Free apps, great web tools, and some amazing new tools added to Google Apps - All in this weeks list!

Websites and web 2.0 tools:

Want to add some fun and zip to some elementary coloring pages? This site, is pretty cool.  If you have never seen any augmented reality... it's worth a look, even if you teach the older grades. 

Autodesk's Design Software is Now Free for Students and Teachers ow.ly/Fo6we 

Something for your website.... 50 Interactive Activities to Embed Into Elementary School Blogs ow.ly/Fjkzm

Did you know that Google has lesson plans to help you with improve your student's searching skills? 

Top 10 Cool Tools for 2014 - This is a great list!!! Many of these have made my postings this past year too... but there are a few new gems in this list. 

5 Web-based Audio Recording and Editing Tools Compared - Chart

Map this way—Google My Maps now in Drive Starting today (12-10-14), you can access My Maps right from Google Drive, so it’s even easier to create, access and share your custom maps.

IOS (iPhone/iPad) Apps:

6 awesome paid iPhone apps you can get for free right now (Save $22!) I like the AirScanner App! (Air Scanner: Wireless Remote HD Document Camera and Overhead Projector Replacement)

Google Apps

New feature just added to Sheets!  - Use Sparklines For Quick & Easy Data Analysis (Short 2 minute video)

The Sparkline function creates a miniature chart inside a single Google Sheet cell. You’ve been able to use the Sparkline function for a long time now, but Google recently added two new types of sparklines – columns and winloss.

Slide numbers in Google Slides

The following tips come from the Gooru. CHekc out their website and subscribe to their newsletter for some great updates! 

 You Can Finally Merge Table Cells in Google Docs

It was a highly requested feature and now you can finally merge table cells in Google Docs. This is definitely a big time saver and offers some much-needed flexibility when working with tables in Google Docs. Check out today's post to learn more!

 Advanced Image Editing For Google Docs

Another update made it's way to Google Docs yesterday, giving you the ability to adjust the color and add filters to images in Google Docs. The video above shows the process in Google Slides, but you can take the same steps inside Docs!

 Prevent Files From Being Downloaded In Google Drive

Sometimes sharing files in Google Drive can make people worried because they feel like they don’t have true control of the data. While that is no more true than attaching files to emails, we’ve put together a helpful trick to keep shared files from being downloaded from Google Drive

How To Add Subtitles To Videos In Google Drive (This is pretty cool!)

Subtitles can sometimes be expensive, or take some technical expertise, to add to your videos. There's actually a really easy way to add subtitles to videos directly inside of Google Drive...anyone can do it!

Find out about all of the new features coming out in google by subscribing to this alerts email!

A new Devices and Activity dashboard gives you additional insight over the devices accessing your Google account. The page shows a comprehensive view of all devices that have been active on an account in the last 28 days, or are currently signed in. And in case any suspicious activity is noticed, there’s a setting to immediately take steps to secure an account and change a password.

Better collaboration in Hangouts video calls Posted: 19 Nov 2014 10:52 AM PST To make it easier to collaborate during Hangouts video calls, we’ve enabled the sharing of links to any Drive file directly from the chat window. Shared links will show a preview of the file right in the chat message, even when other participants don’t have their chat window open. Clicking on the link will open the file in a different browser tab so you can conveniently work on it in full view. To share a link from Drive during a Hangouts video call, click on the Chat icon and then click the Google Drive picker icon from within the chat window. Note: this feature will replace the Google Drive Hangouts app, which will no longer be available as of December 15th, 201 How To Get More Out Of Google, Four Steps To Creating A Killer User Experience -- on Visually. This is a nice infographic to share with students too! Merge Table Cells and Edit Images In Google Docs - 7 Minute YouTube tutorial by an educator for teachers and students.

Google Classroom:

Now you can attach multiple Drive files to an assignment in #GoogleClassroom.

Teachers- now you can always see revision history for assignments in GoogleClassroom, even before they’re turned in: goo.gl/o0yiWB

Chrome:

Awesome Chrome Features You Probably Aren’t Using

Some great web tools, free apps and more, in this weeks treasure chest of tools!

Misc. Web sites and tools for your classroom:

Use TEDED to make YouTube a powerful educational tool.

