Snap and Read Updated Color Overlays and Reading Line Guides

Wow!  They keep improving this wonderful tool.  If you have not read the previous post about Snap and Read and Co-Writer please do so.. Snap and Read just added a new tool to its list of arsenal.  The updated tool is the Color Overlay and Reading Line Guides.

Take a look at this video on the new updates.

Color Overlay and Reading Line Guides from DonJohnstonInc on Vimeo.

Takin Social Studies - Ideas, Lessons and strategies for the 21st Century Classroom,

If you have never heard of Takin Social Studies, now is the time to take notice.  This blog houses podcasts ranging from Music in the classroom, sticky current events, to primary sources.  After listening to it for a couple of days, I am hooked.

The four hosts each have their own witty personalities and provide tons of resources they use with their students. Listen to Episode 17 Got Rhythm.  Also take a look at the notes from the episode as well, they link some student work which is really good and hopefully will generate some ideas for your own classes!

MERGE CUBE MANIA IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Merge Cubes in middle school classrooms is hot right now and we have several teachers who are using them and having the kids explore with them.  There are many apps out there which you can review from the previous post I wrote on Augmented Reality. 

If you are new to Merge Cubes you need to take a look at this post by Cool Cat Teacher by Vicki Davis.    Karen Bosh explains why Merge Cubes are so hot right now.  You can subscribe to Vicki via iTunes as well for her 10 minute teacher segments.

@MergeVR is offering educators a special discount on their MERGE Goggles! For a limited time, they're available for $16.99 each (plus applicable taxes and shipping). Fill out the below at this link to get your discount code docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…  I bought 3 pairs and they ended up being 20.00 per pair after shipping and taxes. 

Cisco WebEx | A New Virtual Classroom Tool

"This technology allows teachers to bridge the gap between school and community without the time, safety issues and expense of a field trip.  [It] allows us to increase the number of stakeholders in the education process which provides students with a much more diverse education.  Students can be face to face with someone in their desired field which can increase the buy in by students to their own education."

- Lisa Tomlin | Teacher NCWHS 

"I think this tech has incredible potential for educational use.  First it allows instructors to visit the class room without having to travel to school therefore increasing the number of hours available to teach.  Second, it allows recording so the seminar can be saved for rewatching or viewing by other classes.  [WebEx] also allows for multimedia presentation using videos, webpages, computer coding, graphical displays and any number of file formats.  The audio and video into the room allows for [the outside party to view] the classes."

- Dr. Andrew Bland | MD Nephrology 

These two quotes, the first from Lisa Tomlin (Science teacher at Normal West) and the second from Dr. Andrew Bland, MD Nephrology, demonstrate the vast potential found within our new Cisco WebEx system.  This system is made up of multiple parts.

Google Keep Notes; Now in Google Docs!

Google Keep has always been a wonderful tool for keeping notes about anything that is important to you.  You can organize them quickly, add images, drawings, and even checklists.  But now Google has kicked up the productivity of Google Keep by allowing you to access your notes directly from within a Google Doc!  Another great feature is that you can now take notes from directly inside of your Docs and have them tagged automatically in such a way as they always appear front and center when you open that Doc again!

Check out the video below for a walkthrough of the process and some instructional ideas for using Google Keep together with Google Docs!  You can also read the full announcement from Google here.

Google Lit Trips and Tour Builder

Tour Builder is all about telling a story.  With this resource you can build a clickable, interactive story that guides students to different places around the world.  Watch how Bobby Lake, a high school history teacher, talk about the stories he creates for his students using Tour Builder.

make sure to read the whole post for more!

STEM READ Professional Development

What would you do if a supervolcano erupted, your house caught on fire, you are all alone, and you had to travel across the country to reunite with family? Find out with the fast paced thriller, Ashfall!

The author, Mike Mullin, visited schools in Unit 5 and District 87 during the week before the Teacher Professional Development and provided some insight into his creative writing process while discussing the science aspect of the volcano and how he obtained his research. Mullin was engaging and students were able to interact with him before, during and after the presentations.

Computer Science Education Week Recap

You may not know it, but this week (12.7) is Computer Science Education week.  This also coincides with an emphasis on the Hour of Code project, which promotes the language of computer code to students (and adults) of all ages.  Here are a few blog posts and sites from around the web that can help you get started with incorporating computer science into your classroom (yes, anyone can do it in any subject!).

Google Cultural Institute

 The aim of the Cultural Institute is to preserve and promote culture online

If you have not had a chance to browse the Google Cultural Institute, I highly recommend it.  Outside of simply navigating the art museums and  wonders of the world, you can examine primary source material on major historical events in history.

