It's Official - I am an Authorized Google Educator Trainer!

Well, I am happy to announce that I am an Authorized Google Education Trainer.  I received my results on 8/27/2014.  I am so excited and thankful to be apart of the GET community!

Here were my requirements:

First, you have to complete an application.  Within the application there were additional requirements that needed to be submitted.

I had to complete a case study that required detailed information about school overview, training programs I completed, evaluation data and feedback, and the overall impact of my training.  Here is what my case study entitled.  The application provides you with the template.

Next, I had to create a resume of my experiences and knowledge.

Finally, I had to create a short tutorial on a task.  The video could not be longer than 2 minutes.  My video demonstrated how to use links, bookmarks, and a table of contents in a Google document.  Here is the link to my video.

All of this information had to be submitted by a deadline and Google has about 2 months to review the application.

I look forward to the challenges, learning endeavors, and this new chapter in my career.  I want thank my family, especially my husband for being my "rock", my Davies school family, #WeAreDavies, for always supporting me and the people in my PLN for guidance.

Tech Tip Tuesday: A New View using ViewPure

Are you hesitate to show your students YouTube videos because of the clutter that shows up around the video?  Well, you can "de-clutter" your video by using ViewPure.  ViewPure is a tool that works with YouTube that will remove any ads, comments, or other distractions from the video.  It will "purify" the video so that you can show it with your students without any distractions.  Note:  it does not remove audio content from the video.

Here's how you do it:

• find a YouTube video that you want to share with your students
• copy the URL address of it
• go to ViewPure.com
• paste the URL address into the bar
• click on 'Purify'
• your video will open and will be displayed without the clutter

A comparison, links are active and screen shots are shown below:

BEFORE:

AFTER 

TeachMeet NJ Conference

I had the opportunity to attend the TeachMeet NJ Conference at the Richard Stockton College on August 18th, 2014 and it was great!  TeachMeet NJ is a FREE professional development un-conference that is offered once a year.  Not only did I see a lot of my colleagues, but I learned so much from speaking with other people and attending their sessions.  I also had the opportunity to present Google This Google That.

The sessions offered ranged from beginner to advance levels, and from gaming to Google Apps to social media, to flipping.  It was great to have a wide variety of sessions available.  Here are the sessions  I attended:

• A New Dimension to Ideas - Drew Minock, it was about augmented reality and Daqri 4D Studio.
• Branding your school district - Joe Sanfelippo, it was about telling the story of your school.
• Flipping the Classroom with eduCanon - Robynn Hecht, it was about using video and student accountability.
• Virtual Worlds, Real Learning: Minecraft EDU - Jeremy Post, it was about using Minecraft in the classroom.
• Google This Google That - Kim Mattina, it was about using Google Apps and using it in your classroom.
• Social Media, The Good, The Bad and the E-Learning - Scott Rocco - it was about the benefits and risks of using social media in your school
• 20 Tools in 20 minutes - Will King, it was about 20 useful tools 

Here are a few tools that I would like to share:

• Daqri 4D Studio
• Voxer - walkie talkie app
• eduCanon -  student accountability using YouTube
• viewPure -  removes ads and other distractions from YouTube videos
• alternativeTo - find a program that is similar to another one
• MinecraftEDU - gaming
• Wunderlist - a to do list
• Thinglink - makes your images and videos interactive
• TimeToast - an online timeline creator
• Cueprompter - online teleprompter
• Studyblue - digital flash cards
• Symbaloo - collects and organizes bookmarks
• coLAR Mix - takes pictures and turns them into 3D

I want to thank everyone at TeachMeet NJ, organizer, Kyle Calderwood, and co-organizer, Liz Calderwood, and many others for taking the time and dedication to organize this event.  It was a great day of learning!

 

Tech Tip Tuesday: colAR Mix

If you are looking for an interactive way to get your students engaged in animated 3D lesson, try colAR Mix. It is an app and is available on the Google Play store and the Apple store .

What is it?  Well, it is an app that will take your drawings and make them into 3D.  All you do is printout a picture, color it, take a picture of it using the app and it will make your picture come alive!

Ideas for the Classroom:

• Math for geometry, shape recognition, architecture
• Science for chemistry, molecules
• Elementary students

Tech Tip Tuesday: Google Apps vs Extensions

Lets clarify the definition of an app and an extension while using the Google Chrome browser.

