Count to 100 Using Seesaw

Seesaw is a great way to have your students show their counting and thinking for 100th Day. Check out this example from kindergarten!

Weekly Tech-y News

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SuperBowl LI Graph

Let your students graph who they think will win SuperBowl LI by using this Google Drawing on your interactive whiteboard (will work on Mimio, Promethean, and Hitachi). Make a copy by clicking the image above, or at bit.ly/SuperBowlGraph. Also, check out a previous post with football-themed activity ideas (forgive the Arizona Cardinals examples - we were feeling optimistic last year).

If you're looking for great ways to teach your kids about football, the SuperBowl, or specific teams, check out this awesome collection from Epic! books. Sign in to (or sign up for) your FREE educator account in Epic! and search "Super Bowl".

Also, check out the football-related wonders on the site Wonderopolis, including this one: What is Super About the Super Bowl Sunday?

Happy SuperBowl!

Magic with Seesaw Training!

The real magic in your classroom happens when technology is used to let students explore, think, create and share their learning. Seesaw is the perfect tool to begin this purposeful use of technology in your classroom. This course will provide teachers with the basics of Seesaw during a face to face meeting. Teachers will then be expected to utilize what they learn in their classrooms and provide evidence and examples of using Seesaw to receive 3 OPI renewal units for this course. This should be a fun mix of in-class training and hands-on application of what you learn! Visit bit.ly/FebSeesaw to sign up. Limited to 20 BPS teachers.

Schoolkit Math App + Interactive Hundred Chart with Seesaw

This is such a great idea from @MrssmithOP220 (seriously, if you're not on Twitter, you need to be!) :) Using the free app Schoolkit Math, she took a screenshot and sent a copy to her students via Seesaw. They then used the drawing tools and text label tools in Seesaw to explain their counting process. You could use this in any number of ways (no pun intended) that you use 100 charts in your classroom!

Math Learning Center Apps + PicCollage Kids

The FREE apps offered by the Math Learning Center are some of my absolute favorites for practicing math skills in the classroom. They are digital interactive manipulatives that allow students to practice math problem solving, then save and share their work and thinking. If you haven't checked them out yet, I encourage you to do so! There are web apps (usable from your computer to project onto an interactive whiteboard and do whole class) or iPad apps available. The web apps can even be used on Chromebooks by students.

In first grade, we used these apps plus one of my favorites - PicCollage Kids - to make math collages of students building tens and ones. Read on to see what we did!

Billings Teachers - Share the Awesomeness Happening in Your Classrooms!

We want to spread the news about all of the great things happening in our district! People who don't work in the district can't even imagine all of the wonderful things that happen behind the scenes to enrich students' lives. It's time we change that! We're going to feature our victories on Facebook, Twitter, and the superintendent's newsletter. You can help by filling out the form in this email. Just let us know what's going on and we'll take it from there. No good news is too small to share!

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE FORM!

Awesome opportunity for girls in Billings age 9-18

February Seesaw Training

Complete the form below to register for the February 23rd Seesaw training. Participants will be expected to complete tasks in their classrooms and submit proof of these tasks in order to receive their 3 OPI credits. Eligible for MEA trade by request and step-up credit, as well. (Be sure to complete the appropriate approval forms.) Limited to 20 participants. Email piltzt@billingsschools.org with any questions.

Groundhog Day Ideas for your Techy Classroom!

One of my favorite holidays to "celebrate" with students is Groundhog Day. There are so many fun books to read, and I love how you can incorporate science, weather and making predictions into these lessons. One of my favorite "techy" ideas is to have students use the free app PicCollage Kids to create a prediction collage and then upload to Seesaw. Continue reading to see details, plus a list of other fun Groundhog Day activities for your classroom.

Winter Seesaw Go

 

Using the awesome Seesaw Go idea created by +Angela Gadtke and adorable clipart from Polka Dots Please, I made a winter-themed Seesaw Go game for use in K-2 classrooms. The goal of this game is to allow students to practice and/or become familiar with tools in the Seesaw app by completing a series of tasks. They access the tasks by scanning QR codes created in Seesaw. This idea is easily adaptable for whatever grade, skill or subject you teach. Check out Angela's instructions for making your own Seesaw Go game here. And click the image below or visit bit.ly/WinterSeesaw to download my Winter Seesaw Go instructions!

Weekly Tech-y Newsletter

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Wonders Sequencing Using Google Drawings

Love this awesome idea from superstar first grade teacher Ms. Ash. She created a sequencing activity using Google Drawings and screenshots from their Unit 3, Week 2 Wonders book. This Drawing can be used whole class on an interactive whiteboard, or if your students access their Google accounts, they could complete independently. Click the image below to make your own copy.

100th Day of School Padlet

I love this idea from @MrsBirzer ... she created a collaborative Padlet for students to share their answers to the sentence "I wish I had 100 _____." I borrowed her idea and made a Padlet for our district. If you'd like to have your students contribute, they can visit this link (consider sharing via Seesaw) or they can scan this QR code. (The Padlet app has a QR reader embedded!)

https://padlet.com/piltzt/eypkw3bdi5ir

Once they're in, they just click and add their ideas. You could have them add a drawing or photo, or just text. Have fun! Happy 100th Day!

Giraffes Can't Dance

A goal for us as teachers should be instilling a growth mindset in our students. Teaching them to problem solve, think critically and persevere are lifelong skills. There are some wonderful resources for teaching this to our students, including Becky Berg’s wonderful series, as well as Class Dojo’s Big Ideas videos. I love the story Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae to teach about the power of yet. Check out this idea of making a “yet” collage using the free app PicCollage Kids.

Weekly Tech-y Newsletter

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Weekly Tech-y Newsletter

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How to Build a Snowman Writing App Smash

Do you want to build a snowman?! (Sorry, I can't get that song out of my head!) Today I worked with Mrs. Bishop's amazing firsties to help with part of an extensive writing project they are working on throughout the week. The first graders are writing "how to" stories, telling how to build snowmen. The final project will be a book with the snowman building directions. This is an activity that many of us have done with our primary students, but Mrs. Bishop and I worked together to "tech it up" and make it even better for the students. Read more to see what we did!

Ring in the New Year with Seesaw Tools!

Right before Christmas, Seesaw introduced some cool new tools, including the text label and arrow pointer tool. You can learn more about those tools here. I found some awesome New Year's freebies on the blog Recipe for Teaching (she has the greatest stuff and posts lots of fun freebies) that would pair really well with these new tools in Seesaw. Click the image below to read her post and download her freebies, and scroll lower to see some examples of how they can be used with Seesaw.

Weekly Tech-y News

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