Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
An Update on FormRecycler – And How to Use It
This morning I received a question from a viewer of my YouTube channel. The question was about the Google Forms add-on called FormRecycler. The viewer
A Searchable Index of G Suite Updates
If you want to keep up with every update that Google makes to G Suite for Education, take a look at the What’s New in
Free Math Lesson Plans from NASA
Space Math is a NASA website containing space-themed math lessons for students in elementary school through high school. You can search for lessons according to grade
How to Handle Stage Fright
The winter concert season is upon us in many schools. For some students the experience of being on stage is truly frightening. For others it
Start 2019 With a Practical Ed Tech PD Course
As you may know, one of the ways that I keep Free Technology for Teachers running is with the revenue generated through my other site,
Speakd – Listen to Your Google Docs
Speakd is a free Google Docs add-on that will read your documents aloud. When you have Speakd installed in Google Docs you can open the
PBS Kids ScratchJr – Scratch With a PBS Twist
PBS Kids ScratchJr is a PBS Kids-themed version of the popular ScratchJr app. PBS Kids ScratchJr is available as a free iPad app and as
Getting Started with G Suite – Mysteries Solved with This New eBook
This is a guest post from Avra Robinson (@AvraRachel), Director of Online Learning for EdTechTeacher. When teachers or students begin to explore new digital environments,
A Fun App for Learning About Money
Money Math Duel is an iPad app and Android app designed to help students learn to count currency. The app is unique in that it
Gradebooks, Flipgrid, and Voicepods – The Week in Review
Good morning from chilly Paris Hill, Maine where it’s a crisp 7F as write this. In the category of “things I never did before having
How to Download Google Docs
It is not a secret that I’m a devoted Google Docs user. Since the first time that I tried it, I’ve done nearly all of
This TED-Ed Lesson Explains What Causes Heartburn – No, It’s Not Your Kids
At one time or another we’ve all suffered from a bout of heartburn. It usually happens to me if I drink soda pop (sometime the
An Easy Way to Convert PDFs Into Word Documents
From time to time we all need to convert a document from one format to another. There are lots of online tools that will do
Nominate Your Favorite Ed Tech Tools for a Readers’ Choice Award
As the end of 2018 approaches I thought it would be fun to see what you think are the best educational technology apps, sites, and
Four Podcasting Tutorials – From Basic to Robust
Earlier this morning I shared news about NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge that starts in January. While NPR does provide some good guides for students and
NPR is Hosting a Student Podcast Challenge
Thanks to Ms. Meade on Twitter, last night I learned about NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge. The challenge is open to students in fifth through twelfth
Free Environment Data Fact Sheets and Posters from the UN
The United Nations Environment Program offers a series of free posters based on data from the UNEP’s Geo Data Portal. These posters use charts, graphs, and maps to display information
Schedule a Professional Development Day With Me
Over the last ten years I’ve had the privilege to visit hundreds of schools and conferences to lead professional development workshops. During that time the
How to Edit the Captions on Your YouTube Videos
This morning on Twitter I was asked about the possibility of editing the captions that are automatically generated by the Google Slides captioning tool. The
How to Use Adobe Spark to Create Videos
Since the first day that it launched two and a half years ago, I knew that Adobe Spark would be a great tool for students
How to Add Videos to Google Slides Without Using YouTube
This morning I received an email from a reader who wanted to know if it was possible for his students to add their personal videos
120 Free Winter-themed Reading Lesson Plans
ReadWorks is an excellent service that provides teachers with free reading lesson plans. ReadWorks offers lesson plans that can be used in classrooms from Kindergarten
Coming Soon to PowerPoint – Real-time Captions and Translations
Earlier this year Google added automatic captioning to Google Slides. This week, via The Verge, I learned that Microsoft is adding automatic captioning and translation
Ten Resources for Teaching and Learning About Pearl Harbor
This week is the 77th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That wasn’t the first military action of the Japanese during WWII. It’s
TED-Ed Adds More Videos to the “Why Should You Read…” Series
About six weeks ago I published a post about TED-Ed’s series of videos that explain why students should read the classics. When I published that
How to Use a Spreadsheet to Create Flipgrid IDs
Flipgrid is a great video response tool that can be used by students of almost any age including those under age 13 who often don’t
How to Upload Videos to Reply to Flipgrid Topics
I love Flipgrid for the ease with which students can record videos with their webcams to reply to prompts that you give them. But not
How to Use Bensound to Download Free Music
