Edutech for Teachers

Cool Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

The Emoji Text Generator: Say It With Feeling

January24
A few weeks ago I shared a post about adding some pizzazz to your Google Classroom posts with the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ.

As mentioned, this nifty workaround is a copy and paste font generator that converts regular text to free cool fonts including 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤, ʄǟռƈʏ and 🅜🅞🅡🅔 that can be used on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, blog posts and yes, gσσgℓє ¢ℓαѕѕяσσм.

➲ Well, the fun with this nifty tool doesn’t end there! I recently discovered this web generator also offers collections of symbols ❂ emojis 👍 and smiley faces ㋡ that can be used for adding another dimension to social media posts, blog entries and of course, Google Classroom. 🙅

The site also features a variety of emoticon text such as this example from the “happy” category: ⊂◉‿◉つ

So, the next time you want to impress your students, colleagues and/or friends, dial up the Emoji Text Generator—and/or the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ.

If you’d prefer the mobile version, check out the Fancy Text iOS app or the Fancy Text Android app—both of which have emoji text options.

*•.¸,¤°´✿.。.:* Nօȶɛ: Emoji and fancy text may not be compatible with all devices, screen readers and translators. *•.¸,¤°´✿.。.:*

ᑕᒪᗩᔕᔕᖇOOᗰ ᑕOᑎᑎEᑕTIOᑎ:

Grab your students’ attention with information that ✤ ѕтαɴdѕ αpαrт ✤ from the rest by using one of the following text generators: Emoji Text Generator 😎 or ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ. ◎[▪‿▪]◎

Added Bonus: If you dig emojis AND the Candy Crush game, then you’ll definitely want to check out the 🅴🅼🅾🅹🅸 🅲🅾🅽🅽🅴🅲🆃 🅶🅰🅼🅴 found right ђєгє! 😁

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Get Your 2019 On!

January1

Live once again from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware—one of my most favorite places in the world…

Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy, sparkly, shiny, brand spankin’ new year from Edutech for Teachers!

And now for my annual reminder encouraging you to take advantage of the opportunity you have to enjoy 12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of laughter, 365 days of love, 8,760 hours of success and 51,536,000 seconds of learning that can be used to inspire others in your sphere of influence!

Regardless of where your personal and professional journey takes you, I hope it’s one of the best ever!

Live, love and laughter… Namaste! ♥

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
by posted under Holidays, Misc, Worth Checking Out | tagged under ,  |  No Comments »    

The 12 Digital Days of Christmas 2018

December11

thinglink santa hat2 trans

Get ready to “Tech the Halls” with the 12 Digital Days of Christmas, a super charged collection of digital treasures I have curated throughout the past six years. Each volume features a dozen fun and festive resources that are sure to spread some holiday cheer in your classroom.

This year’s adventure begins by hovering over the interactive image below to reveal 12 Tech Treasures from 2017, including one of my most favorite Christmas sites—The North Pole, a comprehensive holiday resource that has it all for educators, students and parents: Dozens of games, activities, stories, crafts and more—all related to Santa’s visit on December 25.

I’ve actually shared this resource in past Christmas playlists as well as this award-winning site includes more than enough activities to keep students busy until the holiday break. That said, if you’ve somehow missed this gem in past searches for December activities, be sure to check it out!

The full screen version of this interactive image can be accessed here.

But wait… There’s more!

If you’re interested in checking out my 12 Digital Days of Christmas collections from previous years, here you go:

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas 2016

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas 2015

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas 2014

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas 2013

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas 2012

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources embedded within the interactive images to have some fun celebrating the best holiday of the year!

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ♥ ~The Grinch #somuchmore

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Get Festive with Christmas Poetry Magnets

December5

geeky girl santa1

If you’re ready to get your festive on, then I’ve got the perfect edtech activity for you and your students—Christmas Poetry Magnets, a Google Slides activity containing nearly 100 words that can be manipulated into a holiday themed poem, story, etc. Check it out below!

As with my Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets creation, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Check out a sneak peek of this super cool Christmas activity shown below!

Christmas Magnetic Poetry

Click here to download your very own copy of the template and save it to your Google Drive.

Classroom Connection:

The Christmas Poetry Magnets template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the fun/challenge is to just use the words provided.

A shout out to edtech guru Kasey Bell, author of the Shake Up Learning blog, for the inspiration needed to develop this resource!

Happy, happy birthday, Mom! Love you! ♥

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tech Up Your Classroom: Thanksgiving Style

November15

Whether you’re looking for some neat themed lesson plans and activities to incorporate into your classroom to celebrate Thanksgiving, or maybe you’re just in search of some tech-based Thanksgiving games to keep your students engaged before the upcoming vacation… Either way, Edutech for Teachers has got you covered!

