Adapting by Using Voice Commands in Google Docs

As I mentioned in my post about how medicine works, I injured my right hand on Friday evening. There are stitches in my hand which make it hard to type or use a mouse. To adapt, I'm slowly using a mouse with my left hand and using my voice to type in Google Docs. So far the only drawback to voice typing in Google Docs is that I can't play music on my computer at the same time without the input getting garbled. If you've never tried voice typing in Google Docs, watch my video embedded below to see how easy it is to use.

How the Human Body Processes Medicine

As some of you may have seen on Instagram, I injured my right hand on Friday evening. After looking at the cuts on my hand, the emergency room doctor prescribed a round of antibiotics and a mild pain reliever. So it was with some extra interest that I watched a new TED-Ed lesson titled How Does Your Body Process Medicine? The lesson teaches viewers how medicine swallowed as pills end up in the bloodstream and how the medicine targets an ailment. Viewers also learn about the many variables that can affect the speed and efficacy of a medication in a patient.

The video from the lesson is embedded below.

Dream Seeds - A New eBook of Writing Prompts from Make Beliefs Comix

Plant Your Dream Seeds is a new eBook from Make Beliefs Comix. The book is a fillable PDF in which students can write their responses to the prompts within the free eBook. The prompts in Plant Your Dream Seeds are intended to get students thinking about their hopes and dreams for the future. The book also includes prompts to help students think about how to achieve their dreams.

Plant Your Dream Seeds is the latest of nine free eBooks from Make Beliefs Comix. All of the books are fillable PDFs that feature thematic writing prompts.

Applications for Education
All of the Make Beliefs Comix eBooks provide a nice source of writing prompts for elementary school and middle school students. If your classroom does not have enough computers for every student, you can print the eBooks of writing prompts for students to complete by hand.

The Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts

Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining, the grass is finally green, and pollen is coating any car left outside overnight. I hope that it is equally nice wherever you are this weekend.

As the weather turns decidedly toward summer many of us are thinking about professional development opportunities. I'm going to a couple of events for my own professional development. And I'm also hosting a couple of events. Tickets are still available for the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp and the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp. Both events are happening in July.

Here are the week's most popular posts:
1. 7 Blogging Tools for Teachers Compared and Ranked
2. 5 Google Calendar Tips for New Users
3. 21 Real World Math Lessons for High School Students
4. DocsTeach Adds New Analysis Activities for Students
5. How to Disable Google Drive Email Notifications
6. Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality
7. How to Create Gmail Filters

Looking for a keynote or workshop? Click here to learn about my professional development services.

I am currently offering five online courses:

• Getting Going With G Suite is a five week course that offers a graduate credit option. 
• Teaching History With Technology is a three week course for middle school and high school social studies teachers. 
• Blogs & Social Media for Teachers and School Leaders is a three week course that walks you through how to create blogs and use social media to engage your community. 
• Practical Ed Tech Jumpstart is the course for anyone who has looked at the educational technology landscape and wondered, "where do I start?" 
• Finally, by request, I am offering from Blog to Job - A Teacherpreneur Jumpstart.

Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.

Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.

Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards.

QuickKey saves teachers tons of time when scoring formative assessments.

WriteReader is a fantastic multimedia writing tool for elementary school students.

Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.

PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.

Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.

My Simpleshow provides a great way to create explanatory videos.

Two Ways to Add Audio to Google Slides

In yesterday's Practical Ed Tech Live session I answered a question that I seem to be getting asked a lot lately. That question is, "do you know how to add audio to Google Slides." You can add audio to Google Slides if you use YouTube or Google Drive to host videos that contain audio tracks. In the videos below I explain and demonstrate how you can add audio to your Google Slides presentations.



And if you just want to make an audio slideshow that plays on its own, you can use the YouTube Audio Slideshow creator. My video below shows you how to use it.