diagrams, and other types of drawings.
Once you're done, you can add your drawing to your document, presentation, or spreadsheet.

Edit

Click this drop-down menu to cut, copy, paste, duplicate, and change a shape.

Insert

Use this menu to insert lines, arrows, scribbles, polylines, text boxes, and images. You can also click the individual buttons in the toolbar to do this. Once you select an option, follow these instructions:

• Line: Click to place one end of the line, and drag to the other end.
• Arrow: Click anywhere to place the end of the arrow, and drag to add the arrowhead.
• Scribble: Click to choose your start point, and drag to create the scribble. It will be automatically smoothed out once you've finished.


In line, arrow, and scribble modes, you'll keep adding lines until you go back to select mode by clicking the Select button from the toolbar (the small arrow to the left of the Shapes button), or pressing the Esc key.


• Polyline: Add continuous lines composed of multiple segments by drawing a segment of your polyline, clicking to end the segment and beginning your next segment. Learn more about using polylines.
• Word art: After selecting this option, type your text and press Enter.
• Text box: Click where you'd like to add the text box, enter your text, and press Enter. Your text will be added to your drawing. Use text boxes instead of word art if you'd like to use word wrap or specify a different text size. Learn more about using text in Google drawings.
• Image: Enter a URL of an image or do an image search to find what you're looking for, and click Select. Learn more about adding images to your drawing.

Format

Click this menu to change the background of your drawing, align and rotate items, select snap to grid or snap to guide, change the order of the items (for example, bring a shape forward), and group items. Learn more about formatting your drawings.
Here are some of the buttons available in the toolbar:

Undo or redo changes

You can undo and redo changes by clicking the two arrows to the left side end of the toolbar.

Zoom in and out

To zoom in and out on your drawings, click the Zoom button in the toolbar.

Shapes

Select a shape from the Shape menu in the toolbar. Then, click anywhere in Google drawings to insert the shape in the default size, or drag your mouse to change the size of the shape.
Create word art by clicking the Shape menu and selecting Word Art (the letter "T" in the second row of shapes). Then, type your text and press Enter. Learn more about using text in Google drawings.

All of the shape editing options are available with word art, so you can rotate, choose fill and line color, and change line width.

Fill color, line color, line width, edit text, bold, and more

These and other editing options are available only when you've selected a specific item. For example, when you insert a text box or word art, you'll see the Edit text button at the right end of the toolbar. Click it to change the selected text.
Note: To duplicate a shape, just hold the Ctrl key (Command key for Macs) while dragging the shape.

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Google Sites in Watertown

Teachers in Watertown are beginning to use google sites to replace their teacher web sites.  Here are two excellent examples.

Kathleen Fucchi is a first grade teacher at Lowell Elementary School.  Her site is fun to navigate! Mrs. Fucci's Classroom Website.  I especially love her welcome page that has a great slide show of her class.

Lowell Kindergarten teacher, Jacquelyn Porter, has created a really engaging site: J.R. Lowell School Kindergarten

Tinamarie Piscatelli,  an ELA teacher  at the high school, has a site where students can find their homework, videos and more.  You can see it by clicking here:  Piscatelli-WHS-English.  

Brushes 3 and SketchBook Pro @ Hosmer

Two of our teachers at the Hosmer Elementary School, Maggie Mattson and Beth Lloyd, have been taking a class where they learn to draw on the iPad.  They have been using Brushes 3 and SketchBook Pro.  You can click on each link to learn more about these apps.  Here are some of the amazing pictures they have created with these two apps using their iPad and their fingers!