Make your own magazine

Google recently shared a slide template to create your own famous woman magazine.  See their description here (and the slides contain the template).

Literature and Google Maps

Want to help your students connect to a story using Google Earth?  Then Reading Treks (from TeachersFirst) are for you.  They are complete with a Google Earth file (KMZ) as well as directions.  They are currently featuring the John Lewis story March, Book 1. (John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell).  Want to search for other Reading Treks?  Just click the link here.

For math teachers

In his blog post in Edutopia, Ranjani Iyer shares her secrets for teaching high school math. She outlines several classroom techniques to help engage and motivate her students.

Ideas for feedback

Teacher and peer feedback can be challenging.  How can this be a more open and productive process?  In this blog post from Andres Boryga he shares several suggestions (I particularly liked the SPARK one) to help both you and students develop a rich (and not fearful) feedback process.

Helping Students to Refocus

At the last Google Educator Group from Ohio, Stephanie Howell shared this strategy and forms for helping students to refocus.(again these are from Gold EDU- so you need to join the Google group for access to the slides). The directions to join the group are here.  I am a big fan of process and I think these slides would help students take responsibility and action for their behavior. The last slide is scaffolded for students needing accommodations.

What app would save your Character?

 

In the text, your students are currently reading, what app (one that doesn’t exist today) could help that character?  Stephanie Howell shares her video (and slides again these are from Gold EDU- so you need to join the Google group for access to the slides). The directions to join the group are here.

The students start by analyzing their character and examining their obstacles.  Using

Google slides, they design an app that would serve this character.  They share their

app using a book or a video.

You can see Stephanie really supports student choice in their means of expression.

Storyteller Roadmap

Stephanie Howell does it again!  In this video (based on the Pixar in a box from Khan Academy), she provides a roadmap for student success  You need to be a member of the Gold EDU group to access the resources.  The directions to join the group are here.

Her students follow this flow :

It includes support activities and helps to guide the student by including prompts and questions.

Virtual Museum

This video from Stephanie Howell is packed with information on a virtual museum project for your students.  You need to be a member of the Gold EDU group to access the resources.  The directions to join the group are here.

The first part of the video shares directions (and in the link the templates) for a virtual museum.  She also shares her workflow (how the students submit, provide feedback, and reflections.  I’m not sure I would complete the entire project yet, but I do appreciate her sharing her tips and the materials.

Here is a look at the lobby  (and all the slides are linked) 

And here is an exhibit

The students can even link their artifact with a slide where they can provide their reason for selection;

So what will your museum feature?

Making things pageless

There are times when working in Google Docs when I don’t want a page break.  This seems to happen when I know I am sharing a document online and am not worried about the page breaks.It will make the document appear wider on the screen.

Now you can do this in Google Docs.  Here are the steps:

1. Select File

2. Select Page Setup

3. Select Pageless. 

Here is a short video. If you would like additional information, here is the Google support page.

Picture Zoom

Here’s an interesting take on a Jeopardy game- can you identify things from a really close-up photo?  You can play this game as is or edit it with your own photos.  You can keep the score at the bottom of the screen. Thanks to Stephanie Howell for sharing this at the GEG Ohio meeting last month.

Making Station Rotations Easier

Looking for a planning document to help with stations?  Stephanie Howell shared this one at a recent meeting.  By using the gray space on the slides, you can easily customize the rotation to meet your daily needs.  She indicated it was a 10-minute rotation- but you could modify this to meet your needs.

Storyboardthat in First Grade

Here are some student samples from our second Storyboardthat lesson in Holly Bruens’ first-grade class.  Their assignment was to tell a story in three frames (the beginning, the middle, and the end).  Special thanks to Savannah and Carter for sharing their work.

If you are interested in having me join your class, just let me know.

Can kindergarteners play Quizizz?

You bet they can!  Special thanks to Amanda Beleski and Kristen Boehm (and their talented class) for helping me to work out the process using Quizizz. There are many ways to share the game link- and we tried them all.  Our recommendation?  Even though it takes a little more effort (only the first time they join), sharing the link via Go Guardian was the easiest method.

The first time it will prompt the students for their birthday- we entered this information for them.  Every game after that (even two weeks later), all they had to do was make a few clicks and select their name.

Kristen and Amanda were using Quizizz to reinforce color sight words and then we moved to match the number with the word.

