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Control Alt Achieve: 11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings

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Control Alt Achieve: 11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings

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Google Drawings is one of my favorite parts of the Google Drive suite, even though it seems to often get overlooked. Perhaps that is because Google itself hides the Drawings link under the "More" menu in Drive rather than letting it sit at the grown up table with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

However, I think Drawings deserves much more attention especially in the classroom where it has so many educational uses. These include:

In addition to those ideas, one of my favorite uses for Google Drawings is teaching math. Drawings lends itself very well to mathematics with its shapes, rotations, tables, lines, and much more.

See below for 11 ideas for how to use Google Drawings to teach and learn math. In each case I have included a brief explanation of the idea, a Google Drawing template or example, and Common Core math standards addressed.

1) Lines of Symmetry

Students can create shapes or insert images, then add lines to show the lines of symmetry for those shapes.

Lines of Symmetry example - Google Drawing link

CC.4.G.3 Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles. Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.

2) Partitioning Shapes

Students can create shapes and then add lines to partition the shapes into equal parts.

Splitting Rectangles example - Google Drawing link

CC.1.G.3 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

CC.2.G.3 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, thirds, half of, a third of, etc., and describe the whole as two halves, three thirds, four fourths. Recognize that equal shares of identical wholes need not have the same shape.

CC.3.G.2 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Partition shapes into parts with equal areas. Express the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partition a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describe the area of each part is 1/4 of the area of the shape.

Students can create a picture by inserting a variety of required shapes, and can then add colors and other images to complete their picture. Students could then use Docs to explain which shapes they used in the picture and where the shapes are.

Shape Art Project example - Google Drawing link

CC.K.G.5 Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes. Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.

CC.1.G.1 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); for a wide variety of shapes; build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.

CC.1.G.2 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape. (Students do not need to learn formal names such as "right rectangular prism.")

CC.2.G.1 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given number of equal faces. Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes. (Sizes are compared directly or visually, not compared by measuring.)

CC.3.G.1 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories.

CC.4.G.2 Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles. Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.

CC.7.G.2 Draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them. Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.

4) Fractions

Students can create their own country flag using a variety of colored shapes, then they can use Docs to explain which fractional part of the whole each color represents.

Fraction Flag example - Google Drawing link

CC.3.NF.1 Develop understanding of fractions as numbers. Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b. (Grade 3 expectations in this domain are limited to fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.)

CC.3.NF.3b Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions (e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3), Explain why the fractions are equivalent, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. (Grade 3 expectations in this domain are limited to fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.)

5) Pictographs and Line Plots

Students can insert a table, text, and images into a Drawing to create a pictograph or a line plot

Pictograph example - Google Drawing link

CC.2.MD.9 Represent and interpret data. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths of several objects to the nearest whole unit, or by making repeated measurements of the same object. Show the measurements by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in whole-number units.

CC.2.MD.10 Represent and interpret data. Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.

CC.3.MD.3 Represent and interpret data. Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.

CC.3.MD.4 Represent and interpret data. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units-whole numbers, halves, or quarters.

CC.4.MD.4 Represent and interpret data. Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.

CC.5.MD.2 Represent and interpret data. Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots. For example, given different measurements of liquid in identical beakers, find the amount of liquid each beaker would contain if the total amount in all the beakers were redistributed equally.

6) Congruent Shapes

Students can use the tools in Drawings to move (translate), flip (reflection), and rotate shapes to determine congruency.

Congruent Shapes example - Google Drawing link

CC.8.G.1 Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software. Verify experimentally the properties of rotations, reflections, and translations: a. Lines are taken to lines, and line segments to line segments of the same length. b. Angles are taken to angles of the same measure. c. Parallel lines are taken to parallel lines.

CC.8.G.2 Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software. Understand that a two-dimensional figure is congruent to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, and translations; given two congruent figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the congruence between them.

CC.9-12.G.CO.3 Experiment with transformations in the plane. Given a rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, or regular polygon, describe the rotations and reflections that carry it onto itself.

CC.9-12.G.CO.5 Experiment with transformations in the plane. Given a geometric figure and a rotation, reflection, or translation, draw the transformed figure using, e.g., graph paper, tracing paper, or geometry software. Specify a sequence of transformations that will carry a given figure onto another.

