TwosDays- Cory- Checklists

As the semester comes to an end check out this video for some good tips on keeping track of assignments and grading! If you’re like me, a good old paper checklist is great to carry around for the end of the semester with all the missing assignments, grades, and specific tasks to take care of.  Having a flexible template for each class can easily allow you to adjust categories and quickly print a list that can serve your needs. It’s the age old approach that you can tailor for ease of organization.

TwosDay - Amanda - Google Meet to Review

Happy almost finals week! As a follow-up to our Lunch and Learn today on communication, I thought it would be helpful to revisit a video on using Google Meet to review! Check it out and as always, stop by the HOTSpot for help.

TwosDay - Cory - Google Slides Essay

If your DQ has you thinking about chunking, Alice Keeler has created a great template that can be utilized for students.  It is essentially a Google Slide deck that allows you to break up ideas and paragraphs into slides. You can have students annotate, add items, or put in pictures or videos, but once you are ready to focus on the text, a simple button will turn the slide deck into a Google Doc that is much more appropriate for a final draft.  It’s a great way to add a few different wrinkles to the writing and learning process.

My Marzano Connection: DQ2E9

TwosDay - Sean - Checking In On Student Learning

As we stare final exams & winter hibernation right in the eyes, reflection and formative assessment is heavy on my mind. So I wanted to share one of many ways that I use Google Forms with my students. This is great to help understand what just happened during a learning process, especially with longer term projects or experiences that are really new to the students. I call it the “3 N’s Check In.” You could push this out as required or make it available as open and optional throughout any multi-step learning process. This is especially great because it allows me to help the kids out in ways I wasn’t able to anticipate.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3E19 & DQ4E23

TwosDay - Allison - Google Smart Compose

Looking to increase your email productivity? Want to help your students do the same? Your Gmail account has a built-in assistant for answering and composing emails. Google's “Smart Compose” uses artificial intelligence (AI) to complete words and phrases as you type. Just hit TAB or the right arrow key to accept the suggestions, or simply keep typing if you don’t want to use a particular auto fill text.

Smart Compose can speed up your responses to parents and fellow staff, especially as it “learns” more about how you write. It can also help prompt students to write more professional sounding emails - an important life skill!

Come on by the HOTSpot if you’d like help turning this feature on (or off?), or want to learn more.

TwosDay - Bob - Classroom Resource Checkout

We have added a new section to the HOTSpot website where you can check out various classroom resources to use with your students.  We will add more of them as they become available, but for now, we have a puzzle, some cameras, and a green screen for video editing. To check out a resource, just click on its name and fill out the form. We will get back to you ASAP so you can start using the resources with your students!

TwosDay - Brandon - Goose Chase

Nothing gets students more amped up than competition and time constraint.  GooseChase is an online scavenger hunt tool that allows students to submit written and photo evidence of completed tasks.  This is a novel way of taking a normal class activity or unit and creating an epic learning event out of it.  It is easy to use, free, and has intuitive features that allow you to monitor their progress quickly.  Feel free to investigate the program more and come see the HOTSpot if you need help getting setup.

My Marzano Connection: DQ2E14-15

TwosDay - Amanda - Sticky Notes in Slides

One of my favorite follows on twitter is Matt Miller. You can subscribe to his blog, and he’s always sending awesome tips and tricks that you can immediately use in your classroom. Last week he sent out a blog post about using sticky notes in Google Slides. He created a template and also included  ideas of how you would use this with your students or your own planning! Check out the blog and download your template today.

http://ditchthattextbook.com/2018/11/14/google-slides-sticky-note-brainstorming-powerful-planning/

TwosDay - Cory - Create GIFs With Google Slides

I am always looking for creative ways to spark ideas for projects, and I recently found a new website called www.talltweets.com that allows you to create a gif out of the slides that you already have.  It could be used for anything from making simple directions to a story/comic book that students could produce.  It is a fun tool that may allow for some new approaches to a producing unique content.

My Marzano Connection: DQ2E12

TwosDay - Sean - Photo Editing Tools Free and Chromebook Friendly

Asking students to be creative is always a fun way to push their thinking with our content. When limited to tight budgets and web only chromebooks, sometimes creating & editing images can be difficult to do beyond the basics of google drawings. However, there are a couple free, web based options out there that provide similar functionality to photoshop without the software or price tag.

