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Eight Chrome Extensions and Sites You May Not Know (May 2021)

by Sara Qualls
written by Sara Qualls

Can you believe May has almost come and gone? Me either! You’ve made it through transitioning from teaching online and face-to-face, STAAR testing failures, and students who love to email you at 11:03 p.m. asking for instructions on that assignment that’s due tomorrow morning. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this year has been a rollercoaster and some of you are still waiting for the ride down. Stop and give yourself a much-deserved pat on the back.

Now before you reach the last day of school, let’s dive right into some of my newest favorites that I discovered this month.

Chrome Extensions to Try

Toucan. I’m willing to bet eighty percent of us have it on our bucket list to learn a new language. This extension will help you do just that. It will take whatever page you are browsing and swap out some of the words for whatever language you’re trying to embrace. Hover over the words for meanings and audio. You can adjust how much or how few words it replaces. Estoy obsesionada!

Honey. If you’re anything like me, as soon as you see that there is an opportunity to enter a promo code at checkout, you open up another tab and start searching for savings. Say goodbye to that ritual with Honey. It will automatically pop up and tell you if you can get it cheaper and, at the same time, test a gazillion codes for you to get you a better deal.

Plagiarism Checker. This extension makes checking a student’s work a bit easier. Just select the text you want to check for plagiarism, right-click, and check!

Auto Highlight. Sometimes, when you read, you just need to get to the important stuff fast. Auto Highlight will automatically highlight the most important parts of the page. And it’s ridiculously accurate.

Noisli. Are you someone who needs to have your environment a certain way to be productive? Me too. Noisli will create background noise according to the work you are doing. It will play soothing sounds and music to cancel out the loud noise. Disclaimer: I have not tested this in a noisy classroom. Please let me know how it works in that environment.

Must-Visit Websites

Source

ZooBorns. This site is dedicated to birth only showcasing animals in zoos have recently been born. Awwww…..

Little Alchemy 2. I can see some of you turning this site into a lesson for your students or sending those who finish early here. With this site, you’ll grab items and mix them to create the world from scratch! You can really get lost in this one.

Mental Floss. If you’re a trivia buff or just like to be the holder of random facts, head to Mental Floss. It educates you on everything from technology to pop culture. My favorite part of the site is the Amazing Fact Generator. You’ll be saying, “I didn’t know that!” within just a few clicks.

As always, if you have an add-on, extension, or website where I can further fall into distraction, share it with me. Just drop them in the comments and it may just make the list next month.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and TricksOnline Tools and Apps

Eight Chrome Extensions and Sites You May Not Know (March 2021)

by Sara Qualls
written by Sara Qualls

There are so many great new add-ons, extensions, and websites you may not know are out there on the world wide web. How will you ever have the time to find them all? I’ve done some of the leg work for you so that you can become more productive or help kill time. With that said, let the productivity or procrastination begin! Here are my finds for March 2021.

Chrome Extensions To Try

full page screen capture sample

Full Page Screen Capture. This thing is a lifesaver when it comes to capturing the entire screen. And yes, I mean the entire thing. It scrolls for you all the way to the bottom to get every drop of goodness you need on that page.

LastPass. If you’re anything like me, you probably use the same two to three passwords for everything and that’s not a good thing. This is where LastPass comes in to save the day. LastPass creates different passwords for every site.

Stylish. Let’s be honest, not everyone is a designer. But everyone still has incredibly useful information to share. Enter Stylish. This extension gives unattractive web pages a new look.

Read Aloud. Read Aloud is an extension that uses text-to-speech technology to convert the website page into audio and it supports more than 40 languages! If you’re a multi-tasker like me, this is great so you can keep “reading” along while doing other things.

Must-Visit Websites

Play 2048 game

MapCrunch. Here’s your chance to go on an adventure without ever leaving your couch. The website will put you in a random location in the world and then it’s up to you do to the exploring.

2048. If you like puzzles or math games, you will thank me. It’s a bit of Suduko meets Tetris.

Freerice. For every correct answer you get, the cash equivalent of 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Programme. Your procrastination will have finally gone to a good cause!

This Is Sand. Remember making sand art as a kid? Now you can do it digitally.

What are your favorite extensions and websites I may not know about? I want to check it out! Let me know in the comments.

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Educational Trends

Tips, Tricks, and Tech Tidbits – Part 1

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

Over the past few months, I’ve gathered together a pretty good collection of tips, tricks, and tech tidbits that I found interesting or useful. And I’d like to share them with you. There is no particular theme for these, nor are they organized into any semblance of order. But maybe you will pick up a new way of doing things from them.

