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Ditch Channel: 12 video tutorials, strategies and lesson ideas for educators - Ditch That Textbook

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Ditch Channel: 12 video tutorials, strategies and lesson ideas for educators - Ditch That Textbook

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G Suite

Educational technology is a valuable asset in our classrooms. But how do we integrate technology meaningfully? And how do we find the best tools to fit our needs? Here are 12 video tutorials plus resources to get you started.

How to Make Awesome Google Drawings Interactive Posters

Forget the glue sticks, markers and magazines to cut for pictures. Create interactive posters with Google Drawings with links and Creative Commons photos. Here's how!

Resource: Google Drawings interactive posters (no glue sticks necessary!)

4 Digital Exit Ticket Ideas to Use In Class Tomorrow

Class is done. How can we end it effectively? Using digital exit tickets can bring closure to your day.

Resource: 10 ideas for digital exit tickets (and some analog ones, too)

The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide

Google Classroom makes organizing and managing all of your Google Apps activities streamlined and easy. Set it up in minutes.
Resource: The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide + tips and tricks!
5 Tips to Use Google Classroom Effectively and Efficiently

Google Classroom can be even more powerful with a few tips and strategies to make it efficient and effective.

Resource: 10 tips to use Google Classroom effectively and efficiently

Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live. Which Should I Use?

The best features of game shows can be used to review and teach in the classroom. Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live, and Gimkit can help. See their pros, cons and what makes them different.

Resource: Game show classroom: Comparing Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live and Gimkit

5 Engaging Example Activities for HyperDocs Toolbox

HyperDocs provides an engaging, student-centered framework for classroom lessons. Looking for ideas to fill those HyperDocs up? Check out these example activities.
Resource: The HyperDocs Toolbox: 14 engaging example activities
5 Digital Bell-Ringer Activities to Kickstart Class

Bell-ringer activities don't have to be a slow start to class that students dread. Use these ideas to spice up your bell-ringers!
Resource: 10 digital bell-ringer activities to kickstart class (Part 1)
6 Sites for Students with Free Time on Their Hands

When students are done with an assignment or project, how can they spend extra time wisely? These sites give them something academic to chew on.
Resource: 20 sites for students with free time on their hands
How to Create Interactive Notebooks in Google Slides

There are TONS of awesome multimedia activities you can do with interactive notebooks. They're easy and free! Get the how-to's and a downloadable template to get started!
Resource: How to Create Digital Interactive Notebooks in Google Slides
4 Ideas for Digital End of Semester Final Projects

Final projects can help students summarize and review content from the entire semester. Plus, they can create fantastic products with what they've learned!
Resource: 10 ideas for digital end-of-semester final projects
A Beginner's Guide to Twitter for Educators

Thousands of educators around the world have grown by leaps and bounds professionally by getting connected on Twitter. But what about those that aren't on Twitter yet? How do you get started? Here is a guide to help you.
Resource: A beginner's guide to Twitter for educators
Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers (and How to Make Them)

Ready to take your tech skills -- and student learning -- to another level?

Sign up for Tech to Learn online course!

Check Out My Books

©2019 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

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Ditch Channel: 12 video tutorials, strategies and lesson ideas for educators - Ditch That Textbook

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Sometimes we just need to see something to visualize how it might look in our classroom. Here are 12 video tutorials along with links to resources to help you integrate technology into your lessons.Educational technology is a valuable asset in our classrooms. But how do we integrate technology meaningfully?

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Magnify Learning with this Mystery Reveal Template – Meredith Akers

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Magnify Learning with this Mystery Reveal Template – Meredith Akers

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When educators post pictures of their classrooms on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram I see touch screen boards (whether SmartBoards, Promethean Boards, or another type), most often used to display instructions, station rotation, or playlists - none of which harness the power of the touchscreen for learning.

In no way am I saying that I am against displaying instructions, station rotations, or playlists. I am not against this- I have done it and have seen it done very well! I am simply looking for ways to innovate and iterate and try to push beyond what I've seen done to look for ways we can be even better for students.

So what I am suggesting is to try utilizing the Touch Screen Board in your classroom for student learning activities. Perhaps the station rotation slide is up until everyone is in position and then it can be switched and utilized for learning by the small group assigned to it. Perhaps students can use a paper playlist or keep track of and display what activities they have completed on the class whiteboard to free up the full capabilities of the Touch Screen Board for student use.

This week, I have been brainstorming in the back of my mind how I might make a template that would be useful for using a Touch Screen Board with a small group of students manipulating what is on the board for learning.

Watch the short GIF below to see what I've come up with as a way to Magnify Learning using a Touch Screen Board:

The magic of this template comes in the layers and the colors used. The answer on each slide is typed in the same exact color as the background so that it looks invisible. The answer box has been brought to the front (ctrl + shift + up arrow -or- right-click "bring to front") so that when the students think they are placing the magnifying glass on top of the answer, they are actually bringing it in between the answer and the background.

So the layers are really:

background (in the very back)

magnifying glass (in the middle)

answer (on the top-most layer)

This is how you are suddenly able to see the answer - because the words are actually appearing on top of the light-colored magnifying glass and are no longer camouflaged by the same-color background.

No need to explain all of this to your students (and really no need for you to even understand it - unless you want to use this principle to make something similar) just change the questions and answers and tell them they are detectives! Let them enjoy the magic reveal and think that you are a computer genius!!!
To make this template your own, click this link to download an editable copy.
Now change the questions and answers. To change the answers, triple-click (that is three clicks in a row) to highlight everything in the "empty box" to reveal that it says "Here is the answer!" Type your actual answer, then triple-click again to highlight everything in the box again to ensure that you've typed it correctly. (No educator wants to have a typo! We hate those!)

Now display it on your board WITHOUT putting it into presentation mode. Just let the little thumbnails on the side show, it will be okay. Students won't be able to move the magnifying glass around to reveal the answer if you put it in presentation mode.

There are many ways you might utilize this template in your classroom, but I believe the BEST way to use it would be on a Touch Screen Board as a station for a small group of students.

It can be used to:

reveal answers from math problems solved with partners

uncover answers after completing a reading comprehension with a small group

Learn new vocabulary through repetitive practice

Review important facts

Complete math fact practice (as in my example)

Please share if you see a potential use in your classroom! Would love to see the outcome!

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Magnify Learning with this Mystery Reveal Template

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When educators post pictures of their classrooms on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram I see touch screen boards (whether SmartBoards, Promethean Boards, or another type), most often used to display instructions, station rotation, or playlists - none of which harness the power of the touchscreen for learning.

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Lalilo by Renaissance | Practice and instruction on Foundational Literacy skills

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Sign up and invite parents remotely for home access to phonics and reading lessons.

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"20 ways to Ditch That Textbook in K-2 (with templates!)" is locked 20 ways to Ditch That Textbook in K-2 (with templates!) | Ditch That Textbook

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"20 ways to Ditch That Textbook in K-2 (with templates!)" is locked 20 ways to Ditch That Textbook in K-2 (with templates!) | Ditch That Textbook

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This post is written by Kris Szajner, a tech integration specialist and former kindergarten teacher from Prior Lake, Minnesota. You can follow him on Twitter @kszajner and check out his website kszajner.com.

Are you a primary educator? Are you interested in Ditching but don't know where to start? Don't worry! This post will walk you through template after template of rich learning experiences you can provide your students today!

If you would like to use any of these activities with your class just click on the link and go to "File > Make a copy" and an editable version will be saved to your Google Drive!

20 activities to Ditch that Textbook in K-2

- Problem solve your way through this number puzzle. Watch as student interchange cards or change the process to find the right answers.

This activity library has almost 700 pages of activities you can use. It was originally built for Seesaw, however, you can take any of these templates and use them with G Suite or MicrosoftEDU tools.
*Add this file to your drive rather than make a copy as we update this often.
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:
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. If you decide to purchase, think of it as a way of supporting Ditch That Textbook without paying anything extra! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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20 ways to Ditch That Textbook in K-2 (with templates!)

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This post is written by Kris Szajner, a tech integration specialist and former kindergarten teacher from Prior Lake, Minnesota. You can follow him on Twitter @kszajner and check out his website kszajner.com. Are you a primary educator? Are you interested in Ditching but don't know where to start? Don't worry!

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Our site is devoted to sharing some pretty cool activities we've modified & created with others. Click on the title below the image to read a short description and click on the image itself to open a preview. When the preview is open, click on the "Use Template" button in the upper right corner to make your own copy.

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Headings you add to the document will appear here.

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Become a Google Drawing Black Belt - Google Docs

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Become a Google Drawing Black Belt - Google Docs

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Artistic Skill not Necessary - Google Drawing Ninja - Rockstar Los Alamitos - Google Slides

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Artistic Skill not Necessary - Google Drawing Ninja - Rockstar Los Alamitos - Google Slides

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Artistic Skill not Necessary - Google Drawing Ninja - Rockstar Los Alamitos

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5 Google Sheets Essentials - Teacher Tech

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5 Google Sheets Essentials - Teacher Tech

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Spreadsheets are an essential digital literacy. Any manager needs to use spreadsheets. Students of any age can use spreadsheets; check out Christine Pinto and how she has her kindergarteners write spreadsheet formulas. Get students started by learning these key skills:

Increase Column and Row Width

Get your cursor between the column or row indicators. Notice the arrow changes. Click down and DRAG! Select multiple rows or columns at once and resize one to resize the entire selection.

Set Word Wrap

"Middle, Middle, Middle." Look in the toolbar for the centering icon. The 3 icons next to each other allow you to center horizontally, vertically, and set word wrap. The middle option on the 3rd icon sets the word wrap.