My Marzano Connection: DQ2E13 / DQ3E17

TwosDay - Amanda - Mastery Manager Tips

We get a lot of questions in the HOTSpot regarding Mastery Manager, so we thought we would address a few this week. The first tip is pretty basic but important: where do you find the reports option for creating and working with your PDGs? The other tips involve how to use the other functions that are available within an individual assessment. As always stop by if you would like help with Mastery Manager!

TwosDay - Bob - New GSuite Apps Hack

There are lots of different ways to open a new Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides document, but Google’s newest method is the .new domain.  From any tab type docs.new, sheets.new, or slides.new to open a new Docs, Sheets, or Slides respectively. This is just one more tool for your toolbox that may help you save time and increase your productivity.

TwosDay - Brandon - FlipGrid

Student voice is a powerful tool that, when leveraged correctly, helps content come alive.  Flipgrid is a free premium video response platform that allows you to hear each student’s voice and assess his or her knowledge beyond a document.  Take a look at this video to see what Flipgrid is like from the student and teacher perspective.  Setup is so quick, you could start Flipgridding today.  Come see the Hotspot if you need help.

My Marzano Connection: DQ2E10

TwosDay - Sean - Embedding and Customizing Videos in Google Sliides

Whether you’re moving through slides with your students or having them progress at their own pace, embedding youtube videos into your slides can create smooth engaging lessons for students to follow. But sometimes, you want to customize that experience so they don’t zone out or skip through the process. You can do that!

My Marzano Connection: DQ5E28

TwosDay - Cory - GDrawing Rubric

If you know what it is like to see your rubric tossed into recycling bin with nothing more than a glance at the grade, then you might want to take a peek at this.  It is hard to press against the argument that grading/ circling  points on a sheet of paper is the easiest approach, but we are inching ever closer with options that keep the ease and attempt to up the access for students and teachers.

My Marzano Connection: DQ1 E1

TwosDay - Bob - Hapara Focused Browsing

Just like the Share to Classroom extension, Hapara allows teachers to push websites directly to student devices.  However, Hapara takes this functionality a step further with its “Focused Browsing” feature. Focused Browsing allows teachers to close any tabs students already have open and direct them to up to 10 websites. Teachers can also restrict students from browsing to other sites for a specified length of time. When that time expires, any tabs students previously had open will be restored. Access Hapara by logging into hapara.com with your d128.org Google account.

TwosDay - Mandie - Closed Captions in Google Slides

Google recently launched the capability to add closed captioning when presenting a Google Slides Presentation. Developed by two Google Workers with hearing impairments, this option allows students who struggle to hear what you are presenting to read the text in real-time. Helpful not only for students with hearing impairments, but also helpful for clarifying information that students miss when you are giving directions and presenting information.. Read more about this feature and what they are planning to add at this Blog Post.

TwosDay - Sean - Google Sheets Checkboxes

“Checking the box” can be a very helpful tool with workflow for both students and teachers. Google sheets now has a nice and easy feature available for putting check boxes into a spreadsheet. We can use this to set students up with a project “to-do” list, or even put our rubrics into a google sheet and then just use the check boxes for quick grading, or a multitude of other hacks for instructional purposes.
My Marzano Connection: DQ1E1 / DQ1E2

TwosDay - Brandon - Advanced Searching

We spend time every day trying to find that right image for an activity or that perfect video to introduce a lesson.  No more blindly clicking on items to see if they will work, it is time for you  to get an advanced degree in Google Search.  Use the tool button to refine your searches and find the resources you are looking for quickly and accurately.

TwosDay - Cory - Simple Formative Assessment

Having a few formative assessment ideas in your back pocket is always a good idea, and this is one of those all-purpose options that requires little set up and minimal time after.  Getting students to be in on the creation of their own practice for tests and quizzes is a quick and useful method to adapt for your objectives.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3 E14,15

TwosDay - Sean - Fake Ticket Generator

Getting creative in class is fun. There’s a cool tool that I stumbled across that allows you to make fake tickets to whatever you want. You can make them yourself to hand out to students or you can have students use this tool to make tickets for a project or activity. It’s a pretty straightforward tool on a website called www.faketicketgenerator.com.

