Student Reading Log Template with Google Sheets

Reading for pleasure produces great benefits for students. These can include increases in reading ability, writing ability, comprehension, grammar skills, vocabulary, self-confidence, general knowledge, cultural understanding, decision-making abilities, empathy, social skills, imagination, motivation, positive friendships, and more.

Studies also show that reading for fun is a preferred alternative to traditional homework, especially for elementary students.

It makes sense then that we should find ways to support and encourage students to read. One way to do this is by having the students set reading goals and then track their reading in a log to help reach those goals.

Traditionally a reading log is a piece of paper that students bring home for the summer, or for the course of the school year, to fill in their progress. Unfortunately papers can easily get lost or damaged, and do not give any cumulative feedback on their own.

One way to improve the old reading log is to convert it into a digital format. To help with this, I have created a free Google Sheets template for a reading log. It lets the student set goals and record their reading, and also calculates and displays their progress toward the goals, while making the form easy to share and view by parents and teachers as well.

See below to get your own copy of the Reading Log template, directions for how it works, and suggestions for how to implement this with your students.

20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know

Google strives to make their search as useful as possible, bringing back the most appropriate results for the terms you entered. Sometimes though Google goes above and beyond the normal list of search results by providing instant search cards at the top of the page.

These cards contain the information you searched for, but often also include interactive controls to let you dig deeper, branch off, or experience the information in a more engaging manner. As students learn to become better at searching and researching, many of the instant search cards can be useful to them in a variety of their school subjects.

See below for 20 examples of instant searches students can do, the interactive results they get, and ideas for how these could be used to improve learning in school.

My 2016 Ohio Google Summit Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2016 Ohio Google Summit in Columbus this May 16th and 17th. 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.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at the 2016 Ohio Google 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!

Coffee with a Geek Interview

Recently I had the privilege to be interviewed by Andrew Wheelock for his site “Coffee with a Geek”. Andrew is a technology integrator in New York who, among many other things, conducts 30 minute interviews with a wide variety of people involved in educational technology.

By my count he has done over one hundred such interviews with awesome people including Alice Keeler, Kasey Bell, Vicki Davis, and my Ohio friends Katie Ritter and Amy Hollingsworth. The interviews are a great way to get to know these edtech innovators better, be inspired by their vision, and take away ideas to use in your own school and professional life.

See below for how to access all of the “Coffee with a Geek” episodes, as well as see the recorded video from when Andrew interviewed me to get a chance to learn a little more about me and my educational technology views and initiatives.

5 Fantastic Fluency Tools for Speaking World Languages

Back when I was in high school (let’s not mention how long ago) I took four years of French. I felt I was reasonably proficient in the language, being able to read, write, and speak in French. Of course you would think I should be after four years.

Well, it turns out much of my success was due to the fact I was only communicating with other classmates in my small farm town. This became painfully clear to me when as a Senior I went on the French Club trip to Canada. When I actually came face to face with people who spoke French fast and fluently, my “C’est la vie” became “Say the what?” I quickly realized that I had a lot of head knowledge but greatly lacked practical fluency.

Thankfully one of the great powers of technology is breaking down the barriers between people regardless of language or distance. One way to help achieve this is by using technology tools to develop, practice, and improve our students' spoken fluency in a world language.

See the rest of the post below to learn about five fantastic Google tools, features, and extensions to help with improving your students' world language fluency.

10 Terrific Tools for Teachers

National Teacher Appreciation Day is celebrated on Tuesday of the First Full Week in May (for 2016 it is May 3rd). In honor of the day and all the awesome things educators do, this blog post highlights ten Google-related tools to makes the lives of teachers better.

These tools include Chrome Web Apps, Chrome Web Extensions, and Add-ons for Google Drive programs. Some may help save time, or do work for you, or provide you with new and useful ways to accomplish your normal teaching tasks. Some of these tool may also be helpful for students, but we will focus on their application for educators.

You may already be aware of some of these tools, but hopefully you will find a few that are new, or be encouraged to try out one you have heard of before.

So see below for a list of 10 terrific tools for teachers, along with ideas and suggestions for how they can be used in schools to make life easier, more efficient, or more effective. And to all the teachers... thank you so much for everything you do to impact the lives of children!

Using Google Maps Bike Directions to Teach Math and Social Studies

National Bike to School Day is celebrated in May each year as part of May being recognized as National Bike Month. Many schools around the country celebrate the day with a focus on bike safety and encouraging students to ride their bikes to school that day.

Technology can be integrated into Bike to School Day by incorporating Google Maps. In addition to driving directions, Google Maps also provides directions and details for different modes of transportation including walking, riding a bus, or riding a bike.

See the rest of the blog post below to learn how to use this feature, as well as other ideas for how this can address curriculum topics in math and social studies.