Weekly Tech Tips and News for May 12, 2017

Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Happy Mother's Day to all of you with children, step-children, or little friends who are like children to you. It's the time of year where you may be wrapping things up in the classroom and looking for fun lessons to fill gaps the schedule - check out the TED-Ed lessons or Math Pickle. Perhaps you are looking for a way to keep things fresh as your students begin counting down to the end of the school year - look at Remixing Traditional Lessons, or ways to use Google Earth or Google Drawings. You also may be counting down yourself and making summer plans. Are you interested in improving your tech skills from the comfort of home? Definitely take a look at 21 Things for Teachers - even if you aren't a teacher! I hope this week finds you enjoying the lovely Spring weather and making the days count.

• 21 Things for Teachers PD Modules
• These Two Buttons in Google Drive Will Help Keep You Organized
• The Google Drawings Manifesto for Teachers
• 10 Ways to Use Google Earth in your Classroom
• Remixing Traditional Lessons With Tech: A Framework You Can Use
• Math Pickle - Fun and Challenging Math Puzzles
• Popsicles, Ants and Itching - Seasonal TED-Ed Lessons

21 Things for Teachers PD Modules

This is not just for teachers! Do you wish you had better tech skills? Are you sometimes embarrassed by your lack of tech savvy? Would you like to find ways to use more tech in your classroom? The 21things4teachers.net site is a great place to start. This FREE resource consists of 21 courses to take at your own pace to help you better understand technology. You can either start from the first course, Basics, and work your way through each in succession, or pick and choose what you are interested in. In addition to these free courses, there are also now nine PD modules, that take about 10 hours each to complete. The cost is $50 per module, and you will receive 10 SCECHs upon completion. There are two sessions for the PD modules:  May1-June 30 or June 30-September 5. These nine sessions include Assessment for Teaching and Learning, Creating Efficiency and Productivity, Dynamic Presentations, Enhancing Instruction, Extending Your Classroom to the Cloud, Media Literacy, Personalized Learning in the Classroom, Searching Safely and Strategically, Maker Movement.  Click here for more information on the PD modules or to register.

These Two Buttons in Google Drive Will Help Keep You Organized

These Two Buttons in Google Drive Will Help Keep You Organized, from Better Cloud Monitor
If you haven't already embraced the Add to Drive and Move To buttons when either searching for a file, or previewing a file, you probably do a lot of searching in Drive. Using those two little buttons allows you to take control of the files that have been shared with you.

The Google Drawings Manifesto for Teachers

The Google Drawings Manifesto for Teachers, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Google Drawings, the app that no one really takes the time to learn or really knows what to do with it. The reality is, if you know how to use Slides, you know how to use Drawings. You can do much more with it than just making pictures, how about multi-media posters, infographics, timelines or graphic organizers? There are lots of ideas in this post, with links to detailed instructions.

10 Ways to Use Google Earth in your Classroom

10 Ways to Use Google Earth in your Classroom, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
We've been hearing a lot about Google Earth lately because it's newly available for Chromebooks. This article is pretty useful, in that it gives you good ideas for using Google Earth in your classroom. Remember, Google Earth is not just for geography!

Remixing Traditional Lessons With Tech: A Framework You Can Use

Remixing Traditional Lessons With Tech: A Framework You Can Use, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Don't just add tech to an existing lesson, rethink it. There are 30 examples included in this post.

Math Pickle - Fun and Challenging Math Puzzles

Math Pickle - Fun and Challenging Math Puzzles, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Looking for a fun way to reinforce your students' math skills, or maybe just another constructive choice for free time? Try Math Pickle, students have to move through a series of steps to complete a puzzle. Challenges are available for all grade levels.

Popsicles, Ants and Itching - Seasonal TED-Ed Lessons

Sketchport.com by Shelly

Now that the weather is getting warmer, here are some TED-Ed lessons about tasty warm weather treats, How Popsicles Are Made, and as the bug bites begin Why Do We Itch?  Watch with caution, you'll be scratching by the end of it. As the picnics and family vacations begin, check out Why Don't Ants Get Stuck in Traffic? Remember, TED-Ed lessons can be customized, or used as-is, with suggestions for digging deeper, quizzes, or discussions. You can search for a topic that matches your instructional content, or just look for fun topics to fill some time.