Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
How to Play Kahoot Games in Google Classroom
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Videos
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Rubrics for Assessing Videos, Podcasts, Blogs, and More
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Use Zoom and Adobe Spark to Make Green Screen Videos
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
How to Use Flipgrid to Make Screencast Videos
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Three Neat Things to Create With Google Sheets
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
By Request – How to Create Timed Quizzes in Google Classroom
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Create Video Lessons Without Making Your Own Recordings
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
The Difference Between Signing Into Chrome and Signing Into Your Google Account
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
Five Ways to Make Whiteboard Instructional Videos in Your Web Browser
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
5 Google Classroom Tips You Might Have Overlooked or Forgotten
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
A Few Interesting Ways to Use Google Slides Besides Making Presentations
As I do every year, I’m taking this week off from writing new blog posts. This week I’ll be re-running a few of the most
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where my kids are still basking in the glow of Santa’s visit yesterday. We have a full day of unplanned fun
How to Create Crossword Puzzles With Google Sheets
My grandmother was a middle school and high school language arts teacher for decades. She loved crossword puzzles. I know that many other teachers still
How to Quickly Create a Transcript of a Google Meet Meeting
CaptionSaver Pro for Google Meet is a free Chrome extension that anyone can use to save a transcript of what is said during a Google
Fun Facts About Reindeer
My daughters are at the age that they believe in Santa Claus. For weeks they’ve been talking about snacks for Santa and his reindeer. They’re
How to Remake and Reuse a Padlet Wall
Padlet has been one of my go-to multimedia tools for more than a decade. I’ve used it for everything from discussion prompts and backchannels to
Get the Wiggles Out With Sworkit Kids
Sworkit Kids is a free app that I’ve been using and recommending for a few years. It provides prompts for one to five minute physical
Future Me – A Good End of 2020 Activity
The end of the year is near and, if my scrolls through social media are an indicator, many of people are ready to put 2020
My Two Go-to Places for Free Sound Effects and Music
Some of my students are currently using the MIT App Inventor to create their own Android apps. It’s a great way for students learn some
Vintage Travel Posters and Google Earth
The Library of Congress offers thousands of historical images and maps that students can download and reuse for free. Most of the images and maps
Breakouts, Outages, and Cool Jobs – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it is nice and chilly. Okay, chilly is an exaggeration. It’s downright cold! It was another interesting week of conducting
Five Interesting Lessons About Winter Weather
There is no doubt that winter has arrived here in Maine. The temperature was in the single digits (Fahrenheit) most mornings this week and we
Three Ways to Create Year-in-Review Videos
This is the time of year when just about every media company is publishing some kind of year-in-review video. Asking students to create year-in-review videos
Save the Captions from Your Google Meet Calls
CaptionSaver Pro for Google Meet is a new Chrome extension that launched on Product Hunt earlier this week. CaptionSaver Pro does two important things for
Fifteen New Primary Source-based Lessons from Docs Teach
DocsTeach has been one of my go-to resources for U.S. History lessons for many years. DocsTeach offers more than 1,500 primary source activities to use
How to Create Your Own App With the MIT App Inventor
The MIT App Inventor is a free app development tool that has been available for free for the last decade. It’s a great tool to
Tozzl, Tozzl, Tozzl, Tozzl, Tozzl – How to Search for a Trademark
Back in October I received an email from the owner(s) of the domain Tozzl.com. It was a cease and desist notice for using the word
My Current Hybrid Classroom Arrangement and Equipment
Last Friday I posted this picture on Instagram. It prompted a few questions on Instagram and in my inbox. The picture is of my current
Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff – Episode 29
Last week Rushton Hurley and I hosted the 29th episode of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. We’re taking a break
Quickly Create Polls and Quizzes in Google Meet With Edu-pal
Edu-pal is a new Chrome extension developed by students for teachers and students to use with Google Meet. The extension was recently featured on Product
Best Job Ever – National Geographic Stories About Interesting Jobs
National Geographic’s YouTube channel is one of my favorites because of the variety of interesting playlists it offers. One of those playlist is called Best
Book Creator Has a New Color Selection Tool
A couple of weeks ago Book Creator introduced some new shapes and fonts to use in the creation of multimedia ebooks. This week Book Creator
Make Offline Copies of Important Files in Your Google Drive
Monday’s little Google services outage was a bit of an “oh, crap!” moment for many people who have come to rely on Google to create,
When Will It End?
