March Madness - Brackets

 

In the mist of a very trying spring semester, I thought this would be a good way to try to get your mind on something FUN.  

Take a look at this post on March Madness 2022 in Google Sheets.  I think those of you who like to be in charge of the bracket will enjoy this one as everything is coded for you.  Make a copy and start creating now.   There are Single Bracket Templates as well as Group Bracket Templates.  Thanks @EricSantos for the tweet! 

Women in History Month

 

Women's History Month was established  in 1981  for the week of March 7th.  In 1987 it was passed designating March to be "Women's History Month."   Since this proclamation, we celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and various fields over the course of American history. ( https://womenshistorymonth.gov/about/) 

The video below can be used to introduce Women in History month.  It was created March 2021.

Here are several resources you can use for Women's History Month.  

• EdTechbook, Learning Pathway: Influential Women.  Here you will find Choice Boards for Women's History Month, Slide decks, and much  more.  You can also dive into different topics such as Women and the Wars &  STEM.  
• Digital Resources for Biographical Research - here is a list curated by Zeeba Pavri.  She also created a slide deck for Women's History Month take a look.   
• Unit 5 High School IMC  resources and Junior High IMC resources. 
• Decktoys Women's in History Month.  This one is a great activity for younger students.  No signup needed.  Just play. 
• This resource links your students out to Videos from each of book titles.  Great for elementary students as well. 
• Junior Scholastic has a Text Set to observe Women's History Month and the contributions they have made. Check out their Cover Story "Exercising Their Rights" where you will meet 5 female athletes who fight for equity in sports. (Must have a license to see this information) As a reminder, all scholastic material come with multiple reading levels, text to speech, presentation view and teaching resources, such as a slide deck, Google Form for a quiz, and close reading activities.  
• PBS Media has several resources for teaching about Women's History Month.  Here are is a collection on Engaging Students and Educators on Women's History Month through film.
• Nearpod has several videos in their library which can be used to highlight several Women in History. Just search Women History in the Nearpod Library. 
• 4 Ways to Teach Women's History with Nearpod
• 14 Women who are impacting education
• Canva has several templates you can use for projects around Women in History, just login with your Google account and get started. 
• Spotify - Women of Acoustic for your music lovers!
• Becoming by Michelle Obama -  I listened to this book and loved it. Great Read!  There is also an adaption for young readers as well. 

Like always, these are curated from multiple sources so you can make a decision on what is appropriate for your grade level and students.  

WeVideo is a versatile top-notch technological tool that allows students to express themselves in creative and engaging ways. Students are able to collaborate with each other in real-time similar to a shared google document and the new classroom feature allows teachers to review the progress of group projects and give feedback along the way.

Teachers across the district are using WeVideo for a wide range of projects such as blogs, music videos (similar to Flocabulary videos), weather reports, book reviews, stop-motion videos, broadcasting (Informative writing), and narrative skits.  I use it for creating senior interviews for my basketball team!

WeVideo is an online video and audio editor which can be a screen recorder that has the ability to incorporate a green screen for a“Hollywood” special effect. Students use their Chromebooks, smartphones (yup, there’s an app for that), and personal devices to create their content.  Since it is cloud-based, students' work is automatically saved so they can pick up exactly where they left off without any worries.

Check out some of these useful websites that WeVideo provides for educators:

              Teacher Resource Page   Creator Community   Webinars

Each student at Unit 5  has the capabilities for a free version, however, there is a 5-minute time limit on recordings. Unit 5 has purchased a limited number of premium accounts for students to use.  If you are interested in having your students use WeVideo for a project, please contact your Instructional Technology Coaches, Amber O’Day (odaya@unit5.org) or Eduard Hafermann (hafermae@unit5.org) to get started.

                   

Ukraine-Russia Conflict through the lens of Critical Media Literacy

 

Are you looking for a way to engage students in investigating and asking thoughtful questions about the Ukraine-Russia Conflict?  Here is a way you can do that through the lens of Critical Media Literacy.  As Media Literacy becomes an Illinois State Requirement in 22-23, it is important for all disciplines to use media literacy to further the knowledge of students on investigating media sources and the reliability of the source. 

Here is a Ukraine-Russia Conflict 2022 Media Literacy Choice Board.  It was created and shared with the Creative Commons license to share and adapt out by Torrey Trust in the Facebook Group Hyperdocs.  Not a Facebook user...Here you go.

February 22' Instructional Tech Updates

Lots of snow this month which has brought e-learning and snow days which caused a normally short month to seem even shorter.  As the year chugs along and February ends, March brings a new month where the sun is out more, flowers start to bloom, and of course at least one or two more snow storms.  Enjoy our February Instructional Technology Updates.  I'm sure you will find something in it which interests you.