Myth Bustin’ with the new Spiderman!

Join Discovery Education for a virtual field trip On Thursday, November 29!  Here’s

part of their press release:

Tune in to our NEW Virtual Field Trip for a unique STEM and

literacy-packed sneak peek of the new movie, Spider-Man: Into

the Spider-Verse.

Please click here to register your class for this amazing opportunity.

Polar Bear Field Trips

It’s that time of year again (No, not the NJEA Convention) the annual

Discovery Education virtual field trips to Churchill, Canada to explore

the polar bear habitat.  They have several virtual field trips (yes, I

realize we will not be in school for all of them,- but they are archived

for later viewing). I've joined several classes in the past and these have

been very worthwhile.

Please click here for registration and resources.

Storyboardthat and bullying

This was recently shared by Storyboardthat and might provide some ideas

for your classroom.

Anti-Bullying Activities

Bullying Education

SEL and Sesame Street

Even though this blog post is from WriteReader, you could use their lesson plan ideas on kindness in a variety of tech (and non-tech) applications.

It bears repeating- don’t make a copy

So you want to give a Google Quiz.  You make one and then copy it for each class, right?  Wrong. Use the method suggested by Alice Keeler (just add a question about the period and then sort it on the spreadsheet). Complete directions are here.

Use their cases or build your own!

Want your students to use primary sources?  Eager for them find and use

evidence as they construct their arguments?  The Case Maker is for you!  

Make civics engaging using theses LIbrary of Congress resources.  

For a complete description, please see Richard Byrne’s blog post here

on Free Technology for Teachers.

Looking to get your kids fit?

Discovery Education has partnered with Novo Nordisk to create

Super Health, Super You.   You will find lesson plans, activities, and

digital presentations.

Here’s part of their press release:

Novo Nordisk and Discovery Education are calling all educators to kick

off this fall season with some family time and physical activity!  Super

Health, Super You has launched their newest activity, which gives

families ideas to get healthy together. This activity is called

Fit in Fitness Every Day.

Why can't some birds fly?

This might be a great brainstorming question for your students before you begin this TED lesson. The lesson plan and discussion questions are here.

One of my favorite SMARTBoard Games

The Pirate Ship never seems to lose it popularity as a sorting activity. And with

he ability to create a list in SMARTBoard software, they are quick and easy to

produce. If you need, just let me know.

Looking videos about Halloween?

No, these are not cartoons but videos about the history of Halloween (and a few math problems as well).  See the Discovery Education suggestions here, (only in district).

Want to expand your network?

TeachersFirst highlights ideas for growing your personal learning network (please click here for the link). There are Twitter options and other ways to curate and share your work.

SMARTBoard and Arrays

Here’s a quick demonstration on arrays that might be helpful for your students.  You can use the infinite clone tool - that allows the students to create as many objects as they need!  You can follow the SMARTBoard Youtube channel to get notifications of new videos.

Day of the Dead Google Templates

Here’s a great Google Slides template from Carnival Slides.  You can click here and make a copy.  (It’s ironic, that why I’m writing this, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is playing on Pandora!)

Making kids better writers

That’s the goal of SAS Writing Reviser (you might have noticed SAS on the Clever portal).  You can read about the process (along with directions) here or watch the video above.

Access your Calendar, Keep, and Tasks from Docs

This morning, while reading this blog post from Richard Byrne (if you are working on a

smaller screen, please see this tip about increasing page space here) I decided to try it out.  

What Isaw were three icons on the sidebar of my doc.  This makes it easy to access your

Calendar, Keep, and Tasks right in Docs!  You can copy and paste items right into docs-

how much simpler could it be?

Subtitles in real time!

Google recently introduced a new feature that will provide subtitles to your slides as you speak. Currently, this feature only works on desktops or laptops (couldn't make it work on my chromebook) and you need to use the Chrome browser.  Here are the step by step directions.

Want to make a Gif?

Check out Brush Ninja if you would like to create your own animation (gif).  Special thanks to Lori Pacansky for making this one for me. We got the idea from Richard Byrne’s blog post here.  He takes it one step further and adds Screencastify. What would your students produce?

Teach Middle school or high school history?

Then you want to attend this free webinar on interactive games for history. Please see the information below. Revolutionary Learning

Interactive History Games for All Secondary Social Studies Students

Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time REGISTER

Presented by Peter Mabli Assistant Director of Online Professional Development American Social History Project

This edWebinar will explore ways for middle and high school students to “live” transformational moments in U.S. history. Our presenter will use the first Mission US game, “For Crown or Colony?”—available free to schools from WNET—to introduce effective ways to integrate “serious games” into U.S. history curriculum. The edWebinar will also focus on successful strategies for including English language learners and struggling readers in the full learning experience. Peter Mabli, an expert in teaching U.S. history, will unpack ways to integrate gaming with document-based activities, writing prompts, and other resources in a range of learning environments. He’ll showcase ideas for independent, small group, whole class and flipped learning approaches while meeting rigorous content and instructional standards. Learn how technology-infused gaming can help students experience a more personal, memorable, and meaningful connection with the complex historical content, as they learn to think like historians, develop historical empathy, and discover the role of ordinary men, women, and young people in U.S. history.