Finally, if access through our district Google accounts, you can create your own personal lists of personal collections that you value, curate your own galleries, and even push all of this material to your Google Classroom courses!

This is a powerful tool, and one that can be incorporated in to a wide variety of curricula.  Check out the YouTube Channel dedicated to the Institute.  Go explore today, and make sure to share your experience with your peers!

Sean Mullins | Instructional Technology Coach

Microsoft Viewer in Google Apps

Do you have PowerPoints which have a lot of animation in them and when you transfer to a Google Presentation the animation gets lost?  Well here is a solution for you. Download the Google Drive app Office Viewer for Google Drive.  This app will allow students  who do not have Microsoft Products on their computer to view PPT presentations in full animation mode.

 

Go to the New Tab in Drive, More, Connect More apps.  In the search area key in Office Viewer  and several will pop up.  Select this one:



 

 

 

Once the app is installed you will open it.  In the upper LEFT hand corner click on the icon below and login to your Google Drive:



 

 

 

Once access has been granted, you will be able to open any Microsoft PPT, Word or Excel docs.

Google Updates Core Apps

On September 2nd, Google announced a set of updates to many of the core Google Apps that you are familiar with (Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc...).  Highlights include Voice Typing in Docs, updated See New Changes feature in Docs, Templates across all apps, a data visualization feature called Explore in Sheets, and an awesome new feature where users of Google Classroom can push out their current webpage to their whole class through Chrome.  Check out the full details in the official post below!

 Posted by Ritcha Ranjan, Product Manager

School’s in! As you settle into your classes and start to juggle soccer practice, club meetings and homework, we’re here to help. We’ve been spending the summer “break” creating new tools to help you save time, collaborate with classmates and create your best work—all for free.

Schoolwork, minus the work 

Writing papers is now a lot easier with the Research tool in Docs for Android. You can search Google without leaving Docs, and once you find the quotes, facts or images you’re looking for, you can add them to your document with just a couple taps. That means less time switching between apps, and more time perfecting your thesis statement.

  

With Voice typing, you can record ideas or even compose an entire essay without touching your keyboard. To get started, activate Voice typing in the Tools menu when you're using Docs in Chrome. Then, when you’re on the go, just tap the microphone button on your phone’s keyboard and speak your mind. Voice typing is available in more than 40 languages, so we can help with your French homework, too. Voilà!

Do more, together
We’ve made it easier for you to tell what was added or deleted in Docs—and who made the changes. Now when you’ve left a document and you come back to it later, you can just click “See new changes” to pick up right where your classmates left off.

Forms helps you get a lot of information easily and in one place—so when you want to vote on your class field trip or collect T-shirt sizes for your team, you don’t have to sort through dozens of emails. With the new Forms, you can survey with style—choose one of the colorful new themes or customize your form with your own photo or logo, and we’ll choose the right color palette to match. Easily insert images, GIFs or videos and pick from a selection of question formats. Then send out your survey and watch as the responses roll in!

Your best work, your best you 
Creating presentations, crafting newsletters and managing your team’s budget is hard enough without having to worry about making everything look good. With the new collection of templates in Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can focus on your content while we make sure it gets the expert polish it deserves. Choose from a wide variety of reports, portfolios, resumes and other pre-made templates designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

With Explore in Sheets, you can now spend less time trying to decipher your data, and more time making a point.  Explore creates charts and insights automatically, so you can visualize trends and understand your data in seconds on the web or on your Android. It’s like having an expert analyst right by your side.

  

Mission control, for teachers and students

A year ago, we launched Classroom to save teachers and students time and make it easier to keep classwork organized. Today we’re launching a Share to Classroom Chrome extension to make it easy for teachers to share a website with the entire class at the same time—no matter what kind of laptop students have. Now the whole class can head to a web page together, without losing precious minutes and focus to typos.

  

Rock this school year with Google Docs and Classroom. Your first assignment? Try these new features, which are rolling out today.

Start Your Personal Learning Network with Google+

Social media has ushered in a new wave of professional development for teachers all over the world.  Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are simple systems that teachers have in place that help them keep up to date on new trends in education.  Social media can and should be leveraged to develop your PLN.  Many teachers already frequent Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc... for educational collaboration opportunities.  I would like to suggest adding Google+ to that list!

With your district Google account, you have the ability to set up Google+.  It is very simple, and only requires you to click on the "+You"  link found by your login name once you have signed into your Google Account.  You then fill out a few screens of information, most of which you can skip over.



Once you are set up, you can navigate to "Communities" through the menu on the left of your screen and start connecting with educators all around the globe who are trying to accomplish the same goals as yourself.  For example, I belong to communities that discuss "Science in Google", "Google Apps for Education", and "Education Revolutions"...and the list will surely grow.



