Maker Space

This article talks about what a Maker Space is and the purpose behind having one.

Hands of Teaching, Causes Metacognition!

Edutopia article about getting kids thinking about thinking.

Re-inventing Schools with Choice article

This article discusses the current lack of engagement in schools and the changes in choice that can help remedy those factors.

Great article on the power of choice!

Article

SAMR, Twitter Chats for teachers, and Google Drive for students

SAMR Illustration

Twitter chats for teachers

Google Drive sharing for students

Poem in Your Pocket Day, April 30th

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month?  Think about celebrating with Poem in Your Pocket Day..

Poets.org is showcasing activities to celebrate National Poetry Month including

• Start a “poems for pockets” give-a-way in your school or workplace
• Urge local businesses to offer discounts for those carrying poems
• Post pocket-sized verses in public places
• Handwrite some lines on the back of your business cards
• Start a street team to pass out poems in your community
• Distribute bookmarks with your favorite immortal lines
• Add a poem to your email footer
• Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
• Text a poem to friends  

For more information head to Poets.org. 
Poets.org,. 'Poem In Your Pocket Day | Academy Of American Poets'. N.p., 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.

Videos on iPads in Instruction

150 videos on how to integrate iPads into instruction EdTech

Follw-up to the other days Google tips. Here are 35 more things Google can do that I bet you didn't know half of these existed.

Here is the article.

WOW!!!! Great list of things you can do with Google that will change how you use it.

Check out this article of great Google features.

Easy way to create a discussion board, post notes, photos etc.

This is a simple tool to use for organizing thoughts, collaborative, media friendly, and useful for many classroom settings.  Check out linoit here.

Not a tech blog but worth your time to read, Brain Break activities

Here is a list of brain break activities from Edutopia.

Ever wonder about Hashtags #? This article explains how Hashtags are used on different social medias platforms.

#Hashtag article

Enhancing Retention and Retrieval of a Lesson

Reading over this infographic shared through elearning.com I am struck with how many of the following ideas could be accomplished and made easier with digital tools.  "Snap-Shots", in particular could be made practical by students designing their own Google Slides presentation (instead of a video) to share what they have learned. Students could include screen shots of your lesson to annotate their ideas and extensions making it truly their own to share with others.


Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

How to search Twitter

Here is a video showing educators how to search Twitter for content that would be of benefit for them.

Thanks Jamie for sharing.

How to Edit Office Files in Google Drive from Shake Up Learning

How to Edit Office Files in Google Drive

It's no secret that I like Google Chrome and all that goes with it.  However there are sometimes when I wished that I could work with  Office files as easily as GAFE tools.  Well, thanks to the new Google Drive and a little bitty extension, you can.  It has actually been around awhile but being a chronic user I have not had a need until recently.  I was reminded of this extension from one of my favorite edtech bloggers at ShakeUpLearning.

ShakeUpLearning.com

Long story short, as described in ShakeUpLearning, you will be to have a few conditions met to make it work its magic.









You must

1.  Be in Chrome.

2.  Have the Chrome extension, Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides.  Get yours free from the Chrome Web Store or just click here for a shortcut.

3.  Once you are in Chrome and have installed the extension just click the file and it will stay in the Office format unless you ask it to save as a Google format.



Happy editing.

Wisconsin Media Lab Teacher Preview

The state of Wisconsin offers k-12 multimedia educational content  to its citizens FREE.  Some of you may be familiar and even use "Into the Book" from their website.  They are now asking for our input on which resources you would like to be considered for next year.  From the site you can now preview resources such as BrainPop and the Digital Science in Spanish.

Follow this link to make your voice heard.  Wisconsin Media Lab Previews