Friday, October 28, 2016

Weekly Tech News and Tips for October 28, 2016


Mrs. Szczytko enjoying a surprise "no school" day.
Hopefully you are all well rested from the unexpected day off yesterday, brought to us by the elementary boiler. While most of you are excited about an impromptu day off, a handful of us look forward to a quiet, productive day. I can't speak for the rest of the staff, but I actually get excited about these days. Yesterday, for example, I took advantage of the day to update all the PCs, as well as update and disinfect every Chromebook at the middle school - that's about 78 devices, if you're keeping count. (Not to worry elementary staff, I did yours last month.) The gloves, earbuds and disinfecting wipes come out and I go to town. I try to disinfect the student devices every other month or so - it's a little more challenging now that we have over 100 Chromebooks and iPads. Now if we could get our students to do their part by actually putting them back in the carts and PLUGGING THEM IN. I actually found many Chromebooks scattered all over the WIN Cafe - not even near the carts, as well as some stacked on top of the carts instead of inside. Don't even get me started on how many were just crammed into the carts in both the WIN and TLC every which way, and left unplugged. The students have definitely gotten quite lax in their device care habits and could stand for a refresher and some supervision when getting them out and especially putting them back. Your help is truly essential and appreciated in reinforcing these habits with our kids. (stepping off soap box now) Speaking of devices, if you are looking for a way to add a device to your classroom, or for yourself, and feeling a little lucky, you can enter for a chance to win an Acer Chromebook R11, which is a hybrid chromebook and tablet. Only one entry per person is allowed. Click the link to enter. Good luck!

Enjoying it while it lasts.
...and speaking of lucky! Your Holy Rollers bowling team is currently in first place. There is some dispute if this is due more to luck, skill, or a combination thereof, but we're doing our best to represent!

As always, if there is a new tech idea you'd like to try in your classroom, let me know & I'll be happy to help you with it. Leave a comment below if you saw something you liked, or would like to see news on a topic I haven't included.


The Forward All vs. Forward Function in Gmail

We've all received a forwarded email thread that is difficult to read. You need to scroll to the bottom and start reading from bottom to top to follow it. Well, there is a button for that. The Forward All feature (More-Forward All) rearranges the conversation in chronological order so it is easy to read. Check out the blog post for instructions.


Two Helpful Tips for Navigating PDFs

From Free Tech for Teachers, by Richard Byrne
When you or your students are researching a topic online, here are a couple easy ways you can quickly find what you are looking for within a PDF. 


8 Ambient Sound Websites to Help Students Focus

8 Ambient Sound Websites to Help Students Focus, from Control Alt Achieve, by  Eric Curts
Do you concentrate better when there is some background noise, such as a fan, rain, or quiet music? Your students may as well. Studies show ambient sounds can not only help people concentrate, but also promote creativity. If you need help boosting your, or your students' concentration, here are some sites you can try. Tip:  In addition to the standard forest, beach, fire, etc. sounds, Ambient Mixer has several Harry Potter related, and historical, such as The Year 1612 or On a Ship at Sea to help you create a mood your students will like.

How Video Games can Help Students in Class, at Home

Those of you who use Kahoot! with your kids can already attest to the popularity of using gaming in class. If you are wondering about the benefits of introducing gaming into your classroom, there are some surprising benefits.

How to Build a Custom Google Map Using Addresses in Google Sheets

How to Build a Custom Google Map Using Addresses in Google Sheets from Better Cloud Monitor
Would you like your students to plot all the battles of the Civil War, or maybe all the places they have visited during vacation? Here's an easy way to do that with the Sheets Add-On, Mapping Sheets. Click the link for both a video and step by step instructions.

Similar to Classkick, from last week's blog, Formative also allows you to make your PDFs interactive and monitor your student's work on them in real-time. Students can type in fields you add to your PDF, show their work with drawings, or submit images. You can watch them work in real-time and intervene as necessary to make sure they understand the concepts. Accounts are free for teachers and students, and both can sign up using their Google accounts. Read Amy's blog to see how she used it in her classroom.

Newsela - a Kinder, Gentler Current Events & Election Source

Having students research current events, or the current election, is definitely more tricky these days. Too often, the content is just not appropriate for students. Enter Newsela. Newsela takes all the news and converts it to age-appropriate levels that are safe for students to use. So for example, if you wanted your students to read information about the presidential debates, instead of headlines about the details of Donald Trump's "locker room talk", or Bill Clinton's history with interns, the headline simply reads, "Bitterness, insults dominate Trump-Clinton debate in St. Louis".  As a teacher, you can set up a free educator account, and sort by text set, grade level, or even reading standard. There are sections for news, but also for biographies, famous speeches, issues, history, and so much more. Your students can join your class and read the articles you've designated. They can also just search the site on their own. Give it a try and see what you think.

Punctuation Practice with Google Docs

Punctuation Practice with Google Docs, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Here's a step by step guide on how to quickly create your own punctuation worksheet using Google Docs and an add-on called Doc Tools.

Teaching Through the Camera Lens: 10 Activities with Photos and Video

Teaching Through the Camera Lens: 10 Activities with Photos and Video from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
These ideas can include having students use the iPads or their phones to take the photos and videos, and creating the finished product either on the iPads or Chromebooks. Will any of these ideas work for your class?

SoundBible - Free Sound Effects for Multimedia Projects

From Free Tech for Teachers, by Richard Byrne
Here's a free resource to find sound effects for podcasts, videos and slide presentations...or any other multimedia project.

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