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Teachers' Summer Anthem (Queen's "We Are The Champions" Parody) - @MrBettsClass

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9. Go on a Netflix binge. Watch all of your favorite shows that you didn't have time for during the school year because of lesson planning, conferences, and grading papers.

10. Go to the bathroom anytime you want! You have all summer to trick your bladder into thinking that you will always have easy access to a bathroom. You can retrain your bladder when the school year starts back.

11. Stay in your pajamas all day. You know you secretly love pajama day at school. Now you can experience that at home, without all of your snotty nosed students touching you all day!

12. Get a massage. This is probably the most obvious stress relief idea, but it's also the one that is the hardest for teachers to justify since it can be pricey. Just think of all the used books you could buy with the $60.00 it costs for a massage! But don't talk yourself out of it - you deserve it after surviving another school year.

13. If you can't take a real vacation to someplace exotic, take a "Staycation." What are some fun things that you can do where you live? Think like a tourist - where to visitors to your city go?

I grew up in the Dallas area, and I feel like I missed out because I never took a "Staycation." I've never been to the Dallas Arboretum, the Dallas Museum of Art, Billy Bob's, the Fort Worth Stockyards, or the JFK Tribute. There were so many fun, "vacation-y" things to do near me that I never took advantage of. What are you missing out on?

What is your favorite way to relax over the summer?

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9. Go on a Netflix binge. Watch all of your favorite shows that you didn't have time for during the school year because of lesson planning, conferences, and grading papers. 10. Go to the bathroom anytime you want! You have all summer to trick your bladder into thinking that you will always have easy access to a bathroom.

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What Happens To Teachers Over Summer Break

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Teachers, you deserve summer break.

After working long hours during the school year, you can take advantage of summer to relax, unwind, and recharge before the next school year begins.

It's a perfect time to re-watch classic movies that you haven't seen in years. Here's a list of seven movies you can watch with your friends this summer that feature strong and influential teachers, just like yourselves.

Dead Poets Society

The late Robin Williams stars as John Keating, an English teacher who returns to his New England all-male prep school alma mater, Welton Academy. Keating bucks the trend of his stodgy colleagues and prefers his students to think critically, and not just be book smart. He requests his students stand on their desks, encouraging them to see the world from a different vantage point. He says to them, "Carpe Diem" (seize the day) and "make your life extraordinary." Keating is later forced out of school and blamed for a student's suicide, but as he collects his belongings, former students show their support and demonstrate how he has impacted their lives.

While most teachers don't have classic movie endings like "Dead Poets Society" at the end of the year, you're making a difference in lives just the same.

Freedom Writers

Based on a young English teacher working with at-risk students in 1990s Los Angeles, "Freedom Writers" highlights a teacher's dedication to helping students overcome their differences and fulfill their potential. Erin Gruwell, portrayed by Hillary Swank, teaches her students about the Holocaust and other international genocides and relates it to their lives as gang violence tears the community apart. Gruwell encourages students to keep diaries of their past, present and future hopes and dreams, and calls the students Freedom Writers, an homage to the Civil Rights icon-Freedom Riders in the past.

Kindergarten Cop

This is a fun movie for elementary school teachers. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a police detective who comically goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a villain, who is a kindergartener's father. In a light-hearted way, the movie showcases the carefulness it takes to teach youngsters, and how Schwarzenegger's character, though initially not happy with the teaching role, grows to love it and his students. Of note, as it is a Schwarzenegger movie, there is some violence, but the warm, loving message of the movie outweighs few scenes with Schwarzenegger chasing a villain.

Good Will Hunting

This Robin Williams classic also stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Williams plays Sean McGuire, a community college professor who challenges Will Hunting - a brilliant mathematician who works as a janitor - to confront his inner demons. Both McGuire and Hunting open up about their past, and realize that they need to focus on the future and leave the past behind. McGuire is able to harness Hunting's intelligence while healing the prior wounds that stall Hunting's success.

Matilda

Based on the book by the late British author Roald Dahl, Matilda is a brilliant young girl who is routinely mocked and mistreated by her parents, who are running an illegal business scheme. When Matilda is eventually allowed to go to school, she meets the lovely Miss Jennifer Honey, who takes Matilda under her wing and nurtures her learning. While the movie follows a plot line with Matilda triumphing over the cruel principal Mrs. Trunchbull and her parents, the movie also shows how a teacher's dedication can help bring success to students.

Harry Potter

Based on the famous books by J.K. Rowling, the movies follow the trials and tribulations of Harry and his friends as they escape the hands of Lord Voldemort each year. Harry grows closer to the all-powerful wizard and headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, who provides wisdom to Harry, helping him learn how to control his magical power and helping him understand his place as the boy who lived.

Mr. Holland's Opus

A brilliant composer and musician, Mr. Holland, portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss, takes a teaching job to spend more time with his wife and to have more time to compose a classical masterpiece. Over the years, Holland realizes he doesn't have time to compose his masterpiece and his home-life is strained when he and his wife find out their son is deaf. However, Holland inspires his students every year in music and on his last day of teaching, in a tear-jerking moment, dozens of his former students - including the state governor - return to school to play his orchestral piece, "An American Symphony," directed by Mr. Holland.

Enjoy your Break

After a stressful school year, you deserve time to unwind and relax.

Consider watching any and all of the above seven movies, and if you're interested in living a less stressful life, consider Advancement Courses ' fully online course called Achieving a Work-Life balance in Teaching. Work-life balance means feeling engaged, effective, and satisfied in each aspect of life. With this course, you'll develop a set of practical, customizable strategies to help you work smarter, not harder.

In addition, enroll today in our course, Applying the Habits of Mind in the Classroom and Beyond. You'll learn about personal mindset and the role that mindset plays in developing your beliefs about how you learn and how your students learn.

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7 Teacher Movies to Watch Over Summer Break

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Teachers, you deserve summer break. After working long hours during the school year, you can take advantage of summer to relax, unwind, and recharge before the next school year begins. It's a perfect time to re-watch classic movies that you haven't seen in years.

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When the final bell before summer break rings, your students jump out of their seats and race to the classroom door. "Goodbye!" they shout. "Thanks for everything! Have a great summer!" And then they're gone. Your classroom is suddenly quiet. Your desk is sprinkled with cards and small gifts. You see a red ceramic apple beside a framed picture of a puppy with the words, "You're the greatest!" There is a glass jar with M&M's, a bottle of hand lotion, and several gift cards to local restaurants from thoughtful parents.

You don't race for the door. Instead, you sit at your desk for a few moments and savor the range of possibilities for summer break. Here are a few ways to make the most of the break.

Get Ready for Next Year

Believe it or not, I've met a lot of people who think that when the kids board the bus on the last day of school, we just lock up the building and follow them out. But plenty of teachers work through the summer to get ready for the next year. Some teachers just need a couple of days after school ends to organize their classrooms, finish orders for the next year, or fill out requests for room repairs. And even those who do leave school on the last day often find it hard to simply clear their heads and immediately switch into summer mode. (Some people manage the change better than others, of course!)

Many teachers I know take jobs to guarantee income over the summer. Some teach summer school, but others choose jobs completely unrelated to teaching. A group of teachers I know paints houses over the summer; they find the physical labor mentally relaxing. I've also known younger teachers who joined the wait staff at local restaurants-a job they found kind of fun and interesting until they had to wait on former students and their families!

Embrace Relaxation and Self-Care

Now that you're out of the classroom, you can take some time for yourself. Maybe the first thing on your summer agenda is travel-a family vacation, a trip to visit relatives, or hiking alone on the Pacific Crest Trail. Maybe you just want to stay home and spend time with your kids. Or maybe you just want to do nothing. Personally, I find it therapeutic to thoroughly clean the house-throwing out magazines from months ago, watering thirsty plants, and going through closets and weeding out clothes no one wears anymore-but I know that wouldn't be everyone's first choice.

One of the important tips when it comes to self-care is to slow down, and summer is a perfect time to dial it back. In a Psychology Today article, Sam Boardman, a psychiatrist, says, "In the morning I deliberately walk slower than my usual frantic pace, put my phone away, and take time to look around and enjoy the moment rather than worrying about the day ahead." Other activities, like doing yoga, cooking a delicious meal, or playing with pets, can help restore a sense of well-being. Dr. Mindy Greenstein offers some practical advice about self-care in the same article: "If I'm feeling down and don't feel like doing anything, my mantra is, 'If I can't be happy today, I can at least be useful.'" Greenstein adds that being useful actually improves her attitude and gets her moving in the right direction.

Reflect on the Past Year

Putting a little distance between you and school gives you a chance to reflect objectively on the past year. What went really well? What lessons or activities need to be tweaked? What ideas need to be tossed? If you surveyed your students at the end of the school year, you'll have some important feedback to use as you plan for next year.

Besides reflecting on your academic life, you may want to take some time to review your personal life as well. Self-care shouldn't be a priority only in the summertime, but it's easy to forget about yourself when you have so many other responsibilities during the school year. Summer is a good time to think about how the past year went. For example, did you set aside time for daily exercise? Did you eat a healthy diet or were you often picking up fast food on the way home? Did you maintain a social life and spend time with those you care about? Did you get enough sleep? If you're not satisfied with your answers, it's time to revamp your routine for the upcoming year.

Retool Your Approach for Next Year

Summer is also a great time to reinforce your knowledge and skills. Some school districts offer summer workshops or send teachers to conferences. These can be refresher courses for best practices and new strategies. Talking with colleagues from other schools is invigorating and even illuminating when you compare notes and discover new techniques. Some districts even offer paid curriculum work during the summer. This is a win-win because you can influence what kids learn and earn summer income at the same time! Teachers can also use the summer break to take courses for an advanced degree or certification in a different area.

Read this next

Learn more ›

Teachers (and students) are always amazed at how quickly summer break can fly by. But if you take the opportunity to refresh and recharge, you'll find yourself eagerly looking forward to the start of a new school year.

