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Showing posts from January, 2018

The Cashless Campus

The Business Services and Student Information Offices are working together to create a "Cashless Campus" for each of our Barrington 220 schools. The goal is to free teachers from the task of collecting cash and obtaining permission for students to attend field trips/events. Transitioning to a Cashless Campus adds improved efficiency and transparency in school fee management and aligns with the district�s commitment to strong accounting practices. Eliminating cash/checks handling by classroom teachers and school offices reduces paperwork, resulting in increased instructional time in the classroom. Securing parent permission for students to participate eliminates the time consuming task of collecting paper permission slips and allows for automated parent reminders. In short, a Cashless Campus saves teachers time. What is the plan for achieving a Cashless Campus? In October 2017 the district partnered with RevTrak to transition to a newly designed and expanded web store. Each

#BSD220TwitterAward for December 2017

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Twitter continues to grow as a fantastic tool for teachers to share the exciting events happening in their classrooms and to connect with other educators around the world. This month, we continue a series honoring those who use Twitter to share the tenets of our  One to World Vision and Mission . Each month, we honor four Twitter users: One Staff Member, Grades PK�5 One Staff Member, Grades 6�8 One Staff Member, Grades 9�12 One Administrator Grades PK�12 December 2017: Staff Member, Grades PK�5, Twitter Award Congratulations,  @Lines4MG ! December 2017: Staff Member, Grades 6�8, Twitter Award Congratulations, @BMSHistSchmitt ! December 2017: Staff Member, Grades 9�12, Twitter Award Congratulations, @Waxler81 ! December 2017: Administrator, Grades PK�12, Twitter Award Congratulations,  @MrsKristenPaul ! As always, you can find all of the Barrington 220 accounts by searching the hashtag  #bsd220  or searching my Twitter handle,  @iJoeRobinson , navigating to Lists, and then following the

Learning on the Go with YouTube Subscriptions

YouTube is used to share home videos, opinions on the latest Star Wars movie, highlights from sporting events, and much more. Educators use YouTube to share insights into their teaching strategies, resources they've created, and technology tools. At the same time, many education service providers use YouTube to deliver training, inspire teachers, and introduce new technology. How can we keep up with it all? By subscribing to YouTube channels from some of the brightest minds and the most helpful services, teachers can more easily keep up. YouTube subscriptions are easy to access and follow. Here I demonstrate how to subscribe and share some of my favorite YouTube subscriptions.

Barrington 220 Revamps Printing System

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Barrington 220 is bringing a new, fully managed printing system to each school building. Based upon the success of a first-semester pilot program at two of our schools, our fleet of aged printers and copiers is being removed and new "managed" multi-function printing devices are being placed in our buildings. Changes that affect the completion of daily tasks can be disruptive. Disruption, however, is not necessarily a bad thing if it pays off with some conveniences or other benefits, seen or unseen. Here are the immediate goals of this new district-wide managed print system: Create a district-wide printer/copier solution for all district staff that�s easy to use and greatly reduces (or eliminates) equipment down-time. Increase copying/printing services in the district and provide devices that match the volume necessary for teaching, learning, and operations. Over time, we hope/expect to see: A printing/copying system that is easy to use. Less printing/copying in buildings (ove

Assistive Technology Supports for Students Who Struggle in Reading & Writing

If you have a student with an IEP or 504 Plan who struggles with reading or writing, we have three excellent tools in district that may help! These are all available as iPad apps or Chrome extensions through our district licenses. Co:Writer Universal Co:Writer Universal uses grammar and vocabulary smart word prediction to help students better express their ideas in writing across devices. It is terrific for students who struggle with spelling, idea generation, expanding writing ideas, increasing typing speed, and more! Click here for more information including video demonstrations. Snap & Read Universal Snap & Read Universal will read text aloud, level text to what meets the student�s needs, convert text to make it readable using OCR (optical character recognition), highlight, outline, and create citations! Click here for more information including video demonstrations. Learning Ally Learning Ally is a non-profit organization that produces and maintains a library of accessi