Click on any of the tools below to see a quick tutorial of the different tools in Photoshop 2019.

 This PDF includes links to video tutorials and free apps for Mac and PC. The tutorials will show you how to use the apps to download a YouTube video without the accompanying ads, and if needed, cut a snippet of it to share with your students.

In Webjets, users create boards where they gather items on cards, placing these on a desktop that feels like a bulletin board. Its similar to the Padlet app but does a few more things for you.  On Webjets a card can contain an  image, an embedded video, a live Google Doc, an attached file, or a table containing a variety of elements organized into columns. I think best feature is that cards can be collected into folders, where the items are listed along the left, and the selected item appears in a larger window on the right. You can keep multiple folders on one board, and all cards can be collapsed or expanded, making it easy to neatly collect large amounts of resources all in one place. Check out the video below to see  Webjets in action or click on the button above to create your own free account. Just sign in with your google account.  

This is a backchannel chat app that allows you to set up a free chat room for your students. Just give your students the URL, and everyone can come on in and chat just like they did on TodaysMeet. What’s even better is that you can password protect your room, participants can add pictures and drawings in the chat, and rooms don’t appear to ever expire.

Are you always looking for great ideas, lesson material, or free stuff to use in your classroom? Then do I have a site for you? WeAre Teachers is a new site I have found and it seems great. One of the articles I liked was this one, "19 Times Teaching Is Exactly Like The Walking Dead". Give this site a chance.

UCET is a great opportunity to go and see what other teachers are doing in their classrooms. To see how you too could incorporate tech into your classroom. Talk with your principal about attending this great conference. 

I want to thank Jessica Evans for providing information about this awesome resource.  If you're wanting to teach your students how to be internet safe and have good digital citizenship skills than this resource is for you.  It has a fantastic interactive platform that engages students and provides incentives for completing the modules.  There are several resources for the teacher to easily implement the material into the classroom.  Check out the video in the buttons below to learn more.                    

Step 1: Take a photo of a page of text with your phone or camera.

Step 2:  Drag the photo into your Google Drive. Then right mouse click or control click on the photo and choose "Open with with - Google Docs."

Step 3:  Google docs will open your image, and also do OCR (optical character recognition) on the photo and put editable text below the image.  It's not always 100% accurate, but its pretty close. 

    I have purchased a couple of programs to help track my family's expenses. The first one was a Microsoft program and I really liked it, but they discounted the program. Then I switched to another program, but it tried to help me too much and didn't let me control things the way I wanted. Since then I have tried some other free online options and they too are good, but not what I wanted. So, recently I built my own spreadsheet and set things up the way I wanted them to go. I will continue to modify it to meet my needs and wants. 
   This is why I like Excel, and I also feel that it is an underused program.  I thought I might share some tools to help you all learn to use it some more.

Are you pushing your student's to seize their day? Are you pushing them to reach their greatest potential, or are we stuck pushing them through a system? As the year is coming to an end I challenge us all to reach out to our students and help them see their potential and strive to seize it. 

Classroom is an iOS app designed for the iPad which allows teachers to view, remote control, and transfer files to students in their classes. The app is designed as a companion for Schoolwork, which allows teachers to assign activities to students. If you would like to learn how to use the Classroom app or Schoolwork app in your class please fill out the form below.

Here is a cool idea I thought I would share with you all. You will have to ignore the items he paints, but the way he does his painting is cool. 
​

Word Clouds are a type of graph or image composed of words used in a specific text or subject.   The size of the word indicates its frequency and importance. The bigger and more bold the word is the more important it is and the smaller words are those that are of less importance and also show up less frequently.  Teachers can use word clouds to compare and contrast pre-reading to post-reading, as an idea generator, as a cover for a book read in class, or as a word map.  Below is a list of word cloud generator tools. Enjoy!

Computers are here, and they are becoming a larger part of our everyday life. They are in our cars, TVs, appliances, and jobs. Careers in the computer science field are growing. Have you ever thought about how coding could help your students learn your curriculum? Have you been afraid that you don't know anything about coding, and how could you teach it to your students? Well, I challenge you to take a course from CodeHS and learn it yourself.  This is a simple to use, web-based learning platform. There are videos explaining the steps you are going to learn. Questions to see if you understand what you have watched, and practice to try what you have learned. 
When you have completed a course stop and think about how you could use this in your curriculum. Let's help our students find their passions for life.

CS First is a coding curriculum provided by Google.  It uses a program called scratch to teach students how to code.  Even if your not familiar with coding you can teach and learn along with your students.  CS First has a step by step guide with instruction and activities that allows almost anyone to add coding into their classes. The CS First kit includes lesson plans and solution sheets for the teacher, as well as fun passports and stickers for the students. Check out what its all about at CS First.

