Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
My Tips for Managing Student Blogs – One for All or All Have One?
In the course of a year I get to run a lot of workshops about blogging. One of the questions that frequently comes up in those
A Fun and Free State & Country Capital Identification Game
Capital Toss is a free geography game from ABCya. The game has a state capitals mode and a country capitals mode. In both modes of the
Social Media Scenarios for Teachers to Consider
This afternoon I facilitated a faculty meeting in which my goal was to get people thinking critically about how they are currently using social media.
How to Share Your Google VR Tours With Students
Over the last few weeks I have received a lot of emails from readers who had made virtual reality tours in Google’s VR Tour Creator
Voicepods Has New Editing Features – Turn Text Into Voice Recordings
A few weeks ago I introduced a new tool called Voicepods. Voicepods is a service that will create voice recordings based on the text that
5 Science & Math Resources That Have a Halloween Theme
Now that we’re into October I’ll start to see a lot more searches for “Halloween” on this blog. Here’s a a handful of Halloween-themed math
A Fantastic Virtual Tour of the Houses of Parliament
CNN recently published a fantastic virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament or the Palace of Westminster, to be more precise. The narrated, self-guided tour
Seven Good Places to Find Writing Prompts
Anyone who has ever taught language arts has heard, “I don’t know what to write about” from a student or two. If you’ve ever heard
Mind Over Media – New Resource for Teaching Propaganda and Media Literacy
This is a guest post from writer and researcher Beth Holland (@brholland). I first met Professor Renee Hobbs from the Media Education Lab last spring at
Three Digital Portfolio Styles – And Tools for Making Them
This post originally appeared in my Practical Ed Tech Newsletter and on my Practical Ed Tech website. This week I am working with a group
Ten Tools for Teaching With YouTube Videos
If you can get past the distraction of cute animal videos, video game highlights, and other nonsense, you can find excellent educational videos on YouTube.
FAQs About Upcoming Practical Ed Tech Courses
This weekend I have answered a bunch of questions about the two Practical Ed Tech courses that are starting next week. I figure that if
Create a Screencast Within Padlet
Back in June I published a video that demonstrated ten types of notes that you can add to Padlet walls. Thanks to Dan Methven I
Classroom, Math, and Instagram – The Month in Review
It’s the end of September. By now everyone has been back in school for at least a month. I hope that the start of school
Seterra Offers Science Quiz Games
Disclosure: Seterra is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com A couple of weeks ago I featured Seterra’s hundreds of geography quiz games that are available in
Planning a Student Video Project? – Don’t Forget the Storyboards
Earlier this week I shared details of Next Vista for Learning’s Creative Storm student video contest. One of the rules of that contest is that
A Rubric for Digital Portfolio Assessment
Next week I am working with a group of teachers to help them start creating digital portfolios with their students. After we decide what we
Sheets, Math, and Timelines – The Week in Review
Good morning from Key West, Florida where I have spent the week working with the great staff of Sigsbee Charter School. And while it is
How to Quickly Create Audio Slideshow Videos
This afternoon I answered a question from a school principal who was looking for an efficient way to create a video of pictures from a
The Student Blogging Challenge – An Audience for Your Students’ Blogs
Edublogs provides an excellent service for creating classroom blogs and student blogs. But offering a solid blogging platform isn’t the only way that Edublogs supports
Manufacture Your Future – A Discovery Virtual Field Trip
Next Friday at 1pm EDT Discovery Education is a hosting a virtual field trip titled Manufacture Your Future. The virtual field trip will take students
The LOC Launches the National Screening Room Online
The Library of Congress has a new online collection called the National Screening Room. The National Screening Room currently contains 287 videos. The videos are
Lessons in Teaching History With Technology
Next week I am hosting my Teaching History With Technology course on PracticalEdTech.com. That five week course covers seventeen concepts for infusing technology into social
G Suite for Education Shortcuts
We all have that colleague who always searches for Google Docs or thinks that the only way to find Google Classroom is to first open
Frostbite Theater – 87 Science Experiment Video Lessons
Jefferson Lab’s YouTube channel includes a playlist titled Frostbite Theater. The first time I looked at the playlist a few years ago it had about fifty videos.
