Going Google District Wide Hangout on Air TODAY

Going Google - District Wide
gplus.to/amollica

Description #eduonair
Implementing Google Apps for Education in your district means more than adding Gmail and using a few 'Docs'. Google Apps for Education can replace many processes, subscriptions, and software by taking advantage of Sites, Forms, Sharing and Collaborating, Templates, Docs and more.




We've got a great group in the hangout today - Eric Griffith, Andy Littlefield, Alice Barr, Andrew Stillman... 

• Alice Barr  @alicebarr 

• Eric Griffith @mrgrifftastic

• Andy Littlefield @andylittlefield

• Andrew Stillman @astillman 

• Allison Mollica @amollica

Hoping to have a collaborative/share session that leaves everyone with a fresh thought or idea on their Google Apps deployment.  
Google Apps Training Center


Some resources to help you 'Go Google - District Wide'

Google Apps for Edu Lesson Plans
Google Apps for Edu Recorded Webinars

Please feel free to add resources here as well in the comments or your tip or trick for Going Google - District Wide!

New England Google Apps for Education Summit November 3 & 4

http://ma.gafesummit.com/

A series of Google Rock Stars are lined up for this event including Google's Senior Education Evangelist, Jamie Casap,  as Keynote Speaker and Tina Ornduff of Google Earth Education Outreach who will be leading an entire strand of sessions devoted to the Geo apps.

 It will be held on November 3 & 4th (weekend so you don't have to take time off from school) and if you've attended Google events already you know that this is full of information, collaboration, energy and FUN!  You will be inspired with ideas and meet other 'googlers' including Google employees themselves.  http://ma.gafesummit.com/

I will be presenting -

Getting Going with Student Use of Google Apps - The One Stop Shopping Experience Learn how a variety of projects created within Google Apps for Edu and other online resources can be weaved into a portfolio using Google Sites.  This is an ideal way for students and teachers to fully utilize the GAFE Suite while exposing students to a rich 21st Century online learning environment based in Google!

Getting ready for the European Google Apps for Edu Summit

The First Ever -  Google Apps for Education European Summit, is next week...  Here is a preview of what I intend to share -

Taking Google Forms to the Next Level - I am hoping to share with my audience, user friendly and easily adaptable instruction on how to take Google Forms beyond the step of a basic 'survey.'  Google Forms are one of the most popular Google Applications and so versatile.  They play an integral role in the 'paperless classroom' and more.  This is not an intro to forms and I am not a script guru ... so this is perfect for someone who is 'intermediate'...   M http://tinyurl.com/gafeforms 

Learn. Create. Share. Portfolios w/ Google Sites - I have a hard time give a 'title' to this presentation.  I want to share how the whole GAFE suite of apps can support project based learning and hit a plethora of targets at the same time.  By using the suite - email, docs, presentation, spreadsheet, forms, and site (to begin with) a teacher/class can learn, create, and share while becoming more proficient with Google Apps and developing ICT skills.  Some courses or units of study lend themselves to using more apps and the accumulation of such projects (created independently, collaboratively or both), can be presented and shared as a final product in Google Sites that students can connect to other portfolios and keep with them beyond.   Having worked for over a decade in technology integration prior to Google Apps I have gleaned a great appreciation for the limitless opportunities it offers for creating rich and engaging 21st century learning environments..  http://tinyurl.com/lcsgafe

Starting My Day with Porcupines & Wolf

 I have the most placid dog on earth.  Wolf is his name.  Ha!  He doesn't bark, he doesn't jump, he just looks at you with his soft, puppy dog eyes and asks you to love him.  He doesn't seek out adventure by chasing cats or birds or any other creature.  As a matter of fact we have turkeys, deer, and even coyotes visit our yard and he just observes their presence.  Wolf is mellow.


Wolf is also predictable.  Every morning, 'hours before you are even dreaming about rising' Wolf comes into our room and sticks his wet snout in my face and wags his tail so hard it bangs against the wall like a drum.  There is NO ignoring this greeting.  This means one of two things.  I need water or I need to go out.  Today was 'I need to go out.'  On those mornings, Wolf goes out and 'refreshes' and then finds a spot to lay down either at the front porch or on a blanket in the garage (first pick).

About 5:45am,  I went out to the car to look for something and he was just laying placidly on his blanket in the garage (a favorite spot).   I smiled because he is just so freaking cute.  So I went over to pet him and tell him hello and was overcome with sharp pain as my hand encountered a snout-full of porcupine quills.  Of course, I'm flipping out, but there's Wolf, same calm Wolf just looking at me with those same 'love me' puppy dog eyes.  Poor Wolfy would have stayed out there lying in a bed of quills had I not gone over to greet him.  He wasn't making a fuss, just dealing with it.

My first reaction was to call the vet, but it was too early.  I couldn't stand watching him lick his nose and hurt his tongue.  He tried to eat and drink and well, obviously that didn't go over very well.  So, I found my tweezers and decided I would try and help this poor dog out of his misery.

Wolf is a 115 lb German Shepard so he is difficult to 'manage' when he is not in the mood to cooperate (you should see me drag him down the hall for a 'bath' - a real comedy show).  Amazingly enough, however, the first quill I could attach to,  I was able to pull out fast.  There was blood and I knew it hurt like heck.   He certainly wasn't open to a second stab at it.  

