Tuesday Tips November 30, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Pet Portraits from Great Works of Art

The Google Arts and Culture app has added a fun new feature where you can upload a picture of your pet and it will match it to an animal in a great work of art.  

Here is what my dog Bridget matched up to (yes, she has three legs).  Love to see what art your pets match up with.

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BOOK TIP:  Time's 100 Best Books of 2021

If you are looking for book gift ideas, Time's 100 Best Books of 2021 is a good list to review.  Or to see if you've read any of these.  I've read 6 of them, have you read any?

Tuesday Tips December 14, 2021

 Two things to end 2021 with that will lift your spirits and warm your heart.  The first is Google's annual video round-up of the top searches of the year.  And what a year, no wonder we are all stressed.  

And guaranteed to make you smile are the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards from Smithsonian magazine.  This one, titled Tree Hugger, is how I feel on Monday:

And this one, part of a series called The Joy of a Mud Bath, is me running to the parking lot on Friday lol!

Be sure to check out the full collection, they're great.  

Tuesday Tips November 23, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Turn a picture of writing into text (or translate it!) using Live Text

As part of the iOS 15 update on iPhones, you can now take a picture of writing, copy it, and turn it into text!  First, go into your camera's settings and turn on Detected Text.

Then take a picture of some writing (can be typed or handwritten), and then click on the indicator icon in the lower right corner (it will show up in your camera screen).

You can then select the text you want and copy it into a document.  With handwriting, it's not perfect, you will need to make some edits.  

BONUS:  When you select text, you can also translate it into several different languages!

BOOK TIP:  Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

  A student took this book out as part of a book talk for their English class, and read it one night.  One of the authors, Yusef Salaam, is one of the Central Park Five and has now devoted his life to prison reform and fighting against wrongful imprisonment.  This is a fictionalized account of his story told powerfully through verse.

Tuesday Tips, November 9, 2021

 TECH TIP:  New Citations Feature in Google Docs

I worked with Tara Birkett's 9th grade classes this week on creating their Works Cited pages.  We used the new Google Citations feature that is built into Google Docs.  You can find it under Tools -> Citations.  It makes the process so smooth, even students said, "That's it?  That was so easy!".  I'd love to show your classes how to do this, too. 

BOOK TIP:  All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

A powerful memoir of a young queer Black man told through a series of essays about his childhood, his family, and the triumph and trauma of his coming of age.  It is a story for those looking to be allies and understanding, and a support to those also dealing with these issues at a personal level.

Tuesday Tips, October 25, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Great Wall of China Interactive 

Google Arts and Culture is a great resource for interactives, games and amazing visuals for world museums, historical events, people and major landmarks.  The newest installation is about the Great Wall of China, and has a great 360 "street view" tour of the Wall.  If you've ever dreamed of going there, now is your chance!

BOOK TIP:  New York Times Best Book of the Last 125 Years

  The New York Times Book Review is turning 125.  They want your opinion on what the best book of the last 125 years is.  Fill out this survey with your vote for the best book.  

Tuesday Tips October 18, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Setting Up Your Google Meet or Zoom Link

For Parents Conferences, you can select which format you would like to use:  Google Meet or Zoom.  On Wednesday, during the afternoon PD, Tom and I will be going over how to use youcanbookme.com to set up your ten minute slots.  

Prior to that, you will need to have set up your Google Meet or Zoom link.  This video will show you how to do that:

Creating Google Meet or Zoom Link in Calendar Author: Kara Staunton-Shron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mywmh3bUa2Q

BOOK TIP:  Graphic Novel Section

  The graphic novel section has moved to right as you walk into the library from the H wing side.  The collection has expanded and these are the most circulated items in the library right now! There are some great ways to use these in classes as well.   Students could read ones or make their own for a project.  

Tuesday Tips, October 12, 2021

 TECH TIP: Turnitin: Plagiarism Detector and Feedback Studio

  A reminder that you all have access to Turnitin for your classes.  Turnitin is a plagiarism detector and it also has a full suite of tools called Feedback Studio, which gives students suggestions on grammatical errors.  

These tools together can be a great part of the revision process.  Turnitin can be fully integrated with a Canvas assignment or as a separate individual assignment.  See me with help in setting up assignments through Turnitin.

BOOK TIP:  A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

  It seems like this would be a good book for my Halloween display, but it is an incredibly powerful book of loss, love and grief.  A student who I recently gave this book to told me it was the best book she'd ever read as it really resonated with her.  Conor's mother is sick, and ever since she began treatments, he has the same dream every night.  It is, though, in this dream, with this monster, that Conor is able to come to grips with what is happening in his life.  Be sure to have tissues handy. 

Tuesday Tips, October 4, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Syncing Grades to Powerschool from Canvas

This is a reminder about how to sync any grades you have in Canvas to Powerschool.  There are a few steps to this, so follow the directions in the following documents (all of which include video tutorials as well).

Step 1:  Bring over grade categories from Powerschool 

Step 2:  Syncing grades to Powerschool from Canvas

Step 3:  Any grade sync issues?  Check for these possible issues

BOOK TIP:  The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 One of my favorite books of the summer!  Jacob Finch Bonner is "one hit wonder" of a novelist, relegated to teaching creative writing at a community college.  In this class, a student shares an incredible plot for a novel, one guaranteed to be a success.  Years later, when Jacob finds out that student has died, he writes the novel based on that plot.  One day, Jacob gets a note that says, "You thief".   And how far will Jacob go to protest his story?  A great, fast paced read.

Tuesday Tips, September 14, 2021

 TECH TIP:  How to turn off Canvas Notifications

I've been getting a lot of requests and questions about why there are now so many courses on your Canvas dashboard and the flood of notifications that you are now getting for these courses.   My understanding is that the Advisory Committee had you added as an observer in Canvas to all of your advisees courses.  It will tell you under the course card on the Dashboard which students you are observing in each of those classes.  

You have two options to turn off notifications:  a global shut off all Canvas notifications (this would include for your own courses) or you can go into each individual course you don't want notifications for and turn them off at the course level.  

To do a global shut off of all notifications:

• In Canvas, go to Account on the left hand side.
• Go into Notifications.
• For each of the items there you, select how often you would like to get these items: never (off), daily, weekly, or immediately.

To turn off a single course:

• Go into the course from the dashboard
• On the right hand side, select View Course Notifications
• For each of the items there you, select how often you would like to get these items: never (off), daily, weekly, or immediately

BOOK TIP:  Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

  I read SO MANY great books this summer (this is my self-care...) and one of my favorites was Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  The four adult children of a famous rock musician (I pictured a Mick Jagger kind of guy) have a party one night at their Malibu house that will change the lives of all involved.  Interwoven with this story of one night are the background stories of all the characters that culminate that night.  

Tuesday June 8, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Setting a Vacation Response in Your Gmail

There may be time when you are completely away from your email this summer.  It is a good idea to buy yourself some time and space from email by setting up an automatic vacation response.  To do this in Gmail:

• Go to Settings
• Scroll down to Vacation Responder
• Input the dates you will be away
• Fill in your message and subject
• Hit Save

BOOK TIP:  73 Books to Read This Summer from The New York Times Book Review

Summer is a great time to read, and I hope you all find that time this summer!  To give you some ideas of what to read, check out this list of 73 Books To Read This Summer from the New York Time Book Review.  I'm also happy to make some suggestions, stop into the library!

Tuesday Tips, May 18, 2021

 TECH TIP: Annotation Submissions now in Canvas

A recent update to Canvas is that students can now annotate a document that you upload right in Canvas (before this students would have to use an external tool like Kami to do this) and submit it back to you.  To create the Assignment, under Submission Type in your Assignment settings, you can now select Student Annotation and then upload the document they will be annotating:

Students then do the annotations in the document viewer and submit that back to you in Canvas.