Hover over the interactive image to find tons of Thanksgiving-themed games and interactive learning activities for students and/or skip past the graphic to find additional (and recently updated) materials for teaching and learning about this popular holiday.

Check out the full screen version of this image here.

Additional Teaching & Learning Resources:

» Incredibly Fun Thanksgiving Science Activities & Experiments for Kids: A collection of STEM-related Thanksgiving activities that are simple, yet fun. Pick up all the materials you need when you do your Thanksgiving dinner shopping!

» The Case of the Pilfered Pie, a Thanksgiving-themed digital breakout game created by Mrs. Yeh.

» November & Thanksgiving STEM Challenges: Build a Mayflower ship, dinner table, and turkey hideout! Check out this Pinterest board filled with November and Thanksgiving STEM challenges for elementary students.

» Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Events: A collection of five holiday challenges that follow the path of Pilgrims settling in America.

» TeachHUB.com: Fed up with building pilgrim hats out of paper bags? Then try one of these less predictable, equally educational Thanksgiving activities for kids of any age.

» Thanksgiving Classroom Activities: 25+ Thanksgiving classroom activities ideas on Pinterest.

» Kids Discover Colonial America: A unit that focuses on the founding of major settlements and daily life in Colonial America. It describes everything from the Pilgrims’ landing to the colonies’ later growth and business activities.

» Kids Discover Native America: A unit that focuses on the most fascinating details of the history and culture of Native Americans. From their spiritual beliefs, artwork, and legends to harrowing accounts of the unfair policies, diseases, and battles that nearly wiped out Native Americans.

» Eight Great Ways to Be Thankful: A printable infographic to get students thinking about what they are grateful for this season… Perfect for all ages!

8-great-ways-to-be-thankful-kids-discover

Click here for a free download from Kids Discover.

» Multimedia Thanksgiving Turkeys: Learn more from Free Technology for Teachers about how students can create an interactive thankful poster utilizing ThingLink.  

» Scholastic News: A comprehensive site containing various resources for elementary students and teachers to learn about how the pilgrims reached America and celebrated the first Thanksgiving. Sections include The Mayflower, Daily Life, The Feast, Historical Letters, and Videos and Photos.

» Education World: Thanksgiving in the classroom doesn’t have to be limited to those lesson on turkeys. Instead celebrate this special season with some creative ideas via articles, lesson plans, site reviews, books, crafts, clipart and much more—all to help you meet all of your holiday needs. 

» TIME Magazine: An interesting article regarding “The Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Thanksgiving”.

» Teachers Love SMART Boards: A list of Thanksgiving-related activities that can be utilized with an interactive whiteboard.

» abcteach: Games, puzzles and coloring pages designed for elementary students.

» The Best Websites To Learn About Thanksgiving: From audio and video to engaging reading activities, Larry Ferlazzo’s comprehensive list of Thanksgiving web sites includes something for everyone!

» The History Channel: Tons of videos related to the origins, history and traditions related to Thanksgiving. A few noteworthy videos include The History of Thanksgiving and the Mayflower Deconstructed.

» National Geographic for Kids: Contains a funny fill-in turkey story/Mad Lib that can be used as for a writing activity.

» Thanksgiving Web Quest: Visit Web sites about the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag and the famous harvest feast and learn new facts along the way!

» 10 Thanksgiving Myths Dispelled: A cool infographic created by Misconception Junction.

» The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving: A web adventure in which students have to answer questions along the way.

» Thanksgiving Trivia: The Huffington Post challenges you to take the ultimate quiz about Turkey Day.

» Thanksgiving Quiz: Another fun holiday quiz created by Funnel Brain.

» How Thanksgiving Works: A variety of Thanksgiving related articles and videos about the History of Thanksgiving as well as related customs, traditions and more from the creators of How Stuff Works.

» What Really Happened? Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgiving: A great feature from the New York Times Learning Network that also contains links to other useful resources.

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources and materials listed above to teach students about the Thanksgiving holiday.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tech It Up with Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets

November10

Magnetic Poetry kits have been around for about 25 years, providing individuals with the inspiration to create poems on refrigerators everywhere!

In fact, the informality and spontaneity of Magnetic Poetry has endeared it to educators since its inception, especially for students experiencing writer’s block. Ironically that was the impetus behind the invention of this concept in the first place. Read more about founder Dave Kapell’s ingenious idea here.

Fast forward a few decades… When a cool concept like Magnetic Poetry is smashed with classroom technology, such as Google Drawings, teachers now not only have a fun activity to utilize with students, but one that can provide struggling writers with a way to break out that inner Edgar Allen Poe in a more modern way!

