Kaylah Holland

Hidden Gems in Google Slides (post 1 of 5): Stop Motion Animation Videos

What:

Google Slides is far more than a presentation tool. Google Slides can also be used to create stop motion animation videos. Stop motion animation brings static objects to life. You can create stop motion animation easily through Google Slides by duplicating slides and moving the static objects.

Why:

Stop motion animation is a great assignment for students to complete for various projects including telling a story, visualizing a historical event, demonstrating a scientific concept, and more. Creating stop motion animation videos engages students and allows them to move from consuming content to creating content.

How to:

Creating a stop motion animation video can be as easy or as complicated as you want. The easy example shows clouds moving to cover the sun. The first slide was created to include the tulips, sun, and three clouds. The three clouds were selected and grouped to move as one image. The first slide was then duplicated and the clouds were moved a little to the left on the second slide. The second slide was then duplicated and the clouds were moved to the left again. The process was repeated until the clouds covered the sun. Once the slides were finished they needed to be published by clicking file and choosing publish to the web. It is best to choose to advance slides every second unless the stop motion animation video includes a voiceover and then the advancement of the slides should match the voice over. Once the slide deck is published, copy and paste the link into a new window in order to see the movement of the clouds.

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Personalize Google Chrome with Extensions

What:

Chrome extensions are excellent tools that personalize your browser assisting you in being the most productive professional possible. Chrome extensions are available in numerous categories including productivity, accessibility, social and communication, and more. Chrome extensions are easy to install and offer excellent shortcuts for everyday tasks.

Favorites:

Some of my favorite chrome extensions are listed below.

Eye dropper is an extension that allows you to choose any color from anywhere on the web to learn the RGB code for that particular color. You can then copy the code and paste it into any custom color tool. I do this in Google Slides all the time so that I have the perfect color that matches my school color, or the Google colors, or a color palette online.

Save to Drive allows you to save web content and screenshots directly to your Google Drive.

OneTab allows you to collapse numerous tabs into one tab. This function saves bandwidth use on your computer but you can also create a shareable link to those tabs to share with students.

Grammarly is an advanced grammar tool that will allow you to be mistake-free anywhere online, including email and social media.

AdBlock Plus is one of the most popular ad-blocking extensions that will do just what it says – block ads on webpages.

Ultidash is a productivity extension that is utilized when you open a new tab. The new tab includes a unique picture each day along with a to-do list, a tracker for sites visited, and more. The goal for ultidash is to eliminate distraction on the web.

Bitmoji is a great extension that allows you to create an avatar of yourself. Once the avatar is created Bitmoji creates numerous memes, saying, and images using your Bitmoji that you can send to friends. Bitmoji comes as an app, extension, and addition to your keyboard on iOS.

How to:

You can install extensions by navigating to the Chrome Webstore and selecting extensions. You can search for a specific extension or browse the extensions available. You can also filter the results by choosing a specific category. Select the desired extension and click the blue ‘add to chrome’ button and choose “add extension” when prompted. Some extensions may have additional prompts for you to accept their terms and conditions. Please read through the terms before accepting. Once the extension is installed its small icon will appear to the right of your omnibox (the search bar). You can enable each extension when you desire to use it or some extensions function solely in the background.

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Take Charge of Your Lessons with Hyperdocs

What:

Hyperdocs is a transformative lesson planning tool for curating content for curriculum units. Hyperdocs are “carefully crafted digital lesson plans that require educators to have a mindset of thoughtful pedagogy” (source). Hyperdocs lessons are “visually engaging and packaged learning experiences” that incorporate student use of technology to “create, collaborate, think critically, and connect” (source). Hyperdocs are not simply a Google doc with links to assignments students must complete.

Why:

Hyperdocs are an important tool in adjusting the culture of a classroom. There are numerous templates to choose from that offer various pedagogical models. When implemented correctly, Hyperdocs move the teacher from the front of the room delivering content to being more of a guide through the content. Students can complete the Hyperdoc on a set schedule that you create or can complete individually.

TIP: If you choose to have students complete individually, be sure to include optional extended learning content for those students that finish first.

How to:

Navigate to the Hyperdocs website and choose a template. Click on the desired template and make a copy of it by clicking File>Make a copy once it opens in your personal Drive. You may then edit the content to include your own and then give to students. You can choose to have them submit them as Google Docs by sharing them with you, or students can submit them to your LMS (learning management system).

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Check out the samples below for great ideas. More samples are available on the Hyperdocs website.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Organize Your Life with Bullet Journals

Image source

What:

A bullet journal is essentially a self-created personalized blend between a calendar, to-do list, and goal tracker. The creator describes bullet journals as a way to “track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future” (source).