Create Column Headers

Always label what you are putting in the spreadsheet. It is not uncommon to use the first row to type out what is going to go in that column.

Freeze the First Row

When you have column headers you want to freeze that first row so that when you scroll the column headers are not lost. There are 2 ways to freeze the first row. Use the View menu to choose "Freeze" or look up in the "awesome box" to the left of column A and above row 1. Hover the mouse right above the row 1 indicator and it will change into a hand. Click and hold down on that freeze bar and drag it down to freeze the first row.

Merge Cells

"What can you NOT do in a spreadsheet?" is my response when asked, "What can you use spreadsheets for?" Spreadsheets are so versatile and useful you can do almost any assignment utilizing a spreadsheet. To make this true, merging cells is an essential skill. This allows you to create a giant box to put paragraphs of text. Highlight a region of cells and find the merge icon in the toolbar. This looks like a box with 2 arrows pointing towards each other. Click the merge icon and boom, you have a giant textbox.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019

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5 Google Sheets Essentials - Teacher Tech

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Get Your Students Rocking Google Sheets Spreadsheets are an essential digital literacy. Any manager needs to use spreadsheets. Students of any age can use spreadsheets; check out Christine Pinto and how she has her kindergarteners write spreadsheet formulas. Get students started by learning these key skills: Increase Column and Row Width Get your cursor between ...

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Reading Response Choice Board - Google Drawings

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Reading Response Choice Board - Google Drawings

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The Polka-dotted Teacher: Leveling Up our Googley-ness

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The Polka-dotted Teacher: Leveling Up our Googley-ness

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Hey y'all! I feel like I need to give you a little more explanation on my current adventures in education. My job title within my school district is Local School Technology Coordinator, but all those words mean that I am a technology instructional coach. I spend my days getting to serve and work with the teachers in my school building on implementing the use of technology authentically and effectively to help them deliver content. I LOVE IT!

This year has been a HUGE year for my school technology-wise! We have become a G Suite for Education school! This was made possible by my school district, so our G Suite for Education experience is a little different than most schools out there. Here are some things we are working through:

NO Google Classroom -- We already have a learner management/online classroom program

No YouTube for students (this was not a new but crossing my fingers that may be in the works to change)

No Gmail for anyone

No Groups or Hangouts

But since this G Suite is new for most of my teachers...they don't feel these growing pains. We are finding a lot of materials that use these to tools, and it is my job to get creative and find ways to do the same job but in other ways.

Since G Suite is new to my school, I have also been doing A TON of professional development to help my teachers learn ways to use Google Apps to deliver content. Recently, I just happened to do a professional development session...and it took FOREVER to prepare! Since it did, I wanted to share it with you to maybe help you out!

You will notice this round of professional development has a theme...here's a hint...

We first learned some goodies that you can do with Google and about sharing settings...

If you would like your own copy of this presentation to adapt for your staff, you can get your own copy here.

Then we learned about how we can use G Suite tools to help us deliver content for our students. I designed a HyperDoc for self-paced, self-guided learning in a Google Form...

This HyperDoc was divided into different sections.. First, we reflected on the good things we have found already about using G Suite...

We looked again at why using Google apps are a good thing...

We looked at how Google tools can help us raise or teaching game...

We looked at resources that we could use to help us deliver content to our students...

I also took the opportunity to introduce my teachers to HyperDocs...

We also looked at how challenges are okay and how to solve them...

I also gave them a chance to enter for a door prizes of RocketOne Notebooks and Google stickers by completing a faux social media posting summarizing their learning for the day.

Here are some my teachers creations...

Like I said, I took a lot of time gathering all the resources and putting this professional development HyperDoc together, so I want others to be able to get use out of it too! Click here to get your own copy of the Level Up Your Googley-ness HyperDoc. I hope you enjoy leveling up your Googley-ness!

*Note -- I had all the questions except the bonus turned on as required questions. I turned off the required setting to allow you to move through the Google Form easier.

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Hey y'all! I feel like I need to give you a little more explanation on my current adventures in education. My job title within my school district is Local School Technology Coordinator, but all those words mean that I am a technology instructional coach.

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Google Drawings is a free, web-based diagramming software developed by Google. It allows users to collaborate and work together in real time to create flowcharts, organisational charts, website wireframes, mind maps, concept maps, and other types of diagrams. Google Drawings is also available as a Chrome app that works offline, available from the Chrome Web Store.

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Math Apps Sampler - Week 1 - Google Slides

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Math Apps Sampler - Week 1 - Google Slides

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Extreme Weather - A CYOA_Shared - Google Slides

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Extreme Weather - A CYOA_Shared - Google Slides

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001 The Poetry Hyperdoc - Shareable - Google Slides

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001 The Poetry Hyperdoc - Shareable - Google Slides

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001 The Poetry Hyperdoc (2018) Shareable

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Choice Boards Presentation Ed Tech Team - Google Slides

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Choice Boards Presentation Ed Tech Team - Google Slides

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8-BIT Project: A Fraction, Decimal, & Percent HyperDoc – i ❤ edu

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8-BIT Project: A Fraction, Decimal, & Percent HyperDoc – i ❤ edu

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Over the years, my students have participated in a variety of activities and projects on converting between fractions, decimals, and percent. They have conducted surveys, designed pictures on graph papers, and designed and built Post-It Murals. It is one of my favorite units to design because the possibilities are endless!

This year, I wanted to expand the project into some "game design" since many of my students have mentioned their interest in video games. I remembered that our Math 8 department had created an "8-BIT" project so I researched ways to create 8-BIT characters/designs online. This is when I found Piskel - which is amazing! Piskel is a "free online editor for animated sprites and pixel art." If you haven't heard of it, you have got to check it out.

Once I had my content focus and technology tools, I started to focus on how to design this learning experience by using HyperDocs. As they say, the rest was history...!

8-BIT Project: A Fraction, Decimal, & Percent HyperDoc

Objective: Create an 8 Bit Character in Piskel and determine the fraction, decimal, and percent of each number.

Groups: Individual or Small Groups (2-3 Students)

Tasks: Students will:

Create a two frame 8-BIT character or design in Piskel.

Download the frames as a JPEG and upload into their Project Deck.

Download the frames as a GIF and upload into their Project Deck.

Determine the total of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.

Estimate the percent of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.

Calculate the actual fraction, decimal, and percent of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.

View the template and a sample below:
8-BIT Project Template ( Link)

8-BIT Project Sample ( Link)

What do you do teach students about fractions, decimals, and percents? Have you used Piskel in any other classroom activities and projects? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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8-BIT Project: A Fraction, Decimal, & Percent HyperDoc

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Over the years, my students have participated in a variety of activities and projects on converting between fractions, decimals, and percent. They have conducted surveys, designed pictures on graph papers, and designed and built Post-It Murals. It is one of my favorite units to design because the possibilities are endless!

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Student VOICE and CHOICE With Digital Templates & Menus

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Student VOICE and CHOICE With Digital Templates & Menus

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Student Voice and Choice with

Digital Templates and Menus

One of the best things you can do for your students is to allow them some voice and choice in their learning. By creating digital menus and/or digital templates, you are allowing students the freedom to choose a path that will best help them be successful. Whether that's allowing them a choice board, a digital choice menu, or a digital template... you are allowing them to make the decision in which they will show their content and understanding of your instruction. Below are 4 types of templates that you can use with your students. These templates help give students a choice, allow for creative freedom, and provide an opportunity for collaboration and success.

Here are four templates I've created via the #BISDwired Team Blog: Brenham Tech Daily (bit.ly/bisdwired).

This digital menu provides students numerous choices to show their learning and understanding. You provide the instruction, rubric, and content, and your students will choose how to showcase their learning with any of the provided digital and non-digital tools. Keep your instruction fresh by relating to your students likes and interests with this Fortnite digital menu.

This digital menu has also recently been updated for the current season of the Fortnite map. Keeping you current with your students.

This digital menu often gets mentioned during keynote speeches by Matt Miller (@jmattmiller). Matt spoke about this Fortnite menu during his 2019 Spring CUE keynote:

This is my newest student choice board. Click on this link and make yourself a copy of this template. Edit and change any of the blocks to best meet your instruction and/or curriculum. Push out to your students via Google Classroom as their own template to complete. Easy for self check and student paced work.

This is the best template out of the 4 for managing daily work, centers, and/or workstations. I've also had some teachers that will turn this into a non-digital menu by printing it off and handing it to each student. However, it's very easy to give this to each student digitally to complete.

This was the original student choice menu before I switched over and created the Fornite menu. I've met many teachers that like this format due to not wanting to incorporate Fortnite into their curriculum and/or instruction. This is a fun choice menu for student creation that is split into Entrees, Desserts, Appetizers, Sides, and Beverages.

This digital menu was also featured in Kasey Bell's book:

"Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic" by, Kasey Bell

This last menu was created out of necessity for one of my teachers in Brenham ISD. She wanted a 3 level tier template her students could choose from to create book trailers in class. This is the menu I came up with so she could share out with her students on Google Classroom.

I also really enjoy this student choice menu because it features some classic web tools that students might not be familiar with yet. Teachers have told me this was wonderful for their students to have 3 different levels to choose from based on the difficulty of the tool use.

I hope you all enjoy these digital menus! Contact me on Twitter (@tommyspall) or send me an email: thehappyspall@gmail.com if you have any comments, questions, and/or concerns. Thanks!

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Student VOICE and CHOICE With Digital Templates & Menus

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Student Voice and Choice with Digital Templates and Menus One of the best things you can do for your students is to allow them some voice and choice in their learning. By creating digital menus and/or digital templates, you are allowing students the freedom to choose a path that will best help them be successful.

