Making you own stop motion video

This morning I saw this post from Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) suggesting a chrome extension I had forgotten about- Stop Motion Animator.   It is easy to use (you can record the video and audio separately).  I’m sitting at a borrowed desk this morning so you can see the Yankee mug wander across the screen.  

Screencastify and DEN Ambassadors!

I watched Eric Curts’ great presentation on Screencastify this morning.  Anxious to try out this chrome extension (as well as some of the topic in his session), I decided to record over a slide presentation (and create a commercial for the Fall DEN Ambassador session).  Screencastify allows you to easily add audio to your slides (and I got over seeing myself on a webcam and added myself to the video).  The free version of Screencastify (which does work on a student account- if the camera is disabled there will not be the WebCam option) saves to your Google Drive and has an easy upload to YouTube.

Ideas for Google Forms as Quizzes

If you are on the fence about using Google Forms (and the great quiz feature)- take a look at this blog post from Alice Keeler.  You will step you through the process to make the best use of your teaching time (and the kids’ learning!).

18 Video Tools

Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) recently posted his collection of video tools in the classroom.  He outlines the various types of video projects and then reviews the related tools.

The view at the shore

Beach Chair Scientist will keep you updated on all things marine.  You can follow their blog post or search for information on the site.  Their current post shares monthly ocean events. This site is geared to grades 5 and up.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Not a summer replacement series

Vanishing is an interactive from CNN that speaks to the dramatic species loss on the planet.  You could use it on a whiteboard or let students explore on their own. Or have teams investigate the major causes and develop action plans.  The images are breathtaking and the site includes graphs and videos.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

NGSS in your future?

Several of my colleagues have started (or will be starting) to work with the Next Generation Science Standards.  Laurie Marsh shared this website to help navigate the standards.

You can download the information as a PDF for handy reference.   

Let ChatterPIX do the talking

Here’s a video (created using ChatterPIX and iMovie) where students shared their thoughts about kindergarten.  It took less than one period to record (one student at a time out in the hallway) and then I added some photos (from Photos For Class) to iMovie for the finished product.  Hope you enjoy their year-end reflections.

Who doesn’t want to be awesome?

Internet awesome, that is!  Google has launched a series of educational resources based on digital citizenship skills.  Be Internet Awesome includes lessons as well as a trip to Interland where students can reinforce their skills.

RAD Lands in Space (what's the best fuel for your body?)

Chipotle and Discovery Education have shared new nutrition resources.  Here’s the announcement:

Introducing RAD Lands In School, a new education program from Chipotle and Discovery Education that explores important concepts about where our food comes from and how to best fuel our bodies.

Join the Cultivators, an elite team of five young rebels, in their fight to protect and preserve the nutritious and delicious food in the galaxy! Teen earthling Tricket and her sidekick Lo-Fi guide students in learning about nutrition and making healthy choices with help from celebrity chefs, YouTube stars, and musicians.

• Interactive videos - Free educational episodes of RAD Lands incorporate animation, music videos, and live action segments for a fun and engaging way to learn.

• Classroom activities - Pair RAD Lands episodes with standards-aligned activities to teach key science, health, and language arts content.

• Family activity - Perfect for summer: watch the celebrity chefs make something delicious, then challenge your family to see who can make the most nutritious snack!

All about the weather

Teaching weather and need resources, games, NGSS, and more?  Then check out SciJinks- it is all about the weather!  While this NOAA and NASA site is geared to the middle school learner, there is something for all learners.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Math videos that explain it all!

Philip Brown (aka the Bearded Math Man) has a YouTube channel with math videos.  From episodes for teachers and students to  Wednesday Why?- this is something for the high school math educator. Here's his trailer:

You know the year is coming to an end …

When the NYT publishes all their lesson plans in one place.  Click here to see the year (divided by content) for ideas for the next two weeks or next year!

Put yourself in the comics!

Meredith Akers (a Texas educator) recently shared suggestions (along with templates) for creating Google comics.  By using the Snapshot tool, you can easily put yourself right in the action!  Please see her blog post here for step by step directions and templates.

Matchmaking- Math and Journals

Alison Childers recently shared ( on Alice Keeler’s blog) her thoughts on math journals.  She includes suggestions for problems as well as classroom management tips.  You can see if here.

Working in groups

Common Sense Media recently shared several ideas for improving student group work.  From using tools in Google Classroom to samples roles for groups, you will find several interesting suggestions here.

Escape Rooms (the digital version)

Who hasn’t seen Facebook images of friends breaking out of escape rooms?  Now you and your students can break out from a digital room!    

