Category: Blog

#PedometerPD: Learn While You Work Towards Your Step Goal!

For the past 4 years, I’ve been obsessed with consuming podcasts. If you were to go through my subscriptions, you would find a variety of different genres from education, hip-hop, comedy, and parenting. I could confidently state that I now to the majority of my learning through my headphones. I learn while I type, drive, cut the grass, wash the car, and walk. That last one…walk…I’ve been brewing an idea for a couple of years now and I’ve always put it on the back burner until now!

#PedometerPD Is Born!

That’s right, Pedometer PD. What is it? Well, let’s break it down. Pedometer: An ancient device that counts your steps and motivates you to be more active (NOT a device that measures your pedos!). PD: professional development, making ourselves better ________. I wanted to bring something different to our educators in the realm of professional development. But first, I needed to get approval from my directors to give teachers credit for listening to a podcast while walking the track at one of our district facilities. I did not want it to stop there though. I wanted a way for teachers to share what they learned from a podcast in a not-so conventional method. This way, they could reflect and put together an implementation plan to make their classrooms a more engaging environment. Once I wrapped my head around this, I began executing my plan! My directors loved the idea and were in full support of this. First, I booked a district facility from 4:30pm-5:30pm for our “course”. Knowing that was taken care of, I curated a list of podcast episodes that gravitated around student engagement. I put these into a Google Doc and typed out detailed instructions for installing a podcast catcher app, searching an episode, and downloading it to the device. Next, created a Synth Podcast for reflection. Participants would answer a set of reflection questions in the form of a Synth podcast. This way, I could promote using podcasting in the classroom! Lastly, I put the course in our digital catalog so it would be discoverable by anyone in our district. Before I knew it, people signed up for the course!

#PedometerPD Day!

The official day was January 23rd, 2020. I arrived at our facility early, scoped out the walking paths, printed my sign in sheet, and was patiently awaiting participants. As they arrived, they signed in and I made sure they all had a podcast catcher app and an episode downloaded. As soon as all participants were present, we began walking. I was able to get in 2 miles in the 45 minutes allotted. We met up at the end of the session and I clarified any questions they had regarding the Synth recording for feedback. We agreed that 1 week would be enough time for them to get these reflections to me before I submitted my final attendance. The feedback was incredible! They loved being able to be outside on a perfect day and be able to learn about their craft while being active. I have received their Synth responses and they have some great ideas on how to increase student engagement. I responded to all of their Synth recordings and have another Pedometer PD setup for February 26th. I’ve already got people signed up for it and the word is spreading. I plan on keeping this as a monthly course and going with a different theme each month.

All in all, I would say this was a success and I really feel that this idea is going to grow exponentially. I love learning while I’m active and I feel that with the different media outlets that we all learn from, why not recognize podcasts as a true learning outlet? I’m really looking forward to next month’s session and I plan on outdoing my previous 2 miles. Let’s. Do. This.

January 23rd #PedometerPD Podcast List

Flippod?!

I was first introduced to Nearpod in 2012 through my good friend, Nick Trakas. We were a two-person Ed-Tech department in Florence, Arizona and always looking for new ways to integrate technology in our schools. He showed me Nearpod and had me download the student app on my 16gb iPad 2 (remember when Nearpod had a separate Teacher and Student app???). It blew my mind. I couldn’t believe that he was able to get immediate feedback from me and control the presentation on my device. This led to an immediate bias to Nearpod which led me to eventually become a PioNear.

I was on Twitter one day minding my own business when wham! #flipgridfever is all over my timeline. I didn’t know what it was and started to raise an eyebrow. I then saw something shiny under the table and forgot what I was doing on Twitter completely! A couple of months later at an edcamp in our district, Flipgrid came up and I suddenly remembered seeing that along with #flipgridfever a few months before. We played around with it some at that edcamp and that summer, I had caught the fever. I even contemplated getting the logo tattooed on my neck… just kidding. I did however become a Flipgrid Student Voice Ambassador as well as a Flipgrid Certified Educator.

