Leadership in your classroom - Try a bookstudy

Happy Holidays from the Tech Guys at Region 9

Here is a great fireside holiday activity to get prepared for coming back to school in the New Year.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do my students have easy access to technology in my classroom?
2. Would I like to engage my students with some reflective activity after they read?
3. Would I like for my students to learn about peer review?

If the answer to any of these questions are yes.  You should try using a blog to fill the void with a blog.  You can access blogger on your school email account.

Here is an outline to build and create your blog:

• Instructions to create a Blog
  • Rubik's cube
  • Choose more - possibly “even more from Google”
  • Find blogger and select
  • Then select New Blog
  • Give it a Title - use the following format
  • BD Class Blog    (initials and Class Blog)
  • Give it an address (URL) - use the same as the Name-no spaces allowed
  • Example: BDClassBlog
  • Blog will become available at the address listed
  • Select Simple for the Theme
  • Click on “Create Blog”
  • A pop-up screen will appear. Click no thanks! You don’t have a need to purchase an actual domain name
  • Do Not Skip This Step!
  • From the initial blog page, you will see an orange pencil. To the right of it, click the drop down screen. Select settings (the last entry)
  • On the left hand side of the screen you will see a wrench that says settings. Below that, click Posts, comments and sharing.
  • In the center of the screen, you will see “Who can comment.”
  • Select user with Google Accounts (this would allow you to invite other students from different schools if you wish)
  • Under Comment moderation be sure to select ALWAYS--enter your email address. This makes sure that you have viewed every comment prior to the class seeing it.
  • Click on New Post (upper left)
  
  
  • Give your post a title: Book Study Chapter 1
  • Now begin your post: Example In The Grapes of Wrath Chapter 1…..
  • Format is similar to Google Docs and Microsoft Word (you can add videos, pictures, select fonts, links, etc.)
  • When your post is done, click Publish
  • Options are: save, preview, discuss
  Have a great Holiday and Happy New Year:   Bryan, Stacy, Robert, Thomas, Patrick

Google Quiz & Zaption - Turn Passive Videos into Interactive Lessons

Google Forms now supports quiz mode and grading within the form.  We have had Flubaroo for this task, but not Google Forms supports grading Multiple Choice style questions with no add ons.. if you want to use short answer or paragraph you will still want to use Flubaroo, but this is quick and easy for multiple choice.  Create your questions - select the gear box settings and choose quiz.  On each question you click the 3 dots on the bottom right and set the correct answer and scoring options.  You're done, now just give the assessment and it will grade it right away.
Deeper instructions here:  Quiz how to grade

Teach with Pizazz!
Turn ordinary video lessons from a "watch and learn" to a watch / interact / engage / learn.
Try a free account at this new exciting tool.  Easy to use and easy to deploy.
Set up your free account now:  https://www.zaption.com/k12




Tip for sharing google docs:  You can set a time to live on a document you share with another user.  • New feature of Sharing in google docs.   click on share - click on advanced - hover over the user name that you want to share with and a stopwatch will appear - set the expiration date on the share of that document to that individual user.

Enjoy the site and the tip!

Convert YouTube to MP3!!!

Convert YouTube to MP3

Have you ever wanted to save a YouTube music video for future use? Well now you can! All you have to do is go to the website that follows (http://www.youtube-mp3.org/) and copy the URL from the YouTube video you would like to convert and paste it into the conversion box as seen below, then click "Convert Video" and you have just converted a YouTube format video to MP3 format.

Copy URL 

Paste URL in box shown above

After the video is converted you will be given the option to download the MP3 to your computer and you are on your way to have access to almost any song that YouTube has to offer.

The couple exceptions are that some videos are copyright protected and will not convert, and the video cannot be longer than 20 minuets.

Hope  you all can put this to use and enjoy having access to all the songs you want!!!

Rocketbook Wave

Have you ever wished that someone would invent a cloud connected microwavable notebook?  Me too!  Who wouldn’t want one of these!

Actually, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.  

Several months ago, I heard about the Rocketbook Wave from a family member that had seen or heard about it while working on a project for Google -- lots of nerds in my family.  He explained that with this ordinary looking paper notebook, you write or draw in it as usual, and then with the associated app, you can upload scans of the pages to the cloud. Okay, that sounds pretty cool. So what.  Then he explained that when the notebook is full, you stick it in the microwave with a cup of water, and everything is erased! You can use the notebook over and over again!  What!  I was intrigued.  

I immediately went online and found the notebook on Kickstarter.  I ordered a couple and finally received them last week.  They work just as promised.  Watch this following video to see the Rocketbook Wave in action.