PPS Instructional Technology

Do you have a Google Site? Do you need one? Have you experienced how painful the Old Google Sites is? Photo Source: Wikimedia Well, let me tell you about the New Google Sites!   Google Sites are now created and stored in Google Drive and it's all drag-n-drop! So intuitive, it's crazy! Photo Source: Flickr, Alexandre Normand Just look at these screenshots of a finished site! Desktop, Narrow Window Smartphone View Here's a three (3) minute video about How to use the new Google Sites. And Steegle.com has created a series of 10 videos , anywhere from 2-10 minutes in length, about the various features within the new Sites. Invite Jessica or Paul over and we would love to show you around... 30 minutes tops! Or visit Google Drive... Or the New Google Sites at  https://sites.google.com/new Enjoy!

For all those Remind users out there... read this article ! (Formerly, Remind 101) So perhaps you have heard that Remind  will soon begin offering a chat feature for teachers to stay in better contact with students and parents. When I first heard of this new tool I will be honest, I thought it was a horrible idea! My reasons for that thought are that communication between staff and students should always be of the utmost professional quality and, well, with chat I could see professional and informal lines becoming blurred as well as potential for putting educators and students at risk. Sorry, I'm just a very protective person and if I can help someone avoid a pitfall, I am compelled to do so. However! Remind really impressed me by partnering with CommonSense.org , a respected non-profit that works tirelessly to protect children in this new digital age. What did CommonSense do for Remind? They developed a week long introduction to Remind Chat with daily subject material about ...

Many of you may not know, but this week is Digital Citizenship week.  A week highlighted on the calendar to promote the increasingly important topic of Digital Citizenship with our students.  Digital Citizenship can no longer be a topic taught solely in the computer lab by a keyboarding teacher.  As students live and share more of their lives online, Digital Citizenship and creating a positive Digital Footprint becomes an imperative topic of discussion.  As you can probably tell, this is a topic I am very passionate about.  In that vein, I will be sharing some wonderful resources with you all this week on Digital Citizenship.  Many of these resources will come from one of my favorite resources, Common Sense Media . Today's resource is a wonderful self guided curriculum for third through fifth graders called Digital Passport . Here is a screen-shot of the site: Summary of Tool: This program provides five engaging lessons to hep students become bette...