CC.9-12.G.CO.6 Understand congruence in terms of rigid motions. Use geometric descriptions of rigid motions to transform figures and to predict the effect of a given rigid motion on a given figure; given two figures, use the definition of congruence in terms of rigid motions to decide if they are congruent.

7) Similar Shapes

Students can use the tools in Drawings to move (translate), flip (reflection), rotate, and dilate (resize) shapes to determine similarity.

Similar Shapes example - Google Drawing link

CC.8.G.4 Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software. Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations; given two similar two-dimensional figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the similarity between them.

CC.9-12.G.SRT.2 Understand similarity in terms of similarity transformations. Given two figures, use the definition of similarity in terms of similarity transformations to decide if they are similar; explain using similarity transformations the meaning of similarity for triangles as the equality of all corresponding pairs of angles and the proportionality of all corresponding pairs of sides.

8) Angles of a Triangle

Students can copy, paste, and rotate copies of a triangle to demonstrate that the three angles of a triangle always add up to 180 degrees.

Angles of a Triangle example - Google Drawing link

CC.9-12.G.CO.10 Prove geometric theorems. Prove theorems about triangles. Theorems include: measures of interior angles of a triangle sum to 180 degrees; base angles of isosceles triangles are congruent; the segment joining midpoints of two sides of a triangle is parallel to the third side and half the length; the medians of a triangle meet at a point.

9) Sorting Objects

Students can drag and drop objects into three categories based on a variety of characteristics including shape, color, and size.

3 Category Sorter - Shapes - Google Drawing link
3 Category Sorter - Colors - Google Drawing link
3 Category Sorter - Sizes - Google Drawing link
(more graphic organizers - Google Drive folder link )

CC.K.MD.3 Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category. Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count. (Limit category counts to be less than or equal to 10.)

CC.1.MD.4 Represent and interpret data. Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.

10) Adding Integers

Students can represent an integer addition problem by using and combining colored chips that model the positive and negative number being added.
Adding Integers Template - Google Drawing link
Adding Integers with Google Drawings - Blog Post link

CC.6.NS.5 Apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers. Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, debits/credits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.

CC.6.EE.7 Reason about and solve one-variable equations and inequalities. Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q and x are all nonnegative rational numbers.

CC.7.NS.1b Understand p + q as the number located a distance |q| from p, in the positive or negative direction depending on whether q is positive or negative. Show that a number and its opposite have a sum of 0 (are additive inverses). Interpret sums of rational numbers by describing real-world contexts.

11) Algebraic Expressions

Students can copy and paste the algebra tile shapes in the template to multiply algebraic expressions.

Algebra Tiles Template - Google Drawing link

CC.6.EE.3 Apply and extend previous understandings of arithmetic to algebraic expressions. Apply the properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions. For example, apply the distributive property to the expression 3(2 + x) to produce the equivalent expression 6 + 3x; apply the distributive property to the expression 24x + 18y to produce the equivalent expression 6 (4x + 3y); apply properties of operations to y + y + y to produce the equivalent expression 3y.

CC.9-12.A.APR.1 Perform arithmetic operations on polynomials. Understand that polynomials form a system analogous to the integers, namely, they are closed under the operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication; add, subtract, and multiply polynomials.

For more resources, see a detailed overview of each of these ideas, plus several more, in my one-hour training video below, as well as additional guides and documents.

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11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings

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Google Drawings is one of my favorite parts of the Google Drive suite, even though it seems to often get overlooked. Perhaps that is because Google itself hides the Drawings link under the "More" menu in Drive rather than letting it sit at the grown up table with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

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10 sources of free interactive content for your class | Ditch That Textbook

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10 sources of free interactive content for your class | Ditch That Textbook

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Years ago, textbooks served a different purpose. Information was at a premium, and textbooks filled the void. They were chock full of it - a one-stop shop for the curious student.

Today, things have changed. We don't have a lack of places to learn new things. Google searches and YouTube are where many of us go first to get that quick question answered. They're often a good jumping-off point if we want to delve deep into a topic as well.

