Inspiring Reading and Writing With an Authentic Audience - Part 1

This is Part 1 of a three-part post. Click here to see Part 2 and Part 3.

Nicole Fazio is a middle school ELA teacher in our district. I teamed up with her for my Go Beyond Challenge, completing a project for her 6th grade Learning Through Literature class. We decided to improve upon a writing project we've done a couple times in in the past. It's a powerful activity, getting to the heart of what school, and maybe even our life stories, is really about.

It has multiple stages, so I'll break it down into manageable posts and share related resources in each.

The overall goal is to have older students write stories for younger students. The project accomplishes these goals:

• It gives younger students a story to read that they are personally interested in.
• Older students know someone is expecting a story from them, so they are generally very motivated.
• The entire project is focused on an important life lesson that every student can benefit from.

We know this is a memorable activity for students, since this year our older group remembered the stories that were written for them when they were third graders. It was very encouraging to hear that! 

As for that important life lesson I referred to, we use Donald Miller's definition of "story". He says a story is a person who wants something and overcomes obstacles to get it. Here's how we use that in Part 1 of the project.

Introducing the Project to the Younger Students

I meet for about 15 - 20 minutes with the younger class as the first step in this process. Getting this opportunity, and sharing an opportunity with the class through it, is a highlight of my school year. This time it was a 5th grade group. I take them through a short presentation that covers this outline.

1. I remind them of my role in the district (Instructional Tech) and how excited I am to see technology opening doors of opportunity for students.
2. I tell them we are always working to improve an experimental project, and we need their help. It will involve older students writing stories for them.
3. I share one example of a former student who followed her dream of writing. We featured her in a video a few years ago, so I have pictures of her working on her computer. There are always a few students who are familiar with her story, since this student's mother teaches in the district.
4. I tell students that they all have gifts that they can use to help others. That's what school is about--discovering and using those gifts.
5. I also talk about challenges we have to deal with. I get personal, with some examples of why I was afraid to go into teaching at one time. I share how my wife overcame abuse, eventually becoming a caring person who has been honored for her volunteer work. This gets pretty serious, but believe me, the class is with me at this point. (The ones who thought I was just the tech guy who fixed Chromebooks are usually surprised by my passion for learning and success.)
6. At that point, I introduce a short survey they will fill out, so older students will have something to write about.

The Survey

I created this survey as a Google Form, but you could do it on paper fairly easily. Below are the questions I ask. This is a trimmed down list from what we used in the past, since we were trying to sharpen the focus for the writers in the next stage.

1. Are you a boy or girl?
2. What name would you like to have in the story? Think of a nickname instead of your real name.
3. Who lives with you? (Please don't use names, just say things like, "My mom, 2 brothers and my grandma.") 
4. What is your favorite activity when you have free time?
5. What kind of stories do you like? You can pick more than one.
• Exciting
• Funny
• Mystery
• Spooky
• Happy
• Silly
6. What is your gift that you could use to help other people? (If you aren't sure, you can write down a gift you'd like to use to help others.)
7. What is one challenge or "wall" in your life that's hard?

Notice that we do not let them use their real names. I collect their Google account usernames with the Form, so I know who wrote each one. If you use a paper survey, I suggest having students identify themselves by a number. It's important for privacy that the older students have no way of knowing who the student is they're writing for.

The classroom teacher and I work with students if they have questions as they complete the survey. Afterward, I go through the responses and refer any to the teacher if they deal with serious issues. As you can imagine, students are open and some are facing very difficult challenges in life. I usually have to reword a few of them, so it doesn't seem to daunting for the older students who will be writing for them.

I use Autocrat to compile the responses into the format you see below. Those will be printed and handed out to the writers.

Continuing the Project and Thoughts on Learning

I'll explain how we kick this off for the older students in my next post. For now, I will just say this project started out amazing this time around. Then it turned into a bit of a nightmare! I almost abandoned it, with hopes of trying again in the next semester. A rise in quarantines and other issues in the district made it clear we were nowhere near "back to normal". Pushing through challenges was the theme of this project and very much our experience with it.

On that note, I want to return to the message I shared with the 5th graders:  They have a gift they need to use, and they'll have to overcome challenges to do it. I really believe that's the message we need to be telling students. It's what we have to help them do in our classes. Somehow school becomes way too much about standards. Maybe teachers would say that they know it's about the kids and their success, but I wonder if that's the message our students hear. 

