Fresh Takes 4 Teachers
Snot, Poop, Puke, and the Lessons They Teach
This post was inspired by my daughter whose snot, poop, and puke have been on me at various points in the last few days. Who
Let PrepFactory Help You Teach SAT & ACT Strategies
As more schools and states require all high school students to take either the ACT or SAT, you may find yourself having to teach SAT
OpenEd Adds Thousands of New Science Resources
OpenEd offers a massive library of free educational games, videos, practice assessments, and tutorials. This week they expanded their catalog by adding more than 1,000
A Fun App for Learning to Add Fractions
This post originally appeared on one of my other blogs, iPadApps4School.com. Fraction Mash is a free iPad app that provides a fun way for students
How to Use the Explore Function in Google Docs for Android
This post originally appeared on one of my other blogs, Android4Schools.com. I was recently asked about how to use the Explore function in Google Docs
Why You Should Try to Use Video on Your Blog
This morning Isla and I posted a short video on YouTube to explain why you should try to include videos in your blog posts. Using
Geosciences Bridge – A NOAA Internship for High School Students
Geosciences Bridge is an internship opportunity for high school seniors who are interested in pursuing careers in geosciences. The six week program is hosted at
A Blog About iPad Apps and One About Android Apps
About a month ago I had a huge database problem on my blogs iPad Apps 4 School and Android 4 Schools. After a month of
An Easy Way to Create Mindmaps in Your Browser
A lot of mind mapping tools lock you into using straight lines between elements, but Connected Mind is not one of them. Connected Mind allows
Reach Out Reporter – Science News for Children
Reach Out Reporter is a free service that provides science stories for elementary school students. The site is updated weekly with videos, articles, and graphics.
What’s in Dry-Erase Markers? – How Do They Work?
Even in the most tech-laden schools you can still walk into almost any classroom and find a dry-erase marker and whiteboard. Whether it’s to write
4 Fun Facts About Reindeer
Thanks in part to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer some children don’t believe that reindeer (caribou) are real animals. SciShow Kids seeks to remedy that in
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good evening from Woodstock, Maine where we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the mountains. While it was a cold day, it was still
Three Free Online Whiteboards Students Can Use Together in Realtime
Online whiteboards that let students communicate in realtime either by voice or text can be powerful tools to create a mathematics tutorial, create a diagram,
How to Use Storyboard That to Create Greeting Cards
Earlier this week I published a tutorial on using Canva to create simple holiday greeting cards. Storyboard That also offers some good templates for creating
How to Cite the Source of Images Found in Google Docs & Slides
The Explore function in Google Docs and Google Slides makes it easy for students to find images to insert into their documents and presentations. The
Video Creation Tools & Ideas – Slides from #TETC16
This afternoon at the TETC conference I gave a short presentation on classroom video projects. As always, I promised to share the slides with folks
Slides from #TETC16
Earlier today I had the honor of giving the luncheon keynote at the TETC 16 conference in Tennessee. The some folks asked me for a
Use Stories to Help Students See Possibilities for Helping Others
This is a guest post from Rushton Hurley. Rushton is the founder of Next Vista for Learning and an all-around great guy. Some of your
Two Ways to Grade Short Answer Questions in Google Forms
Last night I received an email from a reader who wanted me to clarify that is possible to grade short answer questions in the default
Apply for a National Geographic Teaching Adventure
The Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program is an annual program administered by National Geographic. This unique professional development program, open to teachers in the U.S. and Canada takes
How to Use Canva to Create Greeting Cards
Canva is a free graphic creation tool that I use to create a lot of the graphics that appear in my blog posts and Facebook posts.
Three Ways to Make Your Blog Posts More Helpful
One of the central purposes of this blog and thousands of others on the web is to help others. Blogs that help people solve problems
Do You Have an Online Hub?
