Learning in the Lou

The Hour of Code is coming up in the next few weeks. A few years ago they released an Angry Birds version and then an Elsa skating challenge. Those were pretty neat. This year they released a Star Wars challenge, I guess that is kinda cool. I saw this today and I am wicked excited! Minecraft challenge! Go check it out . I would think every student young and old would be pumped about this one. Code.org - Every student should have the oppotunity to learn code.

Above are some ideas the PDC shared on how you might use Keep to stay organized. How can the notes Get Gas and Need to get outside! remind you to do just that? 1. Hover over the note. 2. Click the little hand with a string tied around the finger icon. 3. Click Pick Place. 4. Choose the location. When you are near that location a notification will pop on your phone. This method works wonders for a grocery list. Add a Snapshot to a note while on your mobile device. 1. Click the note. 2. Click the ice cream cone. (3 small dots) 3. Add image. Google Keep is one of those apps that keeps getting better over time. Download it to your device and start creating!

Pagoda's curley steps by Tristan Schmurr What could my next steps be? You have some of your students using apps and you are wondering what they are doing. There just isn't time to sit down with each of them to have a conversation every time they use the iPads. Are you looking for a super simple solution to this issue? Seesaw is it! Before the students move off the center or close out the app have them follow these simple steps and watch your concerns melt away. Take a screenshot of something that represents what you have been working on. Open Seesaw . Click Camera Roll . Open Photos . Click Camera Roll . Select the image you want to upload. The image will open. Click the pencil icon. Now the students can annotate and record their voice. This will allow the students to reflect on their learning and allow you some insight into what they are doing!

Post-It notes are fantastic for quickly brainstorming ideas. Google Docs is amazing for writing things that are slightly longer than what a tiny note can contain. Check out how easy it is to move what you have in Keep directly into a Doc! Click the ice cream cone (3 dots) at the bottom of your Keep note. Click Copy to Google Doc . Above is the note transferred into a Doc. What about the apps?  Look for the same ice cream cone icon inside the note and follow the above procedure. Check out our other post about Google Keep .

Custom Search Engine This amazing tool allows you to prioritize or restrict what sources your students use to search. It is like you limit Google to only search the sites you have preselected. Setting this up is as easy as 1,2,3. What does it really mean? Your students are researching about the butterflies or the Civil War but just Googling these topics return a few hundred results which is a tad overwhelming. Creating a CSE allows you to preselect the best resources and enable the power of Google to scour these sites to give relevant results quickly. 1. Start at google.com/cse 2. Click New search engine . 1. Start by adding a website you want your students to search. 1. Continue adding sites. 2. Name your search engine. It is recommended to name it after that project or unit the students are researching. 3. Click Create . 1. Get the Public URL and share it with the students.

Keep - Always Within Reach Google Keep is one of those simple apps that integrates into every part of your mobile and desktop life. This post is dedicated to showing you a few ways you can use Keep today. Getting Started Download the app on your Android or iOS device  and/or  login to your Keep account on your laptop . 4 Note Types Basic Note Checkoff List Image Voice 1. Basic Note Click Take a note... to start creating a basic note. Start typing to begin your note. It is recommended you add a title to your note. 2. Checkoff List Click the icon shown above to start a new note with checkboxes. Each entry will be accompanied by a check box. Click the box when that task has been accomplished. It will then be moved to the bottom of the list with a line through that entry. You can uncheck the item and it will move back into the note. Click the ice cream cone (three dots in the upper right corner) to open the menu. With o...

Blended learning , a mixture of online and classroom instruction, has grown into a common teaching practice because of the increase in student access to technology as well as the emergence of classroom models such as the flipped classroom. To help students learn and review away from the classroom, teachers produce short, 5-10 minute instructional videos using screen recording programs like Screencast-o-matic  in combination with ImageMate software and an ELMO projector. Students like these videos because they can pause, play, and rewind their teacher's lessons at their own pace.  Teachers love the videos because they provide an extended layer of support. As teachers use videos more regularly for new learning, there is a growing need for ways to check student understanding.   EDpuzzle is an exciting option that may be right for you.  Take a look: EDpuzzle allows the teacher to take their video and: crop it down to just what st...