April is right around the corner and will be bringing us National Poetry Month. More about that next time, but, a friend shared this article with me about a new anthology of Native poetry, with U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Check it out. I'm sure that with Amanda Gorman and poetry at the Super Bowl, we will have a lot to share in the upcoming weeks. Equity and Accessibility I tend to write about various tools for accessibility a lot as that was the biggest change for me when I flipped from private schools to public schools. I had never had kids with disabilities of any kind in my many years in private schools, either it wasn't a "good fit" or the kids had private tutors, so it did not impact my teaching. Then in the fall of 2013 I started working in a public school. I ended up taking a crash course- 36 credits in 16 months and an Ed.S later- now, I get it. This didn't even touch on equity issues relating to gender, race, digital access, etc... just physical and cognitive issues. I was thrilled to see the article and listen to the podcast that Katie Novak and Mirko Chardin did with Jennifer Gonzalez recently, called If Equity is a Priority, UDL is a Must Check out the article and podcast here: www.cultofpedagogy.com/udl-equity/ Katie and Mirko talk with Jennifer starting ~ 5 min in. More Accessibility Stuff
CAST presented a webinar today called : What It’s All About: Teaching, Learning and Assessment These frameworks are a work in progress. This is the slidedeck (ppt). The recording will post in the coming weeks. Torrey Trust et al, recently shared this really nice hyperdoc/choice board on the Foundations of the U.S. Political System. Please remember to make your own copy/ do not request edit access, and please credit the authors. Tall Tweets I highlighted Eric Curt's tutorial for Tall Tweets, back in 2018. Lately I have been seeing more and more folks using both Tall Tweets and the new version Studio Creator to quickly and easily create gifs and videos. Teachers have been assigning or offering this as an option... show mitosis as a gif, show the water cycle as a gif, etc. So, I added the new version, Creator Studio, the slides add-on, to our allowed marketplace add-ons. It has mixed reviews, so if you try it and want to share either your positive or negative experiences, let us know. It's an add-on, so go to slides, add-ons-get add-ons to find it. It looks like most of the features you may want to use may not be free. Ideas to Share
0 Comments
Enable Live Captions This is a quick and easy accessibility feature, built right into chrome. Takes less than a minute to turn it on. These captions are not stored on the cloud, etc... just appear on your device for any audio or video. You can turn it off when not needed; you can even use it offline on audio or video you have saved. Read a bit more about it here. Tab in the Corner This is a handy little feature to know about. It's new and it is super easy to use. Like Alice, I often have multiple tabs open and at least 3 windows. This lets me quickly and easily navigate between them Flipgrid for Google? This is a new tool from Google to create short videos to share with others, and to have them respond. Richard Byrne does a nice job showing you the main features of the tool in the video below. We have applied to roll this out at HPS but it isn't available on your accounts as of this moment. However, I do have it on my personal gmail account. Not sure why they are asking us to jump through hoops on this one. It's not an IT holdup, it's a Google thing. You can read more about it here. Richard also compares this new tool, Threadit to Loom for recording right in your inbox in this video, which I also found interesting. Slides Toolbox I thought I had enabled this one in the Marketplace a while back, but realized that I was accessing via my personal account. It's available now. It allows you to reshuffle all your slides, to combine slide decks, to add a whole bunch of images at once, download all your slides at once, etc. Another handy tool. Quilgo Adding timed assessments to Google Forms (formerly called Timify Me). This is a freemium product- an add on from Google Marketplace. You get the first 100 tests for free. Each student gets their own test, so the numbers add up quickly. I agree that this is not the time to add more pressure to either students or teachers, however, this may be useful for students who will need to prep for timed testing. Another accessibility feature- the Lexend font. I didn't know that this is readily available to all of our students via the simplify page in Read & Write for Google Chrome. Try it out with your students. Does it help? I know that some kids like the Dyslexie font, others like the BeeLine reader chrome extension. Some need to use a color filters. Add this one to the mix and let students use what works best for them.
Just for fun...
