Nine Quick Tips in Google Slides

Google Slides is quickly becoming my favorite because of the editing tools.  Sarah  Kiefer shares
her top 9 Google Slides tips here.

Hiding things on a Jamboard

 

Alice Keeler shared this blog post on how to “hide” things on a Jamboard.  Here is the link to her post.  She is right- it does take a little time to color- but I made a sample.  You can click here to make a copy ( I’ve hidden 4 items).  You can then copy the Jamboard (or copy the frames) to reduce the time you need to color.  If only the marker tool was as broad as the eraser is!

Computer Science with Google?

Google has a variety of free coding programs to help introduce students to computer programming.  Please click here for more information.

What you could do with a Padlet

 Dena Mazur (SUES 4th grade) mentioned she was using Padlet and kindly offered to share her ideas:

Every Wednesday, students practice their opinion writing and citing evidence using a "Would you rather" prompt. The students use Padlet to share their thoughts. They especially love adding drawings and images. 

Students are held accountable for their independent reading using Padlet. Each week, I post question choices for the students to respond to by citing evidence. This is a truer measure of "actual reading" than a log. 

While I loved Padlet (when it was free), you might find the 3 sites free version confining.  You might consider Wakelet- while it doesn’t have the exact layout of Padlet, it does have many of the same features. (As an aside, Wakelet does integrate with FlipGrid which is not approved in the district).

Games with Jamboard

 

Here is a quick Jambaord tutorial on creating games from How to Tech for Education.   I  liked her approach- I think I might add some of them as backgrounds (since you can now insert images into a Jamboard).  This will prevent the pictures from being moved.  I’m doing a checkers game tomorrow- so I will see how it works!

If food is in your presentation

 

Here is a new presentation template from Slides Carnival.  How would your students use it?

Google Slides and BINGO!

 Google Slides and BINGO!

After sharing Jamboard Bingo with a few folks, I got this email from Gail Komm (SMS 7th-grade science educator):

 Rose shared the JamBoard bingo idea with me. Since I have more than 20 students in my class, I created a bingo board on google slides, but same exact setup. I'm having the students create their own bingo boards. We watched a BrainPop video and I'm asking them questions from the video. The answers are the keywords they used for their boards. They are loving it!!! 

Special thanks to Gail for responding to my request to share her slides and directions.  She even created a Bingo board you could copy!  Open this file and make a copy- you will be on your way to your first game!

What would you pull out of the hat?

Alice Keeler’s recent Jamboard Pull a Rabbit (or a sticky note) out of the hat reminds me of the magic hat on a Smartboard.  Just make a copy of her Jam and add your own sticky notes (the secret is the pen level which always is the topmost level and hides the items in the hat.  See her blog post here. Here's my test:

From a Class Roster to Slides

Alice Keeler created a Google sheet Add-On (you need to access it from the template in the post here) that will create a slide deck with a student name followed by a blank slide (a place for them to work and create).

This helped solve one of my student collaboration issues.  I want the class to work together but not on each other’s slides.  So rather than me typing in their names, this Add-On will automatically create the slide deck!  Not only will this work for whole-class activities ( I’m doing one on Wednesday where the students are going to add their images) but think how useful it could be for group projects?

(Follow up note- this did work well for the students- it was a little slow to load. Next time I will have them open first and allow time for instructions. I did have a few students try to edit a classmate's slide. This is a challenge in remote instruction. I don't think I would have had as many issues if I had been able to work around the class!)

Thinking about Twitter for Educators

If you are thinking about Twitter, please see this blog post from Erin Whalen.  She will work you through the steps of account setup as well as some following suggestions.  Her post is here.

The Hill We Climb

Even though I didn’t catch all of the inauguration events yesterday, I did experience Amanda Gorman and her poetry- it was amazing and inspiring.  PBS has a lesson plan to share the work with your students.  Here is a link to the Google Doc if you would like to edit the lesson.

Jamboard Bingo

Alice Keeler has a nice template as well as suggestions for creating Jamboard bingo.  Even the little red markers are there!  Everything is in her video here. I like the concept of allowing kids to create their own boards (this also makes it easier on you- while I did create some yesterday, it does take time). But the students will be able to move/change the words.