Textbooks are bulky, inflexible and pricey. They can be outdated when they arrive in classrooms, and they're often outdated when schools finally adopt new ones. (You're not surprised to hear that in a blog called "Ditch That Textbook," are you?)
These days, where powerful technology lets us connect with others and share ideas, there has to be a better option than buying the same textbook for every kid.
Open educational resources (OERs) may be the best option available right now. It's also a great option for adding unique experiences to the lessons you already teach.

These resources include individual reading selections, videos and PowerPoint presentations. They progress all the way to entire pre-made textbooks OR customizable ones.

Oh, and that word "open." That also means that it's almost all completely free. Most paid options are only premium upgrades from free resources that are already very rich.
Here are 10 open educational resources worth checking out:
1. Boundless (boundless.com) - Boundless offers content that ranges from searchable lessons all the way to entire digital textbooks. It provides teachers and students with adaptable PowerPoint templates and pre-written quizzes.

2. SAS Curriculum Pathways (sascurriculumpathways.com) - My favorite feature of SAS Curriculum Pathways are its interactive animated lessons. It drops students into an attractive lesson that engages with audio, visuals and interactive elements. SAS Curriculum Pathways offers content in English, math, science, social studies and Spanish.

3. LearnZillion (learnzillion.com) - LearnZillion offers entire lesson plans and video lessons from more than 4,000 videos on English language and math. Its resources are linked to Common Core State Standards.

4. OER Commons (oercommons.org) - OER Commons houses lessons created by educators. It includes subjects like history, law, social science and more. OER Commons digital librarians have also curated collections of professional learning resources like game-based learning, arts integration and building text-dependent questions.

5. Curriki (curriki.org) - Curriki wants to create the largest global community library of OERs. Its library includes thousands of educator-vetted, openly licensed materials. It has curated collections in math, science, computer science, English and study skills.

6. PBS LearningMedia (pbslearningmedia.org) - More than 100,000 digital resources. 205 media partners. Kids have been learning from PBS for a long, long time. Now, schools can bring harness its power with tools like lesson builder, storyboard tool and quiz maker.

7. CK-12 (ck12.org) - CK-12 has been around for about eight years, providing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) content resources. It includes everything from lessons to assignments/quizzes to entire customizable textbooks in STEM content areas as well as English, SAT prep and history.

8. engageny (engageny.org) - This site, maintained by the New York State Education Department, helps students and teachers align to the New York State Board of Regents Reform Agenda. Its resources, though, are available to anyone. They include thousands of videos and lessons on all grade levels - prekindergarten through high school.

9. HSTRY.co (hstry.co) - This new tool lets teachers search through and create interactive timelines based on history. Pull in video clips, audio of historic speeches, primary resources, documents and more. Add questions and other interactive elements.

10. Coursera (coursera.org) - More than 1,000 free courses are available on Coursera from universities and other educational organizations. Topics include social sciences, business, life sciences, computer science, arts and humanities and more.

These options can be used to add a bit of pizzazz to a class, an important missing element to a unit, or an entire learning resource (like a textbook) to a course.
For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links: Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail! Matt is scheduled to present at the following upcoming events:

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10 sources of free interactive content for your class

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Years ago, textbooks served a different purpose. Information was at a premium, and textbooks filled the void. They were chock full of it - a one-stop shop for the curious student. Today, things have changed. We don't have a lack of places to learn new things.

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Flubaroo: Send Student Feedback to Google Drive - Teacher Tech

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Flubaroo: Send Student Feedback to Google Drive - Teacher Tech

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If you are not a Flubaroo user, you probably want to be. Flubaroo is an Add-On for Google Sheets spreadsheets that will automatically grade student responses to formative assessment submitted through a Google Form.

Previously Flubaroo had the option (and still does) to email students their results. Since not all schools have email turned on for students, this was not a good solution for all classrooms. Flubaroo recently added the feature to create a summary report on a Google Doc that is shared with the student through Google Drive. Click here to view the Flubaroo blog post.

