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New Ed Tech Classroom - tons of tutorials

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New Ed Tech Classroom - tons of tutorials

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Empowering teachers to reach a new generation. With a combined 20+ years of classroom teaching experience and a combined 10+ years creating YouTube content for teachers, expert lesson designers Sam Kary and Thom Gibson create videos to help you learn what it takes to create engaging learning experi…

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"education technology" "learning management system" "social network" lms

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Schoology is the education technology company putting collaboration at the heart of the learning experience. Schoology's education cloud connects the people,...

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This area is an aggregate of all the videos you see inside articles, as well as additional videos you might find helpful.

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50 Remote Learning Resources for Teachers and Schools

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In this list, you will find cheat sheets, templates, tips, blog posts, podcasts, tutorials, online courses, and more to help you rock remote learning! These are resources and skills that will help you no matter where you find yourself teaching.

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Google Classroom is more popular than ever! I thought it would be useful to put together a list of resources to help you do more, learn more, and engage more learners in your classroom and online.

Here are 50 Google Classroom Resources That Will Make Your Day!

I write and create a lot of Google Classroom blog posts, podcasts, courses, playlists, and more just for Shake Up Learning readers.

There is even a special resource page on this site that you can visit at any time to see the latest resources. Bookmark it and come back to it when you need some new inspiration.

I thought it would be handy to create this special blog post where you can find not only the top Shake Up Learning resources, but also resources from Google, some podcast episodes, recommended books, and more!

Below you will find my curated list of the top 50 Google Classroom Resources that I think will make your day!

Actually, it's way more than 50 when you consider how many more resources are contained within each one of these links. You're guaranteed to discover something new!

Shake Up Learning Google Classroom Resources

1. The Google Classroom Master Class (Online Course)

2. The Google Classroom Cheat Sheets for Teachers and Students

3. 10 Google Classroom Tips for Remote Learning

4. How to Organize Assignments in Google Classroom

5. Google Classroom Cleanup Tips for the End of the Year

6. How to Use Google Templates and Assign in Google Classroom

7. 10 Google Classroom Tips You Didn't Know

8. 5 Chrome Extensions that Make Google Classroom Even More Awesome

9. Google Classroom FAQ - Your Most Common Questions Answered!

10. Stop Asking How to Put a Worksheet in Google Classroom

11. 4 Ways to Give Meaningful Feedback with Google Classroom

12. 15 Google Classroom Tips for Teachers

13. FREE Webinar: 5 Things to Know About the New Google Classroom

14. How to Create a Class Template in Google Classroom

15. 6 Tips for Getting Started with Google Classroom

16. 70+ Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom

17. How to Package Your Digital Assignments

18. 4 Must-Have Google Classroom Skills

19. Infuse Google Classroom with the Power of YouTube

20. 15 Ways to Use Google Classroom in Professional Learning

21. 20 New Ways to Use Google Classroom

22. Digital Differentiation with Google Classroom

23. Create Interactive Lessons for Google Classroom with TES Teach with Blendspace

24. Google Classroom Comments: All You Need to Know

25. How to Create a Google Classroom Custom Header

26. The Share to Google Classroom Chrome Extension

27. Google Classroom Pinterest Board

28. All Things Google Pinterest Board

29. Google Classroom Resource Page

30. Google Resources from Shake Up Learning

31. Shake Up Learning's Google Classroom YouTube Playlist

The Shake Up Learning Show Podcast

Many of the blog posts mentioned above are also available in a podcast (audio) format.

32. Stop Asking How to Put a Worksheet in Google Classroom (e18)

33. 10 Google Classroom Tips You Didn't Know (e29)

34. 15 Ways to Use Google Classroom in Professional Learning (e34)

35. 70+ Awesome Apps That Integrate with Google Classroom (e53)

36. Google Classroom Clean Up Tips for the End of the Year (e64)

37. 5 Chrome Extensions for Google Classroom (e66)

Google Support:

38. Google Classroom Support Center

39. The First Days of Google Classroom Resource Page

40. Google Teaching Center

41. Google Edu in 90 (YouTube Video Series)

42. Google's Teach From Home Resource Site

43. Google Classroom Help Community

Books:

The titles below are vetted and written by highly qualified educators that I know and recommend. Be aware there are many fake authors and books about Google Classroom on Amazon. Only buy from verified authors!

44. 50 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom

45. The Google Infused Classroom

46. The Chromebook Infused Classroom

47. Stepping Up to Google Classroom

48. Google Apps for Littles

49. The Hyperdoc Handbook

50. Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning From Static to Dynamic

Want Google Classroom Training?

Learn all about the new updates to Google Classroom and take your skills to the next level. This course will give you everything you need to get started using Google Classroom and best practices to help you make the most of this tool.

Perfect for the beginner to intermediate skill levels! Consider this your video guide to Google Classroom!

NEW Bonuses!
Click here to learn more and to ENROLL TODAY!
Learn All About the Course

Who Should Join the Google Classroom Master Class?

Beginners can learn everything they need to get started.

Intermediate level users can focus on learning more advanced features, tips and tricks, and best practices.

Go at your own pace.

Let's dig in! This class is for all skill levels!

What's Included in the Google Classroom Master Class?

Self-paced

Video-based lessons

6 BONUS Lessons

PDF Downloads

Supporting Resources

Best Practices and Tips

6 hours of professional learning credit

Purchase orders are accepted

Bulk license discounts

Get your whole team, campus, or district on board

Click here to learn more and to ENROLL TODAY!
© Shake Up Learning 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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50 Google Classroom Resources That Will Make Your Day!

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Google Classroom is more popular than ever! I thought it would be useful to put together a list of resources to help you do more, learn more, and engage more learners in your classroom and online. Here are 50 Google Classroom Resources That Will Make Your Day!

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Find, share, and collect all within Seesaw. No need for ten different apps, piles of paper, or a printer.

Search by grade level, subject, and keyword to find activities made by real teachers like you.

Customize any activity or create your own to differentiate learning.
Discover activities to use today

Unlock student voice, choice, and expression with open-ended creativity, right in Seesaw.

Students use creative tools of their choice to respond to activities and reflect on their learning.

See how Seesaw Activities work on every device to deepen student learning and engagement.

Protecting your privacy is fundamental to our mission and business. Learn more about our longstanding privacy promises in our Privacy Center.

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Find, share, and collect all within Seesaw. No need for ten different apps, piles of paper, or a printer. Search by grade level, subject, and keyword to find activities made by real teachers like you. Customize any activity or create your own to differentiate learning.