  Here are their setting suggestions for a successful implementation:

1. Turn off the music. There is different music for correct and incorrect responses and students notice.

2. Turn off the leaderboard- it is too distracting for most students.

3. Teacher-led is best for first-time players.  In subsequent games, we moved to the classic view where students can move at their own pace.

4. Turn off the memes - especially in K - they don’t get it and it is another distraction.

5. Encourage students to review the flashcards when done.

If you are interested in an Edu Protocol (a.k.a The Fast and the Curious) that uses that platform to help students learn, please see this blog post (including a video) from Matt Miller. We did use this with their class and tracked their progress on the board. Here's Matt's video:

Raise the Baton: Music and Arts Lessons for Every Classroom

 

PBS has shared a variety of music resources from 

musicians to conductors.  Please click the link here.

Study from the deep- the Endurance

I have to admit I was mesmerized by the video footage of the recently discovered ship Endurance (from the Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic).  The NYTimes recently posted a lesson plan about the journey and we might learn from the discovery. The video above is from the PBS Newshour.

OK2Ask Webinars

TeachersFirst hosts a variety of free online (and after-dinner) webinars.  Please click here to see their spring offerings. As the name suggests, these are designed for learners of all abilities.

Activities from Jarrett Lerner

Stephane Howell (at the last Google Education Group- Ohio meeting) shared this website- from Jarrett Lerner. you will find a variety of story starts, blank pages, and other activities.  I liked the thank you notes, books that I made me, and the Earth Day suggestions. What will you use with your elementary students?

Middle School Coffee Cups- The Giver

Back in December, I shared a post from Stephanie Howell on using coffee cups to review content and for student creativity. Carrie Iurilli (Middle School ELA) recently completed this project with her students and shared their results. She says :

 I saved the template and used it as a fun way to review the basics of The Giver with my students on Valentine's Day. I attached the PowerPoint with screenshots of their coffee cups so you can see what they created. 

 Here are their results- what a great job!

The story of a butterfly (paper slides)

 Karen Swericzek’s class is working on life cycles. As part of their studies, they created paper slides with their work!  The video is here.

March Storyboardthat Highlights

I’ve been doing Storyboardthat in several classes recently and it's a pleasure to see the student’s creativity.  Please click here for their March newsletter with new resources. I especially like the new state report format below:

If you are in the district and want to try this great tool with your students, please reach out to me.

Women’s History Month

If you are looking for resources for Women’s History month, please check out the TeachersFirst resources here.

Eric and Pi

Eric Curts shared his selection of Pi Day activities.  Please see his blog here for a selection of spreadsheet activities.

Pause Points in BrainPOP

Last week, I shared a short video on the new Pause Point feature in BrainPOP.  Here’s a blog post from BrainPOP with additional information.

Pi Day is coming

As a former science teacher, Pi Day was always one of my favorites and I was part of several awesome teams where we celebrated Pi with our students across the content areas! I remember one year creating a paper chain (with each number a different color) and then challenging students to find a pattern!   If you are looking for Pi Day resources, please consider the curated list from TeachersFirst. You will find something for every grade level.

Add a watermark

While Microsoft has had this feature for a while, you can now add a  watermark (text or image) to Google Docs.  Look at the video for directions.

What Google Keep can do for your students.

Join Kasey Bell (ShakeUpLearning) as she shared 15 easy Google Keep can help your students.  From bookmarks to reminders to vocabulary/spelling lists- you will find her suggestions here as well as an infographic.

Jamboard Tips

Looking to up your Jamboard game?  Check out these three great tips from Alice Keeler.  From collaboration to photos, these will help you and your students.

New Science in Discovery Education

 

There are two new channels in Discovery Education. Demystified and DE Originals.  I made this short video to will give you an overview.

Reagan LIbrary Virtual Field Trip

Discovery Education has shared their virtual field trip to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  This 20-minute video geared to grades 5-12 includes an educator guide as well as discussion questions.  Please visit the link here.

Seeking something on a page?

The best tool to find something on a web page (doesn’t matter if it is a Google file or a website) is the use the find feature,  Just select Ctrl + F- you will get a pop-up where you can enter your search term.  It will then be highlighted on the page.  Here’s a quick video from Kasey Bell ( Shake Up Learning) as an illustration.

Helping your students with international goals

Image from  Wikimedia Commons

I’m currently finishing a book study (with TeachersFirst).  Our text is Teach Boldly.  Much of it has focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals- the 17 universal goals to make the planet better for everyone. Here’s a great website to help you get started- The World’s Largest Lesson. It was reviewed in TeachersFirst here.