Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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πŸ’₯ Tech items - Some great tools in this week's email. Summer tech, A free iPad app, and a couple fun videos to get us through the Covid teaching blues.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020



We have updated our FlipGrid resource doc with some great resources. (We found an amazing resources site.)  This is a top 10 tech tool for K-12! Checkout our FlipGrid resource guide.

 Discover Khan + Create  - Some great lessons using free Adobe tools to make K-12 lessons engaging. 
Be sure to check out 40 new lessons that bring together Khan Academy materials and free Adobe Spark apps to keep students engaged and inspired. Lessons span language, literature, math, science, social studies, and careers.  Adobe educators extend Khan Academy lessons with engaging, creative activities for students of all ages  Explore now!

Remember our summer tech opportunities!
  • Get paid to become Google certified! 
  • 2 remote tech classes offered for college credit. Register ASAP. (2 have been cancelled.)
  • New staff tech training days.
  • Secretary tech training day.
  • Tech bootcamp
  • Check out all of the details here. 
When you join a video conference (Especially large conferences)  join with your audio muted to avoid looking like a novise!   
  • When you join a video conference you should join with your audio muted.
  • You should unmute when you are talking, but after you are done and others are talking you should mute yourself again.
  • Always be aware of your video - is it on or off.  We have all heard of the embarrassing situations that have occurred by people not knowing this.  (There is a reason they call it a video conference!)
  • Please teach your students to do this as well.  These are not just tech skills, but business and social etiquette. 
How to Use Flipgrid to Create Whiteboard Videos  - There are a ton of great features in Flipgrid that you can use in a variety of ways.  More info on the Whiteboard Videos and a few more features here. 

Miscellaneous tech tools and tips:
Some more great tips from DitchThatTextBook.  Check them out here: https://ditchthattextbook.com/ 
20 easy ways to collaborate globally with your class now -- Video calls don't have to be boring. We can make them an unforgettable experience! Add some new ideas at the end of the year, like bringing in a guest or playing a game together!

8 YouTube-inspired classroom video ideas -- Are your students recording video? Don't just have them record "head and shoulders" "face the camera" videos. Try a type of video that's popular on YouTube -- like an unboxing video or a product

30+ digital escape rooms (plus a step-by-step guide for creating your own) -- The escape room craze has hit, and a digital version could be exactly what your students are craving at the end of the year! Find pre-created escape rooms you can use OR make your own with our guide.

A few great tips from @tonyvincent (Thanks for allowing me to use your tips and graphics!) 
Long videos can be an information overload. Shorter clips with time to think, discuss, and apply can help learners better understand the content. One way to chop up a video is with Google Slides. 


 Immersive Reader is a full screen reading experience designed to make reading easier. You can open highlighted text from a web page in Immersive Reader using this unofficial Chrome extension.

Personal computer Looking for a good QR code scanner for laptops and Chromebooks?  Try this one. 


 Immersive Reader is a full screen reading experience designed to make reading easier. You can open highlighted text from a web page in Immersive Reader using this unofficial Chrome extension.



 Looking for a good QR code scanner for laptops and Chromebooks?  Try this one. 

Black square button My favorite QR code generator is http://GoQR.me. It's simple to use and no login required

























Time Timer for iPad is free right now (was $2.99). Customize, save, and reuse timers:


Vocaroo.com has been updated, and two big barriers to its use have been removed! It no longer requires Flash, and there’s a better deletion policy. 




A few fun videos for a smile:

I Will Survive, Coronavirus version for teachers going online.  You may have already seen this, but if not... it's worth a listen! 

A Conference Call in Real Life  - Maybe similar to a few things we run across with our video conferences. πŸ˜€ This one is an oldie but a goodie. 

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