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!

Google Sheets learning resource

WEBSITE ↬ Ben L Collins
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

A few years ago, I was quite intimidated by Google Sheets. It was one of Googles apps that I didn't use often nor did I truly understand much about it. I used it basically as the result of data entry from Google Forms. It worked well for me as a classroom teacher. I can't say I needed it for much more.

Then my job changed & I required Sheets to be more than a collector of data. I needed to understand them. I also needed to learn about them.

Introducing ............... Ben Collins!!! I think I first came across Ben on Twitter (@benlcollins) but maybe not. I call him a "Sheets wizard" (that literally is part of the name on my email folder)!


Ben has 2 big resources that I'd like to point out to you ↬

• Monday morning Google Sheets email tip (sign up on Ben's homepage) You won't regret it! Not all of them have a lot of meaning for me, but many of them do!

• SheetsCon 2020 - an online & FREE Google Sheets conference. It is a two-day online conference, March 11 & 12, 2020. Sign-up and join me! I'll be tuning in, too! #SheetsCon2020

Using Sheets to make Contact Groups

WEBSITE ↬ Badiner Bytes & Tech Tidbits
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ Gmail contact groups

GRADE LEVELS ↬ teachers of ALL grades

My district moved email to Gmail this past spring and I rejoiced!!! I couldn't have been more excited! UNLIMITED storage! (Boo! This is changing ... as of 2022, storage will be limited whether you are in an EDU domain or a personal one.) 

And then the new school year started and my teachers wanted to know how to create contact groups like they had in the past. "I got this, no problem," I told them.

Then I tried to do it. Ugh. Gmail? What's up??? I couldn't do it. Well, I could ... it just took about 4,000 steps. I actually recommended to my teachers to skip it & use something else that was WAY easier.

And then the other day, a came across this ↬ "Create Contact Group in New Contacts" from Jeremy Badiner. YESSSS!!!! With the exception of it being easier directly IN Gmail, this is what we've needed! If you've struggled making contact groups, I HIGHLY suggest you read this and give Jeremy a virtual high five! And then give Scott Wolz a high ten, because he actually created the sheet. 😄

And while I'm on a Sheets roll ... Check out my Sheets Wakelet Collection, too! Sheets are  a pretty amazing tool. So much to do ... so little time.

Google Sheets Two-fer

WEBSITE ↬ sheets.new 
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers; older students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 3 & up
*** I only say this is for older students because I feel younger students still need to focus on building their basic skills. These are quick actions to assist. But if you think it is applicable, please use it! ***

I love when my GPS gives me an alternate route to shave a few minutes off my travels. I love a good keyboard shortcut to shave time off time when I am working on my computer. So when Google put out the ".new" ability, I did my happy dance!

This shortcut will allow you to quickly create a new Doc, Sheet, Slide, Form, or even a new Google Site, type the name of the application you want, add ".new", and click enter. VOILA!!!! You don't need to open your Drive. 

Try it. It doesn't disappoint. There is only one drawback ... it now is just a file sitting on the main part of your Drive. 

WEBSITE ↬ any already existing Google Sheet 
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers; older students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 3 & up

I'm a big believer in version history in all of the Google Apps. I have that tucked firmly in my teacher "bag o'tricks" and I share it freely with all teachers. I taught 7th & 8th grade for several years and this was HANDY. If you can believe it, I had some students who wouldn't be truthful about their work! 🤣

Sheets revision history is a bit more complicated than Docs or Slides. In the past few months, Sheets has gotten an upgrade and you can now click on any SINGLE cell and discover it's specific history & WHO changed it. I received a phone call from a colleague who wanted to know who changed a cell in a Sheet. I opened the Sheet, right-clicked on the cell, and the version history of that one single cell appeared before me. Funny part - it was the colleague asking who had made the change 🤣! I could even tell them exactly when the change was made. Incredibly helpful!!!

⭐Bonus⭐ --> Check out my Sheets Wakelet Collection, too!

Digital Multiplication Facts

WEBSITE ↬ http://bit.ly/multiplicationfacttable

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ 3rd & up

Do you teach math? Do you have a child of your own who is working on mastering multiplication facts? I have something for you!

