Testing macOS Catalina Continues

On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, Apple released an update to macOS Catalina, its operating system for the Mac. In Barrington 220, this upgrade mostly affects our MacBook Air laptops. Apple soon updated to version 10.15.1 after the initial release on October 7. Normally a “dot 1” update of an operating system is a thumbs-up where most of the initial bugs have been worked out and most people would feel free to upgrade their OS. But as I mentioned last month, Catalina is a major shift for macOS because it no longer supports older, 32-bit apps, and there are many, many 32-bit apps still in use.

The Technology Department has spent the last several weeks testing all of the most common apps being used in Barrington 220. We’ve also solicited the assistance of a group of staff members who have been testing the macOS for us as well. We’ve found that there are still a couple of important apps that need some additional tweaking by the vendor before we are confident that they will work reliably in the district. One app is SMART Notebook which works with our SMART Boards. The other is an application the Technology Department uses for certain technology support instances throughout the district.

Once those apps are fully updated, we will begin rolling out macOS 10.15 Catalina to all users. If you have questions about this upgrade, please contact us at x.1500.

Experiment with Something New

This is a guest post from Nancy Wadin, Teacher Librarian at Sunny Hill Elementary School.

To be effective, technology needs to be implemented in a thoughtful, student-centered way. Teachers are inspired to allow students more freedom to explore technologies and create something unexpected. Students need to be empowered to take responsibility for their learning and encouraged to stretch themselves to learn from other students’ work. In addition, students must be allowed an alternate time frame upon which to demonstrate their learning, as one of the benefits of technology use is to allow students to learn at their own pace and on their own schedules.

Three easy-to-use tools to explore are listed below. These are the tools that make sense in the classroom setting and also provide possibilities for a Blended Learning model, the use of which Barrington 220 is currently implementing.

Nearpod is a technology tool that allows teachers to create presentations, embed activities to assess understanding within those presentations, and then share the presentations for students to do on their own or with their class. This tool could be used within a Blended Learning model, in which students could watch and respond in the Nearpod on their own schedule, with the feedback being reported to the teacher through the Reports feature. Or, it could be used in a classroom, with the responses of the students being seen immediately by the instructor and displayed for the other students. This would encourage engagement and increase the desire to respond appropriately.

Screencasts are a great way to capture student thinking and encourage speaking fluency. Teachers can instruct using Flipgrid to prompt students to show video/photos of the work they have done and describe their learning. It allows students to make a recording which incorporates their photo(s), explains their thinking process, and uses tools to enhance their verbal description. Once it is posted, the teacher and other students can watch and make constructive suggestions. This app allows for feedback to the student while simultaneously gathering immediate assessment information for the teacher.

Google Forms can be used to create quizzes or exit tickets. Use these forms to assess learning through the use of simple quizzes which could be altered based on accommodations for certain students. Use a QR code to share with students. Create exit tickets within Forms and quickly ascertain who has reached your learning objectives. At the same time, have students self-assess and be more reflective by asking them what they could do to improve—with the hope that they would accept greater responsibility for their learning.

These tools are just a small sample of the possibilities. If you haven’t already used one of these, try it this week. There are many more tools that are worth the investment of your time to find new ways to use technology with your students. Ask your Library/Technology Assistant (LTA), your Teacher Librarian, or your Instructional Digital Age Learning Coach (iDAL) coach if you are hoping to experiment with something new.

What Story Are You Telling? A Case For Creativity in the Classroom

This year, Dr. Fuller and I have been collaborating on a YouTube series called Learning NOW in Barrington 220: One-minute Spotlight, a set of videos highlighting great examples of teachers effectively integrating technology into their instruction. Each week, we travel to a different classroom to observe, record footage, talk to students, and interview teachers. We then edit and publish a video on the Learning NOW YouTube channel. The experience has allowed me to visit many classrooms at all levels and flex my creativity muscle more than it has been flexed in a while.

Since we both produce videos for the series, it's important that we calibrate our formatting, style, and the specific shots for each video. Sometimes we will visit the same class at the same time and collect our own assets to use for the video. It was after one of these shared visits a few weeks ago that I realized one of the most important reasons for allowing students the space and time to be creative in their work. Dr. Fuller and I had both visited an elementary class for a literacy lesson that had students using iPad to record themselves reading so the teacher could later listen to each one. We each created our own versions of the video and watched them to see which one we would release for that week's episode. As we sat down to play each video Dr. Fuller quipped, "I can't wait to see what story you are telling."

