Adding and Editing an Image in a Google Drawing

Last week I talked about adding text to a Google Drawing to make pamphlets, flyers, newsletters or even posters.

When creating these projects you will most likely also want to add images.  The link below will take you to a tutorial on how to add and edit images in a Google Drawing.  

Adding and Editing Images in Google Drawing

Adding and Editing Text in a Google Drawing

Although it is not the most robust tool on the market, Google Drawings can be used to create a variety of desktop publishing needs.  Google Drawings can be used to create pamphlets, flyers, newsletters or even posters.

To create these projects you will want to start with adding text.  The link below will take you to a tutorial on how to add and edit text in a Google Drawing.  

Adding and Editing Text in Google Drawing  (https://bit.ly/42KvlKB)

Classroomscreen.com

Classroomscreen.com is a simple website that offers easy access to tools for face-to-face or virtual teaching sessions. It contains 16 different widgets, such as a timer, random name picker and work time visuals, to support all your classroom activities and help students get to work.

BigReveal

BigReveal is an iPad app that lets you create personalized scratch cards. You use the app to hide a picture under a silver coating, just like a scratch-off lottery ticket.
This app can be highly motivating to students. For teacher and staff, it can help evaluate how well students can swipe up, down, right or left and if they can access all areas of the screen, which can be helpful when trying out a new stylus or mouse.
This app is not free, but only cost $1.99. It might be a good investment for use with your students.

Pattern Shapes

Pattern Shapes helps students explore geometry. It helps students think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes.

Pattern Shapes is a virtual version of the 7 familiar classroom shapes: yellow hexagons, orange squares, green triangles, red trapezoids, blue parallelograms, and tan rhombuses. 

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/36kEF0i).

Number Line is available as a web app (https://bit.ly/3IrYdNA), for iOS (https://apple.co/3ubFUqN), or for Chrome (https://bit.ly/3N1vMt8).

Money Pieces

Money Pieces helps students visualize and understand its values and relationships. There are two versions of coins and bills in the app. The currency pieces mimick the appearance and size of U.S. coins and the dollar bill.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3uyacG2).

Money Pieces is available as a web link (https://bit.ly/3gtgGxt), iOS app (https://apple.co/3uBxXNh), or for Google Chrome (https://bit.ly/3GAbbI6).

Math Vocabulary Cards

Math Vocabulary Cards helps students better understand key terms in mathematics. Each card has three sections: a math term, a model, and an easy to understand definition. Each section can be hidden or revealed, providing multiple options for practice. Vocabulary cards can be selected one by one or by category.  They are available in both English and Spanish.

Math Vocabulary Cards is available as a web app 

(https://bit.ly/3uqP4kG), for iOS  

(https://apple.co/3L2l0Sw), or for Chrome 

(https://bit.ly/34aeLeO).

Geoboard

Geoboard is a tool that lets learners stretch virtual rubberbands around pegs to form line segments and polygons. Creating these shapes help learners make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more.

Geoboard is a virtual version of the rubberbands and peg/nail board we all grew up with. Learners can fill individual shapes with color and display grid lines with or without numbering to more easily calculate area and identify shape locations. 

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3FYCFXl).

Geoboard is available as a web app (https://bit.ly/3KGUfTq), for iOS (https://apple.co/3tWZuZ8), or for Chrome (https://bit.ly/343icDE).

Fractions

Fractions is and app that lets students create and use bars or circles to represent, compare, and perform operations with fractions using denominators from 1 to 100.
Fractions is a virtual manipulative. It is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use laptops, iPads, or Chromebooks.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3p319K5).

Fractions is available as a web app (https://bit.ly/3yulVFv), for iOS (https://apple.co/329ScFv), or for Chrome (https://bit.ly/3F7bJVR).

Number Rack

Number Rack has rows of movable, colored beads that help encourage learners to think in groups of 5s and 10s.

Number Rack is a virtual version of an abacus.  This virtual version can contain up to 10 rows of 10 beads so students can work with numbers up to 100.

It is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use laptops, iPads, or Chromebooks.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3dOpjRZ).

Number Rack is available as a web link (https://bit.ly/3yoRe4m), iOS app (https://apple.co/3dOpyMT), or for Google Chrome  (https://bit.ly/3m3TKrX).

Number Pieces

Number Pieces is a virtual set of base ten pieces. The pieces can be used to represent single-, double-, and triple-digit numbers. The pieces can be joined together or broken apart to visualize regrouping.

Number Pieces is a virtual version of the manipulative. Number lines can be labeled with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, or negative numbers. It is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use laptops, iPads, or Chromebooks.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3IPNYDZ).

Number Pieces is available as a web link (https://bit.ly/3EY32wX), iOS app (https://apple.co/30qGqX3), or for Google Chrome (https://bit.ly/3dRgeYG).

Number Line

Number Line helps students visualize number sequences. It can also helps students illustrate a variety of math strategies including counting, comparing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.

Number lines can be labeled with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, or negative numbers. It is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use laptops, iPads, or Chromebooks.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/31UAVQY).

