2022 Year-in-Review

It's hard to believe that the year is coming to an end. If time flies when you are having fun, then I must have really been enjoying this year.

And I did!

This year was filled with wonderful experiences, time spent with family and friends, lots of travel, and many, many trainings, videos, and posts.

As a way to wrap up the year, I decided to pull together some of the stats and highlights from 2022 including:

✍️ Top Blog Posts

▶️ YouTube Views

🐦 Top Tweets

✈️ Travel Destinations

📰 Newsletter Growth

📧 Email Discussion Group

🎬 Bonus: Favorite Movies

These are not just numbers however. They are representations of people who have gone on this learning journey with me, folks who have connected in person or virtually, and ultimately educators and students who have been impacted and have impacted me.

Thanks so much for learning with me, and I am looking forward to learning more with you in 2023!

My ISTE 2023 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2023 ISTE Conference in Philadelphia this June 24th through 28th.

I always look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can attend ISTE in person this year, or take part as a virtual attendee. Registration opens January 10th. To get more details and register for the conference go to:

• conference.iste.org/2023/attend

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the ISTE Conference, along with any associated resources. I will continue to update this list with any changes and additions to my schedule.

Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

Podcast Spotlight: Stronger Together Experience

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on "Stronger Together Experience".

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of the podcast "Stronger Together Experience".

The podcast is hosted by Dr. Matthew X. Joseph and is described as follows:

We can gain new insights and share ideas and experiences to improve as educators by interacting with our colleagues. Being Stronger Together allows us to collaborate and support one another’s growth. Join me to share your story about collaboration and inspiration.

Recently Matt has been having people on who will be speaking at FETC in New Orleans coming up on January 23 through 26. I am thrilled to be a featured speaker for FETC, so it was great to chat about my upcoming sessions, and how to get the most out of the conference, but also the importance of taking risks in education and how we really are stronger together.

Take a look below to watch or listen to the episode, access the resources, and explore more of the podcast.

Excellent Extensions for Google Chrome

This post is Day 12 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

Google Chrome is a powerful web browser filled with loads of useful features and tools. Hopefully all of the other videos and blog posts in my series on Google Chrome have demonstrated this well.

However, as awesome as Chrome is, it may not do everything you need.

Thankfully Google allows you to make Chrome even better by installing Chrome web extensions. Extensions are tools from the Chrome Web Store that give extra features and abilities to Chrome. When you have them installed, you will find them as little icons in the top right corner of your browser.

In this blog post and video we are going to take a look at how to get extensions, how to manage your extensions, and my resource with over 150 recommended extensions for you and your students.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions.

Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts in Chrome

This post is Day 11 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

Although I use a Bluetooth mouse any chance I get, there are times when I am mouse-less. I might be on the go, or on a plane, or just somewhere that doesn't have enough room for that helpful input device.

In such situations I have learned to take advantage of keyboard shortcuts, and thankfully Google Chrome has a large amount of shortcuts we can use.

Some of these have proven to be so helpful, that even when I do have my mouse, I have found it easier to just use a quick key combination to get something done.

In this video we are going to look at some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts for Google Chrome. I am sure there are several that I am going to miss, so please let me know what your favorite shortcuts are and how you use them.

Note: For my video and blog post I used my Windows computer. Anywhere that you see me mention using the Ctrl key, you can swap that out for the Command key if you are on a Mac.

Using History in Google Chrome

This post is Day 10 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

On average a person visits over 130 web pages per day. That comes close to 50,000 web pages per year.

So what do you do when you want to get back to one of those 50,000 web pages, but you don't have it bookmarked, and you can't quite remember the web address?

Well thankfully Google Chrome has you covered. As you are browsing the web, Google Chrome keeps track of every site you visit in your own personal history. This can help us in at least four different ways including:

• Reopening a web page you accidentally closed out of
• Searching for a web page by keyword
• Searching for a web page by date
• Opening a web page that you accessed on a different device

See below for a tutorial video and written directions on how to do each one of these.

EdTech Links of the Week - 12-19-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

📅 Subscribe to the "Control Alt Achieve" calendar for livestreams: Calendar link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Managing Multiple Accounts in Google Chrome

This post is Day 9 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

It is very common for people to have more than one Google account.

