Deb Norton Tech

Just under a week ago, on our inservice day, employees at East High School had the amazing opportunity to visit several businesses in our area. The two businesses I visited were Omni Premier Technology Consultants and Great Northern Laminations .  As we were talking to the panelists of employees and also touring the sites, I kept thinking about this question, "What can we do in our classrooms and in our schools to help prepare our students for careers in today's work force?" At each of the businesses there were several qualities that are desirable when hiring new employees.  Omni looks for people who think "around the edges of the paper" which means thinking differently, creatively and openly. They also like people who are problem solvers, team players and who aren't afraid to try new strategies and techniques .  The other quality I heard mentioned multiple times is that working in the technology industry means you must continue to grow and...

Once Teachers Obtain Chromebooks . . . how do they actually proceed to use them with students? The Chromebook offers many possibilities to bring new and interesting opportunities for teaching and learning.  So the questions to ask ourselves is, once students have Chromebooks how are teachers using them in their classroom? Here are 8 ways to use Chromebooks in your classroom that can have an impact. 1.  Writing with Instant Feedback Using Google Docs Google Docs allows students to be able to work privately while allowing teachers to comment and make edits instantly. Instead of teachers having to constantly move throughout a room to check on each student's writing, the teacher can remain in one spot and review student's progress in real time and leave the students suggestions and comments. 2. Homework that is Enjoyable Teachers can assign additional practice that is exciting such as using educational games. Sites such as Funbrain , Quizlet , IXL , o...

Chat with Deb Digital Citizenship Watch this Chat with Deb Video Blog about conversations we should have with our students as well as laws and policies that are helping to protect our students.  Here is the presentation that goes with the video. Do you have certain topics, activities or resources that you use to teach students about digital citizenship? Please share with us.

Creating Empowered Learners in Your Classroom Image URL ISTE Standard One of the new ISTE standards for students is Empowered Learner. This standard is all about students taking ownership over the learning process. It is also about students using various methods to show their learning as well as demonstrating the use of emerging technologies. Assignment Recently, some of the teachers in our school district that are enrolled in the masters cohort, created blended learning experiences for their students. These blended learning lessons are right on target for creating empowered learners in the classroom. They also show a shift in the teachers' instructional approaches from givers of all content to facilitators of student learning. Image URL Blended Learning Remember, blended learning is when students are delivered content and instruction through both the teacher as well as online.  Because the content is partially delivered through online resou...

HyperDocs  Lately, I am obsessed with HyperDocs. Have you heard about them?  HyperDocs are a transformative way to deliver an interactive lesson to your students that incorporates engaging and meaningful technologies.  What is a HyperDoc? Think of a HyperDoc like a digital lesson that offers students a personal experience which involves them in the learning throughout the entire process by incorporating various multi medias, creative activities and interesting websites.   Image Source HyperDocs come in many forms such as a Google Presentation, a Google Map and most commonly, a Google Doc with colorful tables built in. Perhaps a better way to explain a HyperDoc is to show you an example of one.  Click here to see a HyperDoc on Electricity.   Notice how the lesson is designed to access prior knowledge, build the concepts, provide student reflection, assess learning and all of the necessary components of a properly prepared...

Our Makerspace - The Liftoff Planning: We've been planning for a makerspace in our high school for over two years. During that time we introduced ideas and gave students a small taste of what was to come. Showcasing some tech on a table outside of our office to initiate interest and exposure. Implementing: This year we kicked off the official space and it is definitely a work in progress with challenges and successes. Here is the space before we began. We started with limited furniture, limited supplies and a blank canvas.  To prepare the makerspace, I gathered some tech, went shopping for supplies, up-cycled some furniture and made a plan. Stations: With the help of my co-worker, Jeremy, we assembled 6 stations throughout the makerspace. #1 A Green Screen Photo Booth Station with some green screen backgrounds   #2 A Hack Your Chromebook Name Tag Station #3 Virtual Reality Headset Station #4 An ...

Buncee is a Great Site I learned About This Past Summer If you are an educator I recommend going to edu.buncee.com  This is a free site that allows you to create a slideshow type presentation, but also can be used to blend learning for a lesson or even as a student portfolio or showcase. Your students will enjoy creating content with Buncee as well. When you first open a Buncee you are able to choose a background  from their gallery, from the web or upload an image of your own. Next you can choose from many different types of media to add objects to your page. Once your page is created you can add additional pages and view your Buncee in preview mode whenever you want. I love all of the options for adding media to your pages. The animations, drawings, videos, and stickers make your slides visually appealing. One of the richest types of media you can add is a 360 degree image from Buncee's gallery. These images allow the audience to click and scroll to ...

Are you looking to make money? Yes? Then I have a deal for you! Let me explain. Festisite is a site that lets you do all sorts of fun and unique things including making money with your picture on it. When you go to the site, click on Instant Creativity.   From there you will have many choices of what to create. Money, money, money Uncle Sam Queen of Hearts Wordle Minecraft GIFS Festisite  has been so much fun to explore and create with.  I highly recommend using  Festisite   to promote digital content creation.  Share this site with your students and colleagues. Enjoy!

Generation Z were born between 1995 and 2015.  They range from 1 year old to 21 years old.  In other words, the students we teach in school today are Generation Z.  Generation Y, also known as Millennials, range from 21 to 41 years old and represent much of our workforce today. I know what you're thinking. What will be the next Generation? What comes after Z? I did a little research and found out that the next generation might possibly be called Generation Alpha. I found this information by reading this article and here is a graphic from the site.  Let's take a look at a few facts about Generation Z. They have never known a world without Internet and cell phones and they have little or no tolerance for being without digital resources They are tech savvy and in constant contact with people 24/7 using Facebook or Twitter They want technology that is easy to use and will solve their problems, help coordinate their activities, or provide them with relevant...

Inspiration for Redesigning Your Learning Space As I have mentioned many times, I love listening to podcasts when I'm commuting.  Recently I listened to this podcast from The Cool Cat Teacher - "Do Students Learn Better in Chairs or Couches?"  In this podcast, the guest, Oskar Cymerman, talks about how he plans to Starbucks his classroom. Oskar is a  Chemistry and Principles of Engineering Teacher at Woodbury High School in the Twin Cities Metro Area, MN. After listening to the podcast, I went to Oskar's website, focus2achieve.com  and read his blogpost about redesigning his learning space. In the blog post, Oskar mentions checking out the hashtag #StarbucksMyRoom on Twitter. So I went to check it out. Ready. Set. Go School starts tomorrow. Excited! #classdesign #StarbucksMyRoom pic.twitter.com/EcJmHR1hZD — Alison Hannon (@AlisonHannon) August 14, 2016 Love flexible seating! #Kidsdeserveit #flexibleseating #StarbucksMyRoom pic.twitt...