Quickly Create a New Google Anything

If you type “slides.new” or “docs.new” or “sheets.new” or “forms.new”or “keep.new” or “sites.new” in the address bar of any browser, you can very quickly begin a new Google page.

Make a New, Fun Background for Your Computer Desktop

  • Open a new Google Slide (see above for how to do that quickly!).
  • Right-click on the slide and select Apply Layout — Blank.
  • Click on Insert — Image — Search the Web. (By the way, did you know that the graphics you find here are legal to use in your work and for your students?)
  • In the Search for Images box on the right-hand side of your screen, type in something you would like to use as the background for your desktop (clouds, beach, brick wall, etc.). Find one you like and drag it onto the slide (or click on the background and then click Insert on the bottom right). Resize the picture by dragging with the handles until it covers the slide.
  • Send it to the back.
  • Go to Insert — Shape — Shapes and find some shapes that you want to use to create boxes on your desktop. (These boxes can hold shortcuts to your folders and files and help to keep them organized.) Create the boxes and place them where you want them to appear.
  • Add color with the Fill option.
  • (If you have a Bitmoji of yourself, feel fee to add it in now.)
  • Save the whole thing as a JPEG.
  • Go to your computer settings and the JPEG as a background.
Photo from Linda. M. Comers post in the Bitmoji Craze for Educators Facebook group

Avoid Pop-Up Ads in YouTube

If you type _popup before the question mark on the web address of any YouTube video, then it will take off all of the ads and any other surrounding videos that the students could possibly click on. For example, this video on adding fractions has a YouTube URL of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDQipFjAoT8. If I change it and add the _popup, it looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tDQipFjAoT8. Now it opens full screen without any annoying ads.

Scan Documents with the Free iOS Notes App

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can easily use the Notes app (that you thought was completely useless) to scan any document for you. You can read more about this tip in a great blog from Peggy Reimers.

Use the Awesome Screenshot Extension to Annotate Quickly

This fabulous free Chrome extension allows you to annotate on any website and take a screenshot of it. This makes it perfect for creating handouts for students or adult learners. You can even blur out things on the page, like student names.

Eliminate the Interruptions

Did you know that it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on work after you have been interrupted by email or Slack or your favorite social media page or any other communication tool? Force yourself to stay on task with the free Strict Workflow Chrome extension.

Strict Workflow uses the Pomodoro technique of having structured work and relaxation periods. You select whether you want 25 minutes working and five minutes off or 45 minutes working and 15 minutes off. The Strict Workflow automates this and blocks websites of your choosing during work time. It can be a tough boss, but does really help you get into deep thinking on critical projects. A similar extension is StayFocused.

Stop Accidentally Closing a Critical Tab

I don’t know about you, but I am constantly closing out the tab of a website that I need to continue using in Chrome. Now there’s a way to prevent that. Open the site you want to keep open. Right-click on the tab of the site and select Pin Tab. Now the tab won’t close, even if you close out of the browser. It will still be there when you reopen Chrome. To unpin the tab, do the same thing and select Unpin.

I hope that you found these tricks useful. Have a great one to share? Please place it in the comments!

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G Suite EDU
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Overcome Five Challenges in G Suite EDU Classroom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Looking for G Suite EDU goodness? Then you need look no further than this blog post. In it, we’ll explore a few ways educators are using G Suite EDU tools to resolve classroom challenges. Let’s take a moment to review some of the main challenges that educators face.

A quick list of challenges includes:

  1. Providing individualized feedback to students
  2. Encouraging collaboration with experts and peers
  3. Learning Google Classroom
  4. Viewing educational YouTube videos in the classroom
  5. Locating top Chrome apps and extensions

Ready to get started? Here we go.

G Suite EDU Challenge #1: Individual Student Feedback

In this video, Sean Thompson shares how educators can more easily provide individualize feedback to students who then review the feedback and then hold formative, reflective discussions one on one with you.

The video uses two tools you may be familiar with, along with a third you may not. The third tool is one you may be unaware of, the Autocrat extension. Autocrat features a simple description that belies great functionality:

Autocrat is an easy to use, flexible document merge tool. It makes creation of PDF or shared Documents from a spreadsheet straightforward. Autocrat is a multi-purpose document merge tool. It allows you to take data from a spreadsheet and merge it into a document via a template.  Tell Autocrat which fields to merge via <>. Then, let Autocrat mass-generate personalized documents.  You can also send the documents as email attachments.  Or, when new forms are submitted, let Autocrat automation take over. This automation means less oversight from you, making your job easier. (Source: Adapted from Autocrat G Suite Marketplace)

The other two tools include Google Forms and Sheets. You may want to watch other videos in this series.