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We are here to support you! Get the most out of Seesaw with our training support resources. Below you will find all of our most popular tools - printable quick start guides, short training videos, webinars, and other helpful links. We can't wait to see what you and your students create in Seesaw!

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We are here to support you! Get the most out of Seesaw with our training support resources. Below you will find all of our most popular tools - printable quick start guides, short training videos, webinars, and other helpful links. We can't wait to see what you and your students create in Seesaw!

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This is going to be a tough one to write. It's going to be honest, and it isn't going to be pretty. My goal as a teacher-writer isn't to paint myself in a glowing light. Quite the contrary, in fact. My goal is to show myself as I truly am: a flawed but dedicated classroom teacher. I also happen to be someone with a deep passion for literacy education- such a passion that I even cowrote a book about conferring with readers. That's why this is going to be a hard one to admit to...

Mistakes I Made in the Spring of 2020

I was an ineffective conferring teacher in April and May of 2020. It's true. I just really didn't know what to do. Like all of you, my world was completely turned upside down. If you're a classroom teacher like me, you probably just didn't know how to balance it all. My biggest concerns did not revolve around how to confer around reading...

Rather, I was mourning the very recent unexpected loss of a former student with my school community. Additionally, I was worried about my student Aiden's family- his sister has serious health issues and the family moved to my area so she could be treated. I was also concerned about Angela- would she remember her school login and eventually join us in Zoom? I was deeply worried about Nate- the once happy-go-lucky chatty friend to all in our classroom had turned inward and just stopped talking. My nine months pregnant kindergarten buddy teacher and her family were constantly on my mind. Would they be ok through all this? My brother was also consistently in my thoughts. As a nurse in a busy San Francisco emergency department, was he in danger? Not only all this, but I was beside myself concerned about my parents. Will their age and health conditions put them in danger? When it came to the actual work of teaching, I was exhausting myself following my district's directions of creating original videos every single day for my students. On a related note, I was often trying to mend my broken spirit when my equally exhausted students admitted they didn't watch the video I sent that day or that they watched it at 2x speed. Plus, I was trying to keep up with 15-20 minute scheduled Zoom meetings with small groups of students that actually turned into emotional support time for all of us rather than instructional periods. Like all of you, I was trying to wrap my understanding around what a global pandemic was and how we even got there. To be completely honest, I was falling apart.

So, it's true. I wasn't even thinking about conferring. And, I forgive myself. You should forgive yourself, too. Actually, there is nothing to forgive. We were in crisis mode. Let's all collectively grant each other some grace and move forward.

What I Plan to do in the Fall of 2020

Once school starts again, I plan to start conferring right away. Why? In retrospect, I honestly think a regular conferring practice would have actually worked wonders this past spring (not dwelling on it, just reflecting on it). It would have potentially given my students, and even me, some comfort, safe conversation, and an outlet of sorts.

In our 2018 book, To Know and Nurture a Reader: Conferring with Confidence and Joy, Kari Yates and I share that we believe at its simplest, a conference is a conversation between two readers. When we are fortunate to learn alongside teachers in person, we often share our belief that every child deserves a teacher who confers, and every teacher can develop a conferring practice that really works. All it takes is a little heart, tenacity, and a willingness to learn. This also applies from a distance- just a bit differently.

To be completely honest, conferring just isn't the same over Zoom. Absolutely nothing can replace pulling up alongside a child in person, sitting shoulder to shoulder at the same level, leaning in asking, "May I join you," and then engaging in a friendly in-person conversation around wonder, affirmation, and learning. Yet, there are things we can do from a distance to harness much of the power of conferring.

Instead of writing in paragraph form how I plan to confer with students this spring, I thought I'd create a more visually pleasing guide.

The guide below explains three different methods for conferring with students from a distance: After the Lesson Conferring, Scheduled Conferring, and Peer to Peer Conferring.

A larger version of this image can be found here.

By providing one on one time to engage with students myself, and encouraging them to do so with each other, I'm hoping students will feel more of a connection with me and with their peers than if I did not intentionally take steps to set up a conferring practice from a distance. Plus, the more I confer with students, the more I'll really get to know what's going- both in their school work and in their hearts. In our work together, Kari and I keep two key questions at the forefront of everything we do:

There really is no more powerful teaching move than kidwatching ( Yetta Goodman, 1978, 2002) and responding. We won't know how to respond until we've explored what's going on. We can't exactly fully engage in the traditional instructional move of kid watching from a distance, but we can still figure out what's going on by conferring on a consistent basis. I plan to do this from the start once we're back at school- even from a distance.

More Conferring Support from the To Know and Nurture a Reader Blog

Post #10 is coming up on Tuesday!Tuesday's writing will discuss the big idea that Less is More in distance learning.

All posts in this blog series will be housed here: 15 lessons learned for the 2020-21 School Year, July 20-August 7th Click on the follow this blog link to have the posts delivered to your inbox each day, or check back tomorrow!

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15 Lessons Learned for the 2020-21 School Year: #9 Prioritize Conferring from the Start

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This is going to be a tough one to write. It's going to be honest, and it isn't going to be pretty. My goal as a teacher-writer isn't to paint myself in a glowing light. Quite the contrary, in fact. My goal is to show myself as I truly am: a flawed but dedicated classroom...

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As school districts develop Remote & E-Learning Plans, it is vitally important that teachers develop strong and meaningful Remote Learning activities for students. Recent legislation requires that classroom activities be inclusive of students with special (IEP/504) needs, as well as students with no or limited Internet connectivity at home. This workshop will explore ways to design engaging instructional activities that will support student learning no matter what the weather brings.

Join us as we explore:

-Remote & E-Learning legislation and ISBE's requirements for classroom activities

- Samples of successful Remote & E-Learning implementation and activities

- Guidance on how to include students with special (IEP/504) needs

- Strategies for including students with limited or no Internet connectivity at home

General Workshop Outline

All portions below are adjustable to your schools' needs. This workshop has been delivered both in-person and virtually (via Zoom) and has looked been the same twice!

Part 1: Orientation (+/- 30 min)

-Legislation

-ISBE Requirements

Part 2: Identifying Possible Remote & E-Learning Day Issues (+/- 30 min)

-Verifying Attendance

- Connectivity, or Lack Thereof

- Meeting IEP & 504 Requirements

- Ensuring Equity

Part 3: Examples (+/- 30 min)

-Remote & E-Learning Day Pilots - Lessons learned

- Successful Remote & E-Learning Day Plans from IL and other states

- Sample Remote & E-Learning Day Classroom Activities

- Elementary Grades (K-5)

- Middle Grades (6-8)

- High School (9-12)

Part 4: Developing Your Classroom Remote & E-Learning Activities (+/- 30 to 60 min)

-Tools for Successful and Meaningful Remote & E-Learning activities

- Time to explore Part 5: Work Time and Critique (+/- 30 to 60 min)

- Work on your Classroom E-Learning Day Plan outline and/or draft

- Critique from colleagues

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Designing Remote Learning Day Activities: Guidance and Best Practices for Educators (K-12)

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As school districts develop Remote & E-Learning Plans, it is vitally important that teachers develop strong and meaningful Remote Learning activities for students. Recent legislation requires that classroom activities be inclusive of students with special (IEP/504) needs, as well as students with no or limited Internet connectivity at home.

