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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Welcome to Class Flipbook Template (Ditch That Textbook)

WEBSITE ↬ Welcome to Class Flipbook Template from Ditch That Textbook (in color)

Welcome to Class Flipbook Template from Ditch That Textbook (in black & white)

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

This template is amazing! Matt Miller - Ditch That Textbook - shared this recently on his blog about going back to school ("20 ways to build classroom community and relationships" ... it's idea #6). Regardless of your grade level, having this flipbook prepared and ready to go for future new students will go a long way in helping these students feel welcomed. And since it's made in a Google Slide, you can edit it if you need to better fit it to your class.

*Note - it's shared in both color and a black & white version* 

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers creating this at the beginning of the year and having it ready to go when a new student arrives. This will not only be helpful for the student, but also their family.

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***Welcome to Class Flipbook Template from Ditch That Textbook

Wheel of Fortune!

WEBSITE ↬ Wheel Fortune Slides & Jamboard Walkthrough YouTube video

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 2 & up

I found this gem in one of my email groups where educators shared various classroom game ideas. I'd not heard of a Wheel of Fortune game, so I was intrigued and checked it out. The video helps demonstrate how to do this with your students and how easy it is! 

You can play a game tomorrow with your students!

Be sure to give the shout outs to the creator: Michelle Manning - @ManningTechTalk on Twitter. She has also shared out this Google Drive folder that contains instructions.

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

Oh Place Value!

WEBSITE ↬ Oh Place Value! via @lizontech

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 2+

This Google Slides activity is awesome! If you are learning place value, this is a must use activity for your students. Liz Curtis, of ESC of Central Ohio, shared this out via an email list and I thought what a creative way for students to practice place value in a way that is not a "heavy lift" for teachers. Initially, students are using their own name, but you could easily continue this family members names, friends names, even pet names! 

(I was nerdily excited to see my first name as the example 😀!)

Google Slides Add-on: Slides Timer

WEBSITE ↬ Slides Timer

Chrome Web Store: Link to extension

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Have you wished a timer could show in your Google Slides? I know I have! I've done the work-around of finding a video of a timer and inserted that ... and it works! But how great would it be if it could be 100% customizable to fit your exact needs?

I've got the solution for you! It is in the form of a Chrome extension by Clay Smith. This Chrome extension doesn't have ads or suggested videos AND it allows you to have a completely customized timer!

You have 3 options with this extension: count up or count down or display the current time!

This is great for teachers who are remote and want to help keep track of time! What about helping keep students on track with time? Love it!!!

***Note: depending on how your school domain is set up, you may need to ask approval from your Google admin before adding this - or any other - extension.***

Pairing fonts

WEBSITE ↬ Fontjoy
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ all/any

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 3-ish & up

I very much enjoy creating Slides, Docs, and other material for both students and teachers. I do my best to make it pleasing to the eye while still sharing the message. I stumbled across this website and it finding what I didn't even know I was really looking for!

Fontjoy has a very simple premise ... it's a website that helps you pair fonts that work well together. If you read the "How it works" page, you find there is machine learning at work. I don't truly understand how it exactly works, but I do know that it has helped me on multiple occasions make very pleasing font combos!

Now - I don't think the youngest of students really need to worry too much about font pairings, but I do believe students in late elementary (especially ones who show solid computer skills) might benefit from understanding of how to best put fonts together. By middle school and high school, students can really benefit from this website.

And if nothing else ... help yourself out! It's fun to check out!

Informational Postcards

 WEBSITE ↬ Informational Postcards
AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 1 & up

I've got another "research" themed template to share today. I created this one for a teacher who requested something for health related topics. She had reached out via the "Templates for Teachers" site Beth Kingsley & I created to share our templates.

I know there are times when we want students to share their knowledge in creative ways and I thought this postcard idea was excellent. The front provides the visual interest & topic. The back is fairly small (older students can shrink the font size to allow for additional detail) thereby forcing a limit of overall amount of information.

I provided 3 different "fronts" you can allow students to choose from, or use as inspiration for their own design (after all, there is no right or wrong on the front). The back guides students where to insert the information. And you can't miss the neon speech bubbles with the guidance for students.