As the school years move along I’ve found myself app smashing different tools with one another to have students and teachers create projects that incorporate technology in meaningful ways. I found myself consistently using the same two apps. You guessed it, Nearpod and Flipgrid. This led to bigger and better projects with teachers, EL students, GT students, and administrators as well! I even created a YouTube video last year showing how to do this. Check it out!

It’s pretty evident that I love me some Nearpod and Flipgrid. I’m an ambassador for both and have taken my expertise in both to various conferences in and outside of my district. I know folks at both companies on a personal level and have had some great conversations with both parties…separately. I would however, like for my two friends to meet up and shake hands. And when they do, I have a request. I (along with thousands of other edtechers) want top see a Flipgrid integration built into Nearpod and a Nearpod integration built into Flipgrid. Perhaps this could come our way in the form of a Google Chrome extension, a complicated code written in the background of each tool, something! Please! We need and want this soooo bad. I’d love to be a beta tester and give input whenever needed. How about you? Would you enjoy this? Do you think these two tools should shake hands and share in this worldwide edtech playground?

My Rode Cast Competition

I’ve entered The EdTech Bites Podcast in the My Rode Cast Competition. This is a worldwide competition for any and all podcasters. The prizes? New Rode gear! Rode will be choosing various shows based on content, quality, editing, and the ability to leave the listener wanting more. So please vote for my show using the link below. Voting ends March 20th, 2019 so please vote now and help spread the word!

Vote For The EdTech Bites Podcast!

The EdTech Bites Podcast Commercial… Made With WeVideo!

So I’ve been using WeVideo for years now, both personally and professionally. I’ve done countless trainings, webinars, and PD for it, and with it. I’ve been podcasting for about 2 years now and have literally been the producer, creator, host, promoter, social media manager, etc. I’ve been doing this since the birth of the podcast. Then, while prepping for FETC a couple of weeks ago, I had an idea. Why don’t I marry WeVideo with the podcast and use promote with commercials?! Why didn’t I think of this before?! Well, with that being said, I created this video prior to FETC and TCEA and made sure I showed it at both. Check it out and please share. I’d love to hear what you think. Enjoy!

Slam Poetry App Smash!

I recently planned a lesson with a teacher that slowly morphed into something greater than what she imagined. She wanted her high school students to write their own slam poems at the completion of this unit. The one non-negotiable was the fact that it had to revolve around one of the topics below.

IMG_1426

Well, a week had gone by and the students all had their poems done. Now what? I’ll tell you what! Here’s what we did. I had the teacher create an assignment in Google Classroom that included a copy of the Google Doc template for their poem. We also added the topic flipcode for the Flipgrid Topic we created for this project, the URL for Soundtrap, and Adobe Spark. Once they had those resources, here is what they had to do:

  • write their slam poem in a Google Doc
  • create a background track using Soundtrap
  • create an Adobe Spark Video of their poem using their own images
  • record themselves reading their poem in the Adobe Spark Video
  • upload their finished video as their Flipgrid video response
  • mark the assignment as Done in Google Classroom

In anticipation, I created my own slam poem but to gain interest from the students, I created a quick food rap and the students loved it. I recorded the vocals and the beat using Soundtrap and uploaded them to my Adobe Spark Video project.

 

Needless to say, this was a fun activity for me and an opportunity for me to be creative. Imagine what the students felt? How often do our children get the opportunity to use their own creativity and voice to create a project that is relevant, tech-infused, requires critical thinking, and more than anything, fun! Give it a shot and see what your students create.

Quickly Create Google Docs with Google’s New Shortcuts

If you haven’t already seen Google’s new “.new” shortcuts for Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, and Sites, you need to familiarize yourself with them. They are quick, easy to remember, and work on any browser.

