Tech tips, free apps, free jazz music albums and more in this weeks posting.

A few more house cleaning notes for our Norris Teachers: 

This is a list of our Google Groups in nsdtitans.org with no members.  If you own any of these groups and no longer use them... please delete the group. 

Remember - If you have any files to delete on your Z drive, now is a great time to do it!  I would upload anything you want to Google Drive.  (Teh Z drive is not going away next year, but you never know in the future.)

Still room in the tech classes - So we would love you have you.  (If you are sitting in on the class for non-credit, make sure you let me know so I can plan on you!) 

Web tools and sites:

Got a list of text in the wrong format? Tell Transformy  how you want it and it'll do the rest.

Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Good Ways to Send Text & Push Notifications to Students & Parents - A Handout 

You can give your classroom learning centers or stations a makeover with technology! The collection of activities teachers provide their students at a center can be enhanced with technology, even if there’s only one computer or tablet available. Nice downloadable PDF graphic.

Google Search: 

12 Google Search Tricks You Probably Didn’t Know 

I am now using the Tab key to enhance my Google Searches, here is why -- http://goo.gl/De2jOP 

Google Apps:

4 Tips For Making Professional Looking Google Docs

6 things From Excel That You Didn’t Know You Could Do In Google Sheets

Quick tips for using Google tools in your classroom

Send a link to any student in your classroom running this Chrome Extention via sound. Kind of cool.  (I still recommned using Google Classroom for this, but this is a quick alterative too!) 

6 Futuristic Google Tools That Feel Like Science Fiction

Google Classroom:

Add Multiple Teachers to a Class in Google Classroom

Android Apps:

10 indispensable Android apps for teachers

IOS Apps:

The free iPad app Paper by FiftyThree now includes ThinkKit for creating diagrams and mind maps: 

Stay up to date with all of the new features and additions to Google Apps:

Google Apps updates alerts feed is a nice place to start with the latest updates listed in a short feed.

What's new in Google Apps siteWhat's new in Google Apps site and newsletter -  You can sign up to receive the monthly newsletter here. 

Sign up for the Google Apps for Education newsletter. 

The Google for Education blog has all of the latest announcements concerning

A little free Jazz music:

Google Play Store is offering few Digital MP3 Albums listed below for Free.

Note, must be logged into your Google Account to take advantage of these offers. (You can log into your nsdtitans.org account and grab them, and then log into your personal gmail account to grab them there as well.) 

• Playlist: The Very Best Of Billie Holiday (Digital MP3 Download) Free
• Playlist: The Very Best Of Miles Davis (Digital MP3 Download) Free
• Play: Jazz Pioneers: Various Artists (Digital MP3 Download) Free

These tools ROCK -Lucid Chart updates, Google Apps, 5 minute Assessment tools and more!

Web tools and sites:

Realtime Board - Grab your free educators account here (Pro features free for EDU). 

Interesting infographic covering some handy Google search tips.

From our very out Matt Clemens - Authors Who Skype with Classes & Book Clubs (for free!)

MindMup - A Mind Mapping Tool That Saves to Google Drive

Free Technology for Teachers: How to Quickly Create a Video on Magisto 

Get lost on those historic trails that Lewis & Clark navigated in the 1800s via@googlemaps goo.gl/3h5rKQ

Kids can turn off your TV, Projector, and more... with this app.

Some of the Android phones/devices include IR (infrared) (I so they can act like your TV/projector remote.) Apple devices currently do not support this.

So the bad news is... kids with certain Android devices and apps installed can turn your TV on or off, change channels, control your projector, etc...

 

The Peel app is one app that does this.  Android App OR  IOS App (As noted above, IOS does not have IR built in, so they would need an extra device to make that work.)  This peel app is pretty cool, even includes TV Guide like features.

What can you do about it... not much.  Just have good classroom management and be aware of what can be done in case your TV/Projector/ etc... starts behaving like it has a mind of its own.  (It will probably be a middle school kid playing tricks on you!) 

Quick 5-minute Classroom assessments - Use these tools:

Quizizz - http://quizizz.com/ 

Kahoot! - https://getkahoot.com/

Socrative - http://www.socrative.com/

Lucid Charts:

If you have not looked at this tool you are missing out.  The pro features are free for education, and we have it added to our Google Apps.

Now with this great feature... it's even better!

Turn Your Mind Maps Into Presentations With LucidChart's New Presentation Mode ow.ly/MmpHs

Google Apps:

Have you used the collaboration feature in Google Docs? If not... you are missing out, when you need to collaborate on a doc. In the upper right-hand corner of the doc, you will find the following drop-down menu: 

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Or use comments, to draw attention to things but not suggesting an edit:

​

Want some more great tips like above... Watch this short 5 minute video - Collaborative Editing | Docs, Sheets, Slides | The Apps Show for more including notification rules, bookmarks in docs, and more!