A Good Resource for Learning About the Science of Food
Foodskey is a site produced by The University of Nottingham who also produces the Periodic Table of Videos. Foodskey is a set of fourteen videos
Einstein’s Archives Online
More than 80,000 of Albert Einstein’s documents and drawings are now available to view for free at Einstein Archives Online. The archives include not only his
5 Ways to Use Google Slides Besides Making Presentations
Google Slides has come a long way since the first time that I had students use it a decade ago. Many features have been added
5 VR Projects for Students
Google’s VR Tour Creator is one of my favorite media creation tools. Since its launch in May of this year I have shown it to
8 Tools for Making Multimedia Timelines
Creating timelines has been a go-to activity for history teachers since the beginning of history. When I made timelines as a student and in my
Creative Storm – A Next Vista Video Contest
Next Vista for Learning is a great place for teachers and students to share short video lessons that they create. I have been recommending the
Why Should You Read Poe? – A TED-Ed Lesson
Halloween is a little more than a month away. It is during these next five weeks that a lot of students will be introduced to
Two Online PD Courses Starting Next Week
Throughout 2018 I have offered various one-hour professional development webinars through PracticalEdTech.com. Those have proven to be popular, but some people have been asking if
Create Flipgrid Mixtapes to Showcase Grid Highlights
Flipgrid continues to add new features for teachers. The latest feature is the option to combine videos from multiple grids. Flipgrid calls this new feature
5 Ways to Use Google Sheets in Your Classroom
Last week I posted a video about how to use pivot tables in Google Sheets. Manipulating the way that data is displayed is one of
Three Lessons About Why Leaves Change Color
Every autumn people tour Maine just to see the leaves changing color. Seeing the leaves change is one of my favorite things about the fall
Facebook, Backchannels, and Math – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it feels like fall. Starting on Monday week I’ll be working with the Sigsbee Charter School in Key West, Florida
Math in Real Life – Why Airlines Overbook Flights
I’m currently flying home the ESC-20 Library Resource Roundup in San Antonio, Texas. Before I boarded the flight the gate agent was looking for volunteers
Fall Time-lapse – A Video Project
The fall is my favorite season of the year. I love waking up to cold, crisp mornings then enjoying mild days outside. In fact, that’s
Slides from ESC-20 Library Resource Roundup
Today I had the pleasure of giving four short presentations at the Texas ESC-20 Library Resource Roundup. It was a great day! Thank you to
How to Make a Timeline Through Google Sheets
Earlier this week I wrote about Flippity’s new timeline creation template for use in Google Sheets. The template lets you create a multimedia timeline by
Three Apps to Explore the Potential of Augmented Reality
On Friday I am giving a presentation about augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality in education. If you’re unsure of the differences between the
Three Apps to Incorporate Into Outdoor Learning Activities
One of my passions is encouraging teachers to take their students outside for class. The technology that our students use the most in their daily
7 Reasons to Try Using Backchannels in Your Classroom
A couple of the most popular posts that I have published lately were about creating backchannel chats to use in your classroom. In response to
If You Manage a School Facebook Page, Watch Out for This Scam
I manage a handful of Facebook Pages. This morning when I logged into Facebook I had notifications that “Verified Facebook Page” had requested administrative access
Anchor Adds New “Smart” Background Music to Podcasts
Anchor is a podcast recording and publishing tool that I have been writing about all year. I started writing about it because using it is
Use Flippity to Make a Multimedia Timeline
Flippity is a site that I have recommended for years as a place to find templates that you can use in Google Sheets to make
The Places Where I Will Be Presenting This Fall
I am fortunate to be invited to speak at many conferences and schools every year. In the last couple of years since my first daughter
Three Sites That Help Students Understand the Size of the Universe
Living in a relatively rural area that doesn’t have a lot of artificial light helps make it easy to spot constellations. Some nights when I
Join Me Tomorrow to Get Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep
Tomorrow evening at 7pm ET I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar titled Get Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep. This is the second
How to Create a Progress Tracker With Google Forms and Sheets
Last week I wrote about using Google Forms and a pivot table in Google Sheets to create reading logs and other progress trackers. Over the
Shakespeare Uncovered – Ten Free Lesson Plans
Shakespeare Uncovered is a series of videos about Shakespeare’s life and work. The series, hosted on PBS Learning Media, is organized thematically. Some of the themes
Find Free Photos by Searching on Every Stock Photo
Regular readers of this blog probably know that my go-to places for free images are Photos for Class, Pixabay, and Unsplash. But those aren’t the
Making Sense of Spelling – A TED-Ed Lesson
The Vox video about why we say “OK” raises the question of whether you should write “OK,” “okay,” or “O.K.” That’s just one of many
Why We Say “OK” – And Other Lessons on the Origins of Words
A few days ago Vox published a short video that explains the origins of “OK” and how it came to be something that we say,
Math, Instagram, and Civics – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from Maine where it is a beautiful late summer day. We just got back from a great morning at the Oxford County Fair
Two Ways to Use Google Sheets to Create Reading Logs
Google Forms and Google Sheets are my go-to tools when I need to collect and organize data. One of the things that I often help
51 More Constitution Day Resources
Earlier this week I shared some videos and a couple of interactive resources for teaching lessons about the U.S. Constitution on Constitution Day. Constitution Day
Three Types of Elementary School Video Projects to Complete on iPads
On Monday I shared free five apps that I recommend for making videos on iPads in elementary school classrooms. You might have looked at the
By Request – Get Organized With Google Classroom and More
A few weeks ago on PracticalEdTech.com I hosted a webinar titled Get Organized With Google Classroom, Calendar, and Keep. 75 people joined that webinar to
Bookmark It – A Tool for Adding Bookmarks to a Video’s Timeline
Bookmark It is a free Chrome extension that can solve a problem many people face when trying to show students just a specific part of
Voicepods – Automatically Turn Text Into Voice Recordings
Voicepods is a neat service that will create voice recordings based on the text that you write. Voicepods offers eight voices in which you can
Free Webinars from the Council for Economic Education
The Council for Economic Education has recently published their fall schedule of free professional development webinars for teachers. The series begins next week on September
Seterra – Hundreds of Interactive Geography Games in More Than 30 Languages
Seterra is a service that offers interactive geography games in more than thirty languages. I used the service for years with some of my own
Video Resources for Constitution Day
Constitution Day in the United States is on this coming Monday. By law all schools receiving federal funds have to offer some type of instruction
Webinar Recording – Making Great Handouts With Storyboard That
Yesterday afternoon I hosted a webinar titled Making Great Handouts With Storyboard That Templates. Almost 500 people registered for the webinar! If you wanted to
Share Math Playground Activities to Google Classroom
Math Playground offers hundreds of free math games and interactive modules for elementary school students. I’m not sure if this is old news or not,
Two Interactive Copies of the Constitution for Constitution Day
Next Monday is Constitution Day in the United States. By law all schools that receive federal funds have to offer some instruction on on the
Nature Cat’s Great Outdoors – An App for Sunny, Rainy, and Snowy Days
Nature Cat’s Great Outdoors is a free app from PBS Kids. The app, available for iOS and Android, provides students with activities they can do
Free Webinar Today! – Making Great Handouts With Storyboard That Templates
Today, at 4pm ET I’m hosting a free webinar titled Making Great Handouts With Storyboard That Templates. This webinar will feature many of the new
5 Free iPad Apps for Making Videos in Elementary School
In the next weeks I’ll be spending quite a bit of time working in elementary school classrooms that are equipped with iPads. One of the
An Excellent Guide to Infinite Campus Gradebook
I haven’t had to use it for a few years, but I do remember Infinite Campus’ gradebook being infinitely frustrating. This morning, thanks to Larry
How to Become a Mystery Skype Master!
In a post earlier today I shared an explanation of the Mystery Skype game and some places to find partners to play the game. But
What is Mystery Skype?