Before using Flubaroo you need to create a Google Form as a formative assessment quiz/activity. Ask the question "First Name" and "Last Name" separately, this allows you to sort the results by last name. If you have multiple sections, ask for period to allow you to sort results by class period.

Answer Key

My favorite Flubaroo tip is that before you give the quiz to the students, YOU take the quiz first. In the "First name" question put "Answer" and in the "Last name" question put "Key." This way the first result in the spreadsheet says "Answer Key."

If you do not already have the Add-On "Flubaroo," add it in the Add-On menu. Otherwise, find "Flubaroo" in the Add-On menu.

Flubaroo can automatically grade student responses upon submission. Set this up in the "Advanced" options in the Flubaroo menu.

To grade student responses choose "Grade Assignment" in the Flubaroo menu.

Flubaroo allows you to grade some of the questions by hand if you have non-multiple choice questions on your formative assessment. Flubaroo really makes the most sense with multiple choice questions. I recommend you set up your Google Form with multiple choice questions as much as possible. With short answer, students can misspell the word and then it will be graded as incorrect by Flubaroo.

Flubaroo creates a "Grades" tab that provides the overall score of

After auto grading the student responses, you can send the results to the student. Go back to the Flubaroo menu and choose "Share Grades."

As the teacher you have the option to share the grades through only email, through a report in Google Drive, or both ways!

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015

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Flubaroo: Send Student Feedback to Google Drive - Teacher Tech

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If you are not a Flubaroo user, you probably want to be. Flubaroo is an Add-On for Google Sheets spreadsheets that will automatically grade student responses to formative assessment submitted through a Google Form. Share to Google Drive Previously Flubaroo had the option (and still does) to email students their results.

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Teach Students How to Email - Teacher Tech

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Teach Students How to Email - Teacher Tech

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Who taught you how to use email professionally? We've all been victim to the colleague who thinks an email is a book, replies to all with "thanks," or does not include a subject line. Considering how much email we send as a professional, this tool should not be something we overlook with our students.

With so many schools having Google Apps for Education (GAfE), many students have email. This gives us the opportunity to use the tool as a platform for assignments. Ask students to craft an email to demonstrate their learning. Include requirements such as "Send an email to your group and the teacher using BCC" or "Write an email with a subject line that indicates what class you are in."

http://tinyurl.com/teachemail

Add to the crowdsourced Google Slides presentation below to add your tips for using email. The slides can give you ideas for requirements to use in an email assignment.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015

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Teach Students How to Email - Teacher Tech

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Who taught you how to use email professionally? We've all been victim to the colleague who thinks an email is a book, replies to all with "thanks," or does not include a subject line. Considering how much email we send as a professional, this tool should not be something we overlook with our students.

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Inspire Student Creativity with Chromebooks - Daily Genius

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Inspire Student Creativity with Chromebooks - Daily Genius

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Lessons learned from 30 days of PIRATE teaching | Ditch That Textbook

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Lessons learned from 30 days of PIRATE teaching | Ditch That Textbook

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For an entire month, I morphed into a pirate in my classroom.

Well, that's not totally accurate. There were no eye patches, hooks, peg legs or parrots.

I morphed into a PIRATE, as in "Teach Like a PIRATE," the widely-read teaching book penned by Dave Burgess. The word "PIRATE" in his book is an acronym describing six traits of a passionate, on-fire, engaging teacher. It stands for:

Passion: Infusing your teaching with content passion, professional passion and personal passion

Immersion: Your ability to completely give yourself up to the moment and fully "be" with your students

Rapport: Making students feel important by developing relationships with them

Ask and Analyze: Ask great questions and always analyze your situation

Transformation: Make your classroom and teaching exceptional and worth noticing

Enthusiasm: Light fires under your students with zeal for education

I embarked on a self-imposed "30 Day PIRATE Challenge" (read more by clicking here). For a month, my goal was to incorporate at least one of Dave's PIRATE hooks (see sketch above) to hook my students and reel them in to the lesson. (Did anyone catch the mixed metaphor there? I've never seen a pirate go fishing before, have you?)

