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Did you know that Google Slides recently added the ability for presenters to display closed captions while presenting? We've used it a few times to support one of our American Sign Language teachers and it has been great! The new closed captioning can be turned on and off when in the presenter view of any Google Slide Presentation. Right now the captions are not recorded or saved, but presenters can use Screencastify  or another screen recording tool to record the presentation and capture the closed captioning. You can learn more about Closed Captions in Google Slides from this Google's Keyword Blog. What’s that you say? Present with captions in Google Slides Looking for more EdTech and Google Tips? Explore the  Archive of Past Tuesday Tips .

The best educators are not content to do the same old thing year after year. Innovative educators push their thinking by engaging in social media, exploring blogs, attending conferences, and exploring the newest generation of educational books. I've created a Recommended Educator Book Site to organize and share some great books connected to teaching and learning. I will also occasionally feature a new book recommended by my PLN on this blog. Have an idea for our next featured book? Please share in the comments below. This month's book is 40 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Classroom with Adobe Spark by Ben Forta and Monica Burns. I absolutely love Adobe Spark and use it all the time in my classroom, so I was excited to dive into some new ways to use it. 40 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Classroom with Adobe Spark Empower Students to Tell Their Stories with Adobe Spark! Adobe Spark is a fun, free content-creation tool that anyone can use. Easily accessible on web brow...

What are your favorite YouTube Channels connected to teaching and learning? Flashback Alert - Have You Ever Seen the First Video Ever Uploaded to YouTube? YouTube has come a long way since this video! YouTube is an incredible resource for teaching and learning. You can learn just about anything on YouTube. There are also many incredible educators and creators uploading new content daily connected to teaching and learning.  Did you know that every second, one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube? That's a lot of content that can be leveraged to support teaching and learning. Have you ever seen the One Hour Per Second YouTube Visualization Site ? How do you keep track of it all? Where do you go to avoid hours of searching? One way is to find and subscribe to YouTube Channels connected to teaching, learning or specific subject areas. Here are a 6 of my favorite YouTube channels connected to teaching and learning. Right now, I am going to steer clear of anything that is focu...

“ Formative Assessment is a deliberate process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides actionable feedback used to adjust ongoing teaching and learning strategies to improve students’ attainment of curricular learning targets/goals ” Source:  Smarter Balanced You Don't Know What You Don't Know We believe that formative assessment is one of the most powerful tools we can use to enhance learning and engage students in the learning process. The best educators use a variety of formative assessment techniques and tools to help everyone in the classroom gauge essential understandings.  The best formative assessments also help drive the learning experience for both teachers and students. Favorite Formative Resources and Strategies I am excited this week to be co-authoring this post with my friend and partner in all things teaching and learning,  Melissa Wilson . Melissa is an English teacher and Instructional Technology Coordinator at Neuqua Valley High Sc...

" There are no rules here--we're trying to accomplish something. " – Thomas Edison Source What is a Makerspace? My guess is that most people reading this post have some idea about what a makerspace is, so I won't spend too much time describing the spaces. That being said, I recently rediscovered a post from one of my favorite blogs. This post reenergized my exploration of the makerspace movement and is the primary reason I am writing this post today. What Is The Point Of A Makerspace? Jennifer Gonzalez shares John Spencer's definition of a makerspace. “I see a makerspace as simply a space designed and dedicated to hands-on creativity,” he explains, “and the key thing there is they’re actually making something. Creativity is sometimes idea generation, it’s sometimes problem-solving. But (in) a makerspace, you’re actually going to create some kind of product. Now it could be a digital product. It could be a physical product. But there is an actual product, so you’r...

Video in the classroom is not a new thing, but it is evolving as an essential resource for all learners. If you were born before 1980 you've probably experienced at least one classroom documentary on a film strip with an awesome and noisy Film Strip Projector. I know I was always excited to see the film projector and reels in the room, but when I reflect on my these learning experiences I realize that most of these documentaries did very little to engage me as a learner. Video in the classroom has evolved. Today, classroom video is all about engagement and critical thinking. Students and teachers are creating content and actively engaging in videos using a variety of strategies and tools. Video has become a great medium for Creative Student Voice . I was inspired to dive deeper into my exploration of video in the classroom after exploring some of Common Sense Education's Video in the Classroom Resources . I have also been looking to incorporate the ISTE standards as part of my ...