Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
How Vocabulary Lists Help Students Conduct Better Searches
Can you identify this mushroomfound in the forest near my housein Maine? In chapter five of The Joy of Search Daniel Russell explains the process he
Robocompass – A Robotic Geometry Box
Robocompass is described by its developer as robotic geometry box on 3D. Not being a math teacher and not having taken a math course since
Creativity and Leaf Piles – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and almost every leaf in my neighborhood seems to have landed in my backyard. The only
How to Create and Run Polls in Google Slides
Slido is a polling service that recently released a free Google Slides add-on and companion Chrome extension. The combination of the two tools makes it
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast – Episode #16
It was a long week at school for me. I think you’ll hear that in my voice in the latest episode of The Practical Ed
How to Use Loop to Gather Feedback from Students
Loop is a relatively new tool for gathering feedback from your students. You can use it to gather feedback in the forms of text responses,
Actively Learn – Find & Create Engaging Reading Assignments and More
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post that I wrote for a new supporter of FreeTech4Teachers.com. A few years ago I stumbled upon Actively Learn while
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast – Episode #15 Featuring Mike Tholfsen
This afternoon I had the opportunity to talk with Mike Tholfsen from Microsoft. Mike is a Product Manager on the Microsoft EDU team. In the
A New, Free Online Conference for Teachers
I’ve decided to try something new to end 2019. That new thing is organizing a free online conference for teachers. I’m calling it the Practical
Fall Back! – Lessons on the End of Daylight Saving Time
Fall is full of great things like colorful leaves, fresh apple pies, and Halloween candy! But there is one thing that I don’t like about
A Halloween Writing Contest for Middle School Students
A couple of weeks ago I shared a selection of Halloween-themed ELA articles available through ReadWorks. As Halloween gets closer, it’s only nine days away,
Kami – Annotate PDFs in Google Drive
Thanks to an email from a reader named John I was alerted to a video missing from an older blog post that I published about
A Couple of Fun and Simple Map Games for Students of All Ages
Ian Fisher is a software engineer at Google. In addition to his work at Google he’s developed a couple of fun map games. The games
Maps, Games, and SumoBots – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it’s cold outside and quiet in my house. In other words, I’m up early before anyone else. It’s a perfect
Google Arts & Culture Presents “From a Picture to 1000 Stories”
Google Books turned 15 this week. To mark the occasion Google released an interactive book titled From a Picture to 1000 Stories. The interactive book
Make Long Google Docs Easier to Navigate With a Hyperlinked Outline
One of the “hidden” or frequently overlooked features of Google Documents is the built-in outline tool. The outline tool lets you create an outline that
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast – Episode #14
This afternoon I recorded the fourteenth episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. The episode follows the same format as all of the other non-interview
Slido – Create and Run Polls Within Your Google Slides
Slido is a polling tool that has recently launched a Google Slides add-on and a corresponding Chrome extension. With Slido installed you can create polls
What Causes a Recession?
