Office 365 School

Even though Google seems to be taking over the world and in every nook and cranny of our lives, Monticello is still an Office 365 school. There are advantages to Google, but one of those is not their support. The allure of the Chromebook is ever-present and probably will not go away anytime soon because google is so big and a lot of what they do is free or free for a limited time. The truth is that Chromebooks do not last. They are however, easily replaceable and turnover is high.

Office 365 has support. Online support, in-person support, and countless videos online you can watch on Google owned Youtube. Part of that support are these hard copy paper tents of keyboard shortcuts I have attached to this post.

Office shortcut          

Word Shortcuts

PowerPoint shortcuts

Outlook shortcut

Excel shortcut

Think flipped learning is going away?

think again. Here is a list of 87 flipped learning resources currently used by educators all over the world.
Reprinted from The Tech Edvocate with permission

The traditional model of teachers lecturing in the classroom and students completing practice and homework on their own is changing. Instead, students are learning on their own and using the classroom as a place to dig more deeply into what they’ve learned. This model, known as the flipped classroom, is gaining popularity thanks to the rise of EdTech.

How does the flipped classroom work? Students watch lecture videos or complete readings at home. The following day in class, the teacher clarifies anything students didn’t understand. Students then collaborate with the information to answer questions, complete projects and do other activities that used to be reserved for homework.

The flipped classroom provides benefits for students and teachers alike. Teachers spend more time helping students with the content they don’t understand. This means more one-on-one help for students and less time listening to boring lectures in class.

How can you establish a flipped classroom? Thankfully there are tons of edtech tools that will do the heavy lifting for you, and also walk you through the process. In this article, we will discuss 87 edtech tools that are perfect for the flipped classroom.

