Tech tools, websites, video tools and more in this weeks list... as school winds down!

Web sites and tools:

Poll your audience/class with Hotseat - Studio by Purdue University.  Free!  Text -Chat -Vote features.  Via the web or apps. 

Take your students on a FREE, fun, fact-filled science field trip—without leaving school! - Sponsored by Purdue University. zipTrips™ at Purdue University  Some great trips!  WOW. 

A nice tip from our very own @WilhelmBecky

Watchkin. This is a nice site for searching and watching YouTube videos. It strips all the ads and comments, and is supposed to be more "family-friendly." Students were searching for videos of world music to include in presentations so I had them search through this site which worked well. There is no guarantee something inappropriate won't still pop up when they search, but my chances are a lot better than sending them directly to YouTube. I like to use it when showing videos of performances in class too. Even when I preview everything, you just never know what ads might come up.

BandLab allows you to create music in your browser or via the free Android and iOS apps: https://www.bandlab.com/ 

Annotating PDF Files on Chromebooks with Kami - Works on the desktop in Chrome too!  (Pst... we have this added to our nsdtitans.org domain, so look for it!) 

New Feature! - Embed charts from Google Sheets in Google Docs and Slides and update them with a single click. (Remember form data goes to a Google sheet... so that's a plus if you are pulling live data from a form spreadsheet!)

Android Apps coming to Chromebooks! - It's official. 

Android apps, coming to a Chromebook near you - With over 1.5 million Android apps... there are a lot more potential apps and uses for the Chromebooks! (If you are looking to buy a personal Chromebook... maybe a touch screen would make sense??) 

A Google Docs Add-on for Grading Writing

How to Use JoeZoo Express - A Google Docs Add-on for Grading Writing.

• Improves efficiency when commenting on student writing
• Integrates with Google Classroom
• Includes a rubric builder

HippoCampus.org - A top resource for MS & HS teachers!

HippoCampus.org is a free, core academic website that delivers rich multimedia content--videos, animations, and simulations--on general education subjects to middle school and high school teachers and college professors, and their students, free of charge.Teachers project HippoCampus content during classroom learning and assign it for computer labs and homework. Students use the site in the evenings for study and exam prep. Users do not need to register or log in to use the site.

As an open resource for personalized learning, HippoCampus.org was designed as part of a worldwide effort to improve access to quality education for everyone. HippoCampus is powered by The NROC Project, a non-profit, member-driven project focused on new models of digital content development, distribution, and use. NROC makes editorial and digital engineering investments in the content to prepare it for distribution by HippoCampus.

A little YouTube tech fun:

In youtube - Search for Use the force luke ... and see what happens. 

Or try the YouTube leanback - https://www.youtube.com/leanback to put you in TV mode.

Make any website interactive with questions, videos and more -  with DOCENTEDU (Not free, but does offer a free trial.) 

Teachers can add questions, discussions, and insight directly into any website.

When students go to that website, they can respond to those questions and discussions, see that insight, and take their own notes.

Short Video Tutorial

Google Classroom and DocentEDU video 

Chrome extension 

iBooks & eBooks:

PBS Announces iBooks for K-8 Teachers  (Free)

Videos:

Really cool!  Take a 360° Journey Through Antarctic Ice and see the penguins!  More videos from National Geo can be found here.  

The teacher's guide to using YouTube in the classroom. 

Google help for you and your students -- right at your fingertips! 

Remember last week we added Synergyse to our Google Apps Domain - Check it out! 

Home filtering, Teacher Tech tools, Awesome new Google features, and more....

We need to encourage parents to filter and monitor student's internet access at home!

We do the best we can here at school... but parent's need to be encouraged to monitor at home. 

Feel free to share my recommendations doc to parents, patrons, and others that may need help. 

Misc. web tools and tech resources for teachers:

How to Add a public DropBox folder to your Google Drive - My doc will walk you through how to set this up.  I just set mine up, because I had someone that needed to send me a file, but Google blocked it.  (EXE file.)  This solution works great.  Nice way to collect files from parents, students, etc...  No sign in, etc... just drop me the file. 