Why:

As a full time educator also working part time and completing graduate school, bullet journals have kept me sane. Several years ago, I was feeling the weight of working while completing graduate school – constantly feeling like I was dropping the ball, setting goals and never attaining them, etc. A friend told me about bullet journals and I was hooked. I am a strong believer in the idea that you need to put effort into organizing your life and bullet journals allowed me to do just that. The first one took some time to setup because I needed to understand the terminology and decide a layout that worked for me. I started slowly with a few goals, a weekly log, and a monthly log. In my highest use of my bullet journals, I was tracking daily habits like social media use, water consumed, and hours slept but also tracked yearly goals like books read and weight lost. I kept a weekly and monthly log color coded for work and graduate school. Once I got used to it, it took me one hour to setup a monthly log, and 30 minutes to setup a weekly log. I would setup the weekly log on Sunday evenings as a way to prepare myself for the week ahead. The most important thing bullet journals do is allow me to feel organized and that everything has a time and place. Using a bullet journal allowed me to no longer feel as stressed or anxious about the mountain of work needed to be done. Instead of my brain constantly working trying to remember all the things needing to be done, using a bullet journal gave my brain the review it needed and then allowed it to rest. The best part about a bullet journal is that it is self-created so you can use the layout that best work for you. You can be as complicated or as simple as you want to be. Bullet journals are not for everyone but I highly recommend them if you are struggling to balance work, life, schedules, kids, etc.

Next Steps

Interested in learning more? Checkout the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

How might we redesign the first day of school?

What:

Design thinking includes researching a current problem, creating solutions through a well crafted how might we statement, and prototyping a practical solution. Design thinking can be completed by students and adults simply through reframing a problem leading to creative solutions.

Why:

Implementing design thinking in the classroom allows for students to engage in deep problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and more. Design thinking also encourages student voice and choice in the classroom allowing the teaching to take on the role of facilitator instead of leader.

How to:

Design thinking can be completed individually outside of a large group in order to redesign your own classroom lessons. For example, most students dread the first day of school because they might be nervous about meeting new classmates and new teachers or they go from class to class listening to the rules and expectations all day. By following a design thinking model, a how might we question can be created after recognising the problem exists and researching the problem through constructing user personas. How might we redesign the first day of school to include ____? You can fill in the blank with whatever you value most on the first day of school: more personal connections, more excitement about your subject content, etc. Once you fill in the blank of your how might we, you can create a solution than allows your first day of school to include the valuable feeling you filled in the blank. For example, if my how might we is How might we redesign the first day of school to include more personal interaction? I might not discuss the syllabus at all and instead have numerous activities lined up to have students meeting each other but also spending one on one time with me (the teacher) throughout the first class. If my how might we question is how might we redesign the first day of school to excite students about science? I might quickly review the syllabus and engage students in a simple but mind-blowing science experiment to showcase what we will learn throughout the year.

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Checkout the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

What is Sketchnoting?

What:

Sketchnoting is a process used to create visuals by drawing and/or combining words and icons together on physical paper or through digital devices. Sketchnoting has been growing in popularity in the world of education over the last several years and definitely assists adults and students process verbal information.

Why:

As seen in the example above, sketchnoting helps learners of all ages retain information, increases focus, uses creative thinking, is a calming yet multi-sensory activity, helps to see the bigger picture, and helps make connections in learning. Sketchnoting can be completed in class as a note taking tool or by adults sketchnoting live to keynotes and lectures happening in real time.

How:

Sketchnoting is a simple process of combining images, icons, and visuals with few words in a constructive path or through a mind map. There are numerous resources online to get started sketchnoting including books, videos, and examples.

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Checkout the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Publish an eBook with Google Slides

What:

Google Slides is technically a presentation program that allows people to collaborate together seamlessly. However, Slides as a product can be used for so much more including publishing eBooks with limitless possibilities including student portfolios, curriculum, unit maps, stories, tutorials, and more.

How To:

Creating an eBook from Google Slides is the exact same as designing a presentation in Google Slides including opening slides, choosing a template, and adding all desired content. The key to turning a regular presentation into an eBook is formatting the size, adding logos and a table of contents, and publishing. Formatting the size of a Google Slides presentation can be done by clicking File>Page Setup>Enter Custom Size (8.5×11 recommended)>Apply. It is important to add your unique logo to each page in addition to creating a table of contents on the second slide. Once you have the table of contents written, each title can be hyperlinked to each specific slide by highlighting the text and clicking command/ctrl k and choosing the correct slide. Once all desired content has been placed, the eBook can be published first by downloading the slide deck as a pdf by clicking File>Download As>PDF document. Add the downloaded pdf document to your drive and right click to access the sharing settings. Change the sharing settings of the pdf by clicking on Share>Advanced>Change the privacy setting to On – public on the web or On – anyone with the link>choose can view. Copy the link and share for people to access your published eBook!