BOOK TIP:  We Begin At the End by Chris Whitaker

  I just finished this book and I can't stop thinking about it.  It is the story of Duchess, Walk, Star, Robin and Vincent and how all their lives changed a night 30 years ago when a young girl was killed and Vincent went to jail for her death.  Part detective novel, part coming of age book, it is a wonderful book about family, hope, and being an outlaw.  

Tuesday Tips: May 11, 2021

 TECH TIP:  VideoAnt:  Create online discussions around a video

  Video Ant was developed by the University of Minnesota as a way to create interactive, online discussions based on a video (from Youtube or one of your own).  At VideoAnt, you upload your video, add in any annotations (aka "ants") that you'd like and then share the video with your students.  Depending on your permissions, students can add in their own annotations or comments to the video, thus making it a bit more interactive than just answering questions.  Here is a quick overview video on VideoAnt:

BOOK TIP:  Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld

  A couple years ago, my husband and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld in person and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.  This new book by Seinfeld is a compilation of his years of joke writing.  Comedians will write their material, then share it with other comedians and ask, "Is this anything?" Seinfeld cleaned out 45 years of folders of notes and jokes and put them in this book.  I did this as an audio (which I highly recommend), with Seinfeld himself narrating, and laughed at out loud throughout.  If you need a laugh, this is the book for you.

Tuesday Tips: April 27, 2021

 TECH TIP:  How to Search Your Tabs in Chrome

Are you someone who has a billion tabs open on Chrome?  But then can't find the tab you need quickly?  A recent update to Chrome now includes the ability to search your tabs.  Here is how to do it:

BOOK TIP: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

 

 Shadow and Bone  is the first book in a trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and came out in 2012.  I'm highlighting it here because Netflix just came out with the Shadow and Bone series and it is currently trending at #1 at Netflix.  You will definitely hear students talking about this!  And I always recommend to read the book first 

Tuesday Tips April 6, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Preset Google Meet Breakout Rooms in Calendar

  A recently released feature in the Google Suite is the ability to preset breakout rooms.  You do this through the Calendar.  Go into Edit mode of the Event and click on the Gear icon to the right of the Join Google Meet blue button.

Then create the Breakout Rooms:

For more details, watch this 5 minute video tutorial (this is where I learned about this new feature!).

BOOK TIP:  Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

  This is one of those "it" books right now.  I had to wait a long time for a copy from the library, but it was worth the wait.  This is a story of wealth, privilege, race and growing up.  Emira is a young black woman who babysits part time for a wealthy white family.  One night, while in a grocery store with her young charge, she is accused of kidnapping the child.  This sets off a whole chain of events and keeps the pages turning.  A powerful young debut author, I can't wait to get more of her books!

Tuesday Tips, March 29, 2021

 
TECH TIP:  NoodleTools

 This past week, Holly Troiano's US History courses used NoodleTools to create their Works Cited page.  This post is just a reminder of this great tool to use with your students as they complete research assignments.  This is, hands down, the number one thing that graduates say was so helpful for when they were in college.  

NoodleTools is fully integrated with our Google tools, so it is a single login for students.  Here are some video tutorials and written instructions on how to use this with your students (and I'm always happy to join your class!)

Video on Setting up Your Noodle Tools account (1:43):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozEKq4yp5w

Video on Adding in Sources to your NoodleTools account (5:20):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64dIgJv5GFg

Illustrated instruction sheet:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HpAfoYa6me6VgvMncNRfFcaYVX9csZ0fCMMA-MalxSI/edit?usp=sharing

BOOK TIP:  Book Talks

Tara Birkett's 9th graders are doing a self-selected free read.  I joined them virtually to do a book talk to highlight some great new titles that they might be interested in.  I created a list of 50 books and then picked my top 10 to share with the class.  Between the list, other books in the library, and interlibrary loan, we are getting books out into students' hands.   