Super list of free online resources to spark student creativity: https://goo.gl/uRB5iJ

Create personalized bingo cards for students with this website: https://bingobaker.com

Google Classroom:

NEW - Now you can schedule lessons in Google Classroom. Google Classroom now allows the busy teacher to schedule announcements, assignments, and questions for a later date.

Coming this fall: keeping parents and guardians in the loop 

Google Slides:

This will be NEW Feature -Just released ... pretty cool. Allows audience interaction (Backchannel) - Talk with your audience—not at them—with Slides Q&A

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YouTube:

Teaching with YouTube: 197 Digital Channels For Learning - Divided by subjects. 

Google Docs:

12 Free Add-Ons That Take Docs and Sheets to the Next Level 

Free apps for the K-6, math tools, web tools, TED, Snap chat for schools... and more, in this weeks tech tools.

Misc. Web and tech tools: 

Assessment, quick polling, exit tickets and more.... DEAD SIMPLE! 

Several staff members have been using this... and it works great.  Plickers lets you poll your class for free, without the need for student devices. Just give each student a card (a "paper clicker"), and use your iPhone to scan them to do instant checks-for-understanding, exit tickets, and impromptu polls. Best of all, your data is automatically saved, student-by-student, at plickers.com. Get the app here. 

Using Goobric for peer edits and student self-assessment. 

You Can Use a Picture If: Guidelines for Image Copyrights

UPDATED - We just updated our Network Information sheet for student teachers!  If you are going to be working with a student teacher here at Norris... this is a must have doc for them! 

Why You (And Your Students) Must Try the Chrome Music Lab <-- Pretty cool! 

5 Fantastic Word Cloud Tools for Chromebooks

Mathstudio's website works right from a web browser and will connect with Google Drive too! 

Top 10 Health and Physical Education Tech Tools

Use the free Adobe Draw app to create your own color-coded maps: - A nice video tutorial. 

Google Image Search Save Image Feature - You can now save any images from your searches... and even tag them!  Pretty cool new feature from Google search!  All the stuff you save goes here: https://www.google.com/save

Create self-paced review quizzes with the free tool Quizzy. 

Snapchat:

Well, these are my first links to ever get posted to my "Education Blog and email list" but I guess we have to meet students where they are... and right now, it's Snapchat. 

Snapchat explained by students to teachers - Ever wonder how it works... this is a nice video to show you how!  Makes you feel right at home.... you can hear the school bells ring and everything. 

Snapchat 101 for teachers — What you need to know 

And in case you want more Snapchat info - The 15 Newest Snapchat Features You Need To Know About.

15 ways to use Snapchat in classes and schools. 

Android apps:

Five Android apps for adding special effects to photos.

Google Classroom:

Save Drafts and Reuse Posts in iOS Classroom App

NEW - Now You Can Ask Multiple Choice Questions - 

Google Classroom has updated the Ask Question feature to allow for multiple choice responses along with short answer responses. Find out more here. 

NEW - The IOS Classroom app has been updated! Save Drafts and Reuse Posts.

The iOS Classroom app has been updated with the ability to save draft assignments, announcements, and questions. This update also allows teachers to reuse posts previously used from any of their classes. Both of these features are very important to teachers who use Classroom on the web, and now they can better manage their classes on the go with an iPad or iPhone. Find out more here. 

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – Create Interactive Writing Assignments to Share Through Google Classroom

Google Chrome:

Have you checked out the Google Play for education store with all of the chrome apps?  If not... check it out.  They have it divided into useful categories. 

Chromebooks:

15 Useful Chromebook Tips & Tricks

Google Docs/Apps:

Update to Google Docs Adds Outlines Automatically for Easy Navigation - Displayed in a pane to the left of the page, this outline features headers for each section of your document, making it simple to quickly jump from section to section. If you haven’t manually applied headers, no worries—Google will do it for you, intelligently detecting the logical divisions within your work.

