Friday, December 19, 2014

7th Grade Social Studies Chinese Cuisine Cooking Show

Using Chromebooks this week in 7th grade, Social Studies teachers Audrey Fairchild and Ariana Dumpis had students create cooking show videos using online app WeVideo. They are currently studying Chinese culture and this assignment directed the students to research a traditional dish of Chinese cuisine and its origin. Students also had to research various cooking show formats to get an idea of how to communicate these ideas using this medium.

Working in small groups students used their Chromebooks to do research, write scripts and organize their production. They also had to communicate and organize the group to determine what they needed for the project and to schedule a meeting place to film the cooking. Students used cell phones to film the cooking and then uploaded the video clips to WeVideo using their Chromebooks.

Students collected video and still images and edited them together in WeVideo. They added text and themes to add a professional touch. When they were finished, they published their video to Google Drive and shared it with their teacher. They also were required to share a Google Doc with their recipe and cooking directions. Below are a few examples.

Chinese Sticky Cakes: Cailin and Jossie
Kung Pao Chicken: Amelia, Sydney and Kate

Bubble Tea and Scallion Pancakes: Nur, Erin, Charlotte


Monday, December 15, 2014

Tech Tip of the Week - December 15

Holiday Shopping? A Chromebook case is a great gift and investment!

Over the past month I have been talking to many students who have purchased their own Chromebook case and would like to pass on that information and some of my thoughts about cases. I think investing in a case for your student is a good idea for two reasons:
  1. More Protection: These devices are being carried around along with books, binders, pencil cases, backpacks, etc. and in the hands of middle school students juggling all of these items is challenging. All it takes is one slip and the Chromebook might fall to the ground and be damaged. So far, the most common damage we have seen is cracked screens and corner damage. This is usually caused by dropping or pressure applied to the top that will often crack the screen. A nice case will give you added protection.
  2. Personalization: A case will also allow your student to identify their Chromebook more easily and it will stand out in a stack of Chromebooks.
I have seen four different case designs. All of them have their pluses and minuses which I will detail below. This information is taken from my experience and is my opinion - I do not have hard evidence to back up these claims; this is my gut feeling from my knowledge of middle schoolers and their handling of these devices.

The Dell Chromebook 11 has an 11" screen and measures 11 5/8" x 8" x 3/4".

Hard Plastic Clip On
  • Pros: Very sleek, form fitting, you can use it without taking it out of the case, most have a transparent cover so you can see any stickers or labels on the front, lots of different colors.
  • Cons: No padding, I am not sure how much shock absorption you get with a clip on case, also there is not much protection against pressure to top. There are not many to choose from.  I have seen some students use this type of case along with the soft case for double protection!
  • Brands: iPearl




Soft Case
  • Pros: There are a lot to choose from in this category, these cases come in lots of colors and patterns, they usually have good padding and shock absorption - especially on the top and bottom, usually fits very nice, it is form fitting and small in size.
  • Cons: Corners are not well protected. If it gets dropped on the corner there may be some damage, doesn't protect from top pressure screen breakage.
  • Brands: Evecase, Runetz, Kamor, amCase, CaseLogic and many more





Hard Case
  • Pros: The most protection available in a case. Will protect from drops and pressure damage.
  • Cons: Large size, not many available, most expensive
  • Brands: Thule


Hybrid Case
  • Pros: A good combo of the soft and hard type that includes pros from both.
  • Cons: The only minus I can see is that it is not form fitting and is a bit bigger than the soft case.
  • Brands: Drive Logic

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Tech Tip of the Week - December 8th

My Chromebook is acting weird, frozen, not working… what do I do?

Chrome Updates: Google often updates Chrome and will indicate that with an arrow icon on the bottom corner of the Chromebooks. There will also be an orange hamburger icon up at the top right corner of your browser when you need to update. If you see this icon has turned orange click on it and update. It will only take a few seconds.












Power Cycling: This term is just a fancy tech way of saying restart your computer! Restarting your computer will fix 80% of the common problems and this is true for Chromebooks as well. If your Chromebook is dead and you cannot get it to do anything, it is probably frozen. Hold down the power button for about 10 seconds or so until it powers down. Then after waiting a few seconds hit the power button again and it should start up.











Here is a video to show you about this:


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Chromebook Printing

Here is a video tutorial about printing on you Chromebook:

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Tech Tip of the Week - Dec 1

Printing on Your Chromebook!

Since the Chromebook is a cloud-based device and you cannot load printer software on it, Google has had to come up with some various printing options. You have ways to print from your Chromebook:

1. We have three school printers hooked up to the cloud – the black and white library printer, the black and white Lab22 printer and the color printer in Lab22. All student Chromebooks can print to these printers. Please use this function responsibly - if you print to one of these printers make sure you go and pick up your papers. We waste a lot of paper and ink every year from students who print and do not pick up.

2. Log onto another computer and print. You can log on to any computer that is connected to a printer with your district GAFE account and print out your work.

3. Set up your home computer to share your printer to the cloud. Follow these steps:
a. Log on to your computer at home with your GAFE account
b. Go into Chrome settings
c. Then “Advanced settings” at the bottom
d. Scroll down to “Google Cloud Print”
e. Click the Manage button
f. From this screen you can share your printer to the cloud