Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are more amazing blog posts from this past week:

• 6 Websites that Explain Elections – Ask a Tech Teacher

  In about half the world–mostly those where people live under socialism, communism, dictators, or autocracies–law and order is decided for the people.

• Minecraft: Education Edition – How to add a custom skin on your computer | @cdsmythe

• Slidesmania and Choice Boards – Teacher Tech

  Paula at Slidesmania provides FREE Google Slides (and PowerPoint and Canva) templates for you to have spiffy looking presentations. My add-on Hyperlink Slides Choice Board makes it easy to turn your Google Slides into a choice board with links to th…

• What does the ‘metaverse’ mean for education?

  Editor’s note: This story led off this week’s Future of Learning newsletter, which is delivered free to subscribers’ inboxes every other Wednesday with trends and top stories about education innovation. Subscribe today!

• Cybersecurity to Be Taught to K-8 students across North America for Free

  London, ON – Cyber Legends, the fun, free game that empowers kids to learn online safety through play, today announced the launch of the Cyber Legends Gaming platform and its availability to schools across North America.

• Teaching a VR Lesson: 5 Questions to Ask | Tech & Learning

  Before teaching a VR lesson or an AR lesson, there are some questions teachers should ask themselves, says Jaime Donally, an immersive learning expert.

• A Less-Is-More Approach to Integrated Literacy Instruction

  By Pamela Koutrakos (Corwin Literacy, 2022 – Learn more) Reviewed by Sherry Liptak I support about 20 classes of students ranging from kindergarten to grade 5. I am technically accountable for the English growth (and hopefully home language connecti…

• Ed3 Unconference | Ed3DAO

• Ensure your kids give their correct age when making accounts

• Sharing practical information about indoor air quality with community spaces – MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions

  Improvements to indoor air quality can help limit transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

• Review of ‘The Climate Book’ by Greta Thunberg – Climate Thoughts with Brian

  Waiting for some other person, or some other time, is no longer an option. ‘The Climate Book’ really is the one-stop shop for all climate issues.

• The Climate Book review: An essential guide to a better world | New Scientist

  Greta Thunberg has enticed over 100 experts to write about the climate crisis. No one else could have created this incredible resource IT FEELS like Greta Thunberg has been around for ages – I guess if you are in the fossil fuel business it feels li…

• Introducing The Graveyard Route by Jonny Sims – Zombies, Run!

  Hello horror fans and welcome to our very special five-part Halloween New Adventure, The Graveyard Route! A podcast tour of the picturesque Pittford Cemetery seems like the perfect way to spend an evening.

• Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

• Minecraft being used to solve problems in downtown Winnipeg | CTV News

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Fun Tool for Creating Avatars

  The internet is full of websites on which you can make little icons and avatars. What it’s not full of is free sites for that purpose that aren’t littered with pop-up ads and similar annoyances. That’s why I was happy to find Mustachio.

• How More Volume and More Time Turn Reluctant Readers Around

  Author, teacher, coach and speaker Laura Robb has championed the idea that reading and access to books is a civil right throughout her celebrated career.

• Tons of Free Halloween Pictures to Use with Your Kids and Students | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Freepik also features a huge collection of quality Halloween pictures to use for different purposes including using them on your classroom blog, inserting them as Halloween background images in presentations or as Zoom backgrounds, and many more.

• How Purposeful Play Opens the Door to Lifelong Learning | EdSurge News

  In a fifth-grade class at Redlands Unified School District in California, students sit in pairs, building LEGO® Education robots that hop. They’re laughing, chatting and (sometimes) getting a bit frustrated. They’re also coding, measuring and proble…

• What SEL Is – and What It Is Not – Market Brief

  If you were to ask any educator or caregiver if they support building skills in empathy, cooperation, problem-solving, active listening, goal setting, and responsible decision making, they all would agree.

• Plastic recycling a “failed concept,” study says, with only 5% recycled in U.S. last year as production rises – CBS News

  Titled “Circular Claims Fall Flat Again,” the study found that of 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by U.S. households in 2021, only 2.4 million tons were recycled, or around five percent.

• What Really Helps Math Students Become Problem Solvers?

  By Mona Iehl Have you noticed that your students struggle when the math gets tough? Are they quick to put their heads down signaling they’re giving up or just quickly write an answer down without problem solving just to get it over with? It seems li…

• PROOF POINTS: Several surprises in gloomy NAEP report

  Academic achievement in Massachusetts, historically the highest achieving state in the nation, fell so much during the pandemic that the state’s eighth graders now score below those in New Jersey in reading, and in math, an 11-point drop nearly ties…

• Much ado about NAEP | @mcleod

  Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are down after the pandemic. Surprise! 1. Below is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) graph of daily COVID cases in the U.S. Note the huge spike in January 2022 due t…

• How to Use Edtech to Engage Introverted Learners | EdSurge News

• ‘Invasive’ species actually have a lot of benefits – Futurity

  In a new review article, biology researchers make the case for reevaluating maligned non-native species to consider benefits as well as costs.

• Control Alt Achieve: Creative Writing and Publishing Resources for You and Your Students

  Around 20 years ago, my daughter and I used to do poetry nights where we would use a website (Watch Out for Snakes) that would randomly create titles for us by putting together adjectives and nouns.

• The Best Analyses Of This Year’s NAEP Test Report | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  The NAEP test results are out today.

• Cyber Castle Challenge | questacon

• Public Math

  Public Math is a collective that seeks to support positive math identities through projects that engage children, families, and adults in playful, creative mathematics as they go about their daily lives.

• Fluency Without Fear – YouCubed

  A few years ago a British politician, Stephen Byers, made a harmless error in an interview. The right honorable minister was asked to give the answer to 7 x 8 and he gave the answer of 54, instead of the correct 56.

• Mindfulness: now more than ever – Technology Chatter

  In my last post, Online Learning: Start with Connection then think learning I mentioned the need to think about adding mindfulness activities to your online lesson plans. Here are just some ideas of activities you might include in a choice board for…

• A Principal’s Reflections: Better Feedback for Deeper Learning

  In order to learn and grow, some type of feedback is needed along the way. While an experience can be a foundation for learning, it is the feedback that often serves as a catalyst for reflection.

• Some Excellent Drawing Tools for Teachers and Students | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Drawing and art are two essential pillars of creativity and through drawing students learn to engage with new learning experiences that enrich their imaginative powers.

• A Great Visual Timeline Chronicling The Major Literary Events, Movements, and Authors | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Here is a wonderful infographic that has been making rounds online during this week.

• 12 Best Places that Offer Free eBooks and Audiobooks | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Share this post:    Educatorstechnology    10:45 PM    free ebooks   Updated in January 2022 While physical books will always hold their value especially for us millennials, the electronic versions are now the vogue.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Check out these great posts from last week:

• 3 Best VR Headsets (2022): Virtual Reality Accessories, Apps, and Games | WIRED

• Manage Licenses for Camps, Clubs, Homeschool and Other Organizations – MEE

  The Microsoft 365 Admin Center is where you manage individual licenses that you purchased through our Camps and Clubs program. Note: If you are not sure which type of license you have, contact our support team and we’ll help you out!

• How To Handle A Student Who Does Zero Work – Smart Classroom Management

  The culture of teaching says that you must support, support, support. You must do more, give more, talk more.

• Sunlight helps clean up oil spills more than previously thought | Science News

  Sunlight may have helped remove as much as 17 percent of the oil slicking the surface of the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Three Great Google Maps Features for Teachers

  Google Maps is one of my favorite tools to use in history and geography lessons. I’ve been using it for at least as long as I’ve been writing this blog (15 years). Like all Google products it has evolved over time and some features have gone away wh…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Watch Out for These Common Google Slides Audio Errors

  Last year I wrote quite a few blog posts about a Chrome extension called Mote that lets you record and add audio to almost anything in Google Workspace. As great as that extension is, it’s not for everyone.

• Custom Wordle – Make and share your own words! Fun twist on the popular game | Product Hunt

  Make and share your own words in this version of Wordle! Wordle is a popular game with the aim of guessing the hidden word in 6 tries. This version lets you generate a link for a custom word for you to share with others.

• #4 This week, in history… my Year 7s hit 20,000 words read in class. Here’s how. | Curricular Pasts: reflections from a history classroom

  We love reading in my department. Really love it. And I don’t just mean for our own enjoyment. We love reading in lessons. We do it all the time. It’s an absolute staple of our teaching. Along with talking. Writing. Listening. Card sorting. Looking …

• The Science of Hockey

  One of the most popular team sports in the Winter Olympics is hockey. More than just a physical game, for scientists, it’s a showcase for physics on ice–especially when it comes to the slapshot. Three-time Olympian Julie Chu, Thomas Humphrey, a sen…

• Habit stacking: 10 ways it can streamline class – Ditch That Textbook

  Do you ever feel like you tell students to do the same things every single day? Turn in your assignment. Push in your chair. Do your exit ticket. Pick up your materials.

• 7 strategies for students who struggle with executive functioning – Ditch That Textbook

  Executive functioning helps students get tasks done and work through their day. Here’s how you can support students who struggle.

• More Useful Wordle Variants For Teachers & Students | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  My Wordle is another tool for creating your own Wordle-like games. Computing Worderama only uses Computer Science words.

• Free Technology for Teachers: If You Care About Copyright, Stop Using Blog Lovin’

  As long time followers of my blog and Twitter account know, copyright is a topic that I am passionate about. That’s largely due to the quantity of websites that steal my work on a daily basis.

• Personalizing Field Trips by Putting Students in Charge – Dr. Catlin Tucker

  In today’s climate, the idea of a field trip may be unfathomable. Getting through a regular day without a COVID scare and mask management is enough to exhaust teachers with the best classroom management skills.

• Transformational Moments — Technology Innovations Post Pandemic: Creating More Equitable & Empowering Classrooms @PearDeck @Flipgrid @KamiApp @aimsmddc #edtech #TechWithHeart | techieMusings

  I’d love to hear your thoughts! What transformational moments have you seen come out of pandemic learning? What ideas from my video resonated with you? What changes are you excited to expand on? And if you’re interested in learning more about my per…

• How Teachers Can Support Arab-American Students | Cult of Pedagogy

  One November morning in 2015, Sawsan Jaber was in her suburban Illinois classroom preparing for a day of teaching.

• Cooperative Games – Alfie Kohn

  The reassuring bromide that “there’s no such thing as a stupid question” can be easily refuted by spending a few minutes with a standardized test. But even if it were true, there is certainly such a thing as a depressing question. Over the course of…

• revision poster LPO.pdf – Google Drive

• Worldle

  Wordle game in the World – Geography Wordle-Style Game!

• Meet Worldle, The Name-That-Country Wordle Spinoff For Geography Nerds

  Move over, Wordle. There’s a new game in town that’s lighting up little gray cells across the world.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How Graphs Can Be Misleading

  Tools like Canva and even good ol’ PowerPoint make it incredibly easy to quickly create good looking graphs. But as Randy Krum points out in his book, Cool Infographics, a graphic that looks good isn’t necessarily a good graphic.

• Six Ways For Students To Be Powerful In The Classroom – What Are More Ideas? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  The Ikea Effect (see Video: “How the ‘IKEA effect’ can motivate people to work [& learn] harder” )   – basically, we are more invested in something if we feel we contributed to creating it – is not big news to just about anyone.

• A Principal’s Reflections: Strength in Vulnerability

  Change is hard. It is even more challenging to sustain. While there are many obstacles to individual or system growth, fear and comfort tend to lead the pack. Both work to stymie a desire to improve for different reasons.

• A Site That Unmasks the Leading Anti-Vaxxers | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  The New York Times recently wrote about Twitter’s suspension of the personal (not the official) account of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

More great blog posts from this past week:

• The Untold Truth Of The Nintendo World Championship

  The 1989 film The Wizard is remembered for a few things, such as Tobey McGuire’s film debut, heavy Nintendo product placement, and Jackie Vinson’s line, “I love the Power Glove. it’s so bad.

• Among Us is getting a VR version – The Verge

  Social deception game Among Us is getting a virtual reality adaptation. The VR edition will launch on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR, and SteamVR, and it’s being developed by Schell Games, creators of the acclaimed I Expect You To Die series.

• What Is Wakelet and How to Use It in Your Teaching? | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Share this post: Educatorstechnology Content curation tools, Digital Curation Tools, Wakelet Wakelet is a digital curation tool that allows you to save, organize, and share digital resources. Wakelet’s collaborative features makes it a tool with hug…

• On Reading Choices…Again – Pernille Ripp

  I brought 4 books with me for our trip to my brother’s. 4 different books, in different sizes, with different worlds, hoping that at least one of them entices me into its world so that I can have a new book to book talk on Monday.

• The Krakow Family Who Survived the Holocaust | THIRTEEN – New York Public Media

  The Neiger family was living a peaceful life in the Jewish community in Krakow. Then World War II changed their lives forever. The documentary They Survived Together  tells the story of their miraculous escape from certain death by the Nazis in the …

• STEM Resources

  We teach students how to be confident problem solvers who use creativity, technology and collaboration to positively impact the world around them.

• UME Games

• How much human-made mass exists on Earth? | World Economic Forum

• Become a Better Hitter With WinRealty VR – GeekDad

  I heard once that the hardest single thing to do in sports is hitting a major-league fastball.

• Free Technology for Teachers: The Future of Flickr’s The Commons

  Flickr’s The Commons has been one of my go-to resources for historical imagery since I first wrote about it nearly fourteen years ago. That’s why my heart sank a little bit when I visited The Commons earlier this week and saw a note that read “learn…

• important-message–security-vulnerability-java-edition – Minecraft

  If you play Minecraft: Java Edition, but aren’t hosting your own server, you will need to take the following steps: Close all running instances of the game and the Minecraft Launcher. Start the Launcher again – the patched version will download auto…

• Understanding Teacher Engagement in Blended Learning Environments – Dr. Catlin Tucker

  We talk a lot about student engagement in education. Most educators got into this profession for the students, and, as a result, we want their experience to be as engaging and positive as possible.

• Google Workspace Updates: New ways to customize tables in Google Docs

  We’re adding several new ways to customize tables in Google Docs. You can now: See below for more details.

• My Mock Caldecott Picks 2022 – Pernille Ripp

  For the past 6 years, I have done a Mock Caldecott unit with students as we come back to school in January. The year is quietly winding down which means the reflection begins on which illustrations took my breath away. And there were many.

• Adam Laats: The Conservative Attack on Education That Failed a Century Ago | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  Adam Laats is a historian of education at the State University of New York in Binghamton. He has written extensively on religion and education, including Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education and his latest book, Creationi…

• A Look Back: New Study Finds That Using Cellphones During Lectures Hurt Exam Scores, But That’s Not The Most Important Result | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  This blog has gained many new readers over the past year. Because of that, I thought it might be worth sharing a daily “A Look Back” where I share a best post from the past fourteen years. You can also see all of my choices for “Best” posts here. Th…

• Yup. Hexagons. Again. Cause they’re awesome. | History Tech

  I can’t remember where I first learned about hexagons in the classroom. And I talk about them as much as I talk about Google tools like Jamboard. So if you’re already using hexagons, good on you. You are excused.

• Video Games During COVID-19: It’s a Family Thing – GeekMom

  The next time someone judges you or your kids for playing video games, don’t stress. Over the last year or two, most of us have upped the game time and this applies to our kids too. But this is not always a bad thing.

• 3 Ways Schools Condition Students – George Couros

  In the month of December, I am revisiting and reposting some of my most viewed blog posts. Other than running the original post from 2017 through Grammarly (where were you back then!!), the main points that I shared then are held in this post today.

• Do It Like Doofenshmirtz — Mike Washburn

  Doctor Doofenshmirtz has a lot of experience with failed inators. I have a lot of experience in failure too. Maybe that’s why I talk about it so much.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Try Virtual Backgrounds and Immersive Views for Virtual Events

  In this short video I demonstrate where to find and edit virtual backgrounds for Zoom and how to use them with the immersive view option in Zoom.

• Control Alt Achieve: Free Webinar – Google Sheets Activities for all Subjects

  Holy Sheets! Google Sheets Activities for all Subjects Google Sheets is not just a tool for crunching numbers. It is a powerful tool for learning, inquiry, exploration, and inspiration in any subject area.

• Benchmark Assessments: Weighing the Pig More Often? – Robert Slavin’s Blog

  There is an old saying about educational assessment: “If you want to fatten a pig, it doesn’t help to weigh it more often.” To be fair, it may actually help to weigh pigs more often, so the farmer knows whether they are gaining weight at the expecte…

• A Look Back: It’s No Surprise To Teachers, But Research Suggests That Most Benchmark Assessment Are Useless | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  This blog has recently gained many new readers. Because of that, I thought it might be worth sharing a  “A Look Back” where I periodically share my favorite from the past fourteen years. You can also see all of my choices for “Best” posts here.

• Here’s A New “Individualized” Homework Strategy I’m Trying With My English Language Learner Students | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  I’m generally not a fan of giving homework.

• How Long Does It Take to Get to the Moon? | HowStuffWorks

• Scout Archives – The Road to Apollo: An Interactive Journey

  Perhaps you have heard the expression “chasing the sun,” but what about “chasing the moon?” Thanks to The Road to Apollo: An Interactive Journey you can do just that. This resource is an extension of PBS’s American Experience and offers a companion …

• Free Technology for Teachers: Classroomscreen – Timers, Names, and Noise Meters

  A couple of weeks ago my Practical Ed Tech weekly newsletter was all about timers and random selectors. A reader named Erin replied to the newsletter with a suggestion to try a tool called Classroomscreen.

• Control Alt Achieve: 8 Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids

  As we get closer to the holiday break, it is expected and understandable that our students start getting a little distracted. They are looking forward to lots of days off, holiday celebrations, gifts, and more. Let’s be honest … we may be a little d…

• Free Technology for Teachers: SpinnerWheel – A Great Random Name, Number, and Word Picker

  SpinnerWheel is a new-to-me site that provides an easy way to create custom spinners for random name selection, random number selection, and even random image selection.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Seven Ideas for Crafting Comics in History Classes

  My first teaching position was as a mid-year replacement for a literature teacher who left to become the head of an ESL/ELL program in another school district.

• A Principal’s Reflections: Time is the Best Resource You Have

  These are challenging times, and I cannot express my gratitude enough to dedicated and resilient educators who continue to show up for kids and each other.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are more amazing blog posts from this past week:

• 3 Twitter Tips for Interacting – Teacher Tech

  When you start a tweet with @ it is semi-private. Rumor was they were going to eliminate the need to start a tweet with a period, but really they just made it harder to start your tweet with a period. Let me explain.

