Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
Watch Out for These Common Google Slides Audio Errors
Last year I wrote quite a few blog posts about a Chrome extension called Mote that lets you record and add audio to almost anything
Three Great Google Maps Features for Teachers
Google Maps is one of my favorite tools to use in history and geography lessons. I’ve been using it for at least as long as
Take a Virtual Tour of the National Museum of Computing
98% of the press releases that are sent to me are completely worthless. Then every once in a while I get one that’s actually kind
Squirrels!
In my family we have a bit of a love/hate relationship with squirrels. We hate that they take so much food from our bird feeders.
Take Flight With This Library of Congress Image Collection
The Library of Congress is a great place to find historical pictures, drawings, and maps to use in lesson plans and classroom projects. Finding things
If You Care About Copyright, Stop Using Blog Lovin’
As long time followers of my blog and Twitter account know, copyright is a topic that I am passionate about. That’s largely due to the
My Big Playlist of Canva Tutorials
Other than Google Workspace tools, Canva is the tool that I’ve published the most tutorials about on my YouTube channel. In fact, I’ve published at
Say Something – A Fun and Easy TinyTap Activity
Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Last week I wrote about using TinyTap soundboards to create interactive games and lessons. This week we’ll
How Graphs Can Be Misleading
Tools like Canva and even good ol’ PowerPoint make it incredibly easy to quickly create good looking graphs. But as Randy Krum points out in
Lessons About the Instruments in Symphony Orchestras
Last week I was chatting with a friend and he told me about one of his daughters learning to play some music from Phantom of
Join Me on Tuesday for Search Strategies for History Students and Teachers
This Tuesday at 4pm ET I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Search Strategies for History Students and Teachers. If a student has ever
Puzzles, Hearts, and Sounds – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it is going to a relatively warm (35f) and sunny day. In fact, it’s going to be almost spring-like today
A Neat Site for Comparisons of Economic Information Between Countries
Seven years ago I wrote about a neat site called If It Were My Home. I came across it again while looking for something else in
Three Common Google Forms Mistakes – And How to Avoid Them
I’ve been helping teachers create quizzes with Google Forms for well over a decade. And over that time there’s a pattern to the Google Forms
A New Academic Feature in YouTube Studio
Yesterday morning I uploaded a new video to my YouTube account and noticed a new set of options that appeared when I selected the education
Ten Overlooked Google Docs Features for Students and Teachers
As Google Docs has improved and added more features over the years some of those features get forgotten or just plain overlooked. Just because those
Blurred Backgrounds and More Microsoft Teams Updates
I’m not a daily user of Microsoft Teams so I rely on Mike Tholfsen’s excellent YouTube channel to stay abreast of the latest features added
New Lesson Plans from DocsTeach
DocsTeach is one of my favorite resources for U.S. History teachers and students. The platform makes it easy to find curated collections of primary source
40,000 People Get Their Ed Tech Tips This Way
Yesterday morning I logged into my YouTube studio dashboard and saw that my little channel of screencast videos now has 40,000 subscribers! My videos aren’t
How to Create VR Tours of Local Landmarks
I live near a little ski mountain called Mount Abram that is totally geared toward being family-friendly, affordable (seriously, my kids ski the whole season
How to Create Collaborative To-do Lists in OneNote
In this week’s Practical Ed Tech Newsletter I featured some tools and ideas for students to use to manage group projects. OneNote was one of
Use TinyTap to Create Interactive Lessons and Games With Soundboards
Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Over the last four weeks I’ve highlighted different ways to use TinyTap to create educational games for
Try Tract to Find Inspiration for Fun Lessons
Disclosure: Tract is an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Last fall I introduced many of you to Tract as a platform for Genius Hour activities, for PBL,
Math, Science, and Philosophy Lessons for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is next Monday. My daughters’ preschool is having a little celebration during which little cards will be exchanged. They are very excited about
Map Puzzle – Test Your Knowledge of World Geography
MapPuzzle is a simple online geography game that I recently learned about through the Maps Mania blog. The game is based on the premise of
CanvasMol – Online 3D Models of Molecules
Canvas Mol is a website that provides 3D, interactive, rotating models of simple and complex molecules. There are more than fifty models of relatively common molecules
Groundhogs, Hamsters, and Snowcats – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where more than a foot of fresh snow has fallen in the last 24 hours. According to the snowcat, we have
Yellowstone Distance Learning Opportunities
A couple of weeks ago I shared some information about Denali’s Distance Learning Program for K-12 classrooms. This week I learned that Yellowstone National Park
Search Strategies for History Students and Teachers
If a student has ever said to you, “I can’t find anything about this,” the webinar that I’m hosting on February 15th is for you.
