First a Google Tip! Did you know that you can publish a Google Doc as a web page? What a great idea for updating homework weekly without all the copy and paste mess. Not just docs but slides and sheets and drawings as well! Imagine! You and your students could make your own class book and then publish it online. Here is a link to show you how but I would love to come in and help as well! http://goo.gl/JXOVHD
2. Have you heard of Google Lit Trips? Google Lit Trips are interactive Google Maps based off of novels. There is a website full of downloadable (or use as they are) lit trips. This is a great way of helping students understand where and how a character moved around as the book proceeds. Once you use some of the Lit Trips from Google, you may want to create your own. http://www.googlelittrips.org/
3. I have had four people this week ask me to remind them about the quiz like website called Kahoot. Kahoot is a collection of questions you create on specific topics. They are asked in real-time, to an unlimited number of “players”, creating a social, fun and game-like learning environment. And it is absolutely free! https://getkahoot.com/ After your create your Kahoot you send your students to Kahoot It on any type of device, give them the game pin and they can interact with your game. https://kahoot.it/#/. The best part is you can log in with your Google account and Kahoot can send the results to your Drive on a Google Sheet!
4. Are you interested in creating videos of your instruction for a flipped classroom, blended learning experience or to just provide students with a way to remember the steps of a particular task? Most of our classroom computers already have the capability to do this. You can use a Smart tool called Smart Recorder. In the list of All Programs on your computer you will see a folder called Smart Technologies. In this is a folder called Smart Tools. This is where you will locate your Smart Recorder and it is SIMPLE to use! You can see it pictured below in front of a Smart Notebook document but you can use it with any program or website. It has three buttons. The red is record, the middle is pause, and the square is stop! When you click stop a window will open asking you to name your video. Simple! You will need a microphone if you recording audio. Ask your ITRT and she may be able to help locate one.
5. Friday at the Movies!
1. A cool Google Drive app I found is called Copy Folder. You can find this app in the Chrome Web Store. Previously if you wanted to copy a multitude of files in your google drive you would have to select all the files and then copy but you couldn't copy an entire folder with the files inside. This app allows you to do so. I love it!
2. A book I think is worth sharing is called Parent Chat: The Technology Talk for Every Parent. Matt McKee is the author of this book that I think is a must read for every parent. This book will help you help parents win the technology wars with their kids no matter their age.
3. An awesome Google Tip from my summer certification process that I think you will like too is Canned Responses in Gmail. Have you ever had to say the same thing over and over again in an email? Do you hate typing it over and over? You can create a canned response and then just insert it into your email when needed. Here are directions for how to do it. If you have any trouble, please ask me and I will come help.
4. A website that is worth checking out is 360 degree Cities. You may have seen me bring in my Google Cardboard or my Google Viewmaster. I LOVE virtual reality. This website brings the same experience without the Cardboard or Viewmaster. Below is one that I loved playing with; the first snow on Lake Grimsel Dam. Try it out!!
5. Last spring the ITRTs attended a Google Summit. One of the presenters suggested curating YouTube videos that you could use in teaching. Remember, a video doesn't just have to show the Battle of Gettysburg or the Life Cycle of a Butterfly. It can be used as a writing prompt, a math lesson or a way to access background knowledge. Or maybe just for your own fun. This is one of my favorite videos below.
Hi, my name is Melanie Lewis. I am an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher for Amherst County Public Schools, located in the beautiful state of Virginia. I LOVE my job! I get to work on my hobby, anything that has to do with computers. I get to work with teachers and students, and I am definitely a people person. Plus, I DO NOT have to give grades. Wonderful, huh? Let me know how I can help you better integrate technology into your classroom.
ACPS' 1st computers
I know only one thing about the technology that awaits us in the future: We will find ways to tell stories with it. ~Jason Ohler