The Apps Show by Google is a nice YouTube channel with a great short series of videos introducing many Google Apps features and uses. 

4 Things You Can Do Right Now To Create A Perfectly Organized Google Drive

Google For Education (@GoogleForEdu) - Check out these handy add-ons for access to even more creative features with goo.gl/nYAbQt

Google Drive:

5 great Google Drive tips: Keyboard shortcuts, saving options, templates and more.

Google Drawing:

Quick Intro to Google Drawing with Included Graphic Organizer Templates - This short 4 1/2 Min. Video will get you started.  it rocks!  This is a great K-12 tool, that few teachers have explored! 

Google Forms:

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – Create a Check In/ Out System in Google Forms

Free Images, sounds and more - a Tip from our Norris HS Media Center specialist - Mrs. Huenemann 

It's close to the end of the year and I see many students working hard on papers and presentations. Don't forget to tell students any images, video or audio content they use needs to be cited and often needs permission.

I have compiled some great sites that have images, audio, and video in the public domain for students to use in their presentations. Go to the HS library website and you will find a  Copyright Free link on the left-hand side. Direct your students to use these sites instead of just google, so they need not live in fear of copyright infringement!

Free apps, Realtime Board Accounts, Google Classroom updates and more... in this weeks resources!

Web tools and sites:

Realtime Board - Grab your free educators account here.  Whiteboard. Finally in your browser. - Works across all platforms! 

Interesting infographic covering some handy Google search tips.

Get lost on those historic trails that Lewis & Clark navigated in the 1800s via@googlemaps goo.gl/3h5rKQ

Kids can turn off your TV, Projector, and more... with this app

Some of the Android phones/devices include IR (infrared) (I so they can act like your TV/projector remote.) Apple devices currently do not support this.

So the bad news is... kids with certain Android devices and apps installed can turn your TV on or off, change channels, control your projector, etc...

  

The Peel app is one app that does this.  Android App OR  IOS App (As noted above, IOS does not have IR built in, so they would need an extra device to make that work.)  This peel app is pretty cool, even includes TV Guide like features.

What can you do about it... not much.  Just have good classroom management and be aware of what can be done in case your TV/Projector/ etc... starts behaving like it has a mind of its own. (It will probably be a middle school kid playing tricks on you!) 

Has this happened at Norris? -- Well Yes... LOL. 

IOS Apps:

Fresh from the Twitter feed of Tony VIncint: neu.Draw is free right now (was $1.99). I use new.Draw to make vector illustrations to use in VideoScribe. 

Google Apps:

Have you used the collaboration feature in Google Docs? If not... you are missing out, when you need to collaborate on a doc. In the upper right-hand corner of the doc, you will find the following drop-down menu: 

Or use comments, to draw attention to things but not suggesting an edit:

Want some more great tips like above... Watch this short 5 minute video - Collaborative Editing | Docs, Sheets, Slides | The Apps Show for more including notification rules, bookmarks in docs, and more!

The Apps Show by Google is a nice YouTube channel with a great short series of videos introducing many Google Apps features and uses. 

4 Things You Can Do Right Now To Create A Perfectly Organized Google Drive <-- Great tips here!

And this short video will show you how to find that email or file in Drive - You will learn something new in this one! 

Google Forms:

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – Create a Check In/ Out System in Google Forms (This includes a really cool add-in that I did not know existed.) 

Google Classroom:

Multiple teachers can work and collaborate in a single Classroom class! Google just added this feature to Classroom this week! 

In response to teacher feedback, Google has made two additional changes that will make Classroom easier to use:

• Autosaving grades - Grades will now be autosaved as they’re entered, meaning teachers can grade assignments over multiple sessions but still return those assignments to students all at one time.
• Improved notifications - Teachers and students will now receive email notifications when private messages are left on assignments.

​Check out the announcement here!

Free Disney Short films, apps, web tools and more in this week's tech roundup.

Web Tools:

Great Video tool - especially for flipping your classroom.  Turn online videos into interactive learning experiences that engage students and deepen understanding: zaption.com

Clipart - Background images- 

128 free to use 1024x1024 textures http://goo.gl/ZMEvn2

Your students will pay attention to these Google Search tips!

7 Google Search Tricks That Will Help You Pull Off The Perfect Date

And a couple other tips:

12 Google Search Tricks You Probably Didn’t Know

14 More Google Search Tricks You Didn’t Know Existed

Google Apps and Tools:

Google Doc and Sheet add-ons:

If you have not looked at the many Google Sheets and Doc add-ons, now is the time.  My quick how-to doc will assist you in getting started with these great add-ons. 