Social media and text messaging is great for sending quick updates about things happening in your classroom and in your school. But when you need
An Interactive Map of Pearl Harbor Survivor Stories
Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Earlier this week I shared some resources for teaching and learning about Pearl
Three Alternatives to Wiki Summarizer
This afternoon I received an email from a reader who wondered what happened to Wiki Summarize. I don’t know other than it is no longer
Pop Penguin and the Place Value Race
Pop Penguin and the Place Value Race is a new game on Math Playground. The free game is played in a classic board game style
Google Returns the Reference Citation Option to Google Docs
Back in September when Google replaced the Research menu in Google Docs with the Explore menu many educators were upset about the loss of the
Five Lessons On How Computers Work
We use them every day. Our students do the same. But do we ever stop and wonder how computers work? The latest Sci Show Kids
Three Alternatives to Glogster
This morning I received an email from a reader who was looking for an alternative to Glogster. For those not familiar with Glogster, it was
Two YouTube Search Methods You Might Be Overlooking
YouTube can be a great source of educational videos to share with your students. It can also be a great source of frustration to weed
Expii Solve – Fun and Challenging Mathematics Exercises
Thanks to my friend Rushton Hurley, this evening I learned about a great new-to-me resource for mathematics teachers. Expii Solve is a series of more than
Two Good Sets of Animated Maps for U.S. History Students
Creating my earlier post about resources for learning about Pearl Harbor prompted me to revisit a couple of animated maps of U.S. History. History Animated
Resources for Teaching and Learning About Pearl Harbor
This coming Wednesday marks 75 years since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. That attack drew the United States into World War II. Here are
5 Blog Posts Your Students’ Parents Will Appreciate
Posting useful, practical tips is one of the best ways to get your students’ parents to frequently read your classroom blog. Coming up with those
The Week in Review – Get Outside
Good morning from Woodstock, Maine where the wind is blowing snow flurries across the landscape. In other words, it’s a perfect day to go outside
How to Distribute Digital Stickers Through Flubaroo
Earlier this week a new digital sticker option was added to Flubaroo. This option lets you apply a digital sticker to the grade reports that
Showing Learning at a Higher Level Through Vocabulary
This is a guest post from Rushton Hurley, founder of Next Vista for Learning. Can exploring a single vocabulary word show learning at a higher
Add Text Labels to Drawings & Pictures in SeeSaw Portfolios
In the two years since its initial launch SeeSaw has become one of my most frequently recommended digital portfolio tools. The team at SeeSaw is
What Are Owl Pellets? – Learn by Watching and Doing
One of the cool things about living where I do, essentially the middle of nowhere by most standards, is getting to see lots of cool
What You Looked for Last Month
At the end of every month I take a look at two statistics for this blog. First, I look to see which posts were visited
193 Short Timelapse Videos of Our Changing World
On Tuesday Google announced the publication of new Google Earth timelapse imagery. The new imagery shows the how the physical geography of the Earth has
The Month in Review – Ten Most Popular Posts
Good afternoon from Maine where it feels like the month of November came and went in the blink of an eye. The month started out
Receive Email Notifications from Google Forms
In the past I have shared instructions on how to use the Form Notifications Add-on for Google Forms. Lately, that Add-on hasn’t worked as well
How to Share Google Docs With People Who Don’t Have Google Accounts
A couple of nights ago in my G Suite for Education class I shared the following quick tip about sending Google Docs to parents who
Telegraph – Super Simple Blogging
Alan Levine’s Cog Dog Blog is one of my absolute favorite blogs. I skip over many others in my Feedly list to read his posts
HSTRY is Now Sutori
Over the last couple of years HSTRY has become a popular multimedia timeline creation tool. One of its best features is the option to include
Flubaroo Adds a New Feedback Option – Stickers & Badges
Back in June when Google added a scoring option to Google Forms many people wondered if Flubaroo was still a necessary Add-on. The answer to
World Population History – An Interactive Map and Timeline
Last night on the Practical Ed Tech Facebook page I shared a post from Randy Krum that included a visualization of U.S. population growth. Watching
9 Lessons Learned Through Nine Years of Blogging
Today marks the ninth birthday for this little blog that I started on a Wednesday evening in 2007. Read that first post and you’ll see
Quick & Powerful Video Projects – A Wednesday Webinar
When I was a middle school student (decades ago now) my classmates and I made some videos about the countries that we were studying in
Get More Room to Work In Google Docs With Just One Click
