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!