The great thing about these communities is that they are created and moderated by regular people, not organizations.  That also means that you can create a community yourself and invite like-minded U5 educators.  As an example, I encourage everyone to join the U5 Instructional Technology community (direct link).  It's a great place for us all to share, discuss, debate, and encourage around the topic of instructional technology in Unit 5.  We will be adding content to it regularly, and encourage you to do the same!

Similarly, maybe your department wants to create a community to share web resources and have discussions around curriculum.  If we think even bigger, why not have a U5 Science community and invite all of the science teachers (or anyone for that matter) to join?  The possibilities are exciting!

If you would like more information on PLNs or Google+, please contact your district instructional technology coach!

Sean Mullins | Instructional Technology Coach

AP French Regional Foods of France Cultural Lesson

Mrs. Litwiller the AP French teacher and I created a project which concludes a cultural food unit and also prepares the students for AP speaking portion of the AP exam.

After watching student presentations on regional foods of France, students were asked to respond verbally to the Question:

“If you were spending spring break in France traveling with a culinary group, in which region would you want to spend your time and what foods would you want to try during your stay?”

We pushed the assignment out through Google Classroom and asked the students to use Vocaroo to record their responses and copy and paste the link into their Google Classroom assignment.  We also required the students to grab the QR code from the Vocaroo site and upload it to Google Classroom, as well.  

With the QR codes printed out, Mrs. Litwiller placed them around the room and had the French 2 students use their phones to scan the QR codes.  While they listened to their peers they heard about different regions of France in which they may be interested in and might visit in the future.

Here are a couple of examples:

Student 1  http://vocaroo.com/i/s18BeaizCgR4



 

 

 

 

Student 2 - http://vocaroo.com/i/s18C7P6sX61i



 

 

Technology Integration with PowToon

We heard about PowToon the Google App on Teacher’s Corner back in October.  Since then, I have had several teachers contact me about using it in the classroom.  Animation is not only fun for students but it also challenges them on the progression of their thought process in digital form.  Student’s not only create a good presentation, but have to strategically place objects, text, and pictures on their slides to create a dynamic animation where the progression of events flow naturally through the digital story.

Here are some good examples of PowToon’s from Mrs. Ritchason's 8th Grade Social Studies Class:

http://www.powtoon.com/show/eBgSzgYQoZT/why-the-us-should-join-world-war-one/#/

http://www.powtoon.com/show/eGypwutXt0K/why-the-us-should-join-ww1/#/

http://www.powtoon.com/show/dIud2hQJKcL/espionage-sedition-acts/#/

http://www.powtoon.com/show/fPgk7uxZvx3/nationalism-and-imperialism/#/

http://www.powtoon.com/show/fwUhO2kq86f/militarism-alliances/#/

 

Google Slides Adds Page Numbers

You can now add page numbers to your slides and skip the Title Page.  Here's how to do it:

 

 

• Go to the insert menu and select slide numbers


• Once there you just turn on and if you would like to skip the title slide just click on the check box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Google Add-ons: You Need These!

In a previous post I talked about some of the new add-ons for Google Forms that greatly expand their functionality.  Today, I want to let you know about some core add-ons for Google Docs that could expand educational opportunities for students (or just make everyone's life easier!).

Adding Addons

Making one of these add-ons available in Google Docs is simple.  First, open your Google Doc and click on the "Add-ons" menu at the top of the page.



Then choose "Get add-ons..." and you will be presented with a pop up window that shows a long list of possible choices.  I will highlight a few of my favorites here.

EasyBib

EasyBib allows you to insert citations and a subsequent bibliography page to your Google Doc.

Easy Accents

This add-on allows students to choose French, German, or Spanish (plus a few others) accents to add to their documents through a button system.  It may or may not be more fluid than learning the keyboard shortcuts, but I'll leave that decision up the experts.

Lucidchart

This is definitely the easiest way I have found to draw flowcharts and mind maps on the web and have them inserted directly into a Google Doc. Uses range widely from having students create mind maps for science notes, to a floor plan image of their sci-fi room during a creative writing project.

Openclipart

With this add-on, you can quickly search through the openclipart.org database for free to use clip art images to insert into a document.  It is worth noting that you can also search for images from within a Google Doc by using the Research tool (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I), but the resulting images range from clip art to actual photography.  Using the Openclipart add-on is a nice way to filter down those results.

Final Thoughts

There are many other add-ons to explore.  Some have very specific functions that might be perfect for your classroom.  Explore the possibilities, and collaborate with your colleagues when you find something that works!

Finding and Using Google Drive Templates

Have you ever wanted to use a template instead of creating a doc from scratch?  Well there is an abundance of them by simply searching for Google Drive Templates.  The sheer number of templates out there is sure to make your mouth water.   This is great if you want your students to search for and find a template which matches their personality and requirements of the project.



Once you or your students search for and click on the link for Google Docs Templates, it will come up with the McLean County Templates Window.

This window indicates there are no McLean County Templates available, but we want the PUBLIC templates. Click on the Public Templates link.  This window will show you numerous templates which can be used immediately within your Google Dive.



Choose from Most Users, to Highest Rating, or select a category specific to the template you are searching for.

Once you have discovered the template you want to click on USE THIS TEMPLATE.  It will open in Google Drive.  Rename your template and place in the folder of your choice.

 

Classroom Users:
If you are working with Google Classroom.  You can save to your drive then send the template of your choice to your students by selecting the make a copy for each student.  Happy Hunting!!!

PowToon: Animation Projects

Animations are all the rage right now.  Just take a look at the popular John Green web series "Crash Course" (animation starts at the 3:20 mark), or a similarly themed series called "In a Nutshell".



These types of animations not only appear in educational videos, but also pervade traditional media, such as commercials.  Giving students the option to create animated videos for their products should be something that you consider, and PowToon is there to help you out!  Here's a short video created in PowToon that explains how it is unique from PowerPoint or Prezi.



The best part about PowToon is that it can be integrated directly into our student's Google Drive accounts.  They simply navigate to their Google account online, click the "create" button (or "new" if they are in the new view of Drive), choose "Connect more apps", and then search for Powtoon.  Completing these steps will allow students to sign up and use PowToon through their Google account.  No new usernames or passwords needed!

   

Once they are signed in and have started their first project, they will instantly be reminded other presentation software (PowerPoint, for example).  There are slides on the left side, a timeline at the bottom, and a gallery of objects on the right.
Animating with PowToon invovles placing objects in a scene, adjusting the length of time that they are present, and choosing entry and exit animations.  Tutorials of all kinds can be found on PowToon's website (here) and YouTube (here).

Finally, I will leave you with a short piece of animation that I put together using PowToon.  This was put together on a student Dell 1:1 machine using the built in mic to record the audio (please excuse the low rumble of the air conditioner in the background).

If you would like to learn more about PowToon, contact your district instructional technology coach today!

Viewing Your Google Calendar in Outlook

I recently had to have my profile deleted from my laptop, which basically means, I had to reconfigure everything.  In Outlook I had several calendars which I  downloaded and wanted to retrieve them.  One of the calendars was my Google Personal Family Calendar.  The Google Calendar everyone in our family has access to and can post to which makes it really nice to see what is going on from a personal aspect.  During the day at work, instead of having to pull out my phone each time to get into my calendar, I wanted to be able to view it in Outlook to know what was going on outside of the work day. Here are the steps, the process is really easy.





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pharaoh Google Presentation Project

In 6th grade, students study Ancient  Egypt and the Pharaoh's who were a major part of the country's development.  As a culminating project to this unit students collaboratively created data research sheets and Google Presentations.

Amber O’Day  and I  worked together on multiple days before the project to create the data sheets and set up the project to present key information about 6 different pharaohs from Ancient  Egypt.  This was to supplement a section from our book explaining the different dynasties and rules of specific pharaohs. We began by creating a data sheet that students would share with their group and with myself.  This allowed me to be able to monitor the work being done and also keep track of adjustments/corrections being done by each student in the group.  I did this using revision history, a feature within all Google Docs.

We explained on the first day how to retrieve the copy of the data sheet  from their Shared with Me within Google Drive and re-share the document with their group members.  Each person in the group was given a topic to research and all would work on the document together.  We also explained they would need to include their sources and we talked about the differences between a search engine and a website.  Sources the students were able to use for this project, ranged from internet sources, Discovery Education, and book sources.  The students worked on this data sheet for 2-3 days.

Once finished with the data sheet, we introduced the students to Google Presentations and allowed the students to begin work on a presentation they would give as a group at the end of the week.   As with the Google document/data sheet that was created for students to work collaboratively, we revisited how to share and work collaboratively with Google Presentations.  Each student took their category and created a slide(s) on Google Presentation which was shared collaboratively among the group.  The same rules applied and I was able to virtually monitor as well as monitor physically.  Students also created a source slide within their presentation.  This process took another 2 days plus one more to practice presenting in front of the class.

This project was very successful in many ways.  It allowed me to really see how the students worked in collaborative groups, using research skills, as well as presentation skills.  I will repeat next year and hopefully add to the project.

Amy Dabler
KJHS
6th Grade Social Studies