Last week I attended the Garden State Summit (primarily a Google centered PD event).  One of my favorite presentations (given by Jennifer Fischer and Kristen Tsaoys- both from Edison)  started with a digital breakout room.  We then explored the BreakOut EDU digital site (be sure you check out the Digital Sandbox- that’s where you will find many premade escape games).  I’ve shared their presentation here as well (it’s in the form of a hyperdoc).  

The photo in this post is from a fourth-grade classroom this morning.  The students worked in teams to break out in an American Revolution themed event.

(Not interested in a digital escape but rather a paper and pencil exercise? See this math example here.)

Getting a great summer start

PearDeck has a few suggestions to help you start the summer break on the right foot!  Please see their post here.

Tools to help students edit

Eric Curts recently shared a blog post with a variety of student tools to improve writing.  I saw the SAS Writing Reviser for Google Docs.  While I have used SAS tools from their website, this is the first I realized there was an add on!  (Students will have to enter a parent email to have the account activated).  From sentence economy to sentence tools- it offers a variety of ways to help students improve their writing!

Tool to help students analyze sources

Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) recently shared this resource form ClassTools.  Students can use this graphic organizer to sources (and determine which ones are helpful).  Please click here for his blog post.

Google Tour Builder (or what to see in Nebraska!)

About a month ago, I posted about the Google Tour Builder.  This is a beta product (so it is still in the experimental state) that allows you to easily create a tour using Google Maps.  Maria Vella shared a sample she is using with her third graders.  They will share 3 locations from their states.  Either click here to view.

What do you want to learn in first grade?

I had the chance to work with Alicia Berry's kindergarten class as they shared their goals for next year.  We used paper slides- they drew their pictures and then recorded a few students at a time.  In less than an hour, we were done.  Please enjoy their video and I'm sure they would love some feedback.

Picture Prompts from the NYT

Here’s an end of the year post from the New York Times Learning site (in their lesson plan section) complete with 160 images for picture prompts. They have done a nice job dividing the images into categories. Each image includes a prompt as well as a link to the news story (that explains what’s really going on in the photo!). The above image is just a sample.

It’s not always a test

Alice Keeler shares a variety of projects that could be used to demonstrate understanding.  Please click here to see her blog post (complete with crowdsourced suggestions).

Online doesn’t mean better

In this blog post from Alice Keeler, she outlines several ways to use Google tools to create better learning outcomes for students (and not just using online as a replacement for the same assignments or the copy machine).  Please read her thoughts here- perhaps some of the suggestions will work for your students.

Taking things to the point

SMMRY will take text and summarize it into a specific number of sentences (it doesn’t rewrite the text but takes complete sentences from the original).  You can either paste the text into SMMRY or link with a URL.  This sample is from Wikipedia entry.

For the complete description, please see the TeachersFirst blog post here.

Sweeter than sugar

SugarCane is a site that allows you to create online games:

• Matching
• Associating (think flash cards)
• Typing
• Ordering
• Categorizing

But rather than type in the content for each different game, you can create a data set and then use that data set to create a variety of games.  All your games are public (and you can search by title). And to make things even easier, you can share via Google classroom! Don’t want to make your own game? Check out some of their samples.

For the complete description, please see the TeachersFirst blog post here.

Adding videos to classroom

Alice Keeler recently posted on how to easily share video to both Google Drive and Classroom.  I made a sample (using Screencastify)- and it couldn’t be easier to save!

(This sample is in my SBOE account and is not visible to folks outside of the district.)

Using Padlet for Summer Reading notes

I listened to a webinar today about summer reading.  One of the suggestions was to use Padlet as a live summer log.  Here the students could post their thoughts about what they were reading and the teacher periodically would comment.  I’ve made one here you can try (here’s the link).  One of the nice things about Padlet is the ability for comment moderation (so nothing goes public until you approve it! (That's the feature I've used here.)

In addition to the summer, this might be a fun way to provide a voice to kids during the school year.  While I allowed a name for each post, you can make it anonymous.

Go ahead and share- what are you reading?

Cleaning up your (Google) classroom

Worried about organizing your Google Classroom once the school year ends?  Eric Curts comes to your rescue with a list of tips to make your life easy.  From archiving classes, changing file location, or removing class calendars, you will find the answers here.

I know it is early (so file this under August)

Right now I know (some) of us are counting down to the end of school.  Usually, by August, my mind starts to wander back to the classroom.  Maybe that would be the best time to read Matt Miller’s 12 Great Ways to Grow as an Educator this Summer.  I think the summer selfie bingo was an interesting idea and I’m always looking for books to read!  If you are looking for workshops to attend, I’m presenting in South Brunswick Technology and Learning Conference (6/27) and at the NJAET session  Tech Splash (8/1).