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The 6 Fundamentals of Technology Coaching | EdTech Magazine

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The 6 Fundamentals of Technology Coaching | EdTech Magazine

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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Schools often launch new technology without a plan for supporting and coaching teachers through the process of using the devices and software in their classrooms. Supporting teachers is key to launching and continuing the marriage of educational technology and curriculum. It also helps them raise student achievement.

Today, students' needs vary as they grow up in the digital learning age. They maximize their learning when teachers know how to integrate existing tech with the latest instructional best practices and strategies. We must support educators on this critical journey. This is where an ed-tech integration specialist can help.

Just like with teaching, integration specialists need to differentiate instruction and support to meet the needs of the teachers. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It is a collaborative cycle of support that should consist of setting goals with the teacher, co-planning lessons, observing the teacher in action and then debriefing after the lesson.
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1. Form Connections with Teachers to Learn About Tech

The foundation of a great coaching cycle starts by forming professional relationships and connections with teachers. Specialists should reach out to teachers who may not always make the first move to integrate. Learning where teachers feel confident or vulnerable is a key piece to the coach-teacher paradigm. Drop in to classrooms and leave positive messages or an emoji on teachers' boards to raise interest. Let teachers know you recognize their teaching abilities and willingness to take risks. Additionally, visiting a classroom just to watch a teacher interact with students before the first meeting will show you value him or her. This will also help you understand what technology will enhance his or her teaching methods.

2. Have a Planning Meeting to Discuss IT Integration

Once a teacher requests coaching (or is assigned a coach, depending on the situation), the first meeting in the coaching cycle should start with you and the teacher discussing how you can marry technology to the content and standards he or she is teaching.

Before you start downloading exciting apps or talking about the hottest new technology, it's important that teachers really think about whether bringing that tool into the classroom will enhance or transform the learning. For instance, just because an app or website gives kids great practice on math facts, should they should be doing it in class? Would that approach be similar to handing everyone a worksheet to practice instead of using a more personalized lesson plan? Start with a solid instructional idea, then match how the technology can enhance the unit, lesson plan, curriculum, project, assessment, etc.

While planning, ask some key questions to enhance technology integration:

What is the goal of the lesson?

Why do you want to use this technology here?

Will this enhance the current approach?

How do you hope the technology will enhance learning?

Can the technology make this idea more relevant to students?

Will adding technology allow students to do something that they couldn't do without it? For example, does the technology allow students to collaborate beyond the classroom walls? Does the technology remove a barrier for students?

Technology can really engage students and enrich classroom curriculum. Integrating the technology appropriately is critical for relevant and authentic learning opportunities.

Close the meeting by discussing the end goal of the lesson and how technology will allow for multiple pathways to reach that goal. Sometimes, when planning, it's best to work backward from the end goal. Finish the meeting with clear next steps for the lesson agenda and the role of the teacher if the ed-tech integrator is modeling the lesson.

3. Test Tech Tools in the Classroom

The second step in the coaching cycle is to take the plan and put it into action. Typically, at this stage, the coach will model the lesson live with students to support the teacher and allow him or her to observe the strategies in practice. This takes quite a bit of finesse, because although you are more experienced with the tech tools, the classroom teacher is the curriculum expert. This is where the marriage of curriculum and technology truly shines.

Your goal is for the teacher to observe how effective the tool of choice can be and not worry that he or she will flail getting it to work. Be sure to honor the teacher's expertise in his or her content and lean on the teacher at crucial times in the lesson to confirm the content being delivered. Ensure you both take notes to use for questions and feedback and to support the teacher moving forward.

4. Reflect on Lessons Learned from the IT Demo

Following the first integrated lesson, take some time to process how it went, either together, alone or both. Keep notes of what tools were used and how they were implemented to help with reflection and to serve as a reference for the teacher. We've found that teachers like to have something tangible to refer back to when planning the next lesson even though we'll discuss the lesson beforehand. Notes also document how the coaching cycle went and give us ideas for future coaching sessions.

The next step is to discuss how the takeover will go. In the takeover, the teacher will take the reins while the coach supports the technology integration.

5. Work with Teachers to Implement New Solutions

You will feel excited, empowered and prou d at this stage because you've given a teacher a new set of tools to truly transform his or her teaching. Following the teacher-led lesson, meet to discuss how it went and go over your previous notes. Answer any questions the teacher may have. Reflect together on what went well and what could change for the better.

Once the teacher gets comfortable with the integration you modeled, he or she may reach out again to start another cycle with a new tool. The classroom will want you back, not only to see how well they're using the technology you modeled, but also to ask you to show another lesson.

6. Remember to Check in with Teachers and Students

Speaking of going back, remember to stop back in the classroom to see how things are progressing. Ask the students how they like the new tools. They will enjoy seeing you, which is an added-bonus of the coaching cycle.

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The 6 Fundamentals of Technology Coaching

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Schools often launch new technology without a plan for supporting and coaching teachers through the process of using the devices and software in their classrooms. Supporting teachers is key to launching and continuing the marriage of educational technology and curriculum. It also helps them raise student achievement.

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✨Brittany Conrad✨ on Twitter: "@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL Download slide as PNG for spotty internets!… https://t.co/WpA2nOKMDL"

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✨Brittany Conrad✨ on Twitter: "@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL Download slide as PNG for spotty internets!… https://t.co/WpA2nOKMDL"

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@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets!

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@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets! https://t.co/2YUoDLjpSb

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People on Twitter are the first to know.

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@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets! pic.twitter.com/2YUoDLjpSb
— MsConradEDU (@MsConradEDU) April 1, 2019

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@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets! https://t.co/2YUoDLjpSb

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets! https://t.co/2YUoDLjpSb

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
@historysandoval shared an awesome font tip this morning that reminded me of FontMeme! So many fonts and effects available to embed into Slides! Generate the text you need and embed it using Insert>Image>URL

Download slide as PNG for spotty internets!

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ELA the EduProtocols Way - Google Slides

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ELA the EduProtocols Way - Google Slides

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Free Templates — The EduProtocol Field Guide

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Free Templates — The EduProtocol Field Guide

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5 Ways to Use Gone Google Story Builder in the Classroom | The Techie Teacher | Bloglovin’

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5 Ways to Use Gone Google Story Builder in the Classroom | The Techie Teacher | Bloglovin’

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Gone Google Story Builder is a FREE digital tool that is easy for teachers and students to use in the classroom. You don't even need a Google account to access and use Gone Google Story Builder!

What does it do?

In a nutshell, Gone Google Story Builder creates video stories that look like an interaction happening between multiple people (the characters) on a Google Doc. Here is an example:

Note: This is a screen recording of my story. The digital tool produces a link that will take you to the movie that was created. It does not allow you to download a movie file.

Also, I highly suggest checking out the 4 examples on the website. They are HILARIOUS😂

How do you create a story?

You can have up to 10 different characters and 10 exchanges. The first thing you are asked to do is name your characters. Each character's cursor will appear in a different color. You can customize the colors by clicking on the thin colored rectangle.

Once the characters are added, you simply type in the sequence of interactions. You can select which character is typing from the dropdown menus.

If you want one of the characters to erase something that is already typed and replace the text with their own thoughts, simply make the corrections in the text box next to their name.

Heads up!

This message will pop up if you continue onto the next step and go back to edit a previous step. It will erase all of the steps after the one you want to edit. If you are limited on the amount of time you have with your devices, it might be best to have students brainstorm their stories before visiting the website and maybe even draft a copy!

Music options are available if students would like to add a little suspense.

Once complete, enter your name and click the blue Get Share Link button to grab the url to your video!

I would have students paste their link in a Google Doc, submit in a Google Form or post to Google Classroom so you have all of the links in one location. They could even turn their link into a QR Code by using my favorite QR Generator, QRStuff!
FYI: I tested this website on my ipad and was able to successfully create a story; however, I noticed that the sound did not work.
Here are 5 ways you could use Gone Google Story Builder in the Classroom...

Anticipatory Set

Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook mentioned using this tool for setting the stage for a lesson. He actually inspired me to write this post after I heard him talk at last week's MACUL Conference in Detroit! I had heard of Gone Google Story Builder but did not realize how quick, easy and straight up AWESOME this tool would be to incorporate into the classroom. Matt showed how he used this web tool to kick off a lesson. For instance, let's say you are getting ready to teach a lesson about the water cycle. Captivate your students' attention with something like this before starting the lesson:

Retelling

Students could use this web tool to retell a story they have read, a historical event they have learned about or even steps to take to solve a math problem. Critical thinking really comes to play since it only allows you to have 10 interactions between characters. Students will have to figure out how to get everything in. Great summarizing practice too 😉 The first example I embedded into this post shows a retelling of The Three Little Pigs.

Writing with Voice

Using Gone Google Story Builder would be such a FUN and meaningful activity to practice writing with voice as well as characterization. Students can take on the "voice" of a certain character whether that be a specific person, animal or thing! It would even be fun to use this in social studies to review historical figures. You could partner students up on one computer and have them write a conversation or story as if they were that person, animal or thing. Once again, the first video example shows this skill (voices of the pig and Big Bad Wolf).

