Tab Maker

WEBSITE ↬ Tab Maker

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grade

This idea blows me away! I found this via a Google post on Facebook. It didn't take long from my brain to start whirling with the possibilities of Tab Maker in the classroom. As a teacher, we must depend on our schools to provide tools to make our classrooms both effective and efficient. But sometimes, we can take control and help ourselves.

It won't take too long to see the value - a non-coding way for a teacher to provide quicker access to the current and important links specific to your classroom.

Now ... the caution is - there are steps you need to take to make it available, and not all districts are going to allow this. I can see this also working for yourself as a quick (& visually attractive) way to access top bookmarks. I had fun! Give it a look ... I think I'm going to give it a go! 

Since this is a Chrome Experiment, I also want to share a couple other experiments that I absolutely adore:

• Chrome Music Lab - a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments
• Autodraw - pairs machine learning with drawings from talented artists to help you draw stuff fast

... be sure to check out all of the experiments Google offers!

Send to devices in Chrome

WEBSITE ↬ No website - you can find this on a Chrome tab

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ general computer use

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Chrome is my browser of choice. There are so many reasons and today's share gives me one more reason to use Chrome. I do a lot of work on my computer - and a lot of reading on my phone. Often I want to send something from one to the other.

In the "olden days" 🤣I would have to email them to myself or have them both open to copy the address. Things just got a little easier to go from my computer to my phone, or even another device. Check it out - with the ease of a 2 finger click (or a right-click) you can now do this in seconds!!!

***Please note - you need to be logged in on both devices for them to "talk" to each other.***

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

Control music in Chrome

WEBSITE ↬ n/a - available in your Chrome web browser

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & Ss

CONTENT ↬ not applicable

GRADE LEVELS ↬ not applicable

I was excited to see this feature in Chrome a while back! Near the extensions & the profile picture, a musical note and 3 horizontal lines appeared when I was listening to a song on YouTube.

"What is that?" I asked myself.

When I clicked on it, I discovered I could control the music right there! No need to go back to the tab that is playing the music! Woot! Woot! I have dubbed it the "music burger"!!!

Now, this isn't truly a NEED in education, but when I really get into working on my computer at home, I do love listening to music and with this update, I can easily switch through the songs that are playing. AND ... it doesn't show up when you don't have anything playing. There when you need it & gone when you don't!

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

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!

Need a spinner? Flip a coin? How about a metronome?!

WEBSITE ↬ no "website" ... just do a search for "spinner"

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I read - sometimes to a point where I wonder if I'm addicted? I came across something pretty awesome that I HAVE to share. How often have you wanted something SUPER QUICK - a spinner? Roll die? Metronome? Calculator? Color picker? Flip a coin?

Well, do a quick Google search and I bet you'll find it. And ... it's FREE. And in this digital - hybrid - remote - face-to-face - whatever situation you are in, you AND your students can use these tools.

Music teachers - be sure to check out the metronome.

Math teachers - roll a die (or multiple ones) for probability lessons

Art teachers - how about that color picker? 

Science, ELA, History and other teachers, go ahead & check them all out! I bet once you start using them, you'll see that the possibilities are endless.

All of these are cool ... now here's a warning ... if you show it to your students (which I encourage) please also note there is a tab that also gives quick access to games & toys! See screenshot below. 

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.

Surprise! Chrome Canvas: Google's newest drawing tool

Google has very quietly slipped out a new web-based tool called Chrome Canvas! I came across this by accident and I've struggled to find much info about it, but it looks VERY promising! Are you like me and have wished Drawing or Slides had the ability to free-hand with a stylus/finger on a touchscreen or tablet? This just might be the answer!!

I'm super excited about this because as much as I 💖 Google Drawings & Google Slides, they do not allow for much 'free-hand'. As a bonus ... Chrome Canvas connects to your Google account, so anything you create will be saved, as well as accessible across devices. You can also export your drawing as a PNG file.

How Can You Use Canvas?