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How Teachers Can Make the Most of Summer Break

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When the final bell before summer break rings, your students jump out of their seats and race to the classroom door. "Goodbye!" they shout. "Thanks for everything! Have a great summer!" And then they're gone. Your classroom is suddenly quiet. Your desk is sprinkled with cards and small gifts.

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The last day of school is always bittersweet: Saying goodbye to students can be tough but usually, teachers are so exhausted when summer comes around that they need some time to recover. As you prepare to close up shop for the summer, consider these five summertime tips for relaxing, recovering and preparing for fall.

Before you go: Take note

You don't have to plan everything for next year before summer break, but make notes of major schedule changes, units or individual activities that can be improved or that went particularly well, and create a fall to-do list.

Many of these critiques or changes are fresh in your mind in April or May - when you have little energy or time to modify them - but fade into the background by August. Without a list, the work required to recapture necessary lesson changes eats up precious fall prep time. A good set of notes and goals before you leave will make for an easier August. It also allows you to set one or two distinct summertime goals and keep them separate from your fall-prep workload.

Take care of you

Hectic school year schedules mean that a variety of personal necessities get set aside, often including teachers' own health and wellness. Whether you schedule annual eye or physical appointments or develop healthy habits that can last through the school year, take some time to take stock of your physical needs. A more open summer schedule is an opportunity to do the things you've put off.

Better yet, get out and play. Long days of teaching, planning, and grading get in the way of a nature hike or a game of disc golf, but summer break is just the time to engage in this kind of fun. Remember: Teachers need recess as much as the kids, so take advantage of the time in front of you. Rec centers and community education programs often offer short classes in the summer. Consider shedding the teacher role and becoming a student in something fun.

Fill the well

Being an educator is mentally as well as physically exhausting. In addition to taking care of your physical self, take time to fill your mental well. For some, this means continued pedagogical training, research, and professional development, but for others, it means reading a good book in the sun.

Don't just fill your summer to-do list with tasks put off during the school year - make sure to give yourself break time to fill that intellectual well. Between podcasts, YouTube channels, and summer book lists, there is a wealth of intellectual exploration at the ready. Giving yourself time to be a curious student of the world will pay off when you return to the classroom. And besides, students will love to hear stories about what you discovered over the summer.

Get ahead

Many teachers do professional development over the summer because there's so little time for it during the jam-packed school year. In her article " 12 Low-Cost Professional Development Ideas for Summer Break," Kim Haynes outlines a variety of ways to expand your professional development, both for personal and professional benefit.

Whether it's formal through your district or a university, or through informal online tweetchats and message boards, participating in professional development can help recharge you over summer break. Ensuring that you are surrounded by people who also love to teach and armed with new ideas to implement in the fall, these conferences, workshops and social media discussions can really help reignite the passion for teaching when you're feeling the most burnt out.

Shut down, unplug, reboot

Teaching is a calling, not just a profession, which makes it difficult to step away. To fight exhaustion and burnout, consider trying to step out of the teacher mindset entirely for a short while. Whether that be through a vacation, technology break, or some good fiction, this doesn't have to last for the entire summer. Even a week or two of total cut-off from the teaching life will help recharge your excitement and energy for fall.

Getting away from computers, email, and your daily school-year habits can be tough, but it will help you reconnect with yourself and your family. Take the time to nap, sleep in and enjoy the benefits of your vacation. Before you know it, you'll be back in the classroom going over to-do lists and getting ready for another meaningful school year.

Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition and creative writing.

Learn More: Click to view related resources.

Tags: Mid-Career Teacher, New Teacher, Professional Development, Teacher Self-Care

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Teachers' Summer Self-Care Rx: Relax, Recover, Prep

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The last day of school is always bittersweet: Saying goodbye to students can be tough but usually, teachers are so exhausted when summer comes around that they need some time to recover. As you prepare to close up shop for the summer, consider these five summertime tips for relaxing, recovering and preparing for fall.

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Many Tutorials!

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DoInk is the creators of Green Screen by Do Ink and DoInk Animation & Drawing. Two of the most creative Apps in the App store.

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Access to Digital Workbooks to Download on iPads

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Access to Digital Workbooks to Download on iPads

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http://bit.ly/BookCreatorTemplates

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Complete beginner’s guide to screen recording in iOS (iPhone/iPad)

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Saving Student Work on iPads to Google Accounts 

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Saving Student Work on iPads to Google Accounts 

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Video Tutorial

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Saving Student Projects to Google Drive on iOS

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Uploading Videos and Pictures to Google Drive

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Uploading Videos and Pictures to Google Drive

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Written Instructions

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Uploading Photos and Videos to Google Drive

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Exporting iMovie (for iPad) Projects to Camera Roll

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How do I Save a video or image in Green Screen by DoInk?

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Apple Battery Tips - Storing an iPhone, iPad, iPod or MacBook

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Access to Digital Workbooks to Download on iPads

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Access to Digital Workbooks to Download on iPads

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http://bit.ly/BookCreatorTemplates

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Video Showcasing Science Digital Workbooks

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Video Showcasing Science Digital Workbooks

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Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

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Increasing Student Engagement Through NearPod

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Using Nearpod for Classroom Assessment Formal and Informal

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Nearpod is a great website/application that allows you to use your iPad as a presentation tool. It also works as a great system for delivering quiz content and features a tool that I really like which is the drawing feature. With this feature you can design assignments around using the drawing tool to annotate directly on the project.

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Google Expeditions AR 4th Grade Birds Adaptations

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Expeditions AR - Bringing the world into the classroom

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How to Find and Use Google Expeditions AR Markers

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How to Find and Use Google Expeditions AR Markers

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How to Find and Use Google Expeditions AR Markers

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3rd Grade Book Reports

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Green Screen Book Report Student Examples

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3rd Grade Animal Report

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5th Grade Planet Report

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Ever since I started using QR codes with my fifth grade students, it's made learning a lot more fun and interactive in my classroom.

You've probably seen or used QR codes before. They're those jumbled little boxes that companies have been trying to use for years as a marketing tool. You just scan the image with your smartphone or tablet, and it acts like a shortcut, taking you directly to a website or page.

While they definitely have a place in the business world, I've found them to be a great addition in the educational world. I've seen them engage struggling students and add instructional differentiation and technology to the classroom. They are super easy to create using free QR code generators. (My favorite places is the QR Code Generator website.) Then I create codes that I can link to specific websites or even text-based messages or files I have saved in Google Drive. Here are my favorite ways to use QR codes. I hope some of these ideas will work in your classroom, too.

1. Create a Scavenger Hunt

Get the students up and moving by creating a scavenger hunt. Place questions around the room, or better yet, around the school. Add possible answers to the questions and accompany each answer choice with a QR code that sends students to a new location. Only the correct answer will send them to a new question. Incorrect answers offer a hint and send them back to the question they missed.

2. Offer Extra Practice for Early Finishers

You can make matching games where students can self-check using QR codes. Place half of a QR code on the question and the other half on the matching answer. If the student successfully matches them, the QR code will respond with whatever positive message you created. If the student doesn't have a match, there will be no message at all. Another idea is to use codes for flash cards-another great way to self-check.

3. Simplify Research Projects

Provide quick and easy links to articles, videos, web sites, or podcasts that you want your students to be able to access.

4. Try a New Twist on Gallery Walks

Use QR codes to share student work. Students or student groups can make a video or audio recording about what they have learned. They can also use them to describe a process or show how to solve a problem. Upload their recording to an Internet source like YouTube, Dropbox or Google Drive. Link a QR code to the recording to make sharing their work with the rest of the class a snap.

5. Provide Support to S truggling Readers

Make audio recordings of material you need students to read and upload the recordings to your Google Drive or Dropbox. Link a QR code to the web address for the file and have the QR codes available for students who need a little extra help when reading content area material.

6. Add Pizazz to Your Word Wall

Make a video of your students acting out a new vocabulary word. Upload the video to your Google Drive or Dropbox and link the video to a QR code. Then add the QR code to the word on your word wall. Your students will love watching themselves and won't even realize how much they are practicing new words!

7. Give Tutorial Help for Homework

Add a QR code to homework assignments. Students who are struggling or who get stuck can watch a linked video tutorial that you have made that helps them recall what they learned during class.

8. New Take on Book Reports

Make video or audio recordings of students reviewing a library book. Link the recording to a QR code and attach it to the spine of the book. Students will be eager to check out what their friends think about books in the library.

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8 Ways I Make Learning Fun by Using QR Codes in the Classroom

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Ever since I started using QR codes with my fifth grade students, it's made learning a lot more fun and interactive in my classroom. You've probably seen or used QR codes before. They're those jumbled little boxes that companies have been trying to use for years as a marketing tool.

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The magic of QR codes in the classroom - Karen Mensing

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Using QR Codes in the Classroom to Enhance Learning

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Have you used QR Codes in the classroom yet? Here are a few easy ideas that will get you started using QR Codes in your classroom.

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Blue Springs Elementary School - Kindergarten students use QR codes for reading

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How to use QR code EFFECTIVELY in education | qr code in education | qr code in teaching aids |

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Videos and Lesson Plans

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Since 1998, NCMEC has operated the CyberTipline, a place where the public and electronic service providers can report suspected online and offline child sexual exploitation. The millions of reports made each year uniquely situate NCMEC to identify trends and create prevention resources to address the evolving needs of kids and teens online.

NetSmartz is NCMEC's online safety education program. It provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children be safer online with the goal of helping children to become more aware of potential online risks and empowering them to help prevent victimization by making safer choices on- and offline.

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Since 1998, NCMEC has operated the CyberTipline, a place where the public and electronic service providers can report suspected online and offline child sexual exploitation. The millions of reports made each year uniquely situate NCMEC to identify trends and create prevention resources to address the evolving needs of kids and teens online.

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Common Sense Media: Age-Based Media Reviews for Families

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Common Sense Media is the leading source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families. Parents trust our expert reviews and objective advice.

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TAG, You're It! with Sophia Garcia-Smith

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K-2 Digital Citizenship Lessons for MSAD 6

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10 Ways to Use ReadWorks in the Classroom

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10 Ways to Use ReadWorks in the Classroom

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by TeachThought Staff

At TeachThought, we've been using ReadWorks as a simple way for students to build background knowledge and improve literacy skills from elementary school to high school.

There are several features that make this online literacy platform useful, but more than anything else, we've enjoyed how easy it is to use (create classes, create assignment ques, monitor progress, etc.), its cost (free), and the range of texts available to grow literacy skills in students.

Helping students understand for themselves why students should read is perhaps the most crucial 'literacy skill' of all, and there are many reasons why students dislike reading.

10 Ways To Use ReadWorks In The Classroom

1. Find high-quality nonfiction and fiction articles for all students to practice every day with the Article A Day series.

What is the Article A Day series?

The Article A Day series by ReadWorks is a "high-impact, 10-15 minute daily routine where students read one high-quality nonfiction article as part of a weekly, related article set. Article-A-Day™ builds students' background knowledge, vocabulary, and reading stamina."

2. Engage hesitant readers with StepRead fiction and nonfiction texts.

What is the StepRead series of articles by ReadWorks?

StepReads are 'less complex versions of our nonfiction and literary Articles...handwritten by...authors who preserve all of the important knowledge of the original article, as well as the key academic vocabulary, rich syntax, word count, and beauty of writing

Note: ReadWorks encourages teachers to have students read the original article either before or after reading a StepRead article.

3. Create personalized reading goals for students.

4. Offer extra-credit for students when they complete reading assignments (or meet goals as given in #3).

5. Allow students to access ReadWorks at home to work on reading with parents/family members.

6. Monitor student reading comprehension over time.

7. Create reading groups based on interest, ability, fiction/nonfiction, etc.

8. Use Paired Texts to promote higher-level thinking

9. Integrate ReadWorks with Google Classroom by:

Importing classes from Google Classroom

Publishing assignments directly to your Google Classroom Stream

Allowing students access and complete assignments directly from their Google Classroom Stream

10. Allow students to create their own reading list per semester based on self-created reading interests and goals.

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10 Ways To Use ReadWorks In The Classroom - | Literacy

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by TeachThought Staff At TeachThought, we've been using ReadWorks as a simple way for students to build background knowledge and improve literacy skills from elementary school to high school.

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America’s reading comprehension crisis.

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Copy of Wintertime Magnetic Poetry Template

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Build Your Own Magnetic Poetry in Google Drawings

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Build Your Own Magnetic Poetry in Google Drawings

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Build-Your-Own Online Magnetic Poetry Kit With Google Drawings

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Literacy Daily-the blog of the International Literacy Association (ILA)-features education stories, teaching tips, book reviews, and more.

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Play free online Valentine's Day games online with our huge collection fun games. Play games like Valentine Hunt, Valentiner, Romeo, and Search For Love.

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Holiday parties are a staple in many elementary school classrooms. The right Valentine's Day party games can turn the traditional classroom party into something spectacular and fun. There are many fun activities that will appeal to kids of all ages and perhaps even the adults.

Ideas for Valentine's Day Classroom Party Games

There are many different types of games that can be used for a Valentine's Day classroom party. Popular options include:

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Broken Heart Puzzles: Teachers can easily make simple puzzles from heart shapes and students can work together or as individuals to mend their "broken heart" first.

Matchmaker: This Concentration and Memory-style game uses Valentine's Day symbols for students to pair together, such as hearts, lips, cuddly animals, and cherubs. For a slightly more difficult version suitable for older grades, include pictures of famous couples with the male and female counterparts separated for students to join together.

Bingo Games: Valentine's Day bingo games can use "HEART" instead of "BINGO" for column headings, or students can attempt to make straight lines from various Valentine symbols.

Word Games: All types of word games, including crosswords, word searches, Hang Man, and spelling bees can be created with Valentine vocabulary.

Word Finder: In this classic vocabulary-building game, students have a specified amount of time (usually 3 to 5 minutes) to create as many words as they can using the letters in "Happy Valentine's Day."

Candy Guess: Teachers can fill a jar with seasonal candies - chocolate kisses, conversation hearts, red hots, etc. - and students try to guess how many candies are in the jar. The student with the closest guess gets to pass out the candy for the class to share.

Red Hot: This fun musical game requires very little setup, just some music (Disney love songs are child-friendly and great for Valentine's Day) and a heart-shaped pillow. As the music plays, students pass the pillow around the classroom, and the student holding the pillow when the music stops is out of the round. The last student may win a small prize or treat.

Cupid Says: This holiday version of Simon Says can incorporate Valentine's Day actions such as blowing a kiss, giving yourself a hug, or shooting a love arrow.

Heart Scavenger Hunt: Before students arrive, the teacher should place numerous hearts around the classroom in plain sight - these can be sneakily disguised or openly part of the Valentine's Day decorations. The student who finds the most heart shapes is the winner. For more difficulty, vary the size and placement of the hearts.

Initial Compliments: To spread the friendship of the season, this game has students come up with compliments for their classmates based on their initials, such as "Nancy Fulmer is Neat and Fun" or "Jack Smith makes funny Jokes and is good at Sports."

Playing Games Is Good for Education

At first it may seem like playing party games in class is a waste of valuable educational time, but in fact the right games can be good educational tools as well as help young students develop their social skills. Depending on the game, students can enjoy the holiday celebration while simultaneously sharpening skills such as:

Literacy: Games that use new or unique vocabulary words help improve reading, spelling, and comprehension skills.

Math: Counting games are a fun way to practice basic math skills.

Cultural Awareness: Holiday games that embrace different cultural traditions can introduce students to new and unique ideas.

Socialization: By playing games in class, students can focus on teamwork, sportsmanship, and other critical socialization skills.

Classroom games are also valuable management tools for teachers. Many students, particularly younger children, are excited and eager on holidays, making traditional assignments and seatwork nearly impossible to complete. Choosing useful games instead gives teachers the opportunity to break up the daily routine and harness children's energy for fun yet educational tasks.

Keeping Games Fun

While there are many fun Valentine's Day classroom party games, there are a few tips teacher should keep in mind when planning the activities:

Do not encourage or require students to hug or otherwise display affection toward one another. While it may be innocent fun, it could be misinterpreted.

Students should not be paired up in "couples" that they don't want to be in - a game should be fun and friendly, not uncomfortable.

Avoid giving too many sweet treats as prizes, and be aware of students' food allergies or dietary needs.

If students will be exchanging cards as part of the day's festivities, be sure every student gets Valentines so no feelings are unintentionally hurt.

Following these guidelines can help prevent potential discomfort and hurt feelings.

A Sweet Diversion

Valentine's Day classroom party games are a fun diversion from regular classroom work. By choosing active, educational games, teachers can subtly reinforce learning concepts even while students enjoy the sweet relaxation of the holiday.

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Valentines Day Classroom Party Games | LoveToKnow

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Holiday parties are a staple in many elementary school classrooms. The right Valentine's Day party games can turn the traditional classroom party into something spectacular and fun. There are many fun activities that will appeal to kids of all ages and perhaps even the adults.

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Watch Valentine's Day episodes starting February 10th on PBS KIDS!

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This activity can fall under the engineering requirement for each grade level. NGSS

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February STEM Activity
Design and Build a Valentine Box
February STEM Activity - "Build a Box"
Students can design and build their own Valentine box. Materials that
can be used include shoe boxes, tape, scissors, paper, battery operated
lights. Guidelines: Students cannot build more than 2 feet tall or 2 feet
wide and the object bust be completely sealed with the exception of one
opening for students to put the Valentines in on that day. Examples of
projects students have done in the past include: Minion, mini Paris scene
(shoe box with little lights and paper figures), a robot, shoebox wrapped
in gift wrap and colored, a pirate ship, and the list goes on. This is an
opportunity for students to brainstorm what they want to create, be
creative, create a design, and build their model. It is so much fun. Every
student who brings one in will receive a participation award. Be
creative and have fun!!!!

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February STEM Activity Design and Build a Valentine Box

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February STEM Activity Design and Build a Valentine Box February STEM Activity - "Build a Box" Students can design and build their own Valentine box. Materials that can be used include shoe boxes, tape, scissors, paper, battery operated lights.

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45 of the Best Pic Collage Classroom Examples on Pinterest.

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45 of the Best Pic Collage Classroom Examples on Pinterest.

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Look through to see a bunch of examples and ideas.

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Find and save recipes, parenting hacks, style inspiration and other ideas to try.

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Filled with many ideas for using Pic Collage with students.

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A look at how teacher's are using PicCollage in the classroom!

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Tutorial Video

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Student Tutorial

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#BookSnaps with Pic Collage Kids App - R.E.A.L. Talk w/Tara M. Martin Episode 8

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Click Here for template.

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A common question I receive from folks is how can younger students use Google tools? I am always happy to email them my collection of resources, but figured it might be easier if I pulled everything together in a single blog post.

Over the years I have come across and/or created a wide range of fun and creative ways to use Google tools with primary aged students, typically considered to be pre-K through grade 2 or so. In this blog post I will share descriptions of and links to these activities. As I make new ones over time, I will try to come back and add them to this post so this stays up to date with all my resources.

In addition to the things I have created, I would certainly encourage you to also take advantage of some other fantastic educators who focus on the primary grades:

See below for the resources and have fun learning!

#1 - Build a Snowman with Google Slides
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/12/build-snowman.html

This is a fun activity where students make a snowman using pieces and parts provided, and then write a story about them. This is a great way to develop tech skills such as copy and paste, drag and drop, and basic of Google Slides. It also encourages creativity and writing skills.

