Mentimeter - Share Slides and Poll Your Class on One Screen

Mentimeter is an online polling and quiz tool that I've used since its launch over a decade ago. In that time it has evolved and added lots of helpful features for teachers. One of those features is the ability to broadcast your slides to your students' computers, tablets, and phones. Doing that makes it easy for students to follow along with your presentation and quickly access any polls or quiz questions that you've included in your slides. 

In this new, short video I demonstrate how you can use Mentimeter to share your slides with your students and conduct an open-ended poll. The video also shows you a student's view of a Mentimeter presentation and poll. 

50 Ideas for Summer Workshop Sessions

Are you a tech coach, tech integrator, or media specialist who has been asked to run some summer workshops for your staff? If so, I have a resource for you! I created 50 Tech Tuesday Tips with you in mind. 

50 Tech Tuesday Tips was curated from more than 400 editions of The Practical Ed Tech Newsletter. In 50 Tech Tuesday Tips you will find ideas for lots of helpful things that you can teach to your colleagues and to students. Throughout the eBook you'll find tutorials and handouts that you can pass along in your school. 

Some of the many things you'll find in 50 Tech Tuesday Tips include:

• What to do when a web app isn't working as you expect.
• Building your own search engine.
• How to create green screen videos.
• Improving instructional videos. 
• Streamlining email management.
• Creating educational games. 
• DIY app creation.
• Podcasting tips for teachers and students. 

Get your copy of 50 Tech Tuesday Tips right here!

DisplayNote - Broadcast Your Screen to Your Students' Computers

DisplayNote Broadcast is a free tool for broadcasting whatever is on your screen to the screens on your students' laptops, iPads, and phones. One of the best things about DisplayNote Broadcast is that it works on any computers and you don't have to install any software in order to use it. Additionally, your students don't need to be registered in order to view the broadcast from your computer on their devices. 

To use DisplayNote Broadcast you have to register for a free account. Once you've registered you can then just click the broadcast button to start broadcasting. A six digit code will be generated for you to share with your students. Students receive the broadcast by going to the DisplayNote Broadcast site and entering the six digit code generated by your broadcast. 

Watch this short video to see my demonstration of how DisplayNote Broadcast works on a teacher's computer and on a student's iPad.

Applications for Education

DisplayNote Broadcast is the type of tool that is great for getting all of your students to look at the same thing on your computer at the same time. I found this to be particularly useful when giving coding demonstrations to students as they could see things in more detail than just looking up at a projector screen. 

Digital Empowerment Journals for Students

A few weeks ago I shared a collection of resources for fun physical education activities. That collection featured free resources for National Field Day organized by OPEN PhysEd. OPEN is a public service funded by Varsity Brands who also offers some excellent free resources for teachers and students. One of those resources is a program called the  Believe In You Empowerment Program. 

The Believe In You Empowerment Program is available in versions for elementary school, middle school, and high school settings. Each version of the program includes journals for students to keep. Those journals are organized around themes of grit and enthusiasm. The full program has contains activities for forty weeks of short lessons. A grid of the SEL concepts covered in the forty works can be seen in this PDF. 

In addition to the journals and thought-based activities, the Believe In You Empowerment Program has some physical activities for students to do. These include fun group activities like a leadership dance party and charades. 

Applications for Education
While the Believe In You Empowerment Program comes from an organization that is focused on phys ed, the program could be used by just about any teacher who is interested in using it.

How to Download and Reuse Google Drive Files

Yesterday I published a post about using Google Takeout to download the contents of your Google Workspace account before leaving a job. If you only want or need a handful of files, there is an easier option than using Google Takeout. That option is to simply download the individual files in your Google Drive account that you want to save. 

In this short video I demonstrate how to download documents and slides from your Google Drive, store them on a computer, and then reuse them in a different Google account.