I’m tired, you’re tired, our students are tired, we’re all tired. I’m tired of switching from in-person classes, to online classes, to hybrid classes, back
Five Ideas for Online Breakout Room Activities
Breakout rooms in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet provide a good way to get students talking and working in small groups. For some students,
How to Create Breakout Rooms in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet
Breakout rooms can be useful to get students talking and working in small groups in a virtual class meeting. Here are directions for creating breakout
How to Find “Lost” Items in Google Drive
In my previous post I shared directions for uploading files and folders into Google Drive. In that post I also described how I loosely organize
How to Move Desktop Files and Folders Into Google Drive
Last week I received a question from a reader who was looking for a little help organizing all of the files that she had created
What is a DDos Attack? – A Simple Explanation
Were you one of the millions of people frustrated by Google services like Classroom and Gmail being down earlier today? If so, and you turned
The Week in Review – Time to Pick Up Sticks
Good afternoon from Maine where I’m spending some of the day cleaning up from last weekend’s snow and ice storm. We had a bunch of
Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams
Breakout Rooms is one of the most popular features of Zoom. A similar feature is now available in Microsoft Teams. Just like in Zoom you
Mix Landscape and Portrait Layouts in Google Docs
If you have ever wanted to use landscape and portrait layouts in the same Google Document, you’re going to like the latest announcement from the
A Chat With Canada’s Funniest Teacher!
Yesterday I wrote about a new show called Mr. D The Gym Teacher coming to Amazon Prime. This morning I got the chance to talk
Google Made Some Meet Settings Sticky
Google has steadily added features to Google Meet throughout the fall (spring for my friends in the southern hemisphere). The latest feature is one that
A Show About Teachers That I’m Looking Forward to Watching Again
Back when I was spending a fair bit of time in Canada there was a show on the CBC that I loved to watch whenever
How to Reduce Noise in Zoom Meetings
On Monday I shared Mike Tholfsen’s tutorial on how to reduce background noise in Microsoft Teams calls. That prompted a few people to ask me
How to Share Books in Google Classroom and Google Sites
One of my favorite features of Google Books is the option to clip sections of free ebooks to share with students. It’s also possible to
You.com – A Future Rival to Google Search?
This afternoon TechCrunch posted a story about Richard Socher’s new venture called You.com. You.com has a lofty goal of replacing Google as our go-to search
The Growth of Mount Everest – A Math and Geology Lesson
Mount Everest is nearly a meter taller than it was a day ago. No, it didn’t actually grow a meter overnight. China and Nepal have
A Virtual Tour and Videos for Learning About Breaking the Sound Barrier
Chuck Yeager died yesterday at the age of 97. He was the first person to fly an airplane faster than the speed of sound. The
Formative Adds New Features for Creating Great Online Assessments
Formative is an online assessment platform that I’ve used and recommended for years. There are two features that keep me coming back to it. First,
How to Reduce Noise in Microsoft Teams Meetings
Good microphones like Blue Snowball microphones can help you sound better in a virtual meeting. But you can also use a new feature in Microsoft
New Shapes and Fonts in Book Creator
Book Creator is one of my favorite tools for creating ebooks. It’s a versatile tool that can be used to publish multimedia fiction and non-fiction
A Fun and Free PD Webinar!
Every week I join Rushton Hurley for a fun half-hour webinar that is simply titled Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff.
Five Key Features of Making Comics in Canva
Last week Canva introduced new comic strip creation templates. There has long been tools for making comics in Canva, but now Canva is offering templates
The Week in Review – Here Comes the Snow!
Good morning from Maine where, if the weather forecast is correct, by this time tomorrow my cleanly raked lawn will be covered in a foot
Your Password Isn’t as Strong as You Think It Is – And Other Lessons in Cyber Safety
Last night I got an email from a former colleague who I hadn’t heard from in a while. The email didn’t have a subject line
Another Good Word Cloud Generator
A couple of weeks ago I shared an overview of seven good tools for creating word clouds. This week a new word cloud tool was
Write on PDFs in Google Classroom – Good Tool for Math
Earlier this week one of my colleagues asked me if there was a way that her students can do free-hand writing on documents that she
Twelve Free Apps for Math Instruction
Math Learning Center is a resource that I’ve shared in the past. The last time I wrote about it was a couple of years ago.
Three G Suite/ Google Workspaces Updates to Note
In the last week Google has announced three new features for G Suite for Education/ Google Workspaces tools that are frequently used by teachers and
Dozens of Bell Ringers to Start Your Social Studies Lessons
C-SPAN Classroom has long been one of my go-to recommendations for social studies teachers. It’s particularly good for those who are developing lessons about civics
Free Webinar – Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff
Every Thursday afternoon I join Rushton Hurley for our live webinar series titled Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. We took
Three Ways to Create Online Forms to Collect Samples of Your Students’ Work
This blog post originally appeared as in my Practical Ed Tech Newsletter. Subscribe to have my favorite tips sent to your inbox every Sunday evening.
