HOTSpot - Chris - Simple Stop Motion Videos

For every conference you’ve attended, you always hope to get at least one good take away to bring back and share. Stop Motion Animator is definitely a gem when it comes to great finds in the free app world. Available on the Chrome Web store, Apple App Store, and Google Play (Android) for free, students have all kinds of options on how they want to use it. What I like most about this app (other than it being free) is that it allows for students to be creative, and it forces me to be open to different project ideas. Hopefully, a little learning happens along the way.

HOTSpot - Cory - Hyperdocs

Google Slides and Google Docs have become powerful tools in the arsenal of any teacher, and it’s encouraging to know that both can become even more dynamic with the idea of Hyperdocs. Hyperdocs are Google documents that are chalk full of instructional material for students to sift through, complete, or collaborate on. So, whether you are looking into some inquiry based learning or flipping a few lessons, keep the idea of Hyperdocs in mind to borrow ideas or create on your own. (What are Hyperdocs?)

HOTSpot - Sean - Pics in Speadsheets

I feel like “use a spreadsheet” is the answer to so many digital questions...whether I’m producing or I’m asking my students to produce. But one big downfall of spreadsheets has always been the inability to easily manipulate images in there. It’s something that we often think we can do, try to do it, but then realize it’s not simple...so we typically abandon the spreadsheet and try to clunk our way through a word doc and tables...ugh. Well, here’s a pretty smooth way of inserting, manipulating, and enhancing pictures in Google Sheet. The answer lies within Google Drawings...lemme show you!

HOTSpot - Shona - LMC Resources

Overdrive and Flipster are fabulous resources that our district offers for students and teachers. Overdrive, an online resource and phone app, is a portal for ebooks and audiobooks while Flipster is an online magazine portal where students and teachers can access Time magazine, The Week, and many others. Teachers can use these resources for Articles of the Week, book projects, current events, and our special education population who struggle with reading. Specifically, Overdrive offers audiobooks for those readers who struggle with reading. Check out a book for reading or listening, browse magazine articles, or both with these awesome district resources. Just hop on to the LMC website, stop into the LMC, or pop into the HOTSpot and we can help you utilize these resources.

Update Your To-Dos with Keep | The G Suite Show

Google Keep came out with some new features recently that might be worth taking a look at.

HOTSpot - Chris - Black Menu for Google

Bookmark clutter has always been an issue for me, and I am always looking for a better way to organize myself to save a little time. Since I utilized Google Apps so often, bookmarks for Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Keep, they used to be permanent fixtures on my bookmark bar until I found Black Menu For Google. This extension makes checking in on Google Apps super easy and quick. My bookmark bar just lost a few pounds thanks to it.

HOTSpot - Amanda - Photos for Class and Work

Finding photos for projects can sometimes lead students down a… The creators of “Storyboard That” have come up with a solution for finding photos for projects and class. The website photosforclass.com has three excellent features. The first is “age appropriate searches.” If students put in an inappropriate word or search, it redirects them to appropriate options or puppies! The second option is that website includes automatic citation to all photos used. Students don’t have to do any additional steps, and the credit is given to the source. Finally, all the photos on this website are Creative Commons. The photos are licensed for public use, and this teaches students an important lesson of again given credit and following license rules.

Increase your productivity in Google Drive with these keyboard shortcuts

Sometimes learning keyboard shortcuts can seem like more work than its worth but learning a few can really save you seconds that add up to a lot of times saved in the long run. Learning some of these keyboard shortcuts for Google Drive might just be worth it in the end. Check out this blog post from Better CloudMonitor on 6 useful shortcuts for Google Drive.