Breakout EDU

       What happens when you get a group of RUSD administrators with a couple of new members of the ILE team and lock them in a room with 45 minutes to break free? You get to see the #powerofRUSD at work as the participants used collaborative and creative thinking to find a way to successfully break out.
       By using a Breakout EDU kit, educators are able to transform any physical space into a gaming experience that emphasizes teamwork, communication, problem solving, and trouble shooting skills. Check out the infographic below to see how it works:

Here at the district office, we were able to transform our fourth floor employee lounge into a time warp transporting the participants back in time. We included a VHS player, old magazines and posters, and music from Journey to complete the ambiance. So just how well did our team do yesterday? Watch the video below to see for yourself.

We will be holding another Breakout EDU on October 27th and those participants will be competing against this first group to see who has the best time!

Socially Engaged Contributors

      What can you do to contribute to the community? Locally, nationally, globally? These are some of the questions we ask our students as they address the fifth element of personalized learning. An aspect of being a socially engaged contributor is to reflect on other people and cultures, recognizing their differences and being respectful of a global community.
      One way we can have our students explore outside of our classrooms is through Google's Global Cultural Institute and YouTube with Yann Arthus-Bertrand's film HUMAN. For three years, the filmmaker traveled to 60 countries and interviewed over 2,000 people in their native languages. He wanted to answer the question, "What is it that makes us human?" Students can watch the film and explore the Cultural Institute's resources to engage with powerful stories about love, justice, family, and more. Invite them to reflect and answer the question #WhatMakesUsHUMAN
       HUMAN is available on YouTube and will also be available on Google Play for tablets and smartphones. Click HERE to explore through Google's Cultural Institute.

See below to watch a short trailer about the film:

“Keep providing these sessions because they will enhance the capacity of administrators!” Responded an RUSD administrator...

Yesterday, the Department of Innovation and Learner Engagement hosted our first professional development session of the year for K-12 administrators. The first session covered topics like the 101 digital literacy standards embedded into the state standards, the SAMR model of technology integration, and what it looks like in various grades to truly transform learning with technology. The attendees were very thankful for having the opportunity to expand their capacity to support their staff in regards to the state standards and technology integration.  

Check out the future session we are offering RUSD administrators by clicking HERE

Walk with Africa's Elephants

       Google Maps has enabled students and teachers to travel to places all over the world, engaged in an immersive environment that goes far beyond reading a book and look in at atlas. Today, classrooms can visit Samburu National Reserve and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy through street views of Kenya.

       Between 2010-2012, 100,000 elephants were killed for their ivory. Thanks to the work of the Sambru National Reserve, their numbers are slowly increasing. By using Google maps, students can get an up close view of these creatures in their natural habitat, seeing them interact across a beautiful landscape.

       Just how are these elephants being tracked and recorded? The Lew radio command center uses GPS to plot their movement. Rangers use the GPS readings with Google Earth to identify the elephants' locations, sending a team of rangers and track dog if they notice suspicious activity. Since 1998, 266 elephants have been collared and observed with this technology
       Watch this video for more information:

Ready to take your students on this digital field trip? Click HERE to get started.

Share Websites Instantly

     Pretend you're a teacher giving a lesson about Ancient Egypt. As you go through your lesson you mention the word sarcophagus. You notice the glazed look of half your class not knowing what you're talking about. Right in the middle of your lesson you load up a Google image and a YouTube video for sarcophagus, you display it for the entire class but want them to have it as a resource later on.
     You wait until recess or lunch and have to find those resources again, creating a content block in Haiku or a resource in Google Classroom. With the latest update in Google Classroom, you no longer have to wait to share resources to your students. Share to Classroom lets you instantly share whatever webpage you're on to specific classrooms in your Google Classroom.  You can download the latest extension Share to Classroom HERE .

Take Students on Awe Inspiring Treks

     Everyone uses Google maps to navigate to a particular location, but did you ever wonder what it takes to get some of those images on your device? We don't think about Google mapping areas outside of the places we live and visit, but they actually set out to map parts of the world that we may never visit. Places like Base Camp at Mt. Everest, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and the Canadian Arctic are all meticulously mapped out as well as the streets you use to get to the super market.
    To go on one of these virtual tours, head over to Google Treks and prepare to spend hours globe trotting over some of the most amazing visuals you'll ever see. By exploring individual treks, you get behind the scenes images, stories, and even audio files about the location. The interactive Google Map allows students to explore in ways that go beyond anything they could experience in an atlas.

     Some of the highlights I encountered exploring included hearing the snow crunch under the Street View photographer's feet as they walk across the frozen land and going on a climb in Yosemite, scaling the steepest part of El Capitan. Try it for yourself below and start your trek.