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Whether teaching at a safe distance in school, or online, or some combination of the two, teachers and students face a unique challenge this year. While reading instruction for our most vulnerable readers will necessarily look much different from normal practice, many best practices can still be used effectively. An instructional design I would recommend is Read Aloud, Read Along, Read Alone, Read Again. Let's take a look at these four elements and see how we can use them in this brave new teaching world.
Read Aloud
This well-documented and effective reading strategy can and should remain central to our distanced instruction. Read aloud is not only a pleasurable activity for most, but it also builds student vocabulary and background knowledge, provides a model of fluent reading for children, and provides the teacher with opportunities to model reading comprehension strategies like predicting, summarizing, rereading, adjusting reading rate, and questioning.

During this pandemic, while I haven't been able to visit my grandchildren, I have been recording video read alouds and sending them off to be shared at bedtime. Teachers can choose to do recorded read alouds or real time read alouds with their students this fall. For more on Read Aloud you can look here.
Read Along
As I wrote in a recent post you can find here, the read along is an assisted reading strategy that can be used with vulnerable readers to help them improve decoding, fluency, and comprehension. At its most basic, students follow along while a voice recording is played. The strategy was developed for use with third graders in the 1970s to help readers who struggled to get any pleasure out of reading because decoding was slow and laborious. Listening and reading along repeatedly helped students develop more fluency in their reading and with that greater fluency came greater comprehension.

Voice recordings of a wide variety of texts are now readily available. Amazon has an "Immersion Reading" program tied to its Kindle reader that is very promising. Apps like Hoopla and Libby connect students to local public libraries and their store of recorded books. Teachers, of course, can also make voice recordings of books that they want students to read along with.
Read Alone
We know that students spending time reading alone in a book that provides just the right amount of challenge is perhaps the single most effective reading experience we can provide. In the classroom, we would call this independent reading time, but at a distance, it might indeed be reading alone. Whatever the name, this is a critical activity in any reading instruction program. Our target should be to get all students to read at least 20 minutes on their own in a book of their own choice daily.
For a full discussion of independent reading and why it is so critical, you can look here. Read Again
The research in reading has long shown that re-reading a story, poem, or passage improves decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Re-reading is a particularly effective strategy for vulnerable readers, whose decoding may be slow and demand so much attention that it interferes with comprehension. Using the book that the students are listening and following along with, teachers could ask the students to listen to the story over and over while following along until they can read it aloud with good fluency. If the story is a longer one, the students might be asked to choose one passage or paragraph to re-read until they are able to read it back fluently. As I will discuss below, poetry also lends itself very well to the read again strategy.

You can read more about repeated reading here. For an article that looks at repeated reading with poetry, you can look here.
Putting It All Together
While this instructional design could be used with any type of text, and while the same text does not have to be used for each type of instruction, here is one way that the design could be used in a unified way using poetry. Poetry is particularly useful for the strategy because whether teaching in-person or online a copy can easily be made available to all students. Poetry also lends itself to repeated reading and the rhythm and rhyme support fluency and decoding.

Here is a poem from my book, Snack Attack and other poems for developing fluency in beginning readers (Infinity, 2010).
The Rattling, Rumbling Train
The rattling, rumbling, rambling trainClimbs the mountains, crosses the plains.What might its boxcars each contain?

Perhaps some fruit or corn or grain.

The rattling, rumbling, rambling trainWith cars linked in a giant chain.I watch it pass, but can't explain

The power it has to entertain.

The rattling, rumbling, roaring trainMakes noise that clatters through my brain.But please don't think that I complain,

I love that rattling, rumbling train.

In step one of the strategy, the poem would be read aloud to the child/ren. Prior to the read aloud, predictions might be gathered about the topic of the poem by reading the title or perhaps talking about times that children have watched a train roll by in front of their car. Some mention of different kinds of trains like passenger trains and boxcar trains might be helpful. After the read aloud, vocabulary like "plains" or "contain" could be discussed. Other topics for discussion could focus on onomatopoeia (rattling,, rumbling, clatter) or alliteration (rattling, rumbling, rambling) or even metaphor (the cars linked in a giant chain).

Step two would involve the children reading along in the text while the poem was read aloud again. This could be done in real time by the teacher or recorded for the children to listen to later, Recording the poem has the advantage of allowing the children to read and listen repeatedly.

Step three asks that the children read the poem independently.

Step four has the reader returning to the poem and re-reading it. This re-reading could be done with a partner, if possible, or with a parent. If needed, the reader can listen to the taped recording of the poem repeatedly until a fluent reading of the poem is possible.

Follow up activities might include opportunities to write about reactions to the poem and/or sharing personal experience with trains in writing. Teachers might also want to spend some time discussing the -ain word family or blends and digraphs like "tr", "gr", "pl", "ch." that are a part of the poem.

It is, indeed, a challenging time. It is also a time when good reading instruction is possible. Most importantly it is a time to encourage students to improve their reading by continuing to read. Repeatedly.

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Reading Instruction at a Distance: Read Aloud, Read Along, Read Alone, Read Again

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Whether teaching at a safe distance in school, or online, or some combination of the two, teachers and students face a unique challenge this year. While reading instruction for our most vulnerable readers will necessarily look much different from normal practice, many best practices can still be used effectively.

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Shared - Mrs. Ripp Phone - Our Class Hub

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Do you want to show your audience how to use a piece of software or demonstrate how a product or concept works? Or are you going to create how-to videos for your eLearning course? You will definitely need some video tutorial software then.

This is a roundup of 17 tools that can help you create engaging tutorials and improve your training output. Check them out or just bookmark this article to come back to later.

1. iSpring Suite

iSpring Suite is a full-featured authoring solution that allows you to create video tutorials by recording your screen with webcam and audio. The tool has all the necessary features to make your tutorials look professional. For example, you can add titles, annotations and images, create visual hints, and apply transition effects. To measure learners' understanding after watching the tutorials, you can create interactive quizzes. iSpring Suite also allows you to build slide-based courses, dialog simulations, and interactions.