• Dungeons & Dragons had its biggest year despite the coronavirus

  As the coronavirus spread last year, people around the world were forced inside and apart from each other. For many Dungeons & Dragons players, that meant putting a stop to their regularly scheduled in-person tabletop sessions. And yet, the D&D bran…

• Video Interview on Games and History with the Arise Project | Gaming the Past

  I had the pleasure of being interviewed this past July by Vinicius Carvalho and crew with the Arise Project part of the USP Archeology and Ethnology Museum, in 2017.

• Heart Anatomy for Remote Learners

  This version of the heart anatomy labeling was designed for remote learners so they could practice on their laptops or devices. Students in the past have used paper versions of this activity.

• What is the most recent research on elementary departmentalization?

  Following an established REL-NEI research protocol, we conducted a search for research reports as well as descriptive study articles on departmentalization in elementary school grades.

• SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research

  Access to society journal content varies across our titles. If you have access to a journal via a society or association membership, please browse to your society journal, select an article to view, and follow the instructions in this box.

• Scout Archives – Stated Clearly

  As the name suggests, Stated Clearly uses “short animations” and “neutral language” to expose “people from all walks of life to the simple beauty of science.

• Arctic Lightning Has Tripled in the Last Decade | IE

  If lightning and climate change are linked, we should be paying attention.

• The Effects Of Departmentalized And Self-Contained Structures The Effects Of Departmentalized And Self-Contained Structures On Student Achievement On Student Achievement

• The Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs |Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine

  Climate change and deforestation have transformed the ecosystem into a net source of planet-warming gases instead of a carbon sink The Amazon rainforest may now emit more greenhouse gases than the famously lush ecosystem absorbs, according to new re…

• SearchReSearch: Four tricks you need to know to read on Google Books

  Google Books… … you might have used it to do research. Even though it’s a resource I use all the time, this week I learned a few tricks that completely change the way I use Google Books. Here are the 4 key things that you need to know:

• Which should you choose? Scientific Method versus Engineering Design Process

  Want to learn more? Check out these other resources: Explore Our Science Videos Two-Stage Balloon Rocket Introduction Vibration & Sound: Make Sprinkles Dance Paper Roller Coasters – Fun STEM Activity!

• First known gene transfer from plant to insect identified

  The finding, reported today in Cell1, is the first known example of a natural gene transfer from a plant to an insect.

• Tom Loveless: Why Common Core Failed | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  Tom Loveless is an experienced education researcher who taught sixth grade in California. He has long been skeptical of top-down solutions to classroom-level problems. In this post, he explains why Common Core failed.

• Citizen Science Month – SciStarter

• Free Technology for Teachers: Google Meet Transcripts Automatically Saved as New Google Docs

  For Google Meet users one of the easiest ways to improve the accessibility of your live online instruction is to enable captions during your meetings. A transcript of those captions can be quite helpful to students who miss the meeting and or those …

• Attend Ritual Motion’s 2021 Esports College Fair Virtually – GeekMom

  Collegiate sports has a new kid in town, and they’re bringing in the opportunities our generation dreamed about. Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamt of how cool it would be to play video games through college like they get to do for other sport…

• Ritual Motion – Home

  Ritual Motion is a community-driven resource, dedicated to gamer health, wellness and inclusion. We believe that it’s not just about winning, it’s about ‘Winning Well” because as a gamer or eSports athlete you’ll be challenged, mind, body, and soul.

• avatar-maker

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Secret Rocket Launch. Alien Visitation, or Meteorology?

  One of the most enjoyable aspects of this blog is that readers send me cloud pictures for identification or discussion. Most can be readily explained and others require some detective work.

• Destruction of the Amazon forest very likely contributes to global warming, as accurately described in The National Geographic article – Climate Feedback

  Three scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be ‘high’. more about the credibility rating A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate, Insightful.

• Using Digital Games to Teach STEM | Filament Games

  From Flash classics like Reach for the Sun to cutting-edge VR experience Breaking Boundaries in Science, our studio has spent that past decade plus creating award-winning educational games for learners all around the globe.

• Best Science Website for Teachers – OpenSciEd Classroom Materials

  OpenSciEd Middle School Science Units OpenSciEd materials are open educational resources (OER) licensed to be free for anyone to use, share, redistribute, adapt, transform, and build upon for any purpose, even commercially.

• EarthGen – Learning sparks action

  EarthGen equips youth to grow their power as changemakers for a healthy environment. Through EarthGen’s science-based, action-oriented programs, young people gain the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to become leaders for climate solution…

• Kathy Schrock’s Kaffeeklatsch: Having fun with MockoFun!

  Designing graphics is a great way to enhance your slideshows, videos, newsletters, and more.

• My Heart: An Emotional Intelligence Primer in the Form of an Uncommonly Tender Illustrated Poem About Our Capacity for Love – Brain Pickings

  “How is your heart?” I recently asked a friend going through a trying period of overwork and romantic tumult, circling the event horizon of burnout while trying to bring a colossal labor of love to life.

• Eye Dropper Cartesian Diver | Science Experiment

  JavaScript seem to be disabled in your browser. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website.

• How Does a Venus Flytrap Work? | Wonderopolis

  We’ve learned about lots of interesting plants here in Wonderopolis. If you’ve been WONDERing with us for a while, you may know why the sensitive plant is shy. You might be able to spot a weed or poison ivy.

• How to Create Comic Strips in Google Slides – YouTube

  How to Create Comic Strips in Google Slides. Earn graduate credit while learning more about Google Slides https://ift.tt/2my9qVT…

• UW Climate & Environmental Justice FREE Course & Resources | Science for All

  Philip Bell and Nancy Price have shared a graduate course they taught at the University of Washington on Climate Justice and Environmental Justice in Education during winter quarter 2021. The entire course has a nicely organized Google Site built to…

• How to Create Your Own Online Board Game – YouTube

  Create your own online board game by customizing a Google Sheets template from Flippity.net. You game can include videos, pictures, drawings, graphs, and more. Create a game to make a fun review activity for your students.

• ‘Dancing’ fish could be key to ridding salmon farms of parasites

• accessible.games

• Home – Playmada Games

  WEB VERSION AVAILABLE FOR DESKTOP BROWSERS. Use Collisions your wayDesigned as modular and interconnected spaces, Collisions can be used flexibly in a flipped classroom, to introduce a lesson, and for extra practice or homework.

• 4 powerful ways to embed media on your Canvas homepage – Ditch That Textbook

  This post is written by Jon Kelley, bacon and coffee-loving educator in Delaware, Ohio, and 2019 Canvas National Educator of the Year. Jon is a Teaching and Learning Coach for Delaware City Schools. You can connect with Jon on Twitter @MrKelley64.

• Free Technology for Teachers: New Copyright Compliance Checks in YouTube

  Last night I uploaded a new video to my YouTube channel. Everything was normal for the first few steps. I added my description, added a custom thumbnail, and added the video to a playlist just as I normally would.

• H2O: THE MOLECULE THAT MADE US | PBS LearningMedia

• Video: “Drone flies above lava-spewing volcano in Iceland” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  In case you haven’t seen it already, I’m adding this amazing video to The Best Sites For Learning About Volcanoes:

• Pop Out Your Google Classroom Roster – Teacher Tech

  I love Google Classroom yet there are a few things I find odd that you can not do in Google Classroom. One is that you can not easily get a roster of the students in your class… in Google Sheets. Pretty much every day I want to check something off.

• during-covid-a-few-education-changes-were-for-the-better

  The closing of schools across the U.S. has been a disaster for most students, families and teachers. But in some places, educators are making things work, and even finding ideas that could outlast the pandemic and transform schooling for the better.

• create-a-rube-goldberg-machine-in-fortnite-creative

  Overview In this lesson, students will learn about simple machines, engineering, and automation as they design and build a Rube Goldberg Machine in Fortnite Creative.

• Free Technology for Teachers: MathQuiz.io – A Simple Game to Practice Math Skills

  MathQuiz.io is a new math game developed by a student. It’s a relatively simple site that presents you with a series of math problems to solve in your head then enter an answer. The problems are presented in sets of ten consecutive questions.

• Ankylosaurs dug into the ground to protect themselves, U of A paleontologist says | CBC News

  In 2008, paleontologist Phil Currie returned to a remote location in Mongolia to collect the skeleton of an ankylosaur he first came upon in 1999.

• Blended Learning: The Whole Group Rotation – Dr. Catlin Tucker

  When I work with teachers who are new to blended learning, there is often a knee-jerk concern about the time required to design a lesson that strategically blends active, engaged learning online with active, engaged learning offline.

• Day 22: UtopiaVR

  Earlier in the month, I shared Spoke by Mozilla to customize and built virtual reality spaces using Mozilla Hubs. While searching for similar platforms, I’ve come across UtopiaVR. The feature similarities are literally identical, but an assortment o…

• How To Build Resilience in Students During the Pandemic

  The disruption of regular classroom life this year brought about by the pandemic makes it really hard to tell just how our students are doing.

• She came to the U.S. with only $300 and worked housekeeping jobs to pay for school. Now she’s a flight director for NASA’s Mars Perseverance – CBS News

  When NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars last week, aerospace engineer Diana Trujillo, who is a flight director on the mission, said in an interview with CBS News that it took her some time to process that it had arrived on the red…

• 30-in-50, 2021 Edition – NCCE’s Tech Savvy Teacher Blog

  Here is our collection of 30 interesting’ish things we have discovered over the last year! A special shout-out to educators… you make it happen each and every day, no matter the global event!

• Export your Minecraft Education Edition Worlds – Tech with Class

  Export your Minecraft Education Edition (MC:EE) worlds so they can be shared, moved or saved. Worlds can be shared with a student or teacher, or moved from one computer to another. Exported worlds can be used as a backup to be saved to a safe drive,…

• Day 21: Assemblr Studio & EDU

  If you’ve heard about Assemblr in the past, there have been some major updates this past year. I’ve shared a few resources to create augmented reality experiences, and Assemblr Studio made it on that list.

• Approaching Student Discipline with a Teaching Mindset

  Discipline! If you asked everyone in a single school to define it, it would be hard to keep track all the different answers. To teachers, discipline may be synonymous with class management and setting up rules and consequences.

• Day 6: Spoke by Mozilla

  One of my favorite virtual reality creation tools is Spoke by Mozilla. I stumbled across this tool as I was exploring Mozilla Hubs (which was covered last year in #31DaysofARVRinEDU). As described below in my new book, The Immersive Classroom, I sha…

• A Principal’s Reflections: Differentiating in the Personalized Classroom

  I love visiting classrooms around the country to not only support but to see educators in action. In my opinion, I learn just as much, if not more, from them as they hopefully do from me.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are great posts from this past week:

• Day 21: Gadgeteer – AR

• Choose Your Own Adventure – 4 Learning Options As We Go Virtual/Online – Pernille Ripp

  Note: Yes, you may adapt this to fit your own needs, but please give credit and also do not adapt it to sell it online or in any way benefit financially beyond your salary as an educator.

• 6 Distance Learning Tips for Teachers – History Gal

  For most of us, this is unprecedented. We’ve had temporary closures for the flu and the stomach bug, snow days, ice days, wind days, hurricane days, tornadoes, and fires, but I have never seen entire states and nations close down schools for an unde…

• Google Classroom Bootcamp Duo Demo: Student and Teacher Views @coolcatteacher

  As so many of us schools are having to move quickly to Google Classroom, Alice Keeler sat down with me recently to do what we’re calling a “duo demo.

• SearchReSearch: The 6 things you need to know about videoconferences from home…

  I thought I’d write a few posts about things we should know to make it through this time. This is the first of my special quarantine posts!

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Television as #RemoteLearning Tool During School Closures

  Television can provide a great way for everyone to learn. It is especially useful as a learning tool, when using laptops may not be the best option.

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Supervisors: What Not to Do to Teachers New to #RemoteLearning

  Districts across the globe are moving to remote learning during these unprecedented times in our world’s history. Innovative educators are jumping on board, embracing the challenge, and even enthusiastic about discovering some new and better ways of…

• Day 19: Hacking MERGE – AR

• How to Convert PowerPoints to Google Slides – History Gal

  I’ve been getting many questions about converting PowerPoints to Google Slides so I want to share how easy it is. If you’d like a video to walk you through the process instead of text, head over to my History Gal store and watch this free 5 minute l…

• A Principal’s Reflections: Special Education (SPED) and Remote Learning

  In a previous post, I shared some ideas as well as strategies that districts could embrace to establish a realistic remote learning plan taking into consideration both digital and non-digital pathways.

• CBC Radio

  The creator of Pandemic says the collaborative nature of the board game could offer lessons in fighting the global COVID-19 outbreak. Pandemic was released as a board game in 2008, and later turned into a video game.

• Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Google Classroom Tips for Teachers – Things You Might Have Overlooked or Forgotten

  Like I’m sure many of you are, I’m getting lots of requests from colleagues and readers for help with Google Classroom. I have a bunch of short tutorials here on my YouTube channel.

• The New Normal of School: A few suggestions, a few resources, a few tools. You can do this | History Tech

  It’s been less than a week. It doesn’t seem like it. But think back to last week. I was looking forward to watching the Big 12 basketball tournament and already had a tentative NCAA bracket filled out. You were relaxing on your spring break or looki…

• Keep Calm and Read On

  Hello there dear blog readers and my Twitter / Instagram family and friends. Here’s a kind of mirrored post that I put out on my Daring School Library blog for my kids, parents, and community.

• Sewer operators worry that toilet paper shortage will lead to more nasty clogs | Puget Sound Institute

  With a multitude of people scrambling to buy toilet paper, and some going without, sewer utility officials across the country are worried about the possible repercussions of the TP shortage — such as clogged sewer lines.

• School Closure Check-in with Google Forms – Mari Venturino

  School closure is stressful! This first week at home, I switch between worrying about my students and all of the what-if’s, and relaxing and enjoying time at home. My brain can’t figure out if I’m working or on break. I’ve been doing a little bit of…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: 15 Tools for Self Paced Learning

  “Self-paced instruction or learning is any kind of instruction that proceeds based on learner response. The content itself can be curriculum, corporate training, technical tutorials, or any other subject that does not require the immediate response …

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Start #RemoteLearning with #GoogleClassroom

  Teachers everywhere are preparing for or engaging in remote learning. Google Classroom has become the go-to place to launch this work.

• Day 20: Storyfab – AR

• Combating Social Isolation When Learning Remotely |

  As teachers move classes online and utilize online tools and resources to engage students in remote learning, it’s essential to add social elements to our online courses. This has a couple of powerful benefits.

• Enter the 3M Young Scientist Challenge to Win $25,000 #ad – Kleinspiration

  Kids have a natural sense of curiosity and with the right incentive, getting them excited about science should be fairly easy. Science activities are a great exercise for the brain while also helping kids build the essential problem-solving skills w…

• About the Challenge | Young Scientist Lab

  The Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is the nation’s premier science competition for grades 5-8.

• COVID-19 Information & Resources – Google

  Join creators in their kitchens to chop, sauté, and cook up a feast with these videos made to accompany you during your own meal prep.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Three Ways to Share Docs in Google Classroom – When to Use Each

  As you might guess, I’m getting flooded with requests for help with all kinds of things related to online teaching and learning. I’m doing my best to respond to all of them although I am placing priority on the requests from my colleagues at my scho…

• Control Alt Achieve: Video Series: How to Use Google Classroom

  Google Classroom is a powerful tool that allows teachers and students to create assignments, turn in work, grade assignments, share resources, have class discussions, and much more. Classroom is constantly improving with new features.

• #remotelearning as an Opportunity to… | Silvia Tolisano- Langwitches Blog

  Remote learning is an opportunity for many things. The list I published on my last post caught the attention of many. Here is the list as an image to download and share.

• GimKit: Up Your Student Engagement – Maneuvering the Middle

• Some of our activities that are good for at-home learning – Yummy Math

  We’ve got hundreds of great activities that demonstrate how math happens all around us.  Let your student choose an activity that interests him/her and enjoy the discoveries.

• Day 18: Coding Club – AR

• How to Create Engaging Videos with a Favorite Combo – Class Tech Tips

  Do you like to combine the very best of your favorite apps? I know I do! The year has been off to a great start, including lots of time in classrooms working with students and teachers.

• Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: Simple Ideas To Reduce Anxiety During #Covid19

  This is the first in a series of videos I want to do while many of us are facing an unprecedented time of isolation. If you have an idea for something you want me to talk about, academic or not, let me know on Twitter, @web20classroom.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Free Historical Coloring Pages

  If you’re looking for an offline activity that you can recommend to parents for their students to do at home, take a look at the New York Academy of Medicine’s Color Our Collections website. The site contains contributions from more than one hundred…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Annotated Screen Capture Images

  This morning I got an email from a reader who was looking for a screen capture tool that included tools for drawing straight lines, arrows, boxes, and generally making screen captures look a little more professional. One of the tools that I recommen…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Contact Groups in Gmail

  Yesterday I shared the time-saving tip of scheduling emails in Gmail. Today, I have another time-saving Gmail tip.

• Is Summer School In All Of Our Futures? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  Today, two pieces have appeared discussing the possibility of expanded summer school (and the federal government paying for it) this year in an attempt to recover from school closures.

• Control Alt Achieve: Screencastify for Remote Teaching

  With the COVID-19 situation, many schools around the world are out of session, with students learning from home and educators teaching remotely. There are so many wonderful resources being shared for schools to use during this time.

• Social Distancing: This is Not a Snow Day – Ariadne Labs – Medium

• #RemoteLearning Ideas with and for Younger Learners | Silvia Tolisano- Langwitches Blog

  When preparing for remote learning, the “little ones”, Pre-K through 2nd grade deserve our special attention. In the best case scenario, our young learners will already have had opportunities to practice the use of the devices they will be using at …

• #Winning: Anticipating Errors as Preventative Instruction | All Things Assessment

  I was recently working with a team to develop common formative assessments, and they were having some difficulty generating appropriate questions and tasks for the standards being addressed in this particular unit of study.

• Digital Learning Resources for Middle School Science – Mari Venturino

  On Friday, we received the official announcement that our school district will be closed as a preventative measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Our district is considering the closure as a weeklong extension of spring break with the intention o…

• Parenting (in RL) during a pandemic – NetFamilyNews.org

  This is no time for perfectionist parenting, digital or otherwise, right?! With so many of us working from home with kids, endless news about Covid-19, volatile global markets and social distancing, we’re all in social-emotional survival mode. This …

• 10 Tips For Parents Teaching Young Children At Home – Kathleen Morris | Primary Tech | Resources to help teachers with technology in the classroom

  I’m in the unique situation of having spent a lot of the last 10 months homeschooling. Not by choice, but because my 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia last year. Millions of parents worldwide are being thrown into the world of homesch…

• Day-17-Identific-3D-ID – AR

• 10 Powerful Ways To Use Instagram For Promoting Your School – e-Learning Infographics

  The new generation of parents and students are active on Instagram. Learn how to reach them. Create a unique and simple hashtag that can be used by everyone while posting the photos. This hashtag will become your brand identity so create it thoughtf…

• Free Technology for Teachers: The Cincinnati Zoo Launches Daily Virtual Zoo Visits

  The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is closed to the public right now and thousands (millions?) of kids are home from school right now too. That’s why the zoo has announced that they’re hosting daily “Home Safaris” beginning today at 3pm ET. These…

• Day-16-Kais-Clan – AR

• Math Resources for Parents during School Closures | Patty Papers

  For parents now faced with school closures are looking for ways to support their own students at home, here is a list of resources that may help: http://bit.

• The Nerdy Teacher: Why and How You Should Implement #PBL in your Virtual Classroom

  I have written many posts on Project Based Learning and have recently written a book about using it in the classroom. None of them cover the value of a PBL during a nationwide shutdown of schools to prevent the spread of disease.

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Socrates Free for Rest of the Year

  Many schools are now realizing they do not have the tools in place so kids can continue to learn while schools are closed. Socrates personalized learning for the students so they are progressing automatically, and provides teachers with tools to mon…

• Day-14-Explore-Interactive – AR

• Picture Books Read Aloud Videos for Lesson Use – Pernille Ripp

  I am at our public library right now and it is deserted. Wisconsin was ordered to close their schools this coming week as more and more cases of Covid-19 pile up. The world is upside down. As we prepare to switch to online learning, I have been thin…

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Washington State Leadership in Dealing With Coronavirus

  Washington State has immense resources to apply to the coronavirus crisis. One of the leading university medical centers in the world. Major biotech firms and a huge foundation dedicated to health science (Gates Foundation) The world’s leading logis…

• Day-15-Face-Replaced – AR

• A Principal’s Reflections: Choice Boards 101: Strategies to Ensure Classroom, Professional, and Virtual Learning Success

  As of late, I have been working with quite a few districts on personalization through a variety of blended learning strategies. My experience in this area began over three years ago, thanks to having the opportunity to coach teachers and administrat…

• How long should schools close during coronavirus pandemic? Here’s exactly what the CDC says. – The Washington Post

  How long is the federal government advising schools to stay closed to help curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has become a global pandemic? It isn’t giving a definitive answer.

• Kick the IDK Bucket: How to Rid Your Classroom of “I Don’t Know” | Cult of Pedagogy

  This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. We have all experienced it: Your lesson is rockin’ and you pause to check for unde…

• Classroom Games and Tech – Ed-Tech to Engage and Inspire: Recording Online Lessons With Screencastify

  I compiled a brief document to help my teachers use Screencastify for screen recording. It’s my tool of choice for making quick screen recordings and video lessons, because it’s easy to use and it saves directly to Google Drive.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Video Lessons Without Making Your Own Recordings

  In the latest episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast I mentioned that EDpuzzle recently updated their user interface and that I was going to make a video about it.

• 10 Books to Read During a Pandemic – GeekMom

  We are in the middle of a pandemic with the coronavirus (COVID-19), and it’s stressing out a lot of people. During this time, it might be helpful to pick up a happy book to escape with.

• Washington State: All Standardized Tests Canceled for Students for Spring 2020 | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  As of March 13, state assessments are canceled statewide for the remainder of the 2020 school year.

• Our COVID-19 Reality: What Shows Would You Recommend? | Living Avivaloca

  Yesterday, I posted a list of ten play-based learning activities that could help support kindergarten learning at home during our extended Break. While there are only 10 ideas in the list, each idea is full of other suggestions, so these 10 are like…

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Check out these great blog posts from this past week:

• Women Who Dared to Discover: 16 Women Scientists You Should Know | A Mighty Girl

  For centuries, women have made important contributions to the sciences, but in many cases, it took far too long for their discoveries to be recognized — if they were acknowledged at all.

• Why Is a Negative Times a Negative Positive? – The Reflective Educator

  There are different possible answers to this question, depending on the standard of proof one needs and the background knowledge one brings to the question. Try solving each of these problems, paying attention to the previous set of problems as you …

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Unminus

  Unminus is a nice little site for finding royalty free music for your projects. Best of all, users can search from different categories such as: happy, chilled, grimy, and more… Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo’s blog for the tip.

• 5 Steps to Regain Control of Your Classroom with Linda Kardamis

  Is your classroom out of control? Are you struggling to teach but student behavior is getting in the way? Today, classroom management expert, Linda Kardamis gives us a place to start. Get Credit! Some schools, districts, and organizations allow cred…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: EDpuzzle Update

  EDpuzzle the world’s most popular site to flip a classroom/lesson to make a video “their” own, has just released an update to their video editor. The new video editor now has a new modern look that makes it look more polished and sleeker.

• Introducing…’How Learning Happens’ | chronotope

  Almost two years ago, I was asked by Professor Paul Kirschner to write a book with him.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Watch2Gether – Host Live Online Discussion About Shared Videos

  Watch2Gether is a service for sharing videos that I’ve used off and on since 2011. When I first started using it you could share YouTube videos and host live chats about those videos on the same page.

• Day 7: ScavengAR

• A Quick Way To Calm Your Class, Build Rapport, And End Bullying – Smart Classroom Management

  With a single statement, spoken at the beginning of the day or class period, you can send a wave of calmness throughout your classroom. It takes just a few seconds, but you’ll see, and even feel, the difference immediately.

• Adding Constraints to Add Fun – Gamified UK – #Gamification Expert

  It may sound counter-intuitive, but in my experience, adding constraints to activities can make them not only more fun – but can help generate very creative solutions to problems.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Schedule, Host, and Customize Google Hangouts Meet Events

  Last night I published Tips and Tools for Teaching Remotely. This morning I had an email from someone who read that and wanted to know if I had any tutorials on using Google Hangouts Meet. I didn’t so I quickly made the following set of screenshots …

• 5 Steps to a Podcast Using Soundtrap – Teacher Tech

  Go to http://soundtrap.com and login. One thing that makes Soundtrap so awesome is that it is collaborative! Choose to “Enter studio” or “Start a collaboration.

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Weather Radar Shows Spring Bird Migration

  Every day I have been checking the weather radar for signs of the northward migration of our feathered friends, and Wednesday night I finally saw it. Ornithologists and those tracking the seasonal migration of birds have used weather radar for decad…

• How to Use Emojis with Students – Class Tech Tips

  Do you use emojis in your classroom? I had so much fun teaming up with the folks at Book Creator to put together a new and totally free resource all about how to use emojis with students. If you’ve been a bit curious about whether emojis have an edu…

• Are You a Tough Grader or a ‘Tough Grader?’ | All Things Assessment

  The caricature of the tough grader is familiar to most; the teacher who only doles out As or top marks to the truly elite performances. They often begin grading a stack of papers with the idea of holding back the As early on, in case someone deeper …

• Warming ocean conditions fuel viruses among species in the Salish Sea | Puget Sound Institute

  As officials struggle to track and contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, ecologists say widespread impacts from viruses and other pathogens are also a growing threat to the species of the Salish Sea ecosystem.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Tips and Tools for Teaching Remotely

  Over the last week I’ve received a bunch of emails and Tweets from people looking for my suggestions on tools and tactics for teaching online if schools are closed due to COVID-19. I’m going to start this post with some tips for giving online instru…

• Scholar gamers learn skills in virtual battle – News – The Ottawa Herald – Ottawa, KS

• A Guide to NPC Diversity in RPGs – GeekMom

  Games reflect life. Life reflects games. The world of gaming is filled with players who want to see themselves represented, to feel included and welcomed just as they are.

• Steve Hargadon: Teaching Students How to Win at the Game of School

  Outside of family, the high school experience is the number one influence on a young adult’s success or failure in college, and then in the work world. And guess what: there actually are secrets to school success. Secrets that most students don’t kn…

• GTP Designer Talk #5 – Owen Gottlieb | Gaming the Past

  Owen Gottlieb, RIT MAGIC Spell Studios, (Lost and Found; Lost and Found Order in the Court: The Party Game)

• Free Technology for Teachers: Quillionz – Quiz and Discussion Questions Automatically Generated from Documents

  Quillionz is a neat service that uses AI to automatically generate questions from documents that you provide. Enter a block of text of at least 300 words up to 3,000 words and Quillionz will create quiz questions based on the key elements of that te…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Gribrouillon – Freehand Drawing on Online Maps

  For many years I’ve recommended Scribble Maps as a no-account-required alternative to Google’s My Maps. Scribble Maps lets create freehand drawings on digital maps. Today, thanks to Maps Mania, I learned about another tool for making freehand drawin…

• World Water Day Is On March 22nd – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  The United Nations has designated March 22nd as World Water Day. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About World Water Day.

• Two Good Interactives Showing Ancient Human Migration | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  One is the Human Odyssey Map from the California Academy of Sciences (pictured above). The other is the Map of Human Migration from National Geographic.

• Research: Evolution of life cycle of parasitic worm that takes over ‘zombie ants’

  It could be the plot of a B-horror movie: microscopic parasitic worms invade the brains of ants, and use mind control to make the “zombies ants” do their bidding.

• Grow Guide

  For my game, you play as the blue dot. In this universe, dots eat each other to grow, but can’t eat dots bigger than themselves.

• 3 Quick Ways to Capture Student Learning – Class Tech Tips

  How do you capture student learning? This question can go in lots of directions. We know that students can snap a picture of their work. And we know that kids can capture their learning by recording their voice or typing a response.

• High-Frequency Vocabulary for the New SAT

  Spring is testing season. Students sit through lengthy state-mandated tests, and many high school students are preparing to take the SAT. It can be an exhausting and stressful time for them. Years ago, I recorded a collection of 30+ SAT vocabulary v…

• How to Program (and Use) Google App Scripts with Alice Keeler @coolcatteacher

  If you’re using the Google Suite for Education, Google App Scripts can save you time. Alice Keeler talks about how she programs Google App scripts, some add ons she’s made, and some you can use to help improve what you’re doing in your classroom!

• youtube-classroom-video-ideas

• Day 4: Minecraft Earth

• Social-emotional development is better than raising test scores study finds

  We hear the phrase “failing schools” a lot but what really defines a failing school? Generally, we look at test scores.

• Can DNA editing save endangered species? | Science News for Students

  Kiwis and other native birds in New Zealand are in trouble. In the 19th century, European traders and immigrants introduced many foreign rats, stoats and other animals to the South Pacific island nation.

• Day 3: DrawmaticAR

• Becoming US is latest from Smithsonian. And it’s a no-brainer. (Seriously. Go there now.) | History Tech

  But some days you don’t just walk away smarter . . . you walk away SMARTER. Today was one of those days. And I know that I just posted something a few days ago about the new cool Smithsonian Open Access tool.

• Oculus-Headsets

• Free Technology for Teachers: An Easy Way to Create Your Own Online Jigsaw Puzzles

  Jigsaw Explorer is a free site that hosts tons of online jigsaw puzzles. It also offers a free tool for creating your own online jigsaw puzzles.

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: 15 Sites for Keyboarding/Typing

  Keyboarding or Typing is one the first and most vital skills for students to learn for technology literacy. This skill is the building block for using a computer and one that starts as early KDG if not sooner.

• Teach Better, Play Minecraft… Badly – Teacher Tech

• Free Technology for Teachers: The Tower of Epiphany – A New “Think Like a Coder” Lesson

  A month ago I wrote about how much my freshmen computer science students are enjoying TED-Ed’s Think Like a Coder series. The latest installment in the series was published last week and my students watched it on Friday morning. They enjoyed it as m…

• A Principal’s Reflections: Assessing the Value of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB’s)

  Long gone are the days where the overhead projector reigned supreme in the classroom. I still vividly remember venturing to the local office supply store to get my transparencies made for my lessons.

• Day 1: MERGE

• Are Your Diversity Strategies Missing the Mark? Nine Ways to Get it Right | Cult of Pedagogy

  For most of my life, I’ve found myself in the role of the OBF, the One Black Friend in an otherwise white circle of people.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another week’s worth of amazing blog posts:

• Game In Progress: 2019-20 Game Draft – Classroom Powerups

  I am taking a break from my SBG Journey to think a bit about a Class Game for next year.

• 7 Reasons Your Students Dislike You – Smart Classroom Management

  Likability is a key principle of SCM—because it makes building rapport effortless. It causes students to want to listen to you, please you, and behave for you.

• 30-digital-escape-rooms-plus-tips-and-tools-for-creating-your-own

• Free Technology for Teachers: Six Google Product Updates Made in May Impacting Teachers and Students

  Google is constantly making updates to the services that they offer. Some of the updates are only affect the administrative side of G Suite for Education. I rarely write about those updates. Then there are updates that have a direct impact on teache…

• ARVRinEDU Kit Idea | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

• is-gaming-disorder-an-illness-who-says-yes-adding-it-to-its-list-of-diseases

  They are popular. They are controversial. And now, video games have just become an internationally recognized addiction.

• Free Technology for Teachers: 8 Good Resources to Help Students Develop Spelling Skills

  Last night the Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in an eight-way tie! In honor of the eight champions, here are eight resources that can help your students develop their spelling skills.

• CL Byte #2: Giving Feedback on Table Entries | Patty Papers

  In this video I talk through how to use Desmos Computation Layer to verify if the values entered in a table are correct and then give feedback. Here is the Desmos Activity Builder I used in this video. Enjoy!

• Simulating Trade and Industry with Minecraft: Education Edition – NCCE’s Tech Savvy Teacher Blog

  Recently, Microsoft released a playlist of Minecraft: Education Edition videos highlighting some of the amazing learning opportunities for students using Minecraft.

• The Case for More Recess – John Spencer

  We tend to view recess as a break from learning. However, free play is actually a vital part of the learning process. Play boosts divergent thinking, flexible thinking, and creativity. It helps students learn critical social-emotional skills.

• Putting Your Thoughts on Trial: How to Use CBT Thought Records | International Bipolar Foundation

• Summer Reading 2019

  Where does the time fly? I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Time to share our Summer Reading List with you! It’s my 27th year in HCPSS and 22nd year here at Murray Hill Middle School! W00t! A lot of things have changed but some thing stay…

• Going beyond educational buzzwords: Are you really doing STEM or STEAM? – Mrs. Harris Teaches…

  To sum it all up, STEAM is integration AND inquiry. When it comes to the classroom, summer camp, or even our own kids, we all have the best intentions in involving children in meaningful learning experiences.

• Control Alt Achieve: Grading Extended Response Questions with Google Forms Quiz Feature

  For many years Google Forms has been a great tool for creating online assessments. This process became even easier when Google added the new Quiz feature to Forms, allowing the quiz to be auto-graded without the need for a third-party tool such as t…

• The Ultimate Guide To Generation Z Marketing Strategies – e-Learning Infographics

  Gen Z Marketing Strategies is helping you in planning effective marketing strategies targeting this specific young and enthusiastic group of buyers. Gen Zers is next biggest consumer segment especially for the retail industry.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Where to Find Public Domain Pictures and Video Clips

  In my previous post I shared the news that Canva has acquired Pixabay and Pexels. Both of those sites are popular places to find pictures and video clips that are in the public domain. The libraries of both sites are now accessible through Canva but…

• Station Rotation Model: Avoid Falling into a Rut |

  As a blended learning coach, I spend a lot of time in classrooms where teachers are experimenting with blended learning models. The Station Rotation Model is one I see used frequently.

• Response: ‘To Maximize Group Work, Make It Metacognitive’ – Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo – Education Week Teacher

  mobile first webpage developed by mobiletech

• ‘Statue of Liberty’ Augmented Reality iOS App – GeekDad

  I’m a huge history buff (and of course a tech geek) so when the two intersect I am all over it and that is definitely the case with the new Statue of Liberty app for iOS. First off, the app is iOS only right now.

• Learning with ‘e’s: Cruel pedagogy

  Cruel pedagogy by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

• Thanks For Coming To My TED Talk (For The Culture) | The Jose Vilson

  Imagine my shock when I found out that Carranza and I would appear as bookends to this event at TED HQ on the day of. I had prepared this talk for a month, mulling over every word, every slide, every GIF, and every salient point that I wanted to fit…

• ditch-the-lists-digital-vocabulary-instruction-that-works

• Why esports?

  Do many kids play too many video games? Yes. Do some of the games kids play lack the values I would like to see portrayed? Definitely

• 16 Fast, Fun Things to End on An Up Note –

  We’re working towards the end of the school year, teachers! You’re going to make it! In this newsletter, I’ve got 16 fun, quick ideas to make the end of the school year more exciting. Oh, and interestingly, Kahoot bought Dragonbox. First, my childre…

• States’ Math and Reading Performance After the Implementation of School A-F Letter Grade Policies | VAMboozled!

  It’s been a while! Thanks to the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; see prior posts about ESSA here, here, and here), the chaos surrounding states’ teacher evaluation systems has exponentially declined. Hence, my posts have declined in…

• SWBT Episode 19: Making PBL Work with Andrew Miller – Go Where You Grow

  Project based Learning is more than just a lesson format.  It is a cultural shift for both the school and the classroom.  I sat down with Andrew Miller, guru of Project Based Learning to discuss “Making PBL Work.

• Rethinking Learning Targets – Reading By Example

  This week I had the honor of filling in for a primary teacher for about a half hour. We were learning about lions. As expected, several students wanted to share their experiences and knowledge with the class.

• Clime Time: Climate Science Resources | Science for All

  Here in Washington (the state)- we’ve been digging into the teaching and learning of climate science. Our state budget provided a chunk of money to be used by educational groups around the state to develop tools and deliver professional development …

• Free Technology for Teachers: Three Good Resources to Help Students Become Discerning News Consumers

  Earlier this week TED-Ed published a new lesson titled Can You Spot the Problem With These Headlines? The short video lesson walks students through dissecting a couple of hypothetical news headlines.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Four Ways to Show & Share Videos Without Distractions

  At this point I think we can all agree that YouTube can be a great place to find educational videos to share with students. Of course, the downside to YouTube has always been all of the “related” content that appears around the videos that you find …

• A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers | Cult of Pedagogy

  Have you heard the whispers about one-pagers in the online teacher hallways? The concept of a one-pager, in which students share their most important takeaways on a single piece of blank paper, has really taken off recently.

• Texas: Good News on School Funding! | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  Our friends, Pastors for Texas Children, have been strong allies in the fight to improve public schools. They daily remind us that support for good public schools is bipartisan.

