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.

google.com/starwars

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!

Link

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.

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!

Follow Up Questions to Help Students Think Critically

4 O'Clock Faculty recently shared this image. Feel free to use it!

They also shared a PDF version.

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

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 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.

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

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!