Experiment and Create New Sounds on WolframTones
Wolfram Tones is a neat offering from Wolfram that students can use to can play with sample sounds and rhythms to create new own sounds. Wolfram Tones uses algorithms,
Prompt Conversations With Google Drawings
One of the lesser-utilized features of Google Drawings is the ability to comment on images. Drawings allows you to collaboratively create drawings from scratch and
Citing Sources in Google Docs and Word Docs
The other day I sarcastically Tweeted, “can you imagine if we let students cite sources the way that ESPN lets reporters name anonymous sources?” My
Educational Resources With a Super Bowl Theme
The Super Bowl is a just a little more than a week away. And while this year’s Super Bowl won’t have the Patriots or Tom
How to Create Custom Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids to Share
On Monday afternoon my daughters came home from preschool super excited because they learned that Valentine’s Day is just two weeks away! Their class will
How to Prevent Printing of Shared Google Documents
At the end of yesterday’s post about adding watermarks to Google Docs I included a reminder that you can disable printing options for when you
How to Add Watermarks to Google Docs
Late last year Google finally added a built-in option for adding watermarks to Google Documents. Unfortunately, that option only allowed you to use images as
What is a MAC Address? – Here’s a Concise Explanation
PowerCert Animated Videos offer clear and concise explanations of big concepts in computer hardware and networking. I referred to them fairly often when I was teaching
I’ll Host Your Next Tech Tuesday
Yesterday afternoon I hosted a webinar just for those who have purchased a copy of 50 Tech Tuesday Tips. Based on the response to that webinar
The Month in Review Featuring the Revival of Some Classics
Good evening from Maine where the sun has set on the month of January. I hope that the first month of the year was a
Build Talk or Type Educational Games on TinyTap
Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Throughout January I wrote about creating your own educational games with TinyTap’s web-based game creation tool. I’ve
Three Ways to Use Lumio for Collaborative Learning Right Now
Disclosure: Lumio is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Now more than ever many students are suffering from “device-o-lation.” “What is that?” you ask. It’s what
Groundhog Day Explained
On Friday my youngest daughter came home from preschool and informed me that Wednesday is Groundhog Day and tell me all about it. It’s the
Last Call! – 50 Tech Tuesday Tips and a Webinar
Tomorrow (January 31st) at 4pm ET I’m going to host a webinar just for those who have purchased a copy of 50 Tech Tuesday Tips.
Wordle, Puzzles, and Snow – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we’re looking forward to a big snowstorm today. Depending on which forecast you believe we’re going to get anywhere from
How to Create QR Codes for Audio Files in Google Drive
Earlier this week a reader reached out to me for advice about creating QR codes for audio recordings made by her students. Her students had
The USGS Multimedia Gallery Offers Excellent Public Domain Images and Videos
The USGS Multimedia Gallery contains large collections of educational videos, animations, audio recordings, pictures, and slideshows. As you might expect, you’ll also find lots of maps in
How to Copy Images from Google Docs to Slides and Back
When you upload an image and insert it into a Google Document, it should then also be available through Google Drive to insert into future
Try Screencastify & Google Keep for Adding Comments to Google Docs
On Sunday evening I got an email from someone who had seen my videos about Mote and wondered if there was something similar for adding
ICYMI – Webinar Recording – Two EdTech Guys Take Questions
Last week Rushton Hurley and I resumed our Two EdTech Guys Take Questions webinar series. If you missed it, you can watch the recording right
Denali Distance Learning Opportunities
Although I’ve been to Alaska twice, I’ve yet to visit Denali National Park. I hope that some day soon I can visit it with my
Wiki History Game – A Fun Timeline Game
Wiki History Game is a free timeline game based on Wikipedia entries. I discovered it on Product Hunt last week and immediately lost about 30
Create a Teacher Report Card With Google Forms
Last week a teacher emailed me looking for suggestions on how to create a teacher report card that her students can complete anonymously. One of
50 Tech Tech Tuesday Tips and a Webinar
As I announced last week, on January 31st at 4pm ET I’m going to host a webinar just for those who have purchased a copy
Two Free and Cool Summer Learning Opportunities for Teachers
Summer feels like it’s a long way off right now which is why I like to start thinking about it now and putting some fun
Ten Cool Things You (And Your Students) Can Do With Lumio
Disclosure: Lumio is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com. Advertisers help keep the lights on here. Lumio was one of my favorite new tools in 2021.