Need to map addresses from a Google sheet to Google maps - This add-on is slick!  (Demo video here.)

Google Sheets:

 How To Turn Any Data Set Into A Heat Map

A data heat map highlights each data cell with a different color along a spectrum based on its distance from the statistical mean. As an example, you could use heat maps to quickly identify trends in expense reports, like which days you spend the most money.

6 things That You Didn’t Know You Could Do In Google Sheets 

How To Make The Perfect Budget In Google Sheets  - Nice 3 minute how-To video.  (Nice demo on a few Google sheet features, including conditional formatting for cell colors, etc...) 

IOS apps and tools:

iTunes U for educators has a wealth of info. iBooks, lessons and more!  Educators could spend HOURS exploring the wealth of rich education resources here. (Must have iTunes on your computer, or visit this link form an iPad for it to open up iTunes U.

Norris Google Apps growing!

#norristitans staff and students have almost 1/2 million files in GoogleDrive with 54% of them being GoogleDocs

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Edit video on the iPads:

Animoto- use small clips and pictures to edit together. Great for quick videos.  (Educators can get the pro features for free - Longer videos.) Educators - First join Animoto as a regular user.  Then visit this site, and apply as an educator. 

Loopster - this one is a little more complicated but is great for video editing. I layered it with small clips of music from my iPad (I chose some random tunes), I incorporated a slow motion clip, and some text so you can see how much can be done with this app. You then upload the video to the loopster site and can publish it to youtube.   Thanks to @MeganHuenemann for sharing this great resource with our staff!   Here is a sample from her: I layered it with small clips of music from her iPad (and chose some random tunes), I incorporated a slow motion clip, and some text so you can see how much can be done with this app. You then upload the video to the loopster site and can publish it to youtube. 

Adobe Voice: Show your story. In minutes.  Download the free app here. 

Free Disney Short Films: 

Apple iTunes.com is offering various Disney's Winnie The Pooh Short Films (HD) for Free listed below. (Fresh from SlickDeals!)

• Winnie The Pooh Short Films for Free
• Climb a Tree
• Heffalumps and Woozles
• Pooh's Game (Pictured)
• Owl's House
• Pooh and Gopher
• Pooh Meets Tigger
• The Rain Came Down
• Stout and Round
• Stuck at Rabbit's House
• Eeyore's Tail

Note:  in iTunes, these are normally $1.99. (By getting them, it does allow you to download them as well for offline use.)  These short films are also normally free on YouTube along with other's their Jr. Channel. 

ck-12.org - A great math & science resource for Grades 1-12!

This resource deserves it's own email, it's got so much potential and just keeps getting better.

ck-12.org  is an amazing resource that just keeps getting better.  They now have a great app too!  Download it here. 

Their Teacher site is located here.

Their new free apps for both iOS and Android devices offer 100,000+ practice problems anytime, anywhere! Best part: it adapts to the student's skill level, so it will keep them engaged. And yes, it's free.

100,000+ free digital textbooks - you choose!

Wondering what other schools in your state are using CK-12 FlexBooks®? You can now browse from our collection of free Common Core and state standards aligned books to download, or customize one to make your own!  

There are a few Nebraska Teachers that have shared their flex books for you to see too. 

It's still targeted for the Math and Science areas, Grades 1-12 as shown from their main screen:

April fools fun, FreeApps, K-6 storytelling apps, web tools, and Google tips in this week's email!

Some April Fools fun - lirpA sloof nuf

Head on over to Google's site

OR

Play Pac-Man in Google Maps 

Web Tools: 

Want to find Google Docs that other's have already made?  There is always the template gallery... it' great.  But here's another way - How to Find Publicly Shared Google Docs

Seven Alternatives to Google Image Search - Comparison Chart 

EDpuzzle Review: Easy-to-Use Tool Lets Teachers Quickly Turn Online Video into Lessons.

Get better, more accurate search results with these 12 Google search tips

Tagboard - Follow Hashtags from Multiple Networks in One Place

Here at Norris... did you know we have this tool in each building for checkout?

Swivl - a robotic mobile accessory for you phone or tablet. -Great for filming class lectures, presentations and more! This Doc will give you more information on this great product! 

IOS Apps and tips:

Use your iPad as a Whiteboard with this free app from IPEVO. Check out my resource doc here. (Sent out a separate all staff email earlier on this tool - It' got a lot of potential!)

This video might have some iOS 8 tidbits that are new to you (time limits, zoom controls, speak screen & more): IOS 8 tips with Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent)

Three Free iPad Apps Students Can Use Over and Over. Facilitate creativity with these apps! (These are great apps for the K-6 area - Awesome for stroy telling and more!) 