Word Work/Language Arts Skills

Another idea for using this story builder in your classroom is to have students create videos by having the "characters" be the word features they are working on. Parts of speech, affixes, different verb tenses, r-controlled vowels, or whatever the feature of the week is could all be practiced. You could also really target language arts skills such as literary devices which can help make writing POP. Here is a little paragraph "written by" Mr. Onomatopoeia, Miss Personification, Mrs. Alliteration and Ms. Simile and Mr. Hyperbole. 😂

Enhancing Videos

Gone Google Story Builder would be a great addition to a video your students are creating. In order to capture the video to pull into a video editing program, students would need to screencast the final product. If you have QuickTime software already on your devices, that would be an easy way to accomplish this task. For those of you who work with Chromebooks, check out the extensions Nimbus Screenshot, Screencastify, or Capture Cast. Read about these three options HERE.
These are just FIVE ways Gone Google Story Builder could be used in our classrooms. How else could teachers and students use this digital tool for learning?
Follow me on Pinterest to get more techie ideas:

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5 ways to use gone google story builder in the classroom

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5 Ways to Use Gone Google Story Builder in the Classroom (The Techie Teacher)

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Gone Google Story Builder is a FREE digital tool that is easy for teachers and students to use in the classroom. You don't even need a Google account to access and use Gone Google Story Builder! In a nutshell, Gone Google Story Builder creates video stories that look like an interaction happening between multiple people (the characters) on a Google Doc.

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The Amazing Race with Google - GaETC - Google Slides

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The Amazing Race with Google - GaETC - Google Slides

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Beyond Book Reports by Ivy Ninofranco 2017 - Google Slides

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Beyond Book Reports by Ivy Ninofranco 2017 - Google Slides

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Beyond Book Reports by Ivy Ninofranco 2017

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Go Beyond Book Reports with Reading Blogs, Commercials, and Book Talks Ivy Ninofranco Richman ivy_ninofranco@myfsd.org http://bit.ly/BooksRock17

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Control Alt Achieve: Skill Checklists for Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2

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Control Alt Achieve: Skill Checklists for Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2

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So you are thinking about taking the exams to become a Google Certified Educator? But you are wondering what topics and skills are covered by the tests. This blog post is here to help you!

Google provides several possible certification options for educators including Educator Level 1, Educator Level 2, Trainer, Innovator, and Administrator. Of these, Educator Level 1 and 2 are the place to start and are especially designed for teachers and other educators in a school setting.

To earn the status of Google Certified Educator Level 1 or 2 you need to take an online exam that shows your practical knowledge of using Google Apps for Education in a school setting, as well as demonstrate your ability to perform many tasks within the Google Apps suite of tools.

See below for two printable checklists covering every topic and skill addressed by the Level 1 and 2 tutorials, as well as an overview of these certifications, and the main points about the exams. In preparation for the exams, you can use these lists to keep track of the skills you have mastered and those you still need to address.

Skills Checklists

Below are the detailed listings of the topics covered in the Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2 training resources. In preparation for the test, you can use these lists to keep track of the skills you have mastered and those you still need to address.

To develop these lists I went through all of the online certification tutorials provided by Google and pulled out every skill and topic covered. I then organized the skills by tool, removed duplicates, and arranged the items in a logical order.

These checklists are freely available for personal use, and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 United States license. In short, you can copy, distribute, and adapt this work as long as you give proper attribution and do not charge for it.

Certification Overviews

Google Certified Educator Level 1

If you're an educator who knows how to use Google tools in the classroom, this certification proves your proficiency.

Level 1 Certified Educators (GCE1) have demonstrated the fundamental skills needed to implement Google for Education tools in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

Google Certified Educator Level 2

If you're an educator who is a super user and enthusiast of Google tools in the classroom, this certification proves your expertise.

Level 2 Certified Educators (GCE2) have demonstrated the advanced skills needed to integrate Google for Education and other online tools to transform teaching and learning in schools.

For an overview of all the available Google certifications for educators see the slideshow below:

Online Tutorials

Google provides comprehensive online tutorial modules and lessons for both Level 1 and Level 2. You can work through these lessons at your own pace to learn or review the skills and topics you need to master for the exams. The tutorials can be found online at:

Exam Details

Google Certified Educator Level 1 and Level 2 exams are taken online.

For each exam you are given 180 minutes to finish.

The cost for the Level 1 exam is $10.

The cost for the Level 2 exam is $25.

The certifications are good for 36 months.

In Person Certification Training
If your school or organization is interested in certification training, I provide onsite, in-person professional development to prepare educators for the Level 1 and Level 2 exams. My typical training is 2 to 4 days of in-depth, hands-on coverage of every skill needed for the certifications.

Feel free to contact me for more details at ericcurts@gmail.com or view my Services page for more information at http://www.controlaltachieve.com/services

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Skill Checklists for Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2

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So you are thinking about taking the exams to become a Google Certified Educator? But you are wondering what topics and skills are covered by the tests. This blog post is here to help you! Google provides several possible certification options for educators including Educator Level 1, Educator Level 2, Trainer, Innovator, and Administrator.

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40 innovative ideas for using Google Forms in your classroom | Ditch That Textbook

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40 innovative ideas for using Google Forms in your classroom | Ditch That Textbook

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We know that Google Forms give us the ability to easily create quizzes or surveys. We can even create self-grading exams or include video or image in our forms.
But that is just scratching the surface. Google Forms can do SO much more!
How can we use this G Suite app in different and creative ways? And what add-ons are available to enhance Google Forms to make them even more useful to us and our students?

In a recent Twitter chat, moderated by Craig Klement, the #Ditchbook community shared how they are using Google Forms in new, different and exciting ways with their students.

Educators shared ideas like:

Daily check-ins

HyperDocs packaged in Google Forms

Games and races

Favorite Forms add-ons

BreakoutEDU digitals

and SO many more!

Scroll down to find 40 innovative ideas for using Google Forms in your classroom.
Related posts:

Want to get in on the next #DitchBook Twitter chat?
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:
Categories: #DitchBook Twitter chat, G Suite, Google Forms

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. If you decide to purchase, think of it as a way of supporting Ditch That Textbook without paying anything extra! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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40 innovative ideas for using Google Forms in your classroom

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We know that Google Forms give us the ability to easily create quizzes or surveys. We can even create self-grading exams or include video or image in our forms. But that is just scratching the surface. Google Forms can do SO much more! How can we use this G Suite app in different and creative ways?

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Mr. Carr on the Web on Twitter: "Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss. This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it. Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx… https://t.co/U9TwjcCsXd"

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Mr. Carr on the Web on Twitter: "Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss. This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it. Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx… https://t.co/U9TwjcCsXd"

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Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss.  This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it.  Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx

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Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss.  This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it.  Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx https://t.co/muIm4f8fxC

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Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.

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Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss. This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it. Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx pic.twitter.com/muIm4f8fxC
— Mr. Carr on the Web (@MrCarrOnTheWeb) January 22, 2019

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Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss.  This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it.  Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx https://t.co/muIm4f8fxC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss.  This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it.  Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx https://t.co/muIm4f8fxC

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Introduced 8-Parts protocol to my 9/10 ELA Ss.  This was a great way to review the parts of speech with them, and they seemed to enjoy it.  Thanks for yet another good tool, @mhebern and @jcorippo #EduProtocols @COREButteLynx

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Copy of Google Basics PD - Google Slides

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Copy of Google Basics PD - Google Slides

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Last year I created some 5th-grade math protocols. Simple pages students could fill in to help solidify and keep up previously learned skills. This year, I decided to create grades K - 8. A friend and I got together this weekend and hammered out the beginning of 1st grade. And, we gamified it! The directions and gameboards are in Google Slides. This allows you to copy it and customize it.

I also created a video, based on the 1st-grade teacher's recommendation. Thank you Cris McKee!

I'd love to hear how you use it. Have suggestions for other 1st-grade MathReps? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

This entry was posted in Math, MathReps and tagged 1st grade, math, Math review, MathReps by Admin. Bookmark the permalink.

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Last year I created some 5th-grade math protocols. Simple pages students could fill in to help solidify and keep up previously learned skills. This year, I decided to create grades K - 8. A friend and I got together this weekend and hammered out the beginning of 1st grade.

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Michele Klein (@She3llyLynn84) | Twitter

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Michele Klein (@She3llyLynn84) | Twitter

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Headings you add to the document will appear here.

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Gr 4 Would You Rather math.pdf - Google Drive

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Gr 4 Would You Rather math.pdf - Google Drive

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Allowing school districts to see 100 percent of activity on 100 percent of devices at their schools

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This site is a curated collection of phenomena for the NGSS, along with help for how to use phenomena in 3 Dimensional teaching and learning.

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Creativity and Critical Thinking Through Technology presentation - Google Slides

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Creativity and Critical Thinking Through Technology presentation - Google Slides

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Creativity and Critical Thinking Through Technology presentation

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Accelerate Innovation with Professional Learning Models - Google Slides

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Accelerate Innovation with Professional Learning Models - Google Slides

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Accelerate Innovation with Professional Learning Models

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Copy of Who Are We? Staff Getting-to-know-you - Google Slides

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Copy of Who Are We? Staff Getting-to-know-you - Google Slides

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Copy of Who Are We? Staff Getting-to-know-you

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Thinking Routines: Developing Creativity and Critical Thinking In My Classroom - mamawolfe

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Thinking Routines: Developing Creativity and Critical Thinking In My Classroom - mamawolfe

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Thinking Routines: Developing Creativity and Critical Thinking In My Classroom

As I was walking out to hop on my bike after school today, I noticed a man leaving at the same time. I smiled, balancing my bookbag on my shoulder, and said, "Hello".

Flashing a huge grin, he replied, "You on your way home?"

"Yep," I mumbled, not sure if I should recognize him. So many new parents...

"I don't know how you do it; I couldn't have your job. Clock in, clock out, I like not having to think about work at the end of the day," he laughed back as I juggled my papers to grade, coffee mugs to wash and combination on my bike lock.

"Yeah, I would like that, too," I responded instinctively, smiling as he walked towards his car.

Pedaling home, I thought about my response. What would I like about not having to think about work after the teaching day ends? Is it the constant reflection that happens on my 15-minute ride home? Would I prefer to have my boundaries so clearly drawn that my work and personal life never intersected? How is that even possible?

