Control Alt Achieve: EdTech Links

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:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup
🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

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

This week I have 4 resources from around the Internet and 3 resources from my blog.

✂️ Long Story Short

Resource Link

I am always on the lookout for new games that can serve educational purposes. I recently got an email from the creator of "Long Story Short" which is a free daily word game that ELA teachers can use as a bell ringer.

Each day the game provides you with a new sentence, built from a real news story, such as:

"The old rusted harbour bridges were closed by weary anxious engineers today."

The students have five chances to decide how to reduce the sentence down to just five words that best carry the original meaning. As they make choices, the game gives feedback on correct words in the correct place, correct words in the wrong place, and incorrect words. And best of all it is free with no ads, or accounts needed, or user data collected.

I had a blast with the game, and think it could be a fun way to reinforce main idea and editing.

📛 Google AI Badgeathon

Resource Link

Looking for a great free day of virtual PD to kick off the new school year? Google is hosting their "AI Educator Series Badgeathon: Day of AI Learning" and here are the details:

Date: September 19, 2026
Time: 9:00am-7:00pm ET
A fast-paced, drop-in learning festival designed for your busy schedule.
Pop in for a 30-minute power session or stack a few together to level up your AI skills on your own terms.
Every 30-minute block packs a punch.
Lightning Talk: Real-world AI inspiration and classroom use cases from fellow educators.
Live Badging: Follow step-by-step guided demos, get real-time chat support from Googlers, pass the check-in, and walk away with official digital badges earned live on the spot.

And there is a rumor that I might be presenting one of the sessions! Register at the link above. I hope to learn with you!

🤟 SignUp - Sign Language for Netflix & Disney+

Resource Link

SignUp is a free Google Chrome Extension that provides sign language interpretation on movies and TV shows on streaming platforms, including Disney+ and Netflix.

Simply install the extension and give it a click to get started.
Now you can browse and filter the movies that they currently have sign language captions for.
Choose a movie to watch and the sign language interpreter will appear in a floating, resizable window providing signed captions synced to the movie.
The captions are not AI-generated, but instead have been recorded by real sign language interpreters.
They currently have sign language captions for over 300 titles, but they are adding more all the time and you can fill out a form to request specific titles.
For more details see their site linked above and watch their short 2-minute tutorial video.

🎓 Join my Gemini for Schools Online Course

Resource Link

I am excited to be offering a 4-week online course on Gemini for schools starting this September in partnership with EdTechTeacher.

📅 Tuesdays, 4-5pm Eastern Time (Starting September 15th, 2026)
💎 For teachers, coaches, and tech integrationists in Google Workspace for Education schools who want to get real classroom value out of Gemini and Gems.
✅ Get more details and registration information at the link above

💻 New PD Session - AI Prompts for Language Arts

Resource Link

Recently I added a new session that covers AI prompts for language arts. See below for all the details and session resources, and feel free to use these resources any way you need:

Description: In this session we will explore practical AI prompts specific for literacy, reading, writing and language to see how they can be used for teaching and learning. Prompts we will try out may include Decodable Texts, Discussion Prompts, Poem Writing Coach, RAFT Writing Prompts, Reader's Theater, Reading Level Analyzer, Story Co-Writer, Text-dependent Questions, Text Rewriter, Vocabulary List, Vocabulary Tiers and more.
Resource Doc - bit.ly/curts-elaprompts
Slideshow - View Slides - Copy Slides

🚨 Recorded BenQ Session - AI Games, Interviews & Activities for Student Learning

Resource Link

This year at ISTE26 I had the privilege to present a session at the BenQ Education booth where we explored using AI as an interactive partner for games, interviews, and activities for student learning. These can be done with any grade level or subject, either as whole-class activities where the teacher manages the AI but the students still participate, or with students individually interacting with the AI for their own learning experiences.

To learn all about using AI for engaging student learning activities, click the link above to watch the recorded 30-minute session and to access the resources from the session.

🛟 TeachAid

Resource Link

Two ways to walk into Day 1:

Without TeachAid: Re-using last year's slides because there wasn't time to redo them. Worksheets pulled from five different sites. IEP supports built on the fly during prep. Sunday-night dread by Week 2.
With TeachAid: Complete units already built — lesson plans, slides, activities, assessments, and embedded IEP supports — tailored to your subject, grade, and community. A built-in AI tutor giving your students adaptive feedback while you work with the kids who need you most. Up to 80% of your planning time back. A first week that actually feels like teaching.

TeachAid is the world's only end-to-end, all-in-one AI curriculum solution built for K–12 teachers and schools — co-developed with classroom educators, not just for them.

Start a free pilot: No commitment, no credit card, set up before your first staff meeting. Reclaim your fall at teachaid.ca.