Learning in the Lou

Think back to when you were a kid and what it was like learning about the wonderful world around you.  The excitement of seeing a rainbow and the wonder of seeing a butterfly emerge from its cocoon.  What did you find amazing? Those were inspiring moments for me.  I was curious about the world and the mysteries it might yet reveal.  Many of these first experiences happened at school. Teachers, whether you use the tools and ideas introduced in this blog or not, I hope you always lead the journey of discovery in your classrooms with curiosity and wonder. Hopping off of my soapbox, I would like to introduce you to a great resource called Mystery Science . Featuring lessons ranging from five minutes to more than an hour, Mystery Science teaches science using  curiosity and wonder .   Watch this 5-minute mini-lesson with those ideas in mind: Thinking about curiosity and wonder, what did you notice? Here are my top four takeaways: Stu...

Palm Grove Beach, Vaimaaga, Raratonga (Bob Linsdell, photographer) Happy Summer! This blog series supports our summer course, Self-grading assessments using Google Forms . Save yourself time, personalize engaging learning experiences for students, and gain critical insights to focus your instruction. Browse our full selection of Google Forms topics in the The Top section.  Intrigued?  Scroll down to The Bottom learn more. The Top: Create your first assessment -- With just a couple clicks, transform your form into a self-grading assessment.  Follow these simple steps to get started... Provide faster, better feedback -- Timely, descriptive, targeted feedback helps students learn from their mistakes.  Build descriptive feedback into assessments that is automated so that students get the help they need when they need it. It doesn't have to be boring -- Assessments can be visual and interactive.  Discover the world of media options available to...

Check out the newest features in the updated Gmail. Don't see it? Be patient, it is slowly rolling out. We recommend taking a look at this post from Google . The biggest changes are: appearance snooze tasks/calendar/keep icons on the right nudging smart replies The New York Times has a short article highlighting some of the new features. Want to learn more? Check MLP for our upcoming class. Why not bring a buddy, the two of you can learn the new options side by side.  The Wall Stree Journal produced this video. The one feature that we do not have available is the confidential mode.

There are a few things you need in your Gmail account, an updated profile picture, and email signature. Both are super simple to update in a matter of seconds. Signature Your email signature must contain: Your name. What your teach/title. Where you teach. Address of that building. Phone number and extension. Links to the socials you use. Examples: Doug Barton Instructional Technology Specialist Lindbergh Schools 9350 Sappington Road St. Louis, MO 63126 -3299 314.729.2400 x4614 LiNC Blog      Jana Parker Ed.D      Principal Long Elementary      314-729-2400, Ext. 5400       jparker@lindberghschools.ws https://www.facebook.com/ LongFlyers/ Colin Davitt Instructional Technology Lindbergh Schools 9350 Sappington Rd. St. Louis, MO 63126 314.729.2400 ext. 4622 Instructional Technology - Blog Fac...

You will be away from your classroom for a bit and probably won't be checking email on a regular basis. Wouldn't it be nice to have Gmail respond for you alerting whoever is emailing that you out enjoying your summer? Setting up your vacation responder is pretty simple, a few clicks and a save. Start by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner of Gmail. Scroll way down the page. Look for the vacation responder section. 1. Click to turn the responder on. 2. Add your first and last days away. We would recommend adding something short and to the point for the subject line. 3. Whatever you add here will be the body of the email you are automatically sending out. It would be a good idea to tell them when you are planning on returning and who to call if they need immediate assistance. We also recommend not checking the two buttons at the bottom. 4. Save changes . That is it. Now your inbox will automatically alert people that you are not in your...

I have this odd obsession with Google Assistant. It seems like it has gotten much more useful over the past few weeks. Check out my new routine. As I am walking to the car I'll simply voice this: Ok Google, let's go home. I don't need to really even touch my phone. Super efficient! Google will then:      1. Tell me how long my commute should be. Wicked important so I can route around any traffic issues.      2. Play a certain playlist from Spotify. Check out how easy it is to command your device to do exactly this. Make sure you have Assistant on your mobile. Click if you need for iOS or Android . Open assistant. Click the blue icon in the upper right. 1. Click on the ice cream cone . (3 dots) 2. Click Settings . Scroll down. Click Routines . Click Commuting home . 1. This is the phrase you say to activate the routine. Don't forget that to get to this stage you must first wake up Assistant by saying...

We have posted before about Google Assistant . It is one of those apps that is stretching beyond what we thought was possible for an app to do. It does have some downfalls like it can't call someone for me to schedule appointments or book a table at great places like Russell's   or can it? Check out what Google showed the world this week. I pretty much jumped out of my chair in excitement. I can just talk to my phone and everything else just happens. In the time it takes you to walk from one end of your classroom to the next some of your tasks can be handled by Google Assistant. AMAZING! If you really want to see the power check out this post on the Google AI blog . It offers some audio clips of actual calls similar to the above video. I'm not sure when it will be rolled out but I will be the first to schedule a haircut and reserve table. I do wonder if it can call my kids to remind them about cleaning their rooms and to stop playing Fortnite because it is...