Jamboard is a digital collaborative whiteboard app that integrates with everything in a google apps for education account. You can access the web version by going to www.jamboard.com, or download the iOS app from the app store.  The iOS app has a bit more features and functionality then the web version.  Through the iOS app a teacher can import google drive files and folders, and import pictures and videos. You can also use the app's drawing features which are not included in the web version.  Whatever you put on the iPad will sync directly to the app on the web.  It's easy to share a Jam with students so that groups or whole classes can collaborate together.  Check out the videos below!

This is a chrome extension that allows you to insert instructional content into any webpage.   You start by going to almost any web page, then highlight text, add notes, and embed your own questions—either multiple-choice or open-ended—that students answer right on the page. You can also embed other content like YouTube videos, ThingLink images, flashcards from Quizlet, mind maps from Coggle, even your own recorded videos.  Once a lesson is created, assign it to a class of students with a special code or through Google Classroom, and student responses are sent to a teacher dashboard, where you can grade them right inside the app. You can also share lessons with other teachers, so they can copy and edit them for their own use. Easily monitor student responses and annotations during class. TO get started go to the chrome webstore to download the extension. I've included a short tutorial below.

This is a Buncee presentation I created just to try it out. 

Jessica Evans shared this site with us, and Tom and I felt that it is a great resource for teachers. This is a source that provides pictures that students can use, and not worry about the other junk that comes with other search engines. It is pretty safe, I tried to search for common things that I have seen student search for that brought up inappropriate stuff. I couldn't with Kiddle.  However, not all of the pictures are great works of art either.  The best thing is that you can have your kids search and be safe.

Sheets2Gcal is a Google sheets add-on that allows you to put several calendar events into a spreadsheet and then quickly add them to your Google Calendar saving you time from adding the events individually. Just follow the video tutorial below.

Here are two good articles I recently read that I enjoyed reading about SBG. I wanted to share them with you. 

As this has been a long cold winter I felt a little reminder of what is coming soon would be fun. Also can you ever go wrong with the King? I hope you enjoy this clip. 

Tired of keeping track of all your passwords?  Do you want to ensure security for all your data?  LastPass password manager lets you create one masterpassword and autofills unique passwords for all other sites. LastPass works across all devices including mac and pc.  Also add the chrome, safari, and firefox extension to keep all your passwords in sync no matter what browser your using.  Click on the LastPass icon to check it out.

I recently found this article on a website called "Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler".  Some interesting food for thought.  Click on the link at the end of the article if you have any ideas to add. 

I am going to be honest; I get a little annoyed at this idea that we have to be harsh with students in order to prepare them for the “real world.” First, we teach kids. We don’t need to bring down the harshness of the world upon them. Plenty of time for them to learn that. Secondly, much of what we say is the “real world” really is not.
School does not mimic the real world. So how exactly does that prepare them for the real world?
I’ve recently been going back and forth with some people on Twitter about students having a pencil. Truth, most of the time when I need a pencil I do not have one and I have to ask to borrow one. The number of times as an adult that I have had consequences over not having a pencil or a pen = 0.
If we want to stand on the idea that “in the real world…. ” and use that as an excuse to break down relationships with students rather than build kids up, here are some real world truths.
In the real world, we look things up on Google.
In the real world, YouTube is one of the most popular tools for learning.
In the real world, collaborating is not cheating.
In the real world, finding information on the internet is a resource.
In the real world, my job does not ask me things I can Google. I need to use critical thinking.
In the real world, a lot of people show me a lot of mercy. I have forgotten my keys at home a million times and the secretary just let me in. I have forgotten to charge my laptop and my pay was not deducted. I have been late to school, and I did not get detention, the principal kindly covered my class. In the real world… there is a lot of MERCY!
In the real world, I use my phone for everything.
In the real world, I have choices.
In the real world, knowing spreadsheets is an important skill.
In the real world, I need to know how to clearly communicate ideas, not how to regurgitate information.
In the real world, I can use EasyBib for citations and Google Translate.
In the real world, not all adults do work work at home every night. In fact most adults I know, do not take their work home with them.
What are some examples of “in the real world” that contradict common school practices? Contribute them here.

​In the Real World.... - Teacher Tech"In The Real World.... - Teacher Tech." Teacher Tech. N. p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2019.

Metaverse is an augmented reality platform that allows students to create AR experiences and then view them on the Metaverse app available on iOS, Android, and Chromebooks or on their website.  Students and teachers can create AR experiences for any subject and grade level. Examples include scavenger hunts, virtual field trips, AR quizzes, games, and interactive stories. Check out this short tutorial below.

Enjoy this safety advice on how to avoid being ripped off.

www.loom.com
Loom is a new and free screencasting tool made by Google. It is currently a google chrome extension. Loom will help teachers communicate quickly through instantly shareable videos. Best of all there is no limit to how long the videos can be. Check out the video below on how to use Loom.