• You may have a personal Google account, such as a Gmail address.
• But you may also have a Google account provided by your school or your employer.
• And you may even have more accounts if you help run a club or organization.

So how do you manage your different accounts in Google Chrome?

There are several options for accessing multiple accounts in Chrome, and we are going to take a look at three of them. The first two options are ok, but the third option is my favorite, and is my personal recommendation.

See below for a tutorial video and written directions for each of these options.

My 2023 KySTE Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2023 KySTE Spring Conference in Louisville, Kentucky on March 16, 2023. This is my first time at the KySTE Conference!

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more KySTE information and register for the conference at:

• www.kyste.org/Content2/conference

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at KySTE 2023, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

Incognito Mode in Google Chrome

This post is Day 8 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

It is great that Google Chrome syncs with your account to keep track of all of your synced passwords and browsing history and installed extensions and more.

But sometimes you don't want it to.

Sometimes you want to be able to use Chrome without it being tied to your account. To be anonymous. To have a blank slate. To be incognito.

Thankfully Google Chrome provides you with just that with "Incognito Mode" which is useful in a lot of different situations. Let's take a look at how incognito mode works, and several reasons for why you would use it.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions.

Reading List in Google Chrome

This post is Day 7 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

In some of my other posts in this series I talked about ways to manage your bookmarks in Chrome. Bookmarks are great for sites that you want to save permanently and access over and over again.

But what about sites that you might just need temporarily?

Many times when I am online I may come across an article that I want to read, or a website I want to explore, or a tool I want to test out, but I don't have the time right now to do so. I want to save the site for later, but I don't really want to add it as a bookmark.

What can I do?

Well thankfully Google Chrome has a helpful built-in tool called the "Reading List" that is perfect for this type of situation. Let's take a look at how this works.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions.

Bookmark Folders in Google Chrome

This post is Day 6 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

In a previous post we looked at one trick for managing your bookmarks, which was using bookmark icons. That is a great way to save space on the bookmark bar for your most commonly visited sites.

However, that probably won't solve all of your issues if you have dozens or hundreds of bookmarks.

Another helpful tip is to use bookmark folders. Let's take a look at how to create bookmark folders, how to add favorites to the folders, and how to search through all your bookmarks.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions.

EdTech Links of the Week - 12-12-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news

📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Icons and Emojis for Bookmarks in Chrome

This post is Day 5 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

Bookmarks are an excellent way to provide quick access to your most used websites. And that would be great if you only had ten favorite sites. However if you are anything like me, your bookmark collection is in the dozens, or perhaps hundreds of links.

So how do you manage your bookmarks when they no longer fit on the bookmarks bar?

Thankfully there are lots of tips and tricks to wrangling your bookmarks. One trick is to use bookmark icons.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions on how this works.

An AI Wrote this Blog Post

I have been fascinated with artificial intelligence for years, and the impact it is having and is going to have on all of our lives. I even do a keynote speech on it called "The Bionic Educator".

So I spent some time this evening investigating a new AI tool that has taken the Internet by storm this week. It is called ChatGPT from Open AI, and you can explore it yourself at:

https://chat.openai.com/

You can ask the AI pretty much anything and it produces impressive results. This can include:

• Explaining a concept
• Summarizing text
• Comparing and contrasting two things
• Giving directions for a task
• About 100 other tasks - see great example here
• And writing. Writing pretty much anything from poems to stories to 4-paragraph essay responses to, well, to a blog post.

So that's what I did. I had a chat with it and in a matter of minutes it wrote the blog post below on the topic of (appropriately) the benefits and potential challenges of AI in education. (The image for this post was also created by OpenAI's other tool DALL-E)

I am curious what you think of the result, and more importantly, what you think about the impact of AI on education. This is a topic I am going to continue to explore.

And the blog post below is just for demonstration purposes. I promise you that all of my other posts are really written by me and will continue to be. 

Of course, that's probably what an AI would say.

p.s. - For more details on ChatGPT, here is the video from my recent "EdTech Links of the Week" live stream where I demonstrated ChatGPT and talked about the possible users and benefits for education: YouTube link

Live Captions in Google Chrome

This post is Day 4 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

Captions are a powerful tool for all learners.

