RMS Staff Get to Play with Augmented Reality

The week leading up to the Spring Holiday, Ridgeview Staff were sent on a Easter Egg Hunt.  To participate the needed to load Aurasma on their smartphone and follow the Ridgeview Middle School Channel.   They could then hold their phones over the image on the Eggs and watch images come to life.    All the eggs had examples of how this tool could be used in the different subject areas to highlight student work or to help students dig deeper into a concept.   As the teachers found each egg they were able to access a google form through the app that allowed them to log their find.  The results were fun for all who aprticiapted and was a good way to introduce to teachers to another way that BYOD can be used in the classroom to enhance instruction.   Professional Development opportunities to develop their own auras will be coming soon.

The teachers were also asked to take "selfies" of videos with the eggs.  Some of these images are in the video below.

Onboarding Party

Students were invited to bring their devices to the library the mornings of February 18, 19 or 20th to take advantage of the district provided wifi on campus.  Students were divided into groups based on the operating system of their devices and were walked through the instructions with several teachers and staff on hand to help out as needed.   Over 300 students took advantage of that opportunity and can now use the district wifi while on campus.   Any student or staff member can onboard their device at any time following these directions.

Texting Students - Remind 101

With the district's open policy on Bring Your Own Devices this year the teachers on campus have been looking for ways to take advantage of the technology the students already own.  One of those ways has been to use Remind 101.   Remind 101 is a texting service that allows teachers to "safely text message students and stay in touch with parents."   Students and parents sign up for the service (which can include emails or texts) by texting into the subscription number.   All phone numbers are kept confidential and all texts are recorded in the program's history.

Mrs. Billings, Mrs. Rutherford uses it for her science class to remind students about important dates and tests.   Ms. Salazar's says that " It is working quite well because I have students remembering to turn in homework, permission slips, and school events. Parents have caught on, subscribed to my text feed, and help remind their kids. I like that you can schedule a time to send the text without visiting the site too."    Mr. Alexander also puts bonus questions out to students to encourage them to stay in touch.  Mrs. Gibson uses it with her clubs as well as her classroom to remind the students about meetings and share information.   Ms. Pfluger says " I am taking 43 students to UT next Wednesday for an engineering event.  I have setup a Remind 101 to update students on what to plan for, and will use it onsite to make sure we all know where to be.  Great since the app is on my phone!"

Ms. East found Remind 101 this summer through Pinterest and has been using it all year to remind students to bring specific supplies to class, or " If I receive lots of homework questions through email or catch a mistake on the homework.  I will send out a remind 101 text clarifying the homework issue.  I also use it to remind my advisory when report cards and progress reports are due.  I may start sending advisory texts about Wednesday's dress up days, too!"   One of the features she likes most is that you can schedule the texts to go out ahead of time.

Check with your classroom teacher to see if they are using Remind101 to stay in touch.

BYO Comes to Science

In Mrs. Gibson's 7th Grade Science classes the students were needing to use timers to complete the lab assignment.   In order to supply enough stop watches for the classroom, Mrs Gibson allowed students to use the clocks and apps on their cell phones with great results.  The students enjoyed being able to use their devices for academic purposes, and those who did not have a device had access to the classroom stopwatches.

Mrs. Pickle's Class Uses Cell Phone to Discuss Literature

Mrs. Pickle recently explored allowing students to bring their own technology (BYOT) in class to discuss the class Novel, The Outsiders.  Students answered multiple choice and short answer questions about the chapters they had just read through the use of Poll Everywhere and their cellphones, tablets, or school provided netbooks. After each question,  Mrs. Pickle reviewed the responses and asked the students to explain their choices as she led the classroom discussion.  Students loved seeing their answers pop-up on the screen and were anxious to defend their opinions to the question.  This activity provided the students and teacher with instant feedback and gave all students a chance to voice their thoughts and opinions about the characters and the story.  Look for more BYOT opportunities in Mrs. Pickle's class soon!