Poetry with Adobe Express (formerly Spark Post)

This post was originally written for the @HeathcoteTech blog and first appeared at http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/heathcotetech/2019/04/30/poetry-with-adobe-spark-post/

Recently we introduced 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders to the Adobe Express (formerly Spark) platform of creative apps.

• Adobe Spark Post is used when creating graphics such as flyers, posters, infographics, and so on.
• Adobe Spark Page is for creating scrolling multimedia web pages.
• Adobe Spark Video is a visual storytelling platform that adds simple animations, music, and narration to slides of text and images.

For the Art and Poetry Festival some 3rd and 4th grade classes used Adobe Spark Post to create and publish their poetry. Here are their final products…

Periodic Table of Apps - Scarsdale Elementary Schools Edition

This post was originally written as part of a presentation for the Scarsdle Board of Education. It first appeared at http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/heathcotetech/2019/04/02/periodic-table-of-apps/

During the March 25, 2019 Scarsdale Board of Education meeting the updated Technology Plan was presented by the Jerry Crisci, the Scarsdale Schools Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation/Co-Director, The Center for Innovation.

As part of the presentation computer teachers and librarians from all grade levels showcased a sampling of what students are using, making and creating.

For the elementary technology team, we created a Periodic Tale of Apps. Elementary students in Scarsdale do a wide variety of things with technology; storytelling, creating, coding, designing... just too many things to only list one or two. This Periodic Table of Apps was designed to give the members of the board and the community members in attendance a better sense of all the great things happening at the elementary level.

Parent Coffee – Internet Safety 3-5

This post was originally written for the @HeathcoteTech blog and first appeared at http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/heathcotetech/2018/12/10/parent-coffee-internet-safety-3-5-3/

How do we keep students safe while still allowing them access to the amazing tools available in 2018 and beyond?

Today I lead a Parent Coffee about Internet (and Technology) Safety geared toward the parents of 3-5th grade students.

Attending in person is not always possible, so to ensure the entire community has access to the conversation I am posting the presentation for all to share and use. In addition, this event was recorded and posted on the district website, the video is at the bottom of this post…

All links in the presentation are clickable and will take you to the related websites:

Parent Coffee – Internet Safety K-2

This post was originally written for the @HeathcoteTech blog and first appeared at http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/heathcotetech/2018/12/04/parent-coffee-internet-safety-k-2-3/

How do we keep students safe while still allowing them access to the amazing tools available in 2018 and beyond?

On Friday, November 30th, I lead a Parent Coffee about Internet (and Technology) Safetygeared toward the parents of K-2 students.

Attending in person is not always possible, so to ensure the entire community has access to the conversation I am posting the presentation for all to share and use. In addition, this event was recorded and posted on the district website, the video is at the bottom of this post…

All links in the presentation are clickable and will take you to the related websites:

EdTechTeacher Summit 2018

It's #ettsummit time!

EdTechTeacher always puts on a great conference. This year Dr. Ayana Howard kicks off the 2-days of learning with a great keynote about STEM education and the future of robotics in education.

My colleague, Christine Boyer, and I are at the #ettsummit to share some things we've done, but more importantly to get feedback on our process as well as gather new ideas and different ways of approaching things.

It's always important to get out of our own echo chamber and see the awesome going on in the world outside out own building and district.

During the summit I am presenting on storytelling and movie making, from paper to YouTube. Christine and I are also doing a joint session on student presentations beyond tri-fold boards. Christine did a session on blogging and an Ignite about Makerspaces.

The slide decks for all of these sessions are below...

Fall 2018 Chromebook Buyers Guide

I originally wrote this for my class blog @HeathcoteTech. After receiving multiple emails from parents with personal device/Chromebook questions I figured I'd turn my email replies into a more structured "buyers guide" of sorts. The thoughts and opinions in this post are my own and crafted with 2nd-5th graders in mind, as that is the population I teach. This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive list of the "best" Chromebooks on the market.

As the years have progressed there has been an ever increasing interest from parents to purchase Chromebooks for home use. Awesome!

I think it's an excellent idea and a great investment, we use them every day at school and I have three at my home.

Before I get into some device specifics I want to touch on a few common points of interest from parents...

Student headphones: an overview and some recommendations

I often get asked about headphones for students. It's a difficult question to answer on many fronts. Price is one concern, but so is durability. A microphone is an important consideration since students use apps like Seesaw to record their learning. And their age. A kindergartner has different needs than a 5th grader in terms of size, fit, and functionality.  

Here is a breakdown of how I approach the K-5 headphone question...

4th Grade Colonial America Ignite Talks

This post was originally written for the @HeathcoteTech blog and first appeared at http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/heathcotetech/2018/05/27/4v-colonial-america-ignites/

This year we tried something different, we decided to try the Ignite format with 4th graders.
The Ignite Talks format is something we've done with 5th graders for a few years as part of the CapCon! capstone learning conference and this year we thought we'd roll it down to 4th grade.

So, what is an Ignite?

Ignite Talks originated in Seattle as a new style of presenting. The format is: “5 minutes, 20 slides, auto-advancing every 15 seconds… enlighten us but make it quick.”

We have modified that format for 4th grades; “7 slides, 15 seconds per slide, 1:45 to tell us your story.” For the first time trying this format with 4th grade we took the social studies unit Colonial America and centered the Ignite Talks around that idea and area of study.

Students wrote scripts about their experiences during the unit and tuned those scripts into a 1:45 talk about their learning. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't supposed to be. It took a lot of editing, revising, practicing, peer-feedback, and on and on, but they knocked it out of the park.

Check out all the 4V Colonial America Ignites here:



The students were amazing! Can't wait to see them rock CapCon! 2019 as 5th graders.

CapCon! 2018 - a capstone learning conference

Every year the 5th graders of Scarsdale participate in Capstone. Capstone is the last two months of school, post-standardized testing. Students choose a topic, research it, and create a final product. It is designed to be a self-directed, passion/interest based assignment. And it used to end with a tri-fold board... But not any more...

Once again the 5th graders were amazing and rocked the CapCon! Capstone event.   

CapCon! a capstone learning conference is our yearly 5th grade culminating activity. For years it was a traditional tri-fold museum, but we just wrapped up the 3rd year of the switch from tri-fold Capstone to CapCon! which is all about student voice and presentations; TED and Ignite style...

Screencasting - a quick tutorial

Screencasting is the act of recording your computer screen. This is done for many purposes. My students mainly use it to explain their learning or the purpose of a project/file they are working on, or they use it to record virtual interviews to refer back to later.

This is a quick tutorial/resource document I created for them to reference anytime the want or need to screencast...