Set Your Students Up For Success With Classroom Screen!

While reading through posts and tweets after the TCEA Conference, I came across one that was especially intriguing from my friend and librarian Colleen Graves.  

She shared, Classroomscreen.com is one of the coolest and simplest teaching hacks I learned at TCEA!  

How cool! You can quickly get a timer, textbook, QR code, noise meter, drawing tools, work symbols and more!

I went to the site right away to check it out.  

When you log into Classroom Screen, it takes you to....

a screen that looks like this.  

The first thing I did was click on the circle in the left hand corner.

This gave me a little background on the developer Laurens Koppers, who is a teacher in the Netherlands.  I loved finding this out because tools that are created by teachers for their classrooms are often times the best!

On this page, I also found How It Works, 

 Tips and Tricks, 

and a Padlet for Sharing your experiences with other users.  

I was ready to use Classroom Screen myself!  

You will see this amazing tool bar at the bottom of the screen that lets you add so many different instructions for your students.  

I gave it a try by thinking of a way I could use it this week. 

Tomorrow I will be celebrating Digital Learning Day with a few little friends around the country on Skype.  I will be sharing Staying Safe Online, the book I wrote with Cantata Learning. I thought it would be fun for the students to learn the song, write down 5 things they learned about being digital leaders and then create a Buncee sharing what they learned.  

On the Classroom Screen I created, I included the directions using Text.  I included two QR Codes....one to the Staying Safe Online YouTube video and one to Buncee. I also added a Work Symbol for working together, Class Timer and Traffic Light.  I also changed the Background by adding an image of the Staying Safe Online cover.  

Once you have added the directions that you want and your Classroom Screen is ready, project it onto a screen in your library and classroom and let you students get to work.  

I love this!  It was so quick and easy to create this place students could go when they came into the library or classroom.  

 You can choose from 44 different languages or....

you can click on Add a Language and it will tell you have to make a translation in the language you want too.  

Today, I loved seeing my friend and librarian Nikki Robertson shared this post from her library and I have seen a few others share how they are using it too.

And it isn't just to use for students.  Classroom Screen is a wonderful tool to use with teacher too. In fact, I even used it in India last week with the teacher librarians I was with there.

As you learn more about Classroom Screen and bring it to your classroom and library, check out the video below for more tips and information.

I can't wait to see how you use it too!  

A Digital Learning Day Collection!

This is the week! The week that we celebrate Digital Learning Day on February 22. 

This day is a way for all education and school library leaders to highlight great teaching practice and showcase all of the innovative things school librarians, teachers, students and others are doing to improve student outcomes.  It is a wonderful way for all of us to celebrate how modern day tools are improving the learning experiences for our students and enhancing the role of teachers in America's classrooms.  

 

As you plan your Digital Learning Day, you can add your event to the interactive map here.

Once you've added your #DLDay celebration, spread the word using the tweet below and sharable images on the graphics page. 

Also, make sure you tweet.... We're participating in Digital Learning Day 2018! Add your event next to ours on the #DLDay map: digitallearningday.org/register-your-event/ @OfficialDLDay 

One more thing I have put together to help all of us as we plan our celebrations this week and digital learning throughout the year is this Digital Learning Day Collection by Destiny.  

You will find the Digital Learning Day Collection here.  It is filled with information about the day and all kinds of digital tools they highlighted on the site.  

I added a few very special digital tools to the Collection like Buncee and Flipgrid.  Please let me know what else I should add to the Collection too.

Also, you will LOVE the books and songs that I added to use on Digital Learning Day and throughout the year.

First,  Staying Safe Online that I wrote with Cantata Learning is perfect for Digital Learning Day.  Your students will love singing along as they learn how to stay safe online.  You can read more about this story and song here.

Second, check out the Code It! Series from Cantata Learning.  Your students will love singing along as they learn these important coding concepts. You can read more about this awesome new series here.

These books and others can be found in this special Digital Learning Day Titlewave List that my friends at Follett put together for us.  

Have fun celebrating Digital Learning Day, friends.  I can't wait to follow #DLDay to see how everyone is celebrating this week.  

President's Day Collection....Something For Everyone!

It's President's Day and a time to honor the presidents of the United States.  

To celebrate, I brought together a new President's Day Collection that you will find here.

First, I included an awesome list of books for President's Day in this Titlewave List.  You will find the list in the President's Day Collection and by clicking here.

Next, I included two super places to visit in PebbleGo.  You will find all of the Presidents in PebbleGo and....

 a few of the First Ladies. 

Also, Cantata Learning has two stories and songs that will fit perfectly on this day.  One about George Washington and the other about Abraham Lincoln. 

How fun to sing along as your students learn about these two amazing presidents! 

 I have included a project ideas too! 

I especially love the ideas using Storyboard That, which you can find in the Collection.

I hope you had a great day celebrating President's Day.  These resources in the President's Day Collection are wonderful to use today and any day of the year as we celebrate our presidents and country too.