Come on down!!!

Thanks to those of you who gave the Mattifest feedback. I've made some changes in this week's edition. And Lis Hostetler (who wants more Schoology tips) and Amanda Minear (who suggested I use more video and identify grade levels) won the drawing! Fabulous prizes are coming your way!

I had a great time at the annual TAWL conference last weekend. Stephanie Wightman and Misha Franks put on a wonderful event. Shoutout to Marc Alexander for his presentation on project based learning. Put September 15th on your calendar for next year's TAWL conference. 

Finally, update your iPads and tell your students to update to iOS11 as well. 

Have you tried...

• SimpleMind+ app? It's an easy to use concept map creator (grades 2 and up)

  

  SimpleMind+ Screengrab

• Discovery Ed field trips? There's another one coming up called "Undeniably Dairy Virtual Field Trip". Get signed up to learn about modern farming innovations. And cows. Who doesn't love cows? (grade varies based on topic)
• Using the iPad camera to read QR Codes? Yeah, that's right. Forget those ad-infested QR reader apps and just use your camera. But you have to update to iOS11. (any grade level)
• Split view in Safari? A great way to view websites side by side. Perfect for researching course content or comparing shoe prices on competing websites. Good for any grade level. Here's how:

Cool stuff happening in my classrooms (and can also happen in yours)...

• Mardi Martis launched Pear Deck Vocabulary in here classes this week. Her words: "We had a great time using pear deck in RTI! They asked to do it again. I will definitely be doing this Friday during my classes!" (grades 3 and up)
• Hannah Kruse, Nikki Kunkel, and Scott O'Connell at Shepard all launched draft writing using the new(ish) Schoology/Google integration tools. Great way to support writing instruction through shared Google docs. (grades 3 and up)
• Trevor Smith from West Middle helped Smithton teachers discover the BuzzMath app. Huge hit! Customize learning targets and activities for students. Look at that #VikingCat co-opetition! (grades 3-8)

Building your digital PLN (Personal Learning Network)...

• John Schu, @MrSchuReads - Mr. Schu gave the keynote at TAWL last weekend and was awesome. He is the Ambassodor of School Libraries for Scholastic and his passion for books and reading is contagious. 
• The Kid Should See This, @thekidshouldsee - Collection of videos for students (and adults) around science, art, nature, tech, and more. Love their tagline "we don't underestimate kids around here". 

Tech updates that might interest you...

• The Respondus Lockdown browser is now available for use with Schoology assessments on iPads and computers. This feature locks students in a browser to take their assessments. More info will be coming soon, but if you are interested in a tutorial, just let me know.
• Middle school students are having the Respondus Lockdown app installed on their devices automatically. Tell them to leave it alone or it will continue to reinstall itself. Have them put it in their "stuff to ignore" folder.
• Tweet "I don't know how I ever taught without @mattvillasana!" to #cpsbest for a chance to win a custom made iPad sleeve!
• It's time for students to update to iOS11.
• Students who have updated to iOS11 will not have the ability to deny teacher access in Apple Classroom anymore. So get those devices updated.

Have a great weekend!