I'm a thinker.

I've been accused of 'living in my head' since I was a little kid. I'm a thinker, an introvert, an observer. In my childhood, I didn't like to talk and only responded to certain folks in my small social circle. Part of it was definitely shyness, but also my discomfort at sharing my thoughts before I've had a chance to sit with them. My 'thinking routines' involve identifying a concept or topic, curiously digging in to find out more about it, swishing it around in my mind, comparing nuances, sorting through pros and cons, and then cautiously making my thinking visible.

Sometimes that comes out through my writing, and more often, lately, it comes out through my voice.

I've been working on making my thinking routines.

I think about those kids in my classes, who just like me, have difficulty blurting things out. They have so much more swimming around in their heads than they let show on paper. They would rather be misunderstood than push themselves to communicate publicly - often resulting in academic grades that are lower than they should be.

These students have inspired my work to help them make their thinking visible. I've become somewhat obsessed with the work of Visible Thinking, of Trevor Mackenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt (see below for their exciting new book, Inquiry Mindset), and Simon Brooks' work on Thinking Routines. I nerd out reading research and strategies and wondering how I can create a student-friendly version to help my students flex their thinking muscles.

Visible Thinking

Visible Thinking stems from the research at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education Project Zero, "Visible Thinking makes extensive use of learning routines that are thinking rich. These routines are simple structures, for example a set of questions or a short sequence of steps, that can be used across various grade levels and content. What makes them routines, versus merely strategies, is that they get used over and over again in the classroom so that they become part of the fabric of classroom' culture. The routines become the ways in which students go about the process of learning."

Thinking Routines Using Hyperdocs

Inspired by my brilliant HyperDoc creator friends Heather Marshall and Kevin Feramisco, I started using different versions of the 3-2-1 Bridge hyperdoc to help students build their thinking routines. Last year, I pushed my students to think about the concept of choice as we dove into our novel study of The Giver by Lois Lowry. Check out my Giver 3-2-1 hyperdoc here: it stimulated excellent conversations in my classroom and helped students think deeply about the choices they have. As one of my students stated, "I used to think that you have freedom and choice everywhere but now I know that there are many restrictions of choice and freedom at school. I also no understand better the phrase my freedom ends where your starts, it means that my freedom stops when it impacts your freedom." I want these thinking routines to be part of part of the fabric of classroom' culture."

It's going to take some thinking on my part. I've got to be the 'behind the scenes' creator who is plotting, strategizing, and making it seem as if these routines were inside them all along.

It's part of the magic of being an educator.

According to the Visible Thinking website, "Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based approach to integrating the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters. An extensive and adaptable collection of practices, Visible Thinking has a double goal: on the one hand, to cultivate students' thinking skills and dispositions, and, on the other, to deepen content learning. By thinking dispositions, we mean curiosity, concern for truth and understanding, a creative mindset, not just being skilled but also alert to thinking and learning opportunities and eager to take them."

Thinking Routines for Refugee

My English 7 classes are reading Refugee by Alan Gratz as part of the Global Read Aloud this fall (a mind-blowing book, by the way), and after our initial dive into the topic of refugees, their brains were definitely more curious and primed for learning. The next step is harnessing that curiosity with another thinking routine called Creative Questions. I made a hyperdoc to help them explore their 'wonders' more deeply - you can check it out here.

I spent hours on Sunday morning diving into the Cultures of Thinking I found on the Rochester Community Schools website.

Educators in Rochester are doing some amazing, inspiring work on thinking routines that are pushing me to be more creative and intentional with my inquiry practice. Please say tuned for more thinking routines inspired by them, created by me, and shared with you!

You know, I'm realizing that I like this part of my job. I love this 'thinking routine' that I find myself in even when I'm not in my classroom. The essence of thinking routines piques my intellect, engages my drive and my love for "curiosity, concern for truth and understanding, a creative mindset, not just being skilled but also [being] alert to thinking and learning opportunities and eager to take them."

Are any of you using thinking routines with your students? I'd love to collaborate/share/create with you! Feel free to adapt my hyperdocs to meet the needs of your students. All I ask is that you just share them back, please, so I can see how amazing you are! And please drop me a note in the comments, or message me on Twitter @mamawolfeto2 - we are so much #bettertogether!

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Thinking Routines: Developing Creativity and Critical Thinking In My Classroom - mamawolfe

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Thinking Routines: Developing Creativity and Critical Thinking In My Classroom As I was walking out to hop on my bike after school today, I noticed a man leaving at the same time. I smiled, balancing my bookbag on my shoulder, and said, "Hello". Flashing a huge grin, he replied, "You on your way home?"

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Around the World with Google Tour Builder - Google Docs

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Around the World with Google Tour Builder - Google Docs

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Around the World with Google Tour Builder

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*Seesaw Activity Library* - Google Slides

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*Seesaw Activity Library* - Google Slides

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Through small-group activities and discussions, students will be exposed to a variety of careers, along with their average salaries and post-secondary requirements. Students will also be asked to brainstorm possible fears or concerns that high school students have concerning college.

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Don't Steal That! Copyright Friendly Resources - Google Slides

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Don't Steal That! Copyright Friendly Resources - Google Slides

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Don't Steal That! Copyright Friendly Resources

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Brush Ninja | A FREE Hand-drawn Animated Gif creator.

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Brush Ninja | A FREE Hand-drawn Animated Gif creator.

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Free creative tools for everyone. Including the world famous Brush Ninja animated gif maker. Use for free on your web browser on any device.

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Google Draw Sea Adventures - Google Drawings

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Google Draw Sea Adventures - Google Drawings

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Create Learning Activities with Google Drawings - Google Docs

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Create Learning Activities with Google Drawings - Google Docs

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Create Learning Activities with Google Drawings

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These resources have been created by teachers from Black Gold Regional School Division or collected from the web with attribution left intact. To get editable versions of these files, please select file and make a copy. YOU DO NOT NEED TO REQUEST EDIT ACCESS.

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Force a Copy of a Google Form - TCEA Blog

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Force a Copy of a Google Form - TCEA Blog

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The easiest way to share a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheet is to use a little trick called Force a Copy. This enables you to share the activities and lessons you create with others without worrying about them accidentally editing something on your version. However, things get a little more complicated when you involve another tried and true Google product, the Google Form.

During a blog writing episode, I created a Google Form and I wanted to be able to share a copy of it without giving editing rights. Of course, I tried the same procedure one would use to Force a Copy of a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheet. That process is to replace the word EDIT in the URL wit h the word COPY. I was hoping this trick would work with a Google Form. But, NO, not happening. Do not despair! My colleague, Miguel Guhlin, shared five easy steps to make this magic happen.

One more item, I know the featured image above says "Copy Document," but trust me, it is really a Google Form!

Five Easy Steps

1. Go to the three vertical dots (which I like to call the skinny snowman)

2: Go to Add collaborators...

3: Change the sharing to match the following image:

4: Click the blue SAVE button

5: The blue highlighted link will look like this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zKZEgSdyl1NlVUwps4A4Vc0m5AnvfasjXKVm6SMIkZI/ edit?usp=sharing

a. Find the word EDIT. Delete edit and all characters/symbols that come after this word.

b. Change the word EDIT to COPY

Viola! When you give somebody this link, they will be able to copy your Google Form. Easy as pie! Now go forth and make and share Google Forms for everyone in your network!

I hope you enjoyed this little tech tip. Do you have any Google quick tips you have hacked that make your life easier? Feel free to share them in the comments or let me know. You can find me on Twitter @preimers.

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Force a Copy of a Google Form - TCEA Blog

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The easiest way to share a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheet is to use a little trick called Force a Copy. This enables you to share the activities and lessons you create with others without worrying about them accidentally editing something on your version.

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Holiday Shopping Template - Google Sheets

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Holiday Shopping Template - Google Sheets

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Easily generate awesome color palettes from an image.

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This Fraction Shape Maker draws a simple shape using equal parts division for fraction illustrations. Teachers and parents can use it to draw a nice shape that is divided into a given number of equal parts, which is not easily done in standard office software. Download the final image as an image (png) file to use in your presentation and worksheets. (Instructions below)

Instructions

1. Enter the total number of equal parts (denominator).

2. Enter the number of shaded parts (numerator).

3. Additional Settings:

Select line thickness (pixel).

Select shade color.

Select additional rotation to get the orientation you want.

4. Right click on desired image (3 sizes) and select "Save image as..." to save shape as a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image file.

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This Fraction Shape Maker draws a simple shape using equal parts division for fraction illustrations in your presentation and worksheets.

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Google Keep: Talking About Math: #MathSnaps – Flipped Technology Coaching

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Google Keep: Talking About Math: #MathSnaps – Flipped Technology Coaching

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Some educators are referring to annotated digital images of student math problems as #mathsnaps. You can capture and archive student thinking within minutes! Google Keep is such an easy way to accomplish this!

Why Use Google Keep?

Student may:

Take a photograph

Add annotations to the image

Record their thinking

Receive a transcript to edit and revise

Share with a teacher

Collaborate with a colleague

Add links to websites or documents

Receive feedback

Insert Keep Notes into Google Docs, Drawings or Slides

Save in The Cloud

Video Tutorial

I used the FREE screen recorder on IOS 11 to create this short video tutorial.

In Summary

The next time you distribute student tests or quizzes, or just want a quick formative assessment, consider asking students to demonstrate their understanding and corrections by using Google Keep. It's free. It's easy. And, it's fun! The more students talk about math the more they will increase their understanding and their standardized test scores! And, I know how much students care about those test scores 😉

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Google Keep: Talking About Math: #MathSnaps

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Some educators are referring to annotated digital images of student math problems as #mathsnaps. You can capture and archive student thinking within minutes! Google Keep is such an easy way to accomplish this! Why Use Google Keep? Student may: Take a photograph Add annotations to the image Record their thinking Receive a transcript to edit...