32 Reading Websites - These cover elementary school through high school (sites like Open Library and Gutenberg Press where students can get free copies of books they need for class)

Tons of free brain breaks to use in your classroom! Your students will love this! -Gonoodle

Free website with tons of educational curriculum games - sheppardsoftware.com

Wonderful extensive list of free online tools to spark student creativity: http://goo.gl/iazAtk

Do you Swivl?

Here at Norris, we have 4 Swivl units for staff to use.  They are awesome for recording your lessons or for evaluating your teaching style. More info and help can be found in this doc. 

Matt Rosenau posted this to our Middle School Community:

A 31-second example of the Swivl. The wireless mic allows a viewer to hear your small-group interactions with students anywhere in the room, even if there's conversation going on. Let me know if you're interested in trying it out. 

CK-12 - Amazing resource for more than just free ebooks  (Flexbooks)!

Practice, practice, practice!

Improve your learning by practicing thousands of interactive questions in Math & Science. Anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Are you Free at 1 pm on December 3rd?  - This webinar may be for you! 

CK-12: How to Build a FlexBook

Discover the easiest way to build a FlexBook using your own content as well as content available on our website.  Connect on the webinar to share tips and best practices and get answers to your CK-12 questions.

Register

Date: Tuesday December 3rd, 2014

Time: 3:00PM Pacific time

If you have not looked at CK-12 before <--- now is the time! 

Some PowTunes Awesomeness!

Lisa Harrington's class here at Norris has made some great little clips using PowTunes.  Here is just one example:

Example 1

Google Apps - Tips, Tricks and Features: 

6 Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed From October

How to Enable and Set Limits on Your Google Forms

5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Google Apps

Earlier this week, Google announced all Spreadsheets in Google Drive will be migrated to the new version of Google Sheets. Learn all about the New Google Sheets in this short 6 minute video! (Ignore the info on opting into the new sheets. In our Norris School EDU environment... you are already opted in by default.) 

How to Create a Works Cited with Google Docs - Short two minute YouTube. 

Need a quick timer? Type "set timer 5 minutes" in Google search. Allows full screen too!

From the Google Guru (Great to follow on Twitter and via email tips!) 
With Add-ons available for Google Docs and Sheets, it was only a matter of time before these custom tools made their way to other parts of the Google Drive suite. If you happen to use Google Forms on a regular basis, you have to be thrilled that Add-ons are now available there, as well. - Now you can add custom features to Google Forms with Add-ons

Send Bulk Custome Emails Through Gmail With Google Drive - This 5 minute YouTube will show you how. 

Chromebooks and Apps:

The Chromebook Usage Collection by KC Testerman. This is a list of web tools that do not need plug-ins that can be used on chrome books. I've used all of these items and highly recommend.

Nice list of Chrome extensions in this Google Presentation. 

IOS Apps and Tips:

Here's one for the elementary staff:

Fun Timer By all4mychild FREE TODAY -  

Description

The Fun Timer has been designed specifically for kids who have little sense of time or weak time management skills. Place an image or word at the center of the timer reflecting the reward or fun to be experienced after their chore or task. When they get off task or start goofing around, just start the timer and the kids will see concretely that their fun time will disappear if they don't get back to business. The adult controls all the features to be able to use the timer at each child's developmental and cognitive levels. It's a FUN way to teach kids not to waste time!

Upgraded to IOS 8 .. get the most out of it with this huge list of new features. 

Mathseeds Kindergarden - Grade 1 - Grade2 ALL 3 FREE TODAY -

Mathseeds apps are a great way for young students to practice and master all the essential math skills. Written for the Common Core Standards, students can access a huge range of activities that make learning math fun, motivating and very rewarding!

Let's do some App Smashing: 

Easy App Smash for the Primary Grades

It's a simple app smash that we complete in Kindergarten.  It might look like there are several steps, but it's really quite easy for.... 

App Smashing Defined: The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project.

Free Apps, web tools, a Samsung 32" LED TV for less than $100... and more... in this weeks tech tips.

Nothing but a great deal:

This 32" Samsung TV is a great deal, especially for a second TV, etc...  It gets great reviews on the web too!  If you have a use for the $125 gift card for other purchases... your final cost is $93! 

Dell Home & Office has a 32" Samsung UN32EH4003FXZA 720p 60Hz LED HDTV + $125 Dell eGift Card (added to cart automatically) on sale for$217.99. Shipping is Free The Dell eGift Card will be sent via email approximately 10-20 days after purchase.

Speaking of deals... look at our last tip on getting Amazon Prime for free! 

Web sites and tools:

30 websites to download free photos: designskilz.com/free-photos/

Actively Learn (activelylearn.com) offers a great, free way for students to interact with reading and the teacher.

5 Good Sites and Apps for Elementary School Language Arts Lessons via Free Technology ...

Great tool for the younger kids to help get them writing! The Write About This app, gets great reviews by teachers. This short 3 minute YouTube video will tell you more.  They have a free version and the paid version unlocks more features.  (Here at Norris... let me know if need the full version!) 

America by Air - An Online Smithsonian Exhibit 

5 Tools for Adding Questions and Notes to Videos:

If you have not tried Canva ... You are missing out.  I have mentioned this one before, but its worth another shout-out! This is an awesome design and drawing tool.  Add it to your tech tool belt along with Lucid Press and Lucid Charts... and you are all set! 

Make Marvelous Movies — Via Learning in Hand. Some nice Apps, tools, advice and more. 

Lucid Press - An amazing free tool for education! 

Work with students doing resumes and portfolios? This blog post will teach you how to make digital resumes and portfolios with Lucidpress.

Whether you’re a student, teacher, or working professional, you might be assigned to give a presentation. You can make an online presentation with Lucid Press too.  This article will show you how.

Google Apps - Tips, Tricks, Apps, and more...

Free Technology for Teachers: Create a Word Cloud Within Your Google Documents

Schedule appointments easily with a little help from Google Forms & the Choice Eliminator add-on - This 3 minute YouTube will walk you through how to set this up. <--- This is cool!

Are you using Google Classroom yet?  My Google Classroom -Tips and Tricks Doc will help you get started. This doc also includes a tip on how to get text messages based on emails. This is a great way for students to get text messages based on classroom announcements. 

Create your own Docs story, with Google Story Builder.  Great intro to presentations and lessons.  Check out my own short story here: http://goo.gl/yDJ6G0

New Google Chrome extension launches your own apps from Google Drive, not Google's. (This is an Amazing app!  But the key is that you have to have the Google Drive Syncing program installed...as noted in the article.) 

• Here at our school (Norris)... if you install the Google Drive Sync tool, do not place the folder on your desktop or Z drive, place it on the local C drive.) 

The Google for Education November 2014 Newsletter can be found here. (If you are not subscribed, I would recommend it!)  Sign up here! 

Have you not done much with Google Apps yet? This free online class may help get you jump started! 

Google Basics for Teaching This self-paced, online course is intended for anyone - of any technical skill level - hoping to use Google's educational tools in the classroom. Through videos, use-cases, and examples you'll get ideas about how to bring Google for Education (including Google Apps for Education with classroom, Google Maps and more) into your teaching.

The course is available from November 18 - December 19, 2014 with support from Google Certified Teachers, peers, and content experts.

IOS Apps and tips:

Lapse It Pro • Time Lapse & Stop Motion Camera • Professional HD

By Interactive Universe FREE TODAY - 11-4-14 <---

New Features Added to Google Drive for iOS 8 - Nov. 2014

The 55 Best Free Education Apps For iPad 

Chrome tips and tricks:

The Secret Powers of Chrome's Address Bar 

Android items:

Best Free Android Apps: Google Opinion Rewards gets you free apps and Google Play credits.

Amazon Prime for Free! 

Great tip from our very own Josh Murtaugh: 

Get Amazon Prime free for 6 months free with edu account. Note: Many teachers have EDU accounts through Doane, UNL, and other post-secondary institutions, so you can take advantage of this offer. 

Quick student evals using a Google Form - Tutorial/idea

This is not for every teacher... but if you find yourself wanting to give feedback evaluations/grades to students on projects, lab work, presentations, etc... this may be a great tool. (Maybe it's shop projects, art work days, etc....) (I would have loved this when I used to give students cleanup grades in shop.) 