Google Docs Shortcuts

With these new shortcuts come new ways to add these to your Bookmarks Bar. Simply add a new bookmark to your Bookmarks Bar (on any browser) and name it (New Doc, New Sheet, Etc.) and add the appropriate URL (doc.new, sheet.new, etc) and save it. Now, whenever you need to create a new document, just click on the appropriate bookmark. Check out the GIF below. This can be done for any of these shortcuts. Enjoy!

New Doc

 

My Thoughts, Views, And Predictions On Soundtrap

STEAM schools are popping up left and right. In fact, many STEM schools are now incorporating the “A” into their curriculum and rebranding themselves as STEAM. In all fairness, they should as statistics show that the arts play a huge roll in our lives and help make up the whole child. With this being said, creation of the arts comes in many shapes and forms. One of my favorites is music and audio production. For those of you podcasters, music producers, writers, composers, teachers, or anyone interested in audio creation, Soundtrap is the perfect tool to handle all of these needs. Not only that, it is about to be used by educators and content creators like never before!

For those of you who do not know (or haven’t figured it out yet), Soundtrap is an all in one virtual music studio that can interface with USB instruments, microphones, and USB mixers. The best way to describe it is as follows: If Garageband and Audacity had a baby, and then that baby grew up, met Google Docs, and if they had a baby together, they would name it Soundtrap!

There is a track timeline equipped with pan tools, mute track function, and a whole load of other things you can do within the tracks.

Soundtrap Tracks

In addition, there are also tools to create your own music, loops, and tools that are very reminiscent of Garageband and Audacity. There’s also a collaborate feature which allows for podcasts, music creation, voice overs, and all endless EDU possibilities!

Soundtrap Options

My upcoming episodes of The EdTech Bites Podcast will be recorded and edited solely using Soundtrap and not Audacity, which is my go-to for podcast editing. I’m going all in with this tool and I plan on utilizing all of the bells and whistles that this amazing program has to offer. I’ve already began importing audio clips and recording segments such as my call to action using my Audio Technica 2100 microphone and Soundtrap. I must say that the audio that I have recorded and edited is professional and up to par with what I normally get from Audacity. There is one piece that Soundtrap has to offer that none of the others do, it’s completely cloud-based. This is an absolute game changer for the industry. The fact that I can begin on my work laptop, continue on my home desktop, and upload other audio clips from my son’s Chromebook, makes Soundtrap second-to-none in my book. In addition, I can send my audio file to my guest before hand and they can then record their segment on the same cloud-based file without having to be on the same machine, in the same room, or even worse, having to send audio files back and forth. So here’s what I’m getting to…

Soundtrap WILL revolutionize how creators create and collaborate. Without a doubt, many veteran podcasters and up and coming podcasters WILL choose Soundtrap as their means to record, produce and collaborate. If you listened to my latest podcast episode with Dr. Monica Burns, I made a prediction in that episode that I still believe because I will help make that prediction true. I predicted that Soundtrap WILL become the next big edtech tool, just like Flipgrid was and still is for 2018. The educator community with a HUGE boost from folks like Claudio Zavala Jr. and his #singasong movement catapulted Flipgrid beyond what anyone could have imagined and even birthed the #FlipGridFever. With this being said, here is what the I am making the “unofficial” hashtag for Soundtrap, #Soundtrapitis! (Get it?! Flipgrid has a Fever and Soundtrap has an itis?! Eh, eh!) I have caught #Soundtrapitis and there is no known cure yet. Not only have I caught this, it is contagious and will cause a major disruption to the educator community. But I’m not alone, at some point, someone in your district, building, or hallway will eventually catch it. My question to you is this: When #Soundtrapitis finally hits you in your classroom, home studio, or makerspace, what will you do with it?

The EdTech Bites Podcast Turns 1 Year Old!

Can you believe it? One year old? They grow so quickly (sniff, sniff)…

On June 28th, 2017, the EdTech Bites podcast launched episode 1 with Edward Zelarayán from Nearpod. I had the idea to do a podcast for a couple of years but for one reason or another, never got it off of the ground. I knew I wanted to do something different from the other podcast offerings in the edtech world. I knew I wanted to incorporate food somehow. After some discussions with Edward and some motivation from my wife, I decided to go all in with EdTech Bites. I interviewed Edward at ISTE 2017 in San Antonio and then interviewed Brian Smith the very next day. After that, Edtech Bites was born and began to grow in front of our very own eyes!

