 | Smarter Tools for Before & After School Program Management MyProgramPlus is a user-friendly, web-based system that simplifies your school-age childcare program management. Families go online to find the right program for their needs, enroll their children, & make payments. From creating contracts, producing invoices, managing payments, & tracking family information, you can do it all with MyProgramPlus. | | Why tech-savvy teachers are more important than devices No matter what technology a school district adopts, it takes a great teacher to adapt that device and use it effectively in the classroom, writes Andrew Marcinek, director of technology for a Massachusetts school district. In this blog post, he writes that "the best device a school can roll out is a teacher who can adapt to new and emerging technologies" and provide various resources to help connect teachers with tech-focused professional development, including iTunesU and Twitter. Edutopia.org/Andrew Marcinek's blog (7/29)
How to teach students to write for digital media Educators need to teach student-writers, then writing, then teach digital tools and media, asserts English education professor and author Troy Hicks. "The digital tools offer students new opportunities, no doubt, but they still need to be intentional in the way that they craft their pieces of digital writing," Hicks said in an interview with Todd Finley. Edutopia.org/Todd Finley's blog (7/26) Other News | Ga. district uses blended approach when purchasing new curricula Gainesville City Schools in Georgia is adopting new materials as the district transitions to the Common Core State Standards. Use of more digital materials is part of the plan, and students in one school will use devices on which they can access assignments from home, even without Internet access. The district also will purchase some print-based textbooks but will add a digital option. "As the state had made all of their changes to math, if you're purchasing a six-year textbook contract, you can get stuck without the ability to adapt to the changes," Curriculum and Instruction Director Jamey Moore said, adding, "So with the digital resources you're able to have that update (automatically) occurring." The Times (Gainesville, Ga.) (7/28) | How teachers can use Twitter to get connected Summer break is a great time for teachers to use Twitter to get connected, writes Elana Leoni, director of social media strategy and marketing at Edutopia. She suggests in this blog post that educators use the microblogging website to join a chat, follow other connected educators, re-tweet posts, have fun and connect with one educator per week. Edutopia.org/Elana Leoni's blog (7/29)
| Why students should be the focus of teacher walk-throughs Teacher walk-throughs often are used to focus on the performance of a single teacher, when the process should zero in on what the students are doing in the classroom, writes Kristen Swanson, senior educational-technology leader for BrightBytes and a founder of the Edcamp movement. Swanson writes in this blog post that teacher walk-throughs are opportunities to collect formative data -- which Swanson does largely by observing students. "They show you, in mere moments, if the necessary context has been created in the classroom for purposeful learning," she writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education (7/29)
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