Yes, I know this is our February vacation week, but figured that many of you are stuck at home, iced in at the moment, anyway. I spent much of my free time last week attending the virtual MassCUE conference and a bit of the Ohio conference as well. I'm really glad I have til July to get through some of the many excellent recorded presentations for MassCUE as there is simply not enough time in the day. But before I share some of the presentation material that I found really useful, I wanted to share this video from Greg Kulowiec. Record to Slides now has screen recording! This can be a game changer for some of you. MassCUE favs...so farIt's hard to pick out favorites as there are seriously so many to choose from and I have only started to go through all the pre-recorded sessions. A few that stood out for me include Torrey Trust et al's Inspiring Children’s Writing Through STEM Activities & Digital Storytelling, Christina Scilingo's G Suite Sweets (The Sequel), Laura Tilton's Google Forms and Data Studio presentation and I learned a lot about using Microbit classroom from both Melissa Zeitz's presentation as well as Katie Henry's. Katie also showed the integration with Tinkercad, which maybe useful. I cannot share the actual presentations- but have permission from Torrey and Christina to share their slideshows and resource docs. I have referenced some of Torrey Trust's hyperdocs in the past, but had not seen her or the co-authors, Robert W. Maloy, and Sharon A. Edwards present. This was an engaging presentation with excellent examples, which I hope you can glean from the Google Slides link. One of the incredible resources accompanying this is a 30+ page doc of their Digital Connections Toolkit. Don't be overwhelmed... keep the link and check out parts of that interest you as you have time. G Suite Sweets I enjoyed Christina Scilingo's G Suite Sweets presentation; always pick up a few new tricks seeing how others use these tools. The link to her slides is here. Christina also included a link to her incredible Digital Resource Guide. This is yet another document to save and check out. Well rounded list of resources with great examples to follow. Here's another link to some useful example documents. You can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/msscilingonps Google Forms and Data Studio I have learned a bit about Google Data Studio in the past, but haven't had time to play around with it. This looks like an excellent, easy to use tool. I find it more intuitive than pivot tables, and will make a great replacement for Awesome Table, which is no longer free. This is the link to the slide deck that Laura presented. Check out the links on the slides for great examples to play around with. Laura was careful to give the tips needed to make data cleanup a whole lot easier. This can help you explore and walk you through the steps, or take the FREE beginner's course offered by Google online
And from Ohio- Eric Curts I was lucky to catch Eric Curts' presentation at OETC Ohio Ed conf 21. Now, if you're thinking, ah- I've seen this before... Eric updates his resources- all. the. time. I, too, have looked through all of the resources in Google Tools for Struggling Readers. They change, all the time and I really appreciate a chance to revisit them and pick up some new idea. If you go to his site, just add the document to your google drive. If you make your own copy, you won't get all the updates in the future. Ideas to Share
Jake Miller has a new way to present Google Slides in a partial screen.
Handy tip to have. Valentine's Day
Just in case you still need a little something for ♥ Valentine's Day, here you go...
Christine Dixon and Marla Rosenthal have a Valentine's Paper Engineering Challenge for you. Click on the screenshot below. Remember you can find all of their STEAM challenges here.
♥ Or, how about using some of Christine Pinto's ideas with the littles? Check out her link here.
♥ Need more? Here's a bunch of quick, easy ideas for your classroom.
♥ Or, how about just a kindness challenge? Click on the image, then go to the three dots on the top right to make your own copy.
3D or VR Field Trips
This site was new to me today. It offers you a great way to explore monuments and international treasures. It is from Cyark, which I had never heard of. Explore the National Mall virtually with Monumental Ideas! cyark.org/monumentalide… "Engage students in STEAM based learning with a set of tools to discover and investigate the Lincoln and MLK Jr memorials. Comprehensive lesson plans are provided for K-12 @NationalMallNP"
Click on the link for the game and the lesson plans This is their mission: Ideas to Share
SafeYouTube is now Video Link.
As always, things change rapidly in the online world. One website that I love, but haven't featured is
The Kid Should See This. "The Kid Should See This is an unprecedented collection of 4,500+ kid-friendly videos, curated for teachers and parents who want to share smarter, more meaningful media in the classroom and at home. " And... it's free. Not just for little kids, all ages will love these videos.
|
|
|
Originality reports & Google Citation Tool
Plagiarism comes up over and over again across all grade levels and disciplines. Google Has tools to help right in Google Classroom. You can find out more about it here.
|
Google Workspace also recently came out with built-in tool for citations. You no longer have to use a 3rd party add-on or extension. Check out Richard Byrne's video below.
|
|
|
Whiteboards, again...
|
|
New Microbit
|
|
Free Google PD
Inspire Creativity through Learner Engagement
This one looks really good, uses lots of different tools and explores student choice and voice. If you haven't checked out the Teacher Center, it is worth your time. You can filter by time required, by topic and by level of difficulty. An easy way to up your game.