In short,  you will create a Google form with customized feedback.  When you do your eval you pick the students name from a drop-down menu, fill out the eval, and hit submit.  The eval is then emailed to the student and anyone else you desire... another teacher, yourself, etc...)  and is recorded in a Google spreadsheet.

It keeps a running record of the evals though's in a Google sheet and allows you to add and/or delete students to the list for future years!  The form could be completed from an iPad, phone, Chromebook, or anything that can load a Google Doc, since the eval is really filling out a live Google Form. It's really a pretty nice time-saving solution for quick grades or evals. 

If you are interested ... this 10 minute YouTube tutorial is great on getting it setup. The tutorial is pretty straight forward, but it' a little more advanced in a couple steps... so if you are interested in doing this... we are here to help you! This video approaches it from the concept of a principal doing walk-through teacher evaluations, but the concept and creation is the same for classroom use. (We do have administrators at Norris using this for teacher walk-through evals.) 

Some great free apps, Free website offer for PowTunes, and more this week!

IOS Apps:

TextExtractor Scanner - (Free - Norm. $2.99) Scan PDF and Extract Text as Word Documents. This scanner works pretty good for an OCR scanner.  You may be wondering... why would Noel be recommending something that scans to a Word Doc, when he uses Google Docs.  Well, this will scan to a straight text file, that you can easily use in Google Docs or other word processors too. I have tried it with several Docs and it really does a nice job. 

There are tons of photo apps, but this one looked like it might be worth having - Free today (Reg. $4.99). Laminar Pro http://appsaga.com/best-free-apps-day-oct-29-laminar-pro-bonza-word-puzzle-gloomlogue/

Some great web tools, offers and sites:

Free Technology for Teachers: Frequently Overlooked Google Search Tools and Strategies

Use Scholastic's Interactive Weather Maker to help students learn about rain and snow: (nice for the younger grades.) 

Need clickers and more interactions with students....  I like Socrative... and it's free. Access More Than 1,000 Socrative Quizzes Sorted by Subject via Free Technology for Teachers

Wideo, WeVideo, and Magisto - Three Good Tools for Creating Videos Online.

I have used this one... and it's worth looking at... and it's fun!  You can upload directly to your YouTube account too.  Here is one I did a couple years ago. 

is giving away

over $5M worth of classroom accounts

Get yours today ... Offer ends Oct. 31st!

Visit this site.  <-------

Some Apps, sites and tools for the week! (Nice Scanner app for the iPad is free today!

Web sites and tools: 

Daum Equation Editor is a Chrome Extension that adds an equation editor into Chrome. 

Free Technology for Teachers: Three Good Tools for Building Flipped Lessons That Include Assessment Tools

From Kyle Steinkuhler (@KSteink) 

Beginning projects on Native Americans with students, just showed them instagrok.com/index.html A great resource! (Research any topic with an interactive concept map, that you can customize and share.)

I have been promoting Remind lately... and here is another tip: Video - How to Embed Remind (101) Messages Into Blogger and Google Sites - Short 5 minute YouTube. 

IOS Apps, tips and tricks:

iOS 8 Tips and Tricks for Teachers and Students - A nice 10 minute YouTube by Tony Vincent.  I would subscribe to his YouTube channel. 

A couple free eBooks with iPad apps.  These are in ePub format, so this site, also recommends a nice Chrome extension Readium for reading ePub format eBooks. (At Norris, I have placed them eBooks on the N drive under our eBooks folder.) 

CamScanner HD Pro for the iPad is free today 10-23-14. (Reg. $4.99) http://goo.gl/ttBU8e  nice scanning app!

Android Apps and tips:

Two Free Android Apps for Creating Flipped Lesson Videos 

Google Apps and Tools:

gMath for Google Sheets is worth checking out. Create graphs and complex math directly from the sidebar into a cell in your Google Sheet. 

