Ditch That Textbook: Templates!

WEBSITE ↬ DTT: Templates

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Matt Miller, of Ditch That Textbook, has a wonderful website packed with templates that are free and available to teachers everywhere. I love how he has them organized into groups to make it easier to find what you are looking for. The categories are:

• Social Media Templates
• Game Templates
• Interactive Activities
• Graphic Organizers
• Lesson Plan Templates
• Communication Templates
• Feedback Templates
• Exit Ticket Templates
• Back to School Templates
• End of Year Templates

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using DTT's Template Gallery to hep themselves in quite a few ways. Feedback & Exit Tickets are helpful in many classrooms. Having students provide each other feedback is helpful to learn and improve. The Back to School & End of Year Templates are a great way to help start and reflect on the school year. If you only check out one of the categories, be sure to hit up the game templates ... so many different games that you - AND your students - can customize and create using.

*** Interested in more resources like this? Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

5 Clue Challenge

WEBSITE ↬ 5 Clue Challenge

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ research

GRADE LEVELS ↬ middle school & high school

I remember hearing about the 5 Clue Challenge years ago, but I somehow lost track of it only to be stumble upon it again recently. It is just as fun as I remember! Michael Soskil created this idea to encourage students to practice research skills and have a little fun along the way. The way it works is you watch the video and use the clues in the video to help you research. The quicker you can guess the location the more point you earn.  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this as a warm up for class or even when you find that you have a few extra minutes. For more of a challenge, you can team students up to work together or make it into an individual challenge. After your students are comfortable, you might even encourage them to create their own 5 clue challenge to share with the class.

*** Interested in more resources like this? Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Annotate.net

WEBSITE ↬ Annotate.net

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all content

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I've been on a mission lately. One that I've been intrigued by and one that hasn't proven to be easy and I can't say that I've got a "perfect" solution. BUT - I can say Annotate.net is a tool I came across during this search and I've been happy with what I've learned about it.

A teacher has asked my help in finding something that will allow her to write on screen while she is moving around the classroom and even possibly allowing students to do the same. She has been fairly happy with her bluetooth mouse that gives her the mobility but she's struggling a little with the annotation side of it. (That's the part that isn't exactly solved.)

Annotate.net allows anyone to do exactly this. Annotate on a web pages - and it's awesome! I've created the free teacher account and installed the extension (HIGHLY recommend it) and I've played around with it. It even "holds" the annotations when you scroll! So many benefits.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using Annotate.net to easily allow them to digitally annotate on any web page. This is only the "tip of the iceberg" ... there is a TON of options. You can create classes in order to share your screen directly with students, you can record lessons, you can create assessments, and so much more! It is an impressive tool and I've only just begun to dig in.

Do you use Annotate.net? I'd love to know how in the comments below.

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Dice Thrower (x2!)

WEBSITE ↬ Dice Thrower Extension ; 

Dice Thrower website

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers; possibly students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I saw a teacher share on Twitter how she had a die she could roll on a Google Slide & I was intrigued! How on earth?!?! Someone else beat me to the punch on asking how it was possible. And I discovered the "Dice Thrower Extension"! WOW!

Especially in the world of virtual learning, this can be a very useful extension to have at your finger tips. When I did a little more digging, I found that it is not only an extension, it also has a website you can go to and roll the die, too. Use it during a math lesson ... to play a game ... to chose activities ... whatever you can dream up. And make sure to let students get in on the fun, too!

Day 7: CraftyShade

WEBSITE ↬ CraftyShade - updated March 6, 2022!

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ ScreenShade is going to be an asset to classrooms every where! If you aren't already using this, I promise it won't take much to win you over. This extension makes it super easy to cover all, or part of your browser screen. 

HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ the next time you are displaying your browser, and want to keep your students in suspense, turn on the ScreenShade and let it give you the ability to peel back as much or as little as you want. There is even a timer you can set so that the screen goes away completely when the time is up!

• Math class: want to have a problem already worked out? Use CraftyShade to peel back one step at a time. How about showing a small selection of problems for your students and as they are ready, peel back the screen for more?

• Science class: reveal steps to a lab one at a time so students do things in the right order; show only part of a chart/graph.

• ELA class: show students a short selection from a book or article so they can predict or infer what is going to happen. Use a graphic organizer and only reveal a portion.

I'd be willing to bet you can come up with a bunch of other uses in your classroom! Enjoy!

I hope I've convinced you to give the CraftyShade extension a try! If this extension is exciting you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Day 6: Crafty Text

WEBSITE ↬ CraftyText

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers


WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ CraftyText is not an extension I use on a daily basis, but rather on occasion to display a short message to an audience.


HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ staying on whatever site I need to be, click the extension and type the message/phrase/text and then enter. The text will display as an overlay on my screen. It will remain there until I click on the extension again.

• IN A PRESENTATION: if I were to have a shortened URL (hello, Day 3: bitly?) to display so my audience can access information or my presentation
• WITH STUDENTS: I might use CraftyText for a couple of reasons ... to join a Google Classroom, to provide a code, or to share a quick message.

I hope I've convinced you to give the CraftyText extension a try! If this extension is exciting you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 5: Thursday Throwback ... it's a 3-fer!

On Thursday's, I try to do a "throwback" and re-highlight a previous post. In keeping with this week's theme of extensions, I've gathered THREE throwbacks to previous posts on some of my favorite extensions. Enjoy!

WEBSITE ↬ Select and Speak

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ this is extension is a game-changer!!! The power is truly for students to be able to listen to pretty much anything on the web, AND it works nicely for teachers, too, since we have to read digitally as well. It kinda of turns your web browser into an audiobook 'on demand'!

The way this extension works is to open a web browser, select the word, paragraph, or entire article, then click on the extension and turn on your volume. The extension looks like a play button and changes into a pause button while it is reading.

READ MORE HERE ↬ "5 Top Google Chrome Extensions You Can ... and Should ... Do"

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WEBSITE ↬ Toby

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ to organize myself and keep links, resources, activities grouped together. Using Toby allows me to open up each "collection" at one time with a single click. It's very much like a folder on my bookmarks bar, but I can open them all at one time. Collections can also be shared with others, so you & your colleagues can help each other stay organized.

READ MORE HERE ↬ "Day 7: Toby Extension"

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WEBSITE ↬ ColorPick Eyedropper

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ this one is for me to match up colors to the exact hue of whatever project I am working on! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Click the extension, hover over the color on your computer screen & copy the specific hex number. Paste that into the custom area for your background, text, shape or line color and voilá!!!! Perfect match!

READ MORE HERE ↬ "Day 10: ColorPick Eyedropper extension"

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I hope I've convinced you to give at least ONE of these extensions a try! If these extensions are exciting to you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 4: Cite This For Me

WEBSITE ↬ Cite This For Me

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ to easily, quickly, and accurately cite sources on the web. Where was this when I was in college?!?!

I recently had a discussion with another teacher regarding students and citations. Which citation do we teach? How do we teach it? At what age? And so on. Here's my opinion ... bottom line, we NEED to teach students TO cite. I do not believe there is a "right" way - MLA, APA, Harvard, Chicago, etc ... pick which ever you prefer.

From a young age, students need to be taught they can't just take anything off the internet and include it in their work. (I honestly do NOT believe students have the malicious intention of passing someones work off as theirs, it's just easy to do. Copy and paste, right?) But how to do this without wanting to pull your hair out? Cite This for Me extension is the answer!

HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ If I am working with a group of students, having this extension is really awesome because the stress of creating a perfect citation is gone. Once a student is on the website they are using in their work, click on the extension, select the style of citation format needed. From here, it's as simple as grabbing the citation and dragging it over to the document and drop it right on the page. Done.

When I show this extension to teachers, the reaction is half-disbelief and half-excitement. I always smile really big and say, "Man! Where was this in college!?!? I sweated over citations and I never got them right!" This also demonstrates a subtle shift for us as teachers ... there are some things we can "let go of" without really losing anything. Spend that energy teaching students better searching or crafting a better paragraph or finding another creative way to display their work.

I hope I've convinced you to give the Cite This for Me extension a try! If this extension is exciting you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 3: bitly URL Shortener

WEBSITE ↬ bitly URL Shortener

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ to share presentations, links, and more in an easy way

*Note: these URL's are case-sensitive. 

I used to use the goo.gl URL shortener, but Google announced they no longer would support it, so I had to find a new one. After a little research, I settled on bitly. It's super easy to use - it's not only a website but also an extension. 

HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ A shortened URL is a perfect way to get share a link, a resource, or activity. I only have a free account with bitly and I can customize the endings, if I want. I like to name it something that makes it easy to type in (especially if it's for kiddos!) and that it make sense for what I'm sharing.

