Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
Two Quick Ways to Check if a Website is Down or If It’s Just You
My sophomore students have just started learning how to use the ping command to analyze various aspects of network connectivity. Reviewing that lesson with one
The Week in Review – Roll With the Changes
Good morning from Maine where it has been a week all about rolling with the changes (insert REO Speedwagon earworm here). On the weather front
How to Improve Audio Playback in Zoom
On Thursday morning one of my colleagues asked me how to improve the quality of the sound when he plays videos in Zoom meetings. Zoom
An Easy Way to Have PDFs Read Aloud
Yesterday, during Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff I answered a question about how to have PDFs read aloud. Specifically, the
Create Animated GIFs in PowerPoint
Years ago Common Craft made a fun little guide to understanding the World Cup. The guide featured a bunch of animated GIFs. It was a
A New Collection of 17,000+ Historical Maps and Images
Flickr’s The Commons is a great place to find all kinds of interesting historical photographs from museums and libraries all over the world. Recently, The
Lucidspark – A New Collaborative Online Whiteboard Option
Lucidspark is a new collaborative whiteboard tool from the makers of the popular Lucidchart service. Lucidspark has all of the features that we’ve come to
TED-Ed Explains the Basics of Stocks and Investing
TED-Ed has released a new lesson that should be of interest to anyone who has hopes of retiring some day. That lesson is titled How
Three PD Opportunities With Me Starting Tomorrow!
Every week Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning and I host a free webinar called Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool
Wizer Now Offers a Google Drive Add-on
Wizer is an online platform for creating multimedia worksheet activities that you can distribute to students through a variety of means including Google Classroom. On
Mixkit Now Offers Free Sound Effects, Music, and Video Clips for Your Multimedia Projects
Back in February I published a video overview of how to use Mixkit to find free b-roll video and music to use in multimedia projects.
A Handful of Games for Fun Typing Practice
Last week I was writing a blog post early in the morning when my three year old came out of her room. She saw what
Three Thanksgiving Science Lessons
I don’t think there’s a meal I like better than a classic Thanksgiving turkey with potatoes, squash, stuffing and cranberry sauce from a can (my
Short Lessons on the History of Veterans Day
Veterans Day is this Wednesday. If you find yourself looking for some quick lessons to review with your students tomorrow, here’s a small collection for
How to Create and Conduct Polls in PowerPoint and Google Slides
A few weeks ago I published directions on how to create and conduct a poll in Google Slides. That video featured using the Poll Everywhere
The Week in Review – Heading Into Hibernation
Good morning from Maine where we’re going to enjoy the last warm days of the year this weekend. Warm is a relative term because while
Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff – Episode 25!
Yesterday, Rushton Hurley and I hosted the 25th episode of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff. We took last week off
Bulk Acceptance of “Knocks” in Google Meet
Some Google Meet users may have noticed a handy little update that was rolled-out yesterday. You can now accept “knocks” in bulk in Google Meet.
How to Keep Students Safe Online While Learning Remotely?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by GAT Labs. GAT Labs offers a good guide to using Google Workspaces in online classrooms. There’s no
Flipgrid Text Comments – In Case You Missed It Like I Did
About a month ago Flipgrid added a new option for writing comments in response to videos within a discussion topic. This is in addition to
Mapping a Thanksgiving Meal
Earlier this week in a blog post about The Great Thanksgiving Listen I mentioned that I love Thanksgiving. So please excuse me if I get
How to Record a Video in PowerPoint (Windows Desktop Version)
A couple of weeks ago I published directions for simultaneously captioning and translating PowerPoint presentations. That’s one of many handy, occasionally overlooked, features that is
Calendars, Schedules, and Favicons – Three Easy Classroom Blog Enhancements
Writing yesterday’s post about blogging permission slips inspired me to look back through my YouTube channel and find some blogging tutorials I’ve made over the years.
A Template for Getting Permission for Publishing Student Blogs, Podcasts, and Videos
Even though it’s not as trendy as podcasting or vlogging, blogging is still a great way to have students publish their thoughts and findings. Blogs
Join me Tomorrow for Two EdTech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff
After a one week break Rushton Hurley and I are resuming our weekly webinar series Two EdTech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff. The
How Batteries Work – And a Resource for Safely Experimenting With Circuits
From cell phones to laptops to toys we and our students rely on batteries for a lot of what we do in our daily lives.