G Suite EDU
Image Source

G Suite EDU Challenge #2: Foster Collaboration via Expert Cards

Wish you could have students self-identify as guides on the side for other learners? You might want to try this approach that Zak Kolar suggests. He writes:

I used these “expert” cards with 5th graders for a Google Sites project last year. Students who are more experienced place “expert” cards on their desks. That signals to other students they can answer questions related to a certain area. Those areas include inserting images, creating links, changing layouts, etc.

Zak points out that this approach frees him up to circulate and answer tougher questions. Adapt the approach for both technical and content-related challenges. Teaching students self-assessment can be helpful. When students learn to check or assess their own learning, this can be quite powerful. As such, you can see a gradual release of responsibility when students own their learning. They may begin with you checking for understanding, but as they gain confidence, they move on to self-checks. As they gain knowledge, they can becomes aides to others.

You can see specific ways in these links:

Why make the effort to empower students to self assess? John Hattie explains that students are accurate at self-assessment. As their own critics, they set goals and want to achieve them. To do this, students might follow a specific process that culminates in expert cards:

  1. Students set goals for themselves. Teachers provide descriptive feedback to help them know what they need.
  2. Pupils predict their performance before they begin a task or series of tasks. For a quiz or test, students compare their actual performance with their prediction. 
  3. Learners then reflect and reconcile the difference between the two. This enables students to gain insight. Are they meeting their set goals on a specific assessment? (Source: Chris Bettiol) 

Self-reported grades empower students. Zak’s expert cards appear as the visual acknowledge of student expectations well-met.

G Suite EDU Challenge #3: Learn Google Classroom

Every time I use Google Classroom, I’m amazed at the new features. As you might imagine, the wealth of new features makes keeping up difficult. Let’s explore three miscellaneous questions that have come up about this tool.

Question #1:  “If a person gets added to Classroom later in the term, does he/she receive all the assignments? Does the new person get earlier assignments and stuff?”

Response:  “Yes, that person will have all of the stuff that everyone else in the class has.” (Source: Heather Dawson)

Question #2: “I am a robotics teacher at 4 schools. I have a different Google Classroom at each school that I access with an email address for that school. I have created a quiz at one of the schools. Is there a way to move that quiz to each of the other classrooms without entering the information again?”

Response: “Make a shared drive or a shared folder that all of your email addresses have editing access. Then anything you put in that folder will be accessible to each classroom.” (Source: Laurie Anastasio)

Question #3:  “How are you using G Suite EDU to maximize efficiency? That is, when creating standards scales, data/standard tracking (teacher & student)?”

Responses: 

  • “I made a standards based “gradebook” for my 3rd grade co-teacher. Used Sheets. You could make a master copy for yourself and import the formulas. This will make an individual one for each student and share that with each student and parent. You can also use Autocrat to have the info pulled from your sheet into a google doc. Then, have it share with students and parents.”
  • “Two videos on grading with rubrics (Video #1: Create Rubrics | Video #2: Grading with Rubrics).”

Challenge #4: View YouTube Videos in the Classroom

How can my students watch YouTube videos without advertisements? That’s the substance of questions I’ve received. Another G Suite EDU user asks the following: 

“I have a set of videos a teacher has asked students to watch from YouTube. I can access them as an administrator, but for students, it says the video is unavailable. “This video is restricted. Try signing in with a Google Apps account.” Student attempted with both GAFE and personal accounts and still could not access. Any ideas?

There can be several responses that result in a positive outcome. Most rely on what your school district’s policy is on YouTube. For example, some schools may put a block on YouTube for students when accessed via wireless (a.k.a. WiFi). Teachers may have to submit those web links to allow for access.  Unfortunately, another possibility may include student honesty. Jennifer Brower states the following:

This happens to students under 13 who have signed into YouTube and give their real age. Hooray for them not lying, but it means YouTube now restricts them from a lot, even if we have approved the video. Tech hasn’t found a way to get around it as it is YouTube’s policy that under 13 isn’t supposed to have access.

Other educators may choose to use websites like Viewpure, Safeshare. Another possibility for ad blocking includes a Chrome browser extension Video Adblocker for YouTube. Want an alternative solution that is cost-free? Use Wakelet to create a video playlist. Learn more about this solution via this Wakelet on creating a YouTube Video Playlist. Learn more about Using YouTube Videos in the Classroom.

Challenge #5: Top Chrome Apps and Extensions

Want to start a fight in the teachers’ lounge? Ask “What are your top Chrome must haves for approved student apps and extensions?” and you will be sure to get it started. Here are some responses in alphabetical order from other educators. How would you rate this list? What would you include or remove?

Note: Descriptions excerpted from the Chrome Web Store.

  • Clever: Clever is a Chrome extension that enables students and teachers to log in to their applications.
  • Draftback: Draftback lets you play back the revision history of any Google Doc you can edit.
  • Fun Text: Applies fun effects to your text, such as Rainbow, Growing, Upside down, and much more. 
  • Goobric: Facilitates rubric-based assessment. Includes two different Chrome extensions and works in collaboration with the Doctopus Add-on for Google Sheets.
  • Grammarly:  From grammar and spelling to style and tone, Grammarly helps you eliminate writing errors and find the perfect words to express yourself. You’ll get suggestions from Grammarly as you write.
  • Insert Learning:  Insert instructional content on any web page. Teachers can insert questions, discussions, and insight directly into any website. When students go to that website, they can respond to those questions and discussions. They can also take their own notes.
  • Kami: Allows you to take any existing document and enhance it in your browser. Annotate scanned PDFs, as well as write, draw, type, comment, augment.
  • LastPass Free Password Manager:  LastPass saves your passwords. It then gives you secure access from every computer and mobile device. Only remember one password – your LastPass master password. Save all your usernames and passwords to LastPass. It will autologin to your sites and sync your passwords everywhere you need them.
  • LucidChart Diagrams: The easiest way to draw flowcharts, mockups, UML, mind maps and more.
  • PearDeck:  Pear Deck is an add-on for Google Slides that will allow teachers to ask students questions. Students will be prompted to answer your questions as you advance your slides. Read these TCEA blog entries featuring PearDeck.
  • Read and Write:  Offers text-to-speech to hear words, passages, or whole documents read aloud with easy-to-follow dual color highlighting, and more. Read this TCEA blog entry. 
  • Screencastify:   Capture, edit and share videos in seconds. Read TCEA blog entries featuring Screencastify.
  • WriQ:  WriQ helps teachers assess student writing, provide valuable feedback, in Google Docs.

Looking for more ideas? John Sowash has a nice list online. And here’s my list. Remember, avoid Chrome extension overload for yourself and students by introducing a new extension when needed and not before.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Top Three Google Workspace for EDU Questions

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

What are recent questions educators have had when using Google Workspace for Education (a.k.a. G Suite EDU)? In this blog entry, we explore three of their top questions.

Question #1: What Gmail add-ons and extensions or apps do you use?

“My school just switched our email to Gmail (finally!). What are the Gmail add-ons/extensions/tools you can’t live without?” asks Amanda Golby.  Several respondents offered some suggestions. I share my thoughts after each.

  • Boomerang: This add-on makes it easy to write an email, then schedule it to send later. I suppose this is handy if you’re French. Its best feature is the ability to track when people read your emails.
  • Grammarly: As a writer, I find myself relying on the Hemingway Editor (web | Win/Mac app). If you need more support than that, this add-on may be worth the price. It will check your grammar, spelling as you type. The paid version expands the errors it can detect, suggestions it can offer.

As you can see, most of these are Chrome browser add-ons, rather than Gmail apps. My two favorite Gmail apps in the G Suite Marketplace include:

  • Dropbox for Gmail: This makes viewing attachments and saving to Dropbox a breeze.
  • Track and Sort: This app converts your email into a Google Doc “Email report” for sharing with others. Teachers might find this helpful when dealing with a long conversation thread. To print each email or copy-and-paste it would be time consuming. Instead, use Track and Sort to put into a nice format for sharing as a printable, single Google Doc. See example.

Explore the G Suite Marketplace to see what might catch your eye.

Question #2: How Do I mark up a Google Doc?

“Does anyone know of a Chrome extension that you can use to write all  over Google Docs for feedback?” asks Cheryl Morrow. She’d rather do that than “printing off essays…the old fashioned way.”

Some relevant responses appear:

  • Google Classroom: Open each document in Google Classroom and then adjust as needed. The document, along with your color-coded text, will be saved as a PDF. See instructions.
  • Kaizena: Use this to leave voice feedback on Google Docs. Visit their website to see great examples that include audio and explainer videos.
  • CheckMark: Add comments from a bank of remarks with this Chrome add-on.
  • JoeZoo: Offers many features as a G Suite Marketplace app, including color-coded commenting.
  • Record a video: Use a screencasting tool (e.g. Screencastify is my favorite) to record video comment.

For those that have access to Google Classroom on a tablet, you can write on Google Docs students create. Isn’t that amazing?

