Bloom into EdTech: The Blog

Have you had the experience of losing a student during a Google Meet and not having the ability to rejoin? Even if you didn’t remove them from the Meet, from time-to-time a student may lose connectivity and not be able to rejoin. We have also been experiencing this phenomenon even after resetting the Google Meet link in Google Classroom and reinventing everyone back in. Some students are still not lucky enough to rejoin!? A work around to this is having the lost student access Google Meet itself https://meet.google.com/ and providing them with the code to your Meet. As of this post, simply sending the students the direct link did not work. If you are in the midst of your Google Meet you can easily access this code in the bottom left hand corner: You can share the link to Google Meet ( https://meet.google.com ) and the code to your Google Classroom’s Stream, GoGuardian, etc. Once your student is at Google Meet, have them enter the code that you have given them: This so far has been su...

 If you were a game character, what would you be like? Learn about your students by tapping into their inner-gamer. In this simple Get-To-Know-You Google Slide template, your students will: learn how to navigate to a linked Website ( https://www.abcya.com/games/make_a_face ).  create and download their gaming character.  Insert their downloaded character into a Google Slide. type 3 powers that their character possess. This is the time to have them think of three strengths that they want to share with you and your class! Don't forget to force a copy for each student in Google Classroom/Schoology! Grab your copy here! Introductions: Gaming Character by Aimee Bloom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

                 So, we have Webquests , HyperDocs , Choice Boards , Playlists , Interactive Games in Google Slides all utilizing Google Docs, Forms, and Slides as a way to present information and encourage choice and voice for student learning. If you follow my blog, you know that my realm of education has expanded as I have been an art teacher, a computer teacher, an assistant principal, a technology integration specialist, and am now a staff development specialist. I spent the last few months (like many in my position) assisting teachers on how to teach and what tools to teach with during our stint with distant learning. During this time, I facilitated numerous online courses, workshops, webinars for teachers and admin on various technologies and instructional practices for distance learning that include, but not limited to, creating mutli-modal ways to deliver content in which students have choice.  This brainchild of mine...

Today during an ISTE Certified Teacher virtual meeting, I used a “newsroom” animated virtual background for Zoom that I created using Screencastify and Canva. I was asked how I made this possible. Below are the directions: First, here is my example so you have some context as to how to make this work: Okay, the steps…. I personally recorded my screen using Screencastify and exported the recording into an animated Gif. Then on to Canva …. In Canva, I started by Creating a Design using Custom Dimensions and setting the dimensions just below the recommended 1920px by 1080px (16:9 aspect ratio) from Zoom. (I originally had it set at the recommended ratio but was advised by Zoom that it was too large of a file when I went to upload it). I went to work creating my virtual background. Once content, I then uploaded the animated gif that I recorded and downloaded from Screencastify into Canva and added it as part of my background. Then download it as an MP4. You can also download as animated ...

As part of an effort to incorporate more mind breaks into my day, I have been creating and editing the following Google Slide document that I would like to share with you. I have a feeling that I will continuously be adding so please check back.  You can grab your free copy by clicking here. Upon opening the document, you will notice that there are many slides that have pre-made themes for you to use with your students. You can easily delete any slide you wish not to use in the template by clicking on the unwanted slide on the left hand side and going to Edit in the menu then Delete :   Furthermore, you can edit any of the following tables to meet your needs. You and/or your students can type and change the format of the font or color within each editable table.  The document is completely editable. Please feel free to use the created backgrounds to create a  Learning Menus, HyperDocs, Choice Boards, Play Lists based on your needs. You can easily customize th...

I am an educator, a student, a mother. Parenting. In this quarantine. Navigating both the supportive role of education, but also as the recipient of children who are learning in crisis mode. I made this for my children. For your children. Please, stay healthy and safe. Download your Free Printable here. Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free: Presentation template by SlidesCarnival Photographs by Unsplash  & Pixabay

“This is an unprecedented time in education that we are experiencing. Do you know who my heart goes out to?” I hear my words echo as we close in to week three of quarantine. I am video conferencing with a group of art teachers from various school districts within my region that is composed of three counties in New York State. “My heart bleeds for the districts. For the administration. For the staff. For the teachers. For the students. For the parents. No matter how many times we speak of the impact that technology has on our daily lives, and on our educational system, nothing has prepared any of us for this. Distance (remote, or whichever term you prefer) learning is a different discipline in and of itself. No matter how many times we use tech tools in our classrooms, flip learning, or have hybrid environments, we were not prepared to teach or learn like this. Not only are we more aware of the digital divide as it was slapped across our face as a state, as a nation- we were also ...

Today, parents, educators, and administrators received the news that schools in my area of New York State are to close until April 20. With the uncertainty that lies ahead as to how this will look like as a whole, and as I hear many educator friends and parents asking for digital resources, I created this Wakelet in an effort to support their uncertainty.  Many of the resources listed below are waiving fees due to school closures. This list will expand. Make sure to check back!

One aspect of my job as a staff development specialist that I truly enjoy is the ability to work with a variety of individuals in the field of education. Although a large part of my position is mainly working on the “techie” side of education, my position often lends itself to the “other duties assigned” realm of things. For example, one day I can be working with a class of Kindergarteners with robotics and coding, the next assisting teachers with curriculum mapping for middle school manufacturing classes, the following day reviewing science standards and storylines with a science department, and then the next pulling data for a school board presentation. Aside from dabbling in educational technology as well as “this century” instructional practices and pedagogy, I do a LOT of work with art and music educators. Honestly, when I do, it is like a home-cooked meal; it is very comforting for me, since I started my career as an art teacher. I worked with an elementary music teache...

I have to say that I have just recently entered the world of a Wakelet Ambassador after only using the application for a few short months and quickly falling in love. Aside from bookmarking resources for myself personally for “professional reasons” (for example, I made myself a Wakelet bucket list collection that I set to private with resources of tools and endeavors that I would like to accomplish for 2020), I also use Wakelet to quickly share resources with the teachers and administrators during my professional development workshops and to collect resources and New York State Education updates that were presented to the curriculum administrators in my region as a way to curate resources with the regional professional learning communities or with folks like yourself! New to Wakelet? Below is a tutorial to get you started. Simply click around the image below to begin! Wakelet Adventure by Aimee Bloom ✅Quick Tip- and nothing revolutionary here…. Well, to me it is. ...

It's almost the end of January. How are your New Year's resolutions going for you? Perhaps you promised yourself that you would eat better, get fitter, spend less time on social media? Then you go to a conference for a week, eat all the no-good-for-you-foods, tweet every 30 seconds, and come February admit to yourself that January was more of a one-month free trial. #FETC #FETC2020 #Miami! {Yes, I may be referencing myself here}. Good news, it gets even better - this year we happen to have an extra day to disappoint ourselves due to Leap Year. Okay, so enough with the negativity towards setting NYE resolutions. Setting realistic goals can help move us forward, and perhaps give us a sense of purpose. Some see this practice as a way to get out of the so-called comfort zone, so it's scary as hell. For others, instead, goals may be a way to measure their self worth. Whatever your reason, please remember that each goal you set is just a benchmark, a way to check in an...