Your Next Read - Webs of Book Recommendations

Your Next Read is a site that provides you with a web of book recommendations based on the authors and books you already like. Here's how it works; type in the title of a book you like or author you like and Your Next Read will provide you with a web of books that might also enjoy. Click on any of the books appearing the web to create another new web. Below you'll see the web of recommendations that appeared when I typed in Gary Paulsen's Hatchet.

Applications for Education
Your Next Read could be a great resource for teachers that are trying to locate fiction works that their students might enjoy. Rather than having to rely on your own list of books, you can have students name books they've enjoyed in the past and instantly find some other appealing titles. 

Best of the Web Summer 2018

This morning I had the privilege to visit the Lewis County C1 School District in Missouri. One of the presentations that I gave there was the latest version of my popular Best of the Web presentation. The presentation is broken into four sections. Those sections are creating and remixing, workflow and classroom management, exploring and learning, and checking for understanding.


Having trouble viewing the slides? Click here. 

If you would like to have me visit your school this year, please send me an email at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com or click here for more information.

An Animated Shark Tracking Map - How Far Do Sharks Roam?

Years ago I included a shark tracking Google Earth layer in my workshop about Google Earth. It provided a good example of how Google Earth can be used in science classes. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find that file for a couple of years now and even if I did find the data is outdated now. That's why I was excited when I saw the Maps Mania blog post a link to a new shark tracking map.

The Global Fishing Watch map includes an animated layer that displays the movement of tagged sharks off of the east coast of the United States. The map contains records for 45 tagged sharks. You can find shark tracks by clicking on one of the small placemarkers on the map. When you select a shark you will see the entire path of travel for that shark. The timeline slider at the bottom of the map lets you select a timespan for the tracking of the shark. The play button on the timeline will replay the travel of the shark in the Atlantic ocean.

Applications for Education
The Global Fishing Watch map of tagged sharks could be great for showing students how far a shark will travel in a typical year and or over the course of its lifetime. The map itself doesn't display the distance the sharks travel. To figure out the actual distance you will need to copy the coordinates of a shark's locations into Google Earth (web or desktop version will work) and then measure the distance traveled.

How to Manage Installed Chrome Extensions

During a workshop that I was leading this week someone asked me how she could remove some of the extension icons that were displayed in her Chrome browser. The simple solution is to right-click on the extension icon and then choose the option to either hide or remove the extension. Hiding it will just hide it from view without disabling it or uninstalling it. Choosing the option to remove an extension will uninstall it. Watch the following video that I made to show how to manage your installed Chrome extensions.

Google Classroom, Jeopardy, and Scratch - The Week in Review

Good evening from Paris Hill, Maine where I'm home after a week on the road in which I facilitated professional development for teachers in Kansas and Illinois. Next week I'll be in Missouri. If you would like to have me visit your school in the new school year, please get in touch. I only have two openings left for 2018, but I have more availability in 2019. Speaking of the new school year, I hope that those of you who started school this week had a great start to the year!

These were the week's most popular posts:
1. Two New Google Classroom Features Available to Everyone
2. How to Create a Jeopardy-style Game in Google Slides
3. A Free Presidential Timeline Poster for Your Classroom
4. 56 Examples of Using Scratch Across the Curriculum
5. Add Music to Play Continuously in a Google Slides Presentation
6. How to Record Audio in Google Slides
7. Take a Look at Microsoft's Free Hands-on STEM Lesson Plans and Projects

Only Two Days Left!

As I write this, I only have two days left in my 2018 workshop calendar. If you would like to have me lead a professional development day at your school in November or December, please get in touch ASAP. I can be reached at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com - more information is available here.

Book Me for Your Conference

I’ve given keynotes at conferences from Australia to Alaska for groups of all sizes from 50 to 2,000+. My keynotes focus on providing teachers and school administrators with practical ways to use technology to create better learning experiences for all students. I like to shine the light on others and so I often share examples of great work done by others as well as my own. Send an email to richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com book me today.

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