A student at Lines Elementary engages in a creative activity
using Logitech Crayon on iPad.

What I realized in that moment was that although we had visited the same class, and the teacher and students were doing the same thing, we both came out with different stories. The story I was telling was shaped by my own experiences. It was shaped by the things I am most passionate about in learning, by my expertise in some areas and inexperience in others. As I moved around the room I was drawn to things that interested me and I failed to notice other things because they didn't seem important to me in the moment. Dr. Fuller had the same experience. His video was different than mine because his experiences and knowledge prior to making his video were different than mine. What emerged was two versions of the same experience. Seeing his video allowed me to see that class in a very different way. Our discussion afterward caused me to broaden my thinking, challenge my assumptions, and deepen my understanding of what I had observed.

Our students deserve this same type of experience. When we provide the chance for each student to put their personal spin on what they are learning it deepens their understanding. This is made more powerful by having the chance to share their story with others. Research and common sense tell us that we learn better when we are able to attach new learning to prior knowledge and experiences. This attachment is strengthened when we get a chance to build that connection for ourselves. Giving students the space and means to creatively develop these attachments based on their own life experiences ensures that new learning will develop deeper roots and stretch farther beyond the isolated lesson.

As you try to give your students more space to be creative, it's important to keep a few things in mind.

1. Start small.

One of the biggest obstacles to developing room for creative expression in most classes is the feeling that creativity involves a massive project that requires days, weeks, or months. You can start small by introducing the opportunity for creativity at any time in an existing lesson. The obvious way to do this is to allow some student choice in how they communicate their understanding. If the assessment for a learning session is a written assignment, why not allow students some alternatives like a video or photo essay? A less obvious way to create room for creativity is at the beginning of a lesson. Perhaps there is room to allow students some choice in what content they select. Often we balk at this idea because we are beholden to standards that don't seem to encourage this. But if the learning target is a skill or process target, there may be room for alternative choices.

2. Prepare to feel uncomfortable.

Any time I have tried something outside the conventions of "business as usual" in my class, I have felt the urge to bail on it 10-15 minutes into the lesson. I asked myself, "What were you thinking?" or, "They're not getting it, go back to the lecture," or I experienced other self-doubting sentiments. If you plan ahead and allow yourself to push through these thoughts, it is likely that the experience will be a good one. I've seen many teachers who were anxious to try a new approach because they felt the need to be the infallible expert to their students—that somehow, if a lesson doesn't work, their students would think less of them. Actually, this couldn't be further from the truth. Students respond positively to teachers who are modeling what real learning looks like, and that will likely involve failure. I have found that students connect with a teacher who is willing to be vulnerable and doesn't appear to have all the answers.

3. Expect students to push back.

As uncomfortable as you may be with this, your students may be more so. If they've been asked to "do school" for any number of years, they might really struggle when asked to think for themselves and make choices about their learning. Students who have been conditioned to show up, do what the teacher tells them, and get the grade will look at you like you're crazy or groan and roll their eyes when you first introduce a new idea. Recently, in a high school science class, students were asked to create a children's story that explained cellular respiration. As the teacher explained the assignment, she saw that students were defaulting to basic stories on familiar formats. She really had to push them to get them to be creative. By the end, students were using Green Screen apps to shoot videos, writing songs, and creating many other outstanding projects. The students clearly enjoyed the experience and are now more prepared for this the next opportunity. Resist the urge to bail on a creative idea simply because your students push back. Students may simply be doing what they have been conditioned to do. If you recondition them, they will likely become better at creative expression.

4. Create a routine for creativity.

The more opportunities you provide for creativity in your class, the more comfortable you and your students will be with it. If you try this once and never go back to it because you feels like it failed, you will be missing current and future opportunities. You and your students need time to develop this as a habit. It sounds counterintuitive, but the more routine that creativity becomes, the more creative your students will be, and the more willing they will be to stretch themselves.

BMS-Prairie Shares Ideas for Using Video in the Classroom

For our second installment of the #bsd220tech monthly feature, Share Your Best, BMS-Prairie Campus has dominated the returns! Library/Technology Assistant Ruth Kinkley and math teacher Ashley Sword will each receive an extremely limited-edition and highly sought-after prize, and you will benefit from two new tips about using video in your classroom. THANK YOU to our contributors! Here are the tips:

Library/Technology Assistant Ruth Kinkley at BMS-Prairie shared some excellent ideas about using the Screen Recording feature that is built into the iPad in Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls. You can then add Screen Recording from the list below under MORE CONROLS by clicking the green +. Ruth states:

Screen recording on iOS devices is a helpful tool to create video tutorials for students or teammates. We have found that our students have also used screen recording in their classrooms for projects and demonstrations. For a list of detailed instructions on iPad Screen Recording, click here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207935Once you have enabled Screen recording in your settings, it's as easy as swiping down from the upper-right corner of the screen to begin your project.

BMS-Prairie math teacher Ashley Sword shared her experiences using the popular video app Flipgrid that allows students to “record short, authentic videos based on your topics.” Ashley reports:

I have used Flipgrid in the math classroom for students to explain their thought process as they solve a problem. I have also had students create their own real-world problems and explain using Flipgrid how to solve it to their peers. The students enjoy the fun stickers they can add to their finished product! Flipgrid is extremely user-friendly!

Each month we will ask Barrington 220 staff to Share Your Best tip, trick, or tactic for a different topic. For the next issue, we are asking you to share tips, tricks, or tactics for using Apple Classroom.

A Brief Introduction to Sketchnoting

During the past two months, I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of teachers and administrators on the visual note-taking technique of sketchnoting. One well-known sketchnoter in the world of education, Sylvia Duckworth, defines sketchnoting as "a form of visual note-taking where you draw or doodle your thoughts, observations, or notes in combination with words or text" (2018). Duckworth goes on to clarify that sketchnoting is not art, but a way to "document your thought process."

I wholeheartedly agree that the benefits of sketchnoting are about the process of this style of note-taking and not necessarily the product. That being said, I have observed that the more sketchnotes I personally create, the more artistic they become. My more "artistic" sketchnotes did not happen overnight or by chance. In fact, it took 10–20 sketchnoting examples over a period of about a year for me to feel that I had developed a style. However, I have felt the note-taking benefits of the process since the very first sketchnote I attempted.

Research provides many potential benefits for sketchnoting including retention of information, comprehension, making connections, visualizing learning, and increased motivation, and engagement (Duckworth, 2018, and others). Below is a short list of studies on the topic of sketchnoting.

The training session I offer is designed to help someone try sketchnoting for the first time. In Barrington 220, all teachers and students have access to iPad, the free Keynote for iOS app, and a Logitech Crayon. While many other apps are available for sketchnoting, I choose Keynote because it is useful for more than just sketchnoting, allows quick access to a large basic clip art library (tap + in the upper-right corner > tap the shapes tab), and allows sketchnotes to be easily “played back” using the Line Draw Animation.

Access the Keynote files for this training here: bit.ly/220fullersketchnote

Here is a brief description of the session:

After a short introduction to sketchnoting, participants draw four simple shapes and then pass their iPad to other participants to help complete simple drawing tasks. Next, we create stylized text drawings. We then discuss the idea that a single, simple drawing can describe multiple ideas, i.e., a lightbulb can mean "light," "idea," "creativity," "imagination," and other things. After a brief discussion about organizational structures, we watch a short TED talk and try our own sketchnote. Finally, we debrief about the sketchnote experience and share some of what we learned about the process.

Barrington High School teachers learn
about sketchnoting in a recent session.

Having completed many sketchnotes, I like to remind participants that sketchnoting presentations of shorter duration may be more difficult than sketchnoting longer talks. Shorter presentations likely have less content for note-taking than longer presentations, but the 9.7-inch screen is the same size for both. Although there is no rule that you need to fill the full space or even use just one blank slide, traditional sketchnotes fill a single "page." Further, a longer presentation likely forces the sketchnoter to further synthesize the information and/or be more selective about what gets captured.