*** For an additional challenge ... I suggest having students find an appropriate REAL address for the address spot & even find a small image that could work as the stamp ... but matches their topic! ***


*** BIG NEWS!!! *** Beth & I are working to migrate our Templates for Teachers site so that the links work better!! Look for updates soon! For now, please keep "right-clicking" & opening in a new tab/window. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Animal Research Project

WEBSITE ↬ Animal Research Project
AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ ELA & Science

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 2 & up

Research templates are a great way to encourage tech skills while at the same time making learning fun. This template was created for my daughter's animal project. She had a blast completing it!

The template is perfect for newer researchers - I built in directions with neon green speech bubbles allowing some independence for your students, while at the same time guiding others who need support. And I used the "Speaker notes" for additional direction space. You are welcome to make your own copy and modify to best fit you and your students.

I typically do not recommend printing, but this would make for a very cute "book" printed out. 

If you like this template, I've shared it on my co-created site, Templates for Teachers. I'd be thrilled if you check out what else is on there!

Famous Person Infographic

WEBSITE ↬ Famous Person Infographic w/Research outline
AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ ELA & history

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 4 & up

I love making "things". I love creating templates for teachers & their students. Last year, I created a simple Famous Person infographic. The same teacher I created it for came to me this year and said she wanted to do more.

The template I've shared here is the result. We wanted:

• students to do more of the research independently
• reinforce the students following directions
• a relatively quick project

I hope you and your students enjoy this template. It can be used for specific topics or allow students to choose any famous person. The final Slide includes suggestions for students to go further.

If you like this template, I've shared it on my co-created site, Templates for Teachers. I'd be thrilled if you check it out!

Slip-in-Slide

WEBSITE ↬ Slip-In-Slide by Jeran Ott
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I was floored when I heard about this add-on. 

It. Is. Amazing!

First of all, an add-on is something within a Google app (like Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms) that gives you the ability to do something "more". The best way to explain this add-on is to give you a use case.

As a teacher, you create a Slide deck of activities. Maybe it's a journal you want students to write in each day. Maybe it's math problems you use as a bell-ringer. Maybe it's historical dates you want students to research. Each day you, ideally, want to add another slide. You've been doing "ok" by posting the new Slide & instructing your students to copy & paste it into their Slide deck, but you've been wishing you could just do this automatically. With "Slip-in-Slide" ... you can!!!!

The link above (& at the end of this sentence) is the creator, Jeran Ott's, page for the add-on: OTT-o-matic Slip-in-Slide.

You might also want to check out the GSuite Marketplace's info page.
Also, here is a great blog about it by Julie Smith - the Techie Teacher - "A Google Slides Add-on All Teachers Need".

Check this out today. 

Halloween Pumpkin Activity

WEBSITE ↬ Build a Jack-o-Lantern
additional link ↬ Build a Jack-o-Lantern, for little ones

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ ELA & tech

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 1 & up

Eric Curts is an excellent creator and share-r. His "Build a Jack-o-Lantern" template is perfect for this time of year. I did this with numerous classes last year and they ALL💖 it. For many students, it was their first time working with templates and copying & pasting.

The copying & pasting can be frustrating for the youngest learners, so this year, I took Eric's template and modified it a bit, specifically for some first grade classes. If you work with younger students, you might be interested in it as well. I limited the options and moved the writing part to it's own slide. One of the biggest frustrations for the little ones I worked with last year was when they'd accidentally delete the pumpkin, so I inserted it as part of the background.

Eric is the true creator of this template, I only modified it for the youngest ones that I work with.

Slides, slides, & more slides!!!

WEBSITE ↬ ControlAltAchieve Spice Up Your Slides
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ any/all

I make no secret of my love of Google Slides. It is an incredible tool that you can pretty much do anything & everything with it. You can start with a pre-created theme or you can start with a blank slide. Or so I thought ...

Eric Curts is an incredible educator, creator, and "share-er". (Is that a real word???) A couple of weeks ago, Eric shared how the linked post which contains over 600 slides templates that are FREE for you to grab & use!!! I knew of Slides Carnival and Slides Mania and the Template Gallery ... I hadn't heard of the other 5!!!!

AND not only can YOU use them, share them with your students and encourage them to browse the collections and spice up their next presentation. Don't let them turn in boring slidedecks ever again!

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 11: Character Scrapbook by Scholastic

Character Scrapbook by Scholastic [LINK]

I have about a 20 minute drive to and from school. I began listening to podcasts about 2 years ago as a way to soak up more cool thoughts and do some of what I like to call #PDinthecar . One of my regular listens - Check this Out with Ryan and Brian - is a really good one. Episode #98 "New Connection" gave me today's resource.

