From Drab to Fab: Graphic Design Tips & Tricks for Everyone
Join us on Friday, February 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., as Jenahlee Chamberlain showcases how we can level up our graphic design skills.
In this synchronous webinar, Jenahlee will share tips and tricks on how you can take your teaching and learning materials from drab to fab. From beginner to veteran, walk away with ideas you can apply tomorrow.
There's still time to register and attend the IT Conference, which will take place on February 17, 2023, at Nevada High School.
IT Conference is designed for information technology administrators and professionals in K-12 schools. Sessions cover more technical aspects of working with educational technology in a school setting.
There is a lot of discussion about mental and emotional health. For most people, this is about taking time for yourself and doing something you enjoy so they don't get worn out. That is often easier said than done.
Time gets away from us, days end too quickly, we have more work than hours in a day. Even if we find time, are we doing it on a regular basis? When was the last time I remember feeling calm? If only there was a tool that could quickly help us track this info and gain some insights in how we might be able to do more for ourselves.
Daylio is a micro-diary that tracks users’ moods, activities, habits and goals. Users begin by choosing the mood (e.g, rad, good, meh, okay, awful) they feel at that time followed by the activities they did that day (e.g., exercise, work, time with friends, etc.). The app’s moods and activities are pre-set, but are easily changed to best fit the user’s own emotions and daily life.
After choosing activities, users can type extra thoughts or feelings they have during the check-in in a small space under the activities. The frequency of check-ins is decided by the user, although screenshots in advertisements show check-ins once per day. After check-in, users can use the calendar to see the moods chosen throughout the month or use the statistics page to see more detailed patterns.
Daylio has a free 7-day trial, after that is is $2 a month. While not free, this is a reasonably priced app that can help us learn to take time for ourselves.
District: Oak Ridge Middle School (Linn-Mar Community School District)
Years Served: 10 years in education (9 as a science teacher; 1 as an Innovation Coach)
Favorite Tech Moment: When you decide to try something new with any tech tool and the students are engaged and motivated by it. It makes the learning and preparation worth it when students find value and are excited to learn in your classroom!
Tip for other educators: When you discover a new tech tool, simply play with it. Find out what features are present and then start thinking about different ways you or other teachers can use it. I've found that a tech tool may be meant to accomplish one thing really well, but it is not limited to that. When we expand our minds and think like innovators, we find that we too are creative, resourceful, and help move education forward for our students.
Colleague Comments: In Jennie's role as an innovation coach, she works with staff members to come up with new and innovative ideas to implement in the classroom. Jennie is constantly collaborating, researching, and trying out new technology and programs to provide the best learning possible for our students. She is someone you can always go to with questions or ideas; she will work with you to help implement those ideas in the classroom. She builds strong relationships with students by creating a trusting environment where her door is always open. You will see Jennie all over the building, working with staff and students on a daily basis. She goes above and beyond in all she does to build a stronger school community for all.
Know a colleague who deserves some recognition for the incredible work they are doing to support students and staff with technology in a digital learning environment? Consider giving that colleague a "Shout Out!" and help ITEC recognize rockstar Iowa educators!
Iorad is a Chrome Extension that allows you to easily create a step by step guide to completing a task on any website, either to share with students or other teachers. Just install the Extension and go to the site you want to use. Click the Extension, complete all the steps you need to share out, and then just hit the finish button when you are done. It helps to slow down a little while you are completing the steps.
Iorad will create the steps based on your actions. You can easily edit the steps, remove ones that you do not need, and even redo a step if needed. When you are happy with your edits, you can finish the process and then easily share it out using the link provided. You can see what a finished product looks like with this Using Mote to Leave Feedback tutorial that was created in just a few minutes.
You might be asking yourself, “What do numbers, tacos and dots have to do with Pear Deck?” Well, one of the awesome question types that Pear Deck offers is the draggable question. Believe it or not, numbers, tacos and dots are all types of draggable elements you can add to your Pear Deck slides. Can’t decide on which one you want to use? Don’t worry because you can use multiple and even change the color of each one.
Here are just a few creative ways to leverage draggable items:
Use math symbols for students to make number equations true
Incorporate different colored pins for students to showcase locations around the world
Leverage a variety of colored numbers for students to sequence events
Include multiple dots for students to identify certain parts of a speech in a sentence
This month’s tip about draggable questions might have you thinking about tacos (sorry about that), but we hope it also sparks thinking of additional ways you can engage learners and empower them to visualize their thinking.
