Get Notified Every Time A Google Drive Folder Is Changed

Create a Table of Contents in Google Sheets by Inserting Hyperlinks

Create a Table of Contents in Google Sheets by Inserting Hyperlinks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OySFpYF4H5E&feature=youtu.be

Add fun text and word art to your PPTs and FLIPCHART

http://cooltext.com/

In HONOR OF STAR WARS

http://www.classtools.net/movietext/

Another earth-shattering template from ClassTools.net!

This new generator scrolls your text into the infinity of space!

Ideas for using it in the classroom:

• Provide students with an initial reading at the start / end of a lesson in an engaging way
• Display a class / group list at the end of a lesson in the form of 'movie credits'
• Give initial instructions as a starter or plenary exercise
• Provide prompts for creative writing
• Provide a list of questions/keywords, and award points for students who answer/define each one as it appears.

Quizalize - A Fun Quiz Platform

Quizalize - A Fun Quiz Platform

Quizalize is a newer quiz game platform that reminds me of Kahoot. Like Kahoot, students play your quiz games on their laptops or tablets by going to the Quizalize website then entering their names and a class code. Students are awarded points for correctly answering questions quickly. Students are given feedback instantly on every quiz question that they answer. A total score is presented to students at the end of every quiz.

Creating quizzes on Quizalize is a simple process. To get started just name your quiz and tag it with a subject label. As you write each quiz question you can include a picture and up to four answer choices. You can specify a time limit of 5 to 120 seconds for each question.

Quizalize offers a marketplace in which you can find quizzes created by other users. Some of the quizzes are free and others are sold for a dollar or two. To be clear, creating and playing your own quizzes is completely free.

An overview of Quizalize is provided in the video embedded below.

https://www.quizalize.com/

Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne

The Writing Process and Google Docs

How to search Google and get what you want

Tips and tricks you didn't know existed or maybe you  did:)

Google Drive Plug-in for Microsoft Office

Install the Drive plug-in for Microsoft Office

The Drive plug-in for Microsoft® Office allows users working in Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® to open documents directly from Google Drive, and save to Google Drive, without leaving their Office programs.  WHAT???  Anything that allows you to skip a step is always a time-saver!

Download Google Drive Plug in

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/driveforoffice

Add forms as an assessment in Google Classroom

 Adding Forms in Google Classroom (New as of 10/8/2015)

Until recently, it was hard to link to Forms into Classroom.  Google for EDU has just released an update to solve this.  When you attach a Form (usually an online quiz or survey)  the student receives a link that takes them straight to the Form.  They click submit to finish the Form/quiz and it automatically marks them as done in Google Classroom.

https://www.thegooru.com/everything-you-need-to-know-in-google-classroom-part-2/?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonuq3AZKXonjHpfsX56uUkWqGylMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4CTsFqI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTbHMMat6w7gKWxc%3D

StoryToolz

http://www.storytoolz.com/

StoryToolz offers a free tools for student writers.  StoryToolz has three tools that you can use to get story ideas; Random Conflicts, Half Title Generator, and Story Idea Generator. In addition to the writing prompts tools StoryToolz offers a few tools to help you edit your work. The Cliché Buster analyzes your work to find clichés that you have used in your writing. The Readability tool analyzes your text to estimate a reading level on several scales.

Create Trading Cards for Fictional and Historical Characters

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/12/create-trading-cards-for-fictional-and.html#.VQA5GfnF-Sp

Big Huge Labs offers a great selection of free tools for building digital products with your pictures. One of the tools that I like is their Trading Card generator that allows you to create trading cards about people, places, and events both real and fictional. To create your card you simply upload a picture or import one from Flickr, Instagram, or Facebook then add some text details about the person featured in the card.

Applications for Education
As I wrote when I featured Read Write Think's Trading Card Creator earlier this year, the Big Huge Labs Trading Card generator could be used by students is to create a set of trading cards about characters in a novel, to create a set of cards about people of historical significance, or to create cards about places that they're studying in their geography lessons.

Richard Byrne

The Three Best Free Coding Websites for Kids

http://www.edudemic.com/the-three-best-free-coding-websites-for-kids/

KAHOOT

https://getkahoot.com/

A great free tool that combines game-based learning  and a student response system to bring a fun, easy to use assessment tool to the classroom.

How to create FLASHCARDS from a Google Spreadsheet!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2015/02/how-to-create-flashcards-from-google.html#.VOdvk_nF-Sp

The Google Docs Template Gallery hosts some templates for creating flashcards from a spreadsheet in your Google Drive account. None of those templates are as easy to use or as flexible as the template offered on Flippity.net. Through Flippity.net you can quickly create a set of flashcards that include pictures, videos, and text. You can even turn your flashcards into a printable quiz. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how easy it is to use Flippity to create flashcards from a spreadsheet. 

Written by Richard Byrne

Math Folks, Do you need a creative anticipatory set?

Check out http://www.flickr.com/groups/badmaths/pool/


Save  the individual pics to your lessons and see if the students can figure out what the problem is.

Why math is important:)

Prodigy: Online Math Game

Prodigy is a free online Pokemon type math game.  It is aligned with the Common Core Standards; however, we know that the SOLs and Common Core are very similar, since VA helped to write Common Core.  It is geared towards grades 1-6 and allows educators to track students' progress as well as generate detailed reports.  Something to check out.  

https://www.prodigygame.com/Teachers/

Do your students need a brain break?

Are your students fidgety, maybe they need a brain break?  Here are two different sites you can use to get the wiggles out and focus your students.

https://www.gonoodle.com/

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Category.aspx?CategoryID=17404  (Brain Breaks for Secondary Students)

BoomWriter

http://www.boomwriter.com/Schools
Creative writing using technology.

Students use the preexisting story starters to write their own stories collaboratively.  Other students then vote on their favorite stories.
Encourages students to read and write.  Once students write the next chapter to their story starter it is then submitted to the teacher who can either approve the story or request revisions.  Once all the entries are approved the teacher initiates the voting process.  Students read their peers work and cast votes for the chapter they like best.  It is completely anonymous and the students do not know who wrote what piece.  Great way to encourage more writing in the classroom

And its completely free.