The process started fantastically. I incorporated a few hooks in my first day of class. I did a story telling unit with a mystery object in a bag (Mystery Bag Hook). I checked out a conference room and had students become fashion critics at a fashion show (Safari Hook). I posed students like mannequins to illustrate new vocabulary terms (People Props Hook). I even used the Mime Hook and silently let them command me to do things in Spanish.

That string of great new ideas went on strong for about two weeks. However, to be totally honest and transparent, my last two weeks of the "30 Day PIRATE Challenge" weren't as PIRATE-like.

About a week ago, I realized that my challenge was coming to a close and I started getting down on myself for letting it go. Then I started to realize something: some of my activities in those last two weeks resembled Dave Burgess's PIRATE hooks in some ways. My students are techno-whizzes, so I use that hook quite regularly. I love teaching Spanish by making stories up with my students as the characters, so that covers the Storytelling Hook.

I've realized that most good teachers have always had a little PIRATE in them. (Not a reference to those dumb Captain Morgan commercials, I promise!)

Passion and enthusiasm aren't new concepts. Neither are developing relationships nor constantly analyzing how things go in your classroom. Of all of the opinions about "Teach Like a PIRATE" I've seen, 99 percent is positive. The few nay-sayers contend that most of its ideas are nothing new, that teachers have been using many of these ideas for years.

My response to that: That's not the point. The "Teach Like a PIRATE" concept isn't about unveiling brand-new untold secrets about education. (Even though I'll bet that everyone comes away with several new ideas that they never thought of before - AND that some have their eyes opened to a wide world they've never seen before.)

It's about showing us something that works. AND it's about showing us an enormously important aspect of education that sometimes gets lost in the pedagogy and tech tools and legislation - the value of tying excitement to teaching.

If the only thing we all come away from the PIRATE movement with is an increased focus on making classrooms a place you could sell tickets to, education may just move leaps and bounds forward.

In all, in 21 days of teaching (that's 30 days minus weekends), I incorporated 20 hooks into my classes. All in all, with a busy life, grades to keep up with and a family to enjoy, I'm pretty happy with that. I think my students were, too.

And, as a bonus, I added some PIRATE to a workshop I presented recently. In the book "Teach Like a PIRATE", Dave Burgess describes an activity he does at the beginning of the school year to tap into students' problem-solving and creative-thinking skills. In short, it's a skit about a plane crash and helicopter rescue. Judging by the way he describes it, it's pretty outrageous.

Well, I sprung it on a group of teachers on a Saturday afternoon. My version, as I describe it, was less "outrageous" and more "ridiculous." But it was entertaining at least (I hope!).

And I got it on camera! Check it out below. (Oh, and check out the guy in the foreground who is ENTIRELY unimpressed by the whole thing and checks his phone the whole time. You can't please everybody!)

If you've tried teaching like a PIRATE, what have been your experiences? If not, is there something here that resonates with you? Share it in a comment below!

(For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links, "like" Ditch That Textbook on Facebook and follow @jmattmiller on Twitter!)
Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail!

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Lessons learned from 30 days of PIRATE teaching

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For an entire month, I morphed into a pirate in my classroom. Well, that's not totally accurate. There were no eye patches, hooks, peg legs or parrots. I morphed into a PIRATE, as in "Teach Like a PIRATE," the widely-read teaching book penned by Dave Burgess.

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10 engaging Google Drawings activities for classes | Ditch That Textbook

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10 engaging Google Drawings activities for classes | Ditch That Textbook

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Using a document in Google Apps or Microsoft Word is perfect for many activities, but sometimes they can be so limiting.

They're restricting. They force you to enter information in a fairly linear fashion, and linear just doesn't cut it sometimes.

Sometimes, you want your work to be all over the place. Think of sticky notes on a wall or spreading work out on a table or the floor to see everything.

When that's what you need, your Google Apps tool of choice might be Google Drawings. Drawings is one of my favorites of all of Google's tools. It's simple to use but powerful and very versatile.

In fact, here's how simple it is. The button panel for creating things (see image above) is made up of lines, shapes, text boxes, images and comments. (The arrow is for selecting items on the page.)
Google Drawings is like a digital poster board. Or sheet of paper. Or a blank slate waiting for your great ideas.
Sadly, many educators don't know about it or know what it does. Maybe part of the reason: when you click "new" in your Google Drive, Drawings is under the "more" tab. (What a shame ... one of my favorite Google tools treated like a second-class citizen.)

