Let's Learn From Each Other...Part Two!

Principal pondering...
Can't believe that last day of school is getting closer and closer, but there is still plenty of time to learn something new!  I would still love to highlight some of you in these posts so that everyone can see that we have a lot of built in professional development within our school walls.  If you have been doing something that you want to share, let me know!  Or I may approach you and ask you if I can share your awesomeness with everyone else!

Today, I want to share some more helpful videos/links that Audra, our digital learning coach, has shared with me.  She has created some screencasts and tips for different tech related things.  Many of these videos might come in handy as you are working with your students to wrap up the year and create some final projects.

Here is a screencast video of how to use Google Slides with your own images and png files to tell a story with stop motion:

With end of the year presentations or different final projects, this could be a great way to create some new and different videos with students!  I actually attended a workshop recently at a conference and we learned how to make stop motion videos using iPads and play doh...so much fun!

Here is a screencast video that explains the basics of Do Ink to create green screen videos:

Here's a quick video on how to upload pictures or videos on the iPad to Google Drive:

Here's a link to a few screencast videos with iMovie tutorials: https://sites.google.com/gdrsd.org/digital-integration/digital-tools/movie-making

Please be sure and share some of the new skills that you try out!  Or maybe you have something that you are doing and can teach the rest of us!  Let me know so I can highlight you in an upcoming blog post.

Currently reading:
I have started reading a great book that came in the mail recently...Stories From Webb: The Ideas, Passions, and Convictions of a Principal and His School Family.  This book is the next book in the #KidsDeserveIt series.  The author, Todd Nesloney, along with the staff from his school, shares stories of education that we can all relate to.  It is definitely a good book to read during this time of year, certainly a book to reinvigorate educators.

Events this week:
Tuesday - 3rd grade math MCAS
Wednesday - SST Meeting @ 8:00, 3rd grade math MCAS, 3rd grade chorus @ 2:20, Staff Meeting @ 3:30 - placement and ordering
Thursday - 4th grade math MCAS
Friday - District half day, 12:15 dismissal, placement work

Great things I noticed last week:

• 4th graders demonstrated their various art skills while Mrs. Garden subbed as the art teacher. 
  
• Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Smith's class had fun mystery Skyping with a national park ranger!  After asking lots of questions, the students figured out that she was from Yosemite National Park! 

• Mrs. Olson's kindergarteners got to do some collaborative creation activities during Wellness. 

Check it out:

10 Reasons Why We Confer with Readers: https://toknowandnurtureareader.com/2018/05/13/why-confer-ten-of-our-favorite-reasons/
An article from Jo Boaler, how to improve math class: http://time.com/4970465/how-to-improve-math-class/