Do your research and write your essay all in one place with these 3 easy steps. Using the Google research tool 

New feature - Google+ polls lets you create a poll to share with your Community: ly.tcea.org/gfhju

A Step By Step Guide on How to Locate and Add Add-ons to Your Google Drive ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Google Docs handles numbered lists in an automatic way that can mess with MLA formatting... and drive you crazy when you do not want that automatic numbering. Here is a video on how to work around this: http://youtu.be/8F-p6AGhhe4

Manage Revisions is finally available in the New Google Drive -a nice 2 minute YouTube. Manage Revisions was available in the previous version of Google Drive, but it just now made its way to the new Drive. This is great for those of you working with images Office files, as well as PDFs and much more!

If you have not switched to the new Google Drive - Learn more in this 2 minute YouTube.  

Infographics:

 5 Great Online Tools for Creating Infographics: 

10 Fun Tools To Easily Make Your Own Infographics

Some people include Lucid Charts in the infographic tools.  (We have that one added to Google Apps in our domain.) 

A twist on clickers:

Don't have clickers... but would like to check out this tip from out very own Becky Wilhelm:

I just tried out Plickers with one of my classes. I had a lot of doubts on how well this app would work, and I was pleasantly surprised. It worked great! Even better for me, it can be used with large classes and kids don't need devices. It was easy to set up (but some trial and error was necessary because they don't have very good directions). This is slick and I will definitely use it again. If you have a teacher that wants to use clickers but do not have them, I would suggest you check Plickers out.

Socrative is another great choice for "clicker" use. 

Mobile voice survey reveals teens love to talk... but adults are not too far away: Google blog Article (Graphic Below from this article.)

This weeks list of great tech tools, sites and tips... and is Facebook dying with the teen population?

Staying up with our teens:

Think Facebook is the "Hot Social Network" for the teens... think again via @pcworld -Checkout the research here. Are we keeping up with these kids...

Speaking of that...

Meet kids at their own level... Text messages!  Videos to Help You Get Started sending text message reminders through Remind (101)  They have also launched a Chrome App for communicating with students and their parents.

Websites, tools and tips:

PBS LearningMedia is a completely free service that brings over 87,000 trusted digital educational videos, podcasts, maps and more to preK–12 classrooms. See this PBS LearningMedia Teacher Review for more info. 

Sources of Free Sound Effects and Music for Multimedia Projects.

Awesome place to find images is Pixabay. All images are public domain--no copyright issues! pixabay.com

How to Use AudioBoom to Create Short Audio Recordings

Free Technology for Teachers: 20 Good Map Creation Tools for Students

Google apps and tools:

12 Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed During September - from TheGoogleGooru (@TheGoogleGooru)

Chromebook 101: Getting More Productivity Out Of Your Chromebook - A 12 minute YouTube

How to Insert Special Characters Into Google Documents

How to Adjust Colors and Add Filters to Images in Google Slides - http://goo.gl/XemQxs  Here is a short 2 minute video on "How-To" 

From SAT prep to virtual road trips, expand your classroom with Google Hangouts via @Edudemic:goo.gl/kgC7dm

Google Apps Update | Spell Check in Google Sheets http://goo.gl/ltSWRm

Google News & Weather app is now available in the App Store. Check it out →http://goo.gl/VkvLLj

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – Some great video tutorials from Richard Bryne:

One playlist is just about Google Tips and Tricks. The other playlist contains how-to videos for his favorite non-Google apps and websites. 

These are some awesome YouTube Playlists:

• 33 Ed Tech Tools Demonstrated in One YouTube Playlist <--Checkout this great video list.
• Google Tools and Tips <--Checkout this great video list.

Tricks: Search Google Drive - Filtering your search

There's a new Hangouts desktop app and Polls for Google+ http://goo.gl/c2jJMY

Close that browser and chat right from your desktop with the new Hangouts Chrome app → http://goo.gl/DYWUfx  <--this one is pretty cool, just installed it tonight. (Call any phone in the world for free too!)

I have mentioned this one in the past... but worth another look if you are not using it. Take a look at the Kaizena for Google Docs Add-on. Great way to give verbal feedback on a Doc! -Short 5 minute video here.

Coming to our Google Apps EDU domain soon... unlimited Google Drive Space!  Be ready to upload all of your videos... and we will soon be saying good by to the V drive (local storage) here at Norris. 