As versatile and powerful as it is, there are bound to be lots of uses for it. Here are my top 10, and if you use Google Drawings in your classroom or educational setting, please share how in a comment below!

1. Graphic organizers - Often, students have great ideas in their minds. They just struggle to organize them into the logical sequence they need to present them. Graphic organizers can help them pull those ideas and information into a great project or presentation.

How to do it: Create a graphic organizer (think KWL, fishbone, Venn diagram ... or make up your own!) in Google Drawings. Then share it with students as "Everyone with the link can view" and have students go to File > Make a copy ... to create their own copy of it in their Google Drives. If you're using Google Classroom, when you create an assignment, use the drop-down menu in the bottom right to make a copy for every student in Google Classroom.

Need some help getting started? Check out my post with 15 free Google Drawings graphic organizers and how to make your own. It's one of my most popular posts ever! Use my graphic organizers verbatim or use them as a starting point for your own.

2. Interactive posters - Creating posters is an activity that's a staple in many classrooms. If you don't want to hassle with glue sticks, markers and magazines for cutting images out, Google Drawings can help. Drawings is a great spot for creating interactive posters. Regular posters are static and only contain the information you can fit on them. Interactive posters have clickable links, making the poster just a starting point for more information.

How to do it: Students create a Google Drawing. They add text boxes with information and shapes to help organize (think of the construction paper behind the text). They can add Creative Commons images by going to Insert > Image ... > Search tab to be good digital citizens. (This falls right in line with my post on how to find and use images the right way in class!) They can highlight text and push Ctrl+K or go to Insert > Link ... to make clickable links in their text.

Want some more guidance? Check out my post on interactive Google Drawings posters with an example you can click on and copy into your Drive if you'd like.

3. Photo comic strips - I found this one by chance at a Google conference once and really like it. Comic strips are easy to create in Google Drawings. When you add a shape to a drawing, one category of shapes is called "callouts." Those callouts have speech bubbles and thought bubbles to add to a drawing. Upload a picture - or take a picture by going to Insert > Image ... > Take a snapshot to use the camera in your laptop, tablet or other device. Then use the speech/thought bubbles to show what the characters are saying or doing.

I found this idea from Mike Petty, a Google for Education Certified Trainer in Michigan. His site about photo comic strips shows more examples and ways to use them in the classroom.

4. Interactive white board - When shared with a few students or an entire class, a blank Google Drawing can turn into an interactive white board that everyone can control. SMART Boards and Promethean Boards let the person touching the screen make changes ... but Google Drawings interactive white boards let anyone make changes.

How to do it: Create a drawing. Click the blue "Share" button and click "Get a shareable link". Then choose "Anyone with the link can edit." OR, if you're using Google Classroom, create an announcement and add the drawing to the announcement. Make sure the drop-down menu on the right says that students can edit.

Of course, having the expectations talk with students beforehand is useful when anyone can make changes to this drawing. My expectations talk usually includes:

Remember that this is better than boring activities using paper.

If we can't handle this, we'll be headed back to the boring activities.

Don't make changes to the drawing until you're asked.

Remember that everything you do is tracked on revision history (File > See revision history), so I'll know who has done what.

Anything you put on the drawing will be treated as if it was said out loud in class and will be handled accordingly.

5. Digital manipulatives - Ever have students put sticky notes out on their desks and move them around? What about cut-out pieces of paper with words or pictures or ideas? If so, Google Drawings lets you create digital manipulatives like those that you can move around.

How to do it: Create a Google Drawing. Then, create the manipulatives you want students to use with text boxes, shapes or images. Make sure your original copy of the manipulatives is "Anyone with the link can view" under the blue "Share" button. Then distribute it to students and let them copy it to their Google Drives by going to File > Make a copy ... . If you use Google Classroom, add it to an assignment (graded) or announcement (ungraded) and choose to make a copy for each student.