Question #3: How can I create a works cited page?

“What FREE app or add-on do you recommend for eighth graders to create citations and works cited pages?” asks Cynthia Smith.  Several responses include:

  • Mendeley: This cross-browser and platform citation tool makes capturing web-based citations a cinch.
  • Zotero: It is a free, easy-to-use, open-source tool. Zotero is also cross-platform and works on the web. Its goal is to assist you in collecting, organizing, citing, and sharing research.

All tools offer citations in a variety of formats, such as APA and MLA. Some are free, while others cost money or do not come well-recommended. The latter include Apogee, BibMe, Cite This For Me, and EasyBib in case you want to try them out.

Top Three Google Workspace for EDU Questions

Do you have practical, “tire meets the road” questions about G Suite in Education? Share them in the comments. Figured out some of your own solutions? Include them in the comments or send us a tweet @tceamg with the hashtag #tcea.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and TricksiOS Tips and TricksMicrosoft

Note-Taking on Chromebooks

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Have a class set of iPads, but your district has chosen to move to Chromebooks? You’re not the only one. What do you do when you are using an indispensable iOS app that isn’t available for the Chrome browser? Finding another option can be tough. Consider this challenge that one educator had:

My district is planning to move from iPads to Chromebooks. One of the biggest concerns raised is that many of the teachers and students rely on Notability. Has anyone else faced this? If so, how did you handle it?

Notability is an iPad app, unavailable on the Chrome browser. Why? Consider what Notability can do:

Combine handwriting, photos and typing in a single note to bring your projects to life. Use a wide range of note-taking and sketching tools to capture every detail. You can even add and annotate PDFs in Notability. It’s the perfect place to create and organize work, school, and life’s information! Experiment with different tools to create beautiful, hand-crafted notes and sketches. Continue to scale, rotate, and recolor your ideas and sketches until your notes are just how you want them. Once you’re done, organize your notes.

This app makes it a cinch to share your creations via various cloud storage options (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox). It makes sharing via email and AirDrop do-able as well. Making the transition from this note-taking app to another can be difficult.

Let’s take a look at note-taking apps on Chromebooks before we discuss alternatives to Notability.

Chromebook Touch Screen

Chromebooks now come in many sizes and shapes and even offer touch screen support. You might consider any one of these models for purchase.

A key feature in each of these models is the touch screen, allowing students to draw on the screen itself. You may consider the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, a tablet, as another option with a stylus. The question is, “What Chromebook add-on or app could be used as an alternative to the iOS Notability app?”

Chrome Alternatives to Notability

There are various alternatives to Notability available. Here are a few that Google Certified Trainers recommend.

Web version of Xodo app

Alternative #1: Xodo

“Our district is switching to Chromebooks and we are training staff and students to use Xodo!” says Stephanie Draayer, Technology Integration Specialist and Google Certified Trainer (Twitter; website). You may recall, Xodo was featured in a TCEA blog entry, Top Five PDF Annotation Tools for Windows. In that blog entry, I share the following:

With the Xodo web app, you can now merge multiple PDFs into one, which is perfect for when you need to compile resources into one package to send to your colleagues. And now you can merge PDFs from your computer and Google Drive.

The new Xodo web app provides more flexibility than ever before. You can now insert, delete, reorder, and even rotate pages to manipulate your PDF to fit your needs…Xodo can also open other file formats such as docx, pptx, jpeg, png, cbz, and other image files.

This makes Xodo on Chromebooks an excellent choice for a variety of reasons. You can open files from Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as edit existing PDFs that may exist on the web. Annotating a PDF of a concept map is quite easy. With your finger or a stylus, you can draw anywhere on the screen. One limit is that you are stuck with black as the color of choice for your pen.

Since Xodo is available at no cost, works great on mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) and on your desktop computer (e.g. Mac, Windows), it is a great choice as a simple Notability replacement. It offers many other options for PDF and image annotation, so give it a shot. I use it on all my devices.

Alternative #2: Kami

Offering free, teacher ($99 annual), and custom district/school pricing, some suggest Kami as an alternative to Notability. Unlike Xodo, you will need to create a Kami account. And, to work with images, you will have to upgrade from the free account. That said, if you will be working with a lot of PDF files, you will be able to do quite a bit. Note all the features available with Kami as represented with the side toolbar.

Worth checking out are the comment options. You can leave text, audio, and video comments and have access to a color palette, options lacking in Xodo. The main drawback is the cost.