City Walks – Hear and See Cities Around the World
City Walks is a neat website that I recently learned about from Larry Ferlazzo. On City Walks you can go for a virtual walk in
The Most Popular Posts of the Month
There’s just one month left in 2020! I hope those of you who had a Thanksgiving break are feeling re-charged and ready for the last
Save Time by Searching Within Favorite YouTube Channels
One of the tips that Rushton Hurley and I have passed along in a few episodes of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where I’m still groggy from all of the turkey I ate on Thursday. It’s either that or my coffee hasn’t kicked
Inexpensive Equipment to Improve Online Meetings
I usually don’t write about hardware because it doesn’t fall under the banner of “free.” However, I’ve been asked about this topic a lot this
How to Create Online Word Games to Share With Your Students
On Wednesday morning I looked out my window and watched the snow start to cover the rock wall in my backyard. Doing that made me
An Easy Way to Find 360 Videos to Use VR Headsets
Last week Google announced that June 2021 would be the end of the Google Expeditions app. I published a short list of alternatives to Google
Join Us Next Week – Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff
Usually, at this time on Thursday afternoon I join Rushton Hurley for our live webinar series titled Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Listening
It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. I usually celebrate the day with my family in Connecticut watching the road race in my hometown. Unfortunately,
A Good Game for Learning About Nutrition Around the World
The Smithsonian offers a lot of neat apps and games for elementary school students. One of those games is called Pick Your Plate. It’s available
A Crash Course in Computer Science
Try as I might, as an old history teacher turned computer science teacher, I can’t help sprinkling in a few history lessons now and then.
An Easy Way to Make Videos on Windows 10 Computers
Sometimes the simplest solution is the one that gets overlooked the most. That’s often the case when people ask me for a recommendation for making
Good Places to Make and Find Story Starters
For some students the hardest part of a creative writing assignment is developing an idea to write about. Fortunately, there are many good tools and
How to Move Google Tour Builder Files Into Google Earth
Last week Google announced that support for Google Expeditions and Google Tour Builder would end in July 2021. I’ve already published a preliminary list of
Ten Google Meet Features for Teachers – Fall 2020 Update
Back in the late winter/ early spring of this year I published an overview of Google Meet features you should know how to use for
Parade 101 – Hands-on STEAM Activities for Learning About Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
Like millions of other Americans the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will be on the television in my house on Thursday morning. In the past Macy’s has
The Differences Between American and Canadian Thanksgiving
American Thanksgiving is later this week. My Canadian friends celebrated Thanksgiving last month. Besides the timing of the holiday, there are some other differences between
The Week in Review – It’s Feeling Like Winter
Good morning from Maine where it certainly felt like winter this week. We had snow flurries every morning and some afternoons this week. My bike
How to Make Digital Thanksgiving Thankfulness Turkeys
The switch to online and hybrid classes presents lots of challenges and requires changing the way that we have done some of our “old standby”
Alternatives to Google Expeditions
Last week’s announcement from Google that Google Expeditions will be discontinued in 2021 was disappointing news for many of us. Since then I’ve answered a
A 15 Second Video Contest for Students
The New York Times is hosting a video contest called the 15 Second Vocabulary Video Challenge. The contest is open to middle school and high
How to Use and Adjust Grid View in Google Meet
In my unofficial tech support role at my school I get asked a lot of questions. Now that we’re back to 100% online teaching and
How to Find Google Earth Files Without Endless Browsing
This morning I responded to a Tweet from someone who was looking for “plate tectonics virtual experiences for students.” My mind immediately went to using
Map Quiz – Another Game for Geography Awareness Week
Earlier this week I shared a few games and activities for Geography Awareness Week. Here’s another one that I recently discovered through Maps Mania. Map
Stanford Offers a Free Workshop About Online Instruction
This coming weekend Stanford Continuing Studies is hosting a free workshop about online instruction. The workshop, Teaching Your Class Online, will be facilitated by three
A New Google Meet Feature That Brings Order to Class Meetings
Does it ever feel like conducing an online class meeting is an exercise akin to herding cats? Between making sure that every kid can hear
Seven Tools for Creating Word Clouds
This morning I received an email from a reader who was looking for an alternative to ABCya’s word cloud generator. ABCya’s word cloud generator was
Knowt – Quickly Turn Documents Into Practice Activities to Share With Your Students
Knowt is a free service for turning documents into flashcards, quizzes, and other review activities. I featured Knowt in a blog post last year and
Ask Me Anything Tomorrow – Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff
Tomorrow afternoon at 4pm ET/ 1pm PT Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning and I will be hosting the 27th installment of Two Ed
Ten Ideas for Using Google Earth in Your Classroom
In this week’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week newsletter I mentioned that in my free handbook I have a list of ideas for
Two Games That Illustrate the Dangers of Distracted Driving
Last week someone emailed me looking for some alternatives to an old New York Times feature called Gauging Your Distraction. It was a Flash-based game
Five Activities for Geography Awareness Week
This week is Geography Awareness Week. This week is one of the many things that I look forward to every November. (Thanksgiving, football, and the
A Couple of Lessons on the Origins of Thanksgiving Foods
A couple of weeks ago I published a blog post in which I shared an ESRI Story Map of where traditional Thanksgiving foods are grown
Two “Cool” Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff – Episode 26!
Every week Rushton Hurley and I host Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. During the most recent episode someone suggested that