Interactive Clock Face with Google Drawings

Google Drawings is a fantastic tool for many tasks (diagrams, graphic organizers, infographics) but is also a great option for making digital manipulatives. For example in an earlier post I shared a bunch of ways Drawings can be used in math for interactive learning (see here: http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/06/math-google-drawings.html)

Recently I decided to see how Google Drawings could help with another math topic: telling time. This is a Common Core Math standard for grades 1, 2, and 3:

• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.B.3 - Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.7 - Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.A.1 - Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes, e.g., by representing the problem on a number line diagram.

To address this I created a Google Drawing template with an analog clock face and two rotatable clock hands. See below for a link to get your own copy of the interactive clock template, as well as directions for using it.

Four Fantastic Feedback Tools for Google Docs

In the past when a student turned in the paper copy of their essay, story, report, or project, it was common for their teacher to pull out a red pen to provide handwritten feedback on the pages of the student's work. Feedback is a critical part of the learning process, providing helpful information on strengths, weaknesses, and guidance for improvement.

Now with tools such as Google Docs and Classroom, it is easy for students to create and submit their work digitally. So how does a teacher leave feedback on an electronic document? As we move from paper and pencil to Docs and digital, we need options for providing feedback that is valuable to the student, but not cumbersome and unnatural for the teacher to create.

Thankfully there are many excellent options for creating teacher feedback for digital work. In this post we are going to take a look at four specific options. These include tools for:

• Text feedback
• Voice feedback
• Video feedback
• Handwritten feedback

See below for details on each of these options, as well as a slideshow and one-hour training video where each method is demonstrated.

20 YouTube Channels for Social Studies

YouTube is a fantastic resource for schools to teach content and for students to learn content. For pretty much any topic you can think of, someone has made a video explaining it (which I greatly appreciate when I have had to replace parts in my clothes dryer three times in the last few years).

The same thing is true for social studies. YouTube hosts thousands of educational videos on history, politics, geography, and more. Some are created by talented teachers sharing their classroom creations with the world, while others are made by companies, museums, and more.

Recently I had the chance to curate a list of YouTube channels for a social studies inservice I was leading. Below are 20 of the channels I found that are worth checking out for your classroom if you teach social studies. I am sure there are many more channels beyond what I have listed, so I would love to hear about others. Please use the comments section at the bottom to share links to your favorite YouTube channel or playlist for social studies.

Watch the Video from the September 2016 Google User Meeting

Catch up on everything new in Google Apps over the last month, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our September 2016 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with links to all the resources and over 25 Google Apps updates from the last month.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

For those who cannot attend in person, the meetings are broadcast live using a Google Hangout. Users can join the Google Hangout remotely to participate in the meeting, or can simply watch the live stream. The video from the meetings is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live.

See below to view the recorded video from the September 2016 meeting: