MC Digital Blog

Recently, Read&Write Chrome extension added a new feature that allows students to practice reading aloud any section of text from the web or a Google Doc. This feature is free and available to all users. Here is a brief video explaining this new feature: Click here to watch the video on Mobile Devices Read&Write is one of our favorite  Chrome extensions  to be able to highlight, annotate, and read aloud text from any website or Google Doc.  Teachers can register here  for  free premium access to Read&Write

Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project. Since 2003, more than 4.5 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual online surveys. Data findings are shared each year with federal, state and local policymakers to inform education programs, policies and funding.   Surveys will be open for input from now through  December 12  at:  www.speakup4schools.org/ speakup2016 . Instructions for completing the Speak Up survey Go to this link :  http://www.speakup4schools. org/speakup2016   Click on the appropriate survey ( Student, Educator, Parent, Community member). Follow the given instructions to access the survey . Begin by entering your school zip or clicking on the drop down button and select your state, then go to the next line and type in your school name to find your school. Students will choose their grade level and enter in their school specific passwor...

How to Attach Voice Memos/Videos in Google Classroom from a Student Perspective:  Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

COLUMNS are finally available in Google Docs! Select Format -> Columns option allows you to add the columns to your document. You can select 2 or 3 columns for your document Once you have your columns inserted, you can go to more options to set your margins and spacing between columns, you can also add a line in between your columns: If you select the line it will appear as you start the second column of text and will look something like this:

NEWSELA provides a way for students to read articles on their Lexile level, teachers can sync articles to Google Classroom, text sets are available, quizzes are generated from articles, articles in Spanish, and more! Check it out!

It's a self-charging Chromebook cart! 

You can now add images to your answer choices in Google Forms. Doing that allows you to have students select an image as the response to a question. You can also combine images and text in your Google Forms answer choices. It also allows you to select answer key, point value, and feedback!  Check out this video for step by step instructions:  Insert Images as Answer Choices  

Guide to Co-Authoring in Schoolnet Sharing tests in Schoolnet changed last November with the update to include Co-Authoring. You can now share tests with any user within the state with Co-Authoring. No additional role or access is needed. I have included a guide with instructions on Co-Authoring below. You need to have the author of the test add you under the Co-Authoring settings for the test. Part I: What is Co-Authoring? Co-authoring is a new form of collaboration in Schoolnet that allows you to collaborate with any educator in the state of North Carolina. Currently, you can work together to create assessments, items, passages, and rubrics in Schoolnet. Part II: Where do I find Co-Authoring? Login to the NCEdCloud and open Schoolnet Under “Assessment Admin”, click on “Co-Authoring” Part III: Co-Authoring Home Screen This is the Co-Authoring homepage, from this page you can see all items, passages, rubrics, tests, and folders you co-author. On the r...

Downloading SMART Notebook Software to your home computer Go to: https://education.smarttech.com/en/products/smart-learning-suite Download Notebook Enter License Key You will then need to activate your software by putting in the following code: Smart Notebook 14 NC-2ADAC-CNC5N-4QTSA-AWAAA-AAA bit.ly/smarthomeuse

Grant Clarification!    Yes, there is a grant approval link/docu-sign on the website - Here is the location and image of what you fill out to have the final document sent to you in email.  

Please encourage your students to sign-up for this great leadership opportunity to represent CHHS at the District Student Technology Showcase on Monday, October 31st at Smithfield Selma High School from 8:00-11:30 AM. This is different than in years past. Students are  participating and learning new skills  as opposed to showing what they have done in class. Below is a screenshot of some of sessions that are being offered. The form also allows a section to type in suggestions for sessions.  Please have students go to:  bit.ly/jcsstudent16  to register ASAP!

To use the new feature, open a Google Form and click on the settings cog in the top right corner: Click on the "Quizzes" tab and slide the indicator to make this Form a Quiz: You then have a few options, such as when you want to release quiz grades and if students can see missed questions, correct answers, and point values. Click on "Save". You should now see an "Answer Key" on the bottom corner of each question. Click on it to set the correct answer and point value for each question. I love that you can add answer feedback to give students resources and explanations instantly! One you have selected a correct answer for each question, share your Google Form in Google Classroom or share the link with your students. Once you have at least one response, Google Forms creates an insights report for your quiz. You can see your average, median, and range of responses. Google Forms also highlights your frequentl...

We are sharing resources on how to access the Rigorous Curriculum Design (RCD) resources that have been moved over the summer from Moodle to Canvas. Pam Batchelor has created a video tutorial to explain how to access Canvas and enroll in the RCD courses that have been developed for your use. Click here to view the video on mobile devices Brittany Taylor has created a PDF guide on how to access the curriculum materials as well. Please  click here to view the PDF guide . We are super excited that almost every core subject and grade level has resources. Please reach out to the Digital Learning Team or the Curriculum Specialists if you would like additional resources and training on accessing or using these wonderful resources!

The long awaited parent option has been added.  The call it "Guardian" and you can invite one or more parent/guardian to receive updates about their child's work for the week.   Once you turn this feature on under the students tab, you will need the parent email address it invite them. Guardian email summaries include: Missing work —Work that’s late at the time the email was sent Upcoming work —Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or work that’s due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails) Class activity —Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers By default, email summaries for your classes are turned off so it will need to be turned on. Guardians can’t access Classroom or view your class stream.  The other big update is the  option to add a "Topic"  on teacher posts.  This allows postings to be grouped together and sorted by topic.  This feature can be extremely helpful in organizing pos...

Microsoft Office for Home Use includes  Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 Or if you use a Mac, get Office Home and Business 2016 for the same low price $9.95. Go to:  http://www.microsofthup.com/hupus/home.aspx Enter your work email and follow the on screen instructions!

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The end of the school year is here and it is a great time for students and staff to cleanup your email and drives before you leave for the summer.  Here are a few best practices and tools to help you. Student/Staff Drives: It is a good idea to backup all files on your school based drives before you leave for the summer. Refer to your EOY checkout sheets for your school process. Remember that the student share drive  will be deleted  this summer so remove any files you wish to keep. Google Takeout: Go to:  https://www.google.com/ settings/takeout To create an archive of all files on up to 16 different Google products including Drive and Gmail. This process is free and very simple, just follow the onscreen directions as shown below. 1. Create an archive by selecting the services you wish to archive: 2. Select your file download type and delivery method (by default all files will download as a zip file): 3. Click Create Arc...

Check out this video of Google Slides Q&A in Action: (Click here to view the video) The Slides Q&A feature works on desktop computers, chromebooks, and Apple/Android mobile devices. To launch the Q&A feature, open any Google Slide presentation and click the down arrow next to the present button: The presenter view box will open, this is where you can start the Q&A session and see questions as they pop-up: This is a wonderful new feature to make your presentations interactive!