TIP: Force people to 'Make a Copy' of your doc

Sometimes when you ask people to make a copy of the doc, they forget or don't know how. Force them to make a copy with these simple steps:

--Share your doc with view rights via the link

--Change the end of the url from 'edit' to 'copy'

3 Google Apps Tools You Didn’t Know You Could Use Offline  - and nice directions on how to set up offline access as well. 

Create a drop box for files without needing a Google account, etc....  How to Allow Anyone to Upload Files Directly to Your Drive

Well, it turns out there is a script that automatically provides you with a URL that allows any user to upload a file to a designated folder in your Google Drive. The beauty of this script is that anyone can send the file to your Google Drive without signing in to a Google account!

Google Slides:

Want to grab some great templates for Google Slides? Check these out: 

• freegoogleslidestemplates.com
• Slides Carnival

Google Forms:

5 Things You Did Not Know About Google Forms

Form Publisher will make your life easier! It generates Google Docs from a template, using Form responses. If you use forms to collect data... this could automate a lot of things for you! 

YouTube:

TIP: Want to start a Video from a Certain Spot? 

Play the YouTube video of choice --  Once you determine the time at which you want to start the video, click on ‘Share’-- Select the checkbox next to ‘Start at’.

When you share this link with your users, it will start at that time. 

Some great apps for the Elementary Classrooms to get your kids creating in an exciting & easy way. (Free too!)  

Pic Collage for kids - the best and safest visual and photo editor for home and schools!

Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated video called a Gami.

ChatterPix Kids or https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chatterpix-by-duck-duck-moose/id734038526?mt=8ChatterPix (For the older kids.) Grab your camera! Let’s ChatterPix! Chatterpix Kids can make anything talk -- pets, friends, doodles, and more. 

Popplet Lite - Popplet is the simplest tool to capture and organize your ideas. With Popplet you can quick jot down your ideas and sort them visually. 

Seesaw empowers students of any age to independently document what they are learning at school. (App links at bottom of their website.)

TeleStory - Write, direct, and star in your own TV show with TeleStory!

TED & Prezi:

If you have not experienced TED talks - you need to... they are awesome, and many are applicable to the HS level students. They have TED-Ed designed for education. 

A new superweapon in the fight against cancer - Filmed Nov. 2015. Lenght: 10:42

This presentation uses the cool (Free for educators!) tool Prezi to present some facts.  You can see the actual Prezi they used here. 

Some Great Tech Tools - apps and more in this weeks list!

Web sites and tools: 

WOW - What a list!  The most comprehensive list of free online tools for teachers and students This PDF is worth the look! Put out by a California State College. 

Have your students use this free too to create animated maps: Animaps is a great tool!   Sample of what can be done here. 

Want to know how Google Apps can assist special-needs learners? Google for Education Certified Trainer, Stephanie Parretta, provides us with some great ideas in this blog post! 

Nice presentation on using GeoGebra and Desmos in the secondary science and math classroom. (Note it has you join a Desmo's class as a student as the demo.  You would not have to do this.) 

Student Centered Chromebook Classroom Curriculum Ideas - Great Google Doc with apps, sites and more. 

AWESOME site - pixabay.com for free images for use in your classroom!  

Are you using your Doc cam to it's fullest? 20 Fun Ways to Start the School Day Using Your Document Camera.

Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week – 5 Good Tools for Creating Audio Recordings Online

Google Apps Tips and Tricks: 

What's new in Google Apps - Jan. 2016 Newsletter by Google. 

WOW - I like this visual and quick guide!  A Visual Guide to Sprucing Up Your Google Doc.  Who needs... or even wants Word anymore! 

Create and/or send customizable rubrics/scores to students by email for any assignment with this Google Sheets add-on.

NEW Feature - Activate link sharing quickly via the “Get sharable link” icon in Drive web

NEW Google Contacts look and feel - We just enabled the new Google Contacts View, so feel free to give a try! 

Become a Google Slides artist with these seven tricks!

Google Classroom:

New Post: 23 Apps that Integrate with GoogleClassroom!

A Deep Dive Into Google Classroom - A 50 minute training video. 

Digital Differentiation with Google Classroom. Some nice idea's from "Shake up Learning.". 