Stickyboard 2 - Free today (3-31-15) !  Great app for classroom brainstorming!  Use your Apple TV to turn this app into a great classroom tool! Their homepage has a nice video about the app. 

Google Apps:

Google Sheets - The easiest way to split first and last names in Sheets.  Short 2 minute Video. - This is a cool add-in! 

Classroom management made easier: Class Charts allows you to track and analyze student behavior over time, make seating charts, and share with colleagues and parents. They have a Chrome App too. 

Try these 5 undiscovered Google Drive tricks by PCWorld

Managing Student Workflow with Google Apps

Google Presentations:

FREE TEMPLATES FOR GOOGLE SLIDES PRESENTATIONS - This site is awesome! Slides Carnival has some amazing free templates you have to check out. 

What's new in Google Apps:

Conditional formatting improvements in Google Sheets 

People using Google Sheets will now have more powerful conditional formatting options.

Google+ Photos coming to Google Drive

Google Drive allows you to store and access your files anywhere—on the web, on your hard drive, or on the go. We’re now making it easier to store and organize your photos and videos in Google Drive as well.

Combined inboxes, smarter search and more with the new Gmail app for Android

A new version of the Gmail app for Android is now available on Google Play

Get these product update alerts by email <--- This will put you on the Google Apps email list, to stay current with all of the new features coming out in Google Apps! (They only send a couple a month, so they do not flood your inbox.) 

YouTube:

Posted this a few weeks ago... but it's worth making sure everyone sees it! Awesome new app! 

Have you heard? The new @YouTube Kids app safely opens a world of videos to little ones. Introducing the newest member of our family, the YouTube Kids app--available on Google Play and the App Store. 

Online videos, apps, Google tips and more - In this weeks teacher tech tools!

Web tools and sites:

Find apps for a device or learning activity --  this edtechteacher site can do it for you!

Run Windows software in a browser tab, for free -  Using Cameyo

Explore Planet Nutshell's Teacher Library for Great Educational Videos - http://goo.gl/zGVJeg

Students Can Learn About Careers in Next Vista's Career Videos Collection  http://goo.gl/QjV6Ri

Dictate online with the website https://dictation.io/ works great on Chromebooks too. Or you can add this really nice ChromeApp - VoiceNote II Once you load it, make sure you select your language and location. You must use the on-screen buttons for punctuation. Other than that, the extension works very well for hands-free notes.

Ton's of free resources and lessons for Biology _Thanks to @dylankendall12 for this one! 

Have you seen quiziz? (Mentioned this one in my last posts.)

Here are a couple great training videos:

• Overview (6 Min.)
• Creating a Quiz in Quizizz (3 Min.) 

5 Free Tools for Creating Whiteboard Videos - http://goo.gl/RAc3Wo

eBooks

iStoryBooks Now Offers Premium Books for Free to Teachers - http://goo.gl/qC161l

IOS Apps -

WOW- YouTube Kids by Google – a Must Have Free App for Families -Review Here IOS App Here

Training docs from my recent in-service:

Turn your iPhone, iPad, or Android device into document camera - using these awesome apps!  

Turn your phone into a document scanner with these apps

Note for Norris Staff - Both of the above docs are in our Google Drive folder - Under Norris Tech Docs and STAFF SHARE in the iPad items folder. 

A few Apps for the younger grades:

Picture Math  By Brainingcamp, LLC - Free app

Cursive Writing – abCursive 2 - Free iPhone app

Google Classroom:

Mentioned this one in my last posting/mailing too ... Google Classroom Update: Custom Theme - 1minute video tutorial

Google Chrome:

DF YouTube (Distraction Free) is a Chrome extension for watching YouTube -Nice for teachers http://goo.gl/6dPiVx

Google Apps:

6 new free Google tools to upgrade your classroom - Free templates and images! 

4 Tips For Making Professional Looking Google Docs 

Merge Cells in Google Docs tables

A few nice video's from "Ask the Gooru".

• Gmail Update - A Sneak Peak At Google's New Contact Manager (Will be coming soon!)
• How To Use A Pivot Table in Google Spreadsheets If you have not used Pivot Tables - watch this short 2 minute video!
• ImportHTML and Filter functions in Google Sheets 
• Pull live stock market data directly into a Google Spreadsheet
• Bonus Post - Sharing Maps Is Just As Easy As Sharing Drive Files 

Best Drive Shortcut EVER!! ... a great tip from our very own @MrsCoady 

A quick way to add a file to multiple folders is to use the Shift+Z (not Cntrl+Z, which is undo). This will open a screen saying "Add to" rather than "Move to," so you can keep the file where it is and add it to another folder. I use this all the time and decided to share. 

You can also hold down the Cntrl key when click on a folder while the "Move to" window is open, and this will allow you to add to a folder rather than actually move.