Cost: $770/year for the whole toolkit. Free 14-day trial →

2. Camtasia

Camtasia is an easy-to-use screen recorder with powerful video-editing options. As with iSpring, you can capture any portion of the screen, record and insert a video using your webcam, and support a screencast with audio, images, and text. Camtasia has a full set of animations and video effects, including green-screen. To make a lesson more immersive, you can add your own music or choose a track from Camtasia's library of royalty-free music. To engage your learners and measure learning in your tutorials, you can add quizzes and interactivity.

Cost: $249. Free 30-day trial.

3. Snagit

Snagit is simple screen and video capture software. You can record the action on the screen and audio (from a microphone or system audio) as an MP4 file and, if desired, turn it into an animated GIF. In Snagit, you can trim your video tutorials or GIFs and share them with your learners in a couple of clicks. The software makes it easy to add your tutorials to email, documentation, training materials, blogs, or social media.

Cost: $49.95. Free 15-day trial.

4. Ashampoo Snap 10

Ashampoo Snap 10 is another simple tool for creating video tutorials. It lets you capture your screen and add arrows, graphics, automatic numbering, and visualized mouse clicks and keystrokes to create self-explanatory steps, and turn your screencasts into video tutorials. Like with Snagit, you can export your videos as GIF animations and send them to your learners via email, upload them to all common clouds services like DropBox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Google Drive, or save them to Ashampoo Webspace.

Cost: $39.99. Free 10-day trial.

5. ActivePresenter

ActivePresenter includes the full set of tools needed to record screencasts, annotate, edit videos, and create interactive eLearning content in HTML5. You can make polished and high-quality video tutorials and training simulations with different line/fill/text styles and shadow effects. ActivePresenter has a flexible event-action mechanism that allows you to build various learning scenarios based on viewers' responses.

Cost: There's a free plan. The paid version starts at $199.

6. FlashBack

FlashBack allows you to capture your screen, audio, and webcam. It has a feature-packed video editor in which you can make engaging video tutorials by adding text, callouts, sound, images, blur effects, highlights, watermarks, and interactive buttons to your screen recording. You can export your tutorials in multiple formats or upload straight to YouTube or FlashBack Connect.

Cost: $99. Free 30-day trial.

7. Joyoshare Screen Recorder

Joyoshare Screen Recorder serves as a smart screencast and audio recorder. You can choose to record video with or without system audio or microphone sound. The tool also lets you take screenshots during the recording process whenever you like.

Cost: $39.95. Free trial.

8. Filmora Scrn

Filmora Scrn is an online lecture software program that provides a stable and smooth screen recording experience and allows you to quickly and easily edit your tutorials. You can record from your computer and webcam simultaneously and create picture-in-picture videos. To enhance the learning experience for your viewers, you can complement your screencasts with images, videos, music, and other media files, annotations, and drawn circles and arrows. The software enables you to export your tutorials to multiple formats, including MP4, MOV, and GIF.

Cost: $19.99 for 1 year or $29.99 for the lifetime license. Free trial.

9. ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is advanced screen recording software. It comes with powerful editing options like adding transitions, video animations, text animations, freehand annotations, multi-channel audio, and more. You can even animate graphics, titles, and logos. ScreenFlow has a built-in stock media library with access to over 500,000 unique media clips that you can use for your tutorials. To make a series of tutorials quickly and easily, you can create a customized template and just populate it with a neсessary screencast when needed.

Cost: $129

10. DemoBuilder

With DemoBuilder, you can create professional and fully interactive tutorials with a whole range of tools and animations. It allows you to edit and fine-tune your videos with balloons and notes, cursor records, click zones and buttons, and 3D effects. To make your tutorials even more engaging, you can add animated characters who will talk with your voice and use various actions and realistic movements, from walking and talking to intricate eye and head movement.

Cost: $298. Free 15-day trial.

11. Hippo Video

Hippo Video enables you to create tutorials by using your screen capture, webcam, and audio in HD quality. While recording, you can annotate, highlight mouse-clicks, erase, and more. What is special about Hippo Video is that it has a robust reporting engine. For example, you can track how many people have watched and shared your video, see the locations you got video visits from, and get information about viewers' likes and dislikes.

Cost: There's a free plan. The paid version starts at $15/month.

12. Open Broadcaster

OBS Studio is an open-source solution designed specifically for video recording and live streaming. It's more focused on recording gameplay, but it can also be used as tutorial creation software. The studio records in HD in full-screen at 60 frames per second. It includes real time video/audio capturing and mixing. Open Broadcaster provides robust editing options including different kinds of video and audio filters and custom transitions, but, overall, it has quite a steep learning curve and requires some time for training.

Cost: Free

13. Panopto

Panopto is an online video platform with built-in multi-camera video recording software. It allows you to capture video from your screen(s) and simultaneously record an unlimited number of video feeds with the help of a webcam, a camcorder, and more. Panopto's video editor makes it easy to trim unwanted sections, switch between different video feeds, and even embed quizzes, polls, and surveys. With Panopto, you can live stream your video tutorials and instantly share the recordings when the broadcast ends.

Cost: Upon request. Free trial.

14. Ezvid Wikimaker

Ezvid Wikimaker is the world's first video creator powered by voice synthesis. It was initially designed for researchers and journalists to turn text into video wikis, with a minimum of hassle, but you can also use Ezvid Wikimaker as a video tutorial app. It lets you create screen recordings and support them with text that is automatically transformed into narration. You can also enhance your tutorials with images and video clips.

Cost: Free

Animoto is an easy tutorial video maker that allows you to create step-by-step tutorials in a matter of minutes, with no editing experience. To make a video, you simply need to choose a storyboard template, upload your photos and video clips, or select from the Getty Images stock library, and customize the template by changing the colors, adding text and music.

Cost: From $5/month (annual billing). Free 14-day trial.

16. Moovly

Moovly is another video tutorial maker that offers the ability to create videos with customizable templates. You can make video lessons simply by dragging and dropping your images, video clips, and music into pre-built templates. The tool allows you to quickly personalize everything: colors, footage, background, sounds, and more.

Cost: From $24.92/month (annual billing). Free trial.

All of the solutions covered in this article are suitable for creating video tutorials. Choose any of these tools and take them for a spin before you decide whether they're worth investing in.

Have you used any of this software to create video tutorials before? We'd love to hear your comments below.

iSpring Suite

Create online courses and assessments in record time.

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🔥 16 Best Video Tutorial Software Programs (2021) 🔥

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Do you want to show your audience how to use a piece of software or demonstrate how a product or concept works? Or are you going to create how-to videos for your eLearning course? You will definitely need some video tutorial software then.

