May 1, 2017

My Upcoming Schedule:

I am available any day this week. I’d love to help integrate technology into your classroom with you!

Must-Have Reading Apps

I’m all about reading – so when I came across this great list of reading apps from Monica Burns, I just knew I had to share it with you! Check out some of these apps to use in these last few weeks of school, or share them with your families for their summer reading. http://classtechtips.com/2017/04/18/reading-apps-for-kids/

Rock One Sock

In May you can join with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and with NetSmartz, to Rock One Sock! The idea is simple. Show you care! When you Rock One Sock you are expressing your support. Here’s how it works:

Wear one sock, and take a picture or video of how you rocked that sock!
Post it to social media, using the hashtag #Rockonesock
Donate to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children – to support their work to bring missing children home. Challenge your friends to do the same!

National Missing Children’s Day is May 25.

Changing Your Default Google Font

Not liking the font that appears in every new Google Doc? You can change it! The default font in Google docs is Ariel size 11. However, you can change this font, and other formatting settings, so that each time you open a new Google Doc you have the settings you desire.

Open a new document and type something in. This is font style “normal text.” You can identify the font style by looking in the toolbar next to the font type.

Set the text to be the desired font type and size.

Update Normal Text

While your text is still highlighted, go to the toolbar and click on “Normal text.” This will show you the header styles for the document. Hovering over “Normal text” in the drop down from the toolbar will reveal an arrow on the righthand side. Click on the arrow to choose the option “Update ‘Normal text’ to match.” This will make your font and size the default for THIS document.

Save Defaults

If you would like your default font style and size to apply to all new Google text documents that you create, go back to the headings drop down menu Down at the bottom is a choice for “Options.” Click on the arrow on the righthand side of options and choose “Save as my default styles.” (Your font must remain highlighted.)

Start a new text document. If you did it correctly your new font and size should be the default for typing normal text.

Watch this tutorial: https://youtu.be/O90zqlh_t14 to see how it is done.

Careers that Count

Join Discovery Education and Jr. NBA for a virtual field trip to the NBA headquarters, Madison Square Garden, and Madison Square Boys & Girls Club in New York for an inside look at how math is brought to life through careers in basketball. Meet NBA basketball players, executives, and staff who use math every day to improve the game both on and off the court.

Not everyone will be an NBA player, but anyone with a passion for sports and math can pursue a career in professional athletics. Don’t miss this special opportunity to open your students’ minds to viable and exciting STEM careers. Register your classroom today for this free, 30-minute virtual field trip, brought to you by Discovery Education and Jr NBA!

Gather your students’ questions and join in on Twitter for a live chat with several NBA guests at noon on May 4, 2017. Tweet your questions to @DiscoveryEd and @jrnba using the hashtag #careersthatcount.

Apple Teacher

Apple Teacher (http://appleteacher.apple.com) is a fantastic resource for teaching with technology. Although mostly focused on teaching with iPad and Mac, Apple Teacher presents a wide variety of terrific classroom ideas, many that can be utilized on whatever tech tools you have available. The Apple Teacher Program was created to support and celebrate educators. By signing up, you’ll get access to the Apple Teacher Learning Center where you can build skills, collect badges, and earn recognition as an Apple Teacher. You’ll also receive news and updates with teacher stories, tips, and teaching ideas. You must sign up with your Apple ID.

Testing Getting You Down?

PBS shares these great resources on test anxiety – along with many other excellent videos and supporting resources. This one: Interfering with Fear, located at https://goo.gl/KWWyBZ, examines research into why people “choke”, or fail to perform well under pressure. To understand what happens to our brains during stressful situations, cognitive scientist Sian Bellock and her team simulate testing scenarios and use brain scans to measure communication between the parts of the brain that contain working memory and emotional centers. Evidence suggests that when test takers are stressed out, emotional centers are overactive.

The video resources at PBS are linked to supporting material, discussion questions, and standards – making them great additions to your curriculum!

Woosh! The End is Near…

If actually reaching the last day of school doesn’t seem possible, read the Cool Cat Teacher blog (you know – Vicki Davis, my hero!) https://goo.gl/5BjYkk Like Vicki, I have always felt that school year doesn’t “wind down”, it CRASHES! As Vicki says, “You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seatbelt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off to your summer.” Read this blog post and push through to the end. You can do it!