Last week I reTweeted someone’s request to find a partner for a Mystery Skype activity. That generated some new connections, but it also generated a
A Good Site for Vocabulary Lists and Practice Activities
Vocabulary.com is an excellent vocabulary study service offering thousands of vocabulary practice lists and activities for students in elementary school through graduate school. In addition to
The Online Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States
The Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond hosts the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States. This online atlas contains more than
Three Good Tools for Scheduling Meetings With Students, Parents, and Colleagues
Trying to schedule a meeting with just one other party can sometimes be challenge. Throw in a second, third, or fourth party as often happens
Poetry, Google Classroom, and Twine – The Week in Review
Good evening from Maine where it is a crisp, cool early fall evening. The change of seasons is one of my favorite things about living
A Parent’s Guide to Instagram – Including a Glossary and Discussion Questions
Instagram recently released published a fairly comprehensive guide for parents. A Parent’s Guide to Instagram, available to read online as well as download as a
Free Webinar – Making Great Handouts With Storyboard That Templates
At the end of yesterday’s post about making printable story cubes I mentioned that I’m hosting a free webinar next week. The webinar will go
Create Printable Story Cubes on Storyboard That
Storyboard That started out as simple tool that anyone could use to create good-looking storyboards for a variety of purposes including explaining historical events, plot
Other Places to Follow My Work
This week I received two emails that reminded me that it is probably time to let new readers know about some of the other places
How to Add a Classwork Section to Older Google Classroom Classes
Last night Google released two new features for Google Classroom. The first was the option to add materials into the Classwork section of your Google
How to Add a Materials Section to Google Classroom
Last night I shared the news that Google has added the option for teachers to add materials like digital handouts to the Classwork section in
Two New Google Classroom Features That Everyone Has Been Asking For!
The new version of Google Classroom just got a little bit better. Ten minutes ago I got an email from my contact at Google about
ReadWorks Now Integrates With Google Classroom
ReadWorks is a free service that provides standards-aligned reading lesson plans for K-12 classrooms. In addition to lesson plans ReadWorks offers a huge libray of
The Presentation Remote I Use With Google Slides, PPT, and Keynote
I don’t often make suggestions for physical products to purchase. The exception being if I am if it is for a low-cost product for an
Virtual Reality Book Tours
In 5 Multimedia Projects for Social Studies Classes I included the idea of having students make their own virtual tours of historic and interesting landmarks.
How to Highlight, Annotate, and Share Pages From Microsoft Edge
This year I have made an conscious effort to spend more time exploring the free tools that teachers and students can use. One of those
How to Use the Read-aloud Option in Microsoft Edge
Last week I featured some accessibility extensions for Google Chrome. For those who prefer to use Microsoft Edge there are some excellent accessibility options built
5 Multimedia Projects for Social Studies Classes
If you teach social studies and you’re looking for a new project to engage your students this year, I have some suggestions for you. All
Three Good Options for Digitizing Your Students’ Physical Work
Whether it’s a model made for a science fair or a paper on which a student successfully solved a complex math problem, there are times
Twine – Write Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Stories
Twine is an open-source program for writing choose your own adventure stories. You can use Twine online or you can download the software for Mac or Windows. I
The Process of Plastic Bottle Recycling
I have t-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles and I bet that your students do too. How did those bottles become the material for t-shirts?
18 Great Cartoons That Teach Cyber Safety Lessons
Planet Nutshell is a video production company that produces short, animated videos to explain products, services, and concepts. Within their education section you will find videos
Find & Read Old Newspapers Through the Google Newspaper Archive
Yesterday’s blog post about the Chronicling America collection of digitized newspapers prompted Daniel Bassill to ask me about options for newspapers printed after 1963. My
How to Collaboratively Create Documents on Canva
Last week Clint Heitz asked me for a suggestion for tools that students can use to make magazines online. He has used Lucid Press and
An Archive of Historic American Buildings and Landscapes
There was a time when navigating the website of the Library of Congress was a bit of a chore. Collections of digitized artifacts were mixed
Chronicling America – An Archive of 2,600+ Digitized Newspapers
Chronicling America is a great resource provided by the Library of Congress. On Chronicling America you can find more than 2,600 digitized copies of newspapers