Table Formatter Provides an Easy Way to Style Google Docs Tables

Table Formatter is a free Google Docs Add-on that lets you add a little color to your tables in Google Docs. With the Add-on installed simply choose a color scheme from the menu and choose the size of your table. You can mix and math color schemes within the same document.

Applications for Education
The table tool is one of the Google Docs tools that tends to get overlooked. It's a useful tool for quickly creating charts. I have long used it to give organization to group notes during jigsaw reading activities.

A Geography Quiz Created With YouTube Annotations

On Saturday I shared directions for creating annotations in YouTube videos along with an example of using that feature to create a choose-your-own-adventure series of videos. This week, through Maps Mania, I found another way to use the annotations feature in YouTube.

The Topo Quiz Western Europe uses YouTube's annotations feature to create a video quiz about European capitals. Each video in the series shows an outline map of an area and displays a list of capital cities. Viewers have to click the name of the capital city to move forward in the quiz. If a viewer clicks the wrong answer he or she will be sent back the same video to try again.


Applications for Education
The quiz itself is challenging, but it might not be the most engaging quiz your students will take this week. That said, it is a great example of what can be done with YouTube's annotations tools.

You could have students use the YouTube annotations tools to create a video tour of capital cities, countries, or other geographic features on a map.

Try Doodle for Choosing Mutually Convenient Meeting Times

Throughout the school year we'll schedule what seems like countless meetings with various people including colleagues, students, parents, and outside consultants. Trying to choose a mutually acceptable meeting time can quickly become a mess of email replies. Doodle provides an easier way than using email chains to choose mutually acceptable meeting times. Doodle is essentially a polling platform for selecting meeting times. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how easy it is to use Doodle.com.

How to Duplicate and Edit Public Kahoot Quizzes

Over the last couple of years Kahoot has become a popular service in schools all over the world. Kahoot makes it easy for teachers to create review games. The format of playing the games makes it fun for kids to review content and concepts.

One of the features of Kahoot that I frequently demonstrate in my workshops is the option to duplicate and edit quizzes that teachers have contributed to the public Kahoot quiz gallery. Duplicating and editing existing quizzes can save you a lot of time when you need to find a quick review activity for your students. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to find, duplicate, and edit quizzes in Kahoot's public quiz gallery.


Applications for Education
Kahoot provides a fun way to gather feedback from a group through their phones, iPads, Chromebooks, or any other device that has a web browser and an Internet connection. You can include pictures and or videos as part of each question that you create and share in a Kahoot activity. Players are awarded points for answering correctly and quickly. Or you can turn off the points system to use Kahoot in a non-competitive environment.