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Google Adds New Classroom Features. Use Them Responsibly. - Tech Learning

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Google Adds New Classroom Features. Use Them Responsibly. - Tech Learning

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"With great power comes great responsibility."

All the MCU fans out there know that this phrase was first used in the 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 issue and then later by Uncle Ben in the 2002 Spiderman movie.

But history nerds know that different versions of the phrase have been around for much longer. Winston Churchill. Teddy Roosevelt. And this guy - Henry W. Haynes from the public library of Boston in 1879:

The possession of great powers and capacity for good implies equally great responsibilities in their employment. Where so much has been given much is required.

So.

Yes. Google has added some new features to Classroom. And yes. There may be a need for them. But . . . we need to use these new features responsibly. Yes. These features will make life easier for teachers. But here's the problem.

Like any edtech tool or feature, these new Classroom additions can be abused, focusing not on historical thinking skills but low level learning. Focusing on teacher centered, standardized learning rather than student centered, authentic learning.

Especially the one feature that has most caught the attention of teachers.

Locked quizzes.

Soon you'll be able to keep your students focused by creating locked quizzes using Google Forms while in Classroom. Meaning once started in the Form, kids will not be able to leave the tab or open other windows. (Right now, this new lock mode only applies to "managed" Chromebooks that your school has full control over.)

Yeah, I get it. It's fairly easy for kids to "cheat" while asking them to complete online Google Forms and other types of digital assessments. Kids open another tab or browser. Do a quick Google search. Find the answer. Check the box. Copy and paste. Ace the quiz. And tick you off in the process.
[7 Free Edtech Things. Cause Free Edtech Things are Always a Good Thing]
So Google finding a way to lock down a Google Form quiz delivered in a Google Classroom course seems super handy. And it is.

But think about it for just a minute or two.

What kinds of questions are most used in a Google Form assessment? Yup. Multiple choice. True or false. Fill in the blank. Basic low level kinds of questions.

So if all we're doing with the new and improved locked quiz feature is to make it easier for us to create and assess a low level test of multiple choice questions, well then . . . what's the point? If all we're doing is creating learning and assessment opportunities that are not high level and authentic, then maybe we're all in the wrong business.

Marco Torres once asked a room full of social studies teachers to describe their curriculum and instruction. After hearing long lists of dates and places and people and events, he came back with another question:

If I can Google everything you just said, what value are you adding to the learning that takes place in your classroom?

At the 2013 ISTE conference, Will Richardson asked a similar question:

If we're asking questions kids can answer on their phones, why are we asking the questions?

So . . . take full advantage of the new locked Google Forms option that's rolling out thus summer. But be careful how you use it. What can that look like?

Easy answer?

Yes. Use it to measure basic understanding of content knowledge. It's up to you to decide whether to actually record that data as a grade. My suggestion? Don't. Use it for formative assessments, not summative. Low level questions mean low level impact on actual grades. So use the Form as a way to help kids see gaps in their knowledge base not as a way to add data points to your grade book.

Harder answer?

Think about SAMR and historical thinking opportunities. I'm guessing you know about SAMR - using edtech tools as Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. I love Sylvia Duckworth 's version:

Using a locked Google Form to measure foundational content knowledge is simply substituting an online Form for a paper and pencil MC test. Move along the SAMR continuum - use the Google Form to modify and redefine how kids use and share information. Make it more interactive. More authentic. More student driven.

So try some of these ideas:

Primary Sources evaluation / Argumentative writing
Create a Form with primary sources embedded. Ask kids to use their historical thinking skills to evaluate the sources and create an argument using evidence found in the sources. Your documents can be typical kinds of things such as diaries and speeches. But don't be afraid to have kids look at

Media Based Questions
I love the idea of embedding multimedia such as photos and videos into a Google Form. Not sure what MBQ is? This older post can help.

Writing prompts
Create less complicated prompts in your Form. It could be an exit card. A response to a class conversation or. It could even be a response based on small group discussions.

Text-Based Interactive Fiction / Non-Fiction
Using Google Forms, you and your kids can create simple versions of interactive fiction / non-fiction without any coding skills at all. Check out a quick Gettysburg example and one on the Oregon Trail. Then head over to a tutorial for creating your own.

Explorable Explanations
Bret Victor calls Explorable Explanations an umbrella project for ideas that enable and encourage truly active reading. His goal is to change people's relationship with text. People currently think of text as information to be consumed. Bret wants text to be used as an environment to think in.

You're getting the point. Don't let the ease of use with a locked Google Form move you away from doing what's best for kids. Great power = great responsibility.

And if you're curious, there are a few other new additions to Google Classroom. These are a lot harder to screw up:

Create and reuse assignments and questions in one location. Organize the assignments and questions by grouping them into modules and units. Teachers can plan their curriculum for the semester by reordering work to match their class sequence.

Google introduced a new collapsed view of classwork items so teachers and students can see more content on a page. This will help the Stream become the conversational hub of Classroom between students and teachers.

View all teachers, students, and guardians on the new People page. Teachers can view, add, and remove students, co-teachers, and guardians in one handy place.

Control general Classroom settings in one place. Teachers can edit the class description, change the course code, manage Guardian summaries, and set the class location. They can also control how students post and comment on the Stream page.

cross posted at glennwiebe.org Glenn Wiebe is an education and technology consultant with 15 years' experience teaching history and social studies. He is a curriculum consultant for ESSDACK, an educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas, blogs frequently at History Tech and maintains Social Studies Central, a repository of resources targeted at K-12 educators. Visit
glennwiebe.org to learn more about his speaking and presentation on education technology, innovative instruction and social studies.

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Google Adds New Classroom Features. Use Them Responsibly.

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"With great power comes great responsibility."All the MCU fans out there know that this phrase was first used in the 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 issue and then later by Uncle Ben in the 2002 Spiderman movie.But history nerds know that different versions of the phrase have been around for much longer.

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Google Chrome Extensions- Symbaloo webmix

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Google Chrome Extensions- Symbaloo webmix

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Google Chrome Extensions for everyday use. Great for web/blog design, classroom use, or just to increase your daily productivity.

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Badging and Micro-Credentialing for Adult Learners - SCOE Badge Project - Google Slides

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Badging and Micro-Credentialing for Adult Learners - SCOE Badge Project - Google Slides

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To enable screen reader support, press Ctrl+Alt+Z To learn about keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl+slash

HTML view of the presentation

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 Badging and Micro-Credentialing for Adult Learners - SCOE Badge Project

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Q Chart Template - Google Slides - Teacher Tech

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Q Chart Template - Google Slides - Teacher Tech

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Q Chart

Use this Q Chart template with your students. I'll be honest, as a high school math teacher this template is not something I used. However, Phiona Lloyd uses them and I trust her when she says they are great! Each quadrant of the chart represents a different cognitive level for questioning.

@alicekeeler I've used it while reading part texts; students write their own ??. I've used it for reviews, S made test creation etc

- Phiona Lloyd - Henry (@PLloydHenry) April 19, 2016

Layouts

To use this template make a copy and save it to your Google Drive. There are 2 layout choices. The first layout choice has no text boxes and students will have to create their own. The second layout choice has a text box for each square in the Q Chart. Add multiple slides with the template by clicking the plus icon in the upper left-hand corner.

Use the template collaboratively with students by having each student insert one of the Q chart layouts. Alternatively, students can each have their own copy of the template to fill out. I am a big fan of collaborative Google Slides since it gives me one document to open and makes it a lot easier for me to give students feedback quickly. It is also easy for students to provide peer feedback since they are all in the same document.

Tweets on Q Charts

Here's another version of q-chart via @alicekeeler with question types on 2nd slide: https://t.co/TvM93dGiMZ #ycdsb21c Gr8 for metacognition

- Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) April 19, 2016

@PeytonReedatWFU ?When they learn to ask better Qs they learn to respond. Sometimes I use a Q-chart #formativechat pic.twitter.com/YLPmLrxBGP

- Phiona Lloyd - Henry (@PLloydHenry) April 18, 2016

@alicekeeler Ha! Brilliant! Never even thought of that. Have you ever tried Probable Passage? https://t.co/RX3ebNlVYr Gr8 #literacy strategy

- Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) April 19, 2016

Love using a Q-chart with Grade 6/7's! They are creating some great inquiry research questions! https://t.co/FOeJdcNp5V

- Jacqueline Boehme (@missboehme) April 19, 2016

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016

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Q Chart Template - Google Slides - Teacher Tech

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Use this Q Chart template with your students. I'll be honest, as a high school math teacher this template is not something I used. However, Phiona Lloyd uses them and I trust her when she says they are great! Each quadrant of the chart represents a different cognitive level for questioning.

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Dan is an Assistant Principal and a Google Certified Trainer and Innovator. He has a Masters in Instructional Technology and is constantly looking for ways to return the FUN to learning in public education.

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Miss Giraffe's Class: Composing Shapes in 1st Grade

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Miss Giraffe's Class: Composing Shapes in 1st Grade

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Composing Shapes is such a fun topic in first grade and kindergarten geometry! Learning how to compose 2D and 3D shapes is fun because, well, they get to build! What kid doesn't love building?

I have a TON of small group activities, centers, and ideas to share with you for teaching composing shapes that I hope your students will love!

First and foremost - use pattern blocks in every activity that you can! Students are so much more engaged when they can hold and physically manipulate the shapes to build new ones.

Give them time to explore.

They love making pictures out of the blocks so that's an easy introductory activity to get them used to putting the blocks together to make a picture.

