PPS Instructional Technology

Computers are everywhere, changing every industry on the planet. It is up to us as educators to help prepare our students to meet the technology challenges of the future. If you've heard about the Hour of Code before, you might know it made history. More than 100 million students have tried an Hour of Code. The Hour of Code 2017  is happening again this year, during Computer Science Education Week, December 4-10. What will your class do? You may be saying to yourself...I don't know anything about computer science, how can I teach my kids this? Good news? There are so many wonderful opportunities out there that are student directed, that you do not need to know ANYTHING about computer science in order to give your students this opportunity. Below are some excellent resources for getting your kids excited about CS! Hour of Code : The Hour of Code site from Code.org has many wonderful projects to get student started, including Minecraft , Star Wars , ​and Muana ! My current fa...

Need to print this tip?  Click here for a printable version . Although the need to print student documents has significantly decreased, there are still times when you want to print multiple student docs at one time.  For example, maybe you assigned a writing assignment in Google Classroom that you want to print for their writing folders.  You could go into each document individually and print it, but this can be a time consuming process.  Instead try using the app PDF Mergy to combine the documents into one PDF.  Then you only need to print one document.  WARNING: Just because you can print lots of docs at once, doesn't mean you should!  Please use this tip with caution and save paper whenever possible! To get started, you will need to go to the Chrome Web Store and add the app PDF Mergy . Once you have the app added to chrome, you are ready to go. Find the documents you want to print.   Here are some tips to finding the documents....

View Post as a Google Doc Okay, so, you're using YouTube videos in your classroom and you’re wishing for a couple features… I wish there was a way to remove all the suggested videos and other distractions so my students could concentrate. I wish my students could watch a couple of videos in sequence in a self-paced manner. I wish I could show just a portion of a video, starting at one point and stopping at another. Wishes answered! Solution #1 Here are a couple of solutions for this first wish. Visit our tech tip on YouTube: A Gift and a Curse , and scroll down to option number two. Or...Embed your YouTube video into a Google Slide from the menu, Insert > Video. Yep, that’s right! Put your YouTube, or Google Drive Video, into a Google Slide and the only distraction in the room will be that one bee that gets in the classroom that causes students to run and scream. Aahhh! And, embedding your video in Google Slides leads us to… Solution #2 Th...

Hey, teachers! You and your students might be feeling a little Google Classroom Overload with all those pesky, old classes just hanging around. Well, no fear! There's a way to clean those up! I have a couple of classes from the 2016-2017 that have A LOT of really useful information in them. I don't want to delete them (Oh, the horror!), but I do want to get them out of the way as I am using my Google Classroom every day. So... what do I do? I ARCHIVE them! Here's how... Locate the Google Classroom Tiles that you would like to archive Click on the menu (verticle dots) at the upper-right of a tile (1) Click Archive (2) Confirm that you would like to archive this class. (Once archived students will no longer see that class either. Whew!) (Optional) Delete Old Classrooms (Or just to access archived classrooms) Deleting old classrooms has some benefit, but you must also be careful. When you archive a Class, you can still access that...

Over the summer Google Classroom greatly increased your options to customize notifications inside Google Classroom.  This is great since you may want to receive notifications when someone mentions you in a comment or post, but you don't want one when someone resubmits an assignment or a similar function.   Thankfully Matt Miller, from Ditch the Text Book, has just posted an excellent article on how to manage all those Google Classroom Notifications.  Check it out here:  How to manage Google Classroom like a boss with notifications . To learn more about setting up filters in Gmail, check out this blog post .

I think, as educators, we can all agree that “the process of composing is, in a nutshell, critical thinking”. That particular quote is from our own Collin Nuismer, ELA teacher at Central Middle School. I definitely could not agree more. That is why I was so excited to hear about the work he is doing with his students, or more accurately, the writing his students are doing. For example, here is an excerpt from one of Collin’s student’s, Elizabeth, and her writing from a prompt about volcanoes. the Earth shakes, the mountain trembles, on the verge of eruption smoke billows from it’s dark maw, blocking the sun, casting a shadow on the world lava spews upward,  raining fire from clouds of grey ashes,  gleaming bright in the gloom. (For Elizabeth’s full piece and access to her other writings, follow this link .) She, in addition to all of Collin’s students, is composing a large percentage of her writing on a web platform called, Write About . In fact, his st...