• Student-Created Kahoot Games! – Mari Venturino

  Whenever we finish a task early, my students beg me, “Let’s play Kahoot!” They don’t care if it’s content-related or just for fun, they’re super competitive.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are last week’s selection of amazing blog posts:

• • Mo Physics Mo Problems: Pear Deck, Quizlet, GimKit Appsmash

    An going from Pear Deck Vocabulary to Gimkit via Quizlet

  • Critical Thinking Curriculum for Current Events | Current events for the curious classroom

    Thinkalong is a web-based learning program that uses resources from PBS, NPR, and other public media stations to engage middle and high school students in discussions about current events.

  • RECIPE: to Make Teachers & Parents “Sick”

    According to the Tennessean, Lovell quickly gained a reputation as a party boy in Nashville. At a legislative reception, “he was seen visibly intoxicated…dropping cash on the floor as he spoke with the women tending bar.

  • Choose Your Own Adventures with Google Forms – Mari Venturino

    Technology can take us on adventures, far and wide! Where will you go? I love working with teachers from all over the country, and helping them find meaningful ways to integrate technology into their classroom. So often, I come in for a day or a cou…

  • Test Corrections Review and Standards Based Tools – Classroom Powerups

    A few weeks ago I wrote about an “Enhancing Multiple Choice” questions with a graphic organizer that forces students to really think about the information contained in the question.

  • Seven Myths Keeping Teachers from Implementing Creative Projects – John Spencer

    Every year, I ask my pedagogy students about their most memorable learning experience as a student. Inevitably, it involves a creative project. These were the moments when learning stuck and often it was when they fell in love with the subject.

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Coding the Musical

    Coding, the Musical is a free iOS designed for girls ages 4-8. This is a fun way to introducing Coding/Programming to young students by creating their own musical through logical thinking and sequencing.

  • Let’s Make Assessment Personal: Building Students’ Personal Efficacy | All Things Assessment

    Many experts define personal efficacy as, “the confidence or strength of belief that our capabilities can lead to goal attainment and realized achievement” (John Hattie 2015 et al.).

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Make Interactive Videos

    For many years I helped teachers and students use YouTube’s annotations tool to create series of interactive or choose-your-own-adventure videos. Unfortunately, YouTube discontinued that service about eighteen months ago.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: A Chrome Extension for Clutter-free Reading and Printing

    Mercury Reader is a Chrome extension that removes sidebar content from articles that you view in your Chrome web browser. It will hide banner ads, suggested “related” articles, and anything else that is not a part of the primary article on the page …

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Questions to Ask When Planning a Classroom Video Project

    Making videos can be a great way to get students excited and invested in the process of researching a topic and presenting their findings for others to see. But before you dive headlong into a video project with your students take some time consider…

  • The Importance of Value and Purpose – The Principal of Change

    I have discussed the importance of relationships in education and see them as the core of excellent teaching and learning.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Assassinated 51 Years Ago Today – Here Are Related Resources | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 51 years ago today.

  • classroom-strategies-to-encourage-participation-and-learner-agency

    Every classroom has a few eager students who always participate and a less enthusiastic majority content to sit back.

  • 10-tools-for-effective-peer-feedback-in-the-classroom

  • California: The Latest Charter Reform Is Unlikely to Change Much | Diane Ravitch’s blog

    When the California Teachers Association and the California Charter School Association stand side-by-side to applaud a law about charters, you have to wonder who wrote the law and whether it will rein in charter corruption.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Share Google Slides via QR Code

    Earlier this week I published a video and blog post about how to share Google Forms through QR codes. In response to that video a follower of my Facebook page asked for some help sharing Google Slides presentations via QR code.

  • 10-ideas-for-digital-end-of-semester-final-projects

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create QR Codes for Google Forms

    Now that Google has shutdown Goo.gl many people have been looking for a new way to create QR codes for Google Forms. Goo.gl was convenient because you could shorten a URL and get a QR code in one place. My recommendation now for making a QR code for…

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: What you Need to Know about K-12 Fundraising Tech

    Almost all parents, teachers, and administrators at K-12 schools have been involved in school fundraising efforts, often trying out many different types in search of the right fit.

  • Phaser – A fast, fun and free open source HTML5 game framework

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Poetry Comics from Make Beliefs Comix

    April is National Poetry Month. Last week, I shared a couple of Read Write Think resources for helping students create theme poems and shape poems. Those are good resources if your classroom is 1:1. If not, you might want to take a look at the print…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Google Slides Now Has Native Support for Audio! Finally!

    For years Google Slides users have wanted to be able to add audio to their slides. There have been Chrome extensions that would do it and there are some other hacks that do work, but they always felt like trying to play a cassette tape on CD player.

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Commaful

    Commaful is a fun site for digital storytelling that I just found out about from Shelly Terrell. Commaful is simple to use and lets a user select a background/gif or upload their own and then type over it. Once finished, it generates a link allow us…

  • NewseumED’s Foolproof Guide to Media Literacy |

    Our students are inundated with media, but how many of them are able to differentiate between a news article and an opinion piece or recognize bias in the media? I would argue this is a critical skill we need to be teaching in schools to ensure that…

  • MERGE EDU Platform – Day 31 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Help Kids Build Financial Literacy This Year – Class Tech Tips

    As educators, we spend time thinking about how to best prepare students for the future. During my time as a teacher, I tried my best to make connections between content in our math curriculum and the world outside of our classroom.

  • 3-innovative-ways-to-use-microsoft-edu-in-your-classroom

  • A Principal’s Reflections: Feedback Should Be a Dialogue, Not a Monologue

    Feedback can bring people together in the pursuit of a shared goal. Criticism, on the other hand, can drive people apart. In many situations going with the former is the better course of action.

  • Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Increase Screen Time to Increase Literacy Proficiency

    Like it or not, educators and parents of young schoolchildren know (or will soon find out) the rigorous literacy demands being placed on students today. A friend shared she was surprised by the reading level and number of books her six-year-old was …

  • 3 Tips on Dealing with “Teacher-Stress” – The Principal of Change

    There are a lot of tweets on Twitter, or things heard at conferences or in staff rooms, that can make educators feel guilty about how they do their job.

  • To Boost Learning, Just Add Movement | Cult of Pedagogy

    This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. If you were to start singing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” right now, I bet you’d have a…

  • Your Feel-Good, Recovery Day Workout | MyFitnessPal

    Instead of skipping exercise altogether on your day off from training, try doing a light, easy and low-impact workout because it can actually speed your recovery.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are last week’s great selection of blog posts:

• • Apollo 11 – Day 30 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Six G Suite Updates You Might Have Missed in March

    Every month Google rolls out new features for G Suite and many of their other products. Some of those updates are irrelevant for teachers and students while others can have a direct impact on how teachers and students use their favorite Google produ…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Math Keyboard and More Updates to Microsoft Forms

    Microsoft Forms doesn’t get as much coverage on this blog as Google Forms, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft Forms doesn’t have some great features. In fact, it has some features that I wish Google would add to Google Forms. In March Microsoft ad…

  • Celebrate Earth Hour tonight by taking time to discuss the future | Watching Our Water Ways

    Earth Hour, which celebrates the connections among people throughout the world, happens tonight between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. local time, when participants turn off their lights for an hour.

  • Sketchnoting in the Classroom

  • Don’t Teach Math the “Smart Way” – dy/dan

    Smartness and mathematics have an unhealthy relationship. If you have been successful in math, by public consensus, you must be smart. If you have been successful in the humanities, you may also be smart but we cannot really be sure about that now c…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: There’s a Poem for That! – Lessons for National Poetry Month

    April is National Poetry Month. Earlier this week I shared a couple of Read Write Think poetry activities that you can use in elementary school. For those who teach middle school and high school language arts, I recommend taking a look at TED-Ed’s p…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Resources for Teaching and Learning About the Science of Baseball

    The Major League Baseball season started yesterday. The Yankees won, boo! The Red Sox lost, double boo! If you have students who are as excited as I am about the start of the baseball season, try to capitalize on that enthusiasm with one of the foll…

  • Tech-Savvy Tip: Make Bookmarks into Icons – NCCE’s Tech Savvy Teacher Blog

    Jason is a NCCE Tech-Savvy Teacher in Residence at blogs regularly at the NCCE blog. Jason is the first curriculum director of the Montana Digital Academy, Montana’s state virtual school.

  • Mo Physics Mo Problems: Where to Start with Podcasts for Professional Development

    Fighting the Inertia of a Traditional Classroom

  • Mo Physics Mo Problems: Why Podcasts for PD?

    Fighting the Inertia of a Traditional Classroom

  • My Education Superpower • Teched Up Teacher

    In an interview last week, I was asked what my education superpower was. As I sent off my answer, I realized I’ve never formally written about my education superpower. This is surprising because my education superpower forms the basis of what I beli…

  • RoundMe – Day 28 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Why I’m Moving on from XP Grading: The Problem of “Grinding” – Classroom Powerups

    Ever since I can remember I have been playing Madden football games. It was one of the video games that my best friend and I bonded over in high school.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Change the Appearance of Any Page With Mozilla’s X-Ray Goggles

    During the Best of the Web webinar that I hosted yesterday I mentioned Mozilla’s X-Ray Goggles product. It’s a great tool that lets you see the code behind any web page and change that code to display anything that you want in place of the original …

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Weebly vs. Google Sites

    One of the questions that I am frequently asked revolves around selecting a platform for making a classroom website. There are two tools for that purpose that I recommend more than any others. Those are Weebly and Google Sites.

  • Google Apps: Disable Adding Collaborators – Teacher Tech

    This might only be an Alice problem, but when you share Google Apps with users outside of your domain there is a chance that the other domain can hijack your document. It’s a glitch but it’s pretty rare to happen so it’s not a priority to be fixed.

  • The Reasons Why Gamification Works | Inside Feedier

    It seems that in the past few years every company that has an app or is looking into including one into their business strategy has only one word in mind – gamification.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Google Earth and Maps Lessons for Five Subject Areas

    Google Earth and Google Maps are two of my favorite educational technology tools that often are seen as only being useful for geography or history lessons. While they are good for lessons in those subjects, Google Earth and Google Maps can be used f…

  • Exit Tickets

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Check Out the Periodic Table of iOS 12 Apps for Education

    Mark Anderson, known as ICT Evangelist on Twitter, recently published a handy guide to educational iPad apps that are updated for iOS 12. The guide is arranged in periodic table format. Rather than featuring elements, the table features iPad apps.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Langscape – An Interactive Map of Languages

    Langscape is an interactive map created at the Maryland Language Science Center. The Langscape interactive map displays more than 6,000 markers representing more than 6,000 languages. Each marker represents the native language of that location.

  • Code a Google Calendar Event from Google Forms – Teacher Tech

    For my Coding Google Forms workshop I thought it would be super easy to make a tutorial on how to have people sign up for something on a Google Form with a Date and Time and then create a Google Calendar event.

  • Snagit: Screen Capture and GIF Maker – Teacher Tech

    One thing I use every day and can not live without is Snagit. Snagit allows you to take screenshots, annotate the screenshots, screen record video, and wicked easy create animated GIF’s. The screenshots in my books and on my blog are from Snagit.

  • Augmented Reality Lesson Spotlight: Bring Nutrition to Life – Class Tech Tips

    The cool factor behind augmented reality might grab the attention of students at first glance, but can this technology really change the way students interact with content in their classroom? Making teaching and learning relevant and engaging for st…

  • The Week. It’s the 2019 version of our favorite Weekly Reader that your kids need | History Tech

    I spent the majority of my grade school years at Alta Brown Elementary School in Garden City, America, working on my three Rs.

  • A Student in Kansas Writes about How Standardized Testing Makes Her Feel | Diane Ravitch’s blog

    Kevin Bosworth, a teacher at Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kansas, wrote to tell me about a class discussion of grades and tests. A student shared her poem with the class, and Kevin shared it with me. The reformers and disrupters now say they a…

  • Throw Out Your Office Referral; Circle Up Instead – Hack Learning

    Traditional discipline calls for rules and consequences, detentions, suspensions, and other carrots and sticks. Most teachers and school leaders know this ancient system does not work.

  • A Few More Steps Toward a Successful Reading Experience for All – Pernille Ripp

    Voting ends for the Global Read Aloud 2019 in two days. In two days, they will be tallied, I will sit and ponder, feel the gravity of the decision and finally, at some point, make it official. The weight of it is sometimes paralyzing.

  • Mo Physics Mo Problems

    Fighting the Inertia of a Traditional Classroom

  • Wonderscope – Day 26 of #31DayofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Jose Luis Vilson: NYC’s Exam for Specialized High Schools Is Racist | Diane Ravitch’s blog

    New York City has a peculiar high school admissions system. To gain admission to the city’s five most elite high schools, one must excel on a highly competitive examination called the Secondary High School Admissions Test. Nothing else counts but th…

  • Bombshell Report: Congress Wastes Nearly $1 Billion on Defunct Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch’s blog

    This year, Congress handed out $440 million to charter schools, many of which will never open or quickly close. Trump and DeVos want to increase the annual sum to $500 million. The Washington Post covered the findings. Valerie Strauss writes:

  • Which Marvel Films You Should Watch in Preparation for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ – GeekDad

    It’s been eleven years and twenty-one films. Next month, we’ll be closing out the final phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe you’ve seen all of the films and you’re interested in a quick refresher before heading into the finale.

  • 5 ways to use adobe spark

  • 100 Free Writing Prompts for Middle Grades – By John Spencer

    Over 100 visual and video writing prompts for grades 6-8. One of the best aspects of being a teacher is watching students go from saying, “I hate writing,” to being so passionate about writing that they refuse to stop when the bell rings. In these m…

  • Transactional vs. Transformational Teaching |

    The more I learn about leadership, the more convinced I am that teachers need leadership training in credential school. We create a culture in our classrooms, establish norms and routines, and seek to influence our students.

  • Philadelphia: It Takes Years and Millions to Close Failing Charter Schools and the Public Pays for Everything | Diane Ravitch’s blog

    Lisa Haver, Parent Activist in Philadelphia, writes here about how it takes years and millions of dollars to close failing charter schools. The public must pay the cost of challenging the charter and pay the cost of defending the charter. The charte…

  • Conference Archive Is Up! | CUNY Games Network

    The CUNY Games Network is pleased to announce that all archival materials from CGC 2019 (proceedings, photos, etc.) are now posted. To view the archive, visit https://ift.tt/2CBPnh6 Special shoutout to Rob Duncan for taking the lead on this task.

  • Madelyn Knight, MediaWise teen fact checker, on how she analyzes news

    Editor’s note: Madelyn Knight, 18, is a senior at Southport High School in Indianapolis and is the editor-in-chief of the school news magazine, The Journal. She was recently awarded the 2019 Indiana High School Journalist of the Year by the Indiana …

  • Google Classroom: Email Student Work Summary – Teacher Tech

    You can access the individual student view of their “Your Work” page by clicking on their name on the People tab. Tip: Use Control F to find the student’s name in the roster.

  • VR and Empathy: Tread Carefully | iThrive Games Foundation

    Contributors to this article were Michelle Bertoli, MA (director of content for iThrive Games), Kelli Dunlap, PsyD (game developer, psychologist, and research consultant for iThrive Games), and Susan Rivers, PhD (executive director and chief scienti…

  • How To Share Pictures of Student Work with Spark Page – Class Tech Tips

    This year one of my most popular posts was all about the curation of teacher resources. Setting up a system to keep all of your links and favorites organized is essential.

  • 360 Camera – Day 24 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • www.irex.org

  • Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Innovative Tips to Share with Parents in a Minute from @WNETeducation

    Innovative educators know the importance of family outreach. They also understand that to build a strong relationship with parents, there needs to be plenty of positive and useful contact made for busy families. To help with that WNET Education has …

  • ML_game_en

  • The Shake Up Learning Show | Shake Up Learning

    The Shake Up Learning Show, a new podcast hosted by Kasey Bell from Shake Up Learning, launches on March 26, 2019. WHAT: The Shake Up Learning Show is a weekly podcast hosted by Kasey Bell.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are some great blog posts from last week:

• • 4D Anatomy – Day 23 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • It’s World Water Day – Here Are Some New Resources | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    congerdesign / Pixabay Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About World Water Day: You will find more infographics at Statista

  • Report examines origins and nature of ‘maths anxiety’ – UKEdChat

    A report out examined the factors that influence ‘maths anxiety’ among primary and secondary school students, showing that teachers and parents may inadvertently play a role in a child’s development of the condition, and that girls tend to be more a…

  • Experimenting with Social Reading | Silvia Tolisano- Langwitches Blog

    Example: I started documenting My (and mother’s) Life as a Reader (2010) across time (2016). It might be time to post a 2019 update soon… The notion of traditional literacy is changing in front of our eyes. It intrigues me to experiment with new for…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Introduction to AR & VR in Education

    Worlds Are Colliding: Introduction to AR & VR in Education was my first presentation of the day today at the 2019 MACUL Conference. This presentation has been updated a bit since I gave it four weeks ago at a conference in Vancouver, B.C.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: From Basic to Advanced Video Projects for Almost Every Classroom

    My last presentation of the day the 2019 MACUL Conference was 5 Video Projects for Almost Every Classroom. Before the presentation started I introduced those who came early to cell phone crashing.

  • Manifest Destiny – The Story of The US Told In 141 Maps

  • How to Implement Game-Based Learning in the Classroom

    Many teachers struggle to smoothly incorporate games into lessons due to time and logistical issues, yet see game-based learning (GBL) as a way to engage students and appeal to diverse learning styles. Research has continuously shown such advantages.

  • Hear the world’s first genderless AI voice speak

    Voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are women rather than men.

  • Classcraft Officially Certified as B Corp. | Tech & Learning

    Classcraft Engagement Management System for schools announced today it has been officially certified as a B Corp.

  • Hands on: There need to be more games like Civilization VI on iPad

    “Civilization VI” is one of a the few games that debuted on iPad with feature parity to the Mac and Windows versions. After playing the game for the past eight months on our iPad, we’ve come to the conclusion we need more of this caliber game on iOS.