App

• Applications and websites that open directly in your browser
• It can be found when you open a new tab

Extension

• It is an extension of the current browser
• It gives more functionality to the current webpage
• A small tool that runs in the background
• It can be found on the right side of your tool bar

Here is a list of apps and extensions that would be helpful in a classroom environment.  The user needs to be using the Google Chrome browser. These apps and extensions can be found at the Google Chrome Web Store.

Padcamp What?

Today, I attended a Padcamp which is a FREE professional development unconference workshop for educators, school administrators, technology personal, and more.  All of the organizers did an outstanding job getting ready for this event and I want to say THANK YOU!  As always, it was great to see everyone.  

The schedule of sessions came together nicely.  I finally met +Brad Currie, @bradmcurrie, which presented two sessions, one on iPad Leadership with Dr. Spike Cook, @drspikecook, and the other on iPad apps.  Here is a list of some apps that I wanted to share:  

• Voxer - a "walkie talkie" app that will allow you to send audio messages to individuals.

• Zite - an app that will provide you with articles or blogs that are specific to your interests.

• Touchcast - an app that will allow you to create newscasts

•  Appolearning - an app that will help you find other apps related to subject and grade level

• Remind - formally known as Remind 101, is an app that will allow you to text messages to people

• GoodReads - an app that allows you to create virtual book shelves

• Chatterkids - an app that allows you to turn an image into an interactive image

• GeniusScan - an app that allows you to scan a document into a PDF file 

In addition, I presented a session on Google This Google That.  My presentation focused on the apps that are available in your Google account, scripts/add-ons, and tips and tricks.  I gave ideas on how to implement them in your classroom.  Here is the link to the presentation.

There were a lot of other great sessions today.  If you would like to refer to the notes, click on the link under the title of the session in the schedule.

If you are able to attend a Padcamp or an Edcamp, I would highly recommend it!  It is truly a great day of learning and collaborating with other people who are trying to accomplish the same goals, which is student success!

Here is a list of Padcamp organizers:

• Doug Harvey | Stockton College
• Kevin Jarrett | Northfield Community School (chair)
• Betty Napoli | Galloway Township Public Schools
• Frank Pileiro | Linwood Schools
• Scott Sarraiocco | Absecon Schools
• Kim Sivick | Chestnut Hill Academy
• Mike Sweeder | Egg Harbor Township Schools

  

Tech Tip Tuesday: Easy Tips Anyone Can Use in Google Drive

As you know, Google offers many apps and features to its users.  However, within Google Docs there are options that teachers, or anyone, can use that will improve their workflow.  Here are a few recommendations:

Share and Collaborate

It is very easy to share and collaborate with your students.  Simply click on the "blue share button" at the top right corner and select the sharing settings and visibility options.

Comments and Suggested Edits

Instead of "marking up" the contents of the document, you can simply "comment" on it in which it will open a dialog on the side of the document.  Suggested Edits will allow you to approve or deny any suggestions that someone has made to the content.  To comment, simply highlight the content in the document that you want to comment about and click on the "comments" button at the top right corner.  To use suggested edits, click on the "pencil" drop down button in the tool bar and select "suggesting".

Revision History

This feature will allow you to see who has made changes to the document.   Simply click on 'File' on the menu bar and select "See Revision History" from the list.  A window will open on the right side of the document displaying the username and the changes they made to the document.

Add-ons

This is a new feature of Google Docs that allows you to have more power in your documents.  Simply, click on the "Add-ons" option in the menu bar and browse the gallery of add-ons.  Most of them are free and can enhance your document experience.  A few to mention are EasyBib, a citation tool, and Google Translate and Kaizena, a voice commenting tool

Research Tools

Google gives you the option to research within your document.  There is no need to open another browser or tab.  Simply click on the "Tools" menu option, then "Research Tool" from the drop down menu. Then you can perform an image, scholar, quotes Google Search, look up words in the dictionary, and more.

Image Editing

Google allows you to edit images directly within the document.  You can resize, drag and drop, add a border, and wrap text the image. 

Insert Special Characters

No more looking up or remembering the ASCII value of a symbol! Google provide an option within documents to insert special characters into the content of the document.  Simply, click on "Insert" on the menu bar, then select "Insert Special Characters" and the table below will be displayed.  

Download As

Google offers its users an option to download the document to their computer.  Simply, click on the "File" on the menu bar, and select "Download as", then you will be able to select the format you want to download to.