PlayPosit– Allows you to create interactive videos for your flipped classroom.
EdPuzzle– Create excellent videos for your flipped classroom. Comes with amazing editing tools.
Screencastify– Screen recording tool that creates dynamic videos for the flipped classroom.
TES Teach with Blendspace– Develop basic videos for your class. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to create interactive videos.
Verso– Allows you to elicit feedback from the students in your flipped classroom. Easy to use.
ClassFlow– Allows you to create dynamic presentations and assessments for your flipped classroom.
Prepmagic– Provides students with science simulations that promote learning.
Codecademy– The site contains a large cache of science simulations.
Khan Academy– With over 40,000 interactive Common Core aligned practice questions and over 10,000 videos and explanations in math, science, and more, Khan Academy is the perfect app for students of all ages to study.
Edheads– Awe inspiring simulations deliver superb science content.
PhET Interactive Simulations– Large repository of science and math simulations.
NOVA– Amazing science videos that would be perfect for the flipped classroom.
Redbird Mathematics– Adaptive math resources for flipped or blended classrooms.
Ted-Ed– Premade educational videos that can be used as supplemental instruction.
BrainPOP Jr.– Quality educational videos a blessing for teachers.
Brightstorm– Video lessons for kids who need help with their homework.
Matygo – A solution for flipping your classroom.
HippoCampus– Presentations and lectures that can serve as supplemental instruction.
Virtual Nerd– Video tutorials that can help you flip your math classroom.
Edheads– Awe inspiring simulations deliver superb science content.
WeVideo– Quality editing site makes video creation simple and collaborative.
Animoto– Make cool video slide shows with simple, flexible features.
GoAnimate for Schools– Produce professional grade animations with this easy to operate tool.
Explee– Create cool, engaging whiteboard animations with Web-based tool.
iMovie–This is one of the most popular video-making apps, and it is only $4.99 for iPhone and iPad.
Zaption– A tool that turns online videos into engaging lessons.
G Suite– The ability to collaborate on Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and the rest have been very helpful for not only group projects, but also facilitating flipped classrooms.
Video Mixer Pro–This app claims to be “the most simple and easy to use the app for merging videos and audio.”
Chalkup– Brilliant LMS tool that facilitates classroom discussion and collaboration.
Noodle – Online learning just got smarter.
Education Elements – A trailblazer in the area of blended learning.
Schoology – Comprehensive learning management tool.
Coursekit – Basic, yet powerful learning management system.
Time to Know – Online learning and teaching platform.
Haiku – A simple, yet robust
eLearning Brothers– Helps anyone develop game and courses for online delivery.
2tor – Allows you to deliver traditional lessons online.
K12 – Online learning for K-12 learners.
Memrise – Online learning platform.
Comment Bubble– Video-response tool that allows you to give students simple feedback.
GoSoapBox– Simple, easy to use web-based clicker tool gives instant feedback.
PollFlipgrid– Ask questions, spark introspective multimedia responses with outstanding tool.
GoClass– Give powerful interactive lessons to kids via their mobile devices.
EverywhereTodaysMeet– Simple online conversations allow teachers and their students to communicate outside of the classroom.
Piazza– Cutting edge Q&A tool facilitates discussion and develops critical thinking skills.
ClassTag– ClassTag is a cloud-based app that helps schools engage parents in their community and improve the quality of family support in education
ParentSquare– Multipurpose communication tool promotes parent involvement.
Athena’s Workshop– Texting platform for students, parents; has additional classroom features.
ClassPager– Send basic text reminders and surveys to students’ cell phones.
MURAL– Message boards that help kids collaborate.
Engrade – Bring all of the stakeholders in education together.
Goalbook – Allows all of the stakeholders in education to collaborate.
tGlogser – A must have multimedia system for educational stakeholders.
Celly – An app to tries to perfect school communication.
Noodle – Online learning just got smarter.
Education Elements – A trailblazer in the area of blended learning.
Schoology – Comprehensive learning management tool.
Coursekit – Basic, yet powerful learning management system.
Time to Know – Online learning and teaching platform.
Haiku – A simple, yet robust
OpenStudy– An online tutoring and studying app.
Brightstorm – Affordable test prep and free tutoring.
Student of Fortune– Online tutoring and homework help.
StudySync – Elearning that inspires scholarship.
Skillshare– Helps people learn anything, anywhere.
Coursera – Free courses from the world’s best universities.
Udemy– Elearning classes taught by experts.
eLearning Brothers– Helps anyone develop game and courses for online delivery.
2tor – Allows you to deliver traditional lessons online.
K12 – Online learning for K-12 learners.
Memrise – Online learning platform.
Duolingo – Free access to online language learning.
WizIQ – Elearning resources.
Mingoville – Learn English online.
Sophia – Online learning platform for learning new skills.
Spongelab– An online learning community for the field of science.
eduFire – A learning community that happens to be online.
BenchPrep – Online test prep.
Magoosh – Online test prep in the form of a personal tutor.
The Education Arcade– A collection of online learning games.
Edmodo– Platform that facilitates communication between educational stakeholders.
Remind– Is a free way to instantly text students and parents from your phone.
Video Editor AndroMedia– Only available for Android devices, this free app is a “fully featured video editing program for creating professional looking videos in minutes.”
Get the Math– Learn how to solve real-life algebra problems with diverse crew, delightful videos.
GeoGebra– Make, share, and modify math models and simulations.
Mathspace– Individualized, step-by-step math coaching challenges and adapts.
Math Open Reference– Bare bones collection of math simulations.
Did we miss any?
by Matthew Lynch

Do you like the fonts on Teachers pay Teachers and the ones all over Pinterest?

Those fun Hello and KG fonts are really, well they are fun and eye catching.
For some of us they are getting old and tired. For those of you who like them those fonts can be found online and downloaded into your home computer with help of a youtube video and about 10 minutes. You cannot, however, download them on the your schools computer most likely. Sometimes a small change can grab the attention of the right student and just the right time and peak their interest.
I have your loophole right here. Cooltext. Here you will find 124 fun fonts that you can use. All you do is type your headline/ phrase etc. and copy and paste it into wherever you like

Some fonts even have motion to them. Go ahead and click on it.