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Summary: Screen casting is a very helpful technique in eLearning. It can be used by teachers or instructors who want to create video tutorials or presentations. This is why I created a list of the best free video tools for teachers.

The Best Free Video Tools For Teachers

Beginners might ask what screencasting is. Well, basically you just record a video of your screen and produce an output in video format. Yes, if you want to share something on your screen you could simply do some screenshots or still photos of it, but if you want to go beyond that and make learning more fun and efficient, then try screencasting. You could find so many screencast tools on the web but some of them are quite expensive. This is why I compiled a list of the best free screencast tools that will help you create wonderful video tutorials without spending a cent.

1. Ezvid
Ezvid is a 100%free video creation tool that allows you to capture everything that appears on your computer screen. It also allows you to edit your recorded videos by splitting your recordings, inserting text and audio, controlling the speed and even drawing directly on your screen. There's also a Gaming Mode specially designed for gamers to avoid black screen problems when recording games such as Diablo III and Call of Duty which are full screen games. You can save your edited videos for later use or you may directly upload them on YouTube.

2. BlueBerry Flashback Express Recorder
This recorder just, like other screencast tools, enables you tocapture your screen while recording yourself through a webcam. It introduces quite a long list of features that will let you edit videos like a pro. BB Flashback Express Recorder also has a very easy user interface that allows you to decide what area of your screen you would like to capture and whether to record sound and web activity or not. Another good thing about it is that you can have scheduled recordings so you wouldn't have to miss online events. It also includes a player which works like a VCR and allows you to review your recording frame-by-frame.

3. Screenr
Screenr is aweb-based screen recorder. Yes, you read it right. It's web-based so that means, you wouldn't have to install it on your computer but it requires Java to run. Screenr allows you to easily capture your screen by logging on to their website, clicking on the record button and keeping it open while you are capturing your screen activity. Keep in mind that you only have a maximum of 5 minutes per recording. Files are saved on the site. When you're finished, you'll be given a link that can be easily shared by email or can be embedded on websites. It's absolutely free, works on both MAC and PC and will work even on your iPhone.

4. Rylstim Screen Recorder
Rylstim is a verysimple and easy to use Screen Recorder which, aside from capturing your screen, also allows you to record events happening on the monitor including right and left clicks. It has a minimalistic and intuitive interface but supports multiple CODECs. You can also customize the video frame rates. Rylstim Screen Recorder works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows

5. Krut
Krut is ascreencast tool that works in almost any Operating system and requires Java to run. It's a very simple program with only 3 basic controls: Record, Snap for still pictures, and the Arrow button used to adjust the borders of your recording area. It's very minimalist without all those complicated features that other screencast tools offer, but it can be powerful too because of some additional features such as timer-controlled recording. You can also use it for recording streaming video and audio.

6. CamStudio
CamStudio is a pretty straightforward program that lets yourecord your screen and audio and produce outputs in AVI or SWF format. It enables annotation such as text and call out inserts and even provides you some cursor options such as default, hidden or highlighted, which should be carefully laid out prior to recording. You have some video options too which lets you control compression, frame rates , quality and time lapse but aside from that, you can't really do much with the video because it doesn't include editing capabilities.

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Find, choose and compare the top eLearning Content Development Companies for K12!

7. Webineria
Webineria is anopen-source easy-to-use screencast tool which lets you capture your screen activity and do "picture-in-picture" video by adding your webcam stream. It provides you 3 frame rate options: 5, 10 and 15 frames per second and outputs can be produced in either AVI or FLV format. It has built in features too that let you adjust the boundaries of your record area, use hotkeys to pause and resume recording. Outputs are saved on the site and can be shared via email links or embedding on websites.

8. Screen-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a screencast tool which has both web-based and desktop versions. It's very easy to use and will run so long as you have Java installed on your computer. It hasfree video hosting and allows you to record your screen or both your screen and webcam. You may also publish your output directly to YouTube. The free versions of Screencast-O-Matic has limited features though. For instance, there's a 15-minute recording time limit, there's a small watermark when recording, it doesn't allow webcam-only recording and it doesn't allow you to zoom and annotate while recording.

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The 8 Best Free Video Tools For Teachers

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Summary: Screen casting is a very helpful technique in eLearning. It can be used by teachers or instructors who want to create video tutorials or presentations. This is why I created a list of the best free video tools for teachers. Beginners might ask what screencasting is .

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Tips for Designing an Online Learning Experience Using the 5Es Instructional Model - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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Covid 19 has educators and educational institutions worried about and preparing for possible school closures. What happens if students have to stay home for days or even weeks? How can we keep them learning remotely? What strategies and technology tools can teachers use to take traditional classes online?

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Cult of Pedagogy Discusses Distance Learning 

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Cult of Pedagogy Discusses Distance Learning 

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Sponsored by World101 and Listenwise

Disclaimer 1: This post was written in the Spring of 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak, so a lot of the information here is discussed through the lens of distance learning launched by a global pandemic. I have attempted to broaden the lens beyond our current situation to take other distance-learning situations into account.

Disclaimer 2: I recommend quite a few tech tools in this post. Before you proceed with them, please check with your district to make sure the tools comply with your specific use policies for age, privacy, etc.

If you've found yourself teaching in a distance-learning situation, especially if it's been foisted upon you by circumstance, you'll discover pretty quickly that distance learning offers different challenges from face-to-face instruction. And if you look online, you'll find tons of ideas and resources that can help you tackle those challenges, so much that it's easy to get paralyzed at the volume of it all. This is especially true if you're expected to hit the ground running with very little notice.

To help you, I'm going to take my best shot at sharing clear, carefully curated information on distance learning. We'll do this in four parts:

In Part 1 I'll address your head and your heart, the very real, valid emotional and psychological factors that may be preventing you from doing a decent job with online learning.

In Part 2 we'll get into the nuts and bolts of distance learning, options for content delivery, different ways students can demonstrate learning, and some of the tech that can make it all work.

In Part 3 I'll share some general tips and advice I've gathered from teachers in the field.

And in Part 4 we'll talk about troubleshooting, solving some of the more specific problems that come up often when we talk about online learning.

PART 1: START WITH YOUR HEAD AND YOUR HEART

None of the practical stuff is going to do any of us much good if we're in a distracted, panicked headspace and haven't tended to the ways our current situation has impacted our emotions. Here are three things you can do to get your head and heart in a better place.

