Tuesday Tips, February 8, 2022

 TECH TIP:  Google Checklist

You can now quickly create checklists in Google Docs.  Write your list, and then Format -> Bullets -> Checklists.  

When you complete a task, check it off and it gets a strike through to show completion.

You could create lists like this for projects, papers, research steps, etc. and share a copy with your students to check off as they complete each task.

BOOK TIP:  Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus is an amazing graphic novel about the Holocaust.  It is the story of the author's parents during the Holocaust.  It is told with the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats. Maus was recently banned by a school board in Tennessee and removed from the curriculum and library shelves.  Fortunately for you, this book is not banned here and you can read the library's copy.  

Tuesday Tips, January 26, 2022

 TECH TIP:  ListenNotes: Podcast Search Engine

I love to listen to podcasts (a few of my favorites:  Smartless, Extremities, Serial, Dr. Death, The Office Ladies, Rabbit Hole, This American Life...) and think they could be a great resource in the classroom.  Listen Notes is a search engine that allows you to find podcasts for specific topics.  There is a Discover tab with curated lists that might also be helpful.  

BOOK TIP:  Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mendel

  The novel Station Eleven came out in 2014, but is weirdly prophetic in its description of a global pandemic (in this case called the Georgia Flu) that wipes out much of society.  The novel travels back and forth in time between the pandemic period and the future dystopian world and a group of traveling Shakespearean actors.  There is a common story that connects the many characters, all of whom come under the threat of a dangerous prophet.   Station Eleven was just released as an HBO limited series (which is good, but the book is always better - or should at least be read first).

Tuesday Tips: January 18, 2022

 TECH TIP:  Google Status Dashboard

Thanks to Tom Roy for this week's tip!  If you ever find that any of your Google Apps aren't working (like Gmail, Docs, Meet, Calendar, etc), you can quickly check the Google Status Dashboard.  This will tell you if the issue is one at Google globally or something on our end.  As long as the item has a green check at the Status Dashboard, it is good with Google.

and if you want to see if your computer is on, go to:  http://ismycomputeron.com/

BOOK TIP: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family by Patrick Radden Keefe

 Empire of Pain is an incredible work of non-fiction by Patrick Radden Keefe (author of another of my favorite non-fiction book of 2020: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Mayhem in Northern Ireland).  It tells the story of the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma.  Purdue Pharma is the company who makes OxyContin, and might be fully responsible for creating the opioid crisis.  It's a masterpiece of narrative non-fiction and will make you think twice about the pharmaceutical industry.  

Tuesday Tips: January 4, 2022

 TECH TIP:  Turn Pictures into Geometric Shapes with IMGOnline

Want to jazz up your presentations with some cool images?  Use IMGOnline to turn any pictures into a shape.  I chose a star for this one:

But there are hundreds of different shapes you can choose from, including animals, household items, etc.  You simply upload your image, pick your shape, and hit Create and Save.

BOOK TIP:  The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Amor Towles is the author of one of my favorite books, A Gentleman in Moscow.  The Lincoln Highway is his latest novel. It is a road trip novel wrapped up in a coming of age story.  In 1954, Emmett Watson gets released from a juvenile prison camp.  He goes back home to Nebraska to get his brother with the hope of driving away and starting their lives over.  However, things don't go as Emmett planned.  The novel is told over the course of just ten days and through multiple perspectives of a captivating cast of characters.  Really good.

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.