A few great resources from our very own Media specialist - Megan Huenemann, (These were previously sent out the HS staff.) 

Coding

If you want to have your students learn how to code, or want to practice the skill yourself use codeacademy.comIf you want to have your students learn how to code, or want to practice the skill yourself use codeacademy.com.  Or download the codeacademy app. This is a great free resource to help learn a basic understanding of what coding is and what it looks like. 

3-D Printing

tinkercad.comtinkercad.com - A CAD software program where you can design items for 3-D printing or laser cutting. 

Cookiecaster.com

Draw up whatever shape you want and cookiecaster will transform it into a cookie cutter that can be exported as a 3-D printer file, the site also suggests other sites where you can get your download designed printed and shipped to you. 

Hands on 3D

Zspace- allows for immersive virtual technology. Pricey right now, but this is going to be an amazing tool in the future! See the video on their website about how this technology works. ZSpace.  Here is the 30 second video on YouTube <--- You have to watch this, Amazing!

Apps

Too noisy is an app designed to help students recognize appropriate volume levels for conversations. It can measure volume in a room and display a meter that shows if it is too loud. May be good to use with group work.  Too Noisy Free Ap in a room and display a meter that shows if it is too loud. May be good to use with group work.  Too Noisy Free App.

Awesome Google announcements, Apps and more in this end of week list!

Google Apps:

Google Forms gets some more updates!  You can now shuffle questions, and more...

WOW - This is big! WOW - Drive for Education: The 21st century backpack for students. Unlimited Google Drive for EDU and more!

Fresh off the Google updates alerts... one for the math teachers...

Google Sheets add-on for linear optimization

Your work depends on the best solutions to some tough problems. Whether you're working to optimize distribution networks or delivery routes, or simply getting the best staff schedules and optimizing your finances, the Google Sheets add-on for linear optimization can now help you do the math.

This add-on is one of many available. Remember to check out the complete store for Docs and Sheets often--more useful tools are being added each week

Google for Education Newsletter

Sign up: http://go.google-mkto.com/m100Ah10c0y29CDQPSt0TC0

Google Classroom:

Google Classroom: Numbering Assignments... as quoted from the article- "The more I use Google Classroom the more I am liking numbering my assignments." Other teachers use the YYYYMMDDprojectname naming method, but whatever works for you!

Check out my Google Classroom tips and tricks sheet, with some great links to video tutorials as well.

Apps:

123D Catch by Autodesk is a free app that lets you create 3D scans of virtually any object. They just released their Android version too!

Create Mind Maps and Flow Charts With Lucidchart for iPad - Remember, we have this free for EDU accounts, and is added to our Google Apps.  Lucid Chart and Lucid Press are two amazing tools EVERY TEACHER has a use for!

ree apps, Google tools, web tools and more in this weeks list! Including one free app (Reg $30).

Web tools and sites:

Free stock image sites for your website, classroom, posters & more. http://goo.gl/4zFiMU 

The ‘Google For Online Courses’ Exists And It’s Called SlideRule - Find a ton of online classes (Many free) using this great tool.  It includes nice sorting features and reviews too. 

A nice resource for the K-6 teachers... A great daily list of free IOS (iPhone/iPad) apps, free Kindle books, and more... by the iMums. (I subscribe to their daily email.)

30-Second Tech Trick: Write Better Papers with Google Scholar (A little bit of humor with this one too,)

20 Google tools teachers should try (and how to use them in classrooms) Interesting list - A few surprises that I would not have picked. 

A Comparison of 11 Mobile Video Creation Apps 

Plinkers.com - Plickers is a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices. Tailor instruction with instant feedback -- Use Plickers for quick checks for understanding to know whether your students are understanding big concepts and mastering key skills. It's a sin on clickers that's worth checking out! 

An Interactive Map of George Washington's Life via Free Technology for Teachers - MountVernon.org 

For the younger kids -- My Storybook lets students create simple books with their own text and pictures: mystorybook.com

Great for the homeowner... if you do not have a ChromeCast ($35) here is one more reason to get one... Chromebooks now support Chromecast streaming for Google Drive videos. 