Some examples: one of my graphic organizers from above called "hexagonal thinking" and Shake Up Learning's collaborative magnetic poetry.

6. Annotate images - Thousands and thousands of images are available in Google Drawings (as well as other Google Apps). Just click Insert > Image ... and choose "Search". You can always upload your own images. Once they're in a drawing, use text boxes, shapes and arrows to write over the top of those images. Use them to tag important features, add commentary, circle or highlight key concepts and more.

7. Informational graphics - In traditional research reports, students gather information, analyze and organize, and then present their findings in essay style. They could demonstrate all of those findings in another way - with an informational graphic! Infographics are all over social media and are very popular. Learning to create an infographic is a useable skill in the real world.

How to do it: Create a new drawing. Do some internet searches to check out some infographic examples. Plan how to organize the infographic and how to illustrate research findings. Create using lines, shapes, text boxes and images. Add clickable links to text and images.

8. Timelines - Use the same elements from the informational graphics above to create timelines. Add a horizontal line to a drawing. (Pro tip: Hold in shift while drawing the line to make it truly horizontal and straight!) Add information for the different dates on the timeline and illustrate them with images.

9. Add and pass activity - Get the whole class working together in this activity. Each student creates a drawing and starts an activity - an illustration, a comic strip, a story ... something. Let students work on it for a couple minutes. Then have them rotate to a different desk and work on someone else's activity. After a few minutes rotate, then rotate again and rotate again. Eventually, the activities get completed. It's fun to see what the rest of the class did with what you started off with!

10. Tutorial graphics - Teach someone how to do something with a tutorial drawing. This works great with tutorials for doing something online or on your computer/device. Add images to a drawing of what you want the reader to do. These images can be created by taking a screenshot. You could also find images in an image search (Insert > Image > Search) or create images with lines and shapes. Describe what action to take using text. Then share those images on a website, with a link or by adding them to a document.

[reminder]How have you used Google Drawings? Which of these ideas are you likely to use?[/reminder]

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10 engaging Google Drawings activities for classes - Ditch That Textbook

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Sometimes, a linear document just won't do. Students need room to move things around and get messy. Here are 10 Google Drawings activities to do that.Using a document in Google Apps or Microsoft Word is perfect for many activities, but sometimes they can be so limiting. They're restricting.

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Sketchnoting 101, for those with little artistic talent | Ditch That Textbook

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Sketchnoting 101, for those with little artistic talent | Ditch That Textbook

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Sketchnoting - creating notes with visuals, sketches or doodles - can be powerful.

It's powerful for the sketcher - visual notes capture ideas in ways that are more likely to stick in the brain by nature.

It's powerful for the viewer - it presents ideas in an engaging way that can be understood almost instantly.

They're great for educators that want to gather their ideas and remember them later (at meetings, at conferences or while watching something they want to remember). They're also great for students, who take far more notes than any of their teachers!

Besides, sketching is fun!

After having done various forms of sketchnoting for almost a year now, I have some lessons and ideas I want to share with you. But beforehand, we have to take care of the elephant in the room. (And if you don't want to deal with that elephant, you can find my list of lessons and ideas below it.)

The elephant in the room

There's an enormous barrier - think of a 10-foot stone wall with poison ivy growing on it! - separating eager would-be sketchers from the promised land of sketching glory.

That barrier is the "I can't draw" mentality, or its equally repulsive cousin, the "I'm not an artist" mentality.

Related to that: I have a confession to make. The headline for this post, "Sketchnoting 101, for those with little artistic talent," is a bit intentionally inaccurate. (Please forgive me. I hope this won't erode the trust in our relationship.)

Here's the truth: We all have artistic abilities. Look at all of the drawing we used to do as kids!

The only thing that's missing is some practice. Artistic skills can be developed just like any other skill.

I'm awful at tennis. I can't hit a laser-fast first serve or hit a killer top-spin backhand return shot. Why? Because I haven't practiced tennis since I played on the middle school tennis team in sixth grade.

If I practiced those skills, would I ever look like Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal? Absolutely not. But after practicing, I would look much, much better than when I started not having picked up a racket for more than a decade.