Tuesday Tips, March 9, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Set up Breakout Rooms Ahead of Time in Google Meet

Over the next few weeks, Google Meet is rolling out a new feature that you can set up breakout rooms ahead of time in Google Calendar.  Once you have your class in the invite list, from the Settings icon next to the Join Google Meet button, you will be able to set up Breakout Rooms ahead of time.  This could save you time during class, but could allow you to provide for good group dynamics or differentiated learning.  Look for this feature in a few weeks.

BOOK TIP:  Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

  This is a free verse novel that was on EVERY best of list this year for young adult books.  If you were inspired at all by the powerful, poetic storytelling of Amanda Gorman at the inauguration, I would recommend giving this book a try.  Acevedo's poetry is captivating, thoughtful, but yet always moves the story forward.  Carmen lives in the Dominincan Republic and loves when her father returns from New York to visit each summer.  But this summer, her father is killed in a plane crash (based on the true crash of American Airlines flight 587 which crashed on its way to the Dominican Republic) and this sets in motion a series of life changing events, including finding a sister in New York she never knew about.  

Tuesday Tips, March 2, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Canvas Updates:  Webcam Submission and Reassign Assignments to Individual Students

On March 20th, Canvas is rolling out two new features requested by teachers.  One is that students can now use their webcam to submit image files right in Canvas.   It will look like this for students:

The other new feature is that teachers will be able to reassign assignments to individual students right from SpeedGrader.  Once you have given feedback, the Reassign Assignment button will be enabled and you can reassign it to the student.  It will look like this in your SpeedGrader:

Reassigning it to the student will not change the original due date, and all assignments must have a due date in order for this to work.  Assignment settings must allow for unlimited submissions.  This will also NOT work for any assignments using External Tools.

BOOK TIP:  The Jake Brigance Series by John Grisham

In 1989, John Grisham published the first novel featuring lawyer Jake Brigance, A Time to Kill.  In 2013, Sycamore Row was published.  And the third novel, A Time for Mercy, was just recently published.  I went back and listened to A Time to Kill to get ready to read this latest, and it's a gritty courtroom drama that has held up over the years, with Jake Brigance in that Atticus Finch role.  If you like a legal thriller, check out A Time for Mercy.

Tuesday Tips February 23, 2021

TECH TIP:  Barking Dog Countdown Timer (and more)

This tip is really just for fun.  At the Youtube channel Timers and More, there are several types of countdown timers you could share in class while students are working.  The barking dog one is my favorite, but there are cute cats, music, blank screens, bombs and more at their channel.  There are timers with many different times to suit whatever you need.

BOOK TIP:  The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

 

 The Nickel Boys is Colson Whitehead's follow-up novel to The Underground Railroad (also a great book).  The Nickel Boys is based on the experiences of young men sentenced to a reform school in Florida and how that experience  changed their lives forever.  In this fictionalized account, Elwood and Turner are the main characters who are sentenced to the Nickel Academy in Jim Crow-era Florida and what happens there will forever scar them. 

Tuesday Tips January 26, 2021

 TECH TIP: Emoji keyboard

I shared this tip in the PD session that Tom and I ran last week and it was one that even Tom didn't know about (I love when I can teach him something tech related lol!).  There is a quick keyboard shortcut that will create a pop-up emoji keyboard.  You could use this to leave emojis as feedback in Canvas grades, but could be used anywhere! It looks like this:

To do this, on a PC, hit Windows Key + Period Key.  On a Mac, it is Ctrl + Cmd + Space Bar.

BOOK TIP:  Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

 This is a young adult novel that is gripping and riveting with a strong female lead character.  It is a story of survival in its truest sense.  After a night of partying and camping, Ashley runs into the woods in a drunken rage, only to find herself completely lost and unprepared.  She ends up deep in the Tennessee woods, injured, alone, with only the clothes on her back to survive.  You will root hard for her to persevere and keep going.