The Digital PIRATE (JP Elder/Rosemont)

Find this page at: DitchThatTextbook.com/fortworth

Getting started

1. Technology is changing the world in exciting ways … but how? Let’s find out in this Kahoot! Head to kahoot.it.

2. “I quit using my textbooks …”

The Voice of the Active Learner: Education from a Digital Native’s Perspective (YouTube link)

PART 1: IDENTIFY THE CHANGE

Reflection questions. We will answer each question individually. Write your thoughts on paper, in a document or in an email to yourself. Moonshot thinking (YouTube link)

PART 2: THE DIGITAL PIRATE IN THE CLASSROOM

The Digital PIRATE ebook: 20 practical activities you can use immediately in your classroom, each with a Teach Like a PIRATE engagement hook and a free tech tool. Sign up here to get it for FREE and have a link emailed to you instantly.

1. The MOZART HOOK with Garage Band

2. The REAL WORLD APPLICATION HOOK with Google Hangouts/Skype

3. The SAFARI HOOK with the Camera App

4. The INVOLVED AUDIENCE HOOK with Poll Everywhere

Copies of presentation slides: CLICK HERE

PART 3: THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

Let’s harness the power of passionate teachers gathered together by collecting some of our best teaching ideas. Click here if you can’t view the form below.

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View teaching ideas in the spreadsheet below or click here.

Get Matt’s FREE eBook, “101 Practical Ways to Ditch That Textbook. Click here to get it delivered directly to your inbox!

PART 4: BYOD BONANZA!

How can you easily — but meaningfully! — engage students who bring their own devices to class? Here are some ideas!

The “Obscure” Camera App — 10 ways to use the camera app in class
Augmented Reality with Aurasma — Watch the $20 bill come to life!
The Digital Sketching App: Paper by FiftyThree — Sketchnoting/visual notetaking resources
Get Up and Move with QR Code Scavenger Hunts — Classtools.net’s scavenger hunt generator
Six-Word Story, Six-Shot Unique Shots

PART 5: TAKE YOUR CLASS GLOBAL

Take your classroom beyond the four walls of the classroom! Go to: https://ditchthattextbook.com/connect/ to find out how.

PART 6: THE LIGHTNING ROUND!

Hold on, because they’re going to come fast and furious! 60 useful digital tools in 60 minutes. Go to: http://DitchThatTextbook.com/lightning for the entire list!

PART 7: GOOGLE GENIUS! (BYOD VERSION)

1. Animation: This is a great hack (i.e. non-traditional use) of Google Slides that could take some time to complete but yield amazing results. Check out this video, where the creators made an impressive animation with 450 slides in a Google Slides presentation just by clicking through the slides quickly.

2. Virtual tours with Google Earth: Google Earth’s street view is a visually stunning experience, giving users a first-person view of life from the streets of cities around the globe. Google Earth is great for giving virtual tours, but there’s a simpler and faster version of it. Take screenshots of scenes from Google Earth and paste them in a Google Slides presentation. Add a title and/or some text description. With lots of slides, a virtual tour can happen quickly and meaningfully.

3. Travel the world with Google Street View Treks. Become an explorer with Google Maps Street View. Check out these locations where Google has gathered stunning street views alongside extra photos and information. Destinations include Giza, the Taj Mahal, Nepal, the Galapagos Islands and even the Great Barrier Reef!

4. Explore and create with Google Maps. This versatile tools is available on practically any device! In this web resource, Kurt Wismer gives plenty of ideas for implementation into the classroom.

5. Build with Chrome. Build with Legos. Online. Do I need to say anything else? Check it out!

6. Get your tent and sleeping bag — Camp Google! What’s deep in the ocean? How do you live in space? Google, National Geographic and Khan Academy walk students through the process of discovering answers to interesting questions. When done, students earn badges — kind of feels like scouting all over again, doesn’t it?

7. The Amazing Race, Google Style. This game is an intense mashup of Google Slides/Documents, Google Forms and Google Maps (optional). Students must complete several challenges provided by the instructor using Google Slides or Documents. Once the complete the first challenge in the slide presentation or document, they submit the link to the presentation/document in a Google Form. Once submitted, the link to the next challenge in the game is in a link on the confirmation page for the form. Clear as crystal, right? No? Check out this outstanding example by Michelle Green. Once you get it, this activity is super engaging.

8. Get organized — or stay organized — with Google Keep. Is your work area or fridge littered with sticky notes? Write something down and then can’t find that important note? You need Google Keep. It’s like sticky notes that follow you on whatever device you use. They’re connected to your Google account. If you have an Android phone and install the Google Keep widget, you can even create GPS reminders that remind you to do something when you reach the destination. Genius!

9. Discover the world with Google Cultural Institute. Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces. See super high-resolution images of some of the best works of art in the world. Walk world-famous museums. Examine historical happenings in detail.

PART 8: GAME-CHANGING MINDSETS

Mindsets from Matt’s book, Ditch That Textbook (Amazon link):

Choose to cheat
Minimum effective dose
Connected educator
You are your own best PD

Let’s blog about mindsets! Go to: KidBlog.org/class/Ditch-That-Textbook and log in.

Click the “Log in” button in the top right.
Username: Choose “Ditch Student” from the drop-down menu.
Password: ditch123

PART 9: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

Let’s take some time to process what we’ve learned and thought about today. We’ll get together in departments, grade levels or organic groups to discuss our plans/ideas.