LED Name Tags are a fun project to do with your students when you are learning about circuits.  Students use watch cell batteries, and small LED diodes to make their name tags shine! Materials Needed   ● 3 x 5 index cards  ● Hole punch  ● Marker(s)  ● String or Ribbon  ● LED Diode  ● Watch Cell Battery  ● Copper Tape  ● Duct Tape Directions Step 1 : Write your name on your 3 x 5 index card.  Decorate as desired. Step 2 : Use a hole punch to punch a hole where you want your LED light to poke through. Step 3 : Flip card over Step 4 : Gently bend apart the “legs” of the LED diode so that it looks like it is “doing the splits.” Step 5 : Cut 2 strips of copper tape, approximately 2-3 inches in length Step 6 : Carefully remove the paper backing on one of the strips of copper tape.  Adhere the tape to the card so that the copper side is up.  One side of the tape should ...

Google Slides is an amazing tool.  You can make the usual presentation, but you can also do so much more!   Newsletters , posters, class newspapers, and computer-based manipulative activities are all great ways to use Google Slides in the classroom.  As our elementary teachers use their Chromebooks more and more in their classrooms, they have been looking for ways to create quick formative assessments and activities that they can assign in Google Classroom for their students to complete in order to practice skills they are learning in math, ELA, science, and social studies.  One way they are accomplishing this goal is by creating Google Slides manipulatives that they can assign to their students in Google Classroom. Here are some examples: Spelling Practice Spelling Practice Graphic Organizers Graphic Organizers Telling Time (Hour and Half Hour) Food Chain Place Value Number Charts Shapes Google Slides manipulatives are...

Chromebooks are amazing devices.  They are lightweight, easy to use, make accessing all our Google Applications simple, and keep their charge all day.  However, in order to get that all day charge, you need to make sure your Chromebook is charged fully and regularly.  When charging make sure the charger is inserted completely in the Chromebook. We recommend that each home have a "charging area" for devices that is outside the bedroom.  There have been many studies that show when people keep devices in their bedrooms, it has a negative impact on their sleep.

When sharing documents with others, it is often beneficial to convert them to a PDF for several reasons. The format will be locked, like a “picture” of your document The document will be able to be opened and read on most devices, including PC’s, Macs, Phones, and Tablets. The document will print as viewed on the screen, with no worrying about inconsistent margins disrupting the formatting. It is easy to convert Google Documents to PDFs. Follow the simple steps below and you will be all set. After creating your document, Step 1: Go to the File Menu Step 2: Select "Download as..." Step 3: Select "PDF Document (.pdf)" Step 4: File will automatically download to your computer.  You can now open the file, rename the file, or move the file to another location. For information on how to convert Microsoft Word Files to PDF, check out this tech tip .

When sharing documents with others, it is often beneficial to convert them to a PDF for several reasons. The format will be locked, like a “picture” of your document The document will be able to be opened and read on most devices, including PC’s, Macs, Phones, and Tablets. The document will print as viewed on the screen, with no worrying about inconsistent margins disrupting the formatting. It is easy to convert Microsoft Documents to PDFs.  Follow the simple steps below and you will be all set. After creating your document, Step 1 : Click the File Menu in the top left corner Step 2 : Click Save & Send Step 3 : Click Create PDF/XPS Document Step 4 : Click Create PDF/XPS Another window will now appear. Step 5 : Choose the location for storing your document (ex: U drive, Desktop, etc.) Step 6 : Give your document a logical name Step 7 : Click Publish Remember, once a document is converted to a PDF, you cannot edit the PDF.  If you need to m...

THE PROBLEM: You open up your Chromebook to get your work done, but when you open the screen nothing happens.  You know you charged the device overnight, so it shouldn't be a low battery issue.  However, if you look closely, you might see a faint blueish-gray light to the screen. WHAT'S HAPPENING? The Chromebook has gone into a "sleep" mode and is having trouble waking up. HOW DO I FIX IT? Thankfully the fix is very simple! Open your Chromebook. Hold down the power key for an extended period of time - 30-60 seconds. You will notice that the screen will go from almost black to completely black. Shut the lid.  Wait 10 seconds. Open the lid and your device should be ready to go. Note: It is always important to make sure that your Chromebook is charged.  If it is not turning on, and you haven't charged it recently, it may simply be out of power.  Plug it in for a couple hours and try powering it on.  If that doesn't work, then try the...