Goblin Tools

Do you have students that struggle with large projects or to-do lists? Do you sometimes struggle with where to start on a task?

Goblin Tools can compile my brain-dump into a list of tasks or help tame the challenge of large tasks or assignments, especially for our neurodivergent students. This is a free online suite of AI-powered mini-apps designed to conquer chaos and boost productivity.

With Goblin Tools you can break big tasks down into manageable steps with 'Magic To Do" or estimate how long a a task might take with 'Estimator'. Do you need help verifying the tone of someones writing or does your writing need to be more formal?  Check out 'The Judge' or 'Formalizer'.

Goblin Tools helps you get organized and achieve your goals, one bite-sized chunk at a time.

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.

ISTE AI Guides

Are you interested in learning more about Artificial Intelligence and how you can use it in your classroom?

Although learning about tools are great, learning how to use them in the classroom, both with students and to help us, is essential to appropriate usage.

ISTE  is the leading organization in teaching technology in the classroom.  ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education.  They are a nonprofit organization that provides resources, training and support that helps educators use technology to revolutionize learning. Their mission is to empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use.

ISTE offers a series of Hands-On Project Guides for use in the classroom.  Each guide contains information about AI and projects to do in the classroom.

I will highlight a different guide each week for the next 5 weeks.  I hope you find them useful and informative.  Next week we will take a look at Ethics and AI.

Diffit

If you work in any classroom, differentiating instruction can be a large part of your day.  There is a new generative AI program that can help you with this task, Diffit. 

Diffit lets you create differentiated resources from your exiting materials or from scratch.  You can use Diffit to relevel text, customize vocabulary, translate, and mero.

Sign up for you (currently) free account today.

MagicSchool AI

Another new school-based generative AI program you might want to check out is Magic School AI.

This tool is designed specifically for educators.  It has over 60 AI tools that can be used for things like composing professional  emails to leveling or ordering text.  

Check out Magic School AI to sign up for a (currently) free account.

SchoolAI

Generative AI programs have exploded in the last year. Some are for personal and professional use, some are for educational use. The generative AI program I would like to highlight this week is SchoolAI.

SchoolAI is an all-in-one AI platform for your classroom. It was specifically designed with K12 students in mind. It has built-in monitoring and controls designed to help teachers guide and support their students.

Check out this video from SchoolAI with information on how to get started.

More FigJam

Last week I shared the announcement that Jamboard will be sunsetting in 2024 and the recommended alternative is FigJam.  This week I would like to provide some training information for FigJam.  

If you are unfamiliar with Eric Curts, he is the creator of the blog ControlAltAchieve,  author of the book "Control Alt Achieve: Rebooting Your Classroom with Creative Google Projects", speaker, trainer, and a Technology Integration Specialist for SPARCC in North Canton, Ohio.

Eric has created a couple of great webinars on how to use FigJam that I want to share with you this week.

• FigJam for Schools: Intro Webinar
• FigJam for Schools: Advanced Webinar

FigJam also has a YouTube channel full of short videos on how to use some of the features of FigJam.

• FigJam for Teachers

FigJam, the Alternative to Jamboard

If you have not already heard, Google will be sunsetting Jamboard in 2024.  They have recommended FigJam as the alternative.  Like Jamboard, with FigJam you can brainstorm, align decisions, and collaborate —all in one place.

The following announcement and information has come directly from FigJam:

To make the transition as seamless as possible, FigJam has launched an importer that converts your Jams into FigJam files in seconds. Most importantly, all your Jamboard elements—including stickies, images, text and more—will still be fully editable in your new FigJam file so you can be up and running without losing a beat!

Here's how to get started:

Import your Jamboard files: Visit figma.com and click the “Import” button in the top right corner to start converting your Jamboards to FigJam files. To learn more, check out our importer tutorial or help center article.

Get started with FigJam: Find more ideas on how to use FigJam in your classroom with our tutorials and free template library.

Join a training: Meet the Figma for Education team during a free live training where you'll learn the basics, walk through classroom applications and ask any questions.

Formative

Although I usually provide tools or tricks more focused on student use and success, this one is great for teachers.

Formative is a tool that provides teachers with tools to engage, instruct, and assess their students. 

Just a few of the things you can do with Formative include transforming a PDF or Google Doc into an auto-graded quiz,  enhancing reading passages with questions, promoting higher-level thinking with advanced Math tools, and unleashing student creativity with the option of audio and video responses.

Check out Formative for yourself. 

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

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)

Postlight Reader

Postlight Reader is a Google Extension that allows you to remove webpage noise and clutter from an article to make it easier for students to read.  

          

Postlight Reader allows you to make minor changes to font style, size and light/dark background options.  

     

Not only is this extension great for students, teachers can also use it for clearing out the clutter on articles that need to be printed or shared with others.  

Keyboard Shortcuts for Chromebooks

Keyboard shortcuts make my life so much easier.  I love them.  

I found a great article that lists some great keyboard shortcuts for Chromebooks. 

Check out KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS FOR KIDS (https://www.coderkids.com/blog/keyboard-shortcuts-for-kids) from CoderKids. 

Remove.bg

Remove.bg (https://www.remove.bg/) is an easy way to remove the background from a picture. You could use this to make visuals for a classroom, or icons for an AAC device. It is very fast and no account needed.

Visual Recipes

Are you looking for a fun, end of the year activity to do with your students? 

Have you thought about cooking with your class? 

Everyone can create delicious food with picture recipes.  Picture recipes are great for all ages and abilities because they don't rely on reading abilities. 

Check out these great recipe options from Able2Learn: https://able2learn.com/categories/visual-recipes

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.

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.

Assignment Calculator

Are you looking for a way to help your students manage his/her time with a big writing project?

The University of Minnesota has created an Assignment Calculator (https://www.lib.umn.edu/services/ac) that helps break down large writing projects into manageable chunks. You can set a timeline for a research paper, speech or lab report.

The timeline provided is broken down into small, daily steps. The timeline of steps can even be added into your Google Calendar to help you stay on track.