#2 - Build a Jack-O-Lantern with Google Slides
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/09/build-jackolantern.html

Very similar to the snowman activity, this one has students making a jack-o-lantern and writing about it. In addition to all of the skills addressed with the snowman activity, this one also encourages use of the shapes and polyline tools in Google Slides.

#3 - Turkey Templates for Thanksgiving Creativity and Writing
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/11/turkey-templates.html

I did not create these specific activities, but they were inspired by my snowman and jack-o-lantern templates. Beth Kingsley and Kelley Costa made these and were kind enough to share them. Similar to my templates, students use these to make a turkey in Google slides and then write about it.

#4 - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Sorting
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/02/one-fish-two-fish-sort.html

This activity is a great tie-in for "Read Across America" (and the birthday of Dr. Seuss) but can really be used anytime. It helps teach students about sorting items into categories, but also reinforces tech skills such as drag and drop.

#5 - Creating Storybooks with Google Slides
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/03/google-slides-storybooks.html

Another non-traditional use for Google Slides is creating eBooks. Students can do this from scratch or with the simple templates provided in this post. When done, the storybooks can be printed out, turned into PDFs, or simply shared online.

#6 - Pixel Art Activities for any Subject with Google Sheets
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/02/sheets-pixelart.html

Google Sheets is not just for crunching numbers! It can also be used for creating pixel art images. This template makes it easy for little ones to make pixel art just by typing in letters and having the colors automatically fill in. This is great for creativity, keyboarding, and improving letter recognition.

#7 - Emoji Learning Activities with Google Docs
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/01/docs-emoji-activities.html

When we think of Google Docs, we usually think of text, but it also supports the use of emojis. In this blog post we look at several ways that emojis can be used with students including pictographs, stories, and more.

#8 - Google Docs "Wintertime Rebus Story" template
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/12/winter-activities.html

A specific example of using emojis in Docs is using them to create rebus stories. This can help students write stories even if they do not know how to spell all the words they wish to use. This post provides a winter-themed template to get them started.

#9 - Google Docs "Valentine Rebus Story" template
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/02/valentine-activities.html

Just like the winter-themed template, this post has a Valentine-themed template to use for writing a rebus story in Docs.

#10 - Google Docs "Halloween Rebus Story" template
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/10/halloween-rebus.html

And to round out the rebus writing, this post has a template for a Halloween story with emojis.

#11 - 11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/06/math-google-drawings.html

Google Drawings lends itself to many math topics with the ability to make and manipulate shapes. In this post we cover several ways you can teach math with Drawings. Although some of the examples would be for older students, there are still many that apply to primary students including partitioning shapes, identifying different shapes, sorting objects be different attributes, and more.

#12 - Pattern Block Templates and Activities
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/04/pattern-blocks.html

Another good math application for Google Drawing is virtual pattern blocks. Students can use these digital manipulatives to learn about shapes, patterns, symmetry, and be creative in general.

#13 - Wintertime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/12/wintertime-magnetic-poetry.html

Google Drawings also works well for drag and drop activities like "Magnetic Poetry". With this template students are provided with 100 common words from the Dolch list, as well as many winter-themed words. They can them drag and drop these words onto the canvas to write a poem, sentence, or story.

#14 - Valentine's Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings
http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/01/valentine-magnetic-poetry.html

Just like the winter option, this Google Drawing template lets students create a Valentine-themed poem from draggable words.

#15 - Springtime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/04/spring-poetry.html

For one more "Magnetic Poetry" example, this template is spring-themed.

#16 - Learning with Chrome Music Lab
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/12/chrome-music-lab.html

Music is a wonderful way for students to be creative, express themselves, and even learn about connected topics such as math. With Chrome Music Lab students get 13 interactive music tools to play with to make music, explore rhythms, and more.

#17 - Chrome Extensions for Struggling Students
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/10/special-needs-extensions.html

Although this post was originally developed to showcase assistive technology and accomodation tools, many of these resources can be helpful for young learners. The extensions covered in this post include text-to-speech tools to read content aloud to students, tools to clean up webpages to make them less distracting and and more easy to read, and much more.

#18 - Play "Mystery Animal" with Google
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/11/mystery-animal.html

Mystery Animal is an interactive game from Google that lets students play "20 Questions" to try to guess an animal. This can be a great way for students to develop good questions, work as a team, and learn about animals in the process.

#19 - YouTube "Read Aloud" Book Videos for Kids
https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/12/youtube-read-aloud.html

Once you get past the cat videos, YouTube has so much wonderful educational content for students (although the cats are cool too). One useful resource on YouTube are videos of story books being read aloud. In this post I have pull together a list of many channels that feature read aloud book videos.

Conclusion

Technology is a powerful tool for teaching and learning regardless of age. There are many ways that primary students can create, collaborate, explore, and learn with Google tools. Over time as I add new posts to the blog that are applicable to younger students, I will update this post as well to include them here. If you have resources and activities for primary students please feel free to share them in the comments below!

Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

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Googley Activities and Tools for Primary Students

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A common question I receive from folks is how can younger students use Google tools? I am always happy to email them my collection of resources, but figured it might be easier if I pulled everything together in a single blog post.

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Video Tutorial

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This classroom teacher made a template for her Kinders that had to do with a book that she read to her class.

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I've never started making books so early in the year with our kindergarteners but, as Book Creator was perfect for what I wanted to do with them, I was eager to give it a try. My challenge was: Have our littlest ones illustrate AND record using an app they had never seen before, all in a 30 minute session! Challenges don't scare me! Although, I have to admit, I did warn the teachers that I had no idea how this would turn out!

I'll just say, children never cease to amaze me! These young students did a fabulous job in their creations and I am very proud of all that they accomplished! Here's what we did . . .

I came across the book, I Need My Monster, by Amanda Noll. It's about a child who creates a "comfortable" monster that lived under his bed; one that helps him overcome his fears. One day, the boy discovers a note from his monster saying that he'd gone fishing and would be back in a week. The little boy goes through a series of "substitute" monsters before his returns.

I thought the story would be perfect for a class book about silly monsters and how we wish they might help us. With only 30 minutes with students, it was important to do as much preparation as possible before class. Since we have shared iPads, I created a template and airdropped to each of our iPads, one for each class. Often, I'll go ahead and add each child's name to the name of the book but this time I color-coded the books so that each student just had to find the color of the "name" box that matched their class. For example, Mrs. Monroe's class looked for the green box.

(more...)

I absolutely LOVE combining literature and technology when students visit the lab! One of my favorite books is, It Could Have Been Worse, by A.H. Benjamin. It is a one of the best books for making predictions! The book is about a little mouse who is on his way home when he encounters some difficulties. Little does he know that he is being followed by other creatures such as a cat, snake, fish, and more. Mouse ends up falling into holes, sliding down hills, getting a few bumps and bruises along the way. What he doesn't know is what happens to those animals trying to catch him!

I read the book and stopped just as an animal was about to catch the mouse. The goal was to have the first graders illustrate their what they thought would happen next, write a sentence about their prediction, and record their voice telling what their prediction. Then, I would make a class book for the students.

There are many ways to do this but my go-to app is Book Creator. I air-dropped a template to each iPad (I'm loving the new backgrounds and borders Book Creator has added). With only 40 minutes with each class, I do as much as I can before students arrive!

When the students arrived, we set up the book by adding their names. I was amazed at how much the students remembered from using the app last year so set up went quickly.

As I started reading, the children began drawing. When I reached the stopping point (different for each class), the students really got busy!

The directions were:

1. Illustrate

2. Type sentence

3. Record

4. Air drop to Mrs. Arrington

As students completed the steps, they became helpers - showing classmates what to do. The homeroom teachers were invaluable helpers as well!

I enjoy taking photos of the process which are made into a short video and added to the end of the books. The children (and parents) really enjoy that!

Here are our finished books:
Mrs. Crumley's Class Mrs. Hutchinson's Class Mrs. Kee's Class

More than you think! I drew a squiggle in the Book Creator app, added an "About the Illustrator" page and airdropped the book template to each student iPad. When finished with their creations, the children airdropped their books back to me so that I could combine them into class books.

The directions were simple: Look at your squiggle. What could it become? You can rotate it and copy it if you want. Make something recognizable from your squiggle.

The students provided so many interesting and creative interpretations of their squiggle! I love this one from Jack, a 4th grader, who used what he had learned in art to create an illustration based on an artist named Mary Casssett from the 1800s who painted mothers and children. (To hear his narration, listen to Mrs. Wright's class book.)

Click on the links to view the class books.

Tips:

For the 4th graders, I told them they could resize and rotate their squiggle. A few children made the squiggle so tiny that it is barely recognizable! I made the mistake of not telling students to make sure the original squiggle could be seen. In several of the 4th grade illustrations, it's very hard to tell what and/or where the squiggle was.

As a result, I changed the directions for the 3rd graders. They could rotate the design but they couldn't resize. I also told students to make sure the squiggle could be identified.

Some of the designs were created from making copies of the squiggle. Those turned out really well!

I asked that the squiggle be seen in the picture. Some did that but others covered it up with another color.

It's helpful to lock the squiggle once it's decided where it will be on the page.

I used to do this all the time when I was little (on paper, of course!). It's fun to watch the students create digitally!

Mrs. Garcia's class has done an in-depth study of Fairy Tales. They have created a latch to keep Goldilocks out of the 3 Bears' House, written blog posts, compared and contrasted numerous fairy tales, and learned the elements of these fun stories.

Taking what they have learned, the students worked in groups to write and illustrate a spin-off of a well-known fairy tale. To better share these, we decided on using the Book Creator app. The students used paper and crayons for the illustrations, took photos of each, then added them to the app. Because our school year finishes Thursday, instead of typing their stories into the app, the students recorded narration to match the illustrations.

Individual books were combined into one class book. Enjoy their stories!

After a couple of weeks learning all kinds of fantastic animal information, I asked the little ones to illustrate and tell about their favorite animal. Since they had learned about classifications, I also asked that they tell what the animal was and whether it was a mammal, fish, bird, etc and why.