My Marzano Connection: DQ5E25

TwosDay - Bob - Google Alerts

Google Alerts allows you to have web search results sent to your inbox on a regular basis.  If there is a guru in your field that you want to follow or a topic you are teaching that you would like to have some sources about, just enter the search criteria and set some parameters at alerts.google.com and you will receive updates. Students can use it, too!

TwosDay - Brandon - Thinglink

Annotations are a valuable skill to summarize and highlight  information, and we all know the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  Thinglink blends these two ideas together to create a unique and powerful learning tool.  Take visual literacy images, math problems, and diagrams to the next leveling by using Thinglink to tag those images with additional resources.  Simple webquests, tutorials, and digital field trips are all one click away.  Thinglink

TwosDay - Amanda - WeVideo Update

Video creation is a great opportunity for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned as well as providing a vehicle for student voice. Don’t forget that all students have premium access to WeVideo. If you need help getting students started using this tool, please reach out to a HOTSpot member to ensure your students are set up. Also, WeVideo has great educator tools and resources for creating lessons. Visit their Blog or this Educator’s Guide for great tips and to see updates like new sound effects and lesson ideas. 

TwosDay - Cory - FAQ Page

Getting students to take a little initiative when it comes to questions for a project or a unit can be challenging.  The “asked and answered” questions can take up more time than they should.  Try using an FAQ page that could create a great space for peer answers, repeated questions, or simply a reference page to pre-load a few answers that will help students without a face-to-face response. You know, exactly how you have to operate when you can’t get a real person on the line for customer service... “Press 1 if you are frustrated and wish to hang up.”
My Marzano Connection: DQ4E23 & DQ2E10

TwosDay - Sean - BackChannel Chatting

Getting students to talk and communicate with each other can be a challenge. One of the greatest back channel chatting tools, Today’s Meet, has closed down on us. In response, I threw together this template that can be used (not as beautifully as Today’s Meet, of course) with students for back channeling during an activity or a video.

My Marzano Connection: DQ4E21 & DQ9E40

TwosDay - Amanda - Google Classroom Materials

With the about page gone from the google classroom update teachers were searching for a way to still share materials like syllabus to their students. Classroom has added the material option for the classwork tab.  This will now allow you to post announcement type materials in the classwork tab and allow you to add to topic and rearrange. I suggest you make a topic called “classroom materials” and you continue to add to this topic throughout the year. 

TwosDay - Bob - HOTSpot Website

Do you remember a tech tool mentioned in a TWOSday video, but don’t remember the name?  Did you attend a Lunch and Learn but can’t remember some of the resources?  Fear not!  The HOTSpot website is an archive of all this information and more.  Take a quick look to see how you can access it and remember what you may have forgotten.

TwosDay - Brandon - Dotstorming

Dotstorming is a powerful alternative to Padlet and implements a voting system for student voice and feedback.  Gather student ideas and work quickly so that you can  assess and showcase their knowledge.  Create a free account at www.dotstorming.com and create up to three different boards for you to use with your students!

TwosDay - Sean - Email Address Registration Trick

Creating accounts can be a pain because unique emails are typically required. When we create, or we ask our students to create accounts on something (like Twitter or LinkedIn or whatever else you or your students may need to register for) we need to use our school account. This can be a pain. However, there is a pretty slick work around (shout out to John Taylor at LHS for the tip on this one) we can use or have our students use.

My Marzano Connection: DQ4: Element 23

TwosDay - Amanda - Notifications For Classroom

Being enrolled in several google classrooms either as co-teachers or student can be helpful but the amount  email notifications can be overwhelming! Now you can follow a few easy steps to customize the notifications you will receive in your email.