• use on touchscreen devices to allow teachers & students the ability to free-hand notes - hello, sketchnotes!
• save directly to your Google account. 
• export canvas' to allow students to submit to their teachers via Google Classroom or other LMS
• teachers can take groups of canvas' and create class collections of notes/ideas
• annotate on top of an image (yep! - you can upload an image and use the drawing tools on top of the image)

I will be 100% honest ... I tried it out on both the Chrome & Safari browser tonight on both my iPhone & iPad, but Chrome Canvas didn't load on either. I was successful on my laptop and found using the trackpad quite easy. You can be sure I will check back tomorrow to see if it works!

This just might be the dream-come-true for all who have been asking for a freehand tool to draw and integrate with Google! 

Here is a quick video as I use each of the tools:

Articles with additional info:

• "Chrome Canvas lets you doodle right in your browser" (From: engadget.com)

• "Google’s Chrome Canvas is a handy browser app for quick doodles" (From: The Verge)

Day 14: Book Creator for Chrome

Book Creator for Chrome [LINK]

My first interaction with Book Creator was their iPad app. Our 1st graders used it each year for a small project. It was pretty cool, but it's use was isolated to the iPads. It's a wonderful app - we really did 💖 it! But for it to be widely used, it was tough. We had one cart for the entire building. Fast forward a couple of years and Book Creator now has a web-based version ... for Chrome ... and it's FREE!!!

My district is lucky enough to be 1:1 with Chromebooks from 1st through 12th grade. Book Creator provides all of our students to allow their creative juices flow in an e-book format and it's great! Book Creator also continues to be more and more robust offering additional features like an easier way to include images and allowing you to embed videos and other media.

Recently, a 3rd grade teacher in one of my buildings asked me to help a few of her kiddos present their "passion projects". Three of them wanted to make books. It would be easy to encourage them to use Google Slides (which I 💖), but I wanted to give them a different option. I showed them Book Creator and after about 45 minutes, they are well on their way to some pretty amazing books! We started off with a discussion of which was the best layout for their topic -- they had great questions -- and were a little timid to make their selection! When we "presented" their cover and first 2 pages, they lit up! It feels a lot like a real book turning pages.

I encouraged them to look at the mountains of books in their classroom to help them make their decisions. I loved the seriousness in their eyes when they evaluated whether or not to include an inside title page or not. Shortly before my time with them was up, I 'teased' the idea of including a video in their books ... at first, disbelief, then excitement! Book Creator is a very user-friendly program and these 3rd graders were able to pick up on it quickly. 

I look forward to continue this adventure with them and see what they create!

I can't say enough how rewarding it is to show students an idea, watch them make it their own, and then they dig in for more!!! From the very beginning, I could tell they were hooked! And I kept reminding them THEY are the authors so every decision is the right one 😊! 

Did I mention they are in 3rd grade???

Here are a few resources for Book Creator:

• Book Creator Teacher Resources [LINK]
• 50 ways to use Book Creator in your classroom [LINK]
• literally packed with ideas for use in ANY/EVERY classroom!
• Common Sense Media:
• review [LINK]
• lesson plan ideas [LINK]

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Day 12: Chrome Music Lab

Chrome Music Lab [LINK]

Have you looked for a way for students to create music but you don't have access to the "right" equipment? Chrome Music Lab is a great intro for this! I came across this last year thanks to one of the elementary music teachers I work with. He was excited and wanted to use it in his class. The students 💖 it! *Bonus - NO accounts needed!*

The website has such a "fun" look to it - you can't help but want to click around. (I've linked to an Eric Curts post with additional details about each piece of the site ... so be sure to check that out!) There are 13 different experiments to check out. What a fun way to incorporate music into any class, or allow students to express themselves with music! 

Don't limit this resource to music class, though. These Tweets are linked on the homepage but I wanted to make sure you don't miss how others use Chrome Music Lab in:

• math class with fractions [LINK]

• science class with sound waves & frequency [LINK]

• art class with literature [LINK]

• and more! [LINK]

One thing I see that you might find "lacking" is there a way to save or share a creation. A quick & easy way to preserve and share a creation would be to screencast it. Some might lend themselves to a screenshot, too. 

Eric Curts blog with additional details: "Learning Music, Art, Science, Math and more with Chrome Music Lab"

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

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.