If you are using a Google Form and would like notifications to be sent to you when a certain number of people have filled out your Form - try using the Add-on Form Notifications.
You can select the e-mail you would like the notification to be sent to as well as the frequency of the messages.
Please watch the 42 second embedded YouTube video I created below on how to use this awesome Add-on.
I was just asked today how to embed a YouTube video in to PowerPoint.
Here are the steps followed by a video below.
1. Under the YouTube video select Share
2. Select embed and copy the code
3. Go in to your PowerPoint
4. Select Insert
5. Select Video and then online video
6. Paste your code in the embed video and select the arrow
7. To make sure it works - play the PowerPoint
My daughter Sydney came home talking about this site called Abcya.com
Abcya offers online games from pre-k to 5th grade sorted by grade level. Games include areas such as math, language arts, social studies, and introduces computer skills in a fun game type atmosphere.
Below you will see a short video my daughter and I created.
Scholastic's Daily Starter website is a great way to start the day. The site provides short and fun math and language arts prompts, as well as teachable moments and fun facts.
Take a look at a sample of what the site looks like.
If you have items in your classroom (iPads, Chromebooks, etc) that you want to keep track of who has what - try using Google forms and an add-on called checkitout.
Below you will see a little over 2 minute video on how to create it.
If you would like an easy way to keep track of the books that are signed out and returnee in you classroom - try using a Google form.
Click here for a direct link to copy a form I have created. It will ask you to make a copy of the form and will be placed directly in your Google Drive.
Below you will see a 1 minute and 23 second video of what the Form looks like. If you are interested in how the form was created, watch the 2nd video.
How to create a Google form for creating a sign out and sign in form. The sound goes in and out a few times - sorry about that.
Good news - there's a way to make one permanently, but I don't think you will. Ok, maybe I'm way wrong - but check this out....
1. You know the little magnifying glass that is where the Caps lock button should be? Click on it. What do you see? That's right - a Google Search button comes up without opening up a new tab - pretty awesome right?
2. Ok, Brad - that's cool - but how do I make a Caps lock button? All you need to do is click on ctrl and the search and it will automatically get you CAPS lock. To disable - just click ctrl search again.
Are you old school and just want the Caps lock to be where the Caps lock should be? No worries - go into: SETTINGS (bottom right of screen) and look under the device settings. You will see Keyboard Settings - click on that.
Earlier this week Google announced improvements to their voice typing. These improvements include inserting links, adding comments, creating and editing tables, as well as highlighting text, stop and start voice typing, as well as edit your document. For the full list of commands (there are a lot) - please click here.
Wow - what a great site Richard Byrne discussed on his blog today.
The topic discussed was the ability of a site, Jellymetrics, to determine the readability level of an article. You could post a doc, an article you found on-line, or any number of things.
Take a look at the embedded GIF below followed by a 55 second video below as to how easy it is to use. Hint - if you are going to look at a long article - it makes sense to shrink your screen to get as much as the article as you can. Or, you could copy and paste the long article by grabbing parts of it at a time.
When updating to iOS 10 a nice feature is the "Add Widgets" to keep you up-to-date on items you are interested in quickly. Some of the main items include your calendar, mail, music, photos, reminders, your fantasy football team, and news.
The news feature is one in which some of the items discussed may be borderline in an elementary setting.
If you would like to learn how to remove the widgets, or at least how to edit them to how you would like it - please watch the embedded 45 second YouTube video (with audio) below.
Many of us remember the pre-Google days with the Seinfeld episode dealing with the "Tip-Calculator" (see below). Jerry and his dad ended up buying a "Willard" tip calculator instead of a "Wizard" calculator for some members of the board at Del Boca Vista.
Well, it is 2016 and Google has had a tip-calculator ready for you to use on your device. Simply type in tip calculator and you have a section to fill in for the bill amount, tip %, and number of people.
See the embedded Gif below to see what it looks like.
Have a great day! Remember to take care of your wait staff!
Feel like a kid again when you buildwithchrome.com. You can use your phone, tablet, or laptop to build a creation and place it all over the world. You can even become a master bricklayer with Build Academy where you face a series of challenges in different locations.
Below is a GIF to give you a quick glimpse into what the site looks like.
If you created a Form that has worked great and you want to share it with your colleagues, but you are not sure how - please follow the embedded 1 minute 52 second YouTube video below.
If you have a Google account - it is worth your time to do a security checkup by clicking here or going on to Google and type in "Google Security Checkup".
The checkup will...
check on your recovery information (e-mail and phone)
check your connected devices - and let you know when they were connected
check your account permissions (apps, websites, and devices connected to your Google account)
check your 2-step verification settings (very important)
If you have updated to iOS 10 and would like to send a text to someone that includes fireworks, balloons, a shooting star, laser type effect, or different bubble effects - check out the 8 second GIF and 45 second YouTube video below.
If you would like to either change or set a specific page or pages upon startup using Chrome simply follow the directions below, follow the GIF below, or watch the embedded YouTube video with audio.
1. Select the 3 dots in the upper-right of your screen.
2. Select Settings
3. Open a specific page or set of pages
4. Add a new page
The app literacy leveler will enable you to level your books or find the correct reading level by scanning the code on the back of the book of choice. The app does cost $3.99. To me - I felt it was worth the money for the information it will provide me with for years to come.
Take a look below at the embedded GIF as well as a 29 second video on YouTube with audio.
A special shout-out to my awesome sister-in-law Erica Carroll for telling my wife about this amazing app!
Mystery Science's mission is to help children stay curious. The site provides ready-to go science lessons for elementary students (K-5). The site provides material lists and detailed directions for the activities. The lessons includes videos and images dealing with a particular subject. Once the video is complete there are questions students can work on their own or with some guidance. The lessons can be extended as well to help re-enforce the concepts taught in the lesson.
As of now a user can sign-up for a free year (only a little over 3,000 free memberships left as of this post). After the year is complete a subscription is required.
If you have been having issues with PDFs on Windows 10 - follow the GIF below. If you would rather listen to the same video with audio, click on the embedded YouTube video below.
in the District where I work a number of teachers have had issues with displaying PDFs. When they click on the certain site for the Math series - Microsoft Edge is launched and it will not display properly. A work around is to simply copy the URL and use Firefox or Chrome.
A way to make this a permanent switch is to simply follow these steps...
1. Right click on your desktop.
2. Select display settings
3. Select default apps
4. Select whatever browser is the default (probably Edge)
5. Change it to Firefox or Chrome
You can also watch the GIF below as well as the same YouTube video with audio below.
Happy October to all. A fun pumpkin activity that is done every year in classrooms and households is one that includes the weighing of pumpkins and counting pumpkin seeds.
The past few years in the school where I preciously taught 4th grade the classes all got together and we had a lesson dealing with estimation, mean, median, and mode.
Students would estimate the following: weight of the pumpkin in pounds, how many lines, circumference of the pumpkin, as well as the number of seeds.
Prior to the students estimating the weight we would number and weigh each pumpkin prior to the students estimating.
Last year all 4 classes entered their data into a Google sheet the data for each pumpkin. The great thing about a spreadsheet on Google is that you can all share the same sheet and enter the data in as you get it. The sheet has the formulas in it for you already. Click here for a copy of the sheet. Remember, if you are going to do this as a whole grade - make sure you are all using the same sheet.
Below is a GIF showing how what the sheet looks like when you enter the data followed by a short video on YouTube with audio.