So, here it is… Back by popular demand—An updated Thanksgiving Poetry Magnets Google Drawings activity containing 80+ words that can be manipulated into a holiday themed poem, story, etc.

As with my other creations, the word boxes are actually images and cannot be edited; however, they can be deleted. Plus, additional words can be generated by creating a new text box and filling it with a white background.

Check out a sneak preview below!

Click here to make your very own copy of the template. Then have at it!

Classroom Connection:

The Thanksgiving Poetry Magnet template can be used in a variety of ways as either an independent or collaborative writing activity. Utilize the “magnets” included and/or add your own text boxes to extend the activity—although I think part of the fun/challenge is to just use the words provided.

A shout out to edtech guru Kasey Bell, author of the Shake Up Learning blog, for the inspiration needed to develop this resource!

HBHM2013 ♥

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Get Fancy with the Cool Text Generator

October28

Ever wish you could add some pizzazz to your Google Classroom posts? Well, now you can with the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ.

This nifty workaround is a copy and paste font generator that converts regular text to free cool fonts including 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤, ʄǟռƈʏ and 🅜🅞🅡🅔 that can be used on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, blog posts and yes, gσσgℓє ¢ℓαѕѕяσσм.

How does it work? Access the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ, select a font, click the 🅳🅴🅲🅾🆁🅰🆃🅴 button and customize your text. Once you dig the output, click the 🅲🅾🅿🆈 button and then 🅿🅰🆂🆃🅴 your $цpёя cѳѳг text wherever you need some good stuff.

In addition to sᴛʏʟɪsʜ fonts, the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ also offers some pretty neat ★·.·´¯`·.·★ tєхt dєcσrαtíσns ★·.·´¯`·.·★ and symbols that can be added to the mix as well.

So, the next time you want to impress your students, colleagues and/or friends, dial up the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ—or if you’d prefer the mobile version, check out the Fancy Text iOS app or the Fancy Text Android app.

*•.¸,¤°´✿.。.:* Nօȶɛ: Fancy text may not be compatible with all devices, screen readers and translators. *•.¸,¤°´✿.。.:*

ᑕᒪᗩᔕᔕᖇOOᗰ ᑕOᑎᑎEᑕTIOᑎ:

Grab your students’ attention with information that ✤ ѕтαɴdѕ αpαrт ✤ from the rest by using the ᑕOOᒪ ᖴᗩᑎᑕY TE᙭T GEᑎEᖇᗩTOᖇ.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Back in the Bloggoshere

October14

Russin showcasing new signage in our Media Center.

Yep, I’ve unfortunately been MIA in the bloggoshere for awhile…

But that doesn’t mean I’ve been completely absent on the edtech scene. In fact, quite the contrary. The last five months have been super busy with all kinds of new adventures that have been unfolding in my journey as an educator.

From finishing a three-year media center project to opening a third high-tech makerspace to supervising a student-run escape room business to developing a new concept known as Xscape EDU, one that is geared toward promoting breakout activities in the classroom, I’ve been on the move. And that’s not to mention all of the conferences, trainings and workshops I’ve been attending or the classes I’ve been facilitating at Penn State Altoona. Plus, our district has partnered with Modern Teacher in an effort to shift our traditional classrooms toward modern learning environments across the K-12 spectrum—a very in depth, time-consuming but extremely worthwhile process.

All good stuff, for sure, and nothing I would change… But I must admit that I really miss writing on this blog. My goal is to get back to one of the things that makes me happy so hopefully I will be able to carve out some time in this crazy schedule to do so!

In the meantime, be sure to follow Edutech for Teachers on Twitter and Facebook, two spaces where I regularly share valuable edtech resources and information.

Until next time… Be awesome! ♥

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
by posted under Misc | tagged under  |  No Comments »    

Tech or Treat: Spook-tacular Halloween Resources for the Classroom II

October14

Looking for some fun activities to celebrate Halloween in your classroom? Then look no further! Listed below is a recently updated version of some really spook-tacular educational Halloween resources that are sure to creep out your students—in a good way, of course!

Whether it’s writing prompts, science experiments, Halloween candy math, Edgar Allan Poe videos or haunted vocabulary, there’s something ghostly awaiting you right here, right now…

» Create Halloween Rebus Stories with Emojis and Google Docs

Generated by Eric Curts, this Halloween rebus activity can be used for students to create and/or read. (BTW: Anyone who grew up reading Highlights magazine in the dentist office waiting room will quickly recognize a rebus. Basically, it is a story in which some of the words are replaced by images.)