TwosDay - Bob - Share to Classroom

TwosDays - Bob - Share to Classroom Extension

The Chrome Webstore offers an extension to easily push websites out to students. Share to Classroom not only allows you to get online content to student devices in an efficient way, but it also facilitates basic Google Classroom functionality such as asking questions and posting assignments. Direct link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/share-to-classroom/adokjfanaflbkibffcbhihgihpgijcei?utm_source=gmail

TwosDay - Sean - Classroom Feedback New Features

Managing assignments in google classroom, especially when providing feedback on student work, has typically been pretty awesome but a bit clunky and bumpy. Classroom has rolled out a new look with some pretty great features. Giving students feedback on their work is one area where the new classroom has really knocked it out of the park.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3: Element 20 & DQ4: Element 23

TwosDay - Cory - Google Classroom Calendar Update

Google Classroom and Google Calendars have finally connected the way you have been hoping!  Connecting the two has been a bit of a lost cause to date, but the fix is finally here.  Now, you can actually place assignments or events on your own Google Calendar and have those show up in the classroom calendar that is connected to Google Classroom.  No more making separate calendars and messing with links to the calendars you have set up.

My Marzano Connection: DQ6: Element 4 & DQ7: Element 33

TwosDay - Cory - Retrieval For Studying

Students are so often cramming more information into their brains at the end of semester, but it can also be beneficial to help them pull those pieces out for better retrieval on exams.  Try using Socrative, Flipgrid, or no technology at all to allow your students to have a brief brain dump for a study session.

TwosDay - Sean - Autocrat From A Guest TwsoDayer

Hacking doesn’t HAVE to be super high tech or fancy. It can be as simple as using a tool to enhance another tool. Autocrat can help us hack google forms and sheet and docs to put together some powerful messages. Check this out, from our guest TwsoDayer, to see how you can use Autocrat to get Forms, Sheets, & Docs to all work together for wonderful data compilation.

TwosDay - Steve - EOY Mastery Manager Tips

As we approach the end of the semester, I want to remind you of some important tips related to Mastery Manager.  In this video, I help you find last year’s final exam file in order to duplicate and update it for this year, provide time-saving tips on how to ensure your bubble sheets are printing correctly, and revisit the steps required to allow students to complete their exam online.

TwosDay - Amanda - Quizlet

Students are usually the experts when it comes to review and Quizlet, but this time around you can highlight some great new features and you can be the expert! Quizlet has added the diagrams that students can label and review from. There are numerous diagrams already created, or you can create your own. Also, students can now combine their study sets and review all units from the year. Happy reviewing.  If you are looking for new ways to use Quizlet Live, click this link! 

TwosDay - Sean - New Gmail Features

Gmail, the flagship tool of Google educational products has bestowed a wonderful gift upon us with some new features (and a few more phases of new stuff still to come soon). If you haven’t enabled it yet, I’ll give you a quick look at doing that, then a brief tour of the new-ness.

TwosDay - Bob - Padlet

Padlet offers a message board-style method of communication between teachers and students as well as among students in the classroom. Teachers can post a prompt to which students can post text, image, video, and voice responses. Students can also use Padlet as a way to save resources for themselves or share them with classmates.

TwosDay - Cory - Pear Deck Vocabulary

If you are into the academic gaming, Pear Deck has put out another tool that is a little different approach to putting some vocabulary in the memory banks.  Along with all of its new changes, Pear Deck has created a flash card building process that has students creating sentence examples and drawings for each vocabulary word.  Once the submissions are in, the teacher, along with the class, can pick the best examples so that everyone is left with a deck that can be used for studying.  It even allows you to export it Quizlet for further fun and practice.

Marzano Connection: DQ5 E25

TwosDay - Shona - Kahoot Template Review

Kahoot is an awesome and engaging tool, but it lacks depth.  In order for students to reflect on their own learning, I created a game reflection template for them to use in conjunction with the game.  Simply fill in the unit skills or concepts from the unit and have the students play.  Pro tip, put the skill or concept in the same order as the Kahoot questions, and the students will be able to have a quick and easy gauge of where they are with each area of the unit.  You can also use this for final or AP exam reviews. 

Marzano Connection: DQ 5: Elements 25 & 32, DQ 3: Elements 14 & 15

TwosDay - Mystery Guest - Hacking Google Forms

Can you guess the mystery guest for this week’s TwosDay video? 

