Monday, December 14, 2015
Group Assignments in Google Classroom
If you use or are interested in using Google Classroom and are looking for help with Group assignments, check out Google Gooru's Create Group Assignments in Google Classroom post. It's super helpful!
The Syrian Refugee Crisis explained
I recently ran across this video explaining the Syrian refugee crisis. The first half is helpful if you're looking for a way
for your students to understand why the Syrian refugee crisis is such a big
thing and where it started. The second half of the video gets a bit biased
about why countries should accept refugees, just FYI.
g(Math) [add-in for Google Forms] now has standalone Handwriting entries
Rubric Creators
FreeTech4Teachers put together this list of 3 Good Tools for Creating Rubrics. He mentions Rubistar, Quick Rubric, and Online Rubric. Read his article for more details on each.
You might also look into the Google Add-on Orange Slice: Teacher Rubric and accompanying Student Rubric (students can rate peer's work).
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Edutopia's Big List of Educational Grants and Resources
If you're looking for grants to enhance your classroom, check out Edutopia's Big List of Educational Grants and Resources!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Oodles of Google Search Tips
Check out this article entitled The advanced Google searches every student should know posted at eClassroom News. I particularly love the suggestions given to students on page 2 to get them results from other parts of the world with completely different viewpoints than what they're used to.
And to go along with that...
Check out these Google search tips from the Google Gooru...
And to go along with that...
Check out these Google search tips from the Google Gooru...
Histography - Timeline of History
This is one of the coolest websites I've run across.
Every dot is a historic event from Wikipedia.
Resize the bottom bar to view any time period or era.
Use navigation on the left to narrow by topics including literature, music, wars, politics, construction, inventions, riots, women rights, disasters, art, nationality, discoveries, empires, assassinations, and religion.
170,000 Great Depression photographs released
170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945 created by the United States
Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) have been
released to the public.
Here’s an article about the pictures: money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2015/10/19/great-depression-170000-photos-yale/index.html
You can look through the 170,000 photos from the Great Depression
here: photogrammar.yale.edu
You can view by category or by map. It’s pretty cool!
Monday, November 30, 2015
The Force Goes Google
For those Star Wars and Google fans out there, check out Google Gooru's The Force Goes Google article. It summarizes all the ways you can customize your Google experience in a Star Wars way.
Note Taking Skills for 21st Century Students
I often hear teachers talk about how students don't know how to take notes. This article (Note Taking Skills for 21st Century Students) from CoolCatTeacher (Vicki Davis) may be a helpful read. It includes a couple of videos you could show your students (taking Cornell notes and visual note basics) as well as some suggestions of things you can do in your class.
3 Best Training Sessions for Educators using Google Apps
Google Gooru recently posted their 3 Best Training Sessions for Educators using Google Apps. The list includes (1) A Deep Dive into Google Classroom, (2) Automate the Grading Process with Flubaroo, and (3) The Benefits of Deploying Chromebooks. I recommend you take a look!
Is Your Brain Being Googled To Death?
Check out this article titled Is Your Brain Being Googled To Death? recently published by the Dallas Morning News. It's quite interesting.
Monday, November 16, 2015
6 Things You Can Do in Google Sheets
Google Gooru's 6 things From Excel That You Didn’t Know You Could Do In Google Sheets. Some of the tips are pretty useful!
TED-Ed: Superhero Science and more cool topics
Superhero Science is a playlist of science lessons
published by TED-Ed. The lessons in the playlist feature explanations of what
would happen in various scenarios if you had superhero powers like flight,
strength, and speed. Each lessons explains the mathematics and science of
scenarios frequently found in superhero stories. For example, in the lesson on
strength we learn what would happen if a superhero did catch someone falling
from the top of a skyscraper.
On that same link, there is alist of all the other TED-Ed lesson series that are available. Some
fantastic stuff!
Actions and Reactions
Animation Basics
Awesome Nature
Before and After Einstein
Behind the Curtain
Click You Fortune
Cyber-Influence & Power
Discovering the Deep
Ecofying Citites
Everyone Has a Story
Exploring Theories
Getting Under Our Skin
Government: Declassified
How Things Work
Ingenuity in the Developing World
Inventions that Shape History
Making the Invisible Visible
Mastering Tech Artistry
Math in Real Life
Mind Matters
Mysteries of Vernacular
Our Changing Climate
Out of This World
Periodic Videos
Playing with Language
Questions No One (Yet) Knows the Answers To
Reading Between the Lines
The Artist's Palette
The Big Questions
The Way We Think
The World's People and Places
The Writer's Workshop
Things they Don't Teach in School (But Should)
Troubleshooting the World
Visualizing Data
What Will You Do with Your Life?
