Google Classroom - End of the Semester/Year Clean-Up

Eric Curts who blogs at Control Alt Achieve has a nice post about Google Classroom and items that teachers should consider "cleaning up" before they leave for the summer.  His blog goes into detail how teachers would attend to each of these areas.

Tips
#1 - Return all student work
#2 - Un-enroll students from old classes
#3 - Archive old classes
#4 - Remove old class calendars
#5 - Move old class folders in Drive
#6 - Remove old class files from "Shared with me" in Drive

Click here for the full post

Moody Duck Cam is on air

Good morning all ..

Around May 1st a female duck built a nest and laid four eggs right outside the Moody library window.  To say the least the students were very curious and excited by the event.  They wanted to watch as the mother duck sat on the eggs.  The gestation period for duck eggs is around 28 days so they probably won't hatch until after school is finished.

To that end, Susan Brotherton (Moody librarian) and Randy Stall have set up the Moody Duck Cam to broadcast the progress our mama duck is making.  You are welcome to check in on the progress as well.  Click on the link below to connect to the live feed from the Moody Duck Cam.  You will get a quick 30 second commercial then you will go to the live feed.  Have fun with this.

Moody Duck Cam link

Library Extension

A new Chrome Extension that allows you to search on Amazon and then tells you which of your local libraries has it ready to check out or put on hold. 

Try Library Extension, a library Chrome extension that works with Amazon and Goodreads. 

You can see how the extension displays on the right side after you choose a book. 

The extension allows you to add whatever libraries you’d like. Currently, 3000+ libraries are listed and it’s possible to search multiple libraries.

Click on the Borrow or Place on Hold button, and you’ll be taken to the appropriate page — either the library’s page with information about where available physical copies are located or the library’s digital lending page for the item, where you can sign in and check it out. There’s also an option to place a hold on an item if it’s not available.

Ebook users who use Amazon’s Family Library may especially appreciate the extension’s ability to search multiple libraries. Sharing ebooks via Family Library works for library books as well as for purchased content, so if the other adult in your Amazon Household has borrowing privileges at a different library than you do, each of you can get access to digital materials at the other’s library.

Thank you to Amy Cavendar for sharing out this resource

ThingLink - Interactive Images

Students can create interactive images using Thinglink. It allows students to add "hotspots" on an image that can contain additional information like text, links, video, and audio. The FREE version is all a student or teacher needs to get started. Thinglink 

Check out a few examples 

- Elementary

- Secondary

      - Hamilton in Monticello

      - Apollo 11

Thank you, Makendra Silverman, for suggesting to share this resource.

Creating Student Interactive Videos - Vizia

Do you ever wonder “Did my students watch and understand the video?”. Try using Vizia which has features like polls, quizzes, open ended questions, and adding links to videos. This gives students opportunities to stop and reflect on a section of the video and share what they know.  Each student response records in a spreadsheet.  This is a quick way for the teacher to see who watched the video, answered the prompts, and who may have struggled with the prompts.

Vizia is great for flipping classrooms or even the simple assignment of reviewing a video for homework.  Some teachers have even had students use Vizia so they can stop and identify where in the video they are having difficulty understanding the content.

PhotoScan - Remove Glare from Student Work

Have you ever tried to take pictures with your mobile device of student work or old family photos and you get a glare on your pictures? PhotoScan removes glare to allow for the capture of student work that has even been laminated.

Use PhotoScan to remove glare.

Library of Congress

If you have not looked at the Library of Congress's Digital Collection in awhile, take a look. Search by Subject, Part of a specific Collection or File Format. These are great primary and/or secondary resources for student research.

Google Slide Templates

Bored of the default Google Slide template choices? Try other websites that have a larger variety of Google Slide Templates.

• Slide Carnival 
• Slide Model 
• Free Google Slide Templates

Simply open the Google Slide Template and Make a Copy. 

New Google Sites

Many of you have started using the "New" Google Sites and we have had many questions about where old features are in the new sites. 

Below is a link to a comparison chart of the new version to the old version. 

Comparison Chart for Sites

Virtual Field Trips - Skype in the Classroom

Take your students on an adventure without leaving the classroom. 

Visit experts in the field all around the world! Resources for K-12
GETTING STARTED GUIDE 


Melissa McCoy an LPS educator at Franklin elementary school did just that. 

Using the resource Skype in the Classroom she connected what students were studying (animal habitats) to experts in the field that could help make deeper connections for students in the real world. 

The first-grade team at Franklin Elementary began a unit in which each student chose their own animal to research. Students read and studied their animal to write a book teaching their readers about their animal's diet, habitat, predators, prey, and appearance. We wanted to take this unit even further by integrating technology in a new way by going on a virtual field trip. Each class had the opportunity to visit a turtle hospital in Marathon, FL and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in WY. In each field trip, students were given an opportunity to discuss and learn from an expert about different animals. 


At the Turtle Hospital, students learned about sea turtles, their diet, habitat, and appearance, and had the chance to see many of the turtles who reside in the hospital. 

At the Buffalo Bill Center, students had the opportunity to learn about the habitats and animals found in Yellowstone National Park. They were taken through the museum to learn about the animals in the exhibit and the adaptations many of the animals have to be able to survive in their habitat. 


It was an incredible learning experience for the students to practice speaking and listening skills and to think of thoughtful questions to ask the experts.