Alternative #3: OneNote

A short two years ago, Microsoft’s OneNote would not have been on my list of apps to recommend for Chromebook. In that short time since, however, Microsoft has revamped and enhanced OneNote, adding an incredible amount of features. While Xodo is one of my favorites, I often rely on the Microsoft OneNote app on Windows 10, Chromebook for capturing content from the web. The OneNote Web Clipper add-on for Chrome makes that a simple process.

You can insert images, Microsoft Office documents, and, of course, PDFs. This is all through the OneNote Online interface, which is 100% web-based. You also have access to simple draw features, as represented below:

That’s not all. In addition to being able to draw, highlight text, and insert text boxes, you can record audio and take advantage of the built-in accessibility options (e.g. Immersive Reader).

What’s more, availability of the OneNote app on Windows 10, Mac, Android, and iOS make this a cross-platform tool. Amazing as these options are in a Chrome browser, students need to have only a free Microsoft account to access them. In schools or districts that have provisioned staff and students with Office 365 accounts, you get to also use the Class Notebook add-on for OneNote. Teachers can manage OneNote Class Notebook via the web browser; view the video guide. This can be powerful, OneNote and Google Classroom integration options now available. Check out Marija’s OneNote Notebook 6-week course, as well as Nico Paphitis’ resources on OneNote.

OneNote has potential for student-paced adaptive learning. See this video from OneNote expert Nicos Paphitis (@PaphitisN).

Note-Taking on Chromebooks

As you can see, there is a rich variety of tools that could meet your needs as you seek to exchange iPads for flexible Chromebook devices. While the alternatives shared above are not a perfect replacement for Notability, good options do exist. These are only a few of the more robust tools. After all, I didn’t mention two other favorites of mine, Web Paint Chrome add-on for drawing/painting on web pages and Screencastify for screencasting and annotation. Google Keep offers drawing tools that can be inserted into Google Docs and it integrates into Google Drawing.

Give note-taking on Chromebooks a try. You won’t go back.

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go large
Good TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Go Large: Share Your Message Full Screen

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Could you share the link?” asks a workshop participant. It’s a question that comes up often. At a time when sharing resources has gotten easier with URL shorteners (learn more about that here), being able to see the link is tough. Americans spend 11 hours a day looking at media, which can result in sensory overload (Source). Let’s discuss a few ways to make the all-important link to your educational resources easier to see.

What sensory overload may feel like….

Managing the Intensity

Sensory overload occurs when “a person is unable to process or manage the intensity or quantity of incoming sensory stimuli. The person feels out of control and overwhelmed” (Source). There are various ways to prepare students who may suffer from sensory overload in the classroom. One accommodation that could be made may include large text on the screen. And K-12 learners are not the only ones to need some help managing the intensity. It’s often easier for educators to read a single line of text, such as special instructions or links in large letters.

Decreasing font size, as well as increasing line length, result in lower comprehension scores for some students (Source). Not a surprise, older learners may also experience issues.

Bonus Tip:

All screenshots in this blog post were acquired with the Fireshot Chrome add-on.

How to Go Large

Looking for some quick ways to make selected text larger beyond typing up stuff in a word processing document? Here are a few techniques for your consideration.

Technique #1: Browser-Based

If you are using a modern browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Edge), then Ctrl and the plus (+) key combination can make text larger. Ctrl with a minus symbol (-) can make text smaller. Ctrl 0 (Ctrl with the zero key) returns text size to normal. This is one of the easiest approaches. However, simply increasing text size may be insufficient. You may want to focus learners’ attention on one line of text, a phrase, or link. For that level of concentration, try one of these tools below.

my full screen messages

Special thanks to Maggie Ojeda (@chirptweet), Education Service Center, Region 1 for introducing me to “G-zus,” as she pronounced it. 🙂

Technique #2: Gzaas

With gzaas, you are able to enter your message, link into the box, and you’re all set to “gzaas it!” For example, if I take the blog.tcea.org website address and drop it into gzaas, I would see a result like:

What’s powerful about gzaas is that I can customize the background and the font (e.g. colors, size, look) with some options that appear at the bottom of the screen, as shown below. Note that other options like “Share it!” appear at the top of the web page. The result is a large message that is easy for viewers to read.

gzaas full screen

Technique #3: Crafty Text

Working in the Chrome browser? Give Crafty Text a try. It makes adding large text to the top of an existing web page simple.

While it lacks gzaas’ feature set, it offers a few additional perks. One of them is that you can still see the web page you are linking to. What’s more, you can also add a QR code to the link.

