Design School or Classroom Newsletter in Google Slides

https://www.bettercloud.com/monitor/the-academy/design-the-perfect-internal-newsletter-in-google-slides/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVdNd01qTTBOV1F3TTJObSIsInQiOiJOKytKdVl4Mzl3MW9OWWFBYk1YK000Mzk3S0N5dU91S1dvK1hxTExpeWE2MkR6eDgzY3l5bUlUOUdUMmpyVGU1MWdRRHpueklrczJTQklHMEo5cjNkdGpUdkllN28yWnh4U0FzS2g5cGNQWT0ifQ%3D%3D

Use this Google Doc Add on to create word clouds

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/03/skip-spreadsheet-use-this-add-on-to.html#.VwJfY-IrLIU

Tag Cloud Generator Add-on for Google Documents allows users to create word clouds without using a spreadsheet.

If you haven't done so already, I would suggest following Richard Byrne.  

He has some great posts and ideas!!

Word Clouds: Ways to use them with your students...

Word Clouds can be extremely useful.

Here are some examples:
Show it to the students so they can make inferences about what we'll be studying throughout the year. You can also use it on Open House night to show the parents. From time to time, look back at it to remind me which terms and phrases I should be emphasizing with my teaching. It's a great way to think about the necessary vocabulary.

Visit wordle.net to create a word cloud of your own state's standards! Simply copy and paste the standards into the create box and let wordle.net do the rest of the work for you.

OR 

http://www.tagxedo.com/  

5 Chrome Apps that students can used for Project Based Learning

5 Chrome Apps for Student Creation

---

1. Canva

Canva is a design tool that I have mentioned several times on this blog and a tool that I use myself almost daily. Canva makes design EASY! With ready-made templates in a host of different sizes, students can create presentations, infographics, images for blog posts, brochures, postcards, collages, and more! These designs can easily be downloaded as .png or .pdf files that can be added to other projects, websites, and easily turned in through Google Classroom. 

https://www.canva.com/signup

2. PicMonkey

Another tool that I use for creating images is PicMonkey. PicMonkey is great for creating images that need a transparent background, and they also have lots of fun, seasonal backgrounds, and special effects. I used PicMonkey to create a vampire version of my avatar for Halloween and to create the background for the Magnetic Poetry templates. Students can create any size image, collage, or poster they want. The app is only limited by your imagination.  http://www.picmonkey.com/

3. Powtoon Presentations Edu

Powtoon offers a wonderful, animated alternative to traditional presentations, which is perfect for teachers, but also a fantastic creation tool for students. Powtoon has a very easy-to-use drag and drop interface, and great tutorials to help any user get started. It also has great templates that make it easy to create and focus on content. Watch the video below to get an idea of what Powtoon can bring to your classroom. Oh, and you can sign in with your Google account! (Note: Powtoon is freemium. Be sure you sign up for the educational version which includes more. 

4. WeVideo One of my favorites <3

WeVideo is a web-based, video editor. Video editing has come a long way in the last few years, and WeVideo means that you can edit the video from anywhere, on any machine. You can also connect it to your Google Drive! There are fun themes and a ton features in the free version. This is a great video editor for student projects.   https://www.wevideo.com/

5. Google Drawings

Google Drawings is one of my favorite Google tools, and an often overlooked powerhouse when it comes to student creations. Google Drawings is an image creation tool, but because it is also collaborative and can remain in an editing phase, it also becomes ideal for interactive lessons. I’ve shared lots of ideas for Google Drawings over the last couple years. See my infographic 10 Ways to Use Google Drawings in the Classroom.

Credit:  Shake Up Learning http://www.shakeuplearning.com/blog/5-chrome-apps-for-student-creation/

Photos for Class

http://photosforclass.com/


It’s free and, when you download the image (all Creative Commons licensed for public use), proper attribution is shown with it.

From the Makers of

http://www.quickrubric.com/  and http://www.storyboardthat.com/ 

7 Tools for Creating Multimedia Quizzes - Comparison Chart

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HN-PMF19GDI9EJq5JXiZ5Tj_f8o5-YWDFDjQv0GypiQ/edit

Edpuzzle

https://edpuzzle.com/
Edpuzzle allows teachers to edit videos from most video services such as YouTube, Khan Academy,
National Geographic ect...

The teacher can then add comments or questions for the students to answer in the videos.

And the best part is that it works with Google Classroom.

How???

Step 1: Find the Perfect Video

Once you’ve created an account, you can search for videos using keywords or a URL.

Step 2: Preview Your Video 

Step 3: Customize Your Video with EDpuzzle Tools 

EDpuzzle lets you trim your video to use only the parts you want students to watch. It’s easy to eliminate advertisements and keep the video length appropriate for your age group. Teacher tip: Limit the length of a video to the age of the students you are working with.

Step 4: Add Questions to Get Students Thinking Critically

You can add audio clips throughout a video or narrate the entire video using EDpuzzle.

Teachers can design open-ended questions to get students thinking more deeply about the information presented in the video. These open-ended questions are a great way to begin discussions in class the day after students have completed this assignment. 

Alternatively, teachers can pair an EDpuzzle lesson with a TodaysMeet backchannel and ask students to share their thoughts on the open-ended questions on the backchannel in an informal asynchronous conversation.

Step 5: See How Your Students Did On This Assignment!

The teacher dashboard makes it easy to see the assignments for each class and monitor which students have successfully completed each flipped lesson.

How to create your first video lesson:
https://edpuzzle.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205958502-Create-your-first-video-lesson

A few of of my Favorite Timers

Monitoring our time can always be a challenge.  Here are a few tools to help you a long.


Task Timer a chrome web app

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/task-timer/aomfjmibjhhfdenfkpaodhnlhkolngif?authuser=1

After installing the app you can create a set of tasks that you want to time. You can run multiple timers at once or run them individually. The timer functions on a countdown basis. A chime sounds when time has expired on each timer.

You know how I love classtools.net
http://www.classtools.net/timer/

This one is particularly awesome because you can use popular music from YouTube.

A third timer option is to simply type into Google search "set timer" followed by an amount of time and a countdown timer is displayed. An alarm beeps when time is up. You can make the timer appear full screen without advertisements by clicking a little box icon to the right of the timer. You can see this feature in action in the video below. 

Credit:  Richard Byrne
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/about-richard-byrne-and-free-technology.html#.VrCxurIrLIU

Have students create digital posters with tackk.com

https://tackk.com/educationrealexamples

Classroom application

• Use it as the 'showcase' portion of a student's e-portfolio.
• Create mini-lessons for students.
• Create a biography page for a historical or significant individual.
• Students create a 'how-to' document such as how to make or do something.
• English classes can create a business webpage selling an idea. Could be combined with a presentation.
• Students create an individual page to introduce themselves to the others in the class.
• Groups could use it to research an idea by sharing a page.
• A reading text could be combined with audio and pictures to make it more understandable (scaffolding).