Aim to Be Awesome, Not Perfect

In my weekly newsletter, Tech Treats, I recently did a Google Slides Edition. Here are some of the great ideas I shared! Make videos  Google Slides now has Closed Captioning. It can now  provide a transcript as you narrate a slide deck. Screen-cast with your voice to create a video with closed captions! Check out the video explaining how to do it!  Create Graphics I use Google Slides to create graphics for our website and social media pages. Check out this example with instructions! Lesson Planner   Use Google Slides as a Lesson Planner. It’s a daily slide to share with students, an organizer for the whole year, or as one spot for all your ideas! Student Play of the Week   Use this Google Slides Template to highlight your class MVP’s! Check out this blog post from ShakeUpLearning for more information and ideas!

In my job, I am always looking for new ideas to share, whether it is a new activity or a new twist on an established one. Recently I got an email from Matt Miller at Ditch That Textbook with this idea -   an icon board for visual thinking.  I really got me thinking about how it could be used... and what other icon boards could be created. Since I am a former math teacher, that is where my mind heads - to math.  I started looking at the icons in the Insert Icons for Slides add-on, and sure enough, I found plenty that apply to math. So I started adding them, and thus creating my Math Icon Board My goal was to add icons that could be utilized in a variety of math and science classes. Obviously I do not have everything, partly because I couldn't find it or it didn't come to mind during my creation. When students use this, my suggestion is that they copy the icon (either by right-clicking and choosing copy OR hitting ctrl and C keys at the same time) and then...

I get asked a lot about any tips or tricks that I use to be productive in my role as an Instructional Technology Specialist. I made a list and tried to group them... but it was hard to categorize some - so those are the ones I included. I use tons of keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+Z (the undo shortcut) are some of my favorites, as is Ctrl+Shift+V (paste without formatting). My favorite is probably Ctrl+Shift+T, because I am constantly closing a tab and then realizing I need it again - and this opens it right back up! I have two extensions that I love and use all the time: Anyone can view by Alice Keeler  - makes my life so easy with the one-click change of sharing settings; and  Keep  - this is where I store all my to do lists and my 'for later' stuff My Favorites Bar - no (or very little) words Like it?  Here are instructions on how to do it. If you are in a GSuite school, learn how to use the c...