Get Perspective

There will likely be times when the people in charge of you start to expect too much, or you expect too much of yourself. If you're in a situation like the one we happen to be in right now, in the spring of 2020, you may need to regularly step back from what's right in front of you and remember that we're dealing with life and death circumstances right now. None of this is normal, and there really is no precedent to follow. Most people are doing the best they can on any given day, and that means things will not go smoothly. And by "people," I mean everyone: students, parents, your colleagues, your administration, your family members, and you. YOU. Giving yourself plenty of grace is key at times like this.

If you need something to help you regain perspective and cut yourself some slack, read Carolyn Todd's editorial, Is Anyone Else Just Barely Functioning Right Now?

Now if you personally have a cool, level head at the moment, but someone else is pressuring you to do more, keep in mind that they are feeling their own unique pressure to perform, and they're passing that on to you. It may be an opportunity to validate their feelings, or it may be time to push back on expectations that are simply unreasonable.

Get Physical

When things start to feel like too much, start moving. Decades of research has pointed to the link between physical activity and brain function, but most of us don't need research to know that some of our best ideas come to us when we change things up and go for a walk, a run, or a bike ride. This is especially important during times when we are more likely to be cooped up in our homes, such as, say, a quarantine imposed by a global pandemic.

Get with Other People

One of the things that has really overwhelmed me in the process of putting this post together is knowing that everyone's situation is a little different and not having the tools to address each situation.

One way to alleviate this is to get in touch with others who are more familiar with your specific needs. Apart from collaborating with your colleagues, a great way to share ideas is to find and join online groups. Two I'm recommending here are on Facebook. If you're not on Facebook, I strongly suggest you set up an account just for the purpose of collaborating with others.

Dealing with Educational Inequities in Distance/Online Learning: This group was created "in response to the growing list of resources and practices during the COVID-19 shutdown that further increase the educational divide as it relates to accessibility; race; socio-economic status; gender; and other marginalized communities. We want to demonstrate real solutions in distance/online learning that can provide solutions for all learners."

PART 2: THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF ONLINE LEARNING

Online learning has so many components to it; each one could honestly get its own whole blog post. Since I can't go too in-depth all at once, I'll just do an overview of all the pieces and link out to a few resources that can help you learn more about each one.

1. CONNECTING AND COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS

It's essential that you have clear, consistent, accessible channels for communicating with your students. Different pathways for communication will need to be established. The first two are essential and asynchronous, meaning participants can access the conversation whenever it's convenient; they don't need to be present at the same time. The third pathway is optional and is usually synchronous, meaning participants must "attend" the conversation at the same time.

Must Have: Outgoing Communication asynchronous On this pathway, you give instructions, post announcements, and generally inform your students about what's going on and what's expected of them. Some teachers are creating daily or weekly videos for this purpose, while others are writing out instructions in places like Google Docs, and others are doubling up-pairing short videos with written instructions so students get the information through different modes.

It seems like one of the most important considerations with outgoing communication is that you keep it consistent: Pick one place to deliver and store outgoing messages and stick with that, so students know where to look, nothing gets lost in the mix, and no one gets overwhelmed with information overload.

Must Have: Incoming Communication asynchronous This pathway is for students and parents to reach out to you with questions, feedback, and updates on their ability to complete required work.

Nice to Have: Two-Way Communication
synchronous OR asynchronous On this pathway, you and your students can communicate back and forth in a more open dialogue, where you broadcast yourself live and students attend as participants in one-on-one, small-group, or whole-class sessions.

Video conferencing: For this pathway, many teachers are using video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts Meet, and Microsoft Teams. These can be great for community-building and giving students a sense of connectedness with you and each other.

It's important to note that these platforms also have their pitfalls, one of which is that they may directly violate your school's privacy policies, so be sure to check with the people in your district who are in charge of compliance with those policies to make sure you're ok. This article from Edsurge does a good job of explaining the potential problems with video conferencing; it focuses specifically on Zoom, but the concepts would apply to any video conferencing tool.

This infographic, created by the Celina High School SWAT Team in Celina, TX, and their advisor, Tisha Poncio, offers tips for students when participating in video conferences:

Alternatives to Video Conferencing: If you've decided not to go the video conferencing route for now, you can still set up text-based discussions that can get students interacting:

Discussion boards: Many platforms, like Google Classroom, Blackboard, Edmodo, and Microsoft Teams, give you the option to set up ongoing, text-based discussions on individual topics. You can make these optional, open for students to ask questions on their work, or make participation a required part of students' grades.

Backchannel discussion: If you'd like something that feels more dynamic and "live," try a backchannel discussion, which can happen at a set time (synchronous) or stay open for a longer period of time to allow students to participate when it's convenient for them (asynchronous). You can open up a text-based chat room in YoTeach (which is very similar to the now-defunct TodaysMeet). If your students are 13 years or older, you could also set them up on Voxer, which allows them to use voice or text to carry on discussions.

2. KEEPING EVERYTHING ORGANIZED

Ideally, you and your colleagues will have chosen a single platform for storing and delivering assignments, collecting student work, posting announcements, and so on. Many schools are already set up on a learning management system (LMS) like Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, or Edmodo. If you don't already have something in place, and you don't have time to learn a new platform, it's probably not a good idea to jump into anything new.

But creating a central hub should be a priority. What parents and students are saying most often is that it's incredibly stressful to have to keep up with multiple platforms and multiple streams of information, with some pieces coming through email, others through Remind, others through an LMS, and so on. With more than one child at home and more than one teacher per child, things can get out of hand very fast. It's perfectly fine to use different tools as part of your instruction-you might assign Quizlet flashcards, Edpuzzle lessons, Newsela articles-but for communication, keep things as streamlined as possible.

One simple approach taken by some schools is to maintain a single document (usually a Google Doc) for the whole school. In that document are links to individual documents for each teacher.

This type of document-which is just a really simple hyperdoc -creates a central hub where parents and students can start every single time, then click over to the places where they can find updated information for their classes. Even if you don't use this specific model, setting up something like it will make your whole school run more smoothly.

Individual teachers can then replicate this type of hub for their own classes, creating a central folder or file where students can find daily or weekly assignments and other communications.

3. LESSON DESIGN

Entire degree programs have been created to show teachers how to design lessons for online learning, and I wasn't able to delve into this enough for this post. What I did find are two resources that you might find helpful without getting another master's degree:

One principle that I've seen in several discussions of online learning is the idea that it works better when you give students some choices, choices in how they take information in and choices in how they demonstrate learning. The next two sections will share some possibilities for both of those.

4. OPTIONS FOR DELIVERING CONTENT

One of the main things you need to do when setting up online instruction is figuring out how students are actually going to take in the content. You have a few options, and it's a good idea to not just stick to one avenue, since you ideally want to give students multiple modes of intake.

