1.  Pre-made Google Templates for learning tasks.  This site has tons and tons of templates.  The link above takes you to the Google Draw templates but then there are more links to take you to templates for Docs and Slides.  Check it out!  You may need to weed through it a bit.  Anyone can submit a template to Google's database and there is lots of junk stuff too.  But don't discount looking at the business templates.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Download the business card template and have students keep a business card for each character in the books they read.
• Have them create a resume for a historical character.
• Use the calendars done in Google Draw to teach ordinal numbers.  
• The budget template could be used from any grade 2-HS.  

2.  Math Manipulatives Clipart for Google Apps.  I have started and am still working on creating clipart that you can use in your Google documents.  Just click the link, open up the Google Draw document, make a copy of it (File -> Make a Copy) and it is yours.  You can copy and paste from the Google Draw page onto a slide or document.  I have tangrams, pentominoes, counters, base 10 blocks, unit cubes, and math u see rods.  Fraction manipulatives coming next.

3.  More children's read-alouds on technology;

• But I Read It on the Internet! - Great book to help students understand how we should not believe everything we see online.  How can we evaluate websites? 
• Dot -  I LOVE this book!  Dot's a spunky little girl well versed in electronic devices. Dot knows a lot. She knows how to tap . . . to swipe . . . to share . . . and she pays little attention to anything else, until one day Dot sets off on an interactive adventure with the world surrounding her. Dot's tech-savvy expertise, mingled with her resourceful imagination, proves Dot really does know lots and lots.
• The Berenstain Bears' Computer Trouble - Papa Bear needs to help his family get unplugged from the computer when they all become too attached to the screen.

4.  Read Write Think is a web site full of resources that I was made aware of years ago during my time as an NTTI Master Teacher.  We lost the funding for the NTTI but many of the resources are still there and are only getting better.  This site has interactives, project based learning ideas, lesson plans and much more!  Returning to an amazing resource like Read, Write, Think is almost like opening the box of Christmas decorations each year.  

5.  Friday at the Movies - Just a "feel good" video on unlikely friendships.  

1.  Class Kick is a really awesome and FREE app for providing instant feedback on student assignments that you can see in one location in real time! This app makes it SO easy to create assignments (blank work pages, links to videos, embed images, leave voice recordings, web content, etc.) once you create a FREE teacher account.

The app works very much like Nearpod. with some cool differences. One of the coolest features that I can't wait to test out is that students can anonymously help each other if someone gets stuck solving a problem.  Or they can "raise their hand" so that you can see what their hang-up is from your device and provide the instant feedback they need.

All students do to "login" is tap on the Class Kick app and enter the class code that will be provided once the teacher sets up his/her account.

When I first saw this app I could only think to use it for working out math problems. However, right after I joined the website sent me an email that contained links to lessons I could download.  They have a multitude of lessons that span the curricula.  

​I love this app!

2.  Integrating literature into technology.  I recently stumbled upon some great titles that I have added to my Amazon wish list.  I wanted to share the titles with you as well.


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• If You Give a Mouse an iPhone is just like all of the other If You Give a Mouse a Cookie/Muffin/Brownie stories that are great to use when studying sequences in stories. This book sends a great message to students (and adults) about how you can easily miss out on all that life has to offer when you are constantly on your devices. Great conversations can be had about the importance of putting technology away at the appropriate times.
• Goodnight IPad s a parody of the popular book Goodnight Moon. It is a story that reminds children (and adults) about the importance of powering down each day.
• What Does It Mean to be Safe? is a story that touches on everything from physical safety to cyber-safety and presents ways children can protect themselves. This is a great read for teaching internet safety as well as protecting personal information and passwords.

3.  ​Stoodle is an online whiteboard service supported in part by the CK-12 Foundation. Through Stoodle you can quickly create a collaborative whiteboard space. On your whiteboard you can type, draw, and upload images. You can connect Stoodle to your computer's microphone and talk your collaborators while drawing, typing, or sharing images.

Stoodle does not require you to create an account. To create a Stoodle whiteboard space just click "launch a classroom," name your room, and share the URL assigned to your room.  Stoodle could be an excellent tool to use for impromptu peer tutoring sessions. Stoodle could also a great tool for hosting online brainstorming sessions.

4.  Dr. Brendon Albon asked the ITRTs to share a couple of resources so here they are!


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• Reading in the content area:  http://www.readworks.org/books/passages
• Graphing:  http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

5.  Friday at the Movies

1.  ​Is all the email that Classroom sends you killing you? There are some settings that let you customize it.

First, Classroom lets you turn email notifications on and off. (Classroom sends you emails when someone adds a comment to your post and when a private comment is posted on a student’s assignment or question submission.) Click the menu button (three lines) and “Settings”, then check or uncheck notifications.

Next, Google sends you notifications when someone replies to a comment you wrote. To change those notifications, open the file (in Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.) and click the “Comments” button. Then click “Notifications,” where you can decide to receive notifications …

• when any comment is made (All),
• whenever others reply to your comments or comments you are added to (Only yours), or
• never (None).

2.  Many of you are asking for easier ways to grade assignments in Classroom rather than open up each student's one at a time.  You can actually open up all of them at the same time.  ​When viewing an assignment, there’s no button to open all of the student files at once. But, if you hold control while you click the files (Command on a Mac), it will open them one by one as new tabs in your browser window.  Navigate to your Classroom folder on your Google Drive.  Open the folder pertaining to that period or class.  Open the folder containing the submitted assignment.  Hold down control and click on each student that you want to view.  Please note!  You may still only want to open a half dozen or more at at time right now.  Remember, we still are battling bandwidth issues.

3.  Cool Ten Frames Activity in Google Sheets by Alice Keeler!  Alice Keeler is one of the educational giants that I follow.  She has an amazing lesson on using Google Sheets as a Ten Frame Activity for younger students.  This is truly cool!  I would love to come in and work with you on this!

4.  A teacher from the middle school recently asked me about links to find primary sources.  ​The Avalon Project is a great place to find primary source documents!  And since they are all in the public domain you are free to copy and share with your students.

A great way to work with primary sources is to integrate them into your Google Classroom.  Find a document that you want to use.  You can copy and paste the document into a Google doc. Highlight sections of the primary source document and insert a comment directly attached to the highlighted section.You can also enter discussion prompts for students. Post the document into Classroom and they can then reply directly to my comments and each others' comments.

5.  Friday at the Movies-I truly don't mind gaining an extra hour of sleep.