A couple of weeks ago I posted a short review of a site called Bensound that hosts about 175 free instrumental music tracks that you
A Gradebook, Art, and VR – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where this morning we’re going to get a Christmas tree from a friend’s tree farm. A few years ago this is
How to Use Smart Replies in Gmail
Earlier this week I published a post about Gmail’s Smart Reply feature. A few people emailed to ask if I had a video about how
Federal Land vs. State Land
As I write this What is Federal Land? is the #49 trending video on YouTube. It’s nice to see an educational video trending that high
QR Codes, Music, and CoRubrics – The Month in Review
Good evening from Maine where I’m home after a great few days at the LACUE conference in New Orleans. November was a busy month as
Turn Text to Speech With the Voicepods Chrome Extension
A couple of months ago I discovered a new text to speech tool called Voicepods. When I first tried it and wrote about it Voicepods
Teaching the Constitution With Political Cartoons – Webinar Recording
DocsTeach is one of my favorite tools for building history lessons centered around primary source documents, pictures, maps, and drawings. DocsTeach contains an integrated search
Dear Colleagues, Can We Please Stop Sharing These Things?
Can we teach critical thinking and good digital citizenship practices if we don’t use them ourselves? I’m asking because every week I see another educator
A New Gradebook for Google Classroom!
One of the long-running complaints about Google Classroom that I and many others have had is about the nearly featureless gradebook. It appears that Google
Sign-up Now for Google Forms Locked Mode
Back in June Google teased us with an announcement about a locked mode for Google Forms. All summer and fall I got questions about when
Slides and Notes from LACUE
I’ve just wrapped-up two days of giving presentations at the LACUE conference in New Orleans. A huge thank you to the conference organizers for inviting
Sites in VR – The VR App for Those Without VR Headsets
Sites in VR is a free Android and iOS app that provides a 1700 virtual reality views of significant landmarks around the world. The app
Google Classroom is Now Open to All G Suite Domains
Today, Google announced that Google Classroom is now available to all G Suite domains including non-profit and business domains. This follows last year’s addition of
Google is Removing Annotations from YouTube Videos
Eighteen months ago Google removed the annotations editor from YouTube. Today, I logged into the YouTube editor and saw an announcement that Google is going
11 Years Later…
On this day eleven years I published my first blog post here on Free Technology for Teachers. I had a little bit of an idea
Need Blog Post Ideas? Edublogs Has You Covered
For many people the biggest challenge in maintaining a blog has nothing to do with the technical aspects. It’s coming up with ideas for blog
The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter – My Tip of the Week Delivered Once Per Week
As you may know, I offer professional development webinars through PracticalEdTech.com. But that’s not the only thing that I do with that site. I also
How to Enable or Disable Gmail “Smart Replies”
Smart Reply is one of my favorite features to come with the “new” Gmail that was thrust upon all users earlier this year. Smart Reply
Nearly 900 Free Art History Books – And an Art Lesson
Around this time five years ago I discovered that the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts free online art history texts. A recent Tweet from Open
800+ Persuasive Maps – And a Tool for Making Your Own
About a week ago Open Culture published an article about Cornell University’s Persuasive Cartography collection. I hadn’t seen that collection before so I went down
How to Create Custom Greeting Cards on Storyboard That
A few years ago Storyboard That introduced a great little feature for making greeting cards. Initially, it was only available for a few holidays, but
How to Use Guest Mode in Flipgrid
A few weeks ago Flipgrid added a new feature called Guest Mode. Guest Mode allows you to give parents access to view a specific topic
Backchannels, Sounds, and Thanksgiving – The Week in Review
Good morning from snowy Maine. I hope that all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving this week had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Based
Did You Get the Text? – Google Calendar to Stop Sending Texts
From the department of “no one uses that feature anymore,” Google has announced via text message and on the G Suite Update blog that as
How to Access and Use the Blurring Tools in YouTube’s Video Editor
This is the time of year for winter concerts and plays at schools. If the ones at your are anything like the one I attended
How Frost Appears on Plants – A Science Lesson
Here in Maine we’re way past worrying about frost in the morning. That’s because we’ve already had a few snow storms. But some of you
What If You Stopped Sleeping? – Video Lesson
As the parent of a two year old and a one year old I know a thing or two about operating on little sleep. There
Human Body Study Jams
Scholastic Study Jams are slideshows and animations that provide a short overview of various topics in science and math. The Human Body Study Jams from Scholastic provide
You Can Get Anything You Want… Happy Thanksgiving!
Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Somewhere in the last 50 years it became a tradition that classic rock stations play Alice’s Restaurant Massacree at
Measuring Mountains – A Math Lesson
A few years ago I read Mount Everest, The Reconnaissance 1921 which I downloaded for free from Google Books. In the introduction there is a three page explanation
The Chemistry of Thanksgiving or “Why It’s Not the Turkey Making You Sleepy”
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Just like I did last year, on this Thanksgiving Eve I found a video that would have
Black Friday Sale on Practical Ed Tech Webinars
One of the ways that I keep Free Technology for Teachers running is through the sales of professional development webinars on my other site, Practical
How to Create a Backchannel on Padlet
Padlet is one of the most versatile tech tools that a teacher can have in his or her toolbox. From making KWL charts to exit
Bensound – Free Music for Video Projects
On Tuesday I wrote about the impending closure of the Free Music Archive. In that post I shared some other sites to find free music
Wakelet Now Lets You Copy and Build Upon Collections
Wakelet is free bookmarking and note-taking service that I’ve been using since April when I started looking for alternatives to Padlet. On Wakelet you can
Change Coming to Your Google Account’s Sign-in Screen
New Google Sign-in screen. Starting next Tuesday you might notice a small change to the sign-in screen for your Google account. The change is that
Two Good Places to Find Classrooms to Connect With
Last week I ran a guest post written by Sarah Fromhold containing great tips for hosting Mystery Skype or Mystery Hangout activities. Since then I’ve fielded
The Free Music Archive is Closing – But Not All is Lost
For the better part of the last decade the Free Music Archive has been one of my go-to places to find free music to use
Free Webinar – How to Make Your Own Common Craft-style Videos
If you have followed this blog for more than a few weeks, you’ve probably seen me make references to Common Craft videos. More than ten
How to Make a QR Code for Just About Anything
This fall there seems to be a renewed interest in QR codes, at least amongst readers of this blog. In just the last two weeks
An Interactive Timeline of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is a tradition that millions of Americans share. This year will be the 92nd edition of the parade. What started
Fiction vs. Non-fiction – A Canva Infographic
This morning I was browsing through Canva’s gallery of free design templates looking for one to use for an upcoming course that I’m teaching. That’s
5 Free Thanksgiving Lesson Plans You Can Use This Week
Thanksgiving is just a few days away. If you’re an elementary school teacher who has school this week, Storyboard That has five free Thanksgiving lesson
17 Lessons in Teaching History With Technology
This coming Monday evening (7pm ET) I am hosting Teaching History With Technology on PracticalEdTech.com. This course meets five times (once per week). There are
Guests, Snow, and Feedback – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where we’ve had two small snowstorms this week. They haven’t been big snowfalls, but they have produced enough snow that all
How to Create a QR Code for a Voice Recording
Just a few minutes ago I answered an email from a reader named Chris who wanted a recommendation on how to have students create voice
How to Create Show Your Work Questions on GoFormative.com
Last week at the EdTech Teacher Summit in Boston I gave a presentation about formative assessment (you can see the slides here). GoFormative.com was one
Three Tools for Creating Custom Maps Without a Google Account
Google’s My Maps is a great tool for designing custom maps. The problem with it is that students can only save their work if they
Mapping the Ingredients in Thanksgiving Meals
Last year on Thanksgiving I discovered an ESRI Storymap titled Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? Of course, having discovered it on Thanksgiving Day
A Digital Differentiation Model