• For a professional learning presentation: If I am presenting to people outside my district, it's SUPER easy to put a shortened URL up on the screen for attendees to type in to gain access to the presentation. I use the URL of the correct share settings. 
• Sharing an activity with student: When I go into a classroom do to lesson with students, I might have them type in a shortened URL to get to where I want them to be. Depending on their age, it's not a bad idea for them to practice typing in URL's every so often. For these URL's, I'm VERY conscious of what I customize the link. I'm not there to test their spelling! It also gives me the opportunity to use words/names for things they may not typically hear - URL, omnibox, bookmark bar, etc.
• Sharing a link on social media: Especially with Twitter, where I am limited on characters, using a shortened URL is needed! It also reminds those who briefly glance a better idea of what the link is for.

Finally, one of the best things about a shortened URL using bitly, I DO get some data back. Here's where the nerd in me really gets excited! When I share a bitly link, I can see how many people have clicked on it (over the course of time, too!); how they got the link (email, SMS, direct, etc); and even country locations. I get super excited when I see these graphs/charts. Below, I've included a screenshot of the Valentine's Day activity I sent out. It's pretty cool to see other countries listed!

I hope these ideas inspire you to give the bitly URL shortener a try! If this extension is exciting you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 2: Share to Classroom

WEBSITE ↬ Share to Classroom

AUDIENCE ↬ education (both teachers & students)

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ to quickly share sites with students - great for students of all ages! Get everyone on the same page ... literally ... in seconds!

*Note: this must be enable on BOTH teacher and student accounts for it to work. 

It can work both ways: teachers can push to their students AND students can push back. But, don't worry, if a student pushes to the teacher, ONLY the teacher receives it. The teacher can then decide whether to push it to everyone or use it to create something in Classroom with it.

HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ When this first came out, I'll admit, I was skeptical. I didn't really know what to think about its potential. After showing it to teachers and seeing it in action ... WOW! Literally, mind-blown! The simplicity of it. EVERYONE can do this!

• As a "quick share": If I am short on time and need to get everyone to a site quickly, I open it on my screen, click the extension, and choose push to Classroom.
• To add to Classroom: I know, this might seem odd. But let's say I come across something and didn't plan ahead of time to post this into Classroom. WIth this extension, I can do it with just a couple of clicks!
• As a way to help "littles": I never underestimate what our littlest learners can do, but I am also conscious of time and frustration levels. Navigating students to a site where I want them to be with ease is priceless.

Each time I demo this to teachers, the reaction is the same ... disbelief, then utter excitement!!! 

One word of caution ... if you push a website to one of your Classrooms, the students device WILL go to that site, whether or not they are in front of you! If they are in a different classroom or at home.

I hope these ideas I've shared inspire you to use Share to Classroom! My goal this week is to share 1 Chrome extension each day ... if this extension has excited you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 1: Screencastify

WEBSITE ↬ Screencastify

AUDIENCE ↬ education (both teachers & students) & personal

WHY I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ to make quick videos

I have used Screencastify too many times to count. It is super simple to set up and use. Once the extension has been added to our accounts, I have easily walked entire classrooms of students as young as 2nd grade through the setup process. (We limit the extensions our students can have.)

During the setup process, we choose the save to Google Drive option, since it is far easier for our teachers and students, but you can also save it locally on your device. The Drive option allows super easy access to all your recordings since a folder is automatically created. 

Screencastify has the ability to screencast in 3 different ways. You can simply capture your computer screen; you can simply capture yourself (or whatever the camera on the computer is facing); OR you can have a small picture-in-picture, where your computer screen is the bulk of the recording, but your camera is also capturing video. The free version allows videos up to 10 minutes long. Perfect for students and perfect for me! 

HOW I USE THIS EXTENSION ↬ I use Screencastify for numerous reasons. 

• Quick "How-To's": I split my time between 2 elementary buildings & I often receive requests for help from teachers in one building while I'm at the other one. Sometimes making a quick screencasted video (where I capture my computer screen) is far easier to help than a long-winded email or text message.
• Professional Learning: I have also used the screen capture piece of Screencastify in order to share information regarding a district program to a large audience. This can be housed in a central location for future use. It works well for student's needs, too! I've made several videos that demonstrate how to log into various programs. 
• To take my place: I am often invited into classrooms to co-teach and sometimes lead tech-infused lessons with students. I do my absolute best to not cancel, but unfortunately, I there have been a few times where I've had to cancel. I had the idea with one of the first times this happened to screencast myself sharing the lesson. I then shared the video with the teacher who could then show it. 

OTHER OPTIONS↬ I am not the only one who uses Screencasting ...