Readings

Google Docs or Microsoft Word Files: As long as you remember to manage the security settings on these so they can't be edited, these kinds of files are perfectly fine to use as reading materials.

Regular PDFs: One advantage of using PDFs is that you generally don't have to worry about them being altered by the student, and things like fonts and other design elements will be preserved no matter what device a student is using.

PDFs with Annotation Tools: Several tools like Edji and Kami allow users to annotate PDFs, which would make a great close-reading assignment.

Websites: There's a ton of outstanding free content online that would make excellent reading material for class assignments. On CommonLit, Newsela, and Actively Learn, you can find good reading material for many grade levels and subject areas. NewseumED offers fantastic primary sources for history and social studies.

Websites with Customized, Added Layers: With any website at all, you can use Insert Learning to layer on your own instructional content, such as notes, discussion questions, quizzes, and other embedded content.

Videos

Video is a very popular way to deliver content online, because it has the potential to restore the voice and visuals that are lost when we move away from face-to-face instruction. Once you have a good video, you can share it directly with a link or use a tool like Edpuzzle or PlayPosit to build a complete lesson around that video.

You have two options for sourcing your content: use videos that were created by someone else, or create the videos yourself.

Created by Someone Else
Obviously, the internet is absolutely loaded with videos, and using them means you don't have to make them yourself. What's challenging is finding videos that (a) are appropriate for student viewing, and (b) accurately represent the content you want to deliver, in a way that's succinct and maybe even entertaining. Finding videos that meet these criteria can be really time-consuming if you don't know where to look.

To save time, it helps to go to sources that have already proven themselves as creators of high-quality educational videos.

Khan Academy offers a massive library of videos on math, science, and arts & humanities, including history and government, so that would be a great place to start.

Look for YouTube channels created by organizations that already have a strong reputation for good content, like National Geographic, the History Channel, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As with anything else, your colleagues are going to be one of your best sources for finding good stuff, so ask around at school, or find a group on Twitter that can recommend something for you.

Created by You The good thing about creating your own videos is that you have total control over the content. Probably the easiest way to create instructional videos is with screencasting software, which simply records whatever is on your screen while you narrate into a microphone. So you could, for example, create a PowerPoint-based lecture, then just deliver that lecture on your screen and use screencasting software to record it.

Here are two affordable, popular options for screencasting:

Screencastify
screencastify.com
This recorder is built right into Google Chrome, which makes it an incredibly convenient tool for creating on-the-spot screencasts. As of right now, the editing tools are still kind of rudimentary, which means you're not likely to end up with a very polished end product. Still, for many purposes, this tool gets the job done quickly and easily. Watch this video to learn how to use it.

Screencast-o-Matic
screencast-o-matic.com
This popular recorder is one that you download onto your computer, which is slightly less convenient than one that's built into a browser, but the editing features available with the paid plans might make it worth it for you. This video gives you an overview of how it works.

Static Slide Presentation

Slideshows that combine text with appealing visuals can be a nice alternative to text readings. They're also much quicker and easier to create than videos, and viewing them requires a lot less internet bandwidth.

These kinds of slideshows, which students would click through on their own, should ideally be designed with that independent experience in mind. Unlike a presentation that you give live, these would not be simply a support for a speaker; they'd need to stand completely alone, with all the necessary text on the slides, rather than in the speaker notes.

Rather than sharing these as a file, which would require you to adjust editing permissions and would likely result in the student looking at it in editing mode, you can share it in presentation mode so the slides take up the full screen and it feels more like an experience, like in this sample presentation. Learn how to set this up with a Google Slides presentation in the video below:

Audio

Content can also be delivered via audio, which can be a nice change of pace for students who are used to text or videos only, and because audio files are much smaller than video files, they're less likely to strain home internet capabilities.

Listenwise houses a fantastic library of curated, standards-aligned podcasts.

You can find lots of other podcasts on pretty much any topic imaginable. Here are some good ones that are produced specifically for student audiences.

Recording your own audio instructions, reflections, or lectures is simple and quick. You can use a voice recording app on a smartphone or a web-based tool like Online Voice Recorder to create MP3 files, which are just audio files, then upload those files right into whatever platform you're using to distribute information to students. In many cases, students will be able to play them right on that platform.

Interactive Learning Experiences

Some tools have come along in recent years that allow you to create interactive online learning modules, where students click through various instructional components, play games, take interactive quizzes, and so on. Although some activities may not justify the time it takes to put these interactives together, they can offer something different and more fun than the standard fare. You can find these on sites like GoConqr, Deck.Toys, BookWidgets, and Wizer. The one platform that seems to have the most robust collection of options is Genially. Take a look:

5. OPTIONS FOR DEMONSTRATING LEARNING

Just as there are many different ways to get the content into students' heads, you can also offer choices for how students demonstrate their learning. Probably the quickest, most traditional way to measure whether students learned the material is to give them some kind of test or quiz, but that may not be the best way to get students to experience the content in a deep way. Sticking only to tests also favors students who work well in that mode, rather than allowing other students to shine in areas they might be stronger in. Beyond all that, it's not much fun.

On Twitter, I asked teachers for some fresh ideas for "end products," and got tons of ideas back. Below I've listed some really good ones. Before you jump on these, be mindful that these end products still need to align with your instructional goals and are not what we call Grecian Urn assignments, creative-looking projects that don't ultimately have much instructional value.

Book: Students create a children's book, mini-textbook, handbook, comic, or other kind of book. These can be done on paper or created with apps like Book Creator.

Google Tour: Using Google Tour Builder, students can create customized tours that combine photos, text, and targeted locations on Google Earth. These could be used to create tours that explore current events, historical periods or phenomena, science or geography topics, global research topics, students' personal histories or future plans, or completely fictionalized stories that take place in various locations around the world.

Infographic: On paper or using a tool like Piktochart, have students create an infographic to represent or teach about an idea or set of data.

Lesson: Have students write their own lesson on a chunk of your content. Provide them with the basic structure of a lesson to follow, including objectives, direct instruction, guided practice, and some sort of assessment to measure their success.

Model: Students can create a physical model representing some aspect of your curriculum, then photograph it from various angles or create a video tour of the model with their own narration.

Museum or Multimedia Collection: Have students curate a collection of artifacts representing a curricular concept, along with their own written captions, in a Google Slides presentation. Two fantastic resources for gathering these artifacts are the Smithsonian Learning Lab and the Google Arts & Culture website.