• They can help beginning readers to connect the spoken word with the written word.
• They can help language learners who are still learning the language.
• They can help when you are in a noisy or distracting environment.
• And they can simply help you catch things you may have missed otherwise.

I personally use captions for everything I watch and they have helped me tremendously.

Thankfully most audio and video now has captions as an option.

• YouTube has auto-generated captions
• Google Slides has Live Captions when presenting
• Google Meet has a caption option any user can turn on.

But what if you come across something that doesn't provide captions? Well Google Chrome has you covered with built-in Live Captions.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions on how this works.

Google Lens SUPER Image Search in Chrome

This post is Day 3 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

I am old enough to remember when the Internet was all text-based, so I am thrilled that it has been full of images for a long time now. As awesome as that is, online images can bring along some problems.

Some images may be deceptive, saying they are something different than they really are. This could come from Photoshopping the picture or simply claiming it represents something else.

Or some images could have text in them, but because it is a picture, the text can't be selected. This can be a challenge for a student who wants to have the text read aloud or translated into a different language.

Thankfully we have a tool built right into the Chrome web browser to help with all of these problems. That tool is Google Lens.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions on how this works.

Making QR Codes with Chrome

This post is Day 2 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

A QR Code (or "Quick Response" code) is a popular way to give someone a web link. By now we have probably all used our phones to scan one and pull up the menu in a restaurant.

However they are also useful in a school setting. Students can scan a QR Code with their phones or Chromebooks to quickly access a web link, whether it be to an online article or instructional slideshow or activity document or useful website.

Thankfully there are a lot of good options for creating QR Codes, but one of the easiest is built right into the Chrome browser.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions on how to create QR Codes right in your Chrome web browser.

EdTech Links of the Week - 12-5-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: bit.ly/curts-news

📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: twitter.com/ericcurts

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Pinning Tabs in Chrome

This post is Day 1 of my "12 Days of Chrome-mas" series where we are learning all about the Google Chrome browser including tips, tricks, lesser known features, and helpful ideas. You can access all of the posts in the series at: bit.ly/chromemas22

Two common issues with tabs in Google Chrome are:

• Having the tabs take up too much room when you have a lot of them open and
• Accidentally closing out of a tab that you meant to keep open

There are certainly several options for addressing these issues, but one simple approach is to pin a tab. Pinning a tab makes the tab much smaller, and it makes it impossible to close the tab if you do not mean to.

See below for a short tutorial video and written directions on how this works.

What's New in Google - November 2022

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from November 2022, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our November 2022 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

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 Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the November 2022 meeting:

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-28-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

8 Googley Wintertime Activities for Kids

As we get closer to the holiday break, it is expected and understandable that our students start getting a little distracted. They are looking forward to lots of days off, holiday celebrations, gifts, and more. Let's be honest … we may be a little distracted as well.

 
This is a time of year when we look for some fun activities to keep our students focused and active. But we don't just want busy work. If possible it is great to find projects that are fun, tie into wintertime themes, and still provide our students with a chance to be creative, write, or improve some content area skills.

To help out with that, I have put together eight wintertime-themed activities that use free Google tools, including Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drawings:

⛄ Activity #1 - Build a Snowman with Google Slides

🎄 Activity #2 - Decorate a Holiday Tree with Google Slides

🧲 Activity #3 - Wintertime Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings

📬 Activity #4 - Holiday Greeting Cards with Google Drawings

🎁 Activity #5 - "12 Days of Christmas" Guided Google Sheets Math Activity

🌟 Activity #6 - Pixel Art Ornaments with Google Sheets

❄️ Activity #7 - Wintertime Emoji Rebus Stories with Google Docs

💡 Activity #8 - Holiday Lights Writing with Google Docs

Some of these are projects I have shared in the past, while others are new twists on previous posts. Hopefully some of these will be a good match for your students to keep them busy AND learning as we head into the holidays.

The 12 Days of Chrome-mas 2022

With the holiday season here, I am excited to share some of my favorite tips and tricks for the Chrome web browser!