If you don’t want the students to be able to change the words- your only option is to create each jam sheet and then download it as an image.  Then upload that image to the background.  This would still allow you to add movement on top.  Clearly, this is substantially more work.  And I’m not sure if I am ready to commit- I will try the student-created ones first!

Want to change your link color?

Here’s an easy suggestion from Kasey Bell (Shake up Learning) to change your link color in the Slide Master.

Making Badges

In her webinar, Alice Keeler will show you everything you need (or want) to know to create badges.

Google Classroom ideas

Here’s a short post from Maggie Brennan with suggestions for Google Classroom.  There are several good suggestions (but I wasn’t wild about the Talk and Comment extension- I think the voice quality was poor).

Making Station Rotation Virtual

In this guest blog post from Brigid Duncan, she shares a slide template to help make station rotation virtual!  Here is a link to create a copy of the slides. I could see making this a weekly event and allowing students to select what they wanted to complete.  I liked the idea of accountability (‘Fill your name in a blank box…”).  There are only 14 slots- you might need to make two copies depending on your class size and how long you want the stations to last.

Making happiness sustainable

What does it really take to be happy? (and no, it doesn’t involve winning the lottery!).  In this post from Discovery Education, you will find easy and concrete steps (as well as resources) to help you and your students.

Tips for colaborating in Google Docs

Working with someone on a large Google Doc (sheet/slides) and want to see quickly where they are editing?  Use Alice Keeler’s tip to duplicate the tab!  For complete information, please see her post here.

Online Games

While many of you may already be using online games, this was a nice review from Edutopia with many suggestions. While some of the meeting platforms (i.e., Zoom or Blackboard Connect) are different than what we use- the games can work in Meet/Webex or on Jamboard!

A review of Google Docs changes

In this edition of EDU in 90, they highlight the recent changes in Google Docs.  Just a note on Originality Reports- since we have the free version, you can only assign three Originality Reports per classroom.  Please see the link here.

Google Classroom Prime Real Estate

I was in the middle of watching one of Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook Summits sessions (this one was on how best to use your learning management system aka Google Classroom for many of us).  He was talking about the best spots to post and share information (and one of those being the banner).  In the next email, I saw this video from Kasey Bell (Shake Up Learning) on adding Zoom to the header.  Now, I know we aren’t using Zoom, but the method works if you want to add anything to the header.  As Kasey mentions, it will not be clickable (like the Meet lin) but your students can copy and paste!

Ready, Set, RISE!

Looking for e-learning options for SEL?  Check out this free resource from Discovery Education and others:

In what has been an unprecedented and challenging year for schools across the U.S., educators now have access to new, no-cost digital content that supports their own and their students’ emotional resiliency from Ready, Set, RISE!, a unique virtual resource from Kaiser Permanente, Alliance for a Healthier Generation (Healthier Generation), and Discovery Education

Click here for additional information.

Fifty ways to celebrate 100 Days

The 100th day of school is coming- here are 50 suggestions from TeachersFirst on how to celebrate!

Shut the box (online) with Alice Keeler

I’m sure I have played this game in real life at my mother’s house.  You roll the dice, clear the board, and try to get the lowest score.

Now Alice Keeler has created a digital version that you could play with others online.  Please click here to view her video (don’t be alarmed by the length- she plays the game several times).

If you are recording grades in Google Classroom

You might want to take a look at this add on from Alice Keeler.  Using the data in Google Classroom’s grade’s tab- you can create a progress report for each student.  This is something that might be useful to Parent-Student-Teacher conferences.  Please click the link here.

MLK Resources

Here are some resources from TeachersFirst to help your students celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King.

New Year’s ideas from BrainPOP!

Here’s a recent mailing from BrainPOP filled with SEL activities and a Martin Luther King updated lesson.

Learn how Computational thinking can help!

 

Computational thinking. Do you see this as something only for people who code?  If you thought yes, you might want to take advantage of these computational online resources.  Computation just means using computer-like strategies to help problem solve and work with data.

You can access this information in your Discovery Education account (Ignite my Future Channel) or the Ignite My Future homepage.

For the complete information package, please click here.