Sure, there's an emphasis now on relationships. "They won't care how much we know until...." But what do we mean by relationships? Too often it looks like we're just trying to be everyone's friend. I suggest it's about getting close enough to our students to build trust, and knowing them enough to speak about their gifts and challenges. Students need to see school as being about their lives. Particularly, how it helps them identify strengths and succeed despite their obstacles.

That can make learning an exciting story they'll want to share.

Fun Holiday Tech Project With Google Slides

Students can use this process to make animated holiday cards for family members or just for fun. Everything can be created using Google Slides.

I'll give a brief overview of the process below. If you want to see my usual directions with video tutorials (not just for holiday animations), you can find everything you need to introduce it in class for $2 on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Here's a summary of the process:

1)  Make a Plan - Students really need to decide in advance what shapes they'll use and what's going to happen in the animation. Once they get going on later steps, it's hard to make a big change. In my example above, I knew I wanted the ornaments to float up on the tree and some words to appear.

2)  Create the Shapes - When you first use this process, it's easiest to make everything and have it be part of the first frame. Just start a new Google Slides presentation and start building.

I like to have students create their art using basic shapes in Google Slides (instead of looking for clip art online). In my example, I did use a graphic from Pixabay for the border. I created the other elements myself. Here's how my first frame looked*:

3)  Create the Animation - This is the heart of the process. You duplicate the current frame, then move the animated elements on that frame just slightly. To duplicate the frame, click on it in the left panel and (if you're on a Chromebook or PC) press ctrl-d. (You can also right click on it and select Duplicate slide.)

So in my example, I duplicated the first slide. Then on the second (new) slide I moved some of those ornaments on the floor up, just a centimeter or so.

You continue that process of duplicating the slide and moving the objects until all the animation is complete. As I said above, it's hard to fix a mistake once you get going with this. That's why a plan is important. Here are some other tips:

• I frequently click through the slides to preview my animation to make sure the objects are moving like I want them to. Sometimes they're not and I have to delete some frames to do a section over.
• Some frames should display a little longer, so I duplicate those a few times without changing anything. For example, I made several copies of the first frame, the last frame and that frame where the star lands on top of the tree. I wanted a pause at those points.
• You can animate text the same way. I made the text box, then had one word at a time appear. I've seen some people who like to have each letter appear one by one. It's up to you. When you do text, you especially will want to duplicate some frames multiple times to pause it at times. Otherwise the words go by too quickly. 

Click here to see all 40+ slides of my animation in slideshow format.

4)  Publish the Slides - You can publish the animation so it plays as a full page in a browser tab. Click here to see how this would look.

You can publish a presentation by going to the File menu and selecting Publish to the web. This window will open up. Check the boxes as shown, then click Publish.

That will make a link that appears as shown below. Copy that, as it says, by pressing ctrl-c. That's the link (more or less) that you need to share with others so they can see your animation. But don't share it yet! See the next step.

5)  Share the Link - You can paste that link in an email, add it to a website or share it any other way you like. Just remember one important thing. At the end of the link you'll see a 3000 when you paste it. Change that 3000 to a smaller number such as 100 or 150. 

I usually paste it into the address bar in a new tab and then change the number, so I can play the animation and see how it will look. You can keep doing this, adjusting the number how you want, with larger numbers making it play slower. Experiment with a number that works how you like it to. Once I've got a good number, I paste the link again, change the number, copy it again, then share that link.

6)  You can also turn it into an animated GIF! - I use the site Tall Tweets to do this. They have something called Tall Tweets Studio now, but I suggest scrolling down and clicking the Classic version. I also recommend teachers make copies of students' presentations and convert those for them, since there are some privacy and terms of service matters involved with granting access to Google Drive for this process. Since it has some other settings to experiment with, this option is only recommended for older students.

Again, the above 6 steps are a brief overview of the process. See my published lesson on Teachers Pay Teachers for a "ready to assign" document with everything students need. You'll want to show them my examples from this post, though, since the general directions are not just for holiday animations.

*Actually, if you want some behind the scenes info on my animation, I used a slightly different process. I worked backward to build my animation, because I wanted to start with the final image of the decorated tree. I did this just to be sure I had enough bulbs and that they'd look right. 

This is an advanced technique and I'd only recommend it to students who have made a few animations as described above. Besides thinking backwards, the only real change is that after duplicating a slide, I dragged it above the slide I just duplicated. So instead of duplicating slide 10 and moving the objects on frame 11, for example, I was always duplicating frame 1, then dragging the new frame up so it became frame 1. Then I moved the objects (in a backwards direction) on frame 1. This is harder to describe than it is to do, but I don't recommend it for beginners.

