Getting Started with G Suite - Mysteries Solved with This New eBook

This is a guest post from Avra Robinson (@AvraRachel), Director of Online Learning for EdTechTeacher.

When teachers or students begin to explore new digital environments, they often become confused and frustrated because they lack the basic building blocks needed to feel comfortable and proficient - whether it is the vocabulary of the app, toolbars that seem to randomly appear and disappear, or workflow that seemingly defies the laws of organization. However, there are some simple concepts and lessons that can help increase success with technology.

Sometimes when we’ve been teaching concepts for a long time or using tools for what seems like forever, it’s hard to remember what it feels like to just get started. In other words, we have to work really hard to see a lesson through the eyes of a beginner. As a professional development instructor, participants often tell me that they wish someone could just break down some of these basic skills and concepts, not only for them but also for their students.

With that in mind, I decided to create this eBook - 3 Mysteries of Utilizing G Suite with Newbies - to introduce many of the concepts and skills necessary to ease the transition into G Suite for Education. Whether you are a teacher working with students, a technology coach working with teachers, or someone new to Google tools, I hope that exploring the ideas within this book will help you build a strong foundation for future success!

3 Mysteries of Utilizing G Suite with Newbies

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.com

A Fun App for Learning About Money

Money Math Duel is an iPad app and Android app designed to help students learn to count currency. The app is unique in that it allows two students to use it at the same time. Students place the iPad between them and each has his or her own end of the screen to use. Students "compete" head-to-head to count money quickly and accurately. The app gives students different amounts to count so that they can't copy each other's work. The app also lets students adjust individual settings to change colors and default currency denominations. As David Kapuler wrote in his blog post about it, this makes it "fair" for students of different abilities to play the same game.

Applications for Education
Money Math Duel could be a good app to use in an elementary school math lesson on addition and subtraction of money.

The iPad version of Money Math Duel is currently free to download. The Android version is not free. I've used other apps from this developer in which the pricing was reversed and the iPad version was paid and the Android version was free. Perhaps in the future we'll see that switch again. In the meantime, grab the free iPad app Money Math Duel.

Thanks again to David Kapuler for sharing this app. Check out his blog for other good app recommendations. 

Gradebooks, Flipgrid, and Voicepods - The Week in Review

Good morning from chilly Paris Hill, Maine where it's a crisp 7F as write this. In the category of "things I never did before having kids" today we're going to look at a big Christmas tree display and to see Santa. It should be fun even if it takes thirty minutes to get the kids into snowsuits to go outside. Wherever you are this weekend, I hope that you can get outside to do something fun too.

These were the week's most popular posts:
1. A New Gradebook for Google Classroom!
2. Turn Text to Speech With the Voicepods Chrome Extension
3. Free Environment Data Fact Sheets and Posters from the UN
4. How to Add Videos to Google Slides Without Using YouTube
5. Ten Resources for Teaching and Learning About Pearl Harbor
6. 120 Free Winter-themed Reading Lesson Plans
7. How to Upload Videos to Reply to Flipgrid Topics

Three Online PD Courses Starting in January

I'm offering three professional development courses to start 2019. Discounted early registration is now open for:

• Video Projects for Every Classroom
• Getting Going With G Suite
• Teaching History With Technology

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.

Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.
Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.
TypingClub offers more than 600 typing lessons for kids.
Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards.
University of Maryland Baltimore County offers a great program on instructional design.

Seterra offers a huge selection of geography games for students. 

How to Download Google Docs

It is not a secret that I'm a devoted Google Docs user. Since the first time that I tried it, I've done nearly all of my writing in Google Documents. Even when I was writing for a magazine that required all submissions to be in Word format, I wrote in Google Documents. I was able to do that because Google makes it easy to download your Google Docs in Word, PDF, TXT, HTML, and EPUB format. To download a Google Document in one of those formats simply open the File drop-down menu in Google Docs then select "Download as..." This short video that I made demonstrates how to download Google Documents.


Applications for Education
If you ever find yourself needing to send a document to someone who refuses to use Google Documents, downloading that document as a PDF or Word file is a simple solution. I often use the "Download as PDF" option for easier printing and distribution of handouts.

Learn more about Google Docs in my upcoming course, Getting Going With G Suite in 2019.

This TED-Ed Lesson Explains What Causes Heartburn - No, It's Not Your Kids

At one time or another we've all suffered from a bout of heartburn. It usually happens to me if I drink soda pop (sometime the allure of a cold can of Coke on a hot day is too strong to resist). What else can cause heartburn? And what is actually happening in your body when you experience heartburn? Those are the questions that are answered the TED-Ed lesson What Causes Heartburn? The lesson includes excellent drawings that illustrate how stomach acid gets back up into your esophagus. The lesson also covers the lifestyle habits and diets that contribute to heartburn.


Applications for Education
This lesson could be a good fit for a health class in which students are learning about the effects of diet and nutrition. The lesson could also be a good fit in a science class in which students are studying anatomy and physiology.