I've got a 3rd grader myself as well as working in two elementary schools. Flashcards are great study tools, but not when you loose them! I made a digital option. Feel free to save the link as a bookmark, or share as a link in your LMS, and your students are never more than a click away from practicing their facts. No login or accounts required. Just share the link and let the multiplying begin!

*** Tip: send it out to your parents, too, so they can practice at home. 

It's built with using the FREE Google Sheets flashcard template I found on Flippity.net . I love this site!

And dare I say it might even be a little fun for them???

I wrote in more detail here ↬ Multiplication Your Students Can Do 

Day 15: Templates for Teachers

Templates for Teachers [LINK]

My last share of these 15 days is a very personal one. My colleague & friend, Beth Kingsley  (@bethkingsley13) & I created this site. We very much enjoy creating templates for activities that can be used in any classroom. This site is built from a love of teaching and learning. Please feel free to click on any of our templates, preview them and then click the "Use Template" to make it your own. You are welcome to modify as needed. Our hope is that you find something here that can serve you and or your students soon!

We will be working over the next several weeks to provide a better organization to the site ... so for now, please scroll through. We look at this site as a work-in-progress for sure! There is even a place for you to submit a request for a template we can create & share. We 💖 this stuff!

We have templates for:

• newsletters
• class award certificates
• magazine covers
• "Who Was ...?" books
• holiday themed activities
• digital badges
• "Who Would Win?"
• social media
• lesson plans

. . . . and more!

Finally, we are excited to announce we will be presenting at OETC (the Ohio Educational Technology Conference) on February 14. We'd love to see you there! We will spend some time sharing our site and then dive into "how" we create what we do, then provide some time for you to create!


Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Day 8: Applied Digital Skills

Applied Digital Skills [LINK]

If you've read even a few of my entries, you know that I love Google. I use it all day every day. I can't say enough how much I love it.  About 2 years ago, I learned about Google's Applied Digital Skills program. Another incredible program from Google!! 

Here's my summary - as a teacher, you are given a Google account, as are your students. Google Docs is fairly simple to get up and going with ... Slides, while more involved, still fairly simple. You get rolling with these two and you think you are flying high. Then you hear others talking about Google Calendar and then Google Sheets and don't forget about creating your own Site!?! The list goes on and on. How do you incorporate all of these? How do you teach your students when you don't know these apps yourself? 

Introducing ...... Applied Digital Skills!!! 

Pre-created project based curriculum from Google. Lesson plans and a platform to work with are part of the package. And to make it better, Google includes short instructional videos ... FOR THE STUDENTS ... to watch and learn. Seriously. (Can I tell you it is my dream to work for Google?!) 

The website is very teacher friendly. Click on the teacher tab and you are provided the steps to get started. The curriculum tab allows you to search their ever growing collection of projects by Audience (the "who" you'd do the project with); Apps (the Google application you want to dig in to or cover); and/or Topics (the skills you are wanting to cover). 

Please don't limit your thinking that you have to be tech teacher to utilize this curriculum. There is no limit on the content areas that can benefit. And even though Google deems their youngest audience to be late elementary, don't feel like younger elementary "can't". It will take a bit more work and some modification of expectations, but it CAN be done with younger students. 

Another winner from Google! Check it out today.

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Pixel Art with Google Sheets

I was inspired last year to create a pixel art activity for students to create a pixel art book cover. I was thrilled with the positive feedback from both the 3rd grade teacher and her students as they "pixelated" the book they were reading. 💗

This week, I was asked if I thought this could work for students to create a 'book cover' for students haunted house stories they were writing. ABSOLUTELY! I shared this with the class, and once again, the creativity was flowing and I saw a lot of creativity in action. How fun! I can't wait to see the final products.

If you'd like to read a more detailed overview of this, please read "Pixelated Book Covers You Can Do".

Ready to go ahead and make a copy of the template? Please do! Take it and make it your own! 

Google Sheets Pixel Book Covers template

Gaming in the Classroom

HELP DOC → Gaming in the Classroom

The idea of games in the classroom isn't new. Games are great additions to any classroom. Games can introduce or support any content.