Waffle Bytes

This morning while getting around, I was watching Twitter for my usual morning food for thought.  During it I started following a twitter chat (the #coffeecue happening at #ISTE2014) about redesigning the learning environment.  The chat started about the redesigning off the physical classroom - I confess not as much interest to me, but still interesting to follow.  Then it took a turn with the following tweet - and it got me thinking, hard.  And after reflecting on it I've come to the following thoughts/beliefs - many teachers reconstruct/mirror their physical space into the online arena we talk about tearing down the walls of our classroom....and then turn around and build walls in our online environments I think we have a big misperception of an LMS - that it needs to be the be-all and end-all to where our students' learning takes place online.  And it shouldn't  Instead of thinking of an LMS as the structure, we need to think of it as the gateway.  It should be

    Look for the best rated sessions from the annual MACUL conference to be repeated at these sites around the state between July 22 and August 13. Partnering with the REMC Association of Michigan, a variety of 60 minute sessions will give those who were not able to attend the 2014 MACUL conference the opportunity to participate in timely topical presentations by exemplary presenters. Registration is now open. Cost: $45; Includes lunch. Visit MACUL website for specific program information and registration. Best of MACUL Schedule: July 22 - REMC 6 - Bay Arenac ISD, Bay City registration deadline July 14 July 23 - REMC 10 - Tuscola Tech Center, Caro registration deadline July 9 July 24 - REMC 12E - Calhoun ISD, Marshall registration deadline July 17 July 29 - REMC 5 - Clare Gladwin ISD, Clare registration deadline July 17 July 31 - REMC 22 - Eastern UP ISD, Sault St. Marie registration deadline July 29 August 5 - REMC 7- Ottawa IS

Announcement from the Michigan eLibrary & Outreach Coordinator: " As of Monday, June 16, 2014, the Library of Michigan is pleased to announce the official debut of the new and improved Michigan elibrary,  http://mel.org !" Some key features: New "look and feel" for the website New discovery service (search) on the MeL homepage - accessing MeLCat, selected MeL databases, M.O.R.E curricular content, MeL gateway websites and selected digital Michigan history projects. Redesigned MeL Kids Gateway at http://mel.org/kids Redesigned MeL Teens Gateway at http://mel.org/teens Reorganization of the other MeL Gateways Make sure to check it out!  

Registration for the MICCSS MOOC is now open! Audience : K-12 ELA & Math Educators and Curriculum Leaders Course Duration : 4 weeks - July 14, 2014 to August 15, 2014 Cost : Free (optional - 20 SCECHs for $10 fee; you MUST register prior to July 11 to be eligible for SCECHs) Registration : http://www.solutionwhere.com/remcam Course Information : This is a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Michigan educators to help build awareness and share implementation strategies for the MI Common Core State Standards (MICCSS).  It is an online course - all work will be completed online using Moodle.  The course will be moderated and facilitated by instructional leaders around the state.  Participants are expected to participate in forums and submit weekly assignments.

Today was one of those days that I was grumbling about the amount of time a task was going to take, and then discovered Google had added a button to make it faster and easier! I received an email with multiple attachments in it that I needed loaded into my Google Docs so they were shared with the appropriate people.  As I was working through individually adding each to my Docs, I happened to notice a couple of icons in the upper corner: You guessed it!  These icons will let you either  download all the attachments to your computer OR  add & move all the attachments into your Google Docs in one single transaction.  When you click on the right one to add it to your Google Docs, you get the organizational window where you can click through folders and subfolders to put them where you want them to be: You can even create a new folder on the fly if needed. Great little icons to save lots of time if you are dealing with multiple attachments in an email!

Summer registration is still open for the statewide offering of 21 Things 4 Teachers in Michigan! There are several different options for taking this online/virtual professional development: Take the entire set of 21 Things Optional: 90 SCECHs (additional fee) Cost: $150 Select to take one or two sets of 7 Things Pick from Things 1-7, Things 8-14, and/or Things 15-21 Optional: 30 SCECHs (additional fee) for each set completed Cost: $75 for each set The summer 2014 course begins June 18 and ends September 3. Registration and more information is available at: http://www.solutionwhere.com/remcam/cw/main.asp History: 21 Things 4 Teachers is professional development offered through an online 10-week course with video tutorials and live virtual sessions.  Participants create an online portfolio showcasing valuable and applicable projects for teaching and lifelong learning.  

As you wrap up packing your classroom away and saying goodbye to this year's students, you perhaps are not thinking about next fall.  However, the team at Discovery Education is making enhancements to our Discovery products, and the Discovery Educator Network is hosting some free back-to-school webinars coming up in August that you may want to attend! They are offering the following - Back-to-School with Discovery Education : be the first to get a look at the new enhancements inside Discovery Eduction! This will also highlight meaningful instructional strategies for leveraging digital tools, content and resources. Pick from one of the following dates/times: August 6 @ 4 pm, August 13 @ 4 pm, August 21 @ 7 pm, August 27 @ 4pm, September 4 @ 7pm, September 17 @ 4pm Deep Dive Sessions : See the all-new Student Center, Board Builder and the new Streaming Plus with support for the Common Core - complete with model lessons, assessments, and digital content designed to address