I have mentioned this one in the past... and ran across it on a great Twitter feed again this week... This word cloud generator will work on almost every device: http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

Create Screencasts with these great tools: 

Screencast-O-Matic - A Great Tool for Creating Screencast Videos

Make screencast videos with Screencastify extention for Chrome: 

This tip comes from our very own Janelle Coady - 

Screencast lets you download the clips, but it is even easier to just upload to YouTube and link to it online. Easy to use... give it a try.  Here is a sub plan that she created using this great tool! 

Gooru:

If you have not looked at Gooru... now may be the time!

Gooru for iPad Updated to Include Progress Reports. Gooru is a service for creating and sharing collections of educational videos, images, and texts. Go to Gooru, and click the signup button and signup with your Google Account. 

Lucid Press:

If are not using LucidPress ... You are missing out.  It's better than Publisher, and is all web based and free for EDU. Here at Norris it's built right into our Google Apps. 

Richard Byrne (@rmbyrneRichard Byrne (@rmbyrne) - Agrees with me!

The Best of Apple's Pages With the Best of Google Documents - Check out his article hereThe Best of Apple's Pages With the Best of Google Documents - Check out his article here.

Google Apps: - Google Apps for Education has over 30 million active users around the world!

Turn a Set of Spreadsheet Cells Into Easy to Read Documents with this Spreadsheet add-in.  This short video shows you how. (This was featured in an email Janelle Cody sent out earlier this week to staff.) 

How to Enable Text Notifications for Your Google Calendar Events via Free Technology for Teachers ...  This is a great thing for students to do with your class calendar! 

Short video tutorial on how to add descriptions to Google Docs for better Drive search:ly.tcea.org/wvyvh

2nd graders can use Google Classroom!  From another district... 2nd graders into Google Classroom today. pic.twitter.com/moa9mSLWsQ

Sharing has changed in Google Docs.  Here is a short 2 minute videoSharing has changed in Google Docs.  Here is a short 2 minute video about this changed feature. 

New! ThingLink & Google Docs Integration | Via... ThingLink Blog. Great example of ThingLink embedded in our very own Matt Rosenau's website - Colonial Village Project

6 little-known Google tools you should try today - Via the Daily Genius There are several gems in this one!

New handy feature: automatically create bulleted or numbered lists in Docs, Slides, and Drawings. More at: goo.gl/aQhxeA

10 Excellent Google Drive Templates for Teachers (The link in this article takes you directly to Drive's templates... but I like having the Drive Templates Appfor Teachers (The link in this article takes you directly to Drive's templates... but I like having the Drive Templates App installed too.)

Tip:Tip: Use revision history in Drive to make sure all of your students are participating in group projects.

How to Create Custom Maps on My Maps (Formerly Google Maps Engine Lite) - (I have used this one for vacation-trip planning too!) 

Amazing... I did not know you could do this in Google Presentations: The days of dry slideshows are over. Get creative with dynamic Google Slides and get your students talking.  youtu.be/bt9F7tKcZcU  (This would take some time! ... but cool.) 

Google Classroom -Google Classroom - More on this great product!

Doctopus + Classroom + Goobric = One awesome combination. This 10 minute YouTube = One awesome combination. This 10 minute YouTube will show you how.  Just watch it!

Google Classroom tutorial playlist - Nice set of YouTube videos to get you going with this great Classroom resource.

Google Classroom resources: Nice set of resources in this LiveBinder.

Edmodo:

How to Add Free Apps to Your Edmodo Group.  Edmodo is an awesome LMS system that's free for teachers. 

Android Apps:

Android 4 Schools» Peter Pig’s Money Counter Helps Students Learn About Money

IOS Apps and Tips:

Saving Images with Google+ on Shared iPads - a unique idea

Vizzywig - Video Editor Movie Maker and Multi-Camera Film Edit Effects Slideshow Music Editing Credits App - Free Today (9-14-14)  <--- Normally $29.99

iTunes U:

If you have an iPad... many people do not realize all of the free content, classes, books and more that are availble!  Here's one... 

Learn the core concepts of organic chemistry from @DukeU. tw.itunes.com/6010oV9I

Here's Harvard on iTunesU

1000 Free Online Courses from Top Universities - Just a list to peak your interest.