Use a Zoom Virtual Background for Lesson Outlines
One of the many challenges of teaching in a hybrid classroom setting this fall is giving the kids who are attending virtually a similar experience
Two Short Lessons on Checks & Balances
Today is election day in the United States. While the election is fresh in our students’ minds, it is a good day to review how
How to Use Vimeo Record to Create and Share Screencasts
Last week Vimeo released a new screen recording tool to use in Google Chrome. That tool is simply called Vimeo Record. While it didn’t do
Five Uses for Wakelet in Your Classroom
Disclosure: Wakelet is a new advertiser on Free Technology for Teachers. Over the last few years I’ve watched Wakelet grow from something that looked like
Three Ways to Conduct Polls in Google Slides
I have one group of freshmen this fall that is quiet and will rarely speak unless directly called upon. This is true of them when
The 2020 Great Thanksgiving Listen
The Great Thanksgiving Listen hosted by StoryCorps is back for the sixth year in a row. This annual event is intended to get people to
What Did You Watch in October?
More than 30,000 people are now subscribed to my YouTube channel. On my channel I publish screencast videos about all kinds of things including how
The Week in Review – Halloween Edition
Good morning from Maine where it’s so cold you’d think it was the last day of December not the last day of October. It’s Halloween
Learn About Exploration and Compasses by Making Your Own
Today, many of us just use an app on our smart phones when we need to get directions and navigate from point A to point
How to Create QR Codes to Share Google Forms
Back in September I wrote about and made a video about how I’m using Google Forms as a sign-in/sign-out sheet for my classroom. Some of
Witeboard – A Simple Online Whiteboard
Last week a reader named Donna sent me an email asking me what I knew about Witeboard. It was a new tool for me so
Five Screencasting Tools Compared and Ranked – Fall 2020
The launch of Vimeo Record earlier this week made me think that perhaps it was time to write a comparison of popular screencasting / screen
Three Ideas for Stop Motion Video Projects to Make With Cloud Stop Motion
Last month I published a video about how to use Cloud Stop Motion to make a stop motion video. Stop motion provides a good way
Time to Fall Back – Short Lessons About Daylight Saving Time and Timezones
This weekend we have Halloween and the end of Daylight Saving Time (in most of the U.S. and Canada). Hopefully, my kids will take advantage
How to Edit the Captions in Your YouTube Videos – Fall 2020 Update
Last spring I published a video about how to adjust the captions that are automatically generated for the videos that you upload to your YouTube
Vimeo Record – Another Screencasting Tool
Vimeo is one of my top alternatives to using YouTube to host instructional videos. Now you can use it to record as well as host
Five Last Minute Resources for Teaching About the Electoral College
We’re one week away from the U.S. Presidential election. While citizens cast their votes next week, the final selection happens in the Electoral College in
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where it is still an hour before sunrise as I compose this blog post. Next weekend we’ll change the clocks and
JotForm Offers an Easy Way to Schedule Meetings
Yesterday I wrote a short overview of some tools for scheduling parent-teacher conferences. JotForm was one of the tools featured in that post. One of
How to Simultaneously Caption and Translate Presentations
In this week’s episode of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff Rushton and I addressed a question about improving the accessibility
Take a Crash Course in Making & Teaching With Video This Weekend
How to make instructional videos is far and way the topic that I have received the most questions about over the last six months. That’s
Tools for Scheduling Parent-Teacher Conferences and Other Meetings
The end of the first quarter or third of the school year is almost here for many of us. That means it’s time for parent-teacher
An Unplanned Benefit of Using Your Own Pictures in Blog Posts and Presentations
Last week I went on a bit of a rant about copyright and fair use. If you didn’t read it, the gist of it was
A TED-Ed Lesson Exploring the Pros and Cons of Types of Milk
TED-Ed released a new lesson this week. The lesson is all about milk. The title of the lesson, Which Kind of Milk is Best for
An Easy Way to Search in Google Classroom
Twice this week I’ve had people ask me if there is a search function in Google Classroom. Unless, I’ve been overlooking something obvious, there isn’t
13 Google Forms Tutorials for Beginners and Experienced Users
For the last six or seven months whenever I open my YouTube analytics the top two videos are almost always How to Host an Online
A New Microsoft Teams Feature That I Wish Google Classroom Had
If you work in a school that use Microsoft Teams or any of the other great Office 365 tools available to teachers and students, you
Loom Updates With Some Great Features for Teachers
The question that people email to me more than any other is some variation on “how do you get that circle in your YouTube videos?”
