The online home of the computer lab & all things tech @HeathcoteSchool
How do we keep students safe while still allowing them access to the amazing tools available in 2016? Today I led a Parent Coffee about Internet (and Technology) Safety geared toward the parents of K-2 students. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend, we had a great conversation. Attending in person…
This post is a work in progress as students finish & tweak their animated books The following items are animated books created using Google Slides with Ms. Mangan’s class: The third graders created Information Books as a part of our non-fiction reading and writing units. They started with an “expert” topic, one they already knew…
Coding is a popular activity and skill. The “Hour of Code” is an international program aimed at sparking interest in computer science and the concept of coding. The “Hour of Code” week is December 7-13 and encourages teachers and students to try coding, with the tagline “an hour of code for every student.” Here at…
by Ms. Boyer I introduced Padlet to my 5th graders this week. I really didn’t know much about Padlet but thought it had the “cool factor” and would prove to be a very interesting way for my students to share their new investigations of non-fiction. I set up our collaborative group in Padlet, made a…
The Project: Using Google Slides 3rd grade students will create a 13 slide presentation, one month at a time, over the entire school year. The Why? It is never too early to start building a digital portfolio and not every portfolio will look the same. But one great way to show true growth and progress…
Once again Mr. Casal will be talking Twitter during a Parent Coffee session. Last year was his first year at Heathcote and the first annual “Twitter @HeathcoteSchool Parent Coffee” was held. As a school community Heathcote has made amazing strides in using social media, Twitter in particular, to create a vibrant, transparent learning community that puts…
I am often asked about social media’s role in education, Twitter in particular. These questions are often brought about by parent concerns, which often mirror the initial concerns of teachers. When addressing parent concerns I approach it just as I do with teachers: concerns are normal I’m happy we are discussing concerns as…
I think it is important to promote, and celebrate colleagues. Especially when they step out of their comfort zone and embrace new challenges. When I joined the staff at Heathcote Elementary School last year only a handful of teachers had Twitter accounts. And those that had accounts used them mostly for tweeting a picture of the…
All 4th and 5th graders are given web spaces to create, and curate, their own digital portfolios. These sites are built, and maintained, by the students using Google Sites. These sites are initially only visible to the student and their teacher. The goal of student portfolio sites is to give students a space to develop…
Welcome parents! Tonight is Open House, feel free to stop by the Computer Lab and say hello. If we don’t get the chance to meet face-to-face, here is a quick over view of what we do with technology here at Heathcote… And a short introduction video you may remember from last year, but is still…