» Build a Jack-O-Lantern with Google Slides

Also generated by Eric Curts, this fun, and educational Google Slides activity is a great way for students to be creative and to work on writing skills by describing the Jack-O-Lantern they build with shapes and/or drawings of their own.

» Haunted House Escape

For the Breakout EDU junkies… Check out this spooky, musical, holiday-themed digital breakout game created by Aubrey Yeh. (Designed for middle school students but could work for upper elementary or high school as well.)

» Breakout EDU: Halloween

Check out three challenging yet fun hands-on games with a Halloween twist located on the Breakout EDU site.

» 6 Halloween Paper Circuit Projects

In this project tutorial, learn how to make six different Halloween paper circuit creations. Using parallel and simple circuits, students can bring these templates to life with copper tape, LEDs and batteries.

» 100 Free Halloween STEM Activities

A collection of 100 Halloween STEM activities that are completely free via Nick’s Picks for Educational Technology.

» 31 Days of Halloween STEM Activities and Projects

The STEAM Powered Family gathered 31+ science, tech, engineering and math activities that capture a child’s interest and imagination during this spooky season. And so many of them are perfect for our young scientists! Be sure to check out this spectacular STEM adventure projects!

» Free Halloween Music, Images, Videos, and Clipart for School Projects

Another collection of Halloween goodies from Nick’s Picks for Educational Technology.

» Halloween Activity Set

Get your classroom in the Halloween spirit with these math and science activities, writing ideas and crafts. This site, powered by Scholastic, includes Halloween-themed book lists to find a perfect read-aloud title or scary stories to share with your students for independent reading.

» Halloween Classroom Activities for Any Grade

To prepare for Halloween in your classroom, check out these Halloween classroom activities from Teach HUB for new ways to sneak in some spooky lessons and ghoulish learning!

» Halloween Lesson Ideas

Math… Pick a Pumkin… Bats in the Classroom… And Historical Figure Day, an alternative to the traditional Halloween hoopla. If you’re ready to celebrate Halloween in “spooktacular” fashion, you’re sure to find a fun idea or two right here on the Education World site.

» 30 Halloween Activities for the Classroom

A collection of nearly three dozen hands-on activities (with accompanying pictures) from the Proud to Be Primary blog.

» It’s Halloween!

A Pinterest board containing 90+ Halloween sites to celebrate Halloween by Edutopia.

» The Best Sites for Learning About Halloween

A collection of all things Halloween by Larry Ferlazzo—A visual history, slideshows, vocabulary and spelling games, cloze activities, Halloween Around the World and Mia Cadaver’s Tombstone Timeout, one of the most favorite games found on the BBC site and more!

» Halloween Activities

A variety of educational sites for Halloween by 19 Pencils.

» Tech-Themed Halloween Costume Ideas

Check out and/or share some pretty neat tech-inspired Halloween costume ideas on the Tech with Us Community Facebook thread found here. A shout out to Julie Goode Smith for generating this fun post!

Classroom Connection:
Use these resources to teach and learn about Halloween in fun and hands-on ways.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Diigo Weekly Bookmarks

June10

Check out this flashback—one of the most popular Diigo bookmark posts to date… Five super cool resources that can be used to locate and/or enhance images for educational purposes. Check ’em out below!

» PicJumbo

Totally free stock photos for educational, commercial and/or personal use. No attribution needed!

» Pixabay

A treasure trove of royalty-free images for use in all types of multimedia projects and classroom activities.

» Openclipart.org

High quality free clip art for use on all types of educational projects.

» PicResize

Resize, shrink, and crop pictures online for free before posting them to a blog, web page or social media site.

» Clipping Magic

Easily remove image backgrounds and/or create masks, cutouts and clipping paths with this quick and simple online tool.

The sites listed above are also excellent resources (my go-to places, actually) for locating background images to create all sorts of super cool quotes images such as this one…

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links can be found here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
« Older EntriesNewer Entries »

Hey, edu-tech gurus!

Looking for some technology integration ideas to enhance your classroom lessons? Then be sure to check out my "Tech Tips" for the latest and greatest Web 2.0 tools, applications and web sites that can be incorporated into activities and/or projects. Although some posts may not be applicable to your content area or grade level, be sure to check back often as I will be varying ideas in order to provide resources across the K-12 curriculum.

Be sure to add this awesome tool to your tech-box!

Follow Us on Facebook!

Follow Us on Scoop.it!

Where in the World?

Archives

Click on the badge to view the EdTech Magazine article.
Book Creator Ambassador badge
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


Subscribe By Email

Get every new post delivered right to your inbox.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Skip to toolbar