Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
How to Create a Video on Typito
Typito is a new-to-me video creation tool about which I wrote a short review last weekend. Typito sits comfortably between the simplicity of tools like
Five Great Add-ons for Google Forms
Google Forms are one of the most flexible of all of the tools in G Suite for Education. There are countless ways Forms can be used
Next Week is Free Webinar Week!
Next week I am hosting three free professional development webinars. I hope that you can join me for one, two, or all three of them.
Turquoise Mountain: Preserving Traditional Afghan Crafts
Turquoise Mountain is a non-profit organization that was founded by the Prince of Wales and the former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. The Turquoise Mountain Institute,
Enhance Your Google Classroom Experience
Google Classroom is a blended learning solution that was introduced by Google in 2012 and it is one of only two products that Google has created
Anchor – A Good Alternative to AudioBoom
Anchor.fm is a free podcasting service that I started using about ten months ago. It has steadily added features throughout the year. If you find
Tabs Scissors & Tab Glue
Tab Scissors and Tab Glue are two Chrome extensions that will make your life a lot easier when you find are toggling between two different tabs.
Halloween Resources for Students of All Ages
Teachers probably don’t need a reminder, but Halloween is just around the corner. Today I’m going to share some resources that are Halloween-themed and can
Current Events Sites for Students
CNN Student News, now called CNN 10, is one of the most popular sites for student news and current events, but there are many other
October: Dyslexia Awareness Month
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Perhaps you have a student with dyslexia and want to find out more about it. This post contains informational articles
Differentiated Professional Development with BloomBoard
BloomBoard was founded in 2010 as a teacher coaching platform that would serve as a way to provide teachers with differentiated instruction. BloomBoards are curated
Create Free Logos with DesignEvo
DesignEvo, from PearlMountain, is a free online logo maker. PearlMountain has been designing software for over a decade and is working to make professional photo editing
Teaching History With Technology – On-demand PD
Teaching History With Technology is my most popular Practical Ed Tech course after Getting Going With G Suite. In the last year more than 100
How to Force Copy of Drive File and Shorten URL for Easy Sharing
Did you know there is a quick and easy way to force someone to make a copy of a Google Drive including Docs, Sheets, Slides,
Read&Write Assistive Technology App
Read and Write is an extension from texthelp that is designed to help students feel more confident with reading and writing. Teachers can get free access
G Suite Training App
The GSuite Training is a Chrome extension that provides interactive tutorials on a variety of Google Apps including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Classroom, and Slides.
10 Uses for a Classroom Blog
Regardless of the blogging service that you choose to use, here are ten things you can do with a class blog: 1. Posting assignments and
Every Teacher Should Have a Blog – Still True
Almost ten years ago I published a little cartoon to illustrate one of the reasons that every teacher should have a blog. It’s still as
Search Safely on Pixabay
Pixabay is a site that houses over one million free images and videos that have been uploaded by users around the world. All content found
AudioBoom is Eliminating Free Plans – Try These Alternatives
AudioBoom sent an email to their users this morning to inform them that the free AudioBoom plan is being eliminated. Moving forward the cheapest plan
Grants for Teachers
Most of us could use more money for our classrooms. Whether we need to by basics like tissues and glue or we need funds to
Google Tour Builder
Google Tour Builder was originally created for veterans as a tool to record and preserve their experiences and memories in the military and share them with
How to Create a Great Classroom Blog – Webinar
As I mentioned last month in Get to Know Free Technology for Teachers, one of the ways that I keep this blog running is through
Classkick to Learn Together
Classkick is an app that allows students and teachers to learn together in real time. Teachers can create lessons using existing worksheets, or new text,
Radiooooo – The Musical Time Machine
Radiooooo is a site that brings together music from around the world and organizes it by decade beginning in 1900 through now. Simply click on
