Updates

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 Kennedy Boland Riverview Carolyn Kelley Roosevelt Karin Wirick Woodland Emily Kuzdas North Side...

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...

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!

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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, whether you’re in person or online. We also have some ideas for new PD this year that will help you get up to speed and push your students while working virtually. Rebecca Dodd Beardsley Sondra Flora Beck Taryn Diaz De Leon Bristol Tanisha Miller EHS East...

This week, we’re going to change up the PD and PLC process slightly from weeks past. Kat and I have noticed a shift in the questions we’re getting and in the needs of staff across the district. To respond, we’re going to try an experiment with PD on Tuesday and the way we run PLC discussions on Thursday. All sessions are posted, and you can take a look now. Unified Professional Development Each PD session this week is geared toward general instruction and will include experts in ELL instruction, special education, high ability, and technology. The topics cover all grade...

Each week, Kat and Brian are working to provide a number of choices for PD, PLC discussions, and other support options each week. Our goal is to make sure you have the support you need when you need it. In this post, we’ll break down all three options at your disposal. Tuesday: All the PD Every Tuesday, you can attend any number of PD options available online. These are designed to teach a skill or tool to help you teach and communicate more effectively with students and parents. Brian and Kat split the load and offer sessions on the hour...