I get thousands of visitors a day–over six million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is for resources. I have lots of them–lesson plans, real stories, tips and tricks–but one area I always welcome new ideas is from the experiences of fellow teachers:

• your personal teaching experiences
• your informed take on tech ed topics
• pedagogy

If you’re an educator interested in guest posting on this blog or start your own column, leave a comment below and I’ll be in touch.

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It sounds easy, but to a five or six year old, holding the mouse, clicking that left button, dragging and dropping while holding a finger down is darn difficult. Here’s a list (click for updates):

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We write about back to school often on Ask a Tech Teacher. Here are some of the past articles I think you’ll like: (more…)

Here are the basic skills fifth graders can learn in Photoshop if you’ve prepared them with basic computer skills:

• Photoshop artwork–live
• Photoshop actions–live
• Photoshop basics #5 live
• Photoshop filter and rendering tools #9 live (this one)
• Photoshop starters–auto-correct with the auto-correction — live quick fixes that make a photo look cleaner #6
• Photoshop crop tool–Live
• Photoshop clone tool– live
• Photoshop–change the background–live
• Photoshop tools–add custom shapes–live
• Photoshop–start with Word –live (a little dated but still useful)

Ready? Let’s start with what Adobe Photoshop is–a grown-up KidPix, and the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom Volume I) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

Adobe Photoshop has an impressive collection of tools to add pizazz to pics. You might have students open their school picture for this project. They love working with their own image.

• #1: Artistic Renderings—artistic overlays that add flair to pictures. Go to Filter—artistic and it brings up dozens of choices. Try some (it gives a preview of the result) and select a favorite.

• #2: blur and smudge tools on left tool bar to soften the background, and sharpen a focal point.

• #3: Use Filter-render-clouds to create a cloudy background (the colors of your foreground and background tool)

Troubleshooting Tips

• I can’t get the right colors for the clouds (check your foreground and background tools. That’s where Photoshop takes the colors)

• I’m trying to drag the picture but I get an error message (Check your layers. Do the have the correct layer highlighted?)

• I don’t have Photoshop. (Try GIMP–it’s free)

Do you have questions? Please add a comment and I’ll answer. Thanks.

Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:

https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm

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Copyright ©2025 worddreams.wordpress.com – All rights reserved.

“The content presented in this blog is the result of my creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching.

September 4-8, 2025

We’re extending our offer of a 20% discount on any Survival Kit. Pick one from this link:

https://www.structuredlearning.net/product-category/all-in-one-resource-collections/

Use this code:

3XAR9WZU

Click through for additional hidden discounts!

Questions? Email us at askatechteacher@gmail.com (more…)

Here are the most-read posts for the month:

1. 10 Unexpected Truths About Teaching
2. Tech Ed Resources–Lesson Plans
3. 22 Ways Any Teacher Can (and Should) Use Technology
4. Fifth grade lesson plans in Photoshop (click on website  for these)
5. Gamification of Assessments: Fun or Flawed?
6. How to teach the hard to teach class — the video.
7. Tech Ed Resources for your Class–Digital Citizenship
8. 10 Ways to Become a Better Geek
9. Teacher-Authors–Long List of my Favorite Writing Websites
10. Windows Skills: Make Your Own Wallpaper

Here’s what’s coming up: (more…)

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is an American holiday (though celebrated world-wide by different names) dedicated to the achievements of workers. Take today to think about it. Me, I’ll take it literally–labor! I enjoy labor, the good feeling of finishing, meeting goals, working hard.

“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.” — Margaret Mead

“You always pass failure on your way to success.” — Mickey Rooney

“Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” — Helena Rubinstein

“Dedication, hard work all the time, and belief.” — Cristiano Ronaldo

If you’re devoting Labor Day to your writing (rather than teacher prep) but need a kick start, here are suggestions for favorite labor-saving tools for writers:

1. Reedsy’s Best 23 Writing Tools of 2024
2. 25 Top Tools for Writers to Crush it in 2024
3. The 14 Best Writing Tools for Writers in 2024
4. The 30 Best Tools for Writers
5. Plot Generator
6. AI Plot Generator

A few Labor Day websites to enjoy for teaching: (more…)

How to Teach a Tech Lesson

This video is from a series I taught for school districts. It is now available for free to subscribers of Ask a Tech Teacher:

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Adobe Photoshop is kind of KidPix for grown-ups, as well as the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in the first volume of the book, 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each project scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

Here are the skills fifth graders can learn in Photoshop if you’ve prepared them with basic computer skills. I’ve provided links. The bolded ones are published, unbolded coming soon:

• Photoshop artwork–live
• Photoshop actions–live
• Photoshop basics #5 live
• Photoshop filter and rendering tools
• Photoshop starters–auto-correct with the auto-correction — live quick fixes that make a photo look cleaner #6
• Photoshop crop tool–Live
• Photoshop clone tool– live
• Photoshop–change the background–live
• Photoshop tools–add custom shapes–live
• Photoshop–start with Word –live (a little dated but still useful)

Today: Cloning

The clone tool duplicates a hard to crop-and-copy image (like the flowers below) or deletes part of a background—a sign or a post in a nature scene—you don’t want there. You can clone within a picture (as with the flowers), (more…)