The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
The WWW Virtual Library System: International Affairs Resources is one section of the Virtual Library System. This site is a free academic internet directory which is
Typito – Simple, But Not Too Simple, Video Editing
Typito is a good tool for creating simple videos. Typito is designed for making audio slideshows like those you might have made in the old
Grids, Timelines, and Goals – The Week in Review
Good evening from Maine where I spent the majority of the day hanging drywall on walls that are far from square. Those of you who
Providing Feedback with Peergrade
Peergrade is a platform that allows teachers to make sure students receive meaningful feedback on all of their work. Teachers create an assignment and a
College Fair App by Kickwheel
The College Fair is an free app from Kickwheel is acts like a mobile college fair. The idea is to help students find a college
Using Canned Responses in Gmail
Gmail Labs are something that often go unnoticed because they are somewhat hidden and hard to find unless you are looking for them. A word of
Canadian Thanksgiving vs. American Thanksgiving
This coming Monday in the United States is generally referred to as Columbus Day. In Canada this coming Monday is Thanksgiving. Start your Saturday morning
7 Ways to Help Kids Discover & Analyze New Information
Today’s students have grown up with ubiquitous access to the Internet. That means that many of them think that because they can type something into
Using NoRedInk to Spice Up Grammar Lessons
NoRedInk is a service that helps teachers create differentiated grammar lessons that are personalized for each student. Teachers start by creating a free account, adding
National Audubon Society Offers Great Educational Resources
The mission of the National Audubon Society is to, “Protect birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas, using science, advocacy,
Fun With Bitmoji
Bitmojis are everywhere! They are found in emails, text messages, Twitter, and Facebook as well as countless other places online. If you have ever experienced
How to Create a Conversational Poll
Acquainted is a neat polling service that I wrote about earlier this week. I described it as a conversational polling service because you can program
Meet Google Pixel Buds
Pixel Buds, one of Google’s latest pieces of hardware, were unveiled yesterday at an event in San Francisco. These wireless earbuds will work with any
Goosechase Scavenger Hunt
GoosechaseEdu is an app that combines the excitement of a scavenger hunt with mobile technology. Games consist of a series of missions that are completed
ClassFlow: Creating Interactive Digital Lessons
ClassFlow is a free lesson delivery application that is used by over 125,000 institutions around the world. It helps teachers design interactive and engaging lessons.
Wanted! Guest Bloggers
It has been two years since I last hosted guest posts from teachers and principals so it’s time that I do it again. This time
Kahoot Launched a Paid Plan – What That Means for You
Kahoot launched a paid service yesterday. You might have seen some Tweets or Facebook posts about it and gotten concerned as did the folks who
Acquainted – Conversational Polling
Acquainted is a free tool for conducting online polls. Unlike other online polling tools, Acquainted is a conversational polling tool. What that means is that
Lesson Plans for SMART Goal Setting
Storyboard That is a great tool that can be used for creating cartoons, flowcharts, timelines, and wireframes in addition to typical storyboards. Storyboard That also
Vocabulary Lists, Jazz, Grateful Dead, Conversations, and Search
On March 29, 1990 Branford Marsalis sat in with the Grateful Dead. It was an unlikely pairing. It produced amazing music! Here’s a sample to
Built to Last – GeoGebra
GeoGebra is the fifth entry into my Built to Last series. This is a series of blog posts celebrating the free resources that have been
X-Ray Goggles Help Students See How Webpages Are Made
Mozilla’s X-ray Goggles is a neat tool that helps students learn the code that powers much of what they see on the Web. X-ray Goggles is a
How to Use Grid View In Google Slides
Last week Google introduced a handful of new features for Google Slides. One of those new features is a grid view. There are two ways
Kahoot, Copyright, Drive – September in Review
Good evening from Montgomery, Alabama where I am preparing to give a couple of presentations tomorrow at the Alabama Independent Schools Association conference. I’m looking
How to Find Free Photos Within Google Slides
Google Slides now has Add-ons just like Docs, Sheets, and Forms. The selection of Google Slides Add-ons is fairly limited at this point, but there
How to Create a Timeline in Google Slides
Last week a bunch of new features were added to Google Slides. One of those features is a selection of diagram templates that you can
Grids, Timelines, and Notes in Google Slides
This week Google added a handful of new features to Google Slides. Some of them are features that teachers and students have been requesting for
Blogging, Math, and Character Scrapbooks – The Week in Review
Good evening from chilly Paris Hill, Maine. The falling leaves, shorter days, and cooler weather remind me of all the chores I need to do
Extreme Planet Makeover
Extreme Planet Makeover is an interactive activity produced by NASA as a part of the Exoplanet Exploration website. Extreme Planet Makeover lets students choose the
A Blogger Privacy Setting You Might Want to Use
Blogger can be a good choice for many classroom blogs. One of its selling points for schools that use G Suite for Education is that
Turn a Blog Into a Book
One of the reasons that I continue to encourage teachers to blog with students is that it helps to create a record of what your
Join Me, Vicki Davis, and Monica Burns for a Free Webinar
Next week I am joining Vicki Davis and Monica Burns on a free webinar organized by Kids Discover. The webinar will be a panel-style discussion
Three Thoughts About Making Time to Blog
A few years ago I was speaking at a conference in Arizona when I was asked, “what do you say to teachers who say I
Historical Patterns Animated
Some of my favorite social studies lesson plans include having students use maps to analyze data and identify patterns in history. Over the years I’ve
Character Scrapbook Helps Students Analyze Stories
Scholastic’s Character Scrapbook is an online activity that could help your students analyze the characters in the books that they read. The Character Scrapbook asks students to
Avoid This Common Google Forms Mistake
New users of Google Forms often think that if students are in the same domain as the teacher, student information is automatically collected. That is
Built to Last – Blogging With Edublogs and Blogger
This November will mark the tenth anniversary of Free Technology for Teachers. Over those ten years I have reviewed thousands of free resources for teachers
How Deep Is the Ocean? – This Video Puts It Into Perspective
Understanding the scale of something like depth of the ocean or distance to the moon is best done with visuals that are familiar to students.
How to Create a Simple Timeline-based Game
ClassTools.net has many great online game templates for history teachers to use. Play Your Dates Right is one of the templates that I like to
Copyright, AR, and Geography – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where it is a perfect first Saturday of the fall. Friends are visiting from out of state and we’re going to
5 Free Resources for Math Teachers Using Chromebooks
One of the many questions that I received in my email this week came from a reader who wanted to know what some of my
ClassTag Helps You Streamline Communication and Reach More Parents
From SMS to email to old fashioned paper notes there are plenty of ways to send classroom updates to parents. There is one service that
Advertising and What YouTube Knows About You
We’ve all had the annoying experience of going to show a YouTube video in a classroom or to a friend only to have an advertisement
XtraMath Now With Google Sign-on and Support for Another Language
XtraMath is a free service designed to help you help your students master the building blocks of solving mathematics problems. I’ve reviewed the service before
WebRoom – Free Online Conferencing With Virtual Whiteboard
WebRoom is a free service for hosting online meetings. WebRoom doesn’t require you to download any software and you don’t need to register in order
Stitcht – Make Videos With Friends
Stitcht is a free iOS app that lets you create a video from a combination of video clips captured by your friends. To make a
Beyond Words – A Library of Congress Lab Experiment
The Library of Congress Labs is a website that hosts online experiments based on collections of digital artifacts housed by the Library of Congress. One
Create Interactive Diagrams on Quizlet
Earlier this month Quizlet, a popular flashcard service, added a new interactive diagram feature. This new feature can be used by students and teachers to
The Science of Autumn
This Friday is the Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere. The changing leaves, the cooler air, and the earlier sunsets are just part of science
