Thursday, December 17, 2015

Use Google Slides to Create Newsletters

As you know, Google Slides is a great tool for creating presentations.  But did you realize that Google Slides can be used to create professional looking publications?

As a layout editor, Google Slides makes it an excellent tool for creating school or classroom newsletters.  Quickly and easily, you can create multiple rows of text and insert images throughout.  There are even built in grid lines to make aligning your content simple.

The video below (by the Google Gooru) will take you through all the steps of creating your first Google Slide school newsletter.


Watch the video


Thursday, December 10, 2015

This week is the Hour of Code!

The Hour of Code is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to introduce computer programming to K-12 students and encourage them to learn programming.  Last year, the Hour of Code reached tens of millions of students worldwide.

Last year, more than 1,500 Winchester Public School students participated in the Hour of Code. This was an increase from approximately 1,000 students the previous year.  This year, we are hoping to increase participation to even more WPS students!

At the Winchester High School, Instructional Technology Specialist, Kathy Grace, is working with 9th and 10th grade Algebra II and Geometry teachers and classes to introduce programming .  Computer Education teacher, Jim Moriarty, is showcasing his students work by having his students present their class projects.

At the McCall Middle School, Patricia DeVries completed the Hour of Code with many of her computer classses.

At all of the elementary schools, Instructional Technology Specialists (Phil Bellenoit, Lynne Peledge, and Diane Pierce) completed the Hour of Code with elementary students assisted by students from WHS's David Petty's AP Computer Science classes.

Last years student participants found the Hour of Code activities challenging, fun, and engaging.  Below is a word cloud that shows the one-word that they would use to describe their experience in the Hour of Code.



Tuesday, December 1, 2015

If We Treated Teachers Like Football Stars (video)

Imagine if teachers were treated like football stars.  Buzzfeed did and made this video that was shared with the WHS faculty at our last faculty meeting.  
Enjoy.

If We Treated Teachers Like Football Stars (video)