The U.S. stock market has been on a historic bull run over the last decade. That has a lot of people asking and a lot
topoView – View and Download Thousands of Historical Maps
topoView is a free service that anyone can use to find and download historical topographic maps produced by the USGS since 1880. The process of
How to Add Folders to Wakelet Collections
Over the weekend a reader emailed me asking about the possibility of creating folders in Wakelet collections. Wakelet doesn’t have a native folders feature. However,
The Globe of Extremes – An Interactive Map
The Globe of Extremes is an interesting interactive map of the extremes of the Earth. On the map you’ll find things like the deepest spot
Explore and Download Thousands of National Parks Pictures and Videos
On my way home from the Oregon SHAPE conference I drove through Mt. Hood National Forest. If you ever get the chance to do the
How to Create Vocabulary Games on Educandy
Educandy is a new service for creating simple vocabulary games and multiple choice trivia games. A convenient aspect of the service is that once you’ve
How to Share Videos Through OneDrive
A few days ago I shared directions for sharing videos through Google Drive. Microsoft’s OneDrive has a similar capability that in some ways is actually
Canadian vs. American Thanksgiving
Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada. If you’re curious about the differences and similarities between American and Canadian Thanksgiving, watch the following videos. Both of the
Slides, Forms, and Mountains – The Week in Review
Good evening from Oregon where I had a great day traveling from Portland to Bend for the Oregon SHAPE conference. It was my first time
Educandy – Quickly Create Educational Games from Word Lists
Educandy is a neat service that I recently learned about from Eric Curts. As I mentioned in this week’s episode of The Practical Ed Tech
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast Episode #13
Earlier today I recorded the thirteenth episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. This episode, like the previous one, begins with an overview of some
An Update from the Archive – Three Good Ways to Use All Those Pictures Students Take
I originally published this post four years ago. I remembered this post while reflecting on a conversation that I had with my freshmen during homeroom
A Good Collection of PowerPoint Presentations for AP US History and World History
Tom Richey produces great instructional videos for students taking AP US History, World History, and Government courses. More than 100,000 YouTube subscribers will attest to that. He
How to Use Google Drive to Share Videos
One of the questions that I’m frequently asked in regards to student video projects is “how can they share them without using YouTube?” It’s a
Using Google Slides to Design a Mobile App
This fall I’m teaching a couple of computer science courses. One of the courses is designed for freshmen students to get a broad overview of
Find Halloween ELA Articles on ReadWorks
Last week I shared a Halloween-themed physical education lesson and instructions on how to find and modify Kahoot games about Halloween. Those of you who
Learn Javascript Fundamentals and More With Google’s Grasshopper
About eighteen months ago Google published a mobile app called Grasshopper. Grasshopper was created as an app for students to use to learn to code
VidReader – Create Searchable Transcripts of YouTube Videos
A couple of weeks ago I published a blog post and a video about a neat service called SnackVids. SnackVids has since been rebranded as
More Than 18,000 Teachers Get Their Ed Tech Tips This Way
Five years ago I started the Practical Ed Tech Newsletter as an alternative to the daily email digest that is automatically generated from Free Technology for Teachers.
5 Handy Google Slides Features You Might Be Overlooking
Like any good presentation tool Google Slides has lots of little features that often go overlooked even by students who have used it for a
How to Make the Home Button Appear in Chrome
This morning I had a colleague come to me in a bit of a panic because the home icon in Google Chrome had “disappeared from
Microsoft Forms Will Soon Have a Read Aloud Option
Earlier today Microsoft announced a slew up updates to popular classroom tools including PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, and Forms. The update that jumped out at me
Online Safety Tip Sheets, Posters, and More
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Stop.Think.Connect. has a large collection of posters, tip sheets, and videos that you can use to promote good online safety
Lesson Plan Submit – A Handy Tool for Reviewing Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan Submit is a Google Docs add-on that is designed to make it easy for student-teachers or teachers to submit lesson plans for someone
How to Find and Edit Thousands of Halloween Games for Your Classroom
As I write this there are two mini pumpkins on my desk courtesy of my daughters. If you’re an elementary school teacher, I bet that
The Week in Review – It’s Pumpkin Season!