Let them build whatever they want on their mat then write how many of each pattern block they used. I recommend printing out the color version of these mats and either laminating them or putting them in a sheet protector like I did above and having students use a dry erase marker to write on them. That way you can use them over and over and the kids can build and record multiple pictures in one sitting by writing and wiping.

Then, in small groups, you can have them build something specific. Have each person build a flower (in their own way) or a robot, person, butterfly, a big triangle, etc. Talk to them about how they put the blocks together to make a new shape. Have them talk to each other about the shapes they used.

Kids love making pictures out of the blocks... and will do it anyway whether it's an activity you give them or not, so it's best to get this out of their system early :)

Once they've had fun exploring, give them activity cards to build!

In small groups, show the entire group one card, place it in the center of the table so they can all see, and have them build it. Ask them questions about what shapes they used, how many shapes make up the new shape, etc.

If you want to make this an independent center after you use it in small groups, simply give the kids a stack of cards and a recording sheet. I made 2 sets of them so they can do the math station twice (or you could copy it back to back and give more cards to challenge higher kids). Have them take a card, build it, then color in the shapes they used for that card like this:

If you want to be referred to as the "best teacher ever" for the day, you could also incorporate dough into these composing shapes lessons.

Give each kid at your table their own can of dough to build into a ball then have them flatten it. It's important that each child uses the entire can so it's thick enough to imprint in. Then, select a card for them to build with the pattern blocks. Have them build it on top of the flat dough.

Once they've built it, have them push down really hard to imprint it into the dough. Have them hold the pieces together in place as they push so the blocks don't move away from each other. Have them carefully peel the pattern blocks off and it will reveal their new shape!

I also made these composing shapes cards for 3D shapes. You know me, I differentiate everything I can so there are 2 sets - one where it's just combining two 3D shapes and one set where it also combines 3 shapes like in the N card seen below.

Students simply look at the card and color in the 3D shapes that the new composite shape is made of. You can also have them build each card with three dimensional shape blocks if you have them.

Asking questions about which shapes were used is a great vocabulary review for geometry as well.

If you want to incorporate the dough again, a great small groups activity is talking about what shapes make up 3D shapes. For example, show them a cylinder and point to the circle face and ask them what shape it is. They can stamp it into the dough to see that it is a circle. Do this for all the three dimensional blocks (triangular prism, rectangular prism, etc.) to see what shapes they're made of. Again, it's a great vocabulary review to talk about "faces" and apply that to real world questions.

"This rectangular prism is made of 2 square faces and 4 rectangle faces" etc.

You can do this with any of the shapes. Give them a hexagon and have them build a bigger one... and a bigger one... and a bigger one... You can also do it with trapezoid or the square. It's just super fun and encourages critical thinking - I really recommend it.

Another game I absolutely LOVE is Fill Me Up!

Kids take turns rolling the dice to know which shape to grab and add to their hexagons. I made 2 dice - one with a hexagon and one without so you can make the game easier/harder. They can move their pieces around at any point in the game to fit new ones because their hexagons have to be filled perfectly where there is no white space and no shapes overhanging (going over the lines). The first person to perfectly fill all their hexagons wins!

It's a kid favorite but I personally love it because they have to be critically thinking in order to fill their shapes perfectly and they're super motivated to manipulate them around. It's just a lot of great practice where they don't even realize how much thinking they're doing. :)

I also included 2 different spinners so you can do spinners instead of dice. I also made a more challenging game board where they have to fill up both triangles perfectly (no white space or over hangs) to win!

Just because you're doing a cut and paste activity doesn't mean they can't use blocks! Again, the more you can use hands on materials, the better! It really just helps them build that conceptual understanding and
see the new shapes they're making.

Let them get those pieces on the paper and build it to figure out the new composite shape.

The same thing goes for the paper and pencil worksheets. They can still use the blocks.

For example, this activity asks them to figure out how many of each block they need to make a certain shape.

See how they "filled" a hexagon with triangles on top of it to figure out how many it took?

Then, for the next question, they're doing the same thing with the rhombus blocks.

For this activity, they're supposed to make a new shape with the given ones and draw it. They can build it with blocks first on their paper then trace and color them. It's just nice to give them that added support. These worksheets can be used independently or in small groups.

Again, the level is in the corner. See how this level C below is just a little more challenging by adding 3 blocks? I'm all about the sneaky differentiating. :)

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Composing Shapes is such a fun topic in first grade and kindergarten geometry! Learning how to compose 2D and 3D shapes is fun because, well...

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I recently gave a math student who had completed all of his work and had a bit of extra time on his hands an extension assignment using emojis. I asked him to create a math problem and gave him the example below which was inspired by the #mathmoji hashtag on twitter:

I showed him how I included one hint (that two of the same emoji's equaled 8) that helped me to "crack the code" of the rest of the emojis. He immediately erased my example (while laughing, I might add) and got to work to create one for me.

I had others duties to attend to that day, but when I checked in with him later on that day, he had not only completed my assignment but had created 5 challenging problems for me to solve! (I WAS able to solve them all, by the way... although I did borrow a calculator at one point... he used multiplication!)

He told me how much fun he had and that he would be challenging his parents later that night. WOW! Adding emojis and providing an opportunity for the STUDENT to create got so much engagement and buy-in that the student-created MORE than I asked for and was EXCITED to share and create more ON HIS OWN!

Incorporating emojis while allowing students to create something isn't limited to this single math assignment. There are soooo many possibilities! My first thoughts for emoji prompts that enhance learning include:

Explain the water cycle using at least 5 emojis

Create a math problem using 2 or more emojis

Tell a story using at least 10 emojis (you might read a rebus story to your students first so they get the idea)

Summarize a story (or setting, or describe a character) in 5 emojis, then write a paragraph to explain your choices

Explain the concept (you put in your content) using only emojis, then write a paragraph explaining your choices and how they represent and explain the concept

Have students create an "All About Me" using only emojis and then present to each other in small groups to get to know one another at the beginning of the school year

While there are chrome extensions and websites where students can easily search for and find emojis, as you know, not all emojis are school appropriate. Also, sometimes having too many choices can be overwhelming to sift through. I've created a simple template you can use that includes a place for instructions (you decide on the prompt and edit), a place for students to create their work, and (best of all) an Emoji Bank with safe-for-school emojis that students can simply copy and paste into their work without having to navigate away to another website or be exposed to some of the more unsavory emoji choices. Click through the pages of this preview to see if you're interested in using it with your students. Have an idea for how you might use this in your classroom? Click on the blue ADD TEMPLATE button in the top right corner to add an editable version to your google drive!

Let me know how you drop an emoji on one of your assignments!

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I recently gave a math student who had completed all of his work and had a bit of extra time on his hands an extension assignment using emojis.

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GiftedwithGersonde on Twitter: "Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton… https://t.co/Pg43yyQ3yB"

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GiftedwithGersonde on Twitter: "Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton… https://t.co/Pg43yyQ3yB"

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd  for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd  for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton https://t.co/HklDwhebW3

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Don’t miss what’s happening

People on Twitter are the first to know.

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton pic.twitter.com/HklDwhebW3
— Jami Gersonde (@JamiGersonde) October 3, 2018

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd  for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton https://t.co/HklDwhebW3

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd  for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton https://t.co/HklDwhebW3

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Questioning is essential for developing critical thinking skills! These 2nd graders were tasked with creating a "40 point" question about the Titanic for their @FlipGrid documentary. Thank you to @dKellyGiftedEd  for sharing her Questioning Bullseye graphic! #BePrinceton

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SAMR PD HyperDoc for April 28th - Google Docs

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SAMR PD HyperDoc for April 28th - Google Docs

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SAMR PD HyperDoc for April 28th

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HyperDocs Inception: Learn HyperDocs within a Hyperdoc - Google Slides

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HyperDocs Inception: Learn HyperDocs within a Hyperdoc - Google Slides

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Top 10 Secrets of an Awesome Tech Coach - SULS019 | Shake Up Learning

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Top 10 Secrets of an Awesome Tech Coach - SULS019 | Shake Up Learning

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Are you a tech coach, instructional coach, or something in between? Maybe you dream of one day being a coach? Ready to learn the top 10 secrets of being an awesome tech coach? This episode is for YOU! Being a coach is no walk in the park, but I can help make it easier.

It takes a strong foundation, experience, organization and lots of patience to be an effective coach. This episode will focus on my best-kept secrets, how to build relationships, organize your time, create meaningful PD and more!

I want to dive deep and help you become the best tech coach possible. There are so many great resources for you to excel in your coaching and consultant role, so get ready to learn!

Each of the 10 secrets is specifically designed to help you learn, engage, and inspire yourself and your students. My goal is to keep your brain sharp and your education moving throughout the summer break.

Tune in and learn how to stay focused through summer, plan for your educational goals, and keep your students on track. You won't want to miss any of my tips for becoming an amazing edTech coach.

. ..
In This Episode:
[00:38] - Welcome back y'all! Today Kasey shares one of her ISTE presentations: The Top 10 Secrets of an Awesome Tech Coach!

[01:58] - Shout out to Celina ISD in Celina, TX! Want to learn more about Shake Up Learning? Bring Shake Up Learning to your next event - WORK WITH ME .

[02:48] - Shout out to Rebecca Brewer one of our active Shake Up Learning community members.

Join the Shake Up Learning Community

The Top 10 Secrets of an Awesome Tech Coach

[05:27] - Tech coach can mean a lot of different things these days! Whether you identify as a coach already or are looking to become a coach, this episode is for you.

[07:02] - What does being a coach mean to you?

Secret #1: Relationships are EVERYTHING!