Create an Educational Puzzle Game With TinyTap
Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com. Over the last two weeks I covered the basics of creating an educational game with TinyTap and
Making Snowflakes and Sundials
Last week I shared a couple of good places to find ideas and plans for at-home, hands-on science lessons. Here’s a couple more ideas to
Five Tools for Making Wordle Word Clouds
Do you remember when Wordle was a word cloud generator that was taking the Web 2.0/ edtech world by storm? I do and lately I
Three Tips for Getting More Out of Webinars
I love webinars. They’re a convenient way to learn from experts that I otherwise wouldn’t get to interact with. But not everyone enjoys them like
Math, Science, and QR Codes – The Week in Review
Good morning from frozen Maine. It’s -5F as I write this. The snow in my yard is so frozen that my dogs and my kids
Easy Ways to Create Voice Recordings – No Account Required
The post that published on Wednesday about adding bird sounds to Google Slides prompted a couple of people to ask me about other tools for
Roles in Group Video Projects
This is an excerpt from the most recent issue of my weekly Practical Ed Tech Newsletter. Video projects provide a great opportunity for students to
Artifacts of U.S. History for Teaching and Learning
Earlier this week I was catching up on some RSS feeds in Feedly when I came across this drawing from the patent application for the
Three Alternatives to ViewPure for Distraction-free YouTube Viewing
Earlier this week a reader reached out to me with a concern about ViewPure. For many years ViewPure has been a popular tool for teachers
Ten Updated OneNote Features to Note
Mike Tholfsen is a product manager for Microsoft Education and the producer of some excellent Microsoft product tutorial videos for teachers. I frequently reference his
Top Tools and Activities for Collaborative Learning in 2022
This blog post was sponsored by Lumio, but it features a bunch of other great tools as well. At this point in the school year
Classwork Adds New Feedback Types and Makes Pro Features Free!
Classwork (formally Classwork) is a platform for creating online, interactive assignments for your students. I first covered it in the fall of 2020 and since
Adding Bird Calls to Google Slides – Answering a Reader’s Question
Yesterday I answered an email from a reader who was looking for a little help with her students’ Google Slides projects. The students were creating
Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions – Live at 4pm ET Tomorrow
Tomorrow at 4pm ET/ 1pm PT Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning and I are hosting the next episode of the second season of Two Ed Tech
Making Your Educational Games Look Good With TinyTap
Last week I introduced you to the basics of creating your own educational games with TinyTap’s web-based educational game creation tool. In case you missed
50 Tech Tech Tuesday Tips – And a Free Webinar
At the end of 2021 I released a new ebook for tech coaches, media specialists, and anyone else who is responsible for delivering short professional
A Couple of Good Places to Find Science Activities for School or Home
While standing around watching my daughters’ ski lesson on Sunday I ended up chatting with another parent. The conversation inevitably turned to “what do you
Five Uses for QR Codes in School Settings
Over the weekend I shared a neat QR code generator called QRToon that lets you create a QR code that includes a cartoon version of
QRToon – Cartoons in Your QR Codes
QR codes are handy for making long URLs easy to access on mobile devices. Last year I used QR codes to make my classroom sign-in/sign-out
Questions From My Daughters – What Are Freckles?