See the QR code version below with a URL shortener:

Technique #4: ClassroomScreen

Ready for one more? You may be aware of ClassroomScreen, a fantastic multi-purpose tool for teachers. If not, be sure to read this TCEA blog entry. Note how easy it is to get up to 72 point-sized font. You also have many more options and tools.

Go Large: Share Your Message Full Screen

Go large or go home. Make the effort to share resources with learners stuck staring at a projector screen in large size. You never know when you’ll be doing some of your own squinting in the future.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Enhance Accessibility with Chromebooks

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Are  you struggling to enhance accessibility with Chromebooks in your classroom? Allow TCEA to showcase several tools and resources. In this blog entry, you will find  a few accessibility add-ons and extensions for Chromebooks.

Make Learning Accessible on Chromebooks

Find a list of Chrome apps and extensions for special needs grouped by topic. Special thanks to Eric Curts for sharing his wonderful ideas.

Communication

  • Picto4Me – Allows you to create, edit, download, and play pictographic communication boards.

Focus

  • Simple Blocker – This tool helps students to stay focused on their work by blocking distracting websites. The user can choose the sites to block, how long to block them, and include optional password protection.
  • uBlock Origin – A simple but powerful ad-blocking extension that removes distracting ads from websites.
  • Move It – This extension can be set to periodically stop students working and have them do something physical. Research supports movement during study to improve retention.

Readability

  • OpenDyslexic – This extension overrides all fonts on web pages with the OpenDyslexic font and formats pages to be more easily readable.
  • High Contrast – This tool can make webpages easier to read by changing the colors to increase contrast, invert the colors, or switch to grayscale.
  • Readline – Although designed as a speed reading tool, you can adjust the speed to the lowest setting and use this extension to easily read text one word at a time.
  • Visor– This screen overlay tool darkens the page except for a horizontal band you can move up and down as you read, helping the student focus.
  • Color Enhancer – For people who are partially color-blind, this tool can help adjust and improve webpage colors.

Reading Comprehension

  • SummarizeThis – Copy and paste any text into the app to get a summarized version of the most important information.
  • sentiSum – Get a summarized version of any web page.
  • Google Dictionary – Double-click any word on a web page to get a pop-up with the definition and audible pronunciation.
  • Books That Grow – Books That Grow is a leveled reading app that contains eBooks that are set for each user’s reading ability.

This list is just a few of the many Chrome add-ons that can enhance accessibility in your classroom. Be sure to see another list of helpful add-ons that enhance readability and reading comprehension. Make sure to register for Get Your Google On webinars each month where we showcase additional ways to utilize the power of G Suite for learning. If you discover other apps and extensions that work with the Chrome browser to help students with accessibility, please share in the Comments section below.

 

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math tools
ChromebooksGoogle Tips and TricksMath

Math Tools for Chrome

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Are you a Chrome browser user? If so, you aren’t alone. You and your students may be among the 54.8% of web surfers using the Google Chrome browser. That equates to approximately thirty million students in U.S. schools. While tools like Microsoft OneNote, which features an equation editor and graphing tools, work great on Windows, what about Chrome browser alternatives on touch-screen Chromebooks? Here are some math tools that you will want to blend into your Chrome-based math instruction.

Equatio – This Chrome extension takes the pain out of making equations or math expressions. You can also dictate equations to Equatio. Teachers can use Google Forms to create quizzes. Students can add diagrams, sketches, and more to make their thinking visible. It comes in a free and premium version. Watch video.

math tools

 

Quadratic Equation Calculator – Check your work with this free Chrome extension. Avoid struggling with solving quadratic equations in high school math or physics class. No more wrestling with coefficients.

math tools

Desmos Graphing Calculator – With this free extension, you can  plot polar, cartesian, or parametric graphs. You can also use sliders to adjust values to see graph results change in real time, and scale axes. Watch video.

math tools

 

GeoGebra Classic – Blending graphing, geometry, 3D, spreadsheets, computer algebra, and probability into one tool, this Chrome extension enables students to analyze graphing-related data and do statistics. You can find many examples online at the GeoGebra website.

math tools

Graspable Math Sidebar – This extension, also available as a full-blown website, enables you to drag most static math expressions from Wikipedia or many other pages onto the canvas. Then, Graspable Math makes those interactive for your students. Once you drag and drop formulas into the sidebar or enter them directly, you are able to create algebraic derivations. The website comes with teacher resources, lessons, and projects.

math tools

Math Tools – This Chrome extension includes “a digital scientific calculator, a graphing calculator and an equation writer.” This is only one of many free Chrome extensions that Jay Murphy (“Mr. Teachnology”) has created and made available online.  It has a simple interface that students can take advantage of.

math tools

 