Chromebook Activity for Kindergarten

The kindergarten teachers in my district asked me to do some very simple activities that would introduce their students to Chromebooks. Below you'll find the link to the one I've been staring out with this year.

The goal of the activity is to let students practice using the keys and touchpad and to show them the joy of creating with technology. See the notes below about how I set it up and get started in the class with it.

Click here to get a copy of the Google Slides presentation I use for the activity.

It is simply a series of images with clip art objects (all from Pixabay.com) that the students can move around to "tell their story". Every class I've used this with has greatly enjoyed it and the teachers thank me for sharing it. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes of class time.

Setting Up the Activity

• We use a generic Google account with a short username for many early elementary activities. I and a classroom helper log onto all the Chromebooks using that account. 
• As the admin for our Google domain, I set that account up so the Chromebooks will open to our elementary "launch page". If you don't have these options, talk to the person who manages your Google domain to have it set up.
• On that launch page, I post a simple graphic (like a sun in this case) with a link that will force a copy of the Google Slides presentation. It's important that the link will open as a copy (like my link does above). This helpful post from Kasey Bell shows how to get the link you will need for your slideshow.
• Usually I and the class helper sign into all the Chromebooks when the students are at lunch or recess. Sometimes we do it during some other activity that has them away from their desks.

Introducing It to the Students

• I prefer to have students sitting on the floor at the board when I first talk to them. If they're at their seats with the Chromebooks set up, I make a point that they have to know when to listen and when to use the technology. The students are always good about this! Of course, I'm the guest speaker, so I always get my free 5 - 15 minutes of their undivided attention!
• I tell students that I enjoy using my iPad and Chromebook to play games, but in school I can't use them to play. Instead they should be used for learning and making. This is so important, as it's tempting to use the tech as a plaything during less focused time at that early age. "Just get on Starfall or ABCYa," I often hear. I am so grateful for the chance to plant seeds early on about the appropriate use of tech in school.
• Using the teacher's computer and projecting on the board, I show them exactly how they will click the icon on the launch page to get a copy of their presentation. I show them that the computer does some thinking time after I click "make a copy", so they shouldn't keep clicking the link. 
• I show them how they can add their name to the first page, so we will know who made the stories. I also let the teacher and any class helper know most students will need some help at this point double-clicking in the text box. 
• I model how they can click to the next slide using the thumbnail images on the left. 
• On the first page with the clip art, I show the students how to select it and move it to where we want it. There's the option of dragging it, but that is hard for some students (and adults) on a touchpad. I also show them how they can move it with arrow keys. It's helpful to have a Chromebook handy too, so they can see where those keys are or how I'd use the touchpad. 
• We talk a little about how the image can be arranged to make a story. They like the idea that maybe the crab was holding the umbrella and blew into the sky for the beach scene, for example.
• As a challenge, I show them how they can make a shape bigger or smaller by dragging the handles. I just like to plant this seed and see later who figures it out.
• I then review the directions to get started then I set them loose.

As I mentioned, we usually have a helper in the class and the teacher. With me as well, a class of 25 or so students is fairly easy to manage. Some students definitely will struggle at first, but they do quite well once they realize they can use the arrow keys. 

There are plenty of things that can go wrong as they try to use the touchpad. Here are some common ones:

• They end up swiping with two fingers and go back to the previous page. Just click the forward button and their slideshow will load.
• They accidentally right click and open the right click menu. Just press the esc key. Show them clearly so they remember how to solve this themselves the next time.
• They might double click an object, putting it in crop mode. One student had a good laugh when he cropped the kids' heads off on one slide and I was a little surprised how he did it myself at first! If this happens, just double click again if necessary and slide the crop handles so the full image displays correctly.
• Remember the goal is to give them practice and to let them create. I really have no expectations for how they make their images look. 

Getting Access to the Stories

When students are working more independently, I sign in on one Chromebook using that same generic login. I go to Google Drive, create a new folder and then drag all the newly created slideshows into it. 

For whatever reason, there are always several more than I'd expect based on the size of the class. I'm sure some students start over a couple times when we don't realize and maybe creating all those copies at about the same time cause an odd error. All the extra copies can be spotted pretty easily (since they usually do not have a name on the first slide), so they're easily disregarded. 

I then share that folder with the teacher's Google account so she has access to the students' stories.

Using the name on the first slide, it's fairly easy to see who made each one just by browsing the thumbnails on the teacher computer. Sometimes we have enough time in class to show some stories, which is always fun for the class. Students who successfully stretched the images to large proportions become quite popular.