I’ve made some great connections through the podcast and am thankful for each and every guest I’ve had on the show. I’ve chatted with listeners and they are thankful for the content that I’m able to provide them with no matter where we may be (It still blows my mind that I can record an interview in person or via Google Hangouts in my den and be able to make it available to the world within a few minutes). I’m thankful for each and every listener and subscriber of the podcast and I want to thank you for telling a friend or colleague about EdTech Bites. I am not a published author or edtech evangelist but I thank those who have included me and my podcast into their own PLN. I hope your learning never stops as I know mine will not anytime soon. I hope that I can be a source of learning for you as many of you are a source of my own professional and personal growth. Thank you for this awesome year and there is much more in store for the future of EdTech Bites. I hope to break bread with you in person one day. Cherish your time at the table. Turn off those devices and have a conversation with each other while you eat. Remember, great conversations happen when we break bread with great people. Buen provecho!

Flipgrid Out Of Office Voicemail

I’m an Instructional Technology Specialist so teachers will come to my office at times and find me not there. I travel to 3 different schools so in some shape or form, I’m not there when a teacher needs me. In August 2017, I decided to create a Flipgrid Voicemail sign and place it on my office door when I leave. This way, teachers could leave me a “voicemail”. I realized that since I support three campuses, I would need 3 different signs with 3 different unique barcodes that pointed to 3 different topics. This way, it would be easier for me to track which schools needed me. Now, this is how I’ve done mine and in no way am the originator of this idea. I saw it with fellow #flipgridfever community members and put my own spin on it. 

I created mine in Canva with their free tools and using the “Oh No” Bitmoji. I went into Flipgrid, created my topic, and saved the QR Code for this topic. With the new updates to Flipgrid regarding their new privacy policies (and the other 900 emails we’ve all been receiving regarding updates to privacy policies), I will be adding the Grid Passcode to the sign making it easier for teachers to leave me a voicemail.

There it is! if you have any questions regarding this, please leave a comment down below or tweet me @edtechbites. Also, don’t forget to follow the EdTech Bites Facebook Page to be notified when new posts are added. Deuces!

Nearpod iOS Camera Integration

Unless, you’ve been living under a rock for quite some time, you already know that Nearpod is one of THE BEST lesson delivery, assessment, and overall engagement tools out. But did you know that on iOS devices, you can turn it up a notch? Peep this!

While working with some math teachers a while back, I showed them all that Nearpod can do for them and how it can change the way the teacher and students engage with a lesson especially since our district has a BYOD infrastructure. In doing so, we had a mixed bag of devices we were using and noticed that when a student gets to a Draw It slide on an iOS device while using the Nearpod app, they have a nifty feature that is not available on any other device, the ability to use the camera! See the camera icon below?

Nearpod Camera Icon

Is that hamster in your head beginning to turn the wheel? Good! Here’s what you can do with this tool:

  • Have students take pictures of items that begin with a certain letter and have them draw the letter with a highlighter after (Pre-K, Kinder, ELL)
  • Bellwork/Warmups: have students take a picture of a sentence and make the corrections/edits on the fly with the drawing tools.
  • Have students take a picture of a math equation/problem and have them work it out using the drawing tools
  • Have students answer more complex math problems on a sheet of paper and have them take a picture of their work (see my work below)Nearpod Drawing

The possibilities are endless and so much can be done with this tool. If your schools have BYOD, iPhone/iPad users can easily use this on their own iOS devices (Nearpod, please make this available for Android and Chromebook users). There it is folks, another way to get the best use out of Nearpod and iOS in your classes. What will you do now that you know this information? Remember, it’s not about the tools… it’s how you use it!