Please feel free to use these materials in a small or large group...or invite me (or someone who has taken this session) to deliver it in your school or group. If I have learned anything about sketchnoting, it’s that the only way to become proficient at it and realize its maximum benefits...is to do more sketchnoting.


REFERENCES & RESOURCES

Book

Duckworth, Sylvia. (2018). How to Sketchnote: A Step-by-Step Manual for Teachers and Students. Elevate Books Edu. Kindle Edition. https://sylviaduckworth.com/how-to-sketchnote-a-step-by-step-manual/

Short TED Talks

Duckworth, Angela Lee. (2013). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance (6:02). https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance

Musallam, Ramsey. (2013). 3 rules to spark learning (6:18). https://www.ted.com/talks/ramsey_musallam_3_rules_to_spark_learning?language=en

Emdin, Christopher. (2013). Teach teachers how to create magic (6:43). https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_emdin_teach_teachers_how_to_create_magic

Other References

Hayward, Kate. (2016). Draw like a child, see like a master. TEDxSanAntonio. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA92l6KwuT4&feature=youtu.be&t=13m8s

Knezel, S. (2016). The Power of Visual Notetaking. Retrieved from www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2016/12/28/the-power-of-visual-notetaking.html

Schwartz, K. (2015). Making Learning Visible: Doodling Helps Memories Stick. Retrieved from www.kqed.org/mindshift/39941/making-learning-visible-doodling-helps-memories-stick

Thomas, N.J.T. (2014). Dual Coding and Common Coding Theories of Memory. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-imagery/theories-memory.html

Blank Versions of This Apple Keynote Presentation

Fuller, Matt J. (2019). A brief intro to sketchnoting (teacher and student versions). Retrieved from bit.ly/220fullersketchnote

Shadow a Student - BHS Senior Edition

Each year during the month of October, Barrington 220 administrators select a student and follow them throughout a typical school day as part of the Shadow a Student Challenge. We decide in advance what topics or issues we wish to observe and learn as much as we can during the school day. I had the honor of following the busy schedule of Barrington High School Senior Prasanth M. on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. The opportunity allowed me to observe four AP courses and two specialized creative courses, Chamber Orchestra and BHS-TV. Since BHS made a major learning device change this school year, I specifically set out to observe how iPad is being used just a few months after implementation.

Sketchnote of Prasanth's schedule and some of the day's activities.

As you will see in the video below, students and teachers are using iPad seamlessly in combination with many other tools and devices for learning. I saw students and teachers throughout the day move among digital devices including district-provided iPad, district-provided laptop, desktop workstation (for video editing), personal laptop, personal phone, and analog standbys paper and whiteboard. Although the primary device at BHS is iPad, some students in certain specialized courses also use the 11-inch MacBook Air.

My observations revealed a range of device use throughout the day, and even a range of devices used throughout a class period, depending upon the activity at the time. Some students primarily used a single device, while most others moved among a few devices and a paper notebook (plus a musical instrument in Chamber Orchestra). Device choices were seamless and unprompted.

I watched iPad use most carefully since this device represents the most significant change. Further, most of the courses I observed were primarily students in Grades 11–12 who had previously used the MacBook Air laptop for 2 or 3 years, respectively, prior to the device switch. My observations make generalizing iPad use a challenge since I saw so many different workflows and patterns of use. The majority of students I observed using iPad employed the onscreen keyboard and a finger and/or the Logitech Crayon to write on the screen, while very few students used the physical iPad keyboard built into our provided case. Students who wrote in a paper notebook sometimes used the iPad camera to take photos of their written work or switched to iPad when completing homework that would be submitted digitally.


I offer my sincere thanks to Prasanth and all his BHS teachers—Matt Gelon, Ernest Lane, Clark Sheldon, Cary Waxler, Jeff Doles, and Jonathan Mihevc—who allowed me to join them in their classrooms. While I make every attempt to get into as many of our PK–12 classrooms as possible throughout the year, the Shadow a Student Challenge is different because I get to experience an entire day through the lens of a student. I can definitely attest that Prasanth’s schedule is exhausting, and I can further attest first-hand that Barrington 220 has excellent teachers and programs for our students. I would encourage every school leader at any level to participate in this worthwhile #shadowastudent challenge.

