The Friday Tech Tip

Happy Friday! I don't know about you but as I approach the end  of the school year I really begin to reflect on what went well and what didn't go so well for me instructionaly for 2015-2016.  I try to save  or bookmark resources as I go but sometime I move on so quickly that I forgot I bookmarked them. That's one of the reasons that I created the blog this year so I can go back and reflect on the digital resources here and can go back and review them easily because they are all in one place.  If you are trying to organize your resources  please consider a couple of these ideas.   Create a  Symbaloo page with your digital resources.  Symbaloos are a great visual representations of your sites and or resources.  Also, these can be shared with others in your grade level or department. You can create a free symbaloo account and sign in with your CCSD Google account. These are what we use as the student start page.  If you have Yout...

Happy Friday! The Google Cultural Institute is a great place for students  and teachers to explore some of the best museums and historical places in the world!  Students can view historical places in 360 view, be able to zoom in and see some of the most famous art work and pieces in the world!  Also, you as the teacher or your students, can make your own galleries and choose destinations or pieces for your students to view.  You can send the link to your gallery to your students through Google Classroom or post on your website for everyone to access.       Also, there are already curated galleries!  For example, there is a whole gallery about the life of Harriet Tubman that is ready to be viewed now.  I really think that  the Google Cultural Institute can be used across curriculum. If you have questions here is a great Help Document .  Or as always  please contact me.   Have a great weekend, Clint ...

Happy Friday!! Google Classroom rolled out a new feature this week that I think that you will find valuable. You can now Poll your students within classroom. This could be a great tool for both instructional and administration  use.  Teachers at one of my schools were talking about how this could be part of the morning routine and could be a way for students to sign up for lunch choices. Also, this could be used as a way for an opening or closing activity during class.  Below is a quick screencast that I have made on how to use the polling feature. (The end of the screencast accidently got cut off. It should say" if you have questions please contact me").      Speaking of Google Classroom. Please take time to fill out this short survey (Your students can do it to) to help make Classroom better!   https://docs.google.com/a/clarke.k12.ga.us/forms/d/1ftrRY4z-UIv_R4s57OGAWg50eghgGB-8uOvPCet6iio/viewform#responses Have a great weekend and don'...

Happy Friday! I have a new favorite Digital Creation tool.   Chrome Music Lab   is a site where students can design, build, create, and share their own digital music. This site could be used for students to produce their own music to supplement a creative writing assignment. Below is a  short screencast that I have made to show you 2 of the tools on the site. I can see how this could fit into almost any content area!. If you have questions about how to use this in your classroom please let me know and I will be happy to schedule a time to meet. Have a great week and to all my Elementary teacher friends in CCSD good luck in your first week of Milestones. Take Care, Clint

Happy Friday! I wanted to highlight a new  addon\s that you might find useful in your classroom. This  could be seen as Augmentation or Modification on the SAM-R scale (Depending on how you use it). It  also has the most unique name of any addon I've seen latelty. Joe Zoo  is an addon for Google Docs  where teachers can easily give feedback to students.  With Joe Zoo you can quickly leave feedback with a few clicks, (See below animation.  Click on the picture for full screen), You can also quickly build rubrics that can be reused again and again, and are editable. Finally, Joe Zoo can be synced with Google Classroom. If you have questions about this tool please let me know. I would be happy to show you or your team all of the benefits with Joe Zoo.  Lastly, Here is Google's April Fools joke for this year. I thought it was pretty great. .  Take Care and have a great weekend, Clint