Google add-on's: 

If you haven't checked out the add-ons available on Docs, Sheets, & Forms recently, you need to do it!  There are some amazing tools available to you.  This Google Slide presentation <-- This is a GREAT LIST! has a ton of great info and recommendations for using these add-ons. 

Need a Twitter Archiving Google Sheet? - This one is for you!  Here is an example of the sheet used for the FETC convention hashtags. 

Google Draw:

15 free Google Draw templates and how to create your own:

Google Forms - Some great new tools!

9 Awesome Add-ons for Google Forms.

Google Forms: Students Respond with Math Symbols

Alice’s Quick Way to Make a Google Form - This is a pretty cool tool for quickly making forms. 

IOS apps:

Virtual Heart from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago for iPad is a great free app for students. 

Lapse It • Time Lapse & Stop Motion Camera • Free By Interactive Universe. Add's some features not found in the camera defaults.  (Offers a Pro version for $1.99 too.) 

NOVA Elements 

Did you ever wonder why the periodic table is shaped the way it is, what gives each element its own unique set of properties, or even how elements combine to make everyday objects such as a cup of coffee? With “NOVA Elements,” explore an interactive periodic table, play a game hosted by David Pogue, or watch the two-hour NOVA program.

NASA App by NASA

Come explore with NASA and discover the latest images, videos, mission information, news, feature stories, tweets, NASA TV and featured content with the NASA App for iOS.

Some great free apps for learning on a variety of platforms. 

Learn to create your own artwork by tracing photos →  A great tutorial by Tony V. using a free iPad app. The video features the free Adobe Illustrator Draw app for iOS and Android, and the techniques can certainly be used in other drawing apps.

Free Apps, awesome presentation templates, math tools, tech tools, tips and more!

Websites/resources:

Online resources for the classroom-  Texas Gateway: interactives, lessons, videos, & more: a free website filled with classroom-ready instructional resources for students in grades K-12. 

5 Chrome Apps to Help Students Practice Math  - Great for the younger kids. 

Connect with more people using Google Hangouts video calls - it now supports up to 25 video's at once! 

Google apps/Docs: 

NEW - Set expiration dates for access to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides files

Update - Export Your Google Doc To ePub Format - Via Synergyse

Google Docs documents can now be exported to ePub format making your document available to eReaders and readable on devices of varying screen size

How to Insert Non-YouTube Videos Into Google Slides - A nice tip from the Guru. 

For example, if you’re in an organization where YouTube is blocked, as seen in some education and government organizations, adding a video isn’t so simple. Today's post is a quick work-around to show you how to include any mp4 file in your Google Slides presentation. 

Navigate documents quickly and easily with the NEW outline tool in Google Docs

WOW! - Some great free Google Slide templates! -Check them out! 

Convert Your PDF’s to Google Docs - For better collaboration! 

Google Classroom:

How to set a custom grading scale in Google Classroom.

What's new in Classroom? - A great running list kept current by Google. 

Google Sheets:

Text-to-Columns Finally Comes to Google Sheets - A nice new feature!

Pasting in Google Sheets can become especially difficult when you want to paste a list or text that you want to separate into different cells. The former solution to separating text was with a script, but Google announced this week that you can now easily convert text to columns in Sheets with new paste formatting options 

IOS Apps:

Reading Fluency Builder: Improve Kids Reading Speed for Better Comprehension Grades 2-5: School Edition - Reg $4.99 - Free today 3-18-16 

A few math favorites from teachers: 

Math Monsters - Bingo (iOS - Free)

Students can practice all operations using this bingo app. They'll solve each problem and then find the answer on the bingo board. Players need to be strategic if they want to win the game.

Math Flash Cards * (iOS - Free)

A traditional skill-and-drill app (yes, the asterisk is part of the title), Math Flash Cards * helps children practice their times tables by customizing the number and difficulty level of each question. This app has a simple interface that makes it easy for kids to play.

Sushi Monster (iOS - Free)

Scholastic's app offers children multiplication and addition problems. They'll have to reach a target number by picking the correct factors and addends listed on different pieces of sushi. I mentioned this one in a prior post too!