[07:54] - Secret number 1: Relationships are EVERYTHING! Learn how to build great relationships with Kasey's tips.

Secret #2: Listen More and Talk Less

Listen to Hear the Impact Cycle Questions IN ACTION in episode 10's "On-Air" coaching with Carly Black .

Secret #3: Plan and Organize Your Time
Other tips from the Shake Up Learning Community

Have teachers sign-up for one-on-one coaching sessions,

Sign-up for classroom visits

Leave notes or links to notes in the calendar appointment and share with your administrator

Secret #4: Manage Your To-Do List

[25:59] - Google Keep is a great tool for managing your to-do lists.

Assign tasks to yourself and others in your Google file comments.

Use Google Keep to organize your to-do lists

Add images to the note to make it visual

Prioritize!

Fun tip: Use images or GIF's for your lists to make them stand out! Here's Kasey's for more details.

Use comments in Google Files to tag yourself (and others) and assign a task.

(Tip: Use the "+" and email tag and assign.)

You can view all your tasks in Drive.

Secret #5: Keep Meticulous Notes

Types of Notes

[28:53] - As a coach, you will attend a variety of meetings, in order to stay organized, try Google Forms.

Secret #6: Plan Meaningful PD

[31:32] - Plan meaningful professional development. Teach and treat your teachers as professionals.

See this post to learn How to Design Google PD That Works!

Secret #7: Show Not Tell

[35:47] - Whether you are doing professional learning or demonstrations, remember "show, not tell."

Remember they are ADULT Learners!
( : andragogy means that instruction for adults needs to focus more on the process and less on the content being taught)

Put teachers in the seat of a student

START WITH THE WHY - Always start with the learning goals-NOT THE TECHNOLOGY!

Pre-Assess your audience and differentiate

Make it relevant, applicable, and practical

Try a monthly topic focus to add variety and set goals!

Secret #8: Everything Doesn't Have to Be Face-to-Face

[39:12] - Every interaction that you have does not HAVE to be face to face.

Alternative Methods to Coach, Connect, Reflect, and Learn

Practice (and model) what you preach!

Showing and modeling is worth 100x telling a teacher what they should do.

PD should mirror instructional strategies you want to see in the classroom.

I DO, YOU DO, WE DO - for classroom demo's

Model lessons!

[41:04] - Shout out to Northside ISD in San Antonio, TX for keeping a folder of videos of classroom visits.

Secret #9: Avoid the Summer Slide

[45:09] - Avoid the teacher summer slide by staying connecting and offering quick learning opportunities.

Secret #10: Be a Connected Coach

[47:55] - Be a connected coach and kudos to you for listening to this episode!

Ways to Stay Connected

Want Even More Ideas? Download the eBook!

Give them small bites of information, tips, and opportunities to learn and connect over the summer.

(idea from Amber Teamann and Melinda Miller)

Asynchronous online courses

Asynchronous book studies

Summer webinars

Twitter chats

If you can't give credit hours, consider jeans pass, prizes, drawings, etc. (get donations!)

Podcast Question of the Week

[50:02] - Kasey shares the podcast questions of the week:

"What steps can you take to improve in your role as a tech coach over the next year?"

[50:58] - Join Kasey in the Shake Up Learning Summer Book Study from July 11th to August 8th, 2019.

Learn more at this link, then head to the special Facebook group where each week we will discuss 4 chapters from Kasey's book.

Kasey will post discussion questions that tie into the reading and issue a challenge or choice of challenges related to that section of the book.

We will share #booksnaps, ideas, lessons, failures and successes, links, and a whole lotta ways to Shake Up Learning!

[52:28] - Thank you for tuning in! Please subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review on iTunes. (Bonus points if you use the word "y'all" in your review!)

Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
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Top 10 Secrets of an Awesome Tech Coach - SULS019

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Are you a tech coach, instructional coach, or something in between? Maybe you dream of one day being a coach? Ready to learn the top 10 secrets of being an awesome tech coach? This episode is for YOU! Being a coach is no walk in the park, but I can help make it easier.

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Computational Thinking for Educators - - Unit 1 - Introducing Computational Thinking

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Computational Thinking for Educators - - Unit 1 - Introducing Computational Thinking

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Computational Thinking (CT) is a problem solving process that includes a number of characteristics and dispositions. CT is essential to the development of computer applications, but it can also be used to support problem solving across all disciplines, including math, science, and the humanities. Students who learn CT across the curriculum can begin to see a relationship between subjects as well as between school and life outside of the classroom.

CT involves a number of skills, including:

Formulating problems in a way that enables us to use a computer and other tools to help solve them

Logically organizing and analyzing data

Representing data through abstractions such as models and simulations

Automating solutions through algorithmic thinking (a series of ordered steps)

Identifying, analyzing, and implementing possible solutions with the goal of achieving the most efficient and effective combination of steps and resources

Generalizing and transferring this problem solving process to a wide variety of problems

These skills are supported and enhanced by a number of dispositions or attitudes that include:

Confidence in dealing with complexity

Persistence in working with difficult problems

Tolerance for ambiguity

The ability to deal with open ended problems

The ability to communicate and work with others to achieve a common goal or solution

CT concepts are the mental processes (e.g. abstraction, algorithm design, decomposition, pattern recognition, etc) and tangible outcomes (e.g. automation, data representation, pattern generalization, etc) associated with solving problems in computing. These include and are defined as follows:

Abstraction: Identifying and extracting relevant information to define main idea(s)

Algorithm Design: Creating an ordered series of instructions for solving similar problems or for doing a task

Automation: Having computers or machines do repetitive tasks

Data Analysis: Making sense of data by finding patterns or developing insights

Data Collection: Gathering information

Data Representation: Depicting and organizing data in appropriate graphs, charts, words, or images

Decomposition: Breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts

Parallelization: Simultaneous processing of smaller tasks from a larger task to more efficiently reach a common goal

Pattern Generalization: Creating models, rules, principles, or theories of observed patterns to test predicted outcomes

Pattern Recognition: Observing patterns, trends, and regularities in data

Simulation: Developing a model to imitate real-world processes

See our Computational Thinking Concepts Guide for a printable version of this list, along with teaching tips for each concept.

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Google for Education: Computational Thinking

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Computational thinking (CT) involves a set of problem-solving skills and techniques that software engineers use to write programs that underlie the computer applications you use such as search, email, and maps

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Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted by BootUp PD, Inc. No part of these pages, either text or image may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Therefore, reproduction, modification, storage in a retrieval system or retransmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, for reasons other than personal use, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted by BootUp PD, Inc. No part of these pages, either text or image may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Therefore, reproduction, modification, storage in a retrieval system or retransmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, for reasons other than personal use, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

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Automated Peer Feedback for Student Presentations – i ❤ edu

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Automated Peer Feedback for Student Presentations – i ❤ edu

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Computational Thinking: Over 50 Resources To Teach CT Across the Curriculum, Part 2 - Tech Learning

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Computational Thinking: Over 50 Resources To Teach CT Across the Curriculum, Part 2 - Tech Learning

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The goal of computational thinking is really about getting students to use computer type thinking to solve real world problems. So often we are the users of algorithms, but rarely are we creating them. Facilitating this skill for our students will allow them to innovate, understand, and find purpose. Most of all they will be equipped to fast a world which is constantly changing. It is from the book The power of Computational Thinking by Paul Curzon and Peter W McOwan we find the following quote:

"The beauty of Algorithms is that steps can be followed without those involved having any idea of what they are doing and why"

I can personally relate with this quote. I found myself many times in school following algorithms of which I had no idea for their meaning. I did pass the ACT because I had answers for which I had no understanding of. We as educators must go that next step, providing students a way to problem solve and come up with algorithms that provide the solutions.
[15 Strategies To Help You With A New PBL Idea, Part 1]
For this reason I provide to you some resources I hope you will find valuable. Keep in mind that Computational Thinking can use devices, robots, and computers to support learning. It also is valuable to do some "unplugged" activities that allow students to dive deep into their own thinking leaving the digital object to the side. I have tried to provide resources that support both. Last, the ability to understand the workings of a computer is only half of the algorithm. Keep in mind that human element. How do we find a way to use the power and speed of the computer along with the comprehension and metacognitive ability of the human mind. Enjoy the quote and resources that follow.
"The computer is incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Man is incredibily slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. The marriage of the two is a force beyond calculations" - Leo Cherne
Main Site Computational Thinking Resources:

Puzzles for Computational Thinking

Articles, Information, Ideas
cross-posted at 21centuryedtech.wordpress.com Michael Gorman oversees one-to-one laptop programs and digital professional development for Southwest Allen County Schools near Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a consultant for Discovery Education, ISTE, My Big Campus, and November Learning and is on the National Faculty for The Buck Institute for Education. His awards include district Teacher of the Year, Indiana STEM Educator of the Year and Microsoft's 365 Global Education Hero. Read more at 21centuryedtech.wordpress.com.

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Computational Thinking: Over 50 Resources To Teach CT Across the Curriculum, Part 2

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The goal of computational thinking is really about getting students to use computer type thinking to solve real world problems. So often we are the users of algorithms, but rarely are we creating them. Facilitating this skill for our students will allow them to innovate, understand, and find purpose.

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These modules should take 10 hours to complete and help educators make connections between technology tools and best practice instructional strategies.. These modules can be used for customized professional development by schools or educational service agencies.

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1. Become a participant . Who is your favorite sports person? Or perhaps you want to create a unique name. Create a name for yourself. Use your favorite sports person or create a unique...

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It is with appreciation that the REMC Association of Michigan acknowledges Ingham ISD, Kalamazoo RESA, Macomb ISD, Shiawassee RESD for their collaboration in the development, evolution and success of 21 Things 4 Teachers.