One of the complaints that I often hear from teachers and some students about Chromebooks is that the screen is too small. I agree. There
Wednesday Webinars – A New Professional Development Series
I teased this earlier in the month, but now I’m ready to officially announce a new series of Practical Ed Tech webinars that I’m calling
Creative Commons Explained In Simple Terms
Whenever I give a presentation or run a workshop about student video projects, I spend time explaining what Creative Commons licensing is and its benefits
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where an inch of fresh snow is coating the woods around my house. The fresh snow provides a great canvas on
How to Use a Whiteboard in Google+ Hangouts
On Friday I shared three tools that you and your students can use to host online tutoring sessions. One of my suggestions was to try
Four G Suite Updates You Might Have Missed Recently
Google is constantly developing new features and sometimes eliminating old features from the tools that many of us use every day. It can be hard
Three Ways to Host Online Tutoring Sessions
I recently received an email from a reader who was looking for some tools that she could use for online tutoring/ instruction. The catch was
Google Drive vs. Padlet
Earlier this week I received a message on the Practical Ed Tech Facebook page from a reader who asked, “What do you suggest as the
Thank You!
Good morning from Connecticut where I am watching my brother and other members of his club run in the 80th annual road race in our
A Simple Alternative to Blubbr for Making Video Quizzes
On Wednesday morning I received an email from a reader who had been using Blubbr to create video quizzes for her students. Unfortunately, Blubbr seems
The Search for Alice’s Restaurant
Radio stations all over the United States play Alice’s Restaurant Massacree on Thanksgiving Day. While I was looking for a recording of the song on YouTube
7 Lessons About Electricity
One of my most memorable elementary school science lessons included all of us creating working circuits with multiple switches to illuminate light bulbs. Our power
The History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
For millions of Americans watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning is as much a tradition as watching football after the turkey dinner. The
Emojis and More Special Characters in Blogger
This isn’t groundbreaking, but you can now use emojis in Blogger. About a week or two ago a new icon appeared in the “compose” mode
Analyzing Word Choice in a Presidential Statement
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on this day in 1963. Later in the same day Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President of the
Create Narrated Map Tours on a Chromebook
On Sunday and Monday I shared a couple of videos about making narrated Google Earth tours. Unfortunately, Google Earth doesn’t work on a Chromebook. So
Apply Now for Early Access to Google Team Drives
A couple of months ago Google announced the development of a new product called Team Drives. Team Drives is a version of Google Drive designed
Pic4Carto – Find Creative Commons Images Based on Location
There are plenty of places to find public domain and Creative Commons licensed pictures on the web. Some of my favorite places were featured in
A New Facebook Page for Practical Ed Tech Tips
Many readers of this blog are already familiar my Practical Ed Tech weekly newsletter in which I share my favorite tip of the week and
Use Google Earth to Create Narrated Tours of Mars & the Moon
Last night I published a video about how to make simple Google Earth tours. This morning I was greeted by an email in which a
Record History on Thanksgiving Day
For many Americans Thanksgiving is one of the few times, perhaps only time, that extended family gathers together. It can be a great time for
A Quick, Last-minute Thanksgiving Lesson Plan
American Thanksgiving is just a few days away. Some schools are closed this week while others are open for the first few days of the
How to Create a Google Earth Tour
Google Earth can be used for all kinds of lessons in math (see Real World Math), science (try these resources), and language arts (try Google
How to Create Kahoot Games
For the last eleven months “create Kahoot games” and “Kahoot” have been the most frequently searched terms on this blog. While I have published videos
A Reminder About Black Friday Electronics
Sadly, Thanksgiving in the United States has almost become synonymous with the start of holiday shopping season. On the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black
The Week in Review – The Most Popular Posts
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining and I’m looking forward to a day of walking in the woods around my home (with
How to Enable Commenting on Padlet Notes
On Thursday Padlet unveiled a new feature that lets you comment on the notes that your students write on Padlet walls. Commenting on your students’
A Brief History of Timezones
When I signed into Facebook this morning I was greeted by a notice that on this day in 1883 the railroad industry in North America
How to Collaboratively Create YouTube Playlists – Updated
Last year I published a video about how to collaboratively create YouTube playlists. Since then the steps for doing that have changed a little bit.
