IHMS Tech Tips

Teen Tech Week is next week as sponsored by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association).  I know that everyone is in the testing mindset, so here are some goodies that you can add to your Google Classroom for when students are done with testing but need to be working independently on something. A Google a Day Challenge Each day the challenge changes.  You start with a question and try to use your Google search skills to arrive at the correct answer and advance to the next challenge.  Tips and tricks as well as hints are given, but the key is not to type the entire question into the Google search.  Tough, I know. Google Smarty Pins The object of this website is to answer trivia questions in a variety of categories.  A question is asked, and you have to find the location of the answer by dropping a pin on a Google Map.  Pretty fun! Build with Chrome Legos!  Students can enter the Build Academy to learn the ins and outs on ...

With the removal of Notability from our bag of tricks, I know it has been a struggle to find a replacement app or website that allows students the same capabilities.  DocHub is one that works and even Preview on the Macs, but Kami is a Chrome extension that is a great office tool that works with Google Drive and allows for students to annotate documents in a way that most closely resembles Notability.  Yay! To add Kami to Chrome, first visit the Chrome Web Store (just Google it!) and search for Kami.  Some of you may have used it in the past when it was called Notable. Add this extension to Chrome. It will then appear the upper right-hand corner just as the "Share to Classroom" extension did if you added that one. Now that's it's been added, select the icon to open the extension.  It will open in a new tab and ask you to connect via Google, which is fine.  Then you can open any of your Google Drive files, or drag and drop a file from somewher...

Spotlight this week on Alyssa Rhoades!  Thank you for letting me record in your classroom and for being the first victim on our blog. Alyssa is just starting out with the Wacom tablets, but her students are already excited about using them as a substitute for paper.  Because they are still learning, she does still give them the option to use paper and pencil or a dry erase board and marker. The tablets in her room are stored in classroom mailboxes for convenience and to prevent damage.  The students all know to grab their tablet at the beginning of class. Once the note-taking time has begun, the students go to her Google Classroom and open their notes/assignment using DocHub (stay tuned next week for another annotating option) and get started.  Alyssa has students AirPlay from their computers to share their work with the rest of the class. Basically, the Wacom tablets are tiny versions of the Airliner.  Any software needed is already on both student and ...

We all know our students use iMessage.  It can't be turned off on the devices, so how can we use it to our advantage in the classroom?  One way would be to use Remind (formerly Remind101), an app that uses texting to communicate with both students and parents about upcoming assignments, events, and other classroom information. To start an account is simple and free.  Download the app from the App Store: Open Remind from your Launchpad and choose to "Log in with Google." Enter your usual "ih" network credentials (at least these most likely are the same for your SMSD Google account), and select "I'm a teacher." Indian Hills is already an option when you search for our school, so select it from the menu. Once your class/account is set up, there are a few ways to get students and parents to join: Have them text a unique class code (much like Google Classroom) Upload a spreadsheet of email addresses; here's a tutorial on...

Last week we talked about Chrome extensions, and while there are numerous more extensions you can search to make your life easier as a teacher, today we will focus on add-ons. There are TONS of add-ons within the Google apps.  Think of add-ons like little short-cuts. In Google Docs (Google Sheets works the same way), select "Add-ons" then "Get add-ons". Here you can search for specific Add-ons or browse by topic. Once you have added whichever add-on you've chosen, you can access it anytime you are in Google Docs by returning to the Add-ons menu.  Here you can also manage/delete them. Some initial suggestions for you and your students: EasyBib:  Cite sources within your Google Doc without going to the EasyBib site g(Math):  Insert graphs and equations Kaizena:  Audio record feedback on student documents rather than type them VexTab Musical Notation: Musical notation within Google Docs Teacher rubrics such as OrangeSlice, Doctopus (whi...