Another site is Fontmeme Here are some of the fonts that Fontmeme can make.

https://www.gynzy.com/

Smartboards. I just want to use them to write on top of stuff I have made. I want to write on top of my Word Docs, my Powerpoints, my Prezi’s and anything I should find on the Internet that I feel like emphasizing. I can’t do most of that, or I couldn’t before www.gynzy.com. Smartboards just got smarter.

You can make notes and interactive lessons and all that fancy stuff you can do with SMARTNotebook, but gynzy has one feature that I want more than any other. THE GLASS PLATE.

The glass plate is a simple little button you almost have to be looking for to find it. It is on the BOARD tab, under the “+” and it allows you to write over anything on your screen. In addition, if you need access to links under the glass plate, you can toggle the Glass on and off so you can click through it at will. This requires a quick download to the machine, but once you do that you will get such great use out of your smartboard from now on.

Screen record in any app IOS 11

This is a great tool for the 21st century student who doesn’t seem to have patience for learning unless it is on their terms. Video instruction allows it to be on their terms. When they want it, how they want it and where they want it.

The 1st Graders can Code, but some 8th Graders Can’t Save a Document

This dilemma affects many districts across the nation. Just because we are focusing on coding and other problem solving activities in the early years does not mean we should forget about the basics of computer literacy. Too many times it is an either/or situation. I was talking to a student yesterday who told me that when she types a Word document and wants to save it she clicks on the “X” in the top right corner. She waits for Word to ask her if she wants to save it and says yes and just hits enter until the program closes. When she wants to open it again and continue with what she started she has no idea what to look for, what it is called or where to look for it.

We should all be using the Office 365 suite for ourselves and for our students. The video just above is something I sent out 3 times or so this school year to show the easiest way for students to save, share, and submit their work.
Office is what most of these students will be using in their future. It is not a situation of
Attempt
Attack and then unfortunately
Abandon
This is a skill that although it changes over the years, the basics stay the same. It is necessary, it needs to be repeated to the students every time they use it. Here is how to Save. Here is how to share. Here is how to turn it in.

OneNote and Thinglink Redux

One Note and Thinglink go together link Peanut Butter and Cupcake

It is so very simple to insert a Thinglink into a OneNote notebook.

1. Add a page where you want the Thinglink to appear.(or use an existing page)
2. Create your Thinglink, copy the link
3. in the notebook page, paste the link

BOOM! Thats all there is to it.

Schoology and Office 365

Schoology just got a lot easier to use to add assignments. Whether you use Google or Office 365, you should add the appropriate app and when you go to add an assignment there will be a new button to add a Onedrive or Google file. The list of your drive will open and you can attach a file, but you can also view the file to make sure you are adding the right one. Once you have added the file, you can watch sudents working in real time, see who has completed their work and make comments in real time as well.
The following video shows the Office 365 end of it.

OneNote + ThingLink

It’s always a good day when you find a fantastic new tool to use in your school classroom or business office. It’s an even better day when it plays well with the tools you’re already using. In this post you will learn how to easily combine the interactive tools of ThingLink and OneNote to add your interactive image, video, and 360°/VR creations to your notes.

Step 1: Create a ThingLink & find the URL
First, you’ll need a ThingLink image, video, or 360° image to add to your notes. Learn how to create any of these projects here, here, and here respectively. After your ThingLink is ready to to go, click on the share icon on your image. Copy the URL.

Step 2: Paste URL into OneNote
In OneNote, make sure you have opened up a page for taking notes. On the page, paste the link to your ThingLink creation. At first you will see just the URL. Press enter after pasting the URL, and the live ThingLink will appear.

That’s it! Combining these two tools is just a two step process, no embedding or coding required. Try using this appsmashing integration to enhance written notes with interactive 360°s, maps, and infographics.