Teachers are getting an early start and populating their Schoology courses with activities and resources for students. I’ve been getting questions about accessing last year’s classes. Here is a video showing where archived courses can be found. If you need help moving resources to and from the Resources folders, I wrote a post about it in the spring. Follow this link to access it.

Of course all your hard work will help you next year! If you have uploaded content to Schoology that you plan on using again next year, all you have to do is save it to your Resources folders. If you are not sure how to do this, watch these videos. The first one shows you how to move items from your groups or classes to your Resources folders. The second one shows you how to create folders to keep your resources organized. Even if you do not save stuff to Resources, you will have it available. All content will be archived and you will have full access to it. However, if you have it in Resources, it will be much more easily accessible. As always, let me know if you need any help.

Mr. Summitt’s students have been learning about mitosis and they have put together really nice animations using their iPads. I have edited four of my favorite animations turned in through Schoology into a single movie. Watch these cells divide and learn.

Many of our teachers have been reporting that they are unable to send messages using the Mail app in Snow Leopard. Here is a video showing what needs to be fixed. If you need any additional help, please let me know.

A few weeks ago I interviewed Ms. Kass and Ms. Krickovic to highlight what was going on in their classrooms. Both teachers told me about projects that let students publish their work based on research using Schoology as a platform for discussion and collaboration among students. There are many overlapping aspects to these two projects, and now that the teachers have had the opportunity to reflect upon the results, they are making plans to make this a cross-curricular project next year.

When a tool just works the way it should and students see their growth, we should share the story. I’m very happy to see Ms. Bay and her students embracing better writing with good digital scaffolding.

While we hope to be a 1:1 district in the future, at this point in time, we have lots of devices that are shared. When students create a video or audio file, the easiest way for teachers to collect these files from shared devices is to use Schoology. I have created two tutorials to help teachers who are new to Schoology. The first one shows the process of creating an assignment in a class. The second is a video students can follow when it is time for them to turn in their work.

Schoology makes it very easy for teachers to assign differentiated work to students in ways that don’t make anyone feel singled out. Students can be assigned to pre-determined groups, or materials can be made visible only to specified students within the course. Watch these videos to learn how. The first video will show you how to create groups within your courses. The second video will show you how to assign resources to selected groups or individuals within your courses.

This morning I returned from VSTE and hit the ground running. When I stepped into Ms. Kass’s room to say hello, she showed me the projects the students were developing on their iPads. A few minutes later, I stopped by Ms. Potter’s office to let her know I was back in the building. The first thing she asked was, “Did you see the amazing stuff Ms. Kass and her students are doing?” Of course, I had just been there. Here is an administrator’s take on our iPad program and the learning environments it is helping us create.

True or false: When I give my students work, they all finish at the same time. Yes, keeping kids on task is one of the most difficult issues faced by teachers. Schoology has a tool that can help. When you have multiple activities planned for a class period, you can create a folder with all your resources and require that students work in order, achieving a minimum score per item. Watch this tutorial to find out how to set up a classwork folder with Student Completion requirements.