  • Kathy Schrock’s Kaffeeklatsch

  • There’s Always a Late Penalty: Social Costs of Missing Due Dates – Classroom Powerups

    Just to be clear. I have bought into the argument that lateness is a behavior and that grades are a measure of content knowledge or skills mastery not behavior. If the skill or content mastery is displayed after an artificial deadline the student ha…

  • Multiple Choice Enhancement: An Update – Classroom Powerups

    Yesterday I wrote about using an enhanced Multiple Choice technique inspired by Blake Harvard and Andrew Kozlowsky. The concept worked very well. I used this as an opening pre-assessment for my Civil Rights Unit.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Ways to Blend Technology Into Outdoor Lessons – Slides

    Today, at the 2019 MACUL Conference I gave three presentations. The second of those presentations was 5 Ways to Blend Technology Into Outdoor Lessons. This is a topic that combines two things that I enjoy, educational technology and being outdoors.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Resources & Ideas for Classroom Podcasting

    The first presentation that I gave today at the 2019 MACUL Conference was all about podcasting. In the presentation I shared some research about the benefits of students producing podcasts. And as you might expect, I shared some tools and strategies…

  • Virtual Reality Gets Social With the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit – GeekDad

    Earlier this week, GeekMom Corrina and I made another pilgrimage to NYC to check out the latest from Nintendo of America. This time our big city adventure included an introduction to the newest product in the Labo line, the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit.

  • VirtualSpeech – Day 21 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • How to Plan an AWESOME Book Study! | Shake Up Learning

    Book studies are a great way to level up your professional learning! I get a lot of questions about different ways to run book studies for educators, how to choose a book, what tools to use, and how to keep your group engaged.

  • tech-like-a-pirate-use-tech-to-make-learning-come-alive

  • Free Technology for Teachers: A New Way to Add Images to Google Sheets

    Frequent Google Sheets users got a bit of welcome news yesterday. Google has added a new way to insert images into Google Sheets. Previously, the only images that you could add into a cell were those that were hosted online and publicly available fo…

  • Badass Teachers Association Blog: Pulling Back the Curtains on Privilege in Education

    The recent Varsity Blues college admission scandal is merely a glimpse into the inequities of a rigged system that marginalizes millions of our youth and perpetuates the destruction of what was once known as “The American Dream.

  • WDR AR – Day 20 | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    I’m thrilled to provide the #31DaysofARVRinEDU event! Each day in March will include an augmented (AR) or virtual reality (VR) resource to bring into the classroom. The app I am sharing with you today has literally brought me to tears.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Short Lessons for the Arrival of Spring

    The first chickadees and ducks of the spring have started to arrive in my neighborhood. Aside from the calendar, hearing the birds reminds us all that spring is almost here. If you’re tired of winter and looking for some spring-themed lesson ideas, …

  • How to Lead Conversations About Media Use with Students – Class Tech Tips

    From consumers to creators, students of all ages interact with media both inside and outside of the classroom. What does responsible, healthy media use look like? And how do we provide students with opportunities to reflect on the way they use media…

  • FAQs On Converting Flash To HTML5 – e-Learning Infographics

    With Flash becoming defunct by the end of 2020; to retain your valuable eLearning courses, convert Flash to HTML5.

  • Multiple Choice Enhancement: Inspiration from @effortfuleduktr and @MrKoz31 – Classroom Powerups

    We are at the time of year where Multiple Choice Tests are on my mind. My South Carolina US History students are wrapping up their actual class and are moving into End of Course (EOC) Examination Mode.

  • Google Street View – Day 19 | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Socrates

    Socrates is an innovate new site where educators can seamlessly differentiate instruction for each student through a unique game based learning system.

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: EDpuzzle

    EDpuzzle the world’s leading tool for “flipping” a classroom or lesson has been hard at work w/ new features and updates to make it easier and even better for teacher to integrate in their classroom.

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Kidaha

    Kidaha is an excellent site for students, parents, or educators to find clip art. This is ideal for students looking for educational clip art for school or for teachers looking for just the right type of art for their classroom or lesson.

  • the-changing-face-of-pd

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Pixabay Add-in for Word – A Quick Way to Add Images to Documents

    Pixabay has been one of my go-to sources of high-quality images for years. The images on Pixabay are in the public domain which makes them perfect for all kinds of classroom projects. You can download the pictures for free from the Pixabay website.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Save Time by Creating Templates for Your Blog Posts

    One of the reasons that I frequently hear given for not updating classroom or school blogs on a regular basis is “it takes too much time.” If you’re not in the habit of writing blog posts on a regular schedule it can take a lot of energy to get the …

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Add Emojis to Word Documents – And How to Use Them in a Lesson

    Last summer Tony Vincent helped me see emojis as more than just annoying symbols that people use in text messages and social media posts. He did that with a slick graphic that he created and shared on Twitter.

  • Why Choose Edublogs? Learn how teachers, students, and schools can publish online

    We know many Edublogs users have introduced their colleagues to the platform in a staff meeting, team meeting, or professional development session. Some educators also like to give parents an overview of Edublogs during parent information evenings o…

  • Catchy Words AR – Day 18 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: ThinkingApp

    ThinkingApp is an innovative Chrome plugin/extension for keeping track of how long students spend on websites for assignments using Google Docs.

  • Video: “Truth or Fake 2019: Four tips for detecting fake news online” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    pixel2013 / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from FRANCE 24 English The Best Tools & Lessons For Teaching Information Literacy – Help Me Find More:

  • The Power of Common Formative Assessments | All Things Assessment

    Many researchers have identified formative assessment as one of the more powerful practices to raise student achievement (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2009). When speaking of its power, we often compare formative assessment to summative assessment …

  • Race to Ratify is latest awesome iCivics game that you should be playing right now. | History Tech

    I got the chance over the last few days to spend time with tons of social studies gurus and learn tons of new stuff at the National Council for History Education conference in Washington DC. Thanks to Dr.

  • Climate Sense: Sharing a little optimism about climate change | Watching Our Water Ways

    One of the most optimistic stories I’ve read — and listened to — about climate change comes from Dan Charles, National Public Radio’s food and agriculture reporter.

  • Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Simple Guide to Analyzing Media with Key Questions from @MediaLiteracyEd

    · 4 #EdTech Blogs to Bookmark · 9 Must Read Blogs for Innovative Teachers · 10 Digital Citizenship Bloggers to Follow · 10 Education blogs worth following – eSchool News · 11 Ed Tech Bloggers to Follow · 20 Best Blogs in Instructional Technology · 2…

  • Rubric Repair: 5 Changes that Get Results | Cult of Pedagogy

    In my 20-year career as an administrator, I’ve had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall in hundreds of classrooms across grade levels and content areas.

  • Classroom Games and Tech – Ed-Tech to Engage and Inspire: Quick Image Effects Without Green Screen

    Who needs a green screen for image effects?Here’s a simple process for making fun composite images using Google Slides and remove.bg. This can come in handy for making comics. (I’ve written about the comic creation process in many posts such as this…

  • Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: With Declining Orcas and Salmon, Why Do We Allow the Shellfish Industry to Poison Our Coastal Waters With Herbicides and Pesticides?

    Our Orca killer whales and Chinook salmon represent the environmental legacy of our region. Their health and viability are important measures of the quality of our environmental stewardship of the region. And sadly both are in decline.

  • Magicplan – Day 17 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Fun Web Games & Resources to Help ELLs with Typing and Spelling – ESL Library Blog

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are this week’s past blog posts:

• • A framework for teaching American slavery – from Teaching Tolerance | History Tech

    After a quick six hour visit to the the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture yesterday, it just made sense to stop in at the #NCHE2019 session by  Maureen Cotello. director of Teaching Tolerance.

  • Experience Real History – Day 16 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Classroom Games and Tech – Ed-Tech to Engage and Inspire: Boomwriter for Engaging Collaborative Writing

    Boomwriter is not new, but I hadn’t used it with a class until recently. I am presenting a session about collaborative storytelling at the MACUL conference this week, so I asked our middle school Creative Writing teacher if she’d be willing to let m…

  • The Problem with Growth Mindset | chronotope

    It is difficult to think of an idea in the recent educational past that has had as much traction as growth mindset. In researching this topic, I set a Google alert and was genuinely surprised at the amount of articles dedicated to, or referencing it…

  • YouTube – Day 15 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    I’m thrilled to provide the #31DaysofARVRinEDU event! Each day in March will include an augmented (AR) or virtual reality (VR) resource to bring into the classroom. If you’re looking for a way to bring 360 video content into your classroom, you have…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Now You Can Download Your Synth Podcasts

    Synth is a free podcasting tool that I’ve been recommending since its launch last fall. It provides a simple way to create short podcasts that people can reply to with their own audio comments. Think of it kind of like Flipgrid for audio.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Are You Being Phished? – A Lesson from Google

    Phishing Quiz With Google is an online activity for testing your ability to identify phishing emails. The activity begins when you enter a fake name and fake email address of your choosing. You will then see a series of emails that are addressed to …

  • Videos & Articles About Today’s Student Strike Demanding Action On Climate Change | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    School climate strikes draw thousands to the streets in cities around the globe is from The Washington Post. Students stage global protest to speak out on climate change inaction is a photo gallery from the Boston Globe.

  • History and Games Links – October 2018 to March 2019 | Gaming the Past

    Life has a way of rushing by; here we are, and there’s been no history and games links post since mid 2018. Needless to say; this is a long one.

  • New Forms of Reading and Writing | Silvia Tolisano- Langwitches Blog

    As I am coaching teachers in learning how to learn and teach FOR the 22nd century, I realize that the gap between being able to read traditional forms of information, communications materials in geneal and reading on new platforms, in new genres and…

  • Planning Sequences of Lessons – The Reflective Educator

    How do you plan a succession of lessons for a maths topic, say multiplication or division? As it turns out, I’ve spent the last 4 years planning sequences of lessons as part of the curriculum work I do with a team of math specialists, so I have some…

  • Moatboat – Day 14 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • How We Express Ourselves: Making a Museum in a Box – iLearn Technology

    In the last eight years, my posting habits have become pretty sparse, to say the least. Starting and running a school…it’s a lot. It keeps me busy and thoroughly exhausted. I miss it. I miss the cadence of posting regularly and interacting with my e…

  • Making cutting edge science accessible to kids | Tanya Dimitrova | TEDxLinz – YouTube

    Most scientific research is conducted and reported in specialized academic journals in a language accessible only to professional adult scientists. But what if a kid wanted to learn about the latest scientific discoveries? After all, kids have the r…

  • Experiences of nature boost children’s learning: Critical review finds cause-and-effect relationship | College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences :: University of Illinois

    URBANA, Ill. – Spending time in nature boosts children’s academic achievement and healthy development, concludes a new analysis examining hundreds of studies.

  • Selective Outrage: Revisiting the Atlanta School Cheating Scandal – Have You Heard

    In March of 2013, thirty five Atlanta educators, all of them Black, were charged with racketeering and conspiracy for allegedly changing student answers on standardized tests from wrong to right. The teachers were accused of the worst-possible wrong…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Three Pi Day Video Lessons

    Today is Pi Day! March 14 or 3/14. Six years ago Numberphile published a couple of good videos about Pi. I shared them then and I think it’s time to share them again. Pi with real pies is a three minutes and fourteen seconds video that explains Pi a…

  • Live Long and Prosper…: Opposing Mediocre Minds: Einstein on Education

    Today, March 14 is Pi day (3.14) and the birthday (#140) of Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein is remembered as the physicist who developed the theories of special, and general relativity.

  • The Best Videos For Celebrating Pi Day | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    What is Pi Day? Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

  • Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: The Other Convergence Zone

    Much of western Washington was dry today, but there was one exception: a band of persistent precipitation extending southeastward from near Victoria towards Snohomish County(see radar images this morning around 6-7 AM) As a result, there has been he…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Make Appointment Slots in Google Calendar

    All of this week I’m working with teachers in a charter school to help them improve their use of educational technology. Throughout the week I’m meeting with teachers individual and in small groups. To schedule the meetings I created appointment slo…

  • ditchthattextbook.com

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Where On Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? – A Great Geography Game

    The theme song for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is an earworm for those of us who grew up in the 80’s or early 90’s. And thanks to Google’s new partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, we can now share the fun of Where in the World is C…

  • Google Tour Creator – Day 13 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    \n”},”domain”:”arvrinedu.com”,”name”:”HubSpot”}],”pageList”:{“pages”:[{“pageId”:”hcqb2″,”title”:”Videos”,”pageUriSEO”:”videos”,”pageJsonFileName”:”879cdc_37372fe2d4f192ff74d1e8020cb0010d_202.

  • “Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?” Is A Neat New Geography Game | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? is a fun new game from Google. You travel around the world to famous landmarks and interview “witnesses.”  It’s pretty accessible, and I think would work for Intermediate English Language Learners in a Geogr…

  • The Perception of Fairness – Gamified UK – #Gamification Expert

    Coin Master. Have you played it? I have. It’s currently the top grossing game on mobiles. If you have not played it, it’s a fruit/slot machine. You put virtual money in, spin the reels and possibly win more money.

  • Control Alt Achieve: Graph a Pi-Line Skyline with Google Sheets

    Pi Day is March 14th each year (since the date is 3/14 and Pi starts out with 3.14). As a previous middle school math teacher, this is always a fun day to be a math nerd, do Pi-themed educational activities, and of course eat some real pie!

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Three Hands-on Pi Day Lessons

    Tomorrow is Pi Day. If you’re looking from some Pi Day activities to do with your students, take a look at the following three activities available on Exploratorium’s Science Snacks site. I have provided brief summaries of each activity below.

  • Automating Question Creation with AI and Quillionz – Class Tech Tips

    What does it look like to check for understanding with digital tools? Manual question generation is definitely time-consuming. Although there are times when you’ll want to customize, tweak and make your own questions for students, there is a new too…

  • Tips For Implementing Blended Learning – e-Learning Infographics

    Blended learning is one of the most popular training solutions in organizations today. And for many reasons. But how you do know what should go where? After all, both are highly effective.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Eat & Move-o-Matic Encourages Healthy Eating and Exercise

    Eat & Move-o-Matic by the Learning Labs Game at New Mexico State University is a free iPad app intended to help teachers and students get a better understanding of the impact of their food choices. Eat & Move-o-Matic is based on a simple premise. Th…

  • 3DBear – Day 12 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Pi Day Programming Lessons

    Tynker is a service that offers programming lessons for elementary school and middle school students. I published a full overview of the service a couple of days ago. You can read that overview here.

  • A Lever and a Place to Stand: Quitters Never Win . . . Or Do They?

    About a month ago, I tweeted what you see on the right. In a period of a couple of weeks, I watched people I respected quit things that appeared dear to them. It left me wondering how people know when to quit, especially because I practically never …

  • Free Online PDF Tools for Educators – Class Tech Tips

    I’m always on the lookout for new EdTech tools to share with educators. So when the folks at PDF Candy reached out to me this winter, I was ready to learn more about their website. They provide a platform that is totally free and helps you accomplis…

  • Nerdy Shop Talk Videocast | Usable Learning

    So it’s been pretty quiet here on the blog, but that’s because we have been hard at work on several different things. Tracy Parish and I are starting a new videocast series in conjunction with the Elearning Guild, called Nerdy Shop Talk.

  • The Dark Secret of the Timer: a Goose Chase App Case Study – Classroom Powerups

    A couple weeks ago my school decided to celebrate Read Across America with a rumpus of a competition using the Goose Chase App.

  • AR VR Molecules Editor – Day 11 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    I’m thrilled to provide the #31DaysofARVRinEDU event! Each day in March will include an augmented (AR) or virtual reality (VR) resource to bring into the classroom.  I ran across this resource when I received a request by Deanne Polean for one of he…

  • NetSafe – Planet Nutshell

    This content was produced in collaboration with Utah Education Network.

  • The physics of surfing – Nick Pizzo | TED-Ed

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Three Good Mobile Blogging Activities for Students

    One of my favorite uses of iPads, Android tablets, and cell phones is mobile blogging. Blogging apps make it possible for students to record their observations and those of others from almost anywhere.

  • “Real-World” Math Is Everywhere or It’s Nowhere – dy/dan

    Amare is looking at these 16 parabolas. Her partner Geoff has chosen one and she has to figure out which one by asking yes-or-no questions. There are lots of details here. She’s trying to focus on the ones that matter. The color of the parabola does…

  • Control Alt Achieve: 15 More Instant Google Searches for You and your Students

    The idea is that when you do a Google search, sometimes Google goes above and beyond the normal list of search results and provides instant search cards at the top of the page.

  • Flipped Classroom 101: Challenges, Benefits & Design Tips |

    The flipped classroom model shifts the transfer of information online and moves practice and application into the classroom. Classically, the transfer of information has occurred in class via lecture and practice has been assigned for homework.

  • 13 Mistakes You’re Making When Cooking Eggs — Cool Infographics

    infographic from The Online Grill helps solve some of the head scratching cooking issues to the staple breakfast food. This is actually an older infographic, and it looks like their original post got lost during a website upgrade. You can see it her…

  • Space Station Academy Virtual Mission for Students – Class Tech Tips

    Do you want to send your students on a space mission? Engaging students in the STEM classroom can include a variety of strategies. Making connections to experiences and careers outside the classroom is a great way to show students their coursework i…

  • Standards-Based Grading: A Million Little Things | All Things Assessment

    Currently, one of my favorite television shows is A Million Little Things on ABC.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Nature Sound Map – Explore the Sounds of Nature

    Nature Sound Map provides a neat way to explore the soundscape of the natural world. On the Nature Sound Map you will find placemarks containing recordings of nature. The recordings have been added to the project by professional sound recorders.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: More Than 3500 Free Civics Lessons

    60 Second Civics has long been one of my go-to resources for lessons on U.S. civics and government. 60 Second Civics is a daily podcast produced by the Center for Civic Education. Each 60 Second Civics episode offers a short lesson about US Civics.

  • Curiscope – Day 10 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    \n”},”domain”:”arvrinedu.com”,”name”:”HubSpot”}],”pageList”:{“pages”:[{“pageId”:”hcqb2″,”title”:”Videos”,”pageUriSEO”:”videos”,”pageJsonFileName”:”879cdc_37372fe2d4f192ff74d1e8020cb0010d_202.

  • These Violent Delights Don’t Have Violent Ends: Study Finds No link Between Violent Video Games And Teen Aggression – Research Digest

    Claims that violent video games lead to aggression have been around since the days of Space Invaders. When young people are exposed to violent media, the theory goes, their aggressive thoughts become more prominent, leading them to commit acts of vi…

    tags:games gaming violent violence research aggression aggressive facts truth

  • Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Easy Peasy Guide to Capturing & Sharing Links to Screenshots

    Innovative Educators often pursue certifications to let others understand skills and areas of expertise. Here are some easy ways to capture and share screenshots of accomplishments.

  • Readers Recommend

    This is reading promotion idea that’s inexpensive, low-tech, includes student voice, and I totally nabbed it from the amazing Librarian Tiff five years ago and I still love it! It’s kind of what you can call an oldie but a goodie. I don’t put this d…

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are some great blog posts from this past week:

• • a-beginners-guide-to-twitter-for-educators

  • Qlone – Day 8 #ARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Moments AR – Day 9 of #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • ColouriseSG

    Our deep learning model performs best on higher resolution images that prominently feature human subjects and natural scenery. We do not store images that you upload for colourisation. Our servers are running at full capacity. Please try again later.