You Are What You Eat
You Graduated... Now What?
If you have never used TED-Ed
before, if you create a FREE teacher account, you can customize the questions
and activities that go with the videos and you can assign them to your
students.
Let me know if you are
interested in learning more about it. I’d be happy to help set it up.
Dozens of Great PowerPoints for AP History Students & Teachers
From Richard Byrne (Free Tech 4 Teachers), Dozens of Great PowerPoints for AP History Students & Teachers
Monday, November 9, 2015
10 Google Tips Every Teacher Should Know
DitchThatTextbook.com put together a list of 10 Google Tips Every Teacher Should Know. The one I use the most often is #1 The Power of Searching and the one I think is the coolest is #10 Voice Typing. Check out the list and see which tip is your favorite!
Random Name Pickers and Group Making Tools
If you're looking for Random Name Pickers or Group Making Tools, check these out...
Google Drive Options
You can make a copy of a Google Sheet that will do this for you
here: Article with directions
You can use Flippity.net to create one as well: Article with directions
There is also a Google Template for generating groups: Google Template
Website Options
There is a website (www.classtools.net/random-name-picker)
that lets you input names and spin a virtual wheel to have a name randomly
selected from the list. After a name is selected you can remove it from
the wheel so that it is not selected again. This website is free to use
and doesn’t require registration to use. You can save your lists by
assigning passwords to them. You can re-use your saved lists.
The Random Name Picker was written in HTML5 so that it will run in the browser of your iPad too.
This could be a fun way to select the order in which students will present to classmates.
The Random Name Picker was written in HTML5 so that it will run in the browser of your iPad too.
This could be a fun way to select the order in which students will present to classmates.
The website (instantclassroom.com)
has several tools for teachers, but it does require a free account.
The good thing is that once you’ve created your class lists, you can use them in all of their applications which include a SeatingChart Maker, RandomName Generator, and even a ClassroomGroup Maker.
The good thing is that once you’ve created your class lists, you can use them in all of their applications which include a SeatingChart Maker, RandomName Generator, and even a ClassroomGroup Maker.
This works in the browser of all devices too!
App Options
As far as apps go, I personally like things that can be used
across platforms, but here is a list of installable iTunes apps that can be
used for this purpose. Many of the apps, unlike the websites above, are
sadly not free: Student Selector & Grouping Apps
Kagan also has several tools in iTunes (Name Selector, Student
Selector, Timers, and Spinners). Naturally, these are also paid.: www.kaganonline.com/apps
Here are two free apps for Android:
Group Picker Express
Random Student Picker
Group Picker Express
Random Student Picker
TechTator Pinterest Page
Just a reminder to everyone that the DLCs in the district have
created a Pinterest board with app and website suggestions divided into folders
for easy location: www.pinterest.com/techtators
There is also always the old popsicle in the jar.
Thanks to Kristy McCoy (DLC for Pioneer Heritage and Stafford) for compiling this list!
Doodle 4 Google Contest
Google's annual Doodle 4 Google contest is open through December 7th.
Please share with any interested students!
Check Clutter and Junk Mail
Don't forget to check your Clutter and Junk Mail folders often.
Clutter is determined by your reading patterns. If you routinely delete an email without opening it to read, after the pattern is identified, future similar emails will be moved to your Clutter folder.
To get it back, drag it from your Clutter folder to your Inbox and email will learn that you want to keep those in your Inbox.
Junk Mail is determined by a filtering system and by senders/emails that you mark as Junk.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Library/Tech Exbooo Resources
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it by the Library/Tech Exbooo on Friday. Please click here for the information that was shared at the stations: (1) Learning Hub, (2) Google Apps, (3) Digital Citizenship, (4) Google Classroom
As always, please let Penney Matos and Tammy Turner know if there's anything we can do to help support you and your classes!
"Code Girl" Documentary
There is a new documentary encouraging girls to code called
“Code Girl” that is available for FREE on YouTube this week (through
Thursday).
The documentary is 1 hr 48 min long.
From rural Moldova to urban Brazil to suburban Massachusetts,
CODEGIRL follows teams of high-school aged girls from around the world who have
three months to design an mobile app that solves a problem in their community.
The winning team gets $10K to complete their app, but every girl discovers
something valuable along the way.
