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 4 resources from my blog.

🍳 Recorded Webinar - Your Brain on AI: Moving from Crutch to Catalyst

Resource Link

I recently recorded a webinar about the dangers of overreliance on AI, and what we can do to help our students use AI in a way that actually enhances their thinking.

In this session we explored the 'Wrestle, Rap, Reflect' framework, a powerful, practical solution that keeps the human in the loop by requiring learners to engage their own brains before and after the AI interaction.

Students first wrestle with the content independently of AI, and then rap with the AI to enhance and extend their learning, and finally reflect on their use of AI to thoughtfully incorporate it.

To learn all about applying this framework, see the link above to watch my recorded 1-hour webinar and to access the resources from the session.

💎 New EduGems

Resource Link

Each week I try to add new Gems to my EduGems website. Since last newsletter the site has now reached 165 Gems! Below are the newest ones added to the site:

🔠 Multiple Perspectives - Help students explore diverse viewpoints by speaking with a dynamic panel of 5 tailored stakeholders and then synthesizing their own understanding
✍️ Writing Coach - Guide students through every stage of the writing process from initial brainstorming and outlining to drafting, elaborating, and final polishing
🧠 Retrieval Practice Generator - Design quick, low-stakes retrieval routines such as Spaced Warm-Ups, Challenge Grids, Guided Brain Dumps, or Rapid Flash Cues
🪜 Low Floor High Ceiling - Transform traditional, closed-ended, or one-size-fits-all classroom tasks into dynamic Low-Floor, High-Ceiling (LFHC) learning experiences
📖 Reading Comprehension Coach - Help students read and deeply understand challenging texts by acting as an encouraging, patient, and adaptive literacy mentor
⚙️ EduGem Customizer - Customize existing EduGems (or any AI prompts) to fit your specific classroom, students, or workflow needs

🎃 Halloween Themed Google Fonts

Resource Link

With Halloween almost here, these are 12 of my favorite fonts for the spooky season.
These fonts can be used by you and your students to add style, personality, and creativity to your Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, Sites, and more.
Check out my font selections in my blog post linked above.

📰 What's New in Google - September 2026

Resource Link

For an easy way to catch up on everything new in Google for Education from the last month, check out the recorded video, detailed agenda, and all the links from the GEG-Ohio September 2026 Meeting. We covered lots of new Google updates and helpful ideas and resources for schools.

✍️ Abstractle

Resource Link

I recently got an email from the creator of a new online daily game called Abstractle which I think could be an excellent way to engage students in writing. It is sort of a twist on the old Taboo game. Here is how it works:

Each day there is a new target word, such as lighthouse or lullaby or homesickness, and a few taboo words that can't be used.
Your job is to write a short line to evoke the target word without simply describing it.
The game then evaluates how "Accurate" the line is (did it guess your target?) and how "Poetic" the line is (did you evoke it instead of explaining it?) to get your score.
You get 3 tries to achieve the best score you can.

I love how the game makes the player really engage both their logical and creative writing skills. And best of all it is completely free and does not require an account.

✅ Doc to Form Quiz Maker

Resource Link

Without exaggeration, one of the most common questions I get asked in PD sessions is if there is an easy way to create a Google Form quiz from an existing Google Doc. I think many people are using AI to help generate quiz questions, but then unsure of how to easily turn them into a live interactive Google Forms quiz.

Recently I was chatting with the creator of a completely free add-on called "Doc to Form Quiz Maker". I tested out the add-on myself and it was super easy to use and very quickly converted my Google Doc quiz questions into a Form quiz.

Here are some key details:

Completely free for all users, with no daily or monthly limits
Unlimited quizzes, with any number of questions
Already used by 200K+ educators
Install from the Google Workspace Marketplace
Step-by-step guide at https://teachos.io/doc_to_form/

🕵️ SynthID Detector

Resource Link

The old saying used to be "Pics or it didn't happen!" However since the rise of generative AI, it is becoming impossible to be sure if an image is real or created by AI.

To help with this, Google has been putting a "digital watermark" on every image, audio clip, and video clip that Gemini has been creating for the past couple of years with a technology called SynthID. And the good news is you can now use Google's SynthID Detector to check to see if an image is AI or not.

Simply go to the website at https://synthid.com/ and upload a suspect image and the tool will tell you if SynthID was detected. At the moment the technology works with media created by Google, OpenAI (ChatGPT), NVIDIA, and (soon) Apple.

🌟 WriteOn!

Resource Link

How Mater Academy TRIPLED the Students Scoring Above Standard in Writing

Last year, principal Gia Maraccini saw that only 1 in 8 of her fourth graders were scoring above the standard for writing on the SBAC. So she tried something new.

A year later, nearly half of the same class aced it.

No other class showed this level of improvement. The difference? They used WriteOn! 🌟

WriteOn works by breaking down the writing process into achievable steps, while giving helpful feedback as they write. But it’s different from other AI tutors you’ve seen:

It asks thoughtful questions instead of doing the writing for students.
It proactively teaches the writing process instead of waiting to be asked.
It gives one piece of advice at a time instead of overwhelming them with a long list.
It celebrates progress with stars instead of focusing only on what’s wrong.
It lets teachers know when kids are stuck instead of relying solely on AI for intervention.

Get 60 days of unlimited use for free, with no credit card required. Start your trial, or try the student demo first with no signup.