Number Line is available as a web app (https://bit.ly/3oThKzO), for iOS (https://apple.co/3yo3wKx), or for Chrome (https://bit.ly/3dQhMlH).

Number Frames

Number Frames helps students count, represent, compare, and compute with numbers; 5, 10, 20, and 100.

Number Frames has a variety of counter styles and colors to choose from. Using Number Frames can help students move away from one-by-one counting and toward more efficient ways of counting and computing by seeing patterns in the quantities.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3IIuIIF).

Number Frames is available as a web link (https://bit.ly/3DQZYBr), iOS app  (https://apple.co/3IOdBoC), or for Google Chrome  (https://bit.ly/30vq6o0).

Math Clock

Math Clock helps students become fluent working with time. 

Math Clock is a virtual version of the manipulative.  It is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use laptops, iPads, or Chromebooks.

Check out their great tutorials (https://bit.ly/3pQjKbk). 

Math Clock is available as a web app (https://bit.ly/3yyr0fZ), for iOS (https://apple.co/3yrBQ7e), or for Chrome (https://bit.ly/3E77OY1).

The Math Learning Center

The Math Learning Center contains free lessons, materials and publications designed to help inspire and enable individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence. They have materials for use in the classroom and for families in a home setting.

Over the next few weeks I am going to highlight the variety of apps that they have available, for free. Most of the apps are available as a web application, for iOS and for Chrome.

One of the great features of the apps is the ability to share within the apps, even across platforms.  According to the website, "Sharing in an app allows educators to pose problems and investigations for students. Students can share their thinking with their teachers and classmates."

Scroll down to the bottom of the Math Apps page to watch a short video on how it works.  

This-is-sand

Are you looking for something artistic to do?  How about something that is relaxing as well?

This-is-sand lets you create sand art on your computer or other wireless device.  It is a fun, relaxing activity for people of all ages.  

This-is-sand can also be used to help kids learn to click and drag.  In the settings (near the bottom of the home page) toggle off Auto-Flow.  This will require you to click and drag to get the sand to flow.  Students can work on clicking and dragging while moving the sand all across the screen.  

This-is-sand is available online (https://thisissand.com/), in the App Store (https://apple.co/2QFHz7M) and on Google Play (https://bit.ly/2RPk9NX).  

ModMath

ModMath is a free iPad app that helps kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia do math.

ModMath assists students who struggle with Mathematical notation. The app lets you write and solve math problems on the iPad using the custom keypad.  You can also print, email, or save to cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox.

ModMath lets you:

• Write and solve equations with a piece of virtual graph paper, greatly improving speed and legibility.
• Solve basic math problems and more complex algebraic equations, all without ever picking up a pencil.
• Print assignments, email them directly to the teacher or save to cloud storage.

You can visit http://www.modmath.com/ to see a short video of the app in action and to learn more about the app and the family that created it.

Otter Voice Meeting Notes

Technology is improving everyday and it seems like nothing is improving faster than speech to text.  AISence Inc. is a startup on a mission to make voice conversations more valuable for everyone.

AISence has created a program called Otter, that will now record and take meeting notes for you in real-time.  Otter helps you capture and manage verbal communication through meetings, video conferences, school lectures, and other important conversations.

There is a free version of Otter and a Premium version.  With the free version you get 600 minutes of transcription every month and the plan does not expire.  The Premium plan offers 6,000 minutes per month.

Download Otter Voice Meeting Notes for:

Android  (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aisense.otter)

iOS  (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/otter-ai/id1276437113?ls=1)

Or, create an account in your Google Chrome browser at otter.ai.

To learn more about Otter go to otter.ai.

Sticky

Who doesn't like sticky notes?
Did you know that there is a sticky notes app for the iPad?

Sticky - simple notebooks  (https://tinyurl.com/tafnmya)

Sticky notes, both high tech and low tech, are great for on the fly visuals, phonics lessons and solving quick math problems.  
With Sticky - simple notebooks you can arrange your thoughts, ideas, todos or assignments with different colors, sizes, and layouts.  You can even use voice dictation to write without typing. 

Sticky - simple notebooks is a versatile tool that can be helpful in all aspects of your life.

Be My Eyes

Lend you eyes to blind person with Be My Eyes.
Be My Eyes is an app that lets you lend your sight to individuals who are blind or have low vision, through a live video connection. Be My Eyes is a global network of volunteers that connects blind and low vision individuals with sighted volunteers who can assist them with a variety of tasks.
Blind and low vision users can request help directly from his/her phone. The app is available for Android (https://tinyurl.com/uh8pebd) and iOS (https://tinyurl.com/tcchgez). Using the app a live audio-video connection is established with the first volunteer that accepts the request. Through the camera on the phone the blind of low vision user shows and item or subject and the sighted volunteer can provide a visual description.
Be My Eyes offers assistance in over 180 languages, from any location, 24 hours a day. Be My Eyes can be used for "simple tasks, like checking expiry dates, to more complicated situations, like navigation or finding a lost item".