Eduphoria Bumper Sticker Contest
Eduphoria is hosting their 12 annual bumper sticker contest. Several of the past winners are pinned on my cubby wall if you want to check them out. If you're interested, submissions are due this Friday, November 6th.
Click here for contest rules and to enter your submission.
Formatting Tables in Google Docs & Slides
Richard Byrne of Free Tech 4 Teachers put together a short video and article on formatting tables in Google Docs and Slides. The video shows how to use table features directly in your Doc or Slide and the article also references the Table Formatter Doc Add-on. Check it out!
Eduphoria's Help Update
Components of a Digital Age Learning Ecosystem
This is an interesting article on the Components of a Digital Age Learning Ecosystem. It gives a short explanation of each of the ecosystem pieces as the author sees them.
If you are interested in discussing this topic, or anything else related to the use of technology in your class, please let Penney Matos know!
Monday, October 26, 2015
Google Timer
If you're looking for a quick way to time something, do a Google search for the time you want plus "timer".
NASA Released 8,4000 Apollo Mission Images
NASA recently released 8,4000 images of the Apollo Missions. They're housed on Flickr so they may be blocked on the FISD filter but you can check them out at home. They're pretty cool!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Get Link Info
With all the short URLs out there, some housed through shorteners that are blocked by our filter, you may find it helpful to see where the shortenend URL is set to actually take you. www.getlinkinfo.com does that!
Enter the short URL at www.getlinkinfo.com and click Get Link Info for the real long URL it will take you to visit.
TED-Ed Lessons by Grade Level
You can now search TED-Ed lessons by grade level! This is super handy to help narrow down results that may be more appropriate for use in your class.
For more information, see this article at Edublogs.
Getting Started with Google Classroom
Amy Mayer recently posted a video on Getting Started with Google Classroom. It walks you through signing up, looking at class information, assignments and more.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
CHS Exbooo
Mark your calendars now for the 2015 Library &
Technology Exbooo (Expo) in collaboration with the LOTE & Fine Arts October
Social!
Watch the VideoTrailer.
Add topic suggestions
to the AnswerGarden.
Link for online version of the flyer with active hyperlinks.
On Friday, October 30th,
stop by the Library during your
conference to…
… explore
… get a bite to eat
… sign up for door
prizes!
Monday, October 12, 2015
Lesson Technology Integration vs. Blended Learning
At a training last week I came across this video that beautifully explains the difference in and importance of Lesson Technology Integration and Blended Learning.
If you would like to talk about how Technology Integration and/or Blended Learning in your class, please see Penney Matos!
Write Music in Google Docs
I think this is so cool! You can write basic music in Google Documents with the VexTab Music Notation add-on. To read more about it, see what Richard Byrne of Free Tech 4 Teachers has to say here.
65 Things You Can Do in iOS 9 That You Couldn't Do in iOS 8
If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, check out 65 Things You Can Do in iOS 9 That You Couldn't Do in iOS 8.
My favorites are the iPad options for Slide Over, Split View, and Picture-in-Picture at the bottom of the article.
Monday, October 5, 2015
6 Strategies for Encouraging Critical Thinking
Take a minute to read Global Digital Citizen Foundation's article 6 Strategies for Encouraging Critical Thinking.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Best Practices for a Digital World
A "Best Practices for a Digital World" block has been added to all Student Learning Hub courses at Centennial HS. These tips will change every day.
Encourage your students to read these every time they log in!
If you run across any graphics, websites, etc. that would be good additions to the glossary it pulls from, send them to Penney Matos!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Graphite's Top Picks for Persuasive and Argumentative Writing
Common Sense Media's Graphite
These products include skills-builders, practice tools, and writing communities, all of which help students -- especially those in middle and high school – understand the mechanics and art of crafting writing that communicates a point well.
Help... I'm out of storage on my iPhone!
Carroll ISD put together a great article full of suggestions on how to save space on your iPhone.
Android users, sorry, I don't have an article for you now but if I come across one I'll share!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Getting Started with Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts are a great way to quickly connect with others around the world. Staff in FISD is able to use the feature but students are not.
Check out Amy Mayer's video on Getting Started with Google Hangouts.
Use it for:
Collaborating with teachers in other buildings
Guest speakers
Check in with a homebound student
Monday, August 31, 2015
6 Updates to Google Classroom
For teachers who use Google docs with students for assignments on a regular basis, Google Classroom can be a wonderful tool. It also can be linked from your Student Learning Hub site.
