Letclips

If you are sharing important resources and information with parents and students in Schoology, please be sure that you add the parent as a member of the group or supply them with the group access code. Parents are currently unable to access resources with their "view only" rights attached to their child's account. Here's the workaround:

Tynker describes itself as a "pathway to coding confidence" that allows students to learn coding in a fun and engaging environment. The colorful, eye catching graphics are designed to capture and hold your student's attention while teaching them problem solving, coding strategies, and more�all within a game-like atmosphere. The app offers content leveled by grade and expertise, from beginner to advanced. This allows for differentiated instruction and empowers students to work at their own pace and capability. The Tynker platform contains STEM courses that can be easily incorporated into existing curriculum. The program tracks student participation and skill level, and this information is conveniently collected in the grade book built into the app automatically. Tynker will be available in Barrington 220 during the 2018�2019 school year for all students in Grades 2�5. District student and teacher accounts will be set up in mid-August, however; free educator accounts ar...

A new macOS has been released, and anyone who wishes to download and install it is free to do so. The new version of the operating system is macOS Version 14 and the release is named �Mojave.� In my opinion, the two previous macOS updates (Sierra and High Sierra) have been a bit underwhelming from the day-to-day user perspective; however, Mojave has many new features that will be useful for most users while not disrupting the basics for those not as excited about major system upgrades. As I have reported in the past, I am one of those people who downloads and installs a new macOS (or iOS) the moment it is available. I enjoy experiencing the new details built into software, and I�m OK with testing things for the first time knowing full well that something may not work perfectly. So far, all Barrington 220 systems I�ve tested have worked as expected in Mojave. A comprehensive review about Mojave was released recently on the Ars Technica website that I highly recommend for any upgrader. T...

Notability 8.0 offers several enhanced features that will change the way our students work, while streamlining the search process making it easier to find important notes. Are your students into sketchnoting? This update allows students to search for handwritten terms in the notes library or in a specific note. Once the app has been updated, the program will "index" the student's Notability library allowing students to find any items that they have written by hand. Students can also easily convert any handwritten notes to text. A few other new features include: Multi-note: Allows students to work on two notes at the same time on the same screen. Students can view these notes "side-by-side". Note-Switcher: Gives students the ability to switch among notes quickly and easily. Recent Notes: The new recent notes tab in the Notability library displays up to ten recent notes for easy access to your current work. The new Notability Help Center can be accessed by ...

In October 2018, Schoology will be launching a new user interface that will improve the experience for teachers and students. The new experience includes a new top navigation and footer and removes the left navigation from the home page. The goal for the new design is to make it: Easier to access all of your tools throughout Schoology. Simpler for instructors to get things done with a more streamlined workflow. Better for younger learners, with a visual card layout for courses and groups. If you would like to get more details about the changes that are coming to Schoology, read the article " What�s Changing with Schoology�s New Site Navigation ." Although the changes alter the layout and navigation, the functions and features remain the same. Barrington 220 will be enabling the new site navigation on October 18, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. We chose this date so you will have a few non-student attendance days to get used to the new navigation.

As many of you may be aware, Joe Robinson, Barrington 220�s Director of Instructional Technology from 2012�2018, left Barrington 220 during the summer to pursue a position at Apple as an Education Development Executive in the Portland area. We spent most of the summer in the process of finding a new leader in our Technology and Innovation Department. Just after Labor Day, Ty Gorman began in his new role of Barrington 220�s next Director of Instructional Technology. Ty has served as an educational leader and teacher at Barrington High School for the past seventeen years. For the past four years, he held the position of Associate Principal. Prior to that, he served as the Social Studies Department Chair. Ty began his career at BHS as a social studies teacher in 2001. Ty holds two Master�s degrees in both Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Illinois University. He also holds two Bachelor�s degrees, one from Northern Illinois University in History Education...

Image Provided by Matt Fuller I often find myself discussing instructional technology with teachers and leaders. Almost every time, in various forms, the question gets asked, "How can I use more technology in the classroom?" No matter their current level of technological acumen, teachers find themselves feeling pressure, real or imagined, to use digital devices more than they currently are. After all, the District has allocated valuable resources for our One to World program. Visitors come to Barrington from all over the country to study our innovative programing. In 2016 our district was named an Apple Distinguished Program and selected to host an Apple Research Project. It's no wonder that many teachers feel that they are not doing enough with digital devices. This may leave teachers feeling inadequate if they feel that their tech skills don't measure up. I have observed many teachers taking their focus off student learning and directing their attention to technolog...

Are you new to Twitter? Are you looking to get more out of it? Twitter is a great tool for staying connected with what is happening in Barrington 220. Many Barrington educators, clubs, groups, and teams have Twitter accounts. Twitter can also be used to develop a customized, up-to-date, stream of rich professional development resources. By following great accounts on Twitter, you can stay informed, challenge your thinking, and get the latest research on what works in education. Here are some great Twitter follows to consider this month: edutopia @edutopia Profile: "Information and inspiration about what works in education." (Adapted from Edutopia .) Number of Followers: 1.5M Why you should follow: Edutopia Tweets articles, research, blogs, videos, quotes, and news stories about innovation and learning. Just about anything that is currently being talked about in education can be found here. Some recent posts: Here's a treasure trove of our latest articles and videos on cla...