I hope you and your students also have as much fun with this activity as we have!

Beyond Slideshows - Four Alternate Options to Show Off the Learning

In my job in a K - 12 district I am always looking for simple, quick ways for students to show what they've learned. We use Google Apps and Chromebooks in our classrooms.

Recently I updated some resources for our teachers and put everything on one website. I made a public version at the link below. All of the projects on it have shown up on this blog in one form or another, but I hope even my regular readers will find this single location helpful.

These projects range from easy enough for early elementary to something middle school students can create. All of them can also be extended to final products appropriate for high school students.

With each project on the site I include:

• At least one example of the final product
• A video tutorial of how to create it
• A document of directions that a teacher can edit and distribute to the class through Google Classroom - This document also includes links to the example(s) and the tutorial.
• Suggestions for extending the projects

Here's the link to the site. If you find it useful, please share it with others and let me know what you think of it.

Updated for 2018 - Simple Video Presentations with Google Slides and Screencastify

This is an updated post about a process I've been promoting for years. It uses Google Slides and Screencastify. Since they recently updated the app, I remade the main tutorial, which you can find below.

The idea of these projects is that students make a slideshow presentation, then they record the screen and their voice as they present it.

Teachers can also use this process to make simple, quick videos for lessons to post in Classroom.

Here are two examples of how the final video might look.The first is best to show students, but keep in mind it actually was made with SnagIt instead of Screencastify. SnagIt is no longer available. The second one was designed for teachers and refers specifically to their activity.

  

Screencastify is a great Chrome extension for this process. It makes it very easy to record the presentation on a Chromebook or laptop. It also links directly to Google Drive, so students don't have extra steps of uploading video files to Drive.

You will need to install Screencastify from the Chrome Web Store or, if your school uses a managed Google domain, you can have your administrator force install the app for you and your students.

As referred to in the video below, the first time you run it, it will take you through a simple setup process. Just allow all the permissions it asks for and sign into your Google account when it prompts you.

The tutorial below shows how to actually record the presentation. As it says in the video, there are three things students should do before recording:

• Install and setup the extension. This is not shown in the tutorial, but it's very easy.
• Make the slideshow. I suggest doing this in Google Slides, but you can use any slideshow app.
• Practice! It's very important to rehearse the presentation because these have to be done in one take.

As you can see from the tutorial, the resulting video ends up in Google Drive. From there it's easy to share or turn it in through Google Classroom.

Keep in mind that the free version of Screencastify puts a watermark on the screen. It also limits you to a 10 minute recording and 50 recordings per month. There is a paid version which removes those limitations and watermark. It also allows for some basic editing. I haven't paid to upgrade yet, but that option to edit is very promising. 

If you have any questions about this process, please let me know. I'd like to improve these resources so they benefit many students!

New Free Resource on TPT - 3 Simple, Quick Tech Projects for Showing Off the Learning Beyond the Classroom

I recently posted a document I used in a district PD session called 3 Simple, Quick Tech Projects for Showing Off the Learning Beyond the Classroom. It's available for free on Teachers Pay Teachers. It will take you through three tech projects you can adapt for any class.

I've written about each of these projects elsewhere on this blog, but this "hyperdoc" will take a teacher through each one and provide additional ideas for application and reflection. I also included some directions to help the teacher practice sharing their projects on a Google Site.

The three projects are:

• Combining text and images to make "digital posters" 
• PDF ebooks
• Audio recordings

Most of our district uses Chromebooks, so that's the preferred tool for this. I do refer to some apps and activities you can try on iPads too.

You can download the resource from this page. If you like it, please consider leaving a review and check out the other resources I have there.

Our PD session was three hours long. The teachers who participated didn't complete all of this activity, but you can pick and choose parts of it, doing each one a little at a time.

Resources for Sale

I'm taking some time this summer to update and upgrade some popular resources and put them on Teachers Pay Teachers.

First I added this free download about how to create recorded slideshows. I consider that to be an essential skill for teachers and students.

I also added the new version of my ebook about making comics with G Suite apps. That resource is based on my most popular conference session. It's a proven process that I've seen ignite a classroom as students discover the fun of creating. The normal price for the ebook is $4.00.

If you already have the free version I used to offer on this blog, you'll want to know I added a suggested rubric for the comics in the new edition. I also made some minor changes to the section about video projects.

If you have followed my work on my blog or elsewhere, I would greatly appreciate you at least downloading the free PDF about recorded slideshows and giving an honest review. That would help many other teachers discover them.

