Updates

Updates and announcements from the Instructional Technology Team.

Earn PGPs and Find Frameworks on the Learning Lab!

Calling all Elkhart Teachers….are you in need of PGPs to renew your certificate! We have many options for you to earn PGPs in our district so let’s look over the options. If you’re here for the Frameworks, scroll down and learn how to navigate the site to find them.

Back to School Tech Updates

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Below are some important updates, a quick AI overview, and update on programs that we do, or do not, have access to, and some more tidbits of information you might find helpful as we start up the school year. We will link some of our blog articles in the monthly Tech This Out newsletter, but if you want an immediate notification, subscribe to our blog! Tech Coaches Your Instructional Technology Coaches will be working in your buildings more frequently this year so if you see one of us, be sure to grab us and...

New Podcast, Updates, and More!

We have been working hard pushing out content that is accessible, quick, and meaningful. We hope you enjoy the various methods we are using to get information out to you as we know Time is sacred! ✨New✨ Podcast Don’t have time to watch something? Need something quick? Want to listen to EdTech tips and hacks while you set your room up for the morning? Listen to our Podcast 👇🎙️ Our latest episode is on our favorite IXL features and is only 7 minutes! We will be pushing new episodes out every other Friday. Be sure to subscribe and give us...

✨ 2022-2023 Technology Ambassadors ✨

Welcome back to school! We’re excited to be back and learn with everyone this year. If you’re wondering who to contact for ideas, tips, or tricks in instruction this year, we have the updated Tech Ambassador list below. Each of these teachers is ready to help you brainstorm ways you can engage your students. Rebecca Dodd Beardsley Sondra Flora Beck Jason Hite Bristol Jeremy Rohyans Cleveland Mackinzie Kempton Daly Michelle Holderman Eastwood Nakeyta Hardy Feeser Jessica Moreno Monger Shelby Eby Osolo TBD Pinewood Emily Zitkus PRIDE Academy TBD Riverview Carolyn Kelley Roosevelt Karin Wirick Woodland Emily Kuzdas North Side Mariana...

Goodbye 2021-2022

We wanted to take a moment to thank all Elkhart community members – staff and students alike – for a great 2022. We faced significant challenges and the way our staff work together to support students is unparalleled. This year, ECS staff were pushed to do more learning than ever before. In total, our staff participated in over 40,000 hours of learning about working with English-language learners, trauma informed care, and ways to de-escalate situations with students and adults. This does not include any of the other voluntary learning options we had during the year. The commitment of ECS employees...

Safe and Flexible Schoolwide Messaging with Seesaw

Seesaw has updated their messaging! You can now add more than one person to a message, including students, other teachers in your building, and parents. Read on to learn more!

5 Amazing Seesaw Creative Tool Improvements

Seesaw has just released some amazing improvements that will make your teacher life so much easier! Students can’t delete teacher-created activity pages anymore Smarter pen vs move tool selection Accidental page reordering and creation fixed No more accidental unlocking Be sure your app (and your students’ app) is updated to fully enjoy these five new changes. Keep reading to learn more! Prevented Page Deletion by Students Before: Students could delete pages from Activity templates.  After: When responding to an Activity, students cannot delete pages that are part of the Activity template created by teachers. Tapping on the 3 dots will only...

Do One Thing: The Summer DOT Conference

We are excited to invite you to participate in Elkhart’s first Summer DOT Conference taking place on June 1 & 2, 2022. With a focus on Tier 1 Instruction, the Summer DOT Conference will feature Elkhart’s best resource, our own teachers, teaching other teachers. We believe you are the heart and soul of our district, and have amazing ideas and strategies to share. Our hope is that every teacher walks away with one thing they plan to take with them into the 2022-2023 school year.  Interested in sharing your best one thing you do with students to make sure they’re...

2021-2022 Technology Ambassadors

Welcome back to school! We’re excited to be back and learn with everyone this year. If you’re wondering who to contact for ideas, tips, or tricks in instruction this year, we have the updated Tech Ambassador list below. Each of these teachers is ready to help you brainstorm ways you can engage your students. Our team is always growing. If your school is not listed below, feel free to apply here and email Instructional Tech to let us know! Rebecca Dodd Beardsley Sondra Flora Beck Damian Beauchamp Bristol Jeremy Rohyans Cleveland Mackinzie Kempton Daly Michelle Holderman Eastwood Nakeyta Hardy Feeser...

May Resource Pack

Each month, the Technology Ambassadors work hard to create resources, materials, and other tools to help you with planning, brainstorming, or getting quick tips. To make them easy to find, we’ll publish the collection here on the blog as well as send an email digest. Don’t forget to check the PD signup page for upcoming workshops. There are new topics added regularly and we’ll continue to send weekly updates about what’s available to participate in. We archive nearly all PD on the Professional Development page. If you can’t make a Meet, head over there to see what’s available for on-demand PD. To get...

April Resource Pack

Each month, the Technology Ambassadors work hard to create resources, materials, and other tools to help you with planning, brainstorming, or getting quick tips. To make them easy to find, we’ll publish the collection here on the blog as well as send an email digest. Don’t forget to check the PD signup page for upcoming workshops. There are new topics added regularly and we’ll continue to send weekly updates about what’s available to participate in. We archive nearly all PD on the Professional Development page. If you can’t make a Meet, head over there to see what’s available for on-demand...

March Resource Pack

Each month, the Technology Ambassadors work hard to create resources, materials, and other tools to help you with planning, brainstorming, or getting quick tips. To make them easy to find, we’ll publish the collection here on the blog as well as send an email digest. To get these updates in real time, subscribe to email notifications in the box on the right. Blog Posts Digital Interactive NotebooksDigital interactive notebooks are a fun, new way to help keep students engaged and organized digitally. Sketchnoting in the ClassroomSketchnoting is the strategy of mashing together the use of visuals along with words to...

February Resource Pack

Each month, the Technology Ambassadors work hard to create resources, materials, and other tools to help you with planning, brainstorming, or getting quick tips. To make them easy to find, we’ll publish the collection here on the blog as well as send an email digest. Blog Posts The blog was busy this month with posts on chunking instruction, attendance tips in Seesaw, and using EdPuzzle with students, among others. Tips From Teachers: Taking AttendanceAttendance: Something that once seemed so easy with face-to-face learning, has become a daunting task for teachers in virtual settings. Check out our blog post feature tips...