Canva in the Classroom

Have you been looking for a fun way to use technology in the classroom? Have you been wondering how you can use Canva with your students?

Canva is a great tool and they offer it free for educators. If you work in one of my local districts, access is available via Clever, for teachers, staff and students.

I recently attended MACUL and came back with a ton of ideas for using Canva in the classroom. Below is a short list of ways to use it in the classroom.  Please reach out if you would like more details about any of the options listed below.

You can use Canva to create:

Teacher / Student Presentations
Group work activities
Interactive Graphic Organizers
Social Media Posts
Google Classroom Headers
Posters

Newsletters 

Flyers
Videos 

Screen Recordings
Whiteboard activities
Comics

storyboards

digital books

magazine covers
YouTube thumbnails

...and so many more options.

Filtering Data in a Google Sheet

Last week I shared a tutorial on how to sort information in a Google Sheet.  

Something else that might be helpful in terms of viewing your Google Sheet information is filtering.

Below is a tutorial on how to filter your data in Google Sheets.

Filtering a Google Sheet

Sorting a Google Sheet

Google Sheets is a great place to store data of all types.  You could use it as a database of books you have in your classroom library or a way to track grades and assignments.  There are so many ways you can use Google Sheets.

After you have created your database of information though, how do you sort it? 

Below is a tutorial on how to sort data in Google Sheets.

Sorting a Google Sheet

Closed Captioning in Google Slides

Google Slides offers a Closed Captions option.  This can be used to help anyone read what is being said by the presenter or what is being said during a presentation video.  

If the microphone is good enough it will also pick up any questions asked by audience members.  

Closed Captioning in Google Slides can be added to the top or the bottom of the presentation.  Adding the captioning to the top could be used in other ways as well.  Think about having a presentation open and running above a video that doesn't have closed captioning available.  

To use Closed Captions in Google Slides check out this easy to follow tutorial.

Google Slides - Closed Captions (https://bit.ly/43Q2YMg)

Note Anywhere

Have you ever wanted to leave a note on a webpage? Are you looking for a tool to leave some thoughts while doing some research?

I have a great option for you to try, Note Anywhere.



Note Anywhere is a Google Extension. It allows you to add Post-it type notes to almost any web page.
The notes stay on the page until you delete them and load auto-magically when you open the web page. The extension icon tells you how many post-its you have on a page when you are on the page.

If you right click on the Note Anywhere icon in your extensions tool bar, you can open the options menu. Within options you can change the color of the post-it note. You can also view a summary of where you have notes. It will provide you with a list of URL links to the articles with notes on them.

Note Anywhere can be a useful research tool for both teachers and students.

Knowt

Knowt (https://knowt.io/) allows you to make flashcards and quizzes directly from your class notes. Teachers can use this to make class assignments and students can use it to study for tests.

You can also search for other people's notes on the same subject area. They are continuously working to add notes based on school textbooks. Students can apply to become a KnowtTaker and earn volunteer hours for writing notes that students around the world can study from.  Teachers can get paid for writing notes for Knowt.

Knowt was created by 3 high school kids who were bored with regular note taking. All three now all attend MIT.

Teachers can share notes with students via Google Classroom as well.

Did you zone out during the lecture? Did you miss something the teacher said? Was the teacher talking too fast, you couldn't keep up? You can use Knowt to immediately check to see if your class notes make sense. If the quiz doesn't make any sense you may have missed some important information. Re-read you notes and fill in what you remember or talk with a classmate or your teacher to fill it in.

OneTab

Some Google Extensions are great tools for productivity and organization.  One Extension that can be very helpful is OneTab.

OneTab



One Tab allows you to convert all of your open tabs into a list of URLs.  



From the list you can restore your tabs individually or all at once.  



Using OneTab can conserve battery power on a laptop/Chromebook.  It can also help speed up your device.  OneTab temporarily reduces the amount of memory your computer or chromebook uses, when you keep too many tabs running in the background.

The URL list can also be exported to save for later or to be shared with someone.



OneTab may be just the tool your students need when they are working on a research paper for your class.  They can open and view multiple tabs.  When computer time is over, they send the OneTab list to their G-Mail for later review and use.  They will have all of their research available to them, without having to continually start over or remember what they had searched for previously.  

Otter.ai

Otter.ai lets you transcribe, caption and record audio in real time.  Otter.ai is available in English on the Web, on iOS, Android, Zoom, and in Google Meet.  You can use Otter.ai to caption meetings, transcribe lectures and record your voice for easy listening later.  

If you would like to add this extension to your Chrome Browser, click the link below:

http://bit.ly/2OkY9ZB

There are easy to follow instructions here:

http://bit.ly/3p5T7N8

If you are looking for the iOS app, while on your iOS device, follow the link below:

https://apple.co/3cU3gKr

To add the app to your Android device follow the link below:

http://bit.ly/2NaMY4R

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.

Google Sheets as a Translator

Did you know that you can use the cells in Google Sheets to create a translation dictionary?  Google currently has over 50 languages available and you can translate from one language to another, not just English to the others.
This would be a great tool to use for those learning English as a second language as well as for those trying to learn any foreign language.  You could expand your sheet to include images or even brief descriptions, whatever would be helpful for you or your students. 

For more information please see the YouTube, How to Automatically Translate Google Sheets Cells (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEibCyjPMh4).

I am also including a link to the Languages Codes (https://developers.google.com/admin-sdk/directory/v1/languages) currently available in Google.

I have started a Google Sheet with translation from English to Spanish that you can take a look at as well, click the link below to make your own copy.
Translation Dictionary  (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JvbtxT1tXM7s-lvb0_ZjNjUw7nvGlh3jmCBVFfdHY-g/copy)

Google Sheets are versatile.  You could make a new tab for each language or, like in the video, make each column a different language as well.

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.

SchoolHabits.com

Most students (and some adults) need reminders on how to do different school tasks.  I was never taught how to annotate a text or how to properly study for an exam.  

SchoolHabits.com is a great website that has habits and hacks to help you get through school.  This site contains tons of video tutorials that can be found on the SchoolHabits channel.
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCif2xthZcmDp2NxvG56Gdlg).  Each video covers a different hack or habit and most mention ways to use them for a variety of learners.  

I like the "How to annotate while reading" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Mz4nwciWc) video and "How to take notes in a lecture class" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yx_R2kh16c) video also.  Check out these and some of the others that might help you or your students!