Text Navigation in iPadOS 13

As a result of the recent operating system upgrade, iPadOS 13 now has a few simple-to-learn, but powerful text navigation features. Watch the video below to see a real-time demo of all the features discussed here.



You can still tap anywhere in a text field to move the cursor to a new location. However, you can now drag the cursor anywhere within a text field. Notice that the cursor gets larger while you are dragging it.

Text selection is now more powerful using three different taps. Double-tap to select an individual word. Triple-tap to select a sentence. And quadruple-tap to select the entire paragraph.

Copy, paste, and undo are universal across iPadOS 13. Select text as you have in the past. To copy, use a three-finger pinch (imagine that you are grabbing the text). Then move the cursor to a new location. Now paste by pinching in reverse with three fingers (as though you are releasing the text).

Finally, iPadOS 13 has a universal gesture to undo. Swipe three fingers backward to Undo. Swipe three fingers forward to Redo.

Key's Quick Tips: Built-in iPad Text Reader & Meet Alex!

Click the link below to watch a short video (less than 2 min) to meet Alex and learn how incredible the text reader is on the iPad when you add this voice.

Click here to meet Alex, you won't be disappointed!



If you turn on one simple feature in settings on the iPad, you can make any text read out loud, just like the example above.

Directions:
On an updated iPad: Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > Speak Selection > ON

You can also turn on the highlight content feature (as seen in the video) and choose the highlight colors

On an iPad that has not been updated: Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech > ON

To add Alex as a voice: Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > Voices > English > tap the cloud symbol to download Alex, once it downloads, tap Alex twice until there is a check next to his name.

If you change the default voice to the voice Alex, (as seen above) he can:

• Analyze the sentence before he reads it out loud and will pronounce words correctly depending on the context of the sentence (i.e., bass & bass, read & read). 
• Read multiple languages and changes his voice depending on the language. 
• Read numbers correctly. 
• Take deep breaths when punctuation is added (great for editing writing). 
• Sound very natural when reading to students. 

This is great to use to:

• Have students read text above their reading level 
• Improve reading comprehension 
• Increase reading fluency 
• Edit writing by reading back what they wrote 

If you have any questions, would like a class demo, or would like to learn more, contact Kelly Key, AT Coordinator at kkey@barrington220.org

Email Security Awareness

Do you lock your home doors each night? Do you lock the doors of the car that sits in your driveway? Do you leave a few lights on in your home when you are away? Most adults would say "yes" to these simple home security questions. Most of these home security steps have become habits as we have each developed a security awareness when it comes to protecting family, home, and property.

As a district, we must also develop a similar security awareness when it comes to email messages, the origination point for the highest percentage of cybersecurity attacks. Where do you begin?

Question every email message that hits your inbox.

• Does it seem legitimate? 
• Were you expecting the message? 
• Is the message from a person you know. 
• Is it asking you for credentials or asking you to download a file? 

Pause and reflect on the email message in your inbox that wants you to provide username and passwords. Question the message and then delete it. Question every message that asks for an Internet-based payment to a vendor. Pick up the phone and call the sender if you have doubts about a message. Do not call the person using the phone number they provided in the message. Instead, look up the phone number using other means. When in doubt, delete a suspect email message.

In early September, the Rockford Public School District 205 was hit with a cyber attack that crippled their technology systems. Phones went down. The student information system was rendered unusable. File and print systems were destroyed. Many weeks have gone by and the Rockford school district is still trying to recover from the attack. Many records and files may never be recovered. Attackers encrypted the district’s data, rendered it inaccessible, and demanded a ransom payment to be paid through online cryptocurrencies. The root cause of this attack has not yet been released to the public, but statistics would suggest that it was an email phishing message that started this successful attack.

Please pay close attention to the email messages that land in your inbox. Here is a great example of a message designed to penetrate our systems:



Messages like this should be deleted. If you are using a web browser to view your mail, click the three dots in the top right corner of the message and mark the message Report Phishing. This will alert the Technology Department and Google that there is a potential problem.

We need every staff member to pitch in and use their Barrington 220 email account with a security awareness mindset. Question every email message. When in doubt, delete the message. Of course, you may also call x.1500 if you need assistance or an expert opinion on potentially harmful messages.