Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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💥Tech Tools, tips and more in the last tech tips email before summer!

Monday, May 22, 2017




Web sites and resources:

This amazing online resource (Form Elem & MS)  will have your students begging to practice their math skills every day. And did I mention that it’s free? -Check out this article here.

Great crowd-sourced Google Doc of awesome teaching videos


Excellent, free, online keyboarding program for K-12 students. 

Exploring the History of Everything with ChronoZoom

Google Tip: Add Emojis to Google Drive Folders.  This 3-minute video will show you how.  (Could be about 1 minute... ☺

21 Tools for Conducting Digital Formative Assessments - This is a good list of tools! 

Need to edit audio --  This Online Audio Editor Is Beautiful.  TwitedWave is also another one to look at.

This Tool Makes It Super Easy to Create Interactive Simulations



Online whiteboard - Aww App - Check it out. I have mentioned this one before... but it's worth mentioning again. FREE, Easy, collaborative, etc... Check it out!

3 Quick Formative Assessment Examples for Teachers.

Google Assistant App now Available.
This is the same assistant that is a part of the Google Home device. (Similar to Amazon's Alexa. -Which I love.) Get it in the IOS store for your iPhone. (It's built into the Android phones. More info here on Android.)

Virtual Reality (VR) Resources:

Google Cardboard and VR (Virtual Reality) Resources - Checkout my doc of resources.  Also, visit with Shelly Coe in our middles School and our Google Expeditions setup! 


If you have not experienced 360 degree YouTube videos... this is a good one:  See beyond the walls of the Tower of London.  (Just click on the video and move around the screen in 360-degree fashion.) 

QR Codes:

Cloud QR Image, Video, and Audio QR Code Creator (Designed for teachers and students!)- It does QR codes... and Cloud QR lets you use the built-in microphone on your tablet or smartphone to record audio and narrate images. When you share the QR code with students they only see the video without leaving the Cloud QR app. This YouTube Playlist will get you started with the app.

Google add-on for graphs in docs:

Yob - Graph Editor, Check out the 2-minute video here, and install the add-on here.

Google Slides:

Gmail
Streamline your inbox with these Gmail Gems and tips: 

Watch the latest episode of the G Suite Show to learn how to:
  • Use multiple inboxes
  • Automatically apply labels using filters
  • Use integrated search to share Drive files right from Gmail
  • Undo send
YouTube:


Awesome digital citizenship curriculum and tech curriculum available.  (From my last staff email.)   This one is for Norris use only - (since we purchased the KnowBe4 product): 

Kevin Mitnick Security Home Internet Course: 

This can also be used at home, with parents, etc...  If you are a Norris Staff Member, drop me an email to get the password for this great resource! 

Google training courses for students and staff
Video-based lessons for grades 7 - 12 - New 2017 

Check out my info doc to get you started.  If you have any questions or need help... let us know.



Some great resources from the National Archives!

(This segment was taken from a promotional email from the national archives.)
DocsTeach - Bring history to life for your students.

Analyzing Documents Tool with Lewis Hine Photograph
New Analyzing Documents Tool

We're happy to announce our first new activity tool since we launched DocsTeach almost seven years ago!

Create activities with the Analyzing Documents tool to teach students the process of document analysis:
  • Meet the document. 
  • Observe its parts. 
  • Try to make sense of it. 
  • Use it as historical evidence.
Analyzing Documents activities guide students through primary source documents for contextual understanding and to extract information to make informed judgments. Read more about this tool - or jump right in by creating a new activity and choosing Analyzing Documents as your activity type.
Managing Your Students' Responses

My Students' Responses
We listened to educators who told us they wanted to use DocsTeach with their students, but weren't interested in receiving an email every time one of their students completed an activity.

Now you can view your students' completed activities on the My Students' Responses page. You can even create groups to organize your students' work - students will choose from the groups that you set up when they finish their activities. And you can use the new My Response Settings page to turn off email notifications entirely if you'd like.

To test out this feature or change your settings, log in and choose My Account in the menu.
Document Search
Better Searches

We've drastically improved search functionality so that you can more easily find the primary sources and activities that you're looking for. Now when you search for Vietnam War, for example, you'll only get results that have both the words Vietnam and War. But we included other options, so you can pick the type of search that you prefer.

We also changed how our search works so that you get the most relevant results first. Searching Chinese Exclusion Act, for example, gives you the actual Act first, followed by documents related to the topic.
...and more

We've made additional behind-the-scenes updates to improve the overall DocsTeach experience. We hope these changes will make the site easier to use, and an even better tool for bringing history to life. But we always love to hear feedback - so let us know if you have an idea to improve DocsTeach!
Recently Added Documents

As always, we've been adding more primary sources - here are some recent highlights, documents from two Supreme Court cases:

Excerpt from Buck v. Bell decision
Buck v. Bell  - This newly digitized case file concerns the issue of involuntary sterilization and can help students learn about the eugenics movement in the United States. Read more about the case on our Education Updates blog.
Excerpt from Notice of the Supreme Court Opinion in Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia - This case established the principle of "tribal sovereignty." The Supreme Court ruled that states, like Georgia, could not diminish rights of tribes because the Cherokee Nation constituted a nation holding distinct sovereign powers as granted by Congress and the United States.

Tech tool and resources - April 2017



Web sites and tools:

Start using the world's #1 language-learning tool now, for free. They even have a school setup where you can manage students and their progress. 


Google Earth - Now web based!
Earth is now all web based... no install...and it now works on Chromebooks, etc...

Open Educational Resources (OERs) 
Check out my list of Open Educational Resources (OERs)  and ....New in Kahn Acadamy - Beta test April 2017 -- Use NWEA MAP Test scores to generate personalized study recommendations.


Hope my email on doc sharing from a few weeks did not scare you too much. - Keep sharing!
Google apps are amazing with their sharing and collaboration features.  Microsoft's mix up just brought to light the importance of always knowing what we do with emails, doc sharing, etc...  Didn't want to scare you with my email/post, but just drive home the point of always knowing what we are doing. 

Google Docs:

Here is a feature for Pence .. but they waited until he is retiring to introduce it!  LOL: Convert text to all CAPS and more in Google Docs 


How to integrate Google Keep with Google Docs -  Google has finally integrated Keep into Docs. Here's why this might be the best thing since the rise of the cloud, and how to enable this feature.

Google Slides

Wow - This is cool!  Stop Motion Animation with Google Slides.  Want to see what I am talking about - Check it out: Vocabulary Term: Identical - Google Slides link

EDpuzzle now includes instant feedback!

If you have ever wanted to assign a YouTube video and make sure students have watched it, and maybe even answer some questions along the way during the video..... THIS IS FOR YOU! (HS Staff - This is one that Andrew Carlson showed recently at the staff meeting.) And... it's free. 



IOS Apps:

Shadow Puppet EDU: This slideshow creator is definitely a favorite. Students can search for images within the app, add text or stickers to their image, and record their voice to show off how-to do something.



Smart PDF Scanner: Scan Documents and Receipts by Qrayon, LLC gone FREE

As of 4-18-17 -  Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie and Garageband are completely free apps!