Awesome tech tools, free apps, Google tools, and more in this weeks post!

Web sites and tools:

How to Create a Collaborative Whiteboard Space on NotebookCast

NoteBookCast is a free whiteboard tool that will work in the web browser on a laptop, iPad, Android tablet, and Windows tablet.…

7 Tools for Creating Multimedia Quizzes Compared in One Chart 

Assistive Technology for Any Type of Learner - a nice list from a middle school teacher in Pennsylvania. 

Easelly - TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 | Easelly Create infographics and visual data on iPad or through your browser  Download a free book to learn how to incorporate infographics in your classroom.

Permission Click -  Digitize your parent permit forms!  I have not talked to a teacher that has tried it yet... but looks great and heard about it from a great resource. 

Creating Self-Checking “Scavenger Hunts” Using Google Forms!

Digital Citizenship for Students: The Research Tool in Google Apps

Five creative digital tools that bring visuals and writing together: 

Five Google resources to support student writing: 

Chrome Apps:

Mic Note - Create Time-stamped Multimedia Notes

OneTab for closing all your tabs and placing the links on a single page. You can lock the list for future use, etc... - This is one of my favorite extensions! 

YT Full Fill Chrome Extension - Strips all of the previews, comments, etc from Youtube clips and gives you a link with just the video to share with students or teachers.  Not perfect, but helpful to teachers.

Chrome Cleanup Tool - A Windows programby Google. 

This application will scan and remove software that may cause problems with Chrome, such as crashes, unusual startup pages or toolbars, unexpected ads you can't get rid of, or otherwise changing your browsing experience.

Using Google with Math & Chromebooks:

Teaching Math with Google #Googlemath 

Google can graph 4th degree polynomials:

Google finds C in the Pythagorean theorem. a^2+b^2=c^2 calc a=4 b=7 c=? 

Chromebook tips:

4 Chromebook Trackpad Tips That Will Blow Your Mind

New Google Templates!

New templates in Google Docs: designed by experts, made for you

Template Home Pages: 

• Docs Templates 
• Sheets Templates
• Slides Templates 

Google Docs:

How to use the Insert Comment button in Google Docs for better feedback and collaboration!

Tip of the Week: Creating a Table of Contents in Google Docs - Via Synergyse

Creating a Table of Contents is a feature in Google Docs that often goes unnoticed and unused. This video blog walks you through the necessary steps.

Edit Your Document Using Voice Commands! 

Google added a feature with Voice Typing...  but now it's on steroids! You can now select lines, paragraphs, and individual words with your voice, as well as insert objects and navigate your document.

Google Sheets:

 5 Tips for Google Sheets

Formative Assessment Add-On: Super Quiz for Google Sheets. I have not used this one yet, but looks pretty cool! May be better than Flubaroo??? 

How to Share Individual Tabs In Google Sheets - As simple as it sounds, Google does not have a direct way to share individual tabs in Google Sheets. That does not mean it is not possible to do, you just need to get creative.

How to Insert Multiple Rows in Google Sheets 40 second video shows you how. <-- This was a new tip for me!  I have been using the Add Rows & Columns sheet add-on, which works great too. But I like this tip better! 

How to Filter and Sort Data in Google Sheets - Looking at a large set of data in Google Sheets, it is difficult to make heads or tails of all the information. Making a graph or chart can add some clarity but usually paints the data with too broad of strokes to make sense of individual numbers. Using the filter tool in Google Sheets you can narrow down your data set and sort it into an easier to digest set.

Google Forms:

There were some great updates to Google Forms this past month!  Check them out here!  Add-ons, templates, ..  and now... 

Track responses to your Google Form

Form creators will be able to see who they’ve sent their forms to and who still needs to respond. There will also be a new option to send out follow-up reminders as needed. 

4 Updates to Google Forms You’re Going to Love

Creating Self-Checking “Scavenger Hunts” Using Google Forms! (Posted above in my Web Tools Section too.)

Google Classroom:

EDPuzzle & Google Classroom: A Formative Assessment Match - Synergyse

EDPuzzle is a video integration tool that builds engagement, supports the flipped classroom, and aids in the formative assessment process.