How to Create Self-grading, Timed Quizzes in Google Classroom
This morning my freshmen students took a quiz that I created and distributed through Google Forms. The quiz was self-grading because I used the answer
How to Specify Video Playback Settings in Google Slides
Last week Google announced a small, but potentially annoying change to the default video playback settings in Google Slides. Fortunately, you can override the default
How to Change Google Classroom Mobile Notifications
It’s the weekend and your phone is blowing up with notifications from Google Classroom while you’re playing with your kids, watching Netflix with your spouse,
Activities Across Grade Levels – Free Weekly Webinars
Every week I mention the free webinars that I do with Rushton Hurley on Thursday afternoons. But that’s not the only free webinar that Rushton
ICYMI – Two EdTech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff
Every Thursday afternoon I join Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning to answer questions from teachers, librarians, and tech coaches like you. We call
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from rainy Maine. It looks like it’s going to be the perfect kind of day to stay inside to watch movies and read
Story Spheres – Create Immersive Audio Tours of Interesting Places
Story Spheres is a neat tool for adding audio recordings to 360 imagery. Story Spheres lets you upload short audio recordings in which you describe
A Small, Potentially Annoying Change to Google Slides
From improved meeting controls to an easier way to add citations in Google Docs, there have been a bunch of positive changes to Google Workspaces
Using Mood Clouds in Virtual and Hybrid Classrooms
Earlier this I published a video about creating and hosting polls in Google Slides with the Poll Everywhere Chrome extension. When I published that I
How to Make Whiteboard Videos in Wakelet
Wakelet is a tool that become immensely popular in schools in the last few years. A large part of the popularity is due to the
Five Free Tools That Help Students Format Bibliographies
When I was in high school we had to learn how to create bibliographies by working from a template that my history teacher, Mr. Diggs,
Addressing Two Common Copyright Misunderstandings
Long time followers of my blog know that over the years I have fought many many many battles with people who think it’s okay to
How to Use Immersive Reader in Microsoft Forms
A couple of days ago I wrote about recently discovering that Immersive Reader works in Microsoft Forms. Immersive Reader is Microsoft’s free accessibility tool that
How Prevent Weird Formatting in Your Blog Post Editor
A couple of weeks ago during Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions and Share Cool Stuff someone asked why her blog posts don’t appear correctly
Three Silent Videos About COVID-19
One of my students came ranting into class today because of a conversation she’d had with another student about facemasks and social distancing. The person
Create and Conduct Polls in Google Slides
Poll Everywhere is a polling tool that I’ve used off and on throughout the past decade. It’s a great tool for gathering questions from an
Talking Instead of Reading
It has been nearly fifteen years since I first tried my hand at making instructional videos for my students. The first ones were not good.