Another Fun Middle School Computers Lesson - Making Comics with Google Slides

I've been posting some of the creative projects we used in our middle school Computers class. (See this post on simple podcasts and this one on animation.)

Those of you who regularly follow my work will be very familiar with the basics of this one -- Comics with Google Slides!

When we did this in class, the excitement level went through the roof! Many students in my district have learned this process already, so some took their own pictures instead of using the ones provided in the directions. You can modify those as necessary for your class.

Click here to get a copy of the Google Doc that contains the directions for students. It links to this sample comic.

Those directions take students through the process of creating a comic. It uses some of my resources that you can find on my Comics page.

Also, this video tutorial is referenced in the directions. It shows the basic process.

And in case you missed the header image above, remember you can get my free ebook about making comics like this by joining my monthly newsletter list. Please click here to sign up.

Fun Animation Project with Chromebooks

This simple animation project from our middle school Computers class proved to be the most engaging one we've done so far. I'll post all the videos, the directions and some tips below so you can easily adapt it for your class.

We used the Stop Motion Animator app on Chromebooks. (They finally released an update for the app after a bug had made the previous version unusable for several months.)

Students had a ton of fun with this project! They watched my simple tutorial (below) and were making animated videos in no time. A few groups didn't want to stop at the end of class!

You can see in the photo that our students used Lenovo Chromebooks with the reversible camera. It allows them to easily capture images on the table in front of the device. If you have Chromebooks with cameras that only face the user, it's a little more challenging to get pictures of objects on the table and see the screen at the same time. (Here's a blog I came across that shows how one teacher addressed this problem.)

Here are the simple example videos that I created for the project:

• Example 1
• Example 2
• Example 3

And here is the short tutorial that shows how to use the app:

This document contains all the directions and links to the above video files.

And here are a few tips and things to consider:

• I didn't mention in the video that the spacebar is the shortcut key for capturing a frame and that the Undo button will delete the last frame of the animation.
• In my tutorial I neglected to emphasize the importance of slight movements of the object from frame to frame. I also didn't state that it looks best if the camera stays in the same place. Consequently, some students made a very choppy series of images. It sort of hinted at action, but I wouldn't call it an animation.
• We had a little trouble with the app when we tried to load a previously saved video or when we were recording audio. Usually restarting the app or the Chromebook solved it.
• You'll notice the directions refer to a contest for the best animation. I selected five videos from those submitted and posted them on our school's homepage. Students could vote (using a Google Form) for their favorite. Here's the winning video, created by one student who won a snack and soft drink for his efforts.

I hope your students enjoy this activity as much as ours did! If they create videos you'd like to share, I'd love to see them and show them to our class.

Recording Podcasts with TwistedWave in Middle School

Here's a relatively short project we used in our middle school Computers class this week. It takes students through the planning, recording and editing of a short podcast. We used TwistedWave on Chromebooks.

Here is an example created by a pair of our students. While there's plenty of room for improvement, this was a good first attempt at an audio recording. What I loved most about the project was how students got excited about their podcast topics. You can hear that clearly in that recording.

Here is the assignment document. It includes all the directions and it links to the video below. I created that video several months ago and posted it elsewhere on this blog. It serves as a good tutorial for anyone learning to use Twisted Wave.

A couple notes about the project:

• In order to use TwistedWave, we required the students under the age of 13 to return signed parent permission forms. Even though they sign in using their school Google accounts, I felt this was important after contacting TwistedWave about their Privacy Policy.
• After assigning this project, I added a part at the bottom of the directions about the important differences between this simple recording and professional podcasts.

Simple Video Presentations with Google Slides and Screencastify

Update:  I made a new version of this post, including a new tutorial to match the latest version of Screencastify. Click here to read it.

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This is an updated process I first highlighted on this post from 2015. I used to use SnagIt to record the video, they stopped supporting it a few months ago. I've started using Screencastify. Below I have two updated tutorials that show how to record presentations using it.

The idea of these projects is that students make a slideshow presentation, then they record the screen and their voice as they present it.

Here are two examples of how the final video might look.The first is best to show students, but keep in mind it actually was made with SnagIt instead of Screencastify. SnagIt is no longer available. The second one was designed for teachers and refers specifically to their activity.

  

Screencastify is a great Chrome extension for this process. It makes it very easy to record the presentation on a Chromebook or laptop. It also links directly to Google Drive, so students don't have extra steps of uploading video files to Drive.

This tutorial shows the setup process, which has to be done the first time you use the extension. It's very intuitive to click through, but you might want to watch this before you try it with a class, just so you'll know what to expect.

