Four down...

I'm ready for next week and the prospect of actually doing what I'm here to do. The iPads are out in bulk. I know there are quite a few issues to work through with getting devices to new students and getting everyone enrolled. Please continue to email the issues and I'll run them down one at a time. 

Updates from the Classroom
This section is always my favorite. Each week I'll highlight what I've been doing and what's coming up. Its purpose is for you to join in. Let me know when you see something you'd like to try. It's a bit thin this week...

• Buttons - all of first grade made their "All about me" buttons. Other grades might want to do the same or go with goal setting, resolutions, etc.
• Mystery Zooms - I met with third grade during their planning time and we've already started planning out Mystery Zooms to tie in to their geography unit. I'm looking forward to getting them started in a few weeks. 
• Bench building - on Tuesday I'll be working with some of Ms. Kinkead's students to assemble some benches to be placed in the picnic bench courtyard. They were donated by a family last year.

Media Center Bingo
Next week we'll be starting Cedar Ridge Media Center Bingo. Look for the cards in your boxes. For the newbies, it's a game that can get you fabulous cash and prizes. Simply complete the challenges on the bingo board and tweet your accomplishment with #CREmediabingo to check off the box. Everyone who completes a "bingo" wins. Those who complete the most win more. The only way not to benefit (both financially and from the learning experience) is if you don't play. It's optionally mandatory. 

Keyboards
While iPads are scarce, keyboards are plentiful. If you would like to have a set of keyboards in your classroom, contact me and I'll get them delivered. 

iPad Case Care
I've spent a lot of time handling iPads this week. The cases ranged from nearly new to obscenely disgusting. We need to do better with regular monitoring and cleaning of the cases because we need to assume they will be ours each year. I would suggest you do not allow stickers on the back. If you do allow it, you'll need to be prepared to spend time in May with a putty knife and gallon bottle of Goo Gone to get them off. When you check out at the end of the year, I will be very picky about the cases when you sign out. Consider yourself warned.

Grade Level Planning Times
I will be planning on attending our scheduled grade level meetings next week. Here's what I have on my calendar:
Monday - 5th grade at 9:20
Tuesday - Kindergarten at 2:10
Thursday - Fourth grade at 10:10
Thursday - Third grade at 11:00

Computer Imaging
If you still need your teacher computer imaged, contact Carl Robinson (crobinson@cpsk12.org) to schedule a time. 

Apple Classroom
Tuesday after dismissal I'll be in the media center to do a demo of Apple Classroom for our new teachers. Everyone is welcome to attend to get a refresher. 

STEAM Challenges
Next week I'll start planning out September's STEAM challenges. Look for an update next Friday on the activity and for scheduling.

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to your last weekend

It's been a long week! I hope you are able to recharge over the weekend. If you need me, tough. I'll be on a play date with Rachel's husband all weekend. 

One Read
If you only read one paragraph of my updates this year, let's hope this is the one. My job is to offer instructional support to teachers. Over the last 20 years, I have been involved with countless projects with grade levels ranging from preK through 8th grade. So I'm here to help you plan, teach, reflect, and adapt. I'm not an evaluator. I know things don't always go well the first time. I've had many activities blow up despite the best planning. It happens. But we learn and move on, just like we expect the kids to do. So please use me.

Team Planning
Thank you to kindergarten, third, and fourth grades for giving me your planning periods. I anxiously await news from first, second, and fifth grades. 

Laptop Imaging
If you don't need your laptop this weekend, bring it to the media center before you leave today. Carl will be back over the weekend to image as many as he can. Your laptop may have an updated wallpaper screen. That does not mean it's imaged. Carl has to take it and image it manually. If you don't leave it with me this weekend, you'll need to schedule a time for it to be imaged. It takes about two hours and will have to be done at some point. Don't hold off. 

Document Cameras
You can come to the media center to pick up your document camera. We are short three right now, but those are on order. Once you have the camera, you can install the software yourself to get it going. Simply open or search for "Software Center". The application is called iPEVO Visualizer. 

iPads
I have our plan in place to get the year started with devices. It's not ideal for all grade levels, but it's the best we have considering we are 80 devices short. After I finish sending this out, I will start organizing the devices and bring them to your room. You might get them today or Monday. Most likely, they are dead unless the previous user powered it off completely. Of course we don't have chargers for all of them. So we'll need to charge in waves. It's going to be a major undertaking to get everyone up and running.

Student Passwords
The default password at this time is "22cps123456" ("123456" being their student number. Allie, please don't put in "123456"). Students in K-2 will not change their password. Mandy will work with grades 3-5 to change theirs during media. She'll give you a hardcopy of your class's new passwords. 

Library Checkouts
Will start on Tuesday. Let us know if you have conflicts. 

Have a great weekend!