We used the Book Creator app for this project. It's the perfect app for students to illustrate, write, and record - all in one place. To show how intuitive this app is, this was the first time the kindergarteners had used Book Creator. In a 30 minute session, they were able to learn the basics, draw their picture, record, AND airdrop their book to me! Pretty amazing!

After deciding that dinosaurs and unicorns weren't the best choice for this particular book, the students began their illustrations. They did such a fabulous job filling up the page with their animal and adding details that showed its habitat.

As students finished drawing, they scattered to find a quiet place to record. Some even wrote a script before recording!

The final step was to airdrop to me so that I could combine all individual books into one class book.

As I listened to the pages, I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the recordings. Did you know that, "A pig is the most rare animal in the world?" and "Humpback whales can weigh over 300 million pounds?" One boy remarked, "My cow looks orange and they are supposed to be brown and actually black. I know that but I couldn't find the brown. I'm sorry. So let's just deal with it as a cow! Okay?" So, not all the facts are quite correct but they really had LOTS of information in their heads and shared it the best they could! 🙂

Here are links to their books. Enjoy!

I am absolutely loving the ability to publish on Book Creator's site. Here are some of the books we've created so far this year.

To go along with the homophone spelling unit, a second grade teacher asked if there was a digital way that we could make a homophone book. My go-to app is Book Creator and I felt like this would be perfect for the activity.

Prior to class, the students were given a set of homonyms. They were to create one sentence using all of the homonyms. On my part, I made a template in Book Creator and air dropped that to our lab iPads. When the students came in all they had to do was type in their sentence, illustrate the it, and record.

They had so much fun creating fabulous sentences.

And, their illustrations were amazing! This one was funny because her sentence originally had been written as, The four brown horses got some yolk on their yoke. After drawing two and realizing how much room that took, Annie came over to ask, "May I change this to two horses!"

After recording, the students came to me to air drop their book to my iPad so that I could create the class books. I absolutely LOVE working with Book Creator - easy to use and the students can do just about anything they want with all of its features. There are many others apps that we could use but Book Creator worked out perfectly for this project.

The teachers and I were very proud of how the books turned out. The students did such a great job with their illustrations and sentences.

Below are links to the books. These were saved in two formats - as an ePub book to be read in iBooks and as a video. We had so many students absent with the flu that not all children were able to make a page.
Directions to Download to iBooks:

1. Click on the book link while on an iOS device (iPhone or iPad). It will not work on a Mac or PC.

2. Choose Download.

3. Choose Open in iBooks.

Mrs. Garcia's Book and Video

Mrs. Shapard's Book and Video

Our first grade children have created the cutest project in Spanish class with Sra. Ross. Here's what she said about the animal project:
As part of our farm animal unit, we discussed using tiene, it has, to describe the different body parts each animal has. We talked about what color the animal is using es, it is, learned the vocabulary for each part, discussed how many parts each animal has, and also what actions the animals do.
In Spanish, the students had written a description on the first page and written and illustrated the answer on the second.

Sra. Ross asked what we could do to record the students and get their work uploaded to Seesaw digital portfolios. Since there were two pages to this, I thought Book Creator would be perfect. The children could make their book and then air drop that to be combined for a class book. The class books could be placed on the class iPads so that students could practice listening and practicing their understanding of Spanish.

For my part, I created a template in Book Creator and air dropped that to each iPad. I then went into each iPad to personalize each book with student and teacher's names. The children can set this up but I find it saves a LOT of time, especially for the younger students, to prepare as much as possible ahead of time!

In the first class, we had the students take a photo of each paper using the camera that's built in to Book Creator. In that class, only 6 students completed their book (steps to completion: take photos, insert into Book Creator, record the Spanish, let Sra. Ross listen to it, and air drop the book to me. For a 30 minute class, that was TOO MUCH to do! We only had about 6 people complete their book.

After that class, I suggested that we take the photos and insert them into the books before students arrived. That was SO much better!

Once Sra. Ross checked the work, the students came to me where they added page colors to their books then they air dropped them to me.

Two of the three classes completed their books. The books were saved in the ePub book format as well as a video. Here's one of the videos (the title slide was created with the Assembly app).
Instructions for Downloading Books:

In order to read the books, you will need to have the iBooks app installed.

Tap on the link while on an iOS device (iPad or iPhone).

Choose download.

Choose open in iBooks.

Mrs. Kee's Class book Mrs. Crumley's Class book

Last month, in preparing for Hour of Code 2017, I came across a post by Beth Holland titled, Teach Coding with Book Creator. Two things drew me to the article.

1. I met Beth a few years ago while attending an EdTechTeacher conference and she is one of the most creative and knowledgeable persons I know. I ALWAYS learn so much in her sessions! Her focus is on pedagogy first; using technology ONLY if it is the correct tool to help meet the objective. So, I knew whatever she had to say would be well-worth reading!

2. Since Book Creator is my go-to app and coding is an area I feel is important for all ages, the title certainly caught my eye!

As it turned out, I focused on a variety of coding activities using Ozobots (to the delight of all the students) and ran out of time for other options. This month, I revisited Beth's post and incorporated it into the fourth grade lessons.

Take a look at Beth's video, Teach Coding as a Language with Book Creator.

Following Beth's ideas, I started with these instructions, telling students I could only speak in concise sentences:

Add > Shape > Rectangle

"i" > Color > Red

"i" > Border On > Color > Black

Add > Shape > Circle

"i" > Color > Purple

Move Circle > x=238; y=338

"i" > Move to Back

The next step was to ask the students to pair up and set up their iPads so that they couldn't see the partner's drawings. They were to alternate directions, giving one line only for each turn. They could create whatever they wanted.

Oh, my goodness! I honestly don't think I've ever had EVERY SINGLE student on task for the entire class period! Talk about fully engaged!! The only complaining heard was when the bell went off for the end of class - no one wanted to stop!

Here are photos of the partners with their drawings. They did a pretty good job giving and following instructions!

Of course, the "coding" we do in the lower grades is not the same as what programmers do for a living. However, it is an excellent way to teach problem solving, perseverance, computational thinking, communication skills, and so much more.

Beth Holland says this quite well in the second paragraph of her post, " However, after speaking with computer science educator, Douglas Kiang, I learned that the real power lies in teaching computational thinking and creative problem solving - not any specific type of code."

I was amazed at how well this activity went and how quickly the students picked up the concise "coding" language as they directed their partner what to draw.

Thank you, Beth, for sharing this valuable idea!

I love incorporating literacy skills into lab activities and bringing in technology is a fun and effective way to make predictions.

This year, I discovered the book, What's Under the Bed, by Joe Fenton. It's a quick, rhyming book about a boy named Fred who is trying to go to sleep but hears noises under his bed. He finally decides to check it out: "One, Two, Three, Four . . . It's time to look on the floor!" And, that's where I stopped!

Before class, I created a template and air dropped it to our shared iPads. When the students arrived, we worked together to add a name to their page and set up the drawing feature. After doing some predicting by discussing the title, I told the children they could illustrate as I read. We read till we reached the page where Fred was about to look under his bed. At that point, the directions were to:

1. finish illustrating your prediction,

2. write your prediction, and

3. record your prediction.

Instead of giving all the instructions at once, the students drew for about ten minutes. As they began to wrap up the drawings, I showed how to record. Soon all were off to various corners of the room, using our "telephone' mics or the recording cubes.

When everyone had completed their one-page book and air-dropped it to me, we finished reading. What is great about this book is that there are visual clues to what is under the bed. It's several pages back and you have to watch to catch it. This was a great way to discuss how important it is to look at ALL clues - in the text as well as in the illustrations!

Making Predictions with Second Graders from Trinity Valley School on Vimeo.

The class ebooks can be read on an iOS device (iPad or iPhone) by following the directions below. This eBook will NOT work properly on any other device (i.e. Kindle, Android tablet or phone). However, the books have also been saved as a video that can be seen on any computer or mobile device.
Instructions for Viewing Books and Videos:
If you are downloading the ePub books, remember that you need to click on the book link while on an iPad or iPhone that has the iBooks app. Choose download and open in iBooks.

Click on the word "book" or "video" to view the projects.

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I've never started making books so early in the year with our kindergarteners but, as Book Creator was perfect for what I wanted to do with them, I was eager to give it a try. My challenge was: Have our littlest ones illustrate AND record using an app they had never seen before, all in a 30 minute session!

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Make a template that has hyperlinks and is media rich for your students to use plus other helpful tips.

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Through regular updates, Book creator has changed quite a bit in the last year. One of the best additions to the app though has to be the ability to mask sound clips - that is, to make the sound button invisible in iBooks. The genius of this is that you can make pictures (or even parts of pictures) interactive!

The applications of the audio masking feature are vast but one that has worked particularly well for us has been the for teacher feedback. Use Dropbox or email to seed a staff photo to the students that they can reuse throughout their project. Then as elements are added to the ebook, they can come to you for audio reflections on their work, effort or even presentation.

Any image can have a hyperlink tagged to it which creates a wealth of possibilities. These links can direct you either to a website or to a specific page in the ebook itself. One clever student in my class took the initiative herself to hyperlink her contents page using relevant images.

Book Creator is friendly towards content coming from the Camera Roll. As such content made in other apps like Morfo, Puppet Pals, Explain Everything etc can easily be embedded to enhance your ebook further. Remember, if an app does not support exporting to the camera roll, use the built-in screenshot tool to take an image then crop it directly in the Photos app.

Another helpful reminder would be that children's work can be scanned as jpg files and added to Dropbox. This makes it possible to download directly to the camera roll and insert into ebooks. This is great as it means that the iPad does not have to dominate an entire project but be used a the tool to present handwritten work. Audio/typed reflections or even video reflections can then enhance a piece of work further!