Then this tutorial shows how to actually record the presentation (which is limited to 10 minutes if you're using the free version of Screencastify). As it says in the video, there are three things students should do before recording:

• Do the process shown in the video above to set up the extension.
• Make the slideshow. I suggest doing this in Google Slides, but you can use any slideshow app.
• Practice! It's very important to rehearse the presentation because these have to be done in one take.

As you can see from the tutorial, the resulting video ends up in Google Drive. From there it's easy to share or turn it in through Google Classroom.

There is a paid upgrade of Screencastify which removes the time limit and watermark. It also allows for some basic editing. I haven't paid to upgrade yet, but the option to edit is very promising. 

If you have any questions about this process, please let me know. I'd like to improve these resources so they benefit many students!

The Updated 10 Ways to Show Off the Learning Beyond the Classroom

I first made this list in the summer of 2015. With each year of experience behind me and changes with the tools I'll keep updating this. Most updates were made in 2016, but a few have been added in July, 2017.

New items and information are clearly noted below.

When teachers and students show off the best things they learned, perceptions change and the culture changes. I want to make sure my district is known as a place where important learning happens every day.

But a lot of teachers in my district like hands-on, physical projects. Just how many art exhibits and science fairs can you do a year?

So I compiled this list so even those paintings done with real paint and the science experiment made of food can be shown off to the world.

I made this for the teachers I work with daily, so please keep in mind:

• It is a tool for awareness, not a how-to guide. Teachers in my district would contact me for one on one help. Since most of you won't have that option, I added links below to many of my Tech Project Packs. They were designed to help teachers quickly incorporate tech into their projects. I wrote about them all on this blog here.
• Most classrooms in my district use laptops or Chromebooks. I didn't include options for tablets with most of the ideas.

1) Live broadcasts of student presentations - Use The Cube. 

• You can broadcast to the internet easily with an iPhone or iPad. 
• Someone from your school will have to sign up and create an admin account at the site.
• Share the link to your broadcast with parents or to the community beforehand so anyone can watch live. 
• The recording can be left online, so people can watch it later if you want.
• When using live video, be sure you have parent permission to post online and remember not to identify students by first and last name.
• New information:
• I actually haven't used The Cube for a couple years now, since I wasn't involved with any live broadcasts in my district. It appears that service still works as described here, but now the two social media options below might be better.
• I have used Periscope for some personal projects and I love its simplicity.
• And of course Facebook Live is a very popular way to go now.
• Update 2017: If I do live announcements now, I'll use YouTube Live.

2) Websites and Blogs - A simple site or blog (created by you or the students themselves) is the starting point for sharing all the other types of project presentations listed below.

• Any final product, even if it’s has no tech involved, can be posted online by way of pictures and text. 
• For websites, Google Sites is a good, simple option. I made this tutorial for my district for making a website with Google Sites.
• For blogs, use Blogger. Here’s a tutorial I made for creating a new one.
• New information:
• Google Sites is going to be updated in a big way soon, but at this time the above resource is still relevant.
• I also recommend checking out Adobe Spark Pages as a great option for making a single web page. My tutorial for that excellent, simple tool is here.
• And here's my Tech Project Pack for blogs.
• Update 2017: The new Google Sites is a a great, simple way to create a website. See this post for some tips.

3) A PDF ebook - Within seconds anything students make in Google Docs or Slides can be turned into a PDF. From there it can be posted on any blog or website so anyone can open or download it like an ebook.

• With the file open, go to the File menu and select the option to Download as PDF.
• Once the PDF is downloaded, upload it to Drive again and share it as needed.
• New information: This tutorial is specifically about making a comic, but it does show the process of downloading a PDF from Google Slides.

4) InfoPics - If he didn’t invent this simple concept, Tony Vincent is the one who named it and he sings its praises. This really is just a process of adding notes or other text to pictures that are related to a topic. 

• Here's Tony’s blog post about it (with examples).
• It would be very easy for students to make these and share the images on a website or blog.The pictures could also be shared by a teacher or a parent on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or any other social network.
• The device you like to use will dictate the tools, but I’d suggest Google Drawings for computers or Chromebooks. Pixlr.com is a good tool on many devices if you want to add more effects to your pictures.
• New information:
• Update 2017: I used to recommend Adobe Spark as the first tool to check out for this. They call the pictures with text "Posts". Here's a tutorial about using it. It's still a great tool, but students under the age of 13 cannot sign up for an account without lying about their age.
• My Tech Project Pack for Infopics has tutorials for all the tools listed here.