Gmail:

9 Keyboard Shortcuts in Gmail That Will Make You More Productive

Google Draw:

Unleash the Power of Google Drawings 

Sketchup -  Did you know they provide free licenses to schools!  Here at Norris, Andrew Carlson and other's have been using this product in their classes with some pretty cool projects.

Homepage for more info. 

Getting started? -These videos will help you get started with Sketchup. 

For the current users - here is a nice list of short video resources. 

IOS (iPad/iPhone) apps:

Develop Mathematics Skills With Sushi Monster -- 

Sushi Monster is a free iPad game from Scholastic that helps kids practice their addition and multiplication skills. 

Explain Everything™ Interactive Whiteboard on the App Store

TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 

Start creating videos and classroom projects with this leading unique interactive screencasting whiteboard. Remember - at Norris we will provide this app for free for classroom use! - Contact me for a code.

Little Story Creator - Digital Scrapbooking and Photo Collage Maker.  FREE

Little Story Creator lets you instantly create collages, arrange photos or get creative with videos, text, borders, stickers, videos, audio, drawings, and more. Your family and friends will be amazed with what you can create. 

Whether you are 5 or 85, you will find Little Story Creator to be an excellent app to share your photo collection and handiwork with family and friends.

Stickyboard 2

By Qrayon, LLC

Is free today (3-7-16) Reg. $9.99

Scribble Press Deluxe -   <--- GRAB IT NOW... this is a great K-6 appCreative Book Maker for Kids for iPad is free 3/7/16; normally $4.99 Free until the 18th.

Tech tools, free apps, Great Google Tips, and more - in this weeks tech tips.

Websites and Tools:

HippoCampus - Homework and Study Help - Free help with your algebra, biology, environmental science, American government, US history, physics and religion homework. I nice resource site for your students!

9 Google Resources to Support Reading 

Chromebooks: 

Bam!!! Need to mirror your Chromebook to an Apple TV?  AirParrot is the answer!  It works great... I have tested it here at Norris. Similar to mirroring your iPad to an AppleTV... you must be on the same wireless network as the AppleTV. (So you must be connected to the Faculty WiFi here at Norris.) 

Chromebook: Caps Lock Key - check out this short great post. 

Google Apps, tips and tricks:

Insert page numbers on your Google Doc: Navigate to “Insert” and then select “Page Number” and choose whether you would like the numbers to show at the top or bottom of the page.

TIP: Check out the new Insert Comments feature in Google Docs! Just highlight text and click the button that appears to the right!  

18+ hours of free Google Apps training videos. Learn something new!

Create a Google Drive Folder for Each Student <--- WOW, this is a great tool! 

Here is one for the English Teachers! Feedback Tool for Google Docs: JoeZoo Express is an Add-on for Google Docs that helps teachers provide quality feedback quickly and easily.

IOS Apps and Tools:

Create Engaging Presentations With Free iPad Apps. 

Adobe Voice – Show your story Great for all ages and it's FREE - Voice helps you create stunning animated videos in minutes. No filming – just talk to tell your story. Pick from over 25,000 beautiful iconic images to show your ideas and Voice automatically adds cinematic motion and a soundtrack. Persuade, inform and inspire anyone online. Make an impact.

Storehouse - Photo & Video Collages, Stories, Albums on the App Store FREE

TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 | Storehouse - Photo &amp; Video Collages, Stories, Albums on the App Store

Turn a collection of photos and videos into a shareable story.

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 Lapse It * Time Lapse & Stop Motion Camera * Free on the App Store

TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 | Lapse It * Time Lapse &amp; Stop Motion Camera * Free on the App Store

Lapse It is an award-winning full featured app for capturing amazing time lapse and stop motion videos.

 Easelly -FREE

TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 | Easelly

Create infographics and visual data on iPad or through your browser. Download a free book to learn how to incorporate infographics in your classroom.

Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free on the App Store - FREE

TeachThought Editor's Choice: The 50 Best Educational Apps For iPad In 2016 | Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free on the App Store

Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and English. Totally fun. Totally free.