Ten Resources for Learning About U.S. National Parks
Last week TED-Ed published a new lesson about national parks. The lesson explains the origins of the U.S. National Parks system and concludes with explanations
Practical Ed Tech Webinar – Fun Formative Assessments for Virtual and Hybrid Classrooms
Like many of you, I have to teach students who are online and students who are in my classroom. Sometimes I have to do both
Bibcitation – Easily Create Citations in a Wide Variety of Styles
Last week I shared a tutorial on how to use the new citation generator that is built into Google Docs. One of the complaints I’ve
Immersive Reader in Microsoft Forms – Quiz Questions Read Aloud
Over the weekend I read Microsoft’s announcement that Immersive Reader will soon be available in PowerPoint (“soon” was left undefined in Microsoft’s announcement, that usually
The Week in Review – Maps, Docs, and Games
Good morning from Maine where it is cold, but clear. The leaves are rapidly changing color and falling to the ground. There is a significant
The Easiest Way to Use Jamboard in Google Meet
A few weeks ago Google announced that Jamboard would be integrated into Google Meet. Earlier this week that finally happened in all of my Google
Two New Helpful Features in Google Meet
Since the summer Google has been teasing us with announcements of new features “coming soon” to Google Meet. Some of those features are finally starting
ICYMI – Episode 22 of Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions & Share Cool Stuff
Every Thursday afternoon at 4pm ET/ 1pm PT Rushton Hurley and I get together to host a free webinar called Two Ed Tech Guys Take
How to Share Sections of Google Docs in Google Classroom – And Why You Might Do That
Yesterday a reader sent me an interesting question about Google Docs and Google Classroom. She wanted to know if there was a way to share
How to Create Citations and Bibliographies in Google Docs – No Add-ons Required
For years I used the Easy Bib add-on to add citations and create bibliographies in Google Docs. A couple of weeks ago Google added an
Poe, Halloween, and Phys Ed
We’re a full week into October and I haven’t shared any Halloween-themed resources. That’s unlike me. My excuse is that 2020 has been a year
G Suite Becomes Google Workspaces – What’s That Mean for You?
Yesterday, Google announced a rebranding of G Suite. G Suite will now be called Google Workspaces. That change is happening now for some domains, but
5 Digital Mapping Activities
On Monday I shared a couple of tutorials about measuring distances in Google Maps and Bing Maps. Yesterday, I shared a few resources for helping
LOC Mystery Photo Contest – A Good Test of Search Strategies
At about this time last year the Library of Congress hosted a mystery photo contest. They’re hosting another one right now. Just like last year’s
Map Lessons from Mathigon
Last spring I wrote about Mathigon’s Map Coloring Challenge. That’s not the only map-based math lesson available from Mathigon. Mathigon’s lesson on spheres, cones, and
A Self-paced Crash Course in Making & Teaching With Video
Last week I hosted a live Practical Ed Tech webinar titled A Crash Course in Making & Teaching With Video. By popular request, I’ve turned
How to Measure Distances in Bing Maps and Google Maps
This afternoon I received an email from a reader who was frustrated by how slowly Google Earth loaded on her students’ Chromebooks. She had designed
How to Create and Host Your First Kahoot Game
In this week’s Practical Ed Tech newsletter I share some ideas for adding some fun educational activities into online and hybrid classrooms. In the newsletter
How to Disable or Limit Google Classroom Notifications
If you’re like a lot of the teachers I’m hearing from this fall, you’re using Google Classroom more than ever. And if that’s the case
The Week in Review – Search, Coding, and Microsoft Forms
Good morning from Maine where the sun is rising and revealing all of the colors of fall. Fall is my favorite time of year to
How to Record a Video Presentation in Canva
For years Canva has been my go-to tool for making things like infographics, video cover images, and social media posts. Increasingly, I’m using it to
Research Starters from the National WWII Museum
Last week at the end of one of my classes we were talking about how everyone was adjusting to wearing masks all day and social
How to Add Shapes and Drawings to Google Docs
Yesterday morning I had a colleague come into my classroom to ask me how she could create a document that had some arrows and boxes
NASA ScienceCasts Explains the Harvest Moon – It’s Tonight!
Tonight is the night of the annual Harvest Moon in the northern hemisphere. The harvest moon comes on a different evening each year. If the
Good Video Lessons About Cyberbullying and Digital Privacy
Students in my school district, like students in many other school districts, have more unsupervised time on their hands than ever before. That factor combined
A Similarity Checker in Word – How Did I Miss This?
I’ve written about Google Classroom’s originality reports in the past. I’ve also posted tutorials on looking for matching documents via Google Drive. This week, thanks
Two Free PD Webinars Tomorrow
Every Thursday at 4pm ET I join Rushton Hurley from Next Vista for Learning for a free webinar called Two Ed Tech Guys Take Questions
The Month in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where colorful leaves and the wind tell us that fall is in full force on the last day of September. On