If this is something of interest, sign up, and go in and register for any mini course of interest as the registration dates close after the initial presentations.
|
Welcome to Google Tools for Remote and Hybrid Learning! In this series of 6 mini-courses, attendees will gain the confidence and skills they need to effectively lead students through a remote and/or hybrid learning model by taking full advantage of Google tools for Education. Attendees may opt to receive all 6-hours of instruction or choose which mini-courses to attend based on their needs and level of comfort with these tools. If you have no experience with Google's Suite of tools for education, we encourage you to attend all 6 mini-courses.
|
STEM |
Google Changes Branding
Exam Net
"I’m not sure if you’ve told people about exam.net before, but it’s an amazing website for giving assessments. You can just download a pdf of your assessment and the website will create a test code. Students can then go to the website and type in the code to access the test.
The cool thing about it is it will create a browser block on all devices and if students exit the browser, their test will stop and you will be notified.
It literally takes me a minute or two to make one if I have an existing test. "
Here's more about it: Excerpts from the web site.
- Free of charge
- Easy to export students' essays and answers to Google Drive...
- Quick and easy to create a new exam. Exam.net supports uploading of PDF files or pasting from other documents, e.g. Microsoft Word, directly into the exam tool.
- Single sign-on using G Suite...
- Desmos and GeoGebra can be used securely in Maths exams, and formula booklets can be used within the tool frame, or as a complement if you prefer.
- Works well with PC, Mac, Chromebooks and iPads, as well as in a blended technical environment with different hardware and/or operating systems.
- No need for student accounts or registration. Students can access the exam with a simple exam key.
Exam.net short intro (Eng) from Teachiq on Vimeo. |
Using Exam.net remotely (Eng) from Teachiq on Vimeo. |
Whiteboard.chat & Whiteboard Limnu
Teach, Monitor & Coach | Collaborate |
Limnu
Ideas to Share
Greg Kulowiec created a demo of using FlipGrid shorts. Check it out. You can use the whiteboard, record your screen, pause the video, etc. | |
| I saw this promo and started investigating what else Planet Nutshell has produced. Check out their YouTube Channel for short videos on science, early childhood, art and more. |
I got to this incredible collection of links, Peterson Web, by clicking on something about math hyperdocs. This has to be one of the most inclusive collections I have seen. Maybe not Larry Ferlazzo, but darn close. There are tech tools, tons and tons of hyperdocs, and so much more. I did click thru a couple of links that led to TPT sites, but most lead you to a livebinder or a document. Warning... there are thousands of links... not clearly curated. For example something may be listed as a grade level, but not a topic, etc. |
Ideas to Share
Interactive Google Slides
GC CleanUp
| Eric Curts, as always, has a great tutorial on cleaning up your Google Classroom. You can read his whole post here, and/or watch his video. Just an FYI, if you are at HES, I will archive your old classes sometime this summer. I will not walk through any of the other steps listed- so if you want to tidy things up, go for it. |
Google TakeOut
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Google Takeout at the end of a school year. This is a service provided by Google to save or transfer all of your Google stuff. Please pass it along to others who are changing schools, graduating, etc. Click here for the link for Takeout. Please note that transfer is only for edu accounts, not personal accounts. | Here's another post I wrote about it in the past, don't think much has changed. https://hadleytechtuesday.weebly.com/tech-tuesday/category/googletakeout |
Chromebook Videos
Another of my go-to sources, Richard Byrne, shared a quick video to show you how to create and share videos on a chromebook without adding any apps or special extensions. Richard shares:
| |
NetsBlox
Here's the NetsBlox info: "NetsBlox is a visual programming language and cloud-based environment that enables novice programmers to create networked programs such as multi-player games. Its visual notation is based on Scratch and it uses the open source JavaScript code base of Snap! NetsBlox opens up the internet with its vast array of public domain scientific and other data sources making it possible to create STEM projects, such as displaying seismic activity anywhere on Earth using an interactive Google Maps background. Similarly, weather, air pollution, and many other data sources such as the Open Movie Database and the Sloan Digital Sky Server are available. NetsBlox also supports collaborative editing similar to Google Docs"
Virtual PD
Google's EduOnAir PD is offering a new 6 week Distance Learning Course. The first one is this week and I am planning to attend. It looks interesting and Jennie Magiera is one of the presenters, so it should be good. Check it out here. https://educationonair.withgoogle.com/distancelearning-series |
This morning I saw the email come through about the national parks session... which I cannot attend, but have added to my watch later list. Check out some of the other things for the week, and sign up to get access- every day for a couple months- and they are recorded.