Google Canvas
Chrome canvas is a sketch/drawing app which allows users to draw, write down notes, doodle, etc. The app has four different drawing tools as well as a large variety of colors the user can select from. A great bonus to the app is that
it is free! The app is very easy to access. In fact, users do not even need to download it. Rather, users login to their
Google account and all of their work will automatically be saved. The following video will guide new users through
how to access Chrome Canvas as well as provide more information. Explore what this app has to offer.

Backup your Photos with the Google Photos!
The Google Photos app, Backup and Sync is a great way to store all of your photos.  The best part is its free!  This short video tutorial will walk you through how to set up the app and how to sync it with your phone and computer. It will also sync with apple photos as well.

1. ) In a contest, four fruits (an apple, a banana, an orange, and a pear) have been placed in four closed boxes (one fruit per box). People may guess which fruit is in which box. 123 people participate in the contest. When the boxes are opened, it turns out that 43 people have guessed none of the fruits correctly, 39 people have guessed one fruit correctly, and 31 people have guessed two fruits correctly.
The Question: How many people have guessed three fruits correctly, and how many people have guessed four fruits correctly?


2.) I am slim and tall, 
Many find me desirable and appealing. 
They touch me and I give a false good feeling. 
Once I shine in splendor, 
But only once and then no more. 
For many I am "to die for". 
What am I?

“Riddles.” Riddles.com, www.riddles.com/.

A little motivation to help get you through the rest of the school year.

Toontastic 3D for Android and iOs lets students draw, annotate, and narrate your own cartoons. Toontastic will record your voice and compile the animation into a 3D video.  Students have many options to choose from to create their own adventure story including many characters and built in audio soundtracks. Best of all its free. 

 "My desire to help teachers make good decisions as to how to make the pedagogy drive the technology, and not the other way around, that led to the birth of the Padagogy Wheel." ("The Padagogy Wheel - It's Not About The Apps, It's About The Pedagogy -", 2018)

Jessica Evans shared this wheel with me and suggested I share it in this month's newsletter. I am grateful to her for sharing this with me. It caused me to do more research and learning about this wheel, the philosophy behind it. I think that it goes along with everything that we are working to do here in Duchesne County School District. I encourage you to take some time to look at the information presented here and fit it into your teacher's toolbox.

There are five turkeys hidden in this picture. See if you can find them. The one in the attic doesn't count. 

"So I can offer you’re school district  the State Per Diem rate of $85.00 at the Fairfield Inn. Your rate here at the Hampton Inn is $95.00.
Also,  for the next two months we are offering a shopping special for all your district employees."
 Fairfield  Inn by Marriott    $75.00 per night!
Hampton Inn  by Hilton       $85.00 per night!
Teachers and Staff, this is from Terri Killian and if you could use this what a great deal for us all. 
​

Teachers I have recently come across two complete sets of SmartResponse Clickers. I have tested them a little. They seem to work. If you are interested in a set for your class, let me know. 
​jsasser@dcsd.org

If you need to create a quick Google Doc, Sheet, Slide there is a simple solution.
"type in the address bar doc.new, sheet.new, and slides.new​ to open a brand new document in your drive without going into drive to create a new document."

            Google slide add-on of the week:
                           Unsplash
​
Insert free, HD photos from Unsplash easily in any Slides presentation.Insert free, HD photos from Unsplash easily in any Slides presentation.Open a new slides presentation then click on Add-ons in the top menu and select get add-ons.  Search for Unsplash and add to your account. Search for photos in the sidebar to the right of your slides document.

Teachers this I believe could be a great tool for determining if a text is too hard for our students. I remember giving reading assignments and then wondering why so many kids struggled to understand what they read. The truth was the text was too difficult for them. 
Also with the ability to analyze the text and determine which words the kids may not understand or struggle with. You can be proactive and help them before hand. So try this site out, and best of all it's free. 

                                             https://wordsift.org/

This is a web site for allowing you and your students to be creative. Comics, greeting cards, ebooks, and other items.  

Apple's Classroom App turns your iPad into a powerful classroom management tool. Teachers can guide student work, share work, and manage student devices all in one place. Facilitate individual, group, and whole-class activities with just a few taps.
To find more resouces about how to use the Classroom App go to https://appleteacher.apple.com and sign in using your apple ID, then click on the links for the Classroom App.  If you would like training or help in getting Apple Classroom setup contact Tom or James.

If you need help from the tech department. This is were you need to go to submit a ticket for us, Help Ticket. Once you are at the help ticket site you need to click on the active directory button. 
Also when you submit a ticket the more information you can give us the better. So fill in all  of the boxes.