Good morning from Maine where it is looking and feeling like fall a little more every day. Last Sunday afternoon I did my first round
Win Chromebooks and ISTE Registration in Book Creator’s “A Better Future” Contest
Book Creator is a popular tool for creating multimedia ebooks on an iPad or in the Chrome web browser. Students can use Book Creator to
Book Review Videos Made in the Common Craft Style
Years ago I came across a video in which someone reviewed The Art of Explanation by making a video in the Common Craft style. The Art of
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast – Episode #12
This afternoon I recorded the twelfth episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. In the episode I shared some reflections on teaching computer science and
The Solutions to Common Classroom Stains
Stain Solutions is a handy website developed by Susan Taylor at the University of Illinois Extension. The site is a database of solutions for removing
A Tool to Simulate Text Messages Between Historical Figures
One of my favorite tool on ClassTools.net is the Fake SMS Generator. The Classtools Fake SMS Generator is free to use and does not require
Poe Animations and Lessons
It wouldn’t be October without language arts that mention Edgar Allan Poe. It seems that October is the time that a lot of students are
Math & Science Halloween Lessons
This afternoon one of my students asked me what my daughters are going to be for Halloween. That question reminded me that Halloween will be
WriteReader Adds New Page Styles for Students to Create eBooks
WriteReader is one of go-to tools for elementary school and middle school students to use to create multimedia ebooks. I’ve been using it since its launch
ICYMI – Six On-Demand PD Opportunities
In August and September I hosted five live Practical Ed Tech webinars and launched one self-paced course. A lot of people expressed interest in the
How to Randomize Question and Answer Sequences in Google Forms
On Tuesday afternoon I published Google Forms Features You Should Know How to Use. That post and corresponding video has prompted a slew of emails
A Halloween-themed Physical Education Program
In last week’s episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast I mentioned a great blog for physical education teachers. That blog is called Keeping Kids
The Library of Congress Poses a Search Challenge for Anyone to Try
In the 2019-20 Practical Ed Tech Handbook I included a section about creating image-based search challenges for students. The idea behind giving students image-based search
Creative Bridge – A Next Vista for Learning Video Contest
I have been a fan and supporter of Next Vista for Learning for the last decade. Next Vista is a video site for students and
Google Forms Features You Should Know How to Use – Video
After Google Earth, Google Forms is the Google product that I get the most excited about helping other teachers use. From gathering survey data to
Mind Maps, Rubrics, and Cats – The Month in Review
Good evening from Maine where the sun is setting on a busy month of September. Between webinars, working on a book, and taking over a
What’s in Pumpkin Spice?
Walk into a Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Tim Horton’s at this time of year and you’re bombarded with offerings for pumpkin spice this and pumpkin
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where the the air is cool and crisp, the leaves are colorful, and everyone is dressed in their favorite flannel. These
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast – Episode #11 – Reflections, News & Notes, Q&A
Last night I released the eleventh episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. In this episode I shared some reflections on my first full week
Get Your Copy of the Free Practical Ed Tech Handbook
Last Sunday I published the updated 2019-20 version of my popular Practical Ed Tech Handbook. I started publishing one every school year in the fall
Common Craft Explains Incognito or Private Browser Windows
Common Craft has been producing unique explanatory videos for more than a decade. I’ve been using them in my classroom and workshops for nearly as
How to Create Whiteboard Videos in Wakelet Collections
A couple of months ago Flipgrid introduced a new feature that enables you to create whiteboard-style instructional videos to share with your students. That feature is
15 Digital Citizenship Resources for K-12
Within the latest edition of The Practical Ed Tech Handbook I included a section about digital citizenship. In that section I highlighted fifteen resources for
Loop – A Nice System for Gathering Feedback from Students
There is no shortage of online tools for gathering feedback from students. I featured a selection of them in the latest version of The Practical
5 Video Projects for Almost Every Classroom – Webinar on Thursday
Every month I host at least one Practical Ed Tech professional development webinar. This month’s webinar is an updated version of my popular 5 Video
Ruff Ruffman Presents Lessons on Search and Advertising for K-2 Students
Ruff Ruffman is the “star” of a PBS Kids series. Yesterday, one of my high school students asked me if my kids watch the show.
