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.
I think many of us have been asked by our kids or students if they can watch a certain TV show or movie. Many times, at least in my experience is, "Ummmm.... let me think about that." Then we Google it to see what they are talking about. Many times a search on Google would come up with either an IMDB page or a Wikipedia page and now we know more, but still may have some questions.
If you give Commonsensemedia a try it will immediately let you know the age appropriateness. If you then select the title it will further break down the show into What parents need to know, User reviews, What's the Story, Is it any good, and What Families can Talk About. An example of the "BFG" is below.
I have just started to use this site personally and really like the fact that they have an app available (free). Click here for the App Store and click here for Google Play.
We all would have been saying, "Happy July 2nd" and enjoyed picnics and fireworks 2 days ago if Ben Franklin had his way. Of course we would also have a turkey as our national symbol, but that is for another day.
I hope you all have a great day. When I taught the American Revolution I would always ask my students to take 2 minutes on July 4th to think about those that came before us. This post will give you a little bit of info to pass on to others. Plus, if you are into American History at all - Turn: Washington's Spies(ages 15+ according to Common Sense Media) is a great show on AMC. The first two seasons are on Netflix. It is great - check it out!
So today my wife, kids, and I went to my daughter's school to play on the playground. We played around for awhile and then found that they had a Chutes and Ladders type game drawn on their playground. The only problem - we did not have any dice! So, I took out my phone and found Random Number Generator. It worked perfectly!
The only thing I had to do was change the Max to 6 and then click on generate. What a great find and could be so useful for many situations in school and out of school.
Xtramath is a free* online math fact fluency program that helps students master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These basic facts are essential as they are the basic building blocks for higher-level math. Their goal is to to develop effective, efficient, adaptive, and intrinsically rewarding supplemental math activities. *A paid app ($4.99) does exist on the App Store. However, users have access easily on the iPad or iPhone using Safari. My daughter does use the app and it is pretty easy to use on the iPad.
Xtramath does not have to be just used by teachers at school, it can be used by parents with their child(ren) at home. It takes only a few minutes each day (typically 5 minutes) to work on a session.
When a user logs on they will see the image below. On the left-hand side you will see links to videos dealing with an overview of the site, about the student activities, the progress reports, get-started for parents, get started for teachers, and xtramath in the classroom.
If you have any questions about the site, I recommend you either click here, or select the Help section on the Home screen. In the screenshot below you will see FAQs. Each question has a whole section to assist you.
When a user logs on they will be greeted by Mr. C (man above) welcoming them to the site and to answer the questions they are asked as accurately and quickly as they can. But to remember that they should not go too quickly.
The questions start out on the easier end and get a bit more difficult. The great thing about the site is it basically adjusts to the user. If it notices that the user is struggling with certain facts, it will make the questions easier and then progress from there. I personally think that it what makes Xtramath so spectacular. It is a teaching and learning tool. It does not just throw random facts at the user.
When the user has completed their session they will then be asked to work on their first progress quiz. This quiz is the one that really counts for the user's percentile on their chart. You will see a smiley face (question was answered correctly in under the amount of time), a check (answered under 10 seconds but not fast enough to be under the allowed time, a time clock (took too long to answer +10 seconds, and a red X - (incorrect). See below my 6 year old daughter's report from back in February.
When you are looking at your child or student's progress, you will see a calendar that will look to the one you see below along with a description of what each color means.
One last point to make about this site that I really think is amazing is that they allow the teacher or parent to adjust the time the child has to answer the question. The program starts everyone at 3 seconds, but it can be adjusted up or down. This feature really helped my six year old daughter with her addition facts as 3 seconds was too fast, but 6 seconds was just right. It can then be adjusted again after they have mastered that particular time. You can see the programs below.
Students really loved their certificate that they earn when they complete either addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. Below is an example for you to see.
If you have any questions at all, remember to try the help section. It is a valuable tool!
If you would like to watch an instructional 4 minute video I created for the parents of my 4th grade students last year - watch the video embedded below.
That's all you need to do. Just hold down the smaller "sun" to make the Chromebook dimmer and hold down the larger "sun" to make the screen brighter.
Couple that shortcut with a blogpost I had earlier about posting it on a Sticky Note - see below.
If you use post-it notes - this app is a great one for your computer - Sticky Notes. It will even allow you to store them on your desktop - when Chrome isn't even active. You can have multiple notes posted all over your desktop (and can change the color).
Just received an e-mail from Google stating that the popular "Google Expeditions" was made available for all this past Monday. While the app is available today for Android it will be available for iPhones and iPads soon.
What is a Google Expedition? Basically it is a way for students/users to travel the world in 3-D. The Expeditions Pioneer Program came to the district where I teach this past February and took students to Mount Rushmore, the Savanah, Greece, England, as well as coral reefs and Mars! The students could not stop talking about "cool" it was to actually see what they were learning about.
You can pre-order Expedition Kits through Best Buy in time for back to school.
For a more in-depth look at what a Google Expedition is - click here.