Most students will have little experience creating ebooks and as such can get a little carried away with the style options - and using as many as humanly possible! Try to steer them away from this as it can be distracting and even detrimental for the reader. Particularly look out for "rainbow books" where every single page is a different, bright primary colour! Remind students that backgrounds are better being paler, softer colours to make the content stand out.

Another newer feature of Book Creator is the ability to save to Dropbox during a project and then download back to Book Creator to continue working on it. This is especially helpful if students are not using their own iPads as it negates the need to use the same device every time! Be warned though - you must ensure that the device is kept on and Dropbox open until the file upload completes or the file can corrupt and will no longer open in Book Creator (though it will still be safely on the original iPad of course!)

Another helpful addition to the app when it comes to dealing with the logistics of iPads in the classroom. If a student forgets their device, all is not lost! Have them start a new book on a separate device and upload the draft to Dropbox at the end of the session. When they return to their own device, they can now download the extra pages they made to Book Creator. Whilst looking at the main ebook file, click on the + symbol and choose Combine Books. Now, just choose the ebook of the extra pages and they will be added to the end of the original book!

Upon completing an ebook project in 2012, it was a little disappointing for those without iPads at home that they couldn't take their work away with them. Thankfully the latest update to Book Creator has addressed this issue. Email your .epub to your PC or Mac and open the Google Chrome browser. From here, access the Chrome App Store and download the free Readium app. This will enable your ebook file to be opened on a desktop with full interactive content!

Red Jumper Studios, the developers of Book Creator, are excellent at responding to feedback and helping with issues that arise whilst using their app. Visit this link to find out more: http://www.redjumper.net/bookcreator/support/

Steve gives you some advice for harnessing the awesome Book Creator app in the classroom effectively

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Through regular updates, Book creator has changed quite a bit in the last year. One of the best additions to the app though has to be the ability to mask sound clips - that is, to make the sound button invisible in iBooks.

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iPad Camera App as a QR Code Reader: Video Tutorial

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iPad Camera App as a QR Code Reader: Video Tutorial

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A good video to show students during snack time.

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7 Hidden iPhone Camera Features That Every Photographer Should Use

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How to Animate a Drawing in Pages Written Instructions

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How to Animate a Drawing in Pages Written Instructions

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Pages for iPad: Add and edit drawings in a Pages document

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Learn how to draw and edit drawings in your Pages document.

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How to Make a Drawing Animate in Pages, Video Instruction

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How to Make a Drawing Animate in Pages, Video Instruction

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Creating Animated Drawings In Pages For iOS (MacMost #1770)

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Tons of Holiday games including code boogie!

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Explore, play and learn with Santa's elves all December long

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Make Digital Christmas Trees with Pic Kids

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Make Digital Christmas Trees with Pic Kids

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Learn how to create digital patchwork style Christmas trees on the iPad using the free iPad app Pic Collage. No cutting, no glue, no mess and almost limitless designs. Digital Christmas trees can even be printed for a unique holiday bulletin board. Here is an easy way to integrate technology into your Christmas plans this holiday season.

For this project, students chose one of three different styles of digital trees to make:

STRIPS

TRIANGLES

CIRCLES

This post will go into detail about how to make each type. However, feel free to mix and match ideas or try a new one. Students might even be inspired to come up with a new design!

Strip Patchwork Digital Christmas Trees on the iPad

Fist students open the image search on Pic Collage. In the image search window, they type "Christmas pattern" to pull up a ton of different digital Christmas patterns and papers. Students touch from 5-10 of the patterns then click the check to insert them onto Pic Collage.

This will insert each image as small squares in the center of the Pic Collage.

Next students touch one of the pattern squares and select Clip.

To make the strip shape, students should select the rounded rectangle. They will need to turn the rectangle 90 degrees so it is horizontal. Next stretch it all the way out so the rounded edges are no longer visible. This will cut a strip with straight lines.

Students should not worry about getting a totally straight cut, in fact, a slight slant will add variety. I suggest trimming strips to be various thicknesses with different angles.

Once they insert the strip, they need to select another square. They will trim each square one at a time.

Once of the squares are trimmed, touch each strip to resize and arrange into a tree shape. Trees can be arranged horizontally with the longer strips on the bottom and getting shorter towards the top. Or arrange the strips fanning out vertically from a point at the top. If you want to send a strip behind all of the others, double touch it and choose Send to Back.

To add a stump, touch the plus and choose to search images again. Type "stump" in the search window and pick a tree stump image you like.

After inserting the stump, double touch it and pick Clip to trim it.

Choose the cylinder and place it over the stump or use the freestyle tool to trace it out.

Insert the stump then double touch it and choose "Send to Back" again to put it behind the pieces.

You can see how I arranged my tree here.

To add a star, use the web search tool again. This time type, "star png." We type png because you want stars with out a background. A png file has a transparent background. Make sure to teach your students this during the product to interject some technology fluency into the activity!

Finally, touch the plus, then backgrounds and the magnifying glass. Search "Christmas" to pull up Christmas themed images. I always do a test search on terms before allowing my students to search. I write "permitted" search terms on the board and I tell my students they may not scroll.

Students can also choose from one of the provided backgrounds. Pic Collage has generic ones and even some Christmas ones.

Here you can see the finished tree.

Triangle Patchwork Digital Christmas Trees on the iPad

Use the web image search tool to get your "patchwork" images. I searched "green Christmas patterns" for this example. Students could also search just "Christmas patterns" or add another color to the front of their search term. I chose 16 squares for the project.

Pic Collage will insert all of the images as squares. You will need to trim each square one at a time by double touching then choosing Clip.

In the clip menu, students should choose the triangle. I do not resize the triangle since you ideally want the pieces to be the same size. For certain patterns, I might drag the triangle to a part of the pattern I really want to include.

Once students have clipped all of the pattern pieces into triangles they need to arrange the pieces. Touch the pieces and use a finger to flip every other piece upside down.

Just like for the last example, I used the web search tool and searched "star png" to insert a transparent star onto my tree. I did the same series of steps as the strip tree above to add a stump.

In addition to a background, I also added a snowy bottom. To do that, I used the web search tool and searched "snow bank.

I inserted the snow back image then double touched it and chose "clip." I used the free style clip to trace just a bottom chunk. I tried not to include any other elements since I wanted it to look like my tree was sitting in snow.

Then I dragged and stretched the snow across the bottom.

Finally I used the text tool to add a message. Pic Collage has recently updated to includes a bunch of new and exciting fonts!

Circle Patchwork Digital Christmas Trees on the iPad

This final project borrows a lot of the tips I already mentioned so I'm just going to share what I did differently. Students will insert the Christmas pattern images just as before.

This time when they double touch an image and choose clip, they will pick the circle shape. I didn't resize or mess with it much - sometimes I dragged it to a part of the pattern I liked.

Students will clip circles all separately. For my example, I used my fingers to drag and pinch my circles into various sizes.

For the trunk, I used the image search tool and searched 'watercolor browns" to pull up various water color textures. I chose a texture and used the clip tool and the cylinder shape to create my own stump.

Finally I arranged my circles and my stump into a tree shape. I added a star and a message. I suggest starting from the bottom and working up. Students might want to double touch various clips and choose "Send to Back" as they go.

Pic Collage projects look beautiful printed out. These could be printed on cardstock and used as cards. I use Google Drive to gather all of the images or you could even assign this in Google Classroom and have students turn in their finished trees that way. Once I have all of the images in Google, I hop on my PC and print. Those of you lucky to have Apple printers might even be able to print directly from the iPad!

Have you made digital Christmas Trees on Pic Collage using these tips? Be sure to tag me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram so I can see the finished digital Christmas Trees your students created!

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MAKE DIGITAL CHRISTMAS TREES ON THE IPAD WITH PIC COLLAGE -

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Learn how to create digital patchwork style Christmas trees on the iPad using the free iPad app Pic Collage. No cutting, no glue, no mess and almost limitless designs. Digital Christmas trees can even be printed for a unique holiday bulletin board. Here is an easy way to integrate technology into your Christmas plans this holiday season.

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CS First is a free computer science curriculum that anyone can teach. Designed for students ages 9-14 of all interests and experience levels, students learn collaboration and core computer science concepts as they create their own projects. Educators lead the way with easy-to-use lesson plans, tutorials, activities, and resources.

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CS First is a free computer science curriculum that anyone can teach. Designed for students ages 9-14 of all interests and experience levels, students learn collaboration and core computer science concepts as they create their own projects. Educators lead the way with easy-to-use lesson plans, tutorials, activities, and resources.

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Winter Themed Technology Activities Your Class Will Love

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Winter Themed Technology Activities Your Class Will Love

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Are you looking for some FUN winter themed technology activities?

Winter is here! I have compiled a list of FUN techie activities your students are sure to love while also keeping your classroom activities academic.

Using ReadWriteThink's Trading Card Maker, have students create a trading card for a character that they read about in a winter themed book. Some ideas include but aren't limited to: Santa, Rudolph, Scrooge, Frosty the Snowman, Elsa, etc.. This is a great activity for teaching character traits. The final product can be printed out and looks just like a trading card!

This website is SO simple:

Upload an image straight to the site. Then fill in the empty fields. Finally, click "Finish Editing" and Print. That's it! I like ReadWriteThink's websites because it allows students to save their work so they can go back and continue working on it at a later time. Get this: They don't even have to sign into the website! If they choose to save, the website will generate a file to download. The next time you want to work on it, click on the Open tab at the top and upload the file.

This tool is also an iPad app that you can find HERE.

Using ABCya's Create a Snowman website, have students design a snowman:

For K-1 students you could have them choose to print their creation and write winter related words or a sentence at the bottom of the page. An option for upper grades would be to save their creation and import it into a program like PowerPoint, Word, Pages, Google Doc etc. and have them type a sentence or paragraph at the bottom about any prompt you give your students. It would be really fun to pull the images into a collaborative Google Slides presentation. Each child could add their snowman to one of the slides and add some text to go along with the image. Add a title slide entitled Our Digital Book of Snowmen and email it home to parents and/or embed it on your class blog or website! Your students will have a blast looking at their classmates' creations and reading their paragraphs.

