Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Global Collaborator

Global Collaboration


For the month of October, we will focus on the "Global Collaborator" and we will focus on tools that provide students with the opportunity to engage with people and places outside of their own community. 

Global Read Aloud continues this week

We understand that classrooms are very busy places, and we wanted to remind you that participating  in the Global Read Aloud (GRA) is optional.  We would be remiss, however, if we didn't mention this global opportunity.  Some classes will simply read and discuss one of the stories, others might read more than one, and others might finds ways to collaborate across district or perhaps globally. That is up to you!

We invite you to use this Powerpoint to share about the GRA with your students.  Feel free to edit as you see fit.  To download your own copy, choose "Download As" under the file tab.

If you are looking for a teacher-partner in the Global Read Aloud, please click here and sign up with another teacher in Pennridge.

And finally...please take pictures!
We will be making a Global Read Aloud display board for 21st Century Learning Night in May.  We want to showcase all the amazing ways we have collaborated during this wonderful opportunity.  Please send any pictures you have or a short "blurb" of what you did throughout this event here or email Erin (ereichert@pennridge.org).    And although National DOT day is not part of GRA, many classrooms across the world were reading that book, and we encourage you to share those pictures and activities as well, for a separate board!
Our displays will certainly be much more powerful with pictures from your classrooms, and perhaps even with classrooms across the world.  

Week 2: Wild Berries by Julie Flett

Week 3: You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith

Updates: EPIC and Seesaw


EPIC Fall into Reading: Top Classrooms and for a live view of how many books are being read!  The competition ends tomorrow!



Seesaw Social: Finally, we hope you'll join us on Saturday for our 2nd Annual Seesaw Social!  Please let us know if you're coming by using this form!

Touch Devices in the Elementary Schools


You may not have noticed, but the new computers in the Elementary school contain a touch screen that can be bent back and used as a tablet.  In this way, there is a "tablet mode" that allows the machine to switch between using the machine as a typical laptop and using the machine as a tablet.
There are 2 ways to get the below options:
1.  Start at the right of your screen and swipe left OR
2.  Click the notifications icon (in red) at the bottom right of your screen.

Some informational pieces about this feature:

  • The touch features of the screen will work as a laptop or as a tablet, so students can operate the touchscreen and keyboard interchangeably as they use the device as a laptop.
  • When the screen is folded back as a tablet, it locks the keyboard, which will prevent the keys from being used unintentionally.
  • The student devices often do not switch to tablet mode automatically.  To switch back and forth, click the notifications button in the lower right hand corner of the machine near the clock, and then choose the "Tablet Mode" icon.  When Tablet Mode is highlighted it will work as a tablet, and when Tablet Mode is not highlighted it will work as a laptop.