I will be doing this in a series of blog posts throughout the month of December that I am calling "The 12 Days of Chrome-Mas".

Each blog post will provide a tip or trick or lesser known feature or helpful idea related to Google's Chrome web browser.

See below for options on how to access each entry for "The 12 Days of Chrome-Mas".

Illustrating Stories with Canva's AI Text to Image Tool

Artificial Intelligence continues to develop at an astonishing pace. What seemed like science fiction a year ago, is science fact today.

One area in particular is text-to-image tools. What I mean by that are tools where you provide a text description, and then the AI creates a new image based off of your text. It doesn't just find an image similar to what you wrote. It makes a brand new image that never existed before!

So far we have seen this done with AI tools such as Dall-E 2 or Google's Imagen.

Now this amazing technology is available right inside of Canva. If you aren't already using Canva, it is totally free for schools, and lets you and your students create images, presentations, videos, infographics, websites, and so much more.

This sounds like a wonderful way for students to bring their writing to life with original illustrations to go along with their stories, poems, and more. So I decided to use Canva's new AI-powered "Text to Image" tool to illustrate a funny poem I wrote.

See below for a video demonstration of this, detailed directions, and of course my final illustrated poem.

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-21-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

New Google Sheets Timeline Creator

Creating a timeline is a great project for students. Timelines can be used to show historical events, or things that happened in the student's own life, or stages in scientific processes, or details about a character's journey in a book, and so much more.

Thankfully there are lots of excellent tools out there for creating timelines. Some good recommendations include:

• The timeline template from Flippity - www.flippity.net/Timeline.htm
• The "diagram" tool in Google Slides and Drawings which has a timeline template
• Timeline JS from Knight Lab - timeline.knightlab.com/
• The timeline template from Sutori - www.sutori.com/en/blog/timeline-template
• And many more!

Well now there is one more to add to that list. Google Sheets has now added an official timeline creation tool!

With this new feature it is super easy for students to create and share interactive timelines right in Google Sheets that include titles, descriptions, dates, links, colors, groups and more.

See below for a tutorial video on how to use this new timeline tool, as well as written directions. As always, I would love to see what your students create, and learn from you with new ideas on how this could be used.

Note: The timeline tool is available for anyone with a school account (or work account) but not for personal accounts. This is a new feature, so it is still rolling out for some schools. According to Google, the rollout schedule is:

• Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 2, 2022 
• Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 16, 2022 

Chromebooks Can Do That?!

Chromebooks have become a common tool in schools, but are you and your students getting the most out of them?

I recently had the opportunity to present a webinar where we took a deep dive into Chromebook features, some of which may be lesser-known. 

These features can encourage creativity, increase efficiency, ramp up engagement, and support teaching and learning in your classroom.

Some of the topics we explore in the session include:

📷 Camera tools

🎞️ Screen capture and recording

🖐 Touchpad gestures

🗂️ Multiple desks

📶 Offline access

⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts

🤖 Android apps

🔑 Accessibility tools

And more!

See below for the recorded webinar video and detailed session resources.

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-14-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

10 Chromebook Touchpad Tips and FREE Poster

Although I use a Bluetooth mouse any chance I get, there are times when I am mouse-less. I might be on the go, or on a plane, or just somewhere that doesn't have enough room for that helpful input device.

Thankfully Chromebooks have a wonderful built-in touchpad!

Chromebook touchpads are designed to replicate what a mouse can do, but they also go further with touch gestures that provide extra features for navigation and management.

Although my first choice may always be for a mouse, I am happy to say that the Chromebook touchpad is a more than capable replacement to keep me productive and efficient no matter where I am. This can be especially helpful for our students who may often be using Chromebooks without a mouse.

To help spread this helpful information I have created a full-color illustrated poster with 10 Chromebook touchpad tips. You can get the poster for free in multiple formats using the links below. I have also included details and animations for each of the touchpad gestures in this blog post.

Build a "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey with Google Slides

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is a great time for all of us to pause and think about what we are thankful for.

To help out with this I have created a Google Slides activity for your students. With this template your students will build a turkey where each of the feathers will display things that the student is thankful for.