  • Live Long and Prosper…: 2019 Medley #5: Privatization

    School privatization is once again on the block for the Indiana General Assembly. The House Budget bill includes increases for both charter schools and vouchers. The “choice” for vouchers, as this article explains, belongs to the school, not necessa…

  • Schools Matter: People Alive Today Will Determine the Future of the Earth

    Great power entails greater responsibility. If you don’t care about global warming, then you should read this book. If you care about global warming, then you should read this book. An excerpt of a good review from NYTimes:

  • Watching Our Water Ways

    Washington State Senate has tackled the problem of marine debris by approving one bill to ban the use of plastic grocery bags and a separate bill to discourage the use of plastic straws. Both bills have now moved over to the House of Representatives…

  • Augmented Reality 3D Rug: An Affordable, Engaging Classroom Addition – Class Tech Tips

    Did you catch me sitting on a classroom rug, snapping pictures and pretending to pet a grizzly bear? Well, it happened, and I’m pretty excited to share why I had no problem tossing my conference bag to the side and finding a spot on a colorful, clas…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: How to Use Jamboard Without Owning a Jamboard

    In Wednesday’s Practical Ed Tech Live episode I suggested having students use Google’s Jamboard to collaboratively create drawings. A couple people have emailed me to ask how that is done if you don’t own one of Google’s physical interactive whitebo…

  • The Nerdy Teacher: Adding Interactivity to the Makerspace with @newlineIDEAMAX

    A while ago, I was at FETC checking out the vendor floor when I came across an Interactive Board company. I stopped and watched a demo and my interest was piqued enough to go in and ask some questions. What I found out blew my mind and I had to get …

  • History is a bunch of grass. And we need to let our kids play on it. | History Tech

    Bob Edens had been blind since birth. Fifty-one years of darkness, sounds, smells, and touch followed. But after a remarkable laser surgery, Bob can now see. For 51 years, Bob had imagined what things looked like based mainly on the descriptions of …

  • upskilling-the-workforce

    If there’s one thing that employers and employees can agree on, it’s that everyone wins when workers “upskill,” or develop new skills to apply to their job. Employees get the continuous training they desire, and employers benefit from having a more …

  • Eureca – Day 7 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    \n”},”domain”:”arvrinedu.com”,”name”:”HubSpot”}],”pageList”:{“pages”:[{“pageId”:”hcqb2″,”title”:”Videos”,”pageUriSEO”:”videos”,”pageJsonFileName”:”879cdc_37372fe2d4f192ff74d1e8020cb0010d_202.

  • Super Happy: Google Classroom Stream is BACK – Teacher Tech

    The classic design of Google Classroom was a single Stream with all of the student assignments. For some, the lack of ability to organize the Stream how they wanted was a frustration.

  • erasing-women-in-tech-how-60-minutes-ignored-womens-voices-stories-and-expertise

    The founder and CEO of Girls Who Code speaks out against 60 Minutes omitting women-led groups in their coverage of computer science initiatives for girls.

  • Metaverse Augmented Reality Collections for Educators – Class Tech Tips

    What does augmented reality look like in your classroom? Students can interact with course content in more ways than I ever imagined as a classroom teacher.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Tom Richey Explains Tariffs

    Tom Richey’s YouTube channel is a must-subscribe for AP history (European and U.S.) students and their teachers. He regularly posts engaging lectures about a wide variety of topics in that are integral to developing an advanced understanding of Euro…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Good Chrome Extensions for Teachers and Students

    Now that I’ve run through my five favorite add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Slides it’s time to share my favorite Chrome extensions for teachers and students. Like my other lists, this list is comprised of my go-to recommendations not nec…

  • Introduction to Gamification Part 6: The User Journey – Gamified UK – #Gamification Expert

    In the last chapter, we looked at goals and feedback. To follow on from this, I wanted to look at how you should plan feedback and rewards, based on the user’s expectations. However, to start, we need to look at the User Journey, which is a chapter …

  • Creator AVR – Day 6 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Now You Can Use Your Own VR Tours in Google Expeditions on iOS

    A couple of weeks ago I published a video about how to use your own virtual reality tours in the Android version of Google Expeditions. In that video I mentioned that support for doing the same in the iOS version of Expeditions was coming soon. As o…

  • Ways To Turn A Bad Teacher-Student Relationship Into A Good One | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    There are many things in education where research disagrees about whether they are effective or important in student learning, but the value of a positive teacher-student relationships is not one of them.

  • Trading Game – Forex, Bitcoin and Stock Market …

    A useful game for business or busness English students. There is both an iOS and Android version. Thousands of teachers and students are creating AR in their classrooms. It is so easy to create that grade school kids can do it. Engagement is off the…

  • The Most Important Skill You’ll Need to Succeed at Work | Mental Floss

    The Office’s Jim and Pam pay a visit to Scrubs’ Sacred Heart Hospital.

  • 4-ways-to-make-math-come-alive-with-google-tools

  • Free Technology for Teachers: My Five Favorite Google Sheets Add-ons

    Last week and through the beginning of this week I have been featuring my favorite Google Docs, Slides, and Forms add-ons. Today, it is time to share my favorite Google Sheets add-ons.

  • A Few Picture Books to Celebrate Women’s History Month – Pernille Ripp

    Last week, before the calendar switched to March, I changed our book displays in our classroom. Not because we stop celebrating Black history and excellence but because we wanted to add the component of females in history.

  • 5 Tips for Defining Unknown Words Using Context Clues |

    Students encounter unfamiliar words all of the time, but few slow down to think about what they can learn about those unfamiliar words based on how they are used. The ability to define unfamiliar vocabulary is a life skill that teachers need to teac…

  • AugmentifyIt – Day 5 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • What is Reasoning? | Chemical Education Xchange

  • Let’s Go to Mars! Calculating Launch Windows Activity | NASA/JPL Edu

  • World Water Day Is On March 22nd – Here Are Related Resources | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    The United Nations has designated March 22nd as World Water Day.

  • Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Favorite Google Slides Add-ons

    Last week I shared my favorite Google Forms add-ons. Yesterday, I shared my favorite Google Docs add-ons. So today I’m sharing my favorite Google Slides add-ons. Unsplash Unsplash Photos Google Slides add-on gives you instant access to Unsplash’s co…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Spring Forward This Weekend!

    This weekend those of us in North America who observe Daylight Saving Time have to move our clocks forward by one hour. This time around it is especially annoying for me because I have an early morning flight on Sunday. And, of course, my dogs and m…

  • Torch – Day 4 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  • Guest Post: Restorative Practices & The Struggle Against “Dungeon Theory” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

    Editor’s Note: Phil Taylor is a colleague at Luther Burbank High School, and has written several previous guest posts on classroom management and restorative practices. I’m adding this post to The Best Resources For Learning About Restorative Practi…

  • Design Thinking vs. Visual Thinking — Cool Infographics

    The team at has posted their own explanation of on their blog along with this great visual infographic explanation. At XPLANE we pride ourselves on bringing clarity to complexity. We usually do this for clients, but sometimes the need strikes closer…

  • Women’s History Month resources. (That you should use all year.) | History Tech

    As a founding member of the National Women’s History Project, Mary Ruthsdotter knows the importance of teaching kids about the accomplishments of women. “As a youngster, I thought I had drawn the short straw being born female.

  • Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: Wanna Know If Students Are Learning? Ask Them These 4 Questions

    It can be a struggle to best help students understand what they are learning or for students to articulate their learning in meaningful ways. This was especially difficult for me starting out in on my teaching journey.

  • How To Introduce Genetics to Students with an App – Class Tech Tips

    When it comes to exploring the building blocks of life, the folks at Avokiddo have an excellent mobile app. It can help you introduce genetics to students through play.

  • The Warning: My Thoughts on What We Can Learn from “Momo” | Cool Cat Teacher Blog

    The Momo scam/hoax/threat has inspired some thoughts about what we should learn so we can prevent such a time-wasting but hurtful thing from spreading again in the future.

  • www.stitcher.com

  • Google Classroom: Class Roster Chrome Extension – Teacher Tech

    A simple class roster is something all teachers need. Google Classroom is great but getting a simple roster of your students is not easy.

  • Teams as Action Researchers | All Things Assessment

    A number of years ago, I had the good fortune to teach a cohort of practicing educators in a Masters in Curriculum program. As a part of this program, teachers were required to complete a culminating project which included action research in their c…

  • Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Innovative Educators Don’t Make Calls. They Text.

    Communication has changed in the digital age. Today the rules are different. Ringers are off and educators no longer make or take calls unless a time has specifically been set to do so. Instead, if they want to get a message to someone they send a t…

  • Free Technology for Teachers: Five Good Places to Find Current Events Stories for Kids

    For a couple of years I taught an elective that was all about current events. That was one of my favorite social studies teaching assignments because I enjoy listening to what students have to save about the news.

  • Hacking Nearpod – Day 3 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

    \n”},”domain”:”arvrinedu.com”,”name”:”HubSpot”}],”pageList”:{“pages”:[{“pageId”:”hcqb2″,”title”:”Videos”,”pageUriSEO”:”videos”,”pageJsonFileName”:”879cdc_37372fe2d4f192ff74d1e8020cb0010d_202.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are some more great blog posts from last week:

• Momo. Again. – NetFamilyNews.org

  I hardly need to weigh in because I already did – in depth, last summer, at the peak of the last Momo wave.

• Classimmerse Day 2 | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

• Learning with ‘e’s: Personal and personalised learning

  learning, technology, education, steve, wheeler, social media, internet, mobile, school, teachers

• “I don’t like your work” | Seth’s Blog

  That doesn’t mean I don’t like you. The difference is critical. It’s impossible to be a productive professional if you insist on conjoining them.

• Video: A Brief History of the Grand Canyon — The Adventure Blog

  Last week the Grand Canyon celebrated its 100th anniversary as a national park. As one of the most visited parks in the entire U.S. system, it sees millions of visitors on an annual basis. But not everyone knows its history, which is where this fant…

• disruptED – Day 1 #31DaysofARVRinEDU | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

• Advise the President. Cause you’re just that smart. | History Tech

  Okay. Not that president. Other presidents. You know, from history. Like Truman, Eisenhower, and Reagan. And they need your help. Even better, they need your students to help. The National Archives have put together something called Advise the Presi…

• Free Technology for Teachers: My 5 Favorite Google Forms Add-ons

  This morning I led a small workshop about creative uses for Google Forms and Google Slides. As often happens during those workshops someone asked me what my favorite Forms add-ons are. In no particular order, here are my five favorite Google Forms a…

• google-slides-interactive-notebooks-20-activities-to-fill-them

• 30 in 50! 2019! – NCCE’s Tech Savvy Teacher Blog

  Mike is currently the Instructional Program Director for the Montana Digital Academy, Montana’s state virtual school.

• If You Want to Drive Truly Transformational Change, Avoid These 4 Myths | Inc.com

  We live in a transformational age. Powerful technologies like the cloud and artificial intelligence are quickly shifting what it means to compete. Social movements like #MeTo are exposing decades of misdeeds and rewriting norms.

• The Sift Archive — News Literacy Project

• Legislature’s solution to McCleary school-funding case leaves most state districts projecting budget shortfalls | The Seattle Times

  Less than a year has passed since the Legislature injected nearly $1 billion into Washington’s public-school system. But districts from Seattle to Vancouver have warned that unless lawmakers offer them a lifeline, their financial straits could force…

• Empatico: A Breakthrough Way to Promote Empathy (And It’s Free)

  Empatico is a free platform, targeted to students aged 7-11, that helps classrooms connect in powerful ways.

• Hitting the Employee Engagement Bulls Eye with Gamification | Official Blog of Azilen

  Enhancing employee engagement is a critical challenge for global companies, everywhere. Businesses, worldwide, are looking to grow in a competitive ecosystem through inclusive digital transformation. But 70% of business transformation efforts fail, …

• 9 examples of gamification in HR | HR Trend Institute

  Gamification is becoming more and more popular and is more widely used than ever. It comes down to using game principles and techniques in a non-game context.

• 5 Tips for Google Classroom – Teacher Tech

  Google Classroom is an online platform that allows you to interact with your students anytime, anywhere. If you do not have the Google Classroom mobile app for your phone I highly recommend! Here are 5 more tips for how to get more out of Google Cla…

• Standards-Based Grading the Right Way | All Things Assessment

  My son began his high school career this fall and has had what I would consider a successful transition. He didn’t get used to his new surroundings, teachers, or student population overnight, but with time, he has grown comfortable and really enjoys…

• How to Plan a Dynamic Learning Experience (FREE TEMPLATE) | Shake Up Learning

  Dynamic learning doesn’t happen by accident, you have to purposefully plan experiences for students that are aligned with your learning goals, integrate strategies that push beyond the bounds of traditional learning, and integrate the four c’s.

• Reconsider the Use of the SAMR Model | It’s About Learning

  • the problem is you are still asking your students to regurgitate content regardless how sophisticated the regurgitation becomes
  • we should be using technology to go well beyond the original teaching task and use technology to enhance the learning not just use technology to enhance the use of technology

• Use Digital Notebooks to Facilitate Book Clubs and Literature Circles at the Secondary Level |

  Different books appeal to different readers. Many students do not become readers until they encounter “the book.” It’s the book that grabs them and pulls them into the story. Once a person has had an immersive experience with a book, they usually be…

• A Principal’s Reflections: Utilizing Augmented Reality as an Impetus for Learning

  Technology continues to make inroads in classrooms across the world at a dizzying pace. This makes complete sense as every learner in our classrooms at this point have known nothing but a digital world.

• Using the Single Point Rubric for Better Assessment Conversations – Pernille Ripp

  A few years ago, I read the following post discussing single-point rubrics from Jennifer Gonzales on her incredible blog Cult of Pedagogy.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are more amazing blog posts from this past week:

• Free Technology for Teachers: 2,000+ New Stickers and Emojis Are Being Added to Flipgrid

  Today at the BETT Show I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Charlie Miller. You might not know his name, but you probably know the company he founded, Flipgrid.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Immersive Reader in Virtual Reality

  Immersive Reader is one of my three favorite Microsoft products (the others others are Hacking STEM and Flipgrid). Today at the BETT Show I got to try a new implementation of Immersive Reader. That implementation is in virtual reality. Immersive Rea…

• 5 Ways to Design Your Teacher-led Station |

  In my work as a blended learning coach, I observe a lot of teachers facilitating blended lessons. The Station Rotation Model is particularly popular because teachers do not need a device for every student to make it work. Instead, students rotate be…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Book Creator

  Book Creator is a fantastic (iOS/Chrome) app that educators are everywhere to create and share eBooks. This is done using a very user-friendly interface that makes it easy to creating stunning presentations, digital stories w/ the ability to record …

• Free Technology for Teachers: Boclips – Millions of Ad-free Educational Videos

  Today at the BETT Show Bethany Beaudrie introduced me to a new educational video provider called Boclips for Teachers. Boclips hosts more than two million educational videos from more than 100 vetted video producers. You’ll probably recognize many o…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Free PDF Containing 30 Pages of Illustrated Vocabulary Lessons

  I get what feels like zillions of emails every day from companies that I have never heard of. 90% of them go straight to the trash bin after a three second glance. But then every once in a while I get one that is useful. Today’s random, but useful e…

• Do Reminders Work? – Smart Classroom Management

  They’re sure used a lot. Visit just about any classroom and within minutes you’re likely to hear one.

• Student Privacy: How Well Does YOUR State Protect It? | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  This report is a 50-state analysis of privacy laws, compiled by the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. Its leaders are Rachael Strickland of Colorado and Leonie Haimson of New York.

• Free Technology for Teachers: More Good News for Remind Users – And a Bit of Bad News

  Last night I shared the great news that Verizon has reversed their policy on the fee that they were going to start charging Remind to deliver free text messages. That means that the 7 million Remind users who were due to stop receiving texts via Rem…

• Gamifying the customer experience – Linney

  Simpler gamification examples include adding quizzes on your site to help visitors find the perfect product or introducing a points-based system to your app. Or you can think outside the box for more innovative methods, like Nike.

• Report: AI, Robots Coming To Take 36 Million Jobs Away From Americans – CBS New York

  WASHINGTON, DC (AP) – Robots aren’t replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of existing work, according to a new Brookings Institution report.

• KQED

  “With little kids, maybe the biggest barrier is mindset in that they can’t do it. Or the feeling that they wouldn’t be able to be in charge of themselves,” she said. The goal of a Breakout is for groups of students to work together to solve a series…

• Control Alt Achieve: Using Google Keep for Grading Comments in Docs

  One of the great features of Google Docs is the ability to leave comments in the margin. This is a useful way to provide helpful feedback to students when grading their work.

• Final Game

  We used Minecraft Education Addition because we all had account from last year in school and some of us didn’t have vanilla Minecraft Accounts. Education Addition helps us because we used NPCs too fill as our spectators in the arena.

• Augmented Reality Creation Tool for a Web 3.0 Future – Class Tech Tips

  When it comes to augmented reality in the classroom we often think of students as consumers. In these type of augmented reality experiences, students might spin around a globe. Or they might see a diagram pop off of their screen. These learning expe…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Three Good Places to Find Hands-on STEM Activities

  On a fairly regular basis I’m asked for recommendations for hands-on STEM activities. In fact, just this morning I answered an email from a reader who was seeking that recommendation. Here are three of my go-to recommendations for hands-on STEM acti…

• blog.capterra.com

  Small businesses across the country are pulling out all the stops to provide a great employee experience that helps them retain their best workers.

• Going Gradeless – Ideas and Thoughts

  I’ve written and presented on assessment many times in the past 2 decades. The trend in education is clear: Most people, if not all, believe grades are a poor representation of learning and yet many can’t figure out how to either de-emphasize or get…

• Does every Genius Hour project need to include “research”? – Integrating Technology & Genius Hour: My Journey as a Teacher & Learner

  I have been thinking about this question a lot. And not just recently, I have actually been thinking about this question for years now. When I first started doing Genius Hour with my students during the 2011-2012 school year, I didn’t even think abo…

• 5 Sure Fire Ways to Create Remarkable Graphics @coolcatteacher

  Tony Vincent is a pro at creating graphics. His blog and work is full of amazing graphics. Today, he teaches us five sure-fire ways to create remarkable graphics. We can teach our students or use them to promote the causes we care about.

• Control Alt Achieve: 4 Ways to Play Videos in Google Docs

  Option #2 – Use the DocuTube Add-on The second option builds upon the first option with a useful Docs add-on called “DocuTube”. When a user has the DocuTube add-on installed, it can scan through the document looking for any video links.

• Adapting to the needs of learners, educators and schools with Chromebooks

  Educators shape the minds of the next generation of leaders, thinkers, activists and creators. As the classroom changes, educators turn to digital tools, like Google Classroom, G Suite and Expeditions and third party apps to engage students and teac…

• Exactly Why Are You Using Tech???? – Teacher Tech

  Just because it is digital, does not make it better. As was true before we were using tech, we need to thoughtfully and intentionally design activities for student engagement. When using tech I want to know how it makes the task BETTER?

• Free Technology for Teachers: Students Can Create Their Own Tours to Share in Google Expeditions

  Googles’ Tour Creator launched last spring and since then has become one of my favorite tools for history and geography classes.

• KQED

  Alessandra is the youngest of three siblings. Her father works in construction and her mother, she said, works making French fries. A Latina student living in rural America, Alessandra is not the stereotypical future engineer. More than many profess…

• How do we evaluate school leaders? What does the research say?

  Dr. Toby A. Travis serves as the Headmaster of Desert Christian Schools in Tucson, Arizona (http://bit.ly/2T5pk8g). Previous school leadership roles include Head of School at Colegio Menor (http://colegiomenor.edu.

• Shocking – Study Finds Teachers More Enthusiastic About New Initiative If They Help Plan It | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  How to get teachers to believe in a new school program? Ask them to help design it. is the headline of another excellent story by Matt Barnum on recent education research. There really isn’t anyone better than Matt to identify, and make accessible, …

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Is Facebook Really Kicking Members Out of Groups?

  If you are a member, moderator, or admin of any Facebook group, you may have heard a buzz that they are kicking out members unless they prove they are active. Is this true? Let’s look at the buzz. Some admins are complaining that they’re losing thou…

• Video games can turn university graduates into better employees | Matthew Barr | Education | The Guardian

  In recent years, Boris Johnson has excelled at making ignorant pronouncements and illiterate blunders. From offensive remarks on burqas to reciting Kipling in Myanmar and his ludicrous statements on Brexit, Johnson has perfected the art of getting i…

• Free Technology for Teachers: JotForm Offers a Great Way to Collect Registrations for Summer Camps and Field Trips

  Summer might feel far away right now, but those of us who organize summer camps and summer field trips are already getting into full planning mode for the summer.

• Submitting Photos to Google Classroom – Teacher Tech

  As Jon Corippo says “Everything is digital when you can take a picture of it.” You can submit anything to Google Classroom. However, I would like to propose a hack.

• 10 ways to use Wakelet’s new collaboration feature

• iPhone Trick

  OK, that’s a kind of a big statement. You may have heard of this, but I found this out right before Christmas and started this blog then…but, you know. Holidays. So….just in case you haven’t heard about this, here it is.

• Creating a Student Dashboard – Classroom Powerups

  One of my students’ favorite mechanics is their personalized grade sheet which now, thanks to Alicia Woody (@SuperEvansMath), I will be calling a student Dashboard.

• Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Why was part of the moon lighter during the total lunar eclipse?

  Did you notice that part of the moon was lighter and less red during the total lunar eclipse? For example, this variation was shown clearly in this picture sent to me by Allan Jones. Reddish color for 3/4 of the moon, but lighter on the top left.

• Teachable Moment Episode 5: Make a Movie with Windows 10 Photos – NCCE’s Tech Savvy Teacher Blog

  In this teachable moment, Tammy shows how easy it is to use the Photos app in Windows 10 to make a movie!

• Free Technology for Teachers: Vizor 360 is Now Free for All – Create Interactive 360 Imagery

  Vizor offers great tools for creating interactive 360 imagery. I’ve previously covered their Patches program for creating animated VR because that was the free service that they offered. Now their core product Vizor 360 is available for free too.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Lego Launches Their 2019 Master Educator Program

  Lego Education is one of the vendors whose stands that I always enjoy visiting at big education conference like the BETT Show (I’ll be there later this week).

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Change Google Classroom Notification Settings

  Earlier today a subscriber to my Practical Ed Tech Newsletter asked me if it was possible to change the frequency of Google Classroom notification emails. Yes is the answer to that question. Here’s how to change Google Classroom notification setting…

• Remind vs. BAND: Which Is The Better App for School Teachers?

• Bloomz vs. Remind: Which Parent Communication App is Better?

• Federal Government Dishes Out Hundreds of Millions to Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  Just in case you thought that charter schools were very well funded by the Walton Family (the richest family in the world, at nearly $200 billion), the Koch brothers, the DeVos family, Reed Hastings, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, John Arnold, Philip…

• Free Technology for Teachers: You Can Now Publish Entire Book Creator Libraries

  Book Creator, one of my favorite tools for creating multimedia ebooks, has announced a new publishing option that many teachers have requested. Book Creator now lets teachers publish entire libraries of their students’ books.

• Republicans Kick Off “School Choice Week,” But Not a Single Democrat Joins Them! | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  School Choice, we now know, has been a bust. It defunds public schools and allows charters and vouchers to cherrypick the students they want. Not a single Democrat showed up to celebrate National School Choice Week. Thank the striking teachers for t…

• KQED

  Saline says that it’s distressing for kids when parents absorb and reflect their distress. Children in her practice want their parents to know, “If I’m upset and then you get upset, there’s nobody to help me reign it in and get back to center.

• Seven Reasons Why Kids Should Learn To Code – e-Learning Infographics

  Did you know creating computer codes doesn’t just sharpens your kid’s knowledge of computer applications but also develops valuable skills in life and at the workplace? Understanding technology and learning the basics of how a machine works make chi…

• 8 Things You Should Never Write On Your CV – e-Learning Infographics

  At Purple CV, we believe your CV is as unique as you are. That said, there are some words and phrases that seem to crop up on CVs a little too often.

• Sorting Algorithm Animations | Toptal

• Sorting Algorithms – GeeksforGeeks

• Voronoi Tessellations

• Interactive Voronoi Diagram Generator with WebGL – Alex Beutel

• Global School Play Day: One Day. Nothing But Play. | Cult of Pedagogy

• Why US classrooms are starting to resemble arcades

• The Kids (Who Use Tech) Seem to Be All Right – Scientific American

• 10 Oculus Go Virtual Reality Apps for the Classroom | ARVRinEDU | Jaime Donally | Professional Development

  The day the Oculus Go was released in May, I rushed to Best Buy to get the virtual reality device, which is owned by Facebook, before they sold out. To my surprise, the staff had no idea what I was describing.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Use PhotoScissors to Remove the Background from Any Image

  In yesterday’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week I shared directions for using Remove.bg to take the background out of selfies and then use those modified pictures to virtually place yourself in a new setting.

• Beyond Slideshows

  This presentation option works best in grades 6 – 12. Simple ones with just a couple slides can easily be done by younger students. Google Slides presentations are a common project, so this is a natural next step.

• Use of Technology in a PL Classroom | Inside the classroom, outside the box!

  Technology is the accelerator for our classrooms today because it has opened the door to personalized learning on a broader scale.

• Dr. King: A True Servant Leader

  As an educator I was touched by this timeless Huffington Post article from Mr. James Perry, once mayoral candidate, and the the Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center: “Among the most important lessons I’ve learned …

• Salmon report mixes good and bad news, with a touch of hope | Watching Our Water Ways

  The story of salmon recovery in Washington state is a mixture of good and bad news, according to the latest “State of the Salmon” report issued by the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Remove Image Backgrounds With PhotoScissors

  PhotoScissors is a free image editing tool that you can use to remove the background from your images. PhotoScissors is available to use for free online and is available to download as desktop software. To use PhotoScissors online simply go to the s…

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Virtual Amusement Park About Molecules

  The NanoSpace Molecularium is a nice educational game produced by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It is available to play in a web browser and is available as an iOS and Android app.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are this past week’s amazing blog posts:

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Remove the Background from Your Pictures

  Thanks to the ever-clever Tony Vincent this week I learned about a neat tool called Remove.bg. Remove.bg is a free tool that will remove the background from your images. The catch is that it will only work with pictures that have people in them.

• Should You Keep Misbehaving Students Out Of Fun Activities? – Smart Classroom Management

  Readers have asked this question again and again over the years. And I can certainly understand why.

• EV3JLib

  tags:ev3 lego leJOS

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Display the Same Event on Multiple Google Calendars

  On Thursday morning Amira asked me, “do you happen to know if you can copy an event on multiple calendars on Google Calendar?” My answer to her question was, “yes, you can.” In the following video I demonstrate how to display the same event on multi…

• Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Alternatives to Google Keep for Task Management

  Last weekend I received an email from a reader named Shayne who had experienced a problem with Google Keep notes randomly disappearing. Shayne’s research indicated that other people had the same problem.

• Tip of the Week: Forget the gym. These 5 New Year’s resolutions are what you really need | History Tech

  You’re right. Most New Year’s resolutions are made closer to the actual New Year. But it’s still January . . . so I’m good, right? And it’s never too late to make a few 2019 social studies resolutions.

• Free Technology for Teachers: In Case You Forgot That Someone Is Always Watching…

  From the pages of “Google knows when you are sleeping” comes Google’s latest search feature. Google has launched new activity cards for mobile search users. These new activity cards will appear at the top of your search page.

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Fun Literature Game

  A couple of years ago Terri Eichholz wrote a short blog post about an activity that she had found on the New Times Learning Network. I was recently scrolling through some old bookmarks and found Terri’s post again. So I went to see if it’s still ava…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Education Galaxy

  Education Galaxy is an innovative online platform for helping students grades K-6 achieve mastery/success in their subjects. This is done in a through a wide variety of ways such as: game based learning, interactive problems, and more.

• All aboard the Flat Earth cruise – just don’t tell them about nautical navigation | Science | The Guardian

  The cruise, organized by the Flat Earth International Conference, promises to be a lovely time. Flat earthers – who include the rapper B.o.B. and reality television person Tila Tequila – will be able to enjoy restaurants, swimming pools and perhaps …

• Control Alt Achieve: Have Students Build Learning Databases with Google Sheets

  Google Sheets is an amazingly flexible tool, allowing you to randomly generate writing prompts, create pixel art, and discover mathematical properties. Another great use for Google Sheets is for students to create interactive learning databases. Her…

• Yup. It’s both / and. Your kids need a balance of process and content | History Tech

  I had the chance this week to spend two days with 13 social studies teachers as we continued our work on revising the state social studies standards. Way back in 2011, we started the same basic process. State regulations require a standards review e…

• In VR boys learn best when the teacher is a drone – girls learn better from virtual Marie – University of Copenhagen

  VIRTUAL REALITY The teacher is just as important in a virtual learning environment as in a normal classroom, but a new study shows that boys and girls differ greatly in terms of how they learn best: Boys learn best when their virtual teacher comes i…

• NEW NEW NEW Google Sheets: Make Checkboxes – Teacher Tech

  A new feature in Google Sheets spreadsheets is the ability to add a checkbox to a cell. Pretty much this is going to end up being the feature I use the most often! Who doesn’t need to check things off?! Click here to view my sample spreadsheet. You …

• 10-fantastic-google-tips-from-the-google-teacher-tribe

• The Nerdy Teacher: Getting Your Hands Dirty #MakerEd

  I have spent the last few days working with 9th grade students in the Makerspace. I was asked to give them a design challenge and go over the Design Thinking process. It is an addition to the 9th grade curriculum that I’m very happy to see take plac…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Doodle 4 Google 2019

  Another year, another Doodle 4 Google contest. This year’s Doodle 4 Google is the eleventh in a row. The theme of this year’s Doodle4 Google art contest is “when I grow up, I hope…” The contest is open to students in Kindergarten through 12th grad…

• Free Technology for Teachers: New Themes and Drag & Drop Organization for Google Classroom

  Earlier today Google unveiled a couple of new features for Google Classroom. First, you can now rearrange the order of assignments and materials in your Classwork page by simply dragging and dropping them into a new order.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Customizing Fonts and Emojis in Google Docs

  Just because you’ve changed the font for one document that doesn’t mean it will automatically apply to the next document that you create. That can be done by changing the default font. This video shows you how to change the default font in Google Do…

• ghostmaster25 game design portfolio

  PLAYABLE PROTOTYPE REFLECTION Where are we? As a team Ben,Charlie,John, and I have been hard at work for the past three weeks at creating our game the Minecraft Olympics. After all these weeks I can finally say we are done. The whole story line is i…

• The Social Security Game | American Academy of Actuaries | American Academy of Actuaries

• Introduction to Gamification Part 2: Game Based Solutions – Gamified UK – #Gamification Expert

  In part 1, we spent some time discussing what gamification is and isn’t. In Part 2, we are going to take a look at something that was introduced previously, but not explored; Game Based Solutions. My definition of Game Based Solutions is as follows:

• Games and Learning: Student Reimagined Fairy Tales – Game Design and Digital Storytelling

  Hansel and Gretel The first game that I chose was a game created by Alex. He created his own interpretation of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. You begin in Hansel’s home where you discover that she has been taken by the evil witch.

• Free Technology for Teachers: A New Way to Add Drawings to Google Docs

  It’s the first full week of the year and Google has already added new features to G Suite for Education. Yesterday, Google’s G Suite Updates Blog carried the announcement that we’ll soon have a new way to add drawings to Google Documents.

• Strength-Based Assessment Practices Increase Achievement and Confidence | All Things Assessment

  Assessment that provides information on students’ learning strengths builds confidence and increases achievement. Too often, students get feedback on all they are doing wrong or their deficits. Assessment, at its best, provides information to studen…

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Pre-search Checklist for Students

  Last week I published two blog posts (here and here)in which I referenced having students make lists before they begin in-depth web research. A couple of readers have emailed me asking if I can give an example of the pre-search checklists that I men…

• Digital safety 2019: The new ‘middle layer’ of user care (Part 2) – NetFamilyNews.org

  Part 1 of this series was 2018 highlights. Now it’s time to shine light on some interesting ideas and developments that people have surfaced for a better Internet in 2019 and beyond.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Charts and Graphs in Google Docs

  A good chart or graph can sometimes help a writer paint a complete picture for his or her reader. I used to have students in one of my civics course include at least one chart of their creation when writing about voting patterns in state elections.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Sun, Moon, and Planets 101

  National Geographic’s YouTube channel has an excellent playlist that is titled National Geographic 101. As you might guess, the playlist is full of short overviews of the basics of a wide variety of topics in science and geography.

• Internet Archive: Go Back in Time with the Wayback Machine |

  Students rely on Google searches for a lot of their information. Much of the information they find online is from tertiary sources that have digested and distilled information from primary and secondary sources. This tertiary information is often bl…

• coaching-teachers-to-become-powerful-users-of-classroom-tech

  “Heather explained that in our position, we’re not always the experts on everything, sometimes we’re a sounding board or just someone to have a conversation with to feel better,” Coons said.

  • So when a child comes to a word she doesn’t know, her teacher should tell her to look at all the letters in the word and decode it, based on what that child has been taught about how letters and combinations of letters represent speech sounds. There should be no guessing, no “getting the gist of it.”
    • Kids need to learn letters and sounds to learn to read. Dare we say, phonics!
  • Since the starting point for reading is sound, it’s critical for teachers to have a deep understanding of this. But research shows they don’t.

• 5-tips-for-live-sketchnoting

• 4 Must-See Examples Of Gamification Of Compliance Training Infographic – e-Learning Infographics

  Compliance trainings have been a significant part of corporate trainings for a long time now, they have been in the online format for the last 25 years. There have been a lot of changes since then in the way learning strategies are structured.

• GeoGuessr- Build critical thinking skills with this map-based game – iLearn Technology

  What it is: GeoGuessr is a fun map-based game where students get virtually “dropped” somewhere in the world, and must explore the landscape around them through Google Street View to determine where in the world they are.

• A Principal’s Reflections: Why Connect?

  I was honored to have been interviewed for Educational Leadership, ASCD’s flagship magazine, on the power of Twitter as part of a Personal Learning Network (PLN). You can read the article HERE.

• Sue Legg: Florida Supreme Court Rules Against Public Schools, 4-3 | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  Sue Legg, former education director of the Florida League of Women Voters and a newly elected member of the board of the Network for Public Education, writes here about a decision rendered by the Florida Supreme Court on January 4.

• 6 Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2019 | Cult of Pedagogy

  Every January, I launch a brand-new edition of my Teacher’s Guide to Tech. As challenging and time-consuming as it is to put this guide together every year, it’s also pretty magical.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here are this past week’s collection of great blog posts! Happy Holidays!

• Free Technology for Teachers: An Extensive Guide to Copyright and Fair Use

  On Sunday I published a guide to locating media for use in classroom projects. In that guide I provided basic summaries of the concepts of public domain, Creative Commons, and fair use. In the section on fair use I referenced Stanford University Lib…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Terrible Passwords, Password Security, and Protecting Your Online Account

  Last week Splash Data revealed their annual list of worst passwords of the year. Many of those passwords will not be a surprise. Using “123456” and common words or names as your password is always a terrible idea.

• PALMS Backchannel Chat | The new alternative to Todaysmeet

• Lisa Eggert Litvin: Teen Suicide and High-Stakes Testing LINK ADDED | Diane Ravitch’s blog

  I’m reposting this because it was inexplicably cut off. Here is the full original….. A decade ago, California parent Vicki Abeles created a documentary called “Race to Nowhere” about the toxic effects of high-stakes testing. She did it after a frien…

• 10 Chromebook Strategies

• Control Alt Achieve: 20 Awesome Add-ons for Google Docs

  Google Docs is a powerful word processing program with many unique features including voice typing, the Explore tool, Version History, web fonts, and much more. However, Google knows that even with all of those features, Docs may not be able to do e…

• Fun with Spreadsheets: A Video Tour of my Grade Books – Classroom Powerups

  I was working on my interactive maps and realized that I needed to get a few other things ready for second semester. I ended up falling into a rabbit hole with my Gamifed Gradebook and the students’ Personalized Grade sheets and just had to share th…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Use Flipgrid on an iPad

  Last week I published a detailed tutorial on how to get started using Flipgrid in your classroom. In that tutorial I focused on using Flipgrid in the web browser on Mac, Windows, and Chrome OS computers. Students can also use Flipgrid on iPads.

• Learning Foundational Game Design Skills: Research, Sketching, Process | David Mullich

  I just accepted a teaching position at the ArtCenter College of Design, a very well regarded college in Pasadena, California offering undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide variety of art and design fields.

• Three VR iPad Apps for Social Studies Lessons

  Ever since Google launched Expeditions a few years ago every educational technology conference that I’ve been to has included sessions about virtual reality in the classroom. I’ve even given a few of those presentations.