Use Scratch to have your students code a scene about animal adaptations that occur during the fall↠winter season. Here is an example a third grader created last year. Her teacher wanted her to show examples of migration and hibernation. This was a beginner coder who only had 30 minutes to complete this assignment. If she had more time, then she could have added more to her scene.

Click the green flag. Press the right arrow key to activate the bird. Press the down arrow key to activate the squirrel.

Do your students like Choose Your Own Adventure stories? If so, they will LOVE writing their own winter themed story using the free web tool, Inklewriter. Creative writing and critical thinking will both be practiced during this lesson. Not only will your students enjoy creating their own interactive story, they will also have a blast reading their peers' stories!

The site provides easy to understand tutorials to help students build their stories.

For those of you who have access to iPads, last year I blogged about an activity called Synonym Snowman. Since then I have found a Make a Snowman app that I like even better BECAUSE you can add your own background.

The FREE Make a Snowman app is super easy to use and saves your image straight to the camera roll. Students can take a picture of anything or make an image in another app and set it as the background. Then they build and customize a snowman using the different tools included.

In the example below I app smashed using Schoolkit Math Manipulatives, Make a Snowman, and YakIt Kids. Get creative and use your imagination as to what students set as their background. I simply used Schoolkit Math to make an arrangement of fractions and took a screenshot. I added the snowman in Make a Snowman. Then I made the image come alive and talk as I explained my thinking using YakIt Kids. Enjoy☃

Another idea for the iPad is to have students use the app PicCollage or PicKids to create an acrostic poster on a word related to winter. Note: The word "winter" was a HARD one! If you are not familiar with how to use this highly versatile and FREE app then I encourage you to check out THIS tutorial by Erintegration. If you want to take it a step further, have your students use an app like Lumyer to add the snow effect. You can save it as a movie or as an animated gif like the example below:

These animated posters could easily be uploaded to your class blog/website or added to a collaborative Google Presentation.

UPDATE since I wrote this post! This app has been changed to Toontastic 3D

Here is one more idea for the iPad. Using the FREE app Toontastic, have students research and create a cartoon about different holiday traditions. Here is a quick example I threw together using just one scene in the app (you can have up to 5 different scenes!):

There are many different "winter/holiday" characters to choose from:

They even have a Snow Day Escapade scene and a North Pole scene:

Another idea is to have students upload their own image as a background!

Do you have access to a 3D printer? If so, have your students design a Christmas ornament or a symmetrical snowflake in Tinkercad (or whatever software you use) and give it to someone special for the holiday season! To give your students a little inspiration, share 3D Printing Ninja's Top 3D Printed Ornaments of 2015. Amazing!

If you like to carry out activities in Google Drive then you HAVE to check out my latest product that I posted to my TpT Store last week: Design an Ornament in Google Drive. Students individually make an ornament in Google Drawing, save it as a png and import it into a collaborative Google Slides presentation (1 slide) to decorate their class tree. Makes a cute poster or holiday card that you can send home to parents!

I also have two different collaborative digital books in Google Slides. Students work on a collaborative presentation to create a class book about a writing topic related to winter holidays or snowmen. These "digital books" can be emailed to parents or embedded into your class blog/website. You could also print to make an actual book or turn into a cute bulletin board!

Have fun with your students this winter!

Follow me on Pinterest to get more techie ideas:

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Winter Themed Technology Activities Your Class Will Love

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Winter is here! I have compiled a list of FUN techie activities your students are sure to love while also keeping your classroom activities academic. Using ReadWriteThink's Trading Card Maker, have students create a trading card for a character that they read about in a winter themed book.

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Holiday Projects with Do InkDo Ink loves December. It is such a joyful time of year for students and teachers alike. There is so much to be thankful for. It is also a time to be a little extra...

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Try this Christmas iPad activity using the app Pic Collage for some holiday technology integration fun! These visual directions will show you how to "reindeer yourself" on the iPad. Works as a stand alone activity or makes a great companion to the stories Imogene's Antler's by David Small or Olive the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh available at my affiliate link

First make sure you have either the app Pic Collage or Pic Collage Kids for the iPad. You will need to have the Web Search option turned on for this project (it is ON by default). Pic Collage is also available on a variety of other devices - Kindle Fire, Android and computers/laptops with Windows 10.

Christmas iPad Activity: Take a Selfie & Add a Red Nose

Students should choose a freestyle template in Pic Collage to create their image. Next they can use the in-app camera to take a selfie. Selfies should be from the neck up. Students can use the clip tool to either clip a circle shape around their head or trace with their finger to trim.

Next students need to search "red nose png" in the web search tool. I always teach my students to use png when searching Pic Collage to pull up transparent images (saves us time from trimming). It is also a good way to increase students' technology fluency by exposing them to the various file extension meanings.

I usually DO NOT allow my students to scroll when searching images. After selecting the nose, they can use it as-is or use the clip tool to trim it.

Students should use the circle shape so the nose stays round if they decide to clip it.

Christmas iPad Activity: Add Antlers

Next students should use the Web Search tool to search for "antlers png."

Trimming or clipping the antlers is hard so using the "png" is essential in this step!

Christmas iPad Activity: Choose a Reindeer Body

Next students will need a reindeer body. They can search "reindeer png" in the Web Search or just reindeer since they will probably trim it after.

Students double touch the reindeer picture and select Clip. I used the rectangle shape and stretched it wide so the original head would be "chopped off." Sorry Rudolph!

Students then arrange all of their pieces. They can double touch images and choose "Send to Back" to help with the various layers.

Christmas iPad Activity: Select a Background

Finally, students can touch the plus then backgrounds. Pic Collage comes with some Christmas backgrounds or they can use the magnifying glass to search for images.

I typed "snowy day" to find a background image.

Other options that might work are "Christmas Scene" or "Reindeer." I always check terms prior to the activity just in case and recommend you do the same.

How to Integrate this Pic Collage Christmas iPad Activity

Students can opt to add text to their finished images. The image will save to the camera roll as a picture.

These selfies can be used as digital cards to share with parents or images on student blog posts. They also make a great digital craft companion to the books Imogene's Antlers or Olive, the Other Reindeer available here with my affiliate link:

Images can also be used a writing prompt. After reading Imogene's Antlers students could image if they suddenly grew antlers or if they were given the job of being Santa's reindeer like Olive. Pic Collage images look beautiful printed out in color, but classrooms with limited printing options could share images and writing via Seesaw, Classkick, Homeroom, KidBlog or other digital sharing platform.

Be sure to check out these other seasonal and Christmas iPad activities from my store or see what I'm pinning for the holidays here.

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CHRISTMAS IPAD ACTIVITY ON PIC COLLAGE: REINDEER YOURSELF -

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Try this Christmas iPad activity using the app Pic Collage for some holiday technology integration fun! These visual directions will show you how to 'reindeer yourself' on the iPad.

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How to use the Text-to-Speech Features of the Apple iPad

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How to use the Text-to-Speech Features of the Apple iPad

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Writing stRategies for Technology in Education

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How to use the text-to-speech features of the Apple iPad

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When I was preparing to edit my novel last year, one technique I considered was reading each chapter out loud. That way, I could hear the words instead of simply seeing them, and gauge whether sentences or paragraphs were too long through listening. Yet I also saw the drawbacks: Reading each chapter out loud could be time-consuming - and it could tire out my voice. (And no one enjoys going hoarse or having a sore throat, right?)

Around that time, one of my writing friends mentioned a tool in her editing arsenal that she was grateful for: text-to-speech (TTS) software. In other words, your computer "narrates" a selected portion of your manuscript while you read along either on your screen or with a printed copy.

My first thought? "That's BRILLIANT. I should try it!" And now that I have, I plan to continue using TTS software when editing future stories.

So, how can TTS software help with your editing? What should you watch out for when trying it? And what programs can you use? You might be surprised with the last one. But let's start with...

Three Ways Text-to-Speech Software Can Help with Editing

#1: It Lets You Listen to the Flow of Your Writing. While a computer's monotone isn't as engaging or expressive as a human voice, it still brings the words you wrote to life. This way, you can listen to the writing and judge its effectiveness better than when reading it from a printed page. Is the flow smooth at times and rough or choppy at others? Does any weird sentence structure give you pause? Do incorrect or flawed word choices stick out? These and other shortcomings will wave like red flags as the TTS software narrates the text.

#2: It Brings Typos to Your Attention. Ever reviewed your writing for spelling or grammar, then realized a day later that you missed a typo, like "their" instead of "there"? Our brains (and our computer's Spellcheck) often overlook these small errors and "read" them as the intended words. But with TTS software, we're more likely to catch these typos as the computer "verbalizes" them. Hearing those mistakes in someone else's voice, either real or robotic, makes them more noticeable so we can fix them in the next draft.

#3: You Get the "Reading Out Loud" Experience While Saving Your Voice. As fun as it might sound to read your work out loud, imagine how dry your throat might be and how winded you might feel after each reading. TTS software doesn't read at a faster rate, but it does allow you to conserve your vocal and respiratory energy. Besides, no writing advice is good advice is if it recommends you sacrifice health and well-being for your craft's sake. (*wink*)

What to Be Careful of When Using Text-to-Speech Software

Read Along with a Print Copy or On Your Computer Screen. You might be tempted to sit back and listen, but it's better to be an active participant. As your TTS software narrates the text, read along either on your computer screen or on a printed copy of your manuscript. This will prompt you to pay close attention to the written words and the audio so you can find potential changes. (In other words, it prevents you from "sleeping on the job"!)

Select Short Sections of Text at a Time. Having TTS software read an entire scene or chapter can be taxing on your brain. The longer your computer reads without pausing, the more likely you'll lose your place as you read along or forget ideas for possible changes. Instead, select one page or a few paragraphs at a time, and give yourself breaks in between so you can mentally process each "reading" and make notes of future edits.

Expect Foreign or Invented Words to Be Mispronounced. This happened during my WIP frequently, since it's a YA fantasy story set in a fictional world - and some of my software's pronunciations of my invented terms left me in stitches! But it's important to know you might run into this if your manuscript also features foreign or made-up words. And if it does, have a good chuckle, then let it go so you can focus on the real issues.

Which Programs Offer Text-To-Speech Software?

Many of us already have TTS software on our computers without realizing it. Here are some of the programs that come equipped with it:

Microsoft Word comes with a Speak command, which you can access via Word's Quick Access Toolbar once you add the shortcut. (Speak is also available on Microsoft Outlook, OneNote, and PowerPoint.)

Computers using Windows 10 feature a Narrator function, which reads text, calendar appointments, and other notifications aloud. Check out this detailed guide on Narrator for more information.

If you own a Mac, your operating system also comes with TTS capabilities. Go to System Preferences > Dictation & Speech > Text to Speech, then select the "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" checkbox. (Click here for the complete instructions for English-speaking users.)

Scrivener has a built-in TTS function as well. When you're ready, click Edit > Speech > Start Speaking to use it.

Other TTS software options include Voice Dream, Natural Reader, and several other programs listed here.

So, give TTS software a try the next time you edit your work. You might find that it helps your process in a way you hadn't expected, and that the quality of your writing in later drafts - the ones that matter most - is even stronger than before.
Do you use text-to-speech software as part of your writing process? If you have, which program(s) would you recommend? Do you have other experience or advice with reading your manuscript out loud during the editing stage?
Sara is a fantasy writer living in Massachusetts who devours good books, geeks out about character arcs, and drinks too much tea. In addition to WHW's Resident Writing Coach Program, she writes the Theme: A Story's Soul column at DIY MFA and is hard at work on a YA fantasy novel. Find out more about Sara here, visit her personal blog, Goodreads profile, and find her online.
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Using Text-to-Speech Software as an Editing Tool ~ WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

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When I was preparing to edit my novel last year, one technique I considered was reading each chapter out loud. That way, I could hear the words instead of simply seeing them, and gauge whether sentences or paragraphs were too ... Continue reading →

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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Epic! - Kids' Books and Videos Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education

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Use Epic! - Kids' Books and Videos as you would use a library. Students can read books that interest them during silent reading or free choice time. They can build their own collections, rate what they've read, and then report back to the teacher offline with a summary or a reflection on what they learned or liked about the book.

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You can create collections of books and videos from your teacher (or parent!) profile (like a reading list), and then assign the collection to your students (you can assign collections individually...

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Story telling with Scratch Jr. for writing skills Grade 2

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Article About Using Scratch Jr for Storytelling

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Article About Using Scratch Jr for Storytelling

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Interactive Storytelling Using Scratch and Scratch Jr.

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Happy New Year, everyone! I can't tell you how excited I am to be guest blogging for April. I LOVE her blog and feel blessed she is allowing me to share my passion for technology with her readers! My name is Jennifer Kimbrell, and I share my thoughts and ideas over on the blog Tech with Jen.

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Tutorial: Digital Storytelling using Keynote

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Use Keynote to Create Drawings & Animation on the iPad

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How to use Keynote's Hidden Presentation Features

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How to use Keynote's Hidden Presentation Features

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It isn't enough to finely craft a Keynote presentation if it is poorly delivered, AppleInsider examines the many ways that Apple's Keynote can help improve how you actually present your slideshow to audiences.

Apple's Keynote application isn't only for creating slideshow presentations, it's for showing them too. That's quite unusual for software: nobody writes a book in Word and then holds their iPad up for people to read from. Yet the two sides of Keynote are complementary and what you set up while you were creating your presentation will help you now with showing it.

Keynote has a lot more to offer when you're getting ready to put this show on the road. There are tools to make your presentation work the way you expect -and there are tips to help ensure it does.

You've made that non-linear presentation using Master Slides, Outline View and Light Table. You've also included video even though we warned you about that.

The warning about video isn't only because you're relying on your venue to have loudspeakers. It's also because video files are big, and it makes your presentation file that much larger, and that much more difficult to transport.

Don't include any more video that you absolutely must. We mean that literally. If you have to have a 35-second clip, make it 35 seconds and not 36.

You can drag in a three-hour movie and then trim it down to 35 seconds in Keynote but you're not actually cutting the size of the video file. You're just determining how much of the whole file your audience will see. Keynote keeps the entire clip in your presentation so that you can later change your mind and adjust the clip you want.

For that reason, do your basic trimming in QuickTime Player on your Mac or use something like Final Cut Pro X to do more elaborate work. Only drag in the finished segment you need. Otherwise, your presentation could be so bloated that it takes longer to sync over iCloud from your Mac to your iPad.

It could also be so weighed down with the video file size that the presentation will run slower, too.

If your Mac's storage is not yet using APFS, the Apple File System, then after your presentation goes over about 500MB on your Mac, Keynote will step in. When you go to save it, you'll be prompted to choose between saving as a Single File or as a Package.

You get the choice but you only get it once: whatever you pick now is set for the life of this presentation. This is a problem that goes away when you're using APFS so over time it will be seen less and less. For now, though, your best bet is to choose Single File -so long as your presentation isn't already creakingly slow when you're editing it.

The reason is that a package lets Keynote split your presentation data out into separate files and folders so that it can then choose what to load and when. Rather than your video sitting there throughout 200 slides, it can be loaded when you reach the one slide it's on.

Plus a package with lots of little files suits the way that iCloud syncs data. So if you're the only person who's going to use this presentation and that's how you want to sync, choosing package could help you.

However, if you need to share it over Dropbox or really any other cloud service then packages aren't as robust as a single file is.

Even if you don't need to share the presentation with anybody else, though, save copies on different cloud services -and in different formats.

Save your shiny new Keynote presentation to the Mac and/or iPad you're going to be presenting it from. Preferably save in iCloud Drive where all your devices can get it. Then save it to Dropbox too. Email yourself a copy. Pop one onto a USB stick.

And when you've done all that, do it all again but with the presentation saved in the old Keynote '09 format.

And then when you've done even that, do it all again but saving the presentation as a Microsoft PowerPoint file.

Sometimes your venue will have a Mac in place and it's better to use their equipment instead of yours because it's already tried and tested. Only, the Mac is using the older Keynote format.

Or perhaps the venue neglected to tell you that every speaker has to hand over their entire presentation at the start of the conference. There are companies that will insist on joining every speaker's presentation together so that a single file runs for the entire day. When that happens, you can bet it'll be a PowerPoint file.

Better you give them a PowerPoint file that Keynote has created than to trust that their PowerPoint will open Keynote okay.

Then there are the acts of God that will leave you without any copy of the presentation at all. Dropbox or iCloud should get it back but there is one further option.

Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. There's a fully-functioning copy of Keynote on that site and we've used it for three-day-long residential workshops when necessary.

All of this so far has been about the visual side of presentations, of about making sure your audience has something to look at. They also need to hear you, though, and Keynote has tools to help you make sure you stay on track.

Every time you create a slide, you can write your own notes at the bottom. These Presenter Notes won't be seen by your audience, they will only show on your Mac or iPad screen in front of you.

That's even when you're presenting from that screen: Keynote is excellent at by default routing only the slides to an external screen.

On the Mac, choose the View menu and then Show Presenter Notes. You get a small text box at the foot of the screen and it's tied to each individual slide. Write something in it, then move to the next slide and write in that one's empty text box.

When you duplicate slides, by the way, you also duplicate the notes. So if you've done a slide you really like and want to base the next few on it, select-and-cut the note before you duplicate the slide. Otherwise you'll have the same note in every one.

That's an issue if you've gone back to the View menu and chosen the Hide Presenter Notes option for any reason. When you later come to present and switch on the notes, you'll lose track of what you meant to write where.

On the iPad, tap on the three-dot ellipses icon at top right and then toggle on Show Presenter Notes.

It's years since we presented from our Macs because the iPad version of Keynote is so very good, especially when used with an Apple TV. Except for one thing.

On the Mac, you can have your screen be showing you all sorts of things that the audience isn't supposed to see. You can have your presenter notes, for instance, but also both the current and the next slides showing.

Then you can choose to have a clock showing you the current time or a countdown of how long you've been speaking -or both.

On the iPad, you're more limited. You can have the clock or the timer and many presenters don't even know you've got that option. By default Keynote shows you the clock but you can tap on it to swap to the timer.

Then you can have presenter notes and the current slide. You can have presenter notes and the next slide. You can have the current and next slides on your screen.

Only, you can't have current and next slides plus presenter notes and that's the one we want the most.

However, there is a way around it. Previously we recommended planning your Keynote presentation in another app such as OmniOutliner. If you've done that, and not strayed too far from the original plan, then you can re-use that outline now.

Open your Keynote presentation on the iPad, press Play to start the slideshow. Then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show the dock and then choose OmniOutliner from there. Drag it up and to one side of the presentation.

So long as Keynote is playing the slideshow, your audience will see the current slide. And you'll see current and next plus an entirely separate outline.

The audience or the venue will always ask you for a copy of your slides. You can tell them as often as you like that the slides make little sense without you standing there talking in front of them, but it doesn't matter.

Don't bother arguing and also don't bother doing any fiddling with the slides. Just choose File, Print and then in that print dialog click on Show Details.

There are options in these details to determine whether your printed version includes the presenter notes and slide numbers, whether it includes any skipped slides. Make sure those are all turned off and then click on the PDF button and choose Save as PDF.

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How to use Keynote's hidden presentation features to hold your audience's attention

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It isn't enough to finely craft a Keynote presentation if it is poorly delivered, AppleInsider examines the many ways that Apple's Keynote can help improve how you actually present your slideshow to audiences. Apple's Keynote application isn't only for creating slideshow presentations, it's for showing them too.