Weekly Tech Tips and News for January 6, 2017

St. Alphonsus Nativity Star

Well, I skipped right over the 4th week of Advent, Christmas and New Years, and now Epiphany is already upon us. Since there were only 4 working days during Christmas break, I was a busy bee with tech installations, repairs, moves and programming. Now we're all back in the normal routine, or as close as we can be with the events of this week, so this blog resumes too. Find your Epiphany star, have faith, and follow where it leads to wonderful new discoveries and ideas. The star at left was once a $14 plain, white, plastic star, until it received a makeover with a little glass, glue and grout. Look for ways to transform your class activities, skills, and teaching as well. The results can be dramatic! Learn a new skill or put a new twist on a lesson that hasn't changed in years. It's a new year, and a great opportunity for new challenges. Follow your star before it fades away.

• Chrome OS Window Snapping Gets a New Trick
• 11 Creative Ways to Use #HyperDocs in Your Classroom
• Master Your Chromebook Touchpad in Minutes
• Build a Snowman with Google Slides
• Read Between the Lies

Chrome OS Window Snapping Gets a New Trick

Chrome OS Window Snapping Gets a New Trick, from Chrome Unboxed, Robby Payne
Do you ever need to be looking at two different windows on your computer at once? You may or may not have realized you can snap two different windows side by size on your Windows computer and on your Chromebook. In Windows, you drag the title bar of the window or tab over to the right or left until you see a halo, and let go. The same is true for a Chromebook - but there are also a few other quick ways to do so as well.

11 Creative Ways to Use #HyperDocs in Your Classroom

11 Creative Ways to Use #HyperDocs in Your Classroom, from Learn Lead Grow by Matt Bergman
What's a HyperDoc, you ask? It's a Google Doc that is interactive with the inclusion of various links, to articles, web sites, YouTube Playlists, other docs, quizzes, maps and so much more. It's more than just a document with a bunch of links. HyperDocs are meant to guide students through a process or lesson. This post provides many ideas for creating self guided assignments with Google Docs.

Master Your Chromebook Touchpad in Minutes

Master Your Chromebook Touchpad in Minutes, from Chrome Unboxed, by Robby Payne
No mouse? No problem! All you need are two or three fingers to do pretty much anything your mouse can do. Show your students how to easily navigate around the chromebook using the touchpad. Learn quick and easy ways to scroll, double click, right click, click and drag, as well as navigating through browser tabs just using your fingers.

Build a Snowman with Google Slides

Build a Snowman with Google Slides, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts

Looking for a winter-themed writing activity to do with your students? Have them create their own custom snowman in Google Slides, and then write a story about him or her. This blog post provides not only a usable template, but also a video tutorial on how to easily build your snowman. There are two templates available, one with a moveable snowman, and one with a snowman that doesn't move for younger students. When they're done, the students can either download the file for you to share with parents, or print them out.

Read Between the Lies

Read Between the Lies, from Learners 2 Leaders Everyday Tech by Carol Glanville
Remember when journalists were required to confirm their sources before publishing the news? Sadly those days are over. It's now up to us, and for us to teach our students, to do that due diligence and discern fake news from the real thing. This is a great article, with a link to a Huffington Post article. It focuses on 9 steps to follow to determine fact from fiction.