5) Infographics - Students can create infographic images to show facts in a concise, visually appealing way.

• Finished graphics can be posted on social media or websites and blogs.
• Piktochart is a great tool for this.
• Users can log in on Piktochart with their Google accounts.
• Here’s a good article from Matt Smith with ideas for Piktochart in many subjects.
• New information:
• They have added a presentation option to Piktochart. Now with the click of a button the infographic can be used as a more traditional slideshow for live presentations.
• Here's my Tech Project Pack for infographics.

6) Audio Recordings (podcasts) - Students can create audio recordings and share them online in a variety of ways. These can be completed much faster than a video project. Here are a few details.

• Here’s a simple example of an interview between two students.
• On a PC with a microphone (or a laptop) Audacity is the program to use for recording.
• On a Chromebook you can try SoundCloud for recording (if editing isn’t necessary) or SoundTrap. Both work with Google accounts.
• Finished mp3 or wav files can be uploaded to SoundCloud so people can listen to them and even add comments.
• New information: Here's my Tech Project Pack for audio recordings.

7) Virtual books on Flipsnack - This site is a great tool that turns any PDF into a fun virtual book. 

• Important Note: I found out if students sign in using a Google Apps for Education account it uses the first and last name in the URLs. This is not a good practice. See the link to my new tutorial below about changing the username so it doesn't include student names.
• I usually create the PDF in Google Slides or Google Docs first, then upload to Flipsnack.
• Here’s an example I use for a comic assignment.
• Users can sign into Flipsnack with their Google accounts.
• Free Flipsnack accounts are limited to three virtual books at a time.
• New information: Here's an updated video tutorial on turning a Google Slides presentation into a Flipsnack. Be sure to watch the part that shows how to change the username in Flipsnack.

8) Screen Recordings - Think of these as somewhat informal recordings of something the students show on the screen. 

• These are great for tutorials or presentations.
• Here’s an example from a teacher who has his students use this method a lot.
• They’re informal because editing is usually not part of the process. Students need to practice before recording!
• On a computer with a mic, use Screencast-o-Matic.
• Final results can be uploaded to Google Drive or YouTube for sharing as necessary.
• New information: Update 2017: I used to highly recommend the SnagIt for this, but it is no longer available. I use Screencastify. Here is a recent post about how I create these.

9) Digital slideshows - These are a series of pictures combined into a video by using an editing program.

• These are a step up from screen recordings because you can (and should) edit them.
• Students can add audio. It might be just background music or they can narrate the slideshow.
• With narration, these become presentations that present themselves.
• They make a good introduction to video production, but don’t require as much time.
• New information:
• Forget everything you read from my blog about previous methods for this! I now recommend Adobe Spark Videos as the best tool. See this video tutorial for an example and how-to tips.
• Update 2017: I still like Adobe Spark for video, but we had problems using it on Chromebooks. Also, students under the age of 13 cannot sign up for an account without lying about their age.

10) Videos - Producing a good video is the pinnacle of technology integration in most classes.

• Good videos require several technology skills and a deep understanding of class content. 
• There is a huge range of possibilities for complexity. Don’t just tell students they can “make a video”! Know the options and set guidelines that are appropriate for your students.
• Here are my tips for teachers and students for any video project.
• New information:
• I'm in the process up updating some resources for these projects. Honestly, I've found they take a long time and I have been encouraging the digital slideshows over full videos. I will say I now prefer the paid version of WeVideo for the editor. Note that the free version is not COPPA and FERPA compliant.
• I did post about two video projects we did this year. One was a team building challenge and the other was designed to introduce students to iMovie on an iPad.

Using Adobe Spark to Add Text to Images

A quick "tech project" that can sum up the learning or share good ideas is what some people call "infopics". Students simply add some text to a picture.

I've written about several tools that will let you do this easily. Now Adobe has released Spark, a creative tool that makes this (as well as some other digital creations) simple with very attractive results.

I created this video tutorial that shows the process.

There are Adobe Spark apps for iOS and Andorid as well. Each app creates one of the three project types the web app can create. This particular project is called the Post.

If you're interested in more resources about this image with text project, see my Project Pack about it here. The post with all my Project Packs can be found at this link.

Quick Start Tech Projects for Any Class

After two years of helping a lot of teachers get started with different tech projects, I finally got smart and combined the many existing tech project resources I've created.

My goal was to save time for teachers. Having everything in one document (or at least linked from one document) can cut out a lot of emails or our initial planning meetings, since now they can find these documents on one single webpage.