ClassClimate Updated to Remove Need for Student Email Addresses
Last week I reviewed a new service called ClassClimate that lets your students record and share with your how they feel in your classroom. My
How to Launch Kahoot Challenges
Challenge mode is one of the key features of the new Kahoot mobile app. Challenge mode lets students play your Kahoot quiz games even when
Reminder – YouTube Is Removing Its Photo Slideshow Tool
In June it was announced that YouTube was going to remove its Photo Slideshow tool in September. It’s now September and on Wednesday the Photo
Using Augmented Reality to Learn Nouns and Verbs
Metaverse is a great platform for creating your own augmented reality games and activities. Through the Metaverse Studio anyone can program an augmented reality experience
Play Your Dates Right – A Fun History Game
Play Your Dates Right is another great game template developed by Russel Tarr at ClassTools.net. The concept of Play Your Dates Right is that students
Built to Last – Bubbl.us Mind Mapping
Bubbl.us is the third entry into my Built to Last series. This is a weekly series featuring the educational technology products and concepts that have
Cooking In a Solar Oven – A Hands-on Science Project
Update June 2022: This resource is no longer available. I have been watching a lot of Top Chef re-runs on Hulu lately. In one of
Borrow, Read, and Listen – The Open Library
The Open Library is a part of the Internet Archive. The Open Library is a collection of more than one million free ebook titles. The
Winning Blogging Strategies for Teachers
This is the time of year that many teachers start a new blog to communicate with students and their parents. Unfortunately, many of those blogs
Kahoot, Fractions, Copyright – The Week in Review
Good afternoon from Maine where it is a gorgeous late summer day. I started the day with a fun hike with my daughter and dogs.
Copyright Lessons for Students and Teachers
As many of you know, I spent much of my week dealing with a copyright infringement issue. As a result of that I have been
A Fun Geography Game for All
Earlier this week Maps Mania published a list of ten geography games that are based on Google Street View imagery. Looking through the list reminded
Autumn Timelapse – Updated for 2017
At about this time a few years ago I was walking in the woods with my dogs when I got the idea for a timelapse
5 Tutorials on Mapping Stories
In Wednesday’s broadcast of Practical Ed Tech Live I answered a question from a reader who was looking for advice on how to have students
51 Resources for Constitution Day
This coming Sunday is Constitution Day in the United States. That means that schools have to include some type of lesson related to the Constitution
Citations for Beginners
EasyBib, the popular citation creation and management tool for students, recently published a new video that could help some students understand why they need to
How to Create a QR Code for a Google Form
This afternoon I received an email from a reader who wanted to know how to make a QR code for quiz that she had made
Kahoot Launches a New Mobile App – Play Games in Classroom or at Home
Kahoot released a new mobile app this morning. The new app, available for Android and iOS, contains all of the features that were promised back
ClassClimate – Know How Your Students Feel During the Day
ClassClimate is a new service that is designed to help teachers keep track of how their students are feeling during the day, week, and month.
Practical Ed Tech Live – Featuring Schrute Farms
Earlier today I hosted the latest installment of Practical Ed Tech Live. I started the broadcast by talking about the changes that I have had
Important Changes to RSS and Email Feeds
As some of you know, I have been fighting with an exceptionally slimy, dirty, spammy website that has been stealing all of my blog posts,
YouTube Management Options for Schools
YouTube can be a great source of educational videos to share with your students. I recently read a blog post in which Chris Brogan claimed
XtraMath Helps Teachers Help Students Learn Math in Multiple Languages
XtraMath is a free service designed to help teachers and parents help their students learn basic mathematics. The service provides an online environment in which students
Fraction Mash – A Neat App for Elementary School Math Lessons
Fraction Mash is a free iPad app that provides a fun way for students to learn about fractions. The app lets students insert two pictures
Join Me Tomorrow Afternoon for Practical Ed Tech Live
Tomorrow afternoon at 3pm EST I will be hosting episode 19 of Practical Ed Tech Live. During the broadcast I will answer the questions that