Last night one of my daughters asked, “what are freckles?” I did my best to explain that freckles are spots of melanin in our skin.
Good Resources for Remote Math & Science Lessons
PhET is a great resource that I’ve shared a bunch of times over the years. Recently, I was looking through the site when I noticed
Cold, Chrome, and Games – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it is a crisp -7F as I write this. Fortunately, some warm weather is on the way. Today will probably
Create an Alphabet Book on ReadWriteThink
This week Larry Ferlazzo shared the exciting news that ReadWriteThink relaunched all of their popular interactive student writing templates. The templates now work without Flash.
Anesthesia and Tonsils
One of my daughters had a tonsillectomy this week. Prior to the surgery we talked with her about what was going to happen that day
Make Math Flashcards on Canva
Canva is my go-to recommendation whenever someone asks me for help with anything requiring a bit of an eye for design. So on Wednesday when
Wind Chill and Our Perception of Cold
As I mentioned earlier this week, we’ve had a couple of exceptionally cold days here in Maine this week. One town near me recorded a
How to Enable Spell Check in Blogger
Yesterday afternoon I answered an email from an old colleague who needed a little help with a frustrating little setting in Blogger. She wanted her
A New Smithsonian Learning Lab Tool for History and Art Teachers
This week the Smithsonian Learning Lab released a new tool that could be very helpful to history and art teachers. The tool is simply called
ReadWriteThink Interactives Now Work Without Flash!
For many years ReadWriteThink offered a great collection of interactive templates for students to use to create all kinds of things including poems, story plots,
Understanding Negative Temperatures
It is a very cold day here in Maine. It’s not the coldest that I’ve experienced in Maine, but it’s still not a pleasant day
How to Create Your Own Educational Games With TinyTap – Getting Started
Disclosure: This is sponsored content. TinyTap is a great platform that I’ve been sharing with teachers since 2012, a full decade this fall. In that
Read Aloud in Edge and Other Immersive Reader Uses
Yesterday morning I published a blog post about using the Read Aloud Chrome extension. In the introduction to that post I mentioned that I usually
What’s the Difference Between Snow, Sleet, and Freezing Rain?
Yesterday it started to sleet during my daughters’ skiing lessons. They didn’t mind and kept right on skiing. But I heard a lot of other
Old School Meets New School in Volley for Education
Last week I wrote a lengthy blog post and shared a few videos about an exciting new messaging platform called Volley. Even though I spent
The Science of Winter Olympics Sports
The 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to start in a little less than one month from now. I’m looking forward to sitting on my couch
Read Aloud in Chrome
My usual recommendation for teachers and students who need webpages read aloud is to use Immersive Reader which is built into Microsoft Edge. But if
Audio, Buffalo, and Skiing – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we have a fresh layer of snow on the ground. It’s going to be a great weekend for skiing at
Two Ways to Create Virtual Manipulatives for Elementary School Math Lessons
Earlier this week I received an email from a reader who was looking for some ideas for creating virtual manipulatives she and her elementary school
About Primary Sources
As a U.S. History teacher one my primary goals was to help students understand the past to understand where we (Americans) came from to understand
StoryMap JS – A Nice Alternative to Tour Builder
Like many teachers, I was disappointed when Google deprecated Tour Builder and Tour Creator last year. Since then in my webinar series with Rushton Hurley
Q&A in Microsoft Teams Meetings
I’m not a regular Microsoft Teams user (the schools and clients I work with all use Zoom or Meet) which is why I rely on
Whiskers and Transcripts
One of the many things that I love about being a dad to two little girls is all of the questions they ask me. Many
The National Jukebox – 16,000+ Early Music Recordings
The Library of Congress offers many interesting collections of digital archives including one called the National Jukebox. I first wrote about it more than a
Forest – A Tool to Help You Focus on Important Tasks
When I need to focus and get a lot of writing done, I set a timer and tell myself that I can’t stop writing until