Instead of taking me out of the picture, it allows them to ask me the questions that are most relevant to their class a lot more quickly. 

Each of these "Tech Project Packs" focuses on one type of final product, like a blog or an audio recording. It answers important questions such as:

• What is this type of project best for?
• What tools are needed?
• What are some common challenges?
• What tutorials do you have for it?
• What should I include in the directions?
• How can we share it beyond the classroom?

We are a Google Apps for Education district and most students are using Chromebooks.

Here are four packs to start with. More will be added in the upcoming week. 

• Images with Text - A very quick project that can be adapted to any subject
• Infographics - Create informational "digital posters" with Piktochart
• Blogs - Good for getting started using Blogger
• Audio Recordings - A simple process for creating audio recordings on a Chromebook or laptop

If you have any suggestions or requests or if you see problems with the documents or links, please let me know.

Classroom activity for introducing students to iMovie on iPad

A couple months ago I wrote about a video creation challenge we used at the high school to help students learn to make videos on an iPad. Here's a similar assignment that we used with middle school students.

I always say students don't need much direction on how to use tech tools. They just need to know what's possible. I put that philosophy to the test with this assignment. I just listed some requirements for the video, but very few "how-to" directions.

I'm happy to say the activity worked very well! After the teacher assigned it, both of us received some videos shared to us in Google Drive*. Students had fun working through the activity and figuring out iMovie for iPad on their own.

Click here to get a copy of the assignment. It will make a copy in your Google Drive.

*I'd show their projects, but the videos were less than interesting! Step one was to learn how to make a video. The rest of the class was about making an interesting one.

Team Building Video Challenge for High School

Here's a team building exercise I created for our high school video announcements team when we started the new semester. I loosely based it on a very fun, creative game we used to play, back before everyone carried around video cameras (and high power editing software) in their pockets.

The details of the challenge are described in the document at the link below. Basically students had to work in groups of three or four to create a fictitious news story. There were other criteria as well, including five random words that had to be included in some creative way.

They had only one class period to make the video, including learning how to use iMovie on an iPad. (By the way, my new approach to introducing tools like this is to simply give them the requirements. Once they know what the tools can do, they figure out how to work them on their own.)

You can get a copy of the challenge document in your Google Drive by clicking this link. Change it as necessary to meet your needs. If you share it, please include the link to my blog that's in the footer.

Here's the video that one group produced. On it's own, it's not terribly entertaining. I think they did an excellent job within the constraints of the challenge, though, and they included all the random words (clock, cup, reward, silence and courage). They went slightly over on the 30 second time limit, but I was very happy with their efforts.

(Note that I had already told them my top tips for video projects and they created one video previously using other tools.)

Game Design Exploration Part 4 - Reflection

This is the fourth part of a series for a classroom game design project that can be used in many classes and subjects. The whole project is based on a very simple game I created. Students will modify that game so it's about the topic they are studying in class.

Here's the flow of the overall project. Each of these stages has its own post, which you can access by clicking the link.

• Learn and play Roll-n-Flip - Students need to learn to play the basic game of Roll-n-Flip first. It should take one class period or less to learn the game and to play it a couple times. 
• Redesign Roll-n-Flip - Next, students will modify the game by adding a theme (based on your lesson) and possibly other rules. This can take more or less than one class period, depending on how much you want them to develop their version of the game.
• Play and improve their game - In this step students test the game their group made and then at least one game created by another group. You could also give them time to improve their game based on feedback. This process can be a class period or more, depending how much you want to focus on game design.
• Reflection - For the last part of the activity, students will reflect on what they learned about your course content and about game design. This reflection "seals the deal" for the learning, making this possibly the most important of step of the project.

_________________

This final stage of the project can be the most important, as it requires students to reflect upon what they learned about the lesson topic for your course as well as game design. In it each student Students will complete the document at the link below. 

Do not give students the document until they worked through Parts 1 - 3 of the activity (each easily accessible at the links above). That means they should have created a game based on Roll-n-Flip, tested it and played at least one game created by another group before they try to answer the questions. 

If you modified the activity in Parts 1 - 3 of the project, you might have to change the questions in the document to fit what your students experienced.

Through reflection, students should gain deeper insights from the activity. Their responses also provide you with a look at what they've learned about the lesson topic. That can be used to guide followup instruction or class discussion.

The reflection questions in the document come in three parts:

• The activity itself
• The game design process
• The lesson topic and how they connected elements of it to their game theme

You can find the Game Design Exploration Reflection Sheet here.