Code.org - New K-5 Curriculum

New K-5 Curriculum!

Looking for a fun, engaging way to teach problem solving, collaboration, and STEM skills? Check out the new Code.org K-5 curriculum. From pre-readers to 5th grade, this free curriculum takes students through off line and online activities that are fun and engaging in order for them to learn the real world skill of basic coding. The best part - as a teacher, you do not need to know ANYTHING about coding!

Check it out at http://code.org/educate/k5

They also offer an introduction course for K-8th grade and many other curriculum resources.

Mark your calendars for the hour of code week!

Computer science is foundational for all students today. Yet 90% of schools don't teach it. Last December, 15 million students tried computer science in one week, thanks to educators like you! Since then, over 40 million students have tried the Hour of Code. Please help this grassroots, teacher-driven campaign reach 100 million students by the end of the year. Sign up to participate in Hour of Code 2014 during December 8-14, Computer Science Education Week.

Let's all learn together!

Code.org's Educational Philosophy

We believe that:

There is more to computer science than coding; we’re just called Code.org because it’s short and snappy.
Students should learn the why of computer science, not just the what and how.
Technology should be used to allow a teacher to do what they do best, which is why we promote a Blended Learning model (not just for students, but for teacher PD as well).
Learning computer science is useful no matter what field a student eventually goes into.
The best learning is relevant and active.
Computer science is creative and exciting, and you can use it to make the world a better place.
Students are diverse, both in their prior knowledge and their needs as learners. They deserve to learn in an environment that is equitable and accessible.
Failure is good. Students need to learn how to persevere in solving difficult problems.
Bringing computer science to K-12 schools nationwide is something that we’ll achieve by all working together. It won’t be one person or one organization.
It doesn't matter if you’re 8 years old, an 8th grade teacher, or 80 years old; anyone can learn computer science.

Google Docs: Fonts for Early Elementary

Sample of search results from fonts.google.com A couple weeks ago, I was sitting in a training with a bunch of my favorite lower elementary teacher friends, and several of them were lamenting the fact that it is hard to find "good" Google fonts for the little people they work with on a daily basis. Specifically, it is a challenge to find the single story lower case a and the open 4 . This conversation, of course, sent me out on a mission to remedy this for these fantastic people. So, the next day I put on my headphones, turned up the tunes on Spotify, and dived into the website fonts.google.com . This website lists all the Google fonts available. It also allows you to type in your own letters and numbers and see them in all the various fonts. For my purpose, I typed in "abckgy 1234 This is the font." From here I could see all 877 fonts, and look specifically for the a and the 4. It was quite an adventure, and I came across a lot of really awesome font

It's time to change your password!

There are several times a year when it is important to change your password. Your password will expire every 90 days. When your windows computer informs you that your password will be expiring soon, CHANGE IT THEN! It is also always a good idea to change your password before going on break so that you do not get locked out of your computer, email or gradebook. Here is how you change your password from the school windows computers. On your Windows desktop/TEC computer , press the Alt, Ctrl and Delete buttons at the same time. Click on "Change a Password" on the menu below: Enter your username, if needed, and follow the directions on screen. If you are off site or working solely on a Chromebook , you can use the VDI (Virtual Desktop) to change your password. Simply go to vdi.portageps.org. Click "VMware Horizon HTML Access." Click "Accept." Login with your portage username (leave off the @portageps.org) and password. Click "Login." Cli

Skyward Tech Tip: Student Birthday List

Would you like to get a list of your students' birthdays from Skyward? This can be done in just a few clicks. Step 1: Login to Skyward and select the blue gradebook for the class you want to print usernames and passwords for - elementary staff, you can just select any of your gradebooks. Step 2: Go to the reports menu at the top of the screen and select Class Roster. Step 3: Choose Student Name & Student Info, then select Clone Template. Step 4: Give your new template a name, such as Birthdays. Click Save. Step 5: Select how you want the Names to Display, then UNCHECK all the boxes. Now only check Birth Date. Click Save. Step 6: Now you can select the template you just created. Click Print. Step 7: A PDF preview will open. From here you can choose to save or print. You do this by placing your curser in the bottom right corner of the screen and clicking on the picture of the disc (save) or the printer (print). This is what the report would look like:

PPS Instructional Technology

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