Brian Briggs shared "Character Scrapbook" by Scholastic. I was highly intrigued! He described it as a site where students can go and create a character and then list out characteristics about that character. Sure enough - that's the gist! 

Ultimately, these can be printed, but another idea is to have students complete this and take a screenshot, then compile all into a Google Slide for the entire book. I can see that being a pretty cool class activity. 

Now - what if you don't teach ELA? I can see this easily being done in History class - historical figures rather than characters from a book. And 

I really like this site - especially to use for a quick activity. BUT .... I felt the options to build the character were somewhat limited. Sooooooo ... if you are looking for a bit more customization, I created this Google Slide you can copy [http://bit.ly/characterslide] for you/your students to use. 

Swap out the bear with the chosen character - or use Slide 2 to create your own version of the character and then insert on Slide 1. Collecting all the slide and creating a comprehensive slidedeck so all the students can see is a great way to share with all students (& don't forget about sharing the link to the parents!) so further discussions can happen. 

I also included a few "extension" ideas (you can find them on Slide 1). I love when I see students dive into an activity and I always try to think a few steps out by having something "extra" for students to chose from to push them a little further. I also try to balance allowing for FULL creation (Slide 2 where they can start their character from scratch) with a more guided piece (Slide 1) where everyone has a starting place, no matter the skill level.

I hope you enjoy BOTH of these activities! If you like the character slide I created, I encourage you to check out the website I co-created with Beth Kingsley called "Templates for Teachers" [http://bit.ly/templatesforteachers]. We have many more of these types of activities ready to go!

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.

Google-y Halloween Fun!

Halloween is right around the corner! Did you know you can do several Halloween themed activities with your students digitally? I absolutely LOVE when people share out their holiday-themed creations.

Eric Curts has numerous cool digital activities and his "Build a Jack-o-lantern with Google Slides" is no exception! He provides an easy to grab template for anyone to grab and then share it with students. His website - ControlAltAchieve.com - is packed with activities to use all year long!

Another fantastic resource is Kasey Bell. Kasey shared her "Halloween Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings". She was inspired by the refrigerator magnets of my childhood! Love it! I'll admit, poetry is not one of my favorites, but I could DO this. Again, a template is provided, so it's an easy click and a copy is yours to share. Kasey even shares a Google folder where you can see others. 

WHY?

✓ teach copy & paste skills
✓ practice drag & drop skills
✓ encourage creativity (You'll be amazed at what your students create!)
✓ allow students to write, too!
✓ it's SO fun!

Here are BONUS math activities ↬ these aren't Google - maybe it can count since I received it through Gmail - Anthony Persico from MashUp Math sent this out 2 years ago, but it's still SUPER Awesome! He shared "7 Engaging Halloween-Themed Math Activities". I'm definitely up for Game #1 --- YUM!!!

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/. 

2 Awesome Google Slides Updates!

GSUITE UPDATES BLOG → New in Google Slides: linking in Docs, guides and rulers, and improved commenting

Google is always updating/improving their products - very teacher-like, might I add?!

This past week they announced 2 pretty awesome ones involving Slides. They include 2 awesome GIFs to quickly demonstrate.

The short version of the article:

• You can now insert slides INTO a Google Doc & keep a "live" connection, so if changes are made on the Slide, it'll update in your Doc. (p.s. Did you know you can do this with charts in Sheets, too??)

• You will now find a "visual ruler" in Slides to help with alignment in Slides! This is a HUGE step up for Slides, especially for those of us who have 'perfectionism' tendencies. 

If you have questions, don't hesitate to let me know!

Harry Potter "2-fer"

GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE → Blog                   BRITISH LIBRARY  → Website
"DAILY PROPHET" → Website link  & Template link

Do you (or your students) love Harry Potter? Here are TWO really awesome ways to add a little Harry to your class! Google Arts & Culture (an awesome resource in itself!) showcases Harry in an exhibit a little more than 20 years after it's initial publication. The British Library has 10 "stories" focusing on different pieces of the Harry Potter story. Everything from the trip on Hogwarts Express to Divination to Charms to Herbology and more!

And finally - @CreativeEdTech has a bunch of pre-made templates for teachers (and students!) to use. But he's included here because of his mind-blowing Google Slide template in which he brings the newspaper - The Daily Prophet - to life! My favorite piece has to be the real moving pictures in the newspaper! YES!!!!