The Friday Tech Tip

Happy Friday! One of my favorite blogs that I like to check out is Richard Byrne's blog  Freetechforteachers . In the last week or so he blogged about a new tool called Photo Center Online .  This is a way to super impose pictures on top of different back grounds.You can make it look like you are in a different place or time period!  I tried it out for myself and found it to be very useful and user friendly!  I think that this is a tool that can be used across all grade levels and it works really well with the chrome book.  I have created this screen-cast to show you how I used it.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  Take Care, Clint  

Happy Friday, I wanted to let you know about several new updates for Gsuite for Education that has taken place or soon will take place. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Sites -   These services will soon have a new look. Nothing will change functionally but it will probably look a little different. These have started to roll out on January 15th and will continue to roll out to all users across the world by February. Some of the things that you and your students may notice is the change in typography, controls (buttons, dialog and  sidebars). Also the icons will change a little and look "cleaner and fresher". Again, these are cosmetic changes and nothing that will affect the day to day use of these products. If you want to read more about these changes you can check out the GSuite Update Blog  Google Classroom - Lots of great things happening in Google Classroom. It really is amazing how much it has grown and changed in the last few years! This fall Google...

Happy Friday everyone! Seems like every time I have turned on our Television this week there are ads for New Year's Resolution. LA Fitness really wants our business. If you look at statistics New Year's resolutions rarely stick because we may bite off more than we can chew or give up as soon as we have one setback.  Often, this is also the case when trying new things with instruction. Maybe you had a bad  experience with a digital formative assessment or maybe you were frustrated when you were about to do an assignment with the chromebooks and students were not able to access it because their computers were not charged.      Here is an interesting article from Forbe's Magazine that says instead of writing a New Year's resolution take time to reflect on the last year and ask questions like when was I inspired? When did life change last year? Where do I want to be this time next year?  I think we can also take this and apply it to the classroom. When wer...

Happy Last Friday of the 2018 School Year! Wow! It is hard to believe that we already almost have half of the School year in the books. For this weeks blog post I wanted to highlight 12 things from 2018 that I think really can impact instruction and how we can teach our kids. Some are events, some are books, and some are Technology Tools. I would love to hear your comments! Please post some of your things in the comment section of this post! These are in no particular order but I dunno. I'm a huge fan of Year End list. I'm a music buff and I always enjoy seeing what are the best albums of the year Or the best moments in Sports . - Dot Rutherford, the Media Specialist at ECCHS, introduced me to Classhook in her blog post a month or so ago. What a great way to introduce a lesson! I am so thankful that I learned about this.  I often find myself searching all over Youtube to find that perfect lesson opener or a way to engage a class and this makes it all the more easier...

Happy Friday! Now more than ever it is easier to connect your classroom to Speakers, other classes, Experts, and Designers.  One easy and free way to do this is through the popular tool Flipgrid.  Flipgrid is a way for all students to have a voice and a way to discuss their learning. Students can video record themselves discussing a topic or answering a question and they can easily find others on the same "Grid"  who may have an opinion or voice.  Students and Teachers from all over the world are using this and want to connect with Your classroom. One way to do this is through #Gridpals. Grid pals is part of of the Flipgrid Platform.  Teachers from across the world can collaborate and have their students share their story, opinion, knowledge with a global audience.  Below is a video of an example of a #Gridpals collaboration.  I have curated a few more resources for you to better understand FlipGrid.  Below you will find the direction...

I found out yesterday about a great  FREE resource called Wakelet . Wakelet is a way for Teachers and students to curate different types of digital material. Currently when I am researching or studying something on the web I often bookmark pages, like tweets so I can go back and read the article, or save things to my Google Drive. ALL are  good ways to keep up with things but it is often difficult to put all of those pieces together. Now, I am excited about tying that together using a web tool call Wakelet. Wakelt is a COLLABORATIVE way to curate resources into one place.  Here are a couple of Scenarios of ways that it can be used. 1) My students are about to research ______ in my class.  I don't want them to start off by saying, "Hey guys please Google _____"    I want to give them a head start with some good resources. I have a Google Doc, a Pdf, and a few weblinks. I then want them to ADD to that and make their own and share their collaboration w...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope that you all have a relaxing Thanksgiving Break.  I wanted to share with you 4 Technology Tools that I am Thankful for. I'm Thankful for these tools because they can help us maximize instruction and save time for both us and our students. 1. Google Add ons -  Anytime that you open a Google Document, Google Slide, or Google Sheet you have the option to use Add ons. Addons are programs and features that are related to the Google product you are using. For example, there is an Add on For Google Documents where you can easily create a citation, or make a word cloud, or find a great layout for a Slide.  Below is a video tutorial about some great Add Ons.   Flipgrid is as FREE resource where students and teachers can record videos, tell a story, create and collaborate. Many teachers in our district are using this! It's so great to give our students voice and choice.  Please let me if you have questions about th...