• To flip lessons: you can easily video a lesson or activity so students (& their parents) have the ability to watch them as many times as needed. One teacher I work with has even created a YouTube channel focused solely on math for his young students. This has greatly helped parents hear and understand the math while they are at home! 
• To share a creation: A junior high language arts teacher asked for my help. She had her students create picture books as a way to share their story they wrote around Christmas time. She explained that doing it "live" can be nerve-wracking. I asked if the goal was the actual presentation. She said no, it was a way to compliment the writing. I suggested having the student screencast their books (created with Google Slides). That way, they could practice and record as many times as needed to get to a video they would be happy to share. It also helps lessen the need to reschedule should a group member to absent.
• To help with fluency: I have helped 2 teachers teach their students to create screencasts to help them become better readers as well as more fluent. One teacher had her students share their videos with younger students. The other teacher simply has the students record themselves and then listen and watch themselves. What a cool and very low-key way for students to really SEE their reading ... and what awesome data the teacher gains over time with the student progress!

I hope these few ideas I've shared inspire you to give Screencastify a try! My goal this week is to share 1 Chrome extension each day ... if this extension has excited you, be sure to check out the others on my blog, "7 Days of Extensions You Can Do".

Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 10: ColorPick Eyedropper extension

ColorPick Eyedropper extension [LINK]

Have you ever been working on a project and wanted to match a particular color and couldn't? I can solve that problem and you will NEVER be without the perfect color!

Add the ColorPick Eyedropper extension to your Chrome account and the perfect color is just 2 clicks away! 


To demonstrate, I made a screencast (another FANTASTIC Chrome extension) of how I used it this week to match my districts colors. 

It won't take much to convince you this is an absolute MUST have extension!

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Day 7: Toby extension

the Toby extension for Chrome [LINK]

This one is for the Chrome lovers out there - who, like me - have numerous tabs open at all times. Most of these tabs will fit into categories. We have many demands on our time and having the ability to keep it organized can prove very powerful. 


I LOVE this tool!!! I honestly use it every single day. 


Here's why:

• helps keep projects organized
• add anything you'd normally bookmark to a collection & name the collection 
• share collections with colleagues 
• access my collections wherever I log into Toby
• keep the needed info grouped together
• open a collection of tabs  WITH ONE CLICK

As a classroom teacher I would have loved this, too! I'd have put my main 'teacher' links in one collection (email, gradebook, LMS, IPDP, etc) and then have a bunch of collections for each unit of study. Adding to collections is super easy - as is deleting - so each year I can have my favorite resources in one spot. 

Why Toby over bookmarks? Two reasons and I'm a girl who 💖💗💝 bookmarks!

1. I can open all of the links in a collection with ONE click!!!! Plain and simple. A collection with 3 tabs? No problem. A collection with 10 tabs? STILL no problem! 
2. Need to shut down but don't want to lose your current tabs? No problem! Create a collection for this & when you open Chrome again, you can simply click to open all of your tabs once again & pick up where you left off! AMAZING!!!!

Have I convinced you yet? Check it out ... don't wait. It will change your (digital) life. You won't need to keep 8,000 tabs open any more. You can "collect" them in groups and open the group as needed. Promise. 


Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

CheckMark Chrome extension ... an update worth a look!

Do you use the awesome Chrome extension CheckMark? EdTechTeam is the creators and they have updated it so now it works in Google Classroom! Check out the short video LINK.

Not sure what the CheckMark extension is/does? Here's a quick overview from the Chrome Webstore:

CheckMark by EdTechTeam makes the process of providing feedback on student work in Google Docs and Slides faster and more efficient. After installing CheckMark by EdTechTeam, simply enable the extension and select some text in a Google Doc or a Slide presentation! You'll see an overlay of frequently-used comments that you can easily select and customize to your liking.

If you comment on your students work in a Google Doc or Slide, I highly recommend checking it out. You can read more here ↬ http://www.checkmarkclass.com/. 

goo.gl URL Shortener is Going Away ... But Don't Fear!

WEBSITE → Transitioning Google URL Shortener to Firebase Dynamic Links

The goo.gl URL shortener is the very first extension I feel in love with. We had one cart of iPads to share in our building and I was excited to use them to turn my paper quizzes into digital assessments. My students LOVED them! The goo.gl URL shortener allowed me to create  a manageable URL &/or a QR code to easily find the quiz. I was in HEAVEN!

Now, it's is going away. Boo!!! Reading the article from Google above helps you understand. BUT ... there are plenty of other good ones to take it's place. 

Here are 5 Alternatives to the URL shortener → Zapier article

Looking for a QR code creator?

• QR Code Generator
• QR Code Generator (also available as a Chrome extension)