The word hack refers to a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency.  Today we bring you a hack for Google forms.  This useful hack will allow you, the teacher, to put a temporary pause somewhere in a Google form so that your students may not move ahead.  Stopping students in the middle of a form may be useful for a brief lecture from the teacher, or some reflective conversation with a classmate before moving on.  To use this hack, create a question that requests a 4-digit code from the student.  Set the response validation option to be equivalent to a specific number that the teacher chooses.  Be sure to enter some custom text such as “please wait for further instruction.”  Set the question to be required and you’re all set.  Your students will be forced to stop in the middle of the form until they receive the secret code from you. Send the HOTSpot an email if you can identify the mystery guest. The first one to respond wins a prize!! 

TwosDay - Sean - Making "New" Pear Deck Work For You

The amazingness of educational technology revolves quite heavily around constant improvement. However, that typically means constant changes. And sometimes we see overhauls happen that can be scary… like we just saw with Pear Deck where we have no idea where buttons or features have gone. But, have no fear, we’ve got you covered with info on major changes and new features very soon. For now, if you don’t want to explore the new Pear Deck waters on your own, you can “go back to the old way.”
My Marzano Connection: DQ5E’s26,28,31

TwosDay - Steve - AWW App

Looking for a cool new digital tool?  Try exploring awwapp.com (“aww” stands for “a web whiteboard”)!  This web-based software allows users to draw freehand or add shapes, text, or sticky notes to a digital canvas.  The site is responsive to touch capabilities, which means your students can use their Chromebooks to interact with it.  By logging in using your Google credentials, you can name, save, duplicate, and reopen saved canvases. You can also invite others to collaborate on your whiteboard by sending them an email or sharing the URL or QR code that brings them straight to your page!  My Marzano Connection: DQ5E24, 25, 26

TwosDay - Bob - Stay Sane with Inbox for Gmail

We all use Gmail at school, and Inbox is an alternate way to access your mail that allows the same functionality as Gmail, but allows you to schedule emails to appear at a more appropriate moment. To access Inbox, all you need to do is go to inbox.google.com. You can return to the standard Gmail interface whenever necessary.  You can also file messages using labels just as in Gmail. Inbox for Gmail keeps your inbox empty until you are ready to address a message.

TwosDay - Sean - Website Functionality Test

Sometimes, we ask our students to go to a website and they tell us that it’s not working or it’s down. There’s a cool little way to check and see if the site itself is down or if it’s just us. Knowing this info helps direct us in a timely manner with our first step in trouble-shooting and ultimately trying to keep the kids from being completely derailed in the activity we are having them complete. The site is called downforeveryoneorjustme.com and is stupid easy to use.

My Marzano Connection: DQ5E28

TwosDay - Shona - PDF's To Google Docs

An easy way to convert PDF’s to workable documents is to use Cloud Convert.  This video showcases a quick step-by-step tutorial for converting PDF’s into Google Docs, which allows the text to be more workable for you and your students.  In passing, teachers have outwardly wished they knew how to do this conversion.  Viola!!  Ask and you shall receive.  If you are interested in having students annotate the workable document, here are some great annotation extensions to deepen your lessons.

TwosDay - Cory - Anchor Podcasts

TwosDays -Cory - Anchor Podcasting

If you aren’t into listening to podcasts, then maybe you need to create your own!  Anchor podcasting touts being “the easiest way to start a podcast. Ever.”  There may be a few challenges, but for free site that allows you to seamlessly integrate audio clips, gives you transition choices, and publishes it straight to all major platforms, it is worth looking at for how you might be able to implement it in your classroom.  Plus, it has Android and iPhone apps that students could work directly on!

TwosDay - Mandie - Edu Blogs

With Spring Break just a few days away this is the perfect time to find a few new podcasts to fill the travel or relaxing beach days that await you. We would also love to see what Podcasts you are currently enjoying. Here are a few to get you started Google Tribe Podcast Cult of Pedagogy Podcast  Start Ed Up Podcast  Feel free to comment on this blog or send us an email and we will share out the ideas by the end of the week! Happy listening.