Tip: Once the pdf has been created, changes cannot be made. You can share a published version of the slide deck that will automatically update changes by first changing the sharing settings as suggested above. Once sharing settings are public, click File>Publish to the Web>choose to auto-advance slides every one minute>click Publish. Copy the link and share for people to access your published eBook!

Next Steps:

Interested in learning more? Checkout the websites below for great information.

References:

All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah

Everyone Can Create

What:

Apple offers numerous products for educators to implement in the classroom including curriculum called Everyone Can Create and Apple Classroom. Everyone Can Create is a comprehensive curriculum to help “find the creative genius in every student” (source). The curriculum is housed in five different iBooks including a teachers guide and separate iBooks for photos, drawing, music, and video. Each iBook includes project guides that help educators bring meaningful projects to life using multiple apps across the Apple platform.

Why:

The Everyone Can Create curriculum allows students to be creative while learning tips and tricks for Apple’s most popular apps. For example, Drawing offers students a chance to publish a storybook using the apps Keynote, Pages, and Tayasui Drawing School. Photos offers student projects to learn about perspectives in images using the apps Camera, Photos, and Keynote. Videos offer students the chance to create their own movie trailer using the iMovie app but also introduces the Clips app to create shorter movies including silent films. Finally, Music allows students to master Garageband including making tunes from scratch and editing current popular music.

I completed Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum with sixth-grade students. I not only loved how easy it was for me to implement quickly in my classroom; but, I also loved students reactions. Numerous students began with phrases like “I’m not creative” or “I can’t draw”. Yet, after completing the Everyone Can Create projects felt empowered and readily showcased their work to other students, teachers, and their parents.

How / Next Steps:

Check out the Everyone Can Create educators guide for upper grades and for littles.

References:

References are hyperlinked above as applicable.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Everyone Can Create is a comprehensive curriculum to help “find the creative genius in every student” (source). The curriculum is housed in five different iBooks including a teachers guide and separate iBooks for photos, drawing, music, and video. Each iBook includes project guides that help educators bring meaningful projects life using multiple apps across the Apple platform.

@hollandkaylah

Monitor Student Devices with Apple Classroom

What:

Apple offers numerous products for educators to implement in the classroom including curriculum called Everyone Can Create and Apple Classroom. Classroom is an app available to iOS and Mac OS devices and allows a parent device to monitor other devices from one screen (as shown in the image above) using bluetooth. Classroom not only allows the parent device to see the individual screens but also allows all connected devices to be locked, muted, or grouped. Classroom also allows the parent device to send a specific link to all connected devices or a specific group of connected devices.

Why:

Apple Classroom is easy to set up and yet extremely powerful to use. Educators can connect each class and easily help students navigate to websites, lock students in apps, or lock student iPads. However, Apple Classroom is much more than a monitoring device by allowing educators the ability to control the atmosphere of the classroom. My favorite use of Classroom is as a timekeeper. When students are working on projects throughout the classroom (and are even in the hall) I will send memes to all student devices suggesting ten minutes left, five minutes left, and finally, a come back together meme. This allows students to work without feeling the need to constantly check the time. I found students to be much more productive without me constantly interrupting their work with vocalizing the time left.

How / Next Steps:

Check out this educators guide for setting up and implementing classroom.

References:

References and image sources are also hyperlinked above as applicable.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

Classroom is an app available to iOS and Mac OS devices and allows a parent device to monitor other devices from one screen (as shown in the image above) using bluetooth. Classroom not only allows the parent device to see the individual screens but also allows all connected devices to be locked, muted, or grouped. Classroom also allows the parent device to send a specific link to all connected devices or a specific group of connected devices.

@hollandkaylah

Google for Education’s Student Certification

What:

In addition to four teacher certifications, Google for Education recently announced a certification for students. The G Suite certification for students is a professional certification allowing students to showcase their knowledge of G Suite products including Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Students complete training modules through Google’s Applied Digital Skills program and take a two-hour exam including both multiple-choice questions as well as a performance section.

Why:

Google for Education’s student certification allows high school students (adhering to Google’s age requirement) to demonstrate their abilities in an ever-increasing digital world. The Applied Digital Skills program is a project-based program helping students implement G Suite products in the workplace and looks great on a resume upon graduation. Taking the G Suite student certification exam is just icing on the cake.

How / Next Steps:

The student certification training and exam must be completed in a group setting led by an educator acting as facilitator. Educators use the exam prep guide to obtain an overview of tasks needed, facilitate eleven free lessons from the Applied Digital Skills program, test student knowledge in the practice lab, and when ready schedule the $37 per student exam. Google for Education offers a facilitator checklist to make scheduling the exam easy.

References

References are also hyperlinked above as applicable.

TLDR (too long didn’t read):

@hollandkaylah