This week I am hosting some guest bloggers. This entry is from Danielle Lagnese. Personalizing learning in my classroom four years ago was challenging. To
BookSnaps, Passage Snaps, and a Flex-time PD Model
This week I am hosting some guest bloggers. This entry is from Jerry Schneider who shares a couple of good examples of using a “flex-time
Free PD Webinar – Article a Day With ReadWorks
ReadWorks is a free service that I have been writing about for the last few years. It offers free reading lesson plans aligned to standards
CoRubrics – An Add-on to Facilitate Assessment Among Students
This week I am hosting guest posts. This one was authored by Jaume Feliu at the Salas i Xandri High School in Sant Quirze del
7 Tips for Moving from Decorating to Designing Classrooms
This week I am hosting guest posts. This is a guest post from Dr. Robert Dillon. I have been following Bob’s work for the last
Teaching Online – What Does it Take?
This week I am hosting guest blog posts. This one is from Nik Peachey. I have been following Nik’s work for many years and I
Meaningful Reading Engagement with Quote Cards
This is a guest post from Noah Geisel. “Quote cards were fun way to be more creative with it and manipulate it instead of just
Great Ideas for Mystery Skype & Hangouts
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Sarah Fromhold. Mystery Skype is a concept that first began around 2011. The
Apps Day – A Great Way to Learn About Apps
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Phil Strunk. I am relatively new to the profession — this is my
News Aggregators: Professional Development for the Busy Teacher
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Rebecca Meeder. Professional development helps expose teachers to new trends in their field
Creating a Digital Culture
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Clint Winter and Chuck Bell. As a School Superintendent and as a District
Edji – A Great Tool for Literacy and Critical Thinking
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Eric Hills. As a tech coach, I love spending time trying to find
My Party PBL – Technology and Project Based Learning
This week I am welcoming some guest bloggers. This one is from Debbie Carona. The PBL, My Party Election, originally written by Mike Kaechele, became
Music, Feedback, and Flowcharts – The Week in Review
Good evening from Nebraska where I’m visiting my good friends Kris and Beth Still. Some of you may remember that Beth was the person who
Is Your Feedback Really Effective? – This Google Docs Add-on Will Tell You
Anyone who has ever spent a Sunday afternoon grading essay after essay has at some point wondered, “did anyone listen when I explained homophones?” This
Add Adobe Spark Creations Into Book Creator eBooks
Adobe Spark and Book Creator are two of my favorite multimedia production tools. And now you can combine the two! Earlier this week Book Creator
The Origins of Ingredients in Thanksgiving Meals
Last week I shared three Thanksgiving-themed projects that you can do this month. Of course, I have many more Thanksgiving resources bookmarked to share with
A Handful of Resources for Learning About Veterans Day
This Sunday is Veterans Day (many places will observe it on Monday). The following resources can help students understand the origins and meaning of Veterans
Build a Body – An Interactive Biology Lesson
Spend a few minutes using Build a Body and it is easy to understand why it was recognized by the National Science Foundation. In Sponge
This Is What an Astronaut’s Camera Sees
What an Astronaut’s Camera Sees is an impressive narrated video of images of Earth as captured from space. The video is narrated by Dr. Justin
A Good Tool for Writing Reflections on Stories
Scholastic’s Character Scrapbook offers a good template that elementary school students can use to write about and reflect on the characters in their favorite stories. The
How GPS Works
From finding a place to eat in a new city to navigating a detour to geocaching, GPS is an amazing technology. But just how does
Knoema – Huge Collections of Data Maps and Charts
Knoema is a service that offers a huge collection of data sets and maps for public use. Knoema offers data maps and charts for almost every