Here's the info:
"For many years, Netflix has allowed teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms... However, this isn’t possible with schools closed. So at their request, we have made a selection of our documentary features and series available on ourYouTube channel. If you are a parent or teacher, please check the ratings so that you can make informed choices for your students and children. For more information and to download accompanying educational resources please visit the Netflix Company Blog."
K-12 Learning Blueprint is a well organized, not overwhelming list of resources for educators. Check it out here.
|
OWLS is a site that is curating resources for students, educators and parents. They have pulled together some padlets with information for all subject areas. Easy to use.
|
The To-Do List
I wasn't going to include this one, but then realized that with everything else that you have going on , you may not know that it is there. Check out theshort blog post and share with your students if you are just starting out in Google Classroom.
|
New to Templates in GSuite?
Check out the Google Teacher Tribe podcast. Then learn more from Kasey in the video below on on her blog. |
https://bit.ly/MathChoiceBoardsK-2
https://bit.ly/ChoiceBoards3-5
https://bit.ly/MathChoiceBoards6-8
The RIO school district over in Oxnard, CA has put out some excellent resources, including a list of printable packets and thisexcellent resource for Math Choice Boards. Again, remember to make your copy of these documents and to credit the authors.
|
Laura Rogers K-5 Click here
Rob Baier from Pennsylvania made:Math Choice Boards K-8!
Here is the Crosswalk Document so you can see which CCSS standards these match up with: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WMVie3DAhf71Wq5Km-HWKUeD9OMI7-qb/view
Illustrative Math https://tasks.illustrativemathematics.org/content-standards
YouCubed https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/
NRich https://nrich.maths.org/11993
Dr Paul Swan https://drpaulswan.com.au/teaching-at-home/
I was used to using VM for virtual manipulatives, but have seen a lot of posts lately that mentioned Toy Theater. This is a treasure trove of manipulatives, games and so much more. Check it out.
If you need printables visit https://classplayground.com/category/math/
This is just a screenshot of some, not all, of the vitural manipulative available.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
More Black History Month Links
Sciencenetlinks has a nice collection of resourceshere. The Listenwise Blog featured "The 1619 Project: Teaching Resources and Lessons". They have also updated their Stories of Black History page with many new resources. |
|
|
Ideas to Share
Richard Byrne shared a tool that I had not seen called Headliner, as a potential replacement for Adobe Spark. It looks interesting and is on my list to check out. Let me know if you try it! One thing that Richard pointed out that is worth repeating- edu gets the pro version for FREE.
|
|
Wes Fryer posted an excellent resource on copyright the other day. He also shared a slide deck, which you may think is dated... but it actually still useful. I always told my students that "fair use" is a term that is used in courtrooms, and they really did not want to go there. Wes shows an excellent example of Fair Use in his school and explains why this is fair use. In light of the recent fines paid by schools to Disney, well worth reading.
|
More Poetry Links
Use Visual Poetry to display your poem or one like Recess! Oh, Recess! BY DARREN SARDELLI |
StoryboardThat Infographics
Here's the blurb from their site: "Creating an infographic is an easy way to showcase different information and topics in a digestible and visual format! They help students combine data, information, and visuals to further understanding and synthesis skills."
Vimeo Essentials
Tinkercad 3D projects
Ideas to Share
Google Data Gif | I wrote a little about this 2 years ago, but there are some nice updates that you may not be aware of. They have added to the classic template and added a racetrack and a circle template. Check out the new options here. |
Google Keep for SPED | Kyle Andersen recently wrote up, in detail, how he uses Google Keep to collect and to organize his data for IEPs and more. You can check out his work here and even get links to make your own copies of his forms. |
Wakelet Integration in Google Drive
|
|
Matt Miller: Ideas for EOY Digital Projects | As always, Matt Miller has great ideas for projects. I like his list of 10 ideas for end of semester/final projects mostly because he gives great links to real examples and often gives choices of tools to try out. |
Eric Curts- New Podcast & Hipster Google (Part 2) | Eric Curts is an educator who always has something new to share. I love his lists of resources, and that he always keeps them updated. His latest news is that he now has a podcast. You can read more about it and subscribe here. He has also added a new part to his collection of weird Google Tools- Hipster Google: Part 2 |
Author
Maureen Tumenas
Archives
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015