Podcast: Have students use the recording tools mentioned in the "Audio" section above or an app like Anchor to record a podcast where they express an opinion, tell a story, or teach about a content-related topic. If students have a lot of material, they can break their podcast into multiple episodes and do a series instead.

Scavenger Hunt: Have students participate in a content-based scavenger hunt and take photos to record their findings. An app like GooseChase can make this even more fun.

Sketchnote: Have students create a sketchnote to represent a content-related topic using paper or with a drawing app like Sketchpad.

Video: Students can create their own videos as creative, informative, persuasive, or reflective pieces. These can be public service announcements, commercials, mini-documentaries, instructional videos, short feature films or animations, or TED-style talks. Tools for creating these can range from quick response platforms like Flipgrid, to screencasting tools listed in the previous section, a tool that creates stop motion videos like Stop Motion Studio, or simple online video creators like Adobe Creative Cloud Express.

Website: Using tools like Weebly, Wix, or Google Sites, have students develop a website to document a long-term project or teach about a particular idea.

PART 3: GENERAL TIPS AND ADVICE FROM TEACHERS

Begin again.

If distance learning has been introduced suddenly, where it takes the place of face-to-face learning rather than being the standard from the start, treat the beginning of the shift the same way you'd treat the beginning of a school year, by establishing routines and protocols before digging deeply into content, and giving extra energy to rekindling culture and relationships on the new platform even if they were already established in the face-to-face setting.

Keep home responsibilities in mind.

When schools are closed district-wide, all children are out of school and under one roof. This means older kids may be shouldering some responsibility for caring for their younger siblings, and that could impact how well they are able to keep up with deadlines, log in for synchronous events, or respond to communication in a timely manner. Letting students know up front that you get this, and maintaining flexibility with deadlines, can go a long way toward keeping lines of communication open and avoiding misunderstandings.

Make social interaction a priority.

When we are kept apart from one another for whatever reason, our need for human interaction increases. So if you're teaching a distance learning course that was set up that way to begin with, it's important to build in structures to keep students interacting with each other and with you.

This principle is even more vital in situations where distance learning is coupled with large-scale social isolation.

Some of the tools and systems I mentioned earlier, like video conferencing and discussion boards, can meet this need; even your own outgoing video, audio, and written communication can be used for more "human connection" reasons. A good general rule to keep in mind is that you don't need to use 100% of your time for instructional purposes; allowing space for regular conversation, venting, and laughter can be incredibly important.

Keep messaging to a minimum.

I mentioned this earlier, but it's important so I'm repeating it. If kids and parents are receiving multiple messages from multiple teachers every day, and families have multiple kids, they can become overwhelmed really quickly, and things will start slipping through the cracks.

Try to limit the number of platforms you and your school are using for distributing information. Ideally, you'll have one clear channel for sending out announcements and messages, and those will be limited in number. Parents and students will have one place to look for all important information, and that "place" will be clean, simple, easy to navigate, and updated regularly so that all users can count on the information being current. The closer you can get to this ideal, the more smoothly things will go.

PART 4: TROUBLESHOOTING

Two specific problems tend to come up more often than any others when it comes to distance learning. Although neither one is completely solvable, here are some of the ways schools are addressing them:

1. Students Who Do Not Have Home Access to Tech

The whole notion of distance learning becomes a problem if some of your students don't have devices or reliable internet access. Here are some ways to address this problem:

Get more students connected. In a 2017 post, When Your School is Short on Tech, I showcased some ways that schools are getting unconnected families online, including information on how some schools partner with organizations like Kajeet to loan WiFi hotspots out to families. Although some of the solutions may not be relevant to a distance-learning situation, you may find some resources that can be helpful in your community, even if they can't be implemented right away.

Offer non-digital options. Some districts are working around the problem by offering paper resources for pick-up and drop-off. This is how we did distance learning in all the years before the internet, so it's certainly possible to do it again.

Use the phone. If you've tried other avenues and still can't get a hold of some families, a regular phone call might be your best option. If you want to keep your number private, you can set up a Google Voice account, which allows you to call, text, or message another phone without sharing your personal number, or use some of these phone settings to block your regular number. If you are reaching out to families that don't speak your language, try the free TalkingPoints app, which allows you to communicate with them in their language.

Use the mail. Although not ideal or cheap, it may be possible to mail materials back and forth (if you have office staff still going to school each day, they may be able to help with this). Even if instruction isn't possible this way, consider the impact it would make if you took ten minutes to mail a hand-written letter to an otherwise unconnected student, just to let them know you're thinking about them.

Consider home visits as a last resort. This isn't out of the question. And if you're deeply concerned about reaching students who can't be reached in any other way, it may be possible to just drive to their neighborhoods and, maintaining all precautionary measures and social distancing, check in with them. One visit might be all that's needed to at least establish a phone connection that you can maintain from that point on.

2. Meeting Special Education, RTI, and Language Learning Needs

So many of our students have individual needs that we have figured out how to meet in a school setting. When school moves to a distance-learning model, both teachers and parents are often at a loss for how to continue working with students with IEPs, those who receive RTI support, English learners, and other students who get one-on-one time with educators specifically trained to meet their needs.

Since this one is really far out of my wheelhouse, I reached out on Twitter for help. Really, your best bet is to read the replies to see what might work for you. You'll not only get some good ideas, you're likely to connect with people you can reach out to for even more good ideas.

Apart from that, I have a two more resources to share:

Microsoft has a growing suite of tools made specifically to make online learning more accessible for all learners. One or more of these may make it easier for you to meet more students' needs from a distance.

The TalkingPoints app enables teachers to communicate with parents in the parents' native language, and it even works if parents only have text-based phones.

As I neared completion on this post, I opened up my inbox and found five other resources that had been sent to me for possible inclusion in this post. Looking through them made me realize I had missed gobs and gobs of information here. I felt completely deflated and overwhelmed all over again, but then, as I have often had to do in the past couple of weeks, I took a deep breath, closed up the things that were distracting and upsetting me, and said to myself, "Today you have done enough."

I hope this has helped you in some way. If not, tomorrow is another day.

Come back for more.
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Distance Learning: A Gently Curated Collection of Resources for Teachers

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An overview of the nuts and bolts of distance learning, including general tips, advice on tech, and troubleshooting some common problems.

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How to use Bitmoji Chrome Extension |  Bitmoji in Classroom

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Step by step guide

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How to Create an Interactive Bitmoji Classroom

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Virtual Daily Slides and Open House "Tour"

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This video uses a website called "Tall Tweets" to create a GIF out of your slides instead of Creator Studio which is blocked by the district.

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How to Animate Your Google Slides (Turn Your Bitmoji Classroom Scene into a GIF!)

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