April 25, 2017

I have found myself multitasking more and more as the school year winds down. This is the time of the year when I am either running on full-stress ahead mode or find myself doing tasks that are mind-numbing such as scanning in every single book and item to complete inventory.

To help break things up.....and to use my time as wisely as possible, I have started to listen to webinar podcast while I work. When I am scanning in books or driving long distances, listening to podcast helps keep my mind active and I find myself learning while I work or drive. I have my guilty pleasure podcast that are purely enjoyable (looking at you Hardcore History and Working by Slate) ....but I wanted to share one designed specifically for educator’s.....YouMediaNetwork Learning Labs.

YouMedia Learning Labs is “an open community of educators & mentors who share knowledge, questions, and collaborate with colleagues... across the network.”

They have several webinar podcast you can listen to that range from 5 to 30 minutes long. Some of the topics include Makerspaces, student engagement, prose/ poetry, and more.

Click here to listen:

https://goo.gl/QUW0YW 

April 25, 2017

The Not So Sexy Google Apps

by Gail Ramirez

Earlier this year, I attended the wonderful M.A.C.E. conference in Manhattan Kansas. One of the workshops I attended was by Gail Ramirez who is a Google Educator Trainer and works for the Topeka School District. Her presentation covered all of the Google Apps that don’t get as much attention as the big five (Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Forms).
In her presentation, she talks about the lesser known Google Apps and how they can be used collaboratively within a class curriculum. She shared a presentation that breaks down each one of these apps into a brief summary of what they do and a tutorial video of how to use it.
I would encourage everyone to take a look at her presentation and discover one or two Google Apps you can use in your classroom.

The presentation can be accessed here:
https://goo.gl/lfXTHv