How to Create a Transcript of Any YouTube Video
Last week I published a short blog post about a neat tool called SnackVids. That post has proven to be quite popular so I decided
7 Styles of Classroom Video Projects – Tools and Tips for Making Them
In the 2019-20 Practical Ed Tech Handbook I included a section all about student video projects. In that section I outlined seven styles of classroom
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast Episode #10 Featuring Adam Bellow
Last week I had the chance to catch up with my old friend, Adam Bellow. Adam Bellow is the co-founder of the massively popular Breakout
How to Find and Create Primary Source Lessons With DocsTeach
DocsTeach has been one of my go-to tools for social studies teachers for many years. Despite that recommendation I’ve never made a video on how
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast Episode #9
On Friday afternoon I recorded the latest episode of The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. In the episode I shared some news about the future of
The Week in Review – Social Studies, Search, and Computer Science
Good morning from Maine where summer is having one last hurrah! After temperatures in the 30’s (Fahrenheit) earlier this week it’s going to be sunny
SnackVids – Automatic Creation of Searchable Video Transcripts
Update January 2021: The tool mentioned in this article is no longer available. However, you can accomplish the same goal of making a transcript of
Fraidy Cats’ Book of Courage – An eBook of Writing Prompts
Make Beliefs Comix is a creative writing platform that I have recommended for years. The core of Make Beliefs Comix is a free set of
5 Features of Google’s Advanced Search Menu
My last two blog posts (here and here) have been about creating search practice activities for students. One of the Google search tools that students
Another Approach to Creating Search Challenges for Students
Yesterday afternoon I shared one of my approaches to creating search practice activities for students. That strategy involves using pictures to tell as story and
My Approach to Creating Search Practice Activities for Students
This week’s Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week Newsletter featured ten Google search tips for students. It’s all well and good to give those
Practical Ed Tech Podcast #8 Featuring Dr. Beth Holland
At the end of the last episode of the Practical Ed Tech Podcast I mentioned that I had recently recorded a great conversation that I
7 TED-Ed Lessons for Constitution Day
Tomorrow is Constitution Day in the United States. As I shared last week, C-SPAN and DocsTeach have lots of free lesson plans and online activities.
My Top Twelve Tools for Social Studies Teachers and Students
Last week I published a list of my top five Google tools for social studies teachers and my top five non-Google tools for social studies
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast Episode #7
On Friday I recorded the seventh episode of the Practical Ed Tech podcast. In the episode I shared some news about a change in my
Rubrics, Mind Maps, and Foliage – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it is a perfect early autumn morning. It’s ideal for going fishing with my loyal dog, Mason. We did that
My Top 5 Tools for Social Studies Teachers and Students (Non-Google Edition)
Earlier this week I published my top five Google tools for social studies teachers and students. Recognizing that not everyone wants to use or has
Now You Can Share a Link to Jump to a Scene in Google Expeditions
In a Tweet yesterday afternoon Google announced a neat little addition to Google Expeditions. You can now share a link to a specific scene within
How to Apply Custom Sizing Including Portrait Mode to Google Slides
A couple of days ago someone sent me a Tweet asking if it was possible to arrange Google Slides presentations in portrait mode instead of
One of My Favorite Tools for Quickly Creating Audio Slideshows
Whether it’s for an open house night, an awards night, or another school event I’m often asked for a recommendation on a quick and easy
How to Use Rubrics in Google Classroom
Earlier this year Google announced a beta test of rubrics feature in Google Classroom. Schools that applied to participate in that program have now started
Reminder – Google is Closing Fusion Tables
When it was launched almost a decade ago Google’s Fusion Tables was an amazing service for creating data visualizations. Over the years other, better tools
My Top 5 Google Tools for Social Studies Teachers and Students
As longtime readers of this blog know, my background is largely in social studies with a smattering of special education and corporate training thrown in
Glide Now Lets You Publish App Templates
Glide is probably my favorite new tool of 2019. The free service lets you take a Google Sheet and quickly turn it into a mobile
Ten Free Tools for Creating Mind Maps and Flowcharts – Updated for 2019-20
Creating a mind map is an excellent way to generate and write down ideas connected to a central topic. I frequently use mind maps to
Ask Me Anything This Friday
On Friday afternoon at 3pm ET. I’m recording the next episode of my Practical Ed Tech Live series in which I answer batches of questions
Mozilla Is Shutting Down X-Ray Goggles
Mozilla’s X-Ray Goggle’s is a service that I’ve been promoting for years as way to help students understand how HTML works. Students can use it
The Practical Ed Tech Podcast is Now on Apple Podcasts
I recently started the Practical Ed Tech Podcast. So far I have published six episodes including a recent conversation that I had with Dr. Scott
TeachPhysEd- A Great Library of Videos Demonstrating Phys Ed Lessons
TeachPhysEd is a website and YouTube channel maintained by Coach Benjamin Pirillo. On his YouTube channel Coach Pirillo demonstrates and explains activities for physical education
Diving Into Google – Learn Search Techniques from Dan Russell
Longtime followers of this blog may have picked up on my appreciation for Dan Russell’s excellent Search ReSearch blog where he posts interesting search challenges