Math – This Chrome extension enables you to solve math equations, and type trigonometry, in the Chrome address bar. It features a save feature that keeps track of your last thirty results. The extension supports constants (e.g.Euler’s constant (E), Natural log of 2 (LN2), Natural log of 10 (LN10), Base 2 log of E (LOG2E), and many more). Single argument functions (e.g. abs(x)) can also be found.

math tools

Cloudy Calculator – This free Chrome extension provides some calculator functions. Get the Cloudy Calculator Enhancer to give it additional features (e.g. shortcut keys). One neat ability that Cloudy Calculator enjoys is what happens when you type in something like this:

60 watts * 1 year * 0.02 dollars / 1 kW*hour

Note the result below (at the bottom of examples):

math tools

Share Your Own

What great math tools have you discovered that work with the Chrome browser? Please share in the Comments section below!

 

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writing
English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)Writing

Writing Tools for Chrome

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

The Chrome browser is such a powerful piece of software, and it’s becoming more prevalent every day. Whether you’re using a Windows, Mac, or Chrome computer, this browser should be your go-to for Internet access. If you have students who are using the Chrome browser, then there are some extensions and websites that you will want to recommend to them to use to improve their writing.

Grammarly for Chrome – I love this extension! It comes in both a free and a premium version. The free version will check your spelling and grammar on almost anything you write, including Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr, and nearly everywhere else you write on the web. It does require that you create a free account. But with that account, you’ll get weekly emails with insights and performance stats about your writing. You can find out more here.

The premium version will check for more than 100 other types of errors and provides vocabulary enhancement suggestions, detects plagiarism, gives citation suggestions, and more.

WordCounter – While this website serves a seemingly simple purpose, I use it all the time. Apart from counting words and characters, their online editor can help to improve word choice and writing style, and, optionally, help you to detect grammar mistakes and plagiarism. In addition, WordCounter shows you the top 10 keywords and the keyword density of the article you’re writing. This allows you to know which keywords you use how often and at what percentages. This can prevent you from over-using certain words or word combinations and check for best distribution of keywords in your writing. In other words, it can help you become a better writer!

In the Details overview, you can see the average speaking and reading time for your text, while Reading Level is an indicator of the education level a person would need in order to understand the words you’re using. To check word count, simply place your cursor into the text box and start typing. You’ll see the number of characters and words increase or decrease as you type, delete, and edit them. You can also copy and paste text from another program into the online editor.

EasyBib Toolbar – This extension is great for secondary students and up. It will let you cite web sites with just one click. Students who use it can also receive advice on the credibility of the website they’re citing, making it a critical part of their digital citizenship skills. Cite as many sources as you need to build a fully-formatted, alphabetized, and Word-processor-ready bibliography.

Cliche Finder – Another good extension for secondary students, this one lets you paste text into the website and then have all of the cliches identified. Besides helping with their own writing, Cliche Finder is also a good tool to help students understand what cliches are and how they are regularly used in the news and movies.

Hemingway Editor – Help your students to embrace clear, clean writing like the great author Hemingway with this website. The app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors. It also identifies dense and complicated sentences, sentences written in passive voice, and weak adverbs and phrases. It will show the readability level and word count, too.

MindMup 2.0 – Although this extension has a terrible name, it is a very powerful but easy-to-use mind mapping tool. Using a graphic organizer like a mind mapper is a great resource for all students and can help them become stronger writers. MindMup can be used for collaborative writing as well and interfaces with Google Drive.

Calmly Writer – If you have a student who is easily distracted while writing by all of the bells and whistles available in most word processing programs, try the Calmly Writer website. It offers a completely blank screen with nothing to think about but the writing. Clicking on the lotus flower in the left-hand corner will reveal a drop-down menu of expected word processor options. One of the preferences available is white text on a black screen, which can be good for students with dysgraphia. While there is a Calmly Writer app for Chrome, it is $4.99; the website is free.

WriteWell Online – This Chrome extension has won awards for its intuitive editor vast library of writing templates, many of them designed for K-12. Some of the included templates are:

  • Five Paragraph Essay
  • Research Paper (Analytical and Argumentative)
  • Short Story
  • Argumentative Essay
  • Expository Essay Narrative Essay
  • Cover Letter
  • Persuasive Essay
  • Lab Report
  • Expository Essay
  • Speech (Informative or Persuasive)
  • Book Report

It is free to use for up to five documents. You can receive unlimited documents for $2.99.

What great writing tools have you discovered that work with the Chrome browser? Please share in the Comments section below!

This blog was updated with additional resources on September 22, 2017.

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