TwosDay - Steve - More From Flippity

About 2 years ago, Mandie introduced us to Flippity, an online tool for creating custom flashcards.  Flippity has since added a variety of resources to its repertoire, many of which are aimed at student engagement and academic gaming.  Each of these fully customizable tools can be created through the use of a template in Google Sheets. Whether you’re looking for a quiz show game, a Bingo card generator, or a crossword puzzle creator, Flippity has got you covered!  This would also be a great tool for your students to use to enhance a class project or presentation.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3E14, DQ5E25

TwosDay - Sean - Can Do With Canned Responses

Sometimes, we have scenarios where we find ourselves using the same response over and over again. Or, maybe we want our students to create a consistent message over periods of time. Instead of re-creating that message each time, there’s a nice little feature in email called canned responses that we can use or teach our students to leverage.

My Marzano Connection: DQ5E31

TwosDay - Shona - Moellers Valuable Player

Celebrating successes (element 3) is such a lovely part of Design Question 1.  This year, I created an initiative in my PE classes designed around the values of sportsmanship, fairness, inclusive play, and positive attitude.  To introduce the topic, I created a Powtoon, a check for understanding, a google certificate, emails sent home to parents and students, and stickers for PE daily tracker. 

TwosDay - Bob - Classroomscreen for Classroom Management

A lot of teachers build many activities into their lessons. Classroomscreen.com is a free-website that offers several classroom management widgets to help orchestrate those activities and keep students on task with them. Teachers can customize the display with background images as well as post agendas, timers, and select students at random. My Marzano Connection: DQ6E4

TwosDay - Sean - GIFs In Slides

Information overload can be a real struggle. Images can be super helpful to summarize content, and sometimes GIF’s can be even more helpful. Finding and inserting GIF’s into a google slide is super easy.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3E14

TwosDay - Cory - Talk And Comment

Talk and Comment is an extension that touts the power of taking voice notes anywhere.  It is a small button that allows you to pause and make a voice comment on just about anything online.  Once completed, it turns it into a link that can be pasted wherever you like.  It seems to be particularly useful inside Google Docs since it embeds the voice clip in a comment.  Give it a try, and look for potential new uses of this tool.

TwosDay - Korney - Flipgrid

TwosDays - Steve - Flipgrid Online Video Response Platform

Here’s a free tool the tech coaches have been using for awhile that I think has some awesome potential for use in the classroom.  Teachers can start a discussion by posting a short video prompt, and students can respond by posting their own 90-second videos to an online platform.  Members of the class can view each other’s videos and the teacher can provide individual student feedback.  Need ideas for how to integrate this tool in your classroom?  Search Twitter using #flipgridfever for a seemingly endless supply of educational uses. 

My Marzano Connection: DQs 2 & 3

TwosDay - Mandie - Google Slides Extensions

TwosDays - Amanda - Google Slides Extensions and Add-Ons

What an amazing day for EdX yesterday! I heard such great ideas and excitement. In fact one of the sessions by Chris and Brandon inspired this Twos Day video regarding Google Slides add ons and extensions. Check out some of the top extensions and add ons to help bring your next Google Slide Lesson or assignment to the next level. 

HOTSpot - Sean - Reverse Order Forms Data

I am not a fan of Google forms collecting data by putting the newest entries at the bottom. I often reuse forms with my students (I have some that I’ve been using since 2012) and can’t stand having to scroll to row 750 to find today’s entries. However, if you create a second tab in the spreadsheet and plop a simple formula in cell A2...all can be fixed. The formula pulls from the original data entry tab. So, if you make sure that tab is named “ENTRY”, just use the following formula in cell A2 of the new tab and you’ll be good to go: =SORT(ENTRY!A2:H,1,FALSE) The only thing you’ll really need to pay attention to are the items in red. 1. “ENTRY” needs to match up with the exact name of the original data collection tab. 2. “A2” is in fact the top left cell from which you want to start pulling data.  3. “H” is the furthest right column from which you want to pull data. Don’t put a number after “H” so that it will continue to pull data ALL THE WAY down column H, even as new entries come in.

