The Whiteboard

Homepage You should be meeting the following requirements to ensure your homepage is accessible. Translated Text Fonts that are readable (avoid cursive or anything that looks cursive) Visual icons Below are two customizable homepages you can use and edit for your own class. There is a horizontal calendar option and a vertical calendar option. Click on the links for the canvas course to copy it in your course. Canvas Horizontal Calendar Homepage Canvas Vertical Calendar Homepage Common Icons I recommend starting the year with an intro and a key of common icons you use in your classroom, see example above....

Do you recognize this binder? If you have never seen this be sure to reach out to Tara White and she can help get you the resource. Turn to the first page and follow the directions to access your digital playbook resources. When you use your access code you will be able to get to a website to access Digital Anchor Charts Roadmaps (Editable or Filled in) Signs / Printable Cards Worksheets Videos FAQ page Lesson Ideas Watch the video below for a quick walkthrough of the digital playbook. Digital Anchor Charts If you watched the walkthrough, you saw the...

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...

As a kid, I felt so satisfied when holding the small wooden scraper tool to scratch away the layer of black ink, revealing all the hidden rainbow colors on a scratch art pad.   You can create the same nostalgic Scratch Art feel digitally in Seesaw! Using Scratch Art can amp up engagement with students while holding on to the content you want them to focus on.  Simply use the rainbow Seesaw background, add a layer of black with the marker, then use white to write your content.  Students then use the eraser tool to trace your content or anywhere...

My husband is a reader, but not the kind of reader that reads novels. He’s the type that you can’t bring to a museum because he will read every word on every sign. If my honeymoon to Hawaii taught me anything it’s how little I know about Pacific Islander heritage and history, because everything I know is what he shared with me that week after he read every sign, everywhere we went. Nowhere in my formal education did I learn about Pacific Islander history, or Asian American history for that matter. May is the month that we celebrate Asian American...

Tip #1: Be mindful of your own window of tolerance.  When you are within your window of tolerance, you feel like you are able to deal with whatever is coming your way. We have the ability to show up for ourselves during difficult moments, and show up for our students when they are struggling. However, when you experience stress, your window of tolerance shrinks and it is easier for you to become dysregulated.  When we are outside our window of tolerance, our reactions to student behavior can negatively impact our students. If you feel like you have moments like this,...

Canvas studio is a video creation and engagement tool that makes creating, editing, and using videos easier for both teachers and students. Now everyone can create and collaborate through video media right in Canvas.  There are a lot of useful purposes for Studio but some of my favorites include  Instructors can record or upload a simple video and use the editing tools to make it interactive, engaging, and add captions with a click of a button.  Students can upload large video sizes easily (Student iPads don’t have access to all of studio) Add quizzes on top of created or uploaded videos...

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!

Dear struggling teacher, below you will find our 4 big suggestions when approaching this issue with best technology and SIOP practices, Smekens strategies, and utilizing our ELA curriculum resources.  Tip #1: Use accessibility features on the iPad, including those within Seesaw and Canvas. First and foremost, ensure your content is accessible to your students. Have you taught your students the basic accessibility features within the iPad? Be sure to take time to teach these features and then remind students to use them! This will allow your students to be more independent while working through work that the rest of the class has...

Below are the changes and updates for Canvas starting April 16th.  Change Default Due Time  You can change the default due time for your courses. Go to Account Settings or Course Settings and change the time that fits your course’s needs. *The new default due time will not update existing assignments with due dates already set.  Apply Score to Ungraded Assignments A new option in the gradebook allows you to apply scores to ungraded submissions all at once. The options menu from an assignment group or the Total column in the Gradebook allows instructors to select to Apply Score to Ungraded....

Dear frustrated teacher, below you will find our 3 big suggestions when approaching this issue with de-escalation, Trauma-Informed Care, and SIOP in mind.  Tip #1: Don’t take student behavior personally.  Before you can help students control their outbursts and time on task, you need to ensure your own emotions are regulated. This starts with rational detachment. In a nutshell, rational detachment is the ability to control our own behavior/emotions and not take student hostility personally. Sounding easier than it is, you may need to practice regulating your own emotions and reactions to student behavior.  Take a step back and take...

Finding small and easy ways to connect with our students doesn’t just help engage them in content, it also creates small opportunities in building relationship. Making videos can become an easy tool that you keep in your Batman Utility Belt. Check out some new ideas and strategies below on how to use videos in your classroom. Building background / academic language Instead of starting a unit with a video you found on youtube, make your own! Talk about how it connects to your prior unit so it activates prior knowledge or sparks engagement with a fun video of you going...

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...