Optionally the students can also use the Mote Chrome extension to record themselves explaining what they are thankful for, and adding that audio to their digital turkey.

See below to get your free copy of the "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey template, as well as a short video and detailed directions on how to use it.

My 2022 GaETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC 2022) in Atlanta, Georgia on November 2nd and 3rd, 2022.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more GaETC information at https://conference.gaetc.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at GaETC 2022, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-01-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Join the "Control Alt Achieve" Email Discussion Group

I am excited to announce the launch of the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group!

There are many ways that I communicate and share EdTech resources including this blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, my newsletter, and more.

However, a lot of that is one-way communication. Although that is an effective way to share out information, those methods are not always the best for discussions and connections and community.

To help with this I have create a Google Group to serve as a "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group. Anyone with an interest in educational technology is welcome to join.

See below for all the details and I am so excited to connect with and learn from you!

Free Webinar: Read and Write Can Do That?!

Read&Write for Google Chrome is an awesome extension that provides assistive technology tools and support for all users. Anyone who follows my blog or has attended my training sessions has heard me mention this tool many times, as it is one of my all time favorites.

However, most of the time when we talk about Read&Write, we just think about its text-to-speech feature. Certainly this is a powerful tool that will read text aloud from any webpage or Google file, in a voice and at a speed of your choosing, highlighting the words as it goes.

But there is so much more to Read&Write! 

I am excited to be offering a free live webinar where we will explore "the rest of the toolbar" and see so many other useful features and tools that can help every student succeed.

See below for details on this free upcoming live-streamed training session...

What's New in Google - October 2022

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from October 2022, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our October 2022 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

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 Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the October 2022 meeting:

Google Docs Calendar Templates for the 2023-2024 School Year

A couple years ago I created some Google Docs templates for a colleague who was looking for a simple one-page document to show important calendar dates for an entire school year. The templates were a big hit and many people found them to be helpful.

Although it still feels like the school year has just gotten started, I have received several emails lately from folks asking if I have made a version for next year ... the 2023-2024 school year.

So for all of you super organized people who are already planning for the next school year, I am happy to say, yes, I have versions for 2023-2024. See below for the links to get your own copies of these templates, as well as some basic directions on how to edit them for your own use.

EdTech Links of the Week - 10-25-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Creative Writing and Publishing Resources for You and Your Students

Around 20 years ago, my daughter and I used to do poetry nights where we would use a website (Watch Out for Snakes) that would randomly create titles for us by putting together adjectives and nouns. We would then challenge each other to write a poem based on one of the prompts, followed by reading our new creations.

Yes, I have always been a nerd.

Over the years, writing has continued to be a big part of our lives, and I have posted many poetry-related and creative writing tools and activities to my blog.

Likewise my daughter has continued to write including two children's books. In 2021 she released "Red the Raccoon Weathers the Storm" and now in 2022 she has just put out "This Book Is A Little Bit Cheesy".

To help encourage and support you and your students, see below for my resources on creative writing and poetry, as well as ideas for sharing and publishing writing from you and your students. Also as an example of using technology for writing and publishing, see the details on the wonderful new book from my daughter that's perfect for the cheese-loving kids in your classroom or family.

EdTech Links of the Week - 10-17-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Join me for the 2023 ITIP Ohio Google Summit

I am so excited and honored to be selected as the keynote presenter for the 2023 ITIP Ohio Google Summit!

This is the 13th annual conference and I have had the pleasure to attend, present, and learn with amazing educators every year it has been held. 

It will be a unique privilege to get to provide the keynote this year, along with many breakout sessions.

See below for all the details about this year's conference...

Supercharge Google Forms with Add-ons

Google Forms is already a very powerful, full-featured program that allows you to create forms, surveys, polls, quizzes, and more. 

However even with all its options, there may still be some features missing from the Forms that you would like.

Thankfully Google allows people to create Add-Ons that can be easily installed, which add new features and tools to Google Forms.

Over time the amount of available Add-ons has grown tremendously. So how do you wade through all of these to find the best ones and the hidden gems? 