Halloween Rebus

This morning, I saw this on social media -  Eric Curts has shared another Halloween project- this time it’s a rebus story.  Please see his post here. (Photo credit to my daughter Jane)

Using the NYT and Graphs (with Google Sheets)

Part of the NYT Learning Network is What’s going on in the graph?  Alice Keeler has taken this one step further and imported the graph into a spreadsheet and then opened for comments.  Please see her blog post here. This sounds like a great way to integrate math in the real world and provide a voice for each student.

Class comments- can you find them?

If you are having trouble finding the comments in Google Classroom, then check out Alice Keeler’s post.  Comments are now easier to find and use!

Popsicle Sticks (only for Android)

I remember when you had to hand write your students names on popsicle sticks.  Now Google Classroom (on the Android app only) allows you to select students right from the classroom app on your phone!  No need to input rosters- it takes things right from the classroom. For a complete description, please see Alice Keeler’s post here (and I’m just waiting for it to be released on the desktop and IOS!). From her screenshots, this seems to be an easy and elegant process.

The best text to speech I’ve heard

Many of us don’t like the sound of our recorded voices- yet we realize how helpful a

soundtrack can be for our students.  Enter Voicepods.  This free service allows  you to

enter text, insert emphasis, pace pauses and then provides a url so you can share! How

could this work with your students?  Maybe as homework support? Or copy student work

and let them listen to their writing? Special thanks to Joan Younger and Eric Hall for

their suggestions. Click here to listen to this post. (PS- you are limited to 5 free recording per month.)

Think you know slides?

Kasey Bell (Shake Up Learning)  recently shared 12 things I bet you didn’t know about Google Slides.  There is something for everything- from free choice board templates to magnetic poetry ideas.

What would your students create?

Here’s an updated blog post from Matt Miller (Ditch the Textbook Fame) that provides a host of ideas for video projects for your students.  Like all of Matt’s post it is easy to read and filled with real applications. I liked the diversity of projects- something for all grade levels, technology resources, and content levels.

STEM for All

On this Discovery Education and Siemens site,you will find STEM activities for all grades. What works for your students?

Change up an SOS

In this blog post from Discovery Education, one S.O.S. strategy (They said what?) gets a

makeover.  I’m not suggesting you use all the suggestions, but maybe one will be perfect

for your students.

On the keyboard

When you want to insert a hyperlink- just think of the last letter.  That’s Alice Keeler’s

suggestion to remember the Ctrl k shortcut. You can read the rest of her post here.

What my father always said

After I watched this TED talk, I thought of my dad.  He was a big proponent of being nice,
smiling, and treating everyone with respect.  It made him a successful businessman- and he
didn’t even have the data referenced in this talk.

I can see implications here for education- not only in the classroom but how we interact
with each other.  Civility s the way to go! Here’s the link to the talk.

Connecting Students with Emotions

Just before school ended in June, I came across this blog post

suggesting connecting student emotions could make the learning more memorable.  

You might want to give emotional scripting a try!

Looking for the classroom folder in Google Classroom?

Confusion about the layout of the folder in Google Classroom?  Alice Keeler recently

outlined the topic here.  It is important to know how the folders work as well as the

sharing features.

Happy World Teachers Day!

What's a teacher's search look like on Google?  Here's a brief video and my thanks for all you do for your students.

For my elementary scientists,

Consider this virtual field trip from Discovery Education to help your students

see how science works in their lives.  If the live broadcast (Thursday, October

18 at 1 PM) doesn’t work for you, these are archived and you can watch later.

To register, please click here.

The TO DO List is back!

Today I was working with a new Google Classroom and there it was- the To Do list. (This is one reason I love Google- they listened to the teacher input and here we are!).  If you would like a complete review of the To Do process and how it could improve your workflow, please see Alice Keeler’s post here.

Setting up your topics now

As I begin to work on another assignment, I decided to Google Classroom.  

The TOPICS feature has been revised this year and I think makes it easier for

students to use.

To make it easier for you (as the teacher), you might want to read Alice Keeler’s

post here.  Since Topics move to the bottom, a little planning on the front end

can save you time all year.

Free PD - It's VIRTCON!

A picture is worth 1000 words.  Free professional development. Please
register here.

Will I see you at EDCampNJ?

Looking for inspiring professional development?  And it’s free! Join me at EDCampNJ on Saturday, 11/17 from 8-2:30.  I will be at the New Brunswick High School (but for my friends in South Jersey, there is also a session at the Egg Harbor Township High School). Please see their site here and register today.

It’s as if I were there

While I haven’t been to England, when I watched this CNN produced a virtual tour

of the English Parliament, I now feel I was there!  Complete with 3D images, audio,

and maps you can stroll through the houses and learn its history. Who knew there

were secret doors in the Robing Room?  For additional information, please see

the blog post from Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) here.

Writing an essay in Slides

Alice Keeler shared her suggestion for using slides for developing an essay.  In addition to making use of the speaker’s notes, I think it would be useful for younger children with the breakdown of content per slide (ie., Introduction, etc).  I also think you could use visuals (for the real young) rather than text.