• A Guide to Finding Media for Classroom Projects – Practical Ed Tech

  Last week I received an email from a former colleague who had received a copyright infringement notice for something she posted on a classroom blog eight year ago! She’s not alone. Every year I hear from teachers who have received similar notices.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Hide Google Classroom Assignments from Your Personal Calendar

  Last week I received an email from a reader who needed a little problem with her personal Google Calendar. The problem was that every assignment that she posted in Google Classroom was also showing up on her Google Calendar. This isn’t a big deal if…

• Measurement Activity: Google Sheets for Littles – Teacher Tech

  This spreadsheet template is for younger students to practice measuring and counting. This is an adaptation of a worksheet which had pictures of clip art next to blocks where the students counted the blocks.

• 5 E’s Lesson Plan Template for Math – Teacher Tech

  The 5 E’s lesson plan template is relatively new, did not exist when I was in my teacher prep program (or at least to my knowledge.) It was specifically designed for math and science but is a great outline for any subject area.

• 84% of teen girls in the UK play video games in their spare time | GamesIndustry.biz

  Young women and girls are becoming even more interested than they already were not just in playing games, but also watching the professionals play them.

• Affinity Spaces: What Video Games and Virtual PLNs Can Teach Educators About Informal Learning – Shaelynn Farnsworth

  On any given night, you can find my children (grades 5 & 9) along with millions of others, playing video games. From Fortnite, to Minecraft, to Roblox; many hours are logged in these virtual spaces playing… and also learning.

• King Tides don’t always follow the tide tables | Watching Our Water Ways

  Higher-than-predicted marine waters, brought about in part by recent weather conditions, have given us unexpected “King Tides” in many areas of Puget Sound.

• Guest Post – Classroom Management: Redirecting without Escalating – Circling Back (Part Two) | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  Phillip Taylor is an educator of 18 years. He wrote the English portion of the IB application and developed the IB curriculum for the English A1 program at his school site.

• Digital Citizenship: Where Are We Now? – Ideas and Thoughts

  This tweet was initiated by a few folks who are very smart and who do really good work. I’m seeing a shift in the way SM is being positioned by educators. 10 years ago SM was seen as a powerful way to connect with the world and share learning. We ha…

• Most educators do not have ‘change fatigue’ | @mcleod | Dangerously Irrelevant

  As schools and classrooms, why do we exist today? What do we believe? What are our values? What are our deepest commitments to the children we serve? And do we live all of that? Without coherent, clearly communicated answers to those questions, no s…

• Control Alt Achieve: Write Better with Writer’s Highlighter Add-on for Docs

  Writing is a process, not a one-and-done event. When a student is writing their first draft, it is important that they simply get their ideas out, mistakes and all. After that brain dump, now comes the work of editing and revising. The tool is a fre…

• Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Tornado Strikes Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula

  Tornadoes are relatively rare in Washington State, generally with 2-3 weak ones per year. But today, something very rare occurred a midwinter tornado of moderate strength, perhaps as high as EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

• Winter Break Challenge Game – Teacher Tech

  Holiday break is upon us! If your idea of relaxing is learning something new I have a list of challenges you might want to try this winter break. I have over 50 activities on the spreadsheet! Find a link in column I with more information. Put an X i…

• Helping Students See Real-World Applications for Economics | EdSurge News

• Draw a line in the snow: using tech with kids around the holidays

  In just a few days, most kids will be out of school for the holiday break. And while you and your family might be building snowmen and hanging out by the fire, the extra free time means your kids will also be spending more time on their devices.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Coming Soon – PIN Access to Google Drive Files

  Sharing Google Drive files with people who don’t have Google accounts is possible if you set the file to “anyone with the link can view.” However, that’s not a great option if the file contains information that you don’t want the entire world to be …

• Free Technology for Teachers: Six Resources for Learning About the Science of Flight

  Yesterday marked the 115th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first successful airplane flight. That reminded me that I have a bunch of interesting resources for learning about the development of and science of flight.

• Math Anxiety on Mindshift

  But new research from Beilock and her team shows that parents don’t have to overcome their fear of math to help their child succeed, as long they changed their attitudes about the subject.

• Towards Creating an Open Definition of Gamification – Gamified UK – #Gamification Expert

  Ok, so here we are again, looking at the definition of gamification. I have defined it a few times, as have many others. However, this time I am approaching it from a slightly different angle.

• Interactive Map: A Half Baked Idea (video) – Classroom Powerups

  I have been trying to figure out a way to create an Interactive Map that students can explore and go questing on. At minimum I am hoping to create something like a Super Mario Bros. World Map that shows a general path towards an objective and a few …

• What I’ve Learned From Coaching An Esports Team • Teched Up Teacher

  If you’re like me, conversations about streamers like Ninja and Fortnite dances like Orange Justice have taken over your classroom. That’s because gaming, especially esports, has hit the cultural tipping point and become mainstream. Esports, the ter…

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Quick Tip About Changing Font Sizes in Google Docs

  When it comes to formatting your documents Google Docs provides plenty of options. Some of those options are obvious and some are hidden deep in the menus of Google Docs. Here’s one that falls somewhere in between those ends of the spectrum.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Use a Spreadsheet to Create a Map

  Last week when I posted about Google closing Fusion Tables I mentioned that some of the functions of Fusion Tables can be replicated in Google Sheets. An example of that is creating a map based on the data in a Google Sheet.

• The Adventure Blog: Video: Inside a 4000-Year Old Tomb Discovered in Egypt

  Egypt is a land that is already blessed with some of the most stunning archaeological sites found anywhere on the planet, but now you can add another one to the list.

• NASA Press Release – Cube Sats

  A series of new CubeSats now are in space, conducting a variety of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, following launch Sunday of Rocket Lab’s first mission for NASA under a Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) contract.

• Amusing Monday: TED Ed video features Southern Resident orcas | Watching Our Water Ways

  Last week, a new animation was posted online describing the matriarchal social structure of our beloved killer whales, in which elder females serve as guides for generations of their living descendants. (See first video.)

• Free Technology for Teachers: 21 Places to Find Media for Classroom Projects

  Yesterday, people who subscribe to the Practical Ed Tech newsletter received a copy of my guide to finding copyright-friendly media for use in classroom projects. The guide includes explanations of Public Domain, Creative Commons, and Fair Use.

  
  

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Here some of this week’s amazing blog posts:

• 21 Things You Should Never Do To Students – Smart Classroom Management

  Effective classroom management is as much about what you don’t do. As it is about what you do.

• Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: The Winter Transition is Imminent

  It is like falling off a meteorological cliff. And it happens every year. The transition to winter weather in the Pacific. It is a real meteorological curiosity.

• Machine Teaching, Machine Learning, and the History of the Future of Public Education

  These are my prepared remarks, delivered on a panel titled “Outsourcing the Classroom to Ed Tech & Machine-learning: Why Parents & Teachers Should Resist” at the Network for Public Education conference in Indianapolis. The other panelists were Peter…

• Innovation in Education – Reading By Example

  I walked into a classroom that was modeling the story structure process. The teacher had provided one-word sentence starters as a guide. The students were using this structure to organize a personal narrative in their writing journals.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Storyboard Templates in Google Slides or PowerPoint

  Creating a storyboard is an excellent way for students to plan video projects. Storyboards provide a frame-by-frame outline of the plot of a video.

• Free Technology for Teachers: Three Ways to Make Social Media Profiles for Historical and Literary Characters

  Earlier this week I received an email from a reader who was looking for a way that her students could create fake Facebook and other social media profiles based on historical and literary characters.

• Gaming Association of Manitoba Educators – Keynote » edurealms.com

  Wow.  200+ educators in one place to explore all things related to games and learning!!  Thank you @gametolearnmb for organizing an incredible event!  I wish I could be physically present to hang out with you all (y’all as we say, ’round here) and l…

• 12 must have teamplates for teachers and students

• Legal settlement could help protect salmon eggs incubating in gravel | Watching Our Water Ways

  Washington Department of Ecology has agreed to take steps to protect wild salmon eggs incubating in gravel by developing entirely new water-quality standards to control fine sediment going into streams.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Set Start and End Times for Videos in Google Slides

  This morning I answered an email from a reader who had a question about ytCropper. The link ytCropper link for her cropped video wasn’t working in Google Slides. My solution was to not use ytCropper and instead just use the built-in formatting tools…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Why Have Students Make Simple Animations?

  Last week I wrote about having middle school students create presentations from a combination of illustrations and videos that they made. In that post I shared Brush Ninja animation tool. That’s just one of many tools that students could have used t…

• Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Beautiful weather produces noisy mornings!

  Yesterday morning I received an email from blog reader Emily Vilbrant wondering about an increase of train noise during the morning hours. Distant trains sounded unusually loud and clear. Emily asked if I might have an explanation. And I have been n…

• Virtual Reality Employee Training Is Here. Should You Adopt?

  Imagine a world in which new hires can practice running through chaotic Black Friday scenarios without interacting with actual customers and potentially harming your brand.

• Metacognition Hyperdoc – Mari Venturino

  This year I’m doing something entirely crazy with my AVID class–I’m going (mostly) gradeless! It’s a bit scary, seeing as I have to report grades each six weeks. So, my solution is to have students keep a portfolio, then reflect on their progress an…

• Class Rules Focus Poster in Rainbow Colors – Mrs. Harris Teaches…

  The classroom rules focus poster I created was originally designed in blue and green. Although my classroom color scheme has always been blue and green, other teachers have different color palettes. With that in mind, I created several different col…

• The Moral Imperative of Sharing | Silvia Tolisano- Langwitches Blog

  We are all on our own learning journey. All of us have different experiences and backgrounds. Some of us have been reflecting on the paradigm shift in education longer than others.

• Equal Earth Gets a Wall Map – The Map Room

  It was announced today at NACIS that the Equal Earth projection is now available as a wall map—which is a necessary thing if it’s going to go toe-to-toe with the Peters map.

• how dungeons dragons primes students for interdisciplinary learning including stem

  “Dungeons & Dragons, and other narrative role playing games of its kind, provide many opportunities for learning,” said Simkins. “Participation in narrative role play can open up interests in topics such as mathematics, science, history, culture, et…

• A-Frame – Make WebVR

  A web framework for building virtual reality experiences Make WebVR with HTML and Entity-Component Works on Vive, Rift, Daydream, GearVR, desktop Get Started Supported by

• Getting started with VR

  As I attend conferences and education events, the topic that seems to be on everyone’s lips is augmented and virtual reality. After doing some research, I wanted to see what it would take to introduce AR / VR into the classroom. I found a tool calle…

• How Many Ways Can You Write 27 + 8? – Teacher Tech

  Rule, after you find the solution whatever way you want, you have to do it another way. Too often we focus on algorithm procedures rather than number sense or place value.

• EDU in 90 – YouTube

  EDU in 90 is a new video series from Google for Education. Each episode, we’ll focus on an important topic for educators, administrators, and school leaders – things like product updates, new programs, and helpful resources for the classroom.

• 8 Halloween Reads to Make Your October Spooktacular

  In this collection of Halloween reads there’s something for kids, teens, and adults, whether you prefer your October filled with silliness, spooks, or full-on scares.

• Free Technology for Teachers: A New LOC Online Collection – Theodore Roosevelt’s Papers

  I have always found Theodore Roosevelt to be one of the most fascinating characters in U.S. History. That is why I was excited this morning when I saw an email from the Library of Congress announcing the online publication of Theodore Roosevelt’s pa…

• Single-point rubrics and Checkmark make your life easier & your kids smarter | History Tech

  We’ve all been there. You just finished putting together a great instructional lesson or unit. Kids are gonna love it. They’re working together. Doing research. Creating stuff, not just consuming it. The historical thinking will be off the charts. T…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: GameBuilder

  GameBuilder is an excellent site for game based learning that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo’s blog. Not only can an educator find any number of games on a wide range of subjects they can also select a template and create their own game.

• Dancing Robots & More | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  Robots at Work and Play is a photo gallery from The Atlantic.

• Free Technology for Teachers: JotForm – A Better Way to Create Online Forms

  If you have ever looked at a form on a web page and thought, “I’d like my forms to look like that,” then JotForm is the service you need to try. JotForm is a service for making fillable online forms.

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Money-Saving Facebook Setting Phone Providers Don’t Want You to Know

  If you have Facebook on your phone, you may have noticed that videos automatically play. If you are not connected to WiFi this eats up your data. Here’s what my data looks like: When talking with some colleagues we were discussing this and found out…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Design a Custom Certificate in Google Slides

  On Monday I shared tutorials for two ways to send personalized certificates via Google Forms and Google Sheets. What I didn’t include in those tutorials was how to create a custom certificate without using the default certificate template found in G…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Wakelet Makes it Easier to Organize Bookmarks

  Wakelet is quickly becoming a popular choice amongst teachers who want to create collections of notes that can include text, videos, links, and pictures. Students can use it for the same purpose and share their collections with their teachers.

• Turn School Permission Forms into PDFs with JotForm – Class Tech Tips

  Collecting and keeping track of permission forms can be an organizational headache for schools. As you work to leverage the power of technology in your school, you can combine online data entry with traditional PDF files.

• Free Technology for Teachers: A New Vertical Ruler and New Margin Settings in Google Docs

  Google has added two new formatting features to Google Docs. First, there is now a vertical ruler that you can use to evenly space the rows in tables in your Google Documents. Second, you can now adjust the size of the margins in your headers and fo…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Case Maker – Civics Lessons Built on Primary Sources

  Case Maker is a free service designed for middle school social studies teachers and their students. Case Maker uses primary sources from the Library of Congress as the basis of activities in which students have to build a case in response to real ci…

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Unhangout

  Unhangout is an interesting new site from MIT for creating events/backchannel chats, that I just found out about from Larry Ferlazzo’s blog.

• Reflections on Situated Learning vs. The Traditional School System |

  The more I learn about situated learning theory, developed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, the more I find myself reflecting on the sharp contrast between authentic learning and the design of traditional schools and curriculum.

• Stop Collecting Papers – Classroom Powerups

  I am trying to get better at my click-bait titles. How did that one sound? The only thing better would be if I could get a Listicle title in there – 5 Ways to Stop Collecting Papers… Maybe next week.

• Atomic Habits: How to Easily Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones – Hack Learning

  Thanks so much for stopping by Hack Learning. Please join others like you who have decided to become a Master Teacher. Grab your copy of the 10 Habits of Master Teachers presentation now. Click on the form below, enter your email, and you’ll have 10…

• Free Technology for Teachers: Halloween Articles for ELA Lessons

  ReadWorks is a popular service that offers a huge library of standards-aligned ELA lesson plans for K-12. You can search the ReadWorks library according to grade level and topic. Throughout the year ReadWorks publishes curated collections to align w…

• TED-Ed Launches Cool New Animated Poetry Video Series | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  TED-Ed is launching a weekly video series of animated poetry. The first one is only available on Facebook right now, and it’s embedded below. I assume they’ll soon start showing them on their regular YouTube channel.

• Video: “Deepfake Videos Are Getting Real and That’s a Problem” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  GDJ / Pixabay I’m adding this new video to The Best Tools & Lessons For Teaching Information Literacy – Help Me Find More:

• New Video: “The Origins of Halloween” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  QuinceMedia / Pixabay I’m adding this new Reading Through History video to The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween:

• Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting social studies back into K-8 | History Tech

  Full confession. Elementary kids freak me out. They’re sticky. They smell funny. And they throw up. All the time. Seriously. All the time. Every day.

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: Elementari

  Elementari is a wonderful new site for digital storytelling and project based learning that I just found out about from Larry Ferlarzzo’s excellent blog.

• Free Technology for Teachers: How I Found a Google Earth File of 550+ Ancient Greek Places

  Last night on Twitter Wes Fryer asked me if I knew of any Google Earth files that displayed ancient Greek locations. I didn’t have anything within my own bookmarks so I did a quick Google search that I filtered according to file type. I first filter…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Import Files Into Google Earth

  In my previous post I shared the steps that I took to find a Google Earth file that contains more than 550 ancient locations in ancient Greece. At the end of the video in that post I demonstrated how I was able to display those locations in Google E…

• Control Alt Achieve: 360 Degree Learning with Google Tour Creator

  Google has a rich history of creating map-related tools that can be used across all subject areas for engaging, immersive learning experiences. Some of these include Tour Builder, Earth, Expeditions, My Maps, and many more (see my slideshow on Googl…

• The Golden Age of Podcasting

• Free Technology for Teachers: New Ways to Personalize Certificates in the Certify’em Google Forms Add-on

  Certify’em is a Google Forms Add-on that I have been using all year to issue certificates when people complete one of my professional development webinars or courses. Certify’em makes it easy to have certificates automatically emailed to people when…

• Free Technology for Teachers: How to Send Personalized Certificates via Google Forms or Google Sheets

  From perfect attendance to volunteerism to honor roll there are lots of occasions during the school year for schools to issue certificates to students.

• The Ultimate Guide To Twitter 2018

  Most educators who learn to use Twitter effectively say they learn more from their personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter than any other forms of professional development or personal learning.

• Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: If You Worry About Climate Change and Care About the Environment, Vote No on I-1631

  If you care about the environment, if you worry about global warming, and if this summer’s smoke is of concern, you should vote against Washington State Initiative 1631. If you are like me, you are worried about the impacts of increasing CO2 in the …

• OneNote Class Notebook: A Digital Binder That Will Change the Way You Teach | Cult of Pedagogy

  This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. Now imagine doing all of those things inside a single digital platform, where you could share and deliver materials, access student work, and allow students to work together seamlessly at school or …

• EdTech Nut – Kelly Fitzgerald: Thinking/Sentence Frames for All Content Areas

  Thinking Frames are used to help students begin the thought process by providing a model for organizing their thinking. They should be used in any classroom K-12, regardless of level or content area.

• Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator: Tool to Brand Yourself or School with a Logo

  Educational institutions are becoming more and more aware of the importance of branding staff and schools in our digital world. However schools and districts often don’t consistently have and/or use their logo and slogan in their materials.

• Free Logo Maker, Create Custom Logo Designs Online – DesignEvo

  Not a registered user yet? Sign Up Already have an account? Login

• Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero: SOLE

  SOLE is a “self organized learning environment” that is a wonderful app for mobile learning and integrating technology into the classroom. The way this works is by a simple process: asking a question or selecting one, investigating/collaborating w/ …

• Google Maps Walking Tours with Street Views and Screencasting

• The 56 Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2018 | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  With this post, I’m beginning to publish my end-of-year “The Best….” lists. There are over 1,700 regularly updated lists now.  You can see them all here.  You can also find many of them organized a bit differently here.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.