To help out I have collected a list of my favorite Add-ons for Forms. Certainly this is not a comprehensive list, and there are other awesome Add-ons beyond my list, but these will give you a good place to start. Some of these Add-ons will likely be familiar to you, but hopefully you will find a few new ones or be encouraged to dig deeper into one you have tried before.

See below for my list of recommended Forms Add-ons, what they do, ideas for how they can be used in schools, and a quick overview of how to install, use, and remove Add-ons. And be sure to let me know which Add-ons you would recommend to add to the list. I would love to learn from you!

Free Webinars: Teach and Learn with Chrome

I am excited and honored to be facilitating a session in Google's "Teach and Learn with Chrome" series on behalf of Kiker Learning. The series runs through October and into November.

Google gives an overview of the series as such:

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We’ll have customers, Google experts and partners running demo-based training and presenting educational use cases in 45-minute sessions complete with Q&A.

You'll hear about how to drive impactful instruction with our latest features, Screencast and cast moderator, change management content for fleet updates - along with updates to programs, resources, and ChromeOS advances – all purpose-built for education.

• Time: 10-10:45am PT, 12-12:45pm CT, 1:00-1:45PM ET, various dates (schedule below)
• Dates: October 4 - November 3, 2022
• Audience:
• Tuesday Sessions - IT Leaders
• Wednesday Sessions - Instruction and Curriculum Leaders, Classroom Educators
• Thursday Sessions - District testimonials open to all!
• Can't join us live? If you're unable to watch live, register to watch on demand. We'll add the recordings right after the livestream finishes each day.

Attend a session and we’ll email you a customizable certificate of completion after the last session concludes.

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You can see the full schedule and register to get links to the sessions emailed to you prior to each event at the "Teach with Chrome Series" website at: 

• https://rsvp.withgoogle.com/events/teach-and-learn-with-chrome/home

See below for details on the session I will be facilitating.

My CenTex Educators Summit Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the CenTex Educators Summit in Waco, Texas on October 19, 2022.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can get more details about the conference and register for the CenTex Educators Summit here: Conference Website

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the CenTex Educators Summit, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links of the Week - 10-10-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Eye Chart Templates and Activities with Google Tools

In 1862 the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen developed an eye chart to help measure a person's vision, which we now call the Snellen Chart.

At some point you have certainly seen this tool, or in my case "tried" to see it, as I have always been significantly near-sighted.

One area of my life where I try to not be near-sighted is keeping an eye out for creative ideas on using technology in the classroom. Recently when learning more about the Snellen Chart, I thought that it could make for an interesting template for student learning activities.

See below to get your own copies of the eye chart templates I created for Google Slides and Google Drawings, along with a short tutorial video and written directions. Also check out some of the ideas I brainstormed for possible activities with this template. I would love to hear your ideas for other ways this could be used.

My New Mexico Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the New Mexico Digital Learning Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 15, 2022.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can get more details about the conference and register for the NMDLC 2022 at sites.google.com/aps.edu/nmdlc

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the NMDLC 2022, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

8 Google Classroom Mobile Features

Most Google-using educators already know that Google Classroom is a great tool for managing class assignments, collaboration, discussions and more. However, as much as you may think you know about Classroom, there are several awesome features for you and your students that you may not be aware of.

In addition to the normal web-based version of Classroom, there is also a Google Classroom mobile app. The Classroom mobile app can be used on phones (Android and iOS), tablets (Android and iOS), and on Chromebooks (with Android apps enabled).

Many times when we think of mobile app, we think of a simpler, watered-down version of the full program. However, that is not always the case, and certainly is not true for Classroom. In fact, there are several awesome tools and features that can only be accessed if you and your students are using the mobile version of Classroom.

These features include:

✍️ Digital handwriting

📸 Taking pictures

🎞️ Recording videos

📄 Scan Feature

✋ Student Selector

📶 Offline Access

🔔 Notifications

➡️ Content from other apps

To learn all of these powerful mobile features, see below for my recorded video training, detailed written directions, links, and other resources.  See how you and your students can take Classroom to the next level with mobile!

EdTech Links of the Week - 10-3-22

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter here: Newsletter link

🐦Follow me on Twitter here: Twitter link

🔗 Subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog here: RSS feed link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!