Here are a few recent updates to Google Classroom:
Additional BYOD Signs
FISD students at the CTE Center have created some additional BYOD signs that can be displayed in your classroom. Check them out!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Pronounce Names
If you're having trouble with how to pronounce names on your rosters, check out these sites:
To read more about these sites, see this article.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Endangered Languages Project
EndangeredLanguages.com is an online collaborative effort to protect global linguistic diversity. It shows languages of the world that are in danger of dying out. It includes approximately how many people still speak the language and, when possible, recordings of the language being spoken.
20 Excel Tips and Tricks
Check out these 20 Tricks That Can Make Anyone an Excel Expert.
Some of the tips are Excel specific but some also work with Google Sheets or MS Word.
Plagiarism Checkers
The fabulous Tammy Turner recommends these 2 FREE options for checking plagiarism:
and
Paper Rater analyzes papers in a variety of ways; plagiarism, spelling, grammar, sentence length, etc. It gives a grade and had an option to send these results to the student's teacher.
Friday, May 15, 2015
LucidChart's New Presentation Mode
LucidChart is a mind mapping tool that recently added a presentation feature.
Check out Richard Byrne's (Free Tech 4 Teachers) tips for educational uses.
To access LucidChart,
- Click New à More à Connect more apps…
- Search for and add LucidChart
- Click New à More à LucidChart
- New documents will show up on your Drive list.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Google Drawing Templates
Google Educator Trainer and Google Certified Teacher, Eric Curts, has put together a resource of pre-made Google Drawing Templates that you can copy and use with your students.
See Penney Matos if you need any help!
Bookmarking in Chrome
It looks like Chrome has changed its bookmarking system just a little bit. It appears to be more like as a Bookmarking Resource (like Diigo, etc.) and less like simple
“favorites” in your browsers.
When you ‘Star’ a website now from the Chrome address bar,
you get a new pop-up that lets you pick a little preview image and more easily
drop the bookmark in one of your folders. You can also add a Note about
the Bookmark, to remind you what it's about.
Also you now have a full Bookmarks site that lets you manage
and share your Bookmarks much easier than you could through the previous, plain
Bookmark Manager.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Email Notification for Google Comments
Don't let another comment go unanswered!
When
commenting (goo.gl/AvhS4z) in Google Docs,
add a "+" in front of a collaborator's email address and we'll send
them an email notification if they have a Google account.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Desmos: Explore Math
Desmos
What it is: Desmos is an incredibly fast online calculator that can graph any imaginable function. It also allows users to add sliders, do regressions, and plot whole data tables, among other things.
Who would love it: Anyone learning math, from middle and high school through graduate school and beyond. Also great for teachers.
Why it’s good: Desmos can be used on any computer or tablet, completely free of charge, and does not even require a download. It seamlessly creates beautiful visual representations and animations, and it allows users to save and share graphs they've created. Desmos makes complex math — whether theoretical or applied — fun, interactive, and accessible.
Why it’s relevant: For many students and math enthusiasts who can't afford graphing calculators, Desmos is leveling the playing field. It is also, in Tech Crunch's words, "platform-agnostic" — so anyone with a computer or tablet can use it anytime. In addition, Desmos is supporting the push toward online textbooks and leading many students to spend their free time creating cool graphs and cultivating a love of math — something that's especially crucial given the growth in STEM-related careers.
Something you didn’t know: The site has an engaging series of classroom activities for teachers. One of these is the Function Carnival, which enables students to watch a video, create a graph, and have that model transformed into an animation. Another is Des-Man, in which students do math artistically — they draw faces with graphs by using domain and range restrictions.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Google's Cultural Institute
Through Google's 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.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Diigo Chrome Extension: bookmark, annotation and notate online
Amy Mayer's video quickly shows you how to add the Diigo Chrome Extension and use it to bookmark, annotate and notate online text.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Google Slides Templates: Slides Carnival
Using the same Google Slides templates over and over gets a little tiring. Check out Slides Carnival for new Google Slides templates!
Monday, April 20, 2015
Chrome Extensions for Teachers
Here are a few handy Chrome extensions:
Time Warp kindly reminds you not to procrastinate when you need to get things done.
SnagIt is a quick screen capture tool. With TechSmith SnagIt's Chrome App, you can screen capture, screen record, image edit and share. With TechSmith SnagIt's Google Chrome Extension, you can take screenshots or screen recordings of anything on your screen including your browser, desktop and applications you have running.
For more ideas, check out this list: Chrome Extensions for Teachers
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