Here's the beauty about sketchnotes: You don't need to be an artist to create effective sketchnotes. Using visuals to record ideas are better at producing memories that you can recall than just words. (More on that later.)

So, to sum up the slaying of that elephant in the room: just jump in and start sketching. The more you do it, the better you'll get at it.

Have I convinced you to at least give this a try? I hope so. On to some ideas!

Ideas for making visual notes

(Disclaimer: Much of what I've learned has come from other great sketchers, including but not limited to educators Brad Ovenell-Carter, Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, Sylvia Duckworth and Amy Burvall as well as sketchnoter extraordinaire Mike Rohde. Mike wrote "The Sketchnote Handbook," an excellent guide for getting started in sketching.)

Sketchnoting doesn't have to be all about creating an ornate masterpiece of text and doodles. We're not looking for museum-quality work ... just something that makes ideas connect in the brain.

Which brings us to our first point ...

1. Know your audience. Do you want to do those museum-quality sketchnotes mentioned above? That's great ... and there will be lots of people that will love looking at them. But most sketchnoters create visual notes just to help them remember things. If it feels out of sorts and all over the place, that's OK. The visuals mixed with text are very brain-friendly for remembering. That's because ...

2. Visuals beat text for memory. There's this idea called " visual superiority effect," which suggests that concepts learned through pictures are more easily recalled than concepts learned through words alone. Want to create presentations that others will remember? Use visuals. Lots of them. (I've written that we've been getting this idea wrong in classrooms for ages.) So, if you're convinced that sketchnotes are useful now, what should you do next?

3. Practice. A lot. My sketches are not of the caliber of great professional sketchers. However, I'm a lot better than I was when I first started tinkering with the Paper app by FiftyThree (my sketching tool of choice). I've done some pretty bad sketches (especially this ugly purple cow!), but I didn't quit practicing ... partly because I wanted to improve and partly because sketching has been really fun. One way you can improve sketches and make them easier is to ...

4. Build a library of icons for ideas. The idea of home? A simple house (with a chimney, of course!). Love something? Use a heart. Time? A clock. Work? Maybe a briefcase. Some simple, easily-created icons that you can refer back to time and time again. For ideas, I've referred to Hand-Drawn Goods, a nice collection of sketched icons (many available for free to use in presentations and beyond!). Simple Google Image searches can yield ideas for visual representations of an idea or word, too. If you can't find a pre-drawn idea to pattern yours from, you can always ...

5. Use basic shapes to create visuals. Mike Rohde (did I mention him and his great book already?) writes, "Everything you want to draw can be created with these five elements": circles, squares, triangles, lines and dots. If you're not sure how to draw it, try thinking of it as a combination of these five elements. Anyone can draw circles, squares, triangles, lines and dots. Give it a try. Drawing visuals of inanimate objects often aren't the hardest to do, though ...

6. Drawing people can be simple, too. Start with stick figures. They're easy to do and can get across the ideas you want. Then go to augmented stick figures - you know, ones with accessories (hats, canes, books, etc.). Then add some clothes (add pants and shirts to your figures, then shoes, etc.). Pretty soon, your basic stick figures will look pretty good! Before developing all of your skills, it might be a good idea to ...

7. Find a medium you like. As I mentioned before, for me, it's the Paper app by FiftyThree. I really think their app uncovered the latent artist in me I never knew existed. That app makes what I create look tons better than what I could do alone on paper. Some sketchers love to doodle on paper with pen and pencil (and some are very picky about the paper, pen and pencil they use!). Whatever you're most comfortable with is where you should start.

And to finish that "where you should start" thing I just mentioned, why don't you just start? Find an article, a quote, a list, a speech, something that inspires you. Then start summarizing in text and pictures. Blend them all together in a way that works for you.

You might find that these ideas that you sketch have an interesting side effect - being stuck in your brain!

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Sketchnoting 101, for those with little artistic talent

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sketchnoting - creating notes with visuals, sketches or doodles - can be powerful. It's powerful for the sketcher - visual notes capture ideas in ways that are more likely to stick in the brain by nature. It's powerful for the viewer - it presents ideas in an engaging way that can be understood almost instantly.