Tuesday, January 23, 2024

SolveMe Mobiles

WEBSITE  SolveMe Mobiles

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT math

GRADE LEVELS  3 and up

Hey, math teachers! Check out this website. 200 "puzzles" to solve! They are broken up into 3 levels to make it easier to guide you and your students to the right level of puzzle. While there is a log in option, it's not necessary. These can be great "fast finisher" practices or when you have 5 minutes for a brain teaser. I enjoyed doing them, too!


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using this with students as a starter activity or a brain break in the classroom. I love this idea of having students explain how they came up with their answers. With roughly 200 puzzles, students can really practice problem solving with no work on your end.


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Tuesday, January 16, 2024

12 brain breaks to energize your classroom

WEBSITE  12 brain breaks to energize your classroom

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS  preK - 6

We all know it's not ideal for any student to sit through lesson after lesson. We ALL need breaks - even teachers! Matt Miller brings us 12 brain breaks that you can incorporate into your classroom, regardless of your content. Each brain break is easy to implement and doesn't require a ton of prep work or resources. Rotate through them to provide a variety of activities.


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using this to build in solid, short breaks for their students. Once part of a routine, these brain breaks will allow students the opportunity to give their thinking a quick break in before continuing to learning. 


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Saturday, January 6, 2024

Research Animations for Educators

WEBSITE  Research Animations for Educators

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS  all grades

edutopia has collected quite a few short videos that "examine studies about learning and surface findings that matter for teachers and students, all gathered in one place". I've watched quite a few of them and love the short-ness of them. Each video is tagged with a category to help you identify the "main idea" of the video - creativity, critical thinking, literacy, special education, etc. 

A few of my favorite articles are:
  • Why Prior Knowledge Wins the Game
  • How Drawing Can Lead to Deeper Understanding
  • How Set Better Boundaries With Technology
  • The Powerful Effects of Drawing on Learning
  • 5 Tips for Decorating Your Classroom


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using this resource over and over to inspire themselves in many different areas. At the beginning of the year, decorating your classroom is a very timely topic, and if you are looking to spice things up or make small changes, the videos about creativity and drawing might be appropriate. Teachers might also scroll through just to see what is available.


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Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Icograms Designer: Education edition

WEBSITE  Icograms Designer: Education edition

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ design, STEM

GRADE LEVELS  grades 7 & up

Let's be honest ... there are a LOT of tools out there. Icograms Designer will allow you and your students to "Create beautiful 3D looking Maps, Infographics and Isometric Illustrations within minutes" as their homepage states. And yes! They are beautiful!!! Wow! 

The link I've shared is their education edition - which I wasn't initially aware of, but while checking out their page, I noticed a link in the lower corner. 

Icograms Designer is a "freemium" which means it can be used without paying, but you will be limited in the number you make as well some of the items you have access to.


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using this with older students - it's not the easiest and will take some learning on your students' part. Teachers can create classes and student accounts and then see submissions and give feedback.

Be sure to check out their tutorials page and their lessons. If this tool is right for you & your students, there is some help and guidance. 


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Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Lauren Tarshis: "I Survived" resources

WEBSITE  Lauren Tarshis: "I Survived" resources

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ELA & History

GRADE LEVELS  grades 3+

I am not on social media as much as I have been, but one day I was scrolling through Twitter/X and I stopped and stared. The much beloved "I Survived" author, Lauren Tarshis shared a post stating she has classroom resources to support her books on her website. AND ... she provides it all free! Did you know this? I did not! I had to jump on and see it for myself.

This isn't too good to be true. It's true. Amazing! Thank you, Lauren! Thank you for supporting teachers! Not only are your books amazing, so are you!!!


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using this whenever they use an "I Survived" book in their classroom, or if they have small groups, or even individual students reading these books. From related books and videos to book club activities and resources, you can find them all on the "I Survived" resources pages. 

... and several of the books are in Spanish! They, too, have a resource page. Awesome!


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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Print speaker notes WITH your Google Slides

WEBSITE  Google Support page

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & admins

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS  all grades

I recently was asked for help and while I'd never had a need for this, the person did. So I did a search and was pleasantly surprised how easy it is! Have you ever wanted/needed to print out the speaker notes along with your Google Slides? Yes! It can be done, and it's really not too terribly difficult.

I've linked the support page above, but I'm going to just include the steps below because it's easy.

HOW DO I PRINT SPEAKER NOTES with MY GOOGLE SLIDES?

1. Open your Google Slides.
2. Click on the File menu & go towards the bottom.
3. Click on "Print settings and preview".
4. Find the dropdown menu in the toolbar and select "1 slide with notes". 
    --- depending on how large your slide deck is, it might take awhile to load ---
5. Click on the printer icon in the toolbar. 
    --- it might take a minute or two to load ---

At this point, I'd strongly recommend using the option in your print menu to print 2 or more pages on a sheet. You probably don't need a giant version of your slide and you can save some paper while still getting your slides & speaker notes.  

To return to your typical slide deck, click the "Close Preview" in the upper right corner.


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Saturday, November 11, 2023

WeVideo: Standards-aligned video projects

WEBSITE  WeVideo: Standards-aligned video projects

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS  middle school & high school

Video editing. Two words that may not feel attainable in school - BUT I can attest that it is possible with the right tool. WeVideo is that tool. Not only do I love and use WeVideo, but I've used it with many groups of students ... some as young as 3rd grade. 


HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?
I can see teachers using WeVideo and these possible projects in their classroom. Students will enjoy the ability to create in new ways. Teachers can take any of these projects and use them as options for WeVideo creations. The projects range from SEL, to writing, to digital citizenship, and more. 


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