So I've got him on the floor and I'm sitting on him trying to get at the next quill and he is shaking his head back and forth. 

 I stop.  

He stops.  

He looks at me. 

 I look at him. 

 'Wolf,' I say, 'I can do this.  I can help you, just let me.'  He shakes his head 'No.'  So, I make another stab and he is just not letting that happen.  I get up and regroup.  I saddle him like a horse and go in for the kill.  I am hugging him tight with my legs and he's backing up and now he's is starting to articulate his distress.  I back off but not without getting another quill.  

It is not like he had a hundred quills.  If that were the case I would still be down on the floor wrestling with Wolf.  I followed him to another corner of the house, and again, looked him in the eye and said, 'Just one more, ok?' and he just calmed right down.   I was able to quickly pull out a few more.    Then when he went to lick his snout he realized it was getting better.  I could tell that he knew then that even though it hurt I was helping him.

At that point, Wolf held his nose out and let me finish pulling out all the quills and some of them, like the ones in the actual nose rather than the skin/fur area, were really difficult to pull out and I had to make several attempts.  Last one.  Relief.

Wolfie had breakfast and is now resting peacefully.  :)  Funny way to start the day.  

Many NH Schools Have "Gone Google"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Many NH Schools Have “Gone Google”

NH Educators Learn 21st Century Skills and Schools Save $$$

Contact:
Allison Mollica, NHDRC Grant Coordinator
603.340.0873 | allisonmollica@gmail.com

LOCAL EDUCATORS ATTEND GOOGLE EDU “BOOT CAMP” TO LEARN INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Pembroke, NH, July 2012 —This could be the summer remembered as (many) NH Schools “Going Google."   Sponsored by the New Hampshire Digital Resources Consortium - www.nhdrc.org - NH school technology administrators and educators were trained by Google Certified Teachers and Trainers to help with their deployment of Google Apps for Education.

The NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp, and NH Digital Resources Consortium, was made possible through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (Title IID) Program at the NH Department of Education. This program awarded SAU #53 in Pembroke a grant to manage and lead the Digital Resources Consortium project. The NHDRC’s mission is to develop professional development, training and provide tools to help schools reach their 21st century potential.

In July, over 250 NH educators attended NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp at one of four locations across the state: The Seacoast Professional Development Center, UNH Manchester, Keene State College, and White Mountains Community College. The event was organized by NHDRC coordinator, Allison Mollica, with support given by the Local Education Support Center Network. Each Boot Camp was an intensive, 11 hour training where teachers received hands-on experience with Google's products and technologies, learned about innovative instructional strategies, and received resources to share with colleagues. To further extend the reach of this initiative, each Boot Camp participant will host a professional development session in their school district or region during the 2012-2013 school year.

Almost 100 school district technology administrators participated in Google Apps for Education Deployment training in May and June. Clearly this is the summer that NH Educators are “Going Google!”

What may be the most interesting to NH residents and taxpayers is that Google Apps for Education is available to all K-12 schools for FREE! This includes, email, web hosting, and more - potentially saving districts thousands of taxpayer dollars!

For further information about Google Apps in Education - http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/

Governor Lynch Proclaims Digital Learning Day in NH

A litte late posting this!....
 
Governor Lynch joined 35+ other states in proclaiming February 1st as Digital Learning Day in NH and our Hanover Street Third Graders personally thanked him VIA Skype to celebrate.  

Digital Learning Day was initiated by  Alliance for Excellent Education, and refers to digital learning  as a broad array of topics and approaches where technology can help in school reform efforts. This may be in teacher preparation and continuing education, STEM and innovation instruction, broadband access for all, using data to inform instruction, personalizing instruction, increasing quality teacher time, online/blended learning opportunities as well as using robust digital content in high-quality lessons. The Alliance seeks to use Digital Learning Day to highlight these innovative teaching approaches and celebrate the potential of technology as a force multiplier in America’s schools.    Watch the 2012 DLD Town Hall Broadcasts.

Lebanon School District has also started a blog Educational Technology @ Lebanon School District to highlight and showcase the various ways technology is impacting learning in our classrooms!  Please check it out!  

Image:  Governor Lynch with Allison Mollica, Instructional Technology Facilitator, and Hanover Street Third Grade Students (via Skype) @ the State House on Wednesday Feb 1, 2012.

Digital Learning Day in the News:

• Education 2.0: Can Digital Learning Day begin a classroom revolution? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Celebrating Digital Learning Day | (The White House Blog)
• Celebrate Digital Learning Day with 40 Years of Times TechEd Reporting (NY Times)
• On Digital Learning Day, 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology (MindShift)

Google Apps for Edu Prague Summit October 2012

Looking forward to presenting at the Google Apps for Education European Summit in Prague - October 2012.

Learn, Create, Share - Portfolios with Google Sites for K12

In this session participants will see how Google sites can be used with students in a K-12 environment in two ways - as comprehensive academic portfolios that showcase student achievement over time and as project portfolios where students create a variety of projects using Google Apps and other Web 2.0 tools and build a portfolio in Google Sites to showcase their "constructed knowledge." The idea is to Learn, Create and Share. This can be applied to younger and older students - if you are interested in using Google Sites for portfolios and need to create a plan with a vision, the information shared here will help you.

@amollica https://plus.google.com/u/0/116502499532003007487/posts amtechnology.org