Padlet Now Offers Commenting on Notes
Padlet is one of my favorite all purpose ed tech tools. With Padlet you can create a place to collect digital exit tickets, a place
A Video About Making Screencast Videos
The questions that I answer in my email more frequently than any other are about making screencast videos. Most people want to know what tool
Protagonist vs. Antagonist – A Student Video
Throughout the year Next Vista for Learning hosts student video contests. All of the contests ask students to create short lessons about a wide variety
G Suite for Education Has a New Templates Option
On Wednesday Google announced some changes to the Google Docs, Slides, Forms, and Sheets templates galleries. The old version of the templates gallery found at
EDpuzzle Offers an Android App for Students
Thanks to David Kapuler I have just learned that EDpuzzle now offers an Android app for students. The EDpuzzle Android app lets students join your
C-SPAN StudentCam 2017 – Student Messages for Washington
C-SPAN’s StudentCam contest is an annual event that invites students to produce short videos about current issues related to United States government. The 2016-17 version
Six Ways to Create Videos on Chromebooks – Updated
Last night on the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page someone asked me for recommendations for creating videos on Chromebooks. Back in March I published
How to Use WriteReader to Collaboratively Create Multimedia Books
One of last month’s most popular posts was about WriteReader. WriteReader is a free service designed to help elementary school students create multimedia books with
5 Handy Chrome Extensions for Teachers
After seeing my browser in one of my tutorial videos or one of my presentations, people often ask me about the extensions that I have
Three Ways That Students Can Create Talking Pictures
A couple of days ago on Twitter someone asked me for suggestions for tools that work like Blabberize to let people create talking pictures. Blabberize
The Origins of Thanksgiving Foods
On Tuesday I shared ten resources for Thanksgiving-themed lesson plans. This afternoon I discovered another good resource for a Thanksgiving lesson. The Surprising Origins of
How to Use Wolfram Alpha Inside Google Docs
Wolfram Alpha is a search engine that is probably best known for helping students solve mathematics problems. But there is more to Wolfram Alpha than
10 Thanksgiving Lesson Resources and Ideas
American Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Should you find yourself in need of some Thanksgiving-themed lesson ideas, take a look at the following
Four Tools for Making Audio Recordings on Chromebooks
A couple of weeks ago I was mentioned in a Tweet from someone who was looking for suggestions for tools that his students could use
A 5 Week Jump-start on G Suite for Education
Next Monday night I will be starting a new section of my popular online course Getting Going With G Suite for Education. This course is
PrepFactory Helps Students Develop SAT & ACT Strategies
PrepFactory is a popular site for SAT and ACT practice activities. This fall PrepFactory added practice activities for middle school language arts and math topics.
The Week in Review – The Nebraska Edition
Good evening from Scottsbluff, Nebraska where I am visiting my good friends Beth and Kris Still. Some followers of this blog may recall that Beth
5 Good Tools for Creating Multimedia Timelines
On Friday I shared a post about using HSTRY.co to create multimedia timelines that include quiz questions for students. HSTRY is just one of a
5 Fun Geography Games for Geography Awareness Week
On each of the previous three days I’ve shared some resources and ideas for Geography Awareness Week. Continuing that pattern, here are five fun games