TwosDays Bob Kahoot and Quizizz as Informal assessment tools

Tech games such as Kahoot and Quizizz not only offer students a fun way to interact with knowledge, but they also provide teachers with metrics that can be used to inform their instruction.  Learn how to use the results spreadsheets after a game of Kahoot or Quizizz to evaluate student progress and address gaps in knowledge… all while students have fun! My Marzano Connection: DQ2 E8,13 / DQ3 E14 / DQ5 E25

https://quizizz.com | https://kahoot.com

TwosDay - Shona - Submitting WeVideos To Classroom

WeVideo is a fabulous video creating and editing tool, and VH has the premium version!  In this video, you will learn how the students can submit their video on Google Classroom with the click of a few buttons.  In a previous video, Cory outlines the cool features of the premium version; check out that video here.  The HOTSpot would also like to offer our help in transitioning students from the previous free version to the new premium version, which must be done with a few codes.  New students also must be taken through a roundabout way to get to the premium version, so please invite us into your classroom when you are ready to go.  

TwosDay - Cory - Google Slides Templates

Sometimes our students need a more creative or realistic place to start for a project.  This collection of Google Slide templates will definitely get the creative juices flowing for you and students when thinking about what mediums might be best for presentation.  There are templates that span from comics to magazines to Instagram posts that are available for kickstarting your ideas.  My Marzano Connection: DQ2 E10,11,12

http://creativeedtech.weebly.com/templates.html

TwosDay - Mandie - AdobeSpark

Some of the best tools for my classroom have come from my students, and Adobe Spark is another example. Adobe Spark is a web and app graphic design tool where you or your students can easily create beautiful images, videos, web pages and more. They also offer examples and ideas for using Spark in your own classroom. Visit the following websites to check it out 

https://spark.adobe.com/      

https://spark.adobe.com/edu/  

TwosDay - Sean - GIF Maker For Instruction

GIF’s are a pretty cool invention and can be really entertaining and funny. But, they can also be super useful to quickly illustrate a “how to” for students. Making GIFs has not necessarily been the easiest thing to do… until I stumbled across Gyazo.

My Marzano Connection: DQ3E19

TwosDay - Bob - Google Sheets to Facilitate Classroom Discussions

TwosDays - Bob - Google Sheets to Facilitate Classroom Discussions

Sheets is an often overlooked component of GSuite that can be used to facilitate simple, blog-style discussions between students in one class or even across classes. The template (link below) even allows for students to comment on previous entries. Link: https://goo.gl/MS2mDA

TwosDay - Steve - Unsplash Photos

Finding free, high-quality images for your (or your students’) Google Slides presentations can be a hassle.  Many of us resort to a quick Google image search, but do you realize you might be committing copyright infringement if you don’t cite your source?  Through the use of the Unsplash Photos add-on in Google Slides, you can quickly search through a vast array of high-quality, copyright-free images to enhance your presentation!

Marzano DQ2E12

TwsDay - Shona - Video Ad Blocking

If you are tired of being hit with advertisements while showing videos to your class, these extensions are for you! YouTube Ad Blocker is great because it proactively stops ads from popping up during viewing, and Turn Out The Lights allows the viewer to essentially ‘turn out the lights’ on any part of the screen that is not the video.  Here are other great TwosDay videos that showcase best practices for viewing/cropping videos:

Inserting videos into Google Slides from your Drive

Cropping videos

Twosday - Sean - Google Form Response Validation

Google forms is super versatile and has truly been a game changer in my classroom. Using the “Response Validation” feature kicks it up yet another notch and can be used for a variety of things. 

Check out how this works…

My Marzano Connection: DQ5E26

TwosDay - Cory - Reading Blog Feeds

If you are getting organized for the new year, take a quick look at a few ways to tap into the TwosDay videos to stay up to date on the latest helpful tips.  This video will cover our website, Blogger, and Feedly as avenues to keep up with all the content and not be overwhelmed. 

TwosDay - Mandie - Flipster

Monica joins us from the LMC with an online tool you and your students will “flip” over. Flipster is an online platform for students and staff to read magazines. Currently, VHHS has 5 titles that offer simultaneous access to nearly unlimited users. Consider reading an article together in class, asking your students to find an Article of the Month, or just encourage reading for pleasure.