Tag: how-to
How to Create a Paperless Classroom
Every Earth Day (April 22, 2023 this year–see our previous article on Earth Day Class Activities) someone in your school, maybe the parent group, raises the question of WHY NOT a paperless classroom? Everyone nods their heads, agrees this is a revolutionary idea, and moves on as Earth Day passes.
Really, though: Why not? There are benefits to adopting alternatives to paper:
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How to Compare and Contrast Authentically
To students, knowing how to ‘compare and contrast’ sounds academic, not real world, but we teachers know most of life is choosing between options. The better adults are at this, the more they thrive.
Common Core Standards recognize the importance of this skill by addressing it in over 29 Standards, at every grade level from Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade. Here’s a partial list:
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. (K-5 and 6-12 Reading Anchor Standards)
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Dear Otto: How do I set the default font on MS Word
Dear Otto is an occasional column where I answer questions I get from readers about teaching tech. If you have a question, please contact me at askatechteacher at gmail dot com and I’ll answer it here. For your privacy, I use only first names.
Here’s a great question I got from a reader:
MS Word opens with Calibri 11 and I want Times New Roman 12. How do I change that?
The easiest way to answer this is by showing so here’s a quick video on that:
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Hour of Code: Create Macros
Creating a macro is a quick, easy programming exercise that students fifth grade and up can accomplish with moderate supervision.
By fifth grade, students appreciate technology for how it can speed up their homework and class projects and seek out ways to use it to make their educational journey easier.. Take advantage of this by introducing pre-programming skills like creating macros. Here’s a video I shared during Summer PD:
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Hour of Code: Program Shortkeys
Creating a shortkey for a program will quickly become a favorite with your students. I use it for the snipping tool–because we use that a lot in class–but you can create one for any program you use a lot. Then I discovered how to create a shortkey for it:
- Go to Start
- Right click on the desired program
- Select ‘properties’
- Click in ‘shortcut’
- Push the key combination you want to use to invoke the snipping tool. In my case, I used Ctrl+Alt+S
- Save
Here’s a video to show you:
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How to go Paperless in Your Classroom
Every Earth Day, someone in your school, maybe the parent group, raises the question of WHY NOT a paperless classroom? Everyone nods their heads, agrees this is a revolutionary idea, and moves on as Earth Day passes.
Really, though: Why not? There are benefits to adopting web-based alternatives to paper:
- it’s easy to collaborate when everything’s online
- nothing gets soda dripped on it or eaten by the dog
- students can collaborate without requiring parent time and gas fumes
- teachers can answer questions in a timely manner
- teachers can provide feedback on projects that students respond to and resubmit
- student work is simple to copy, back up, and share as needed
To kickstart your paperless digital classroom requires a modicum of preparation. Take a few weekends this summer to set up a class blog and class website and get comfortable with the digital side of your school. This may include:
- Google Apps for Education and/or Google Classroom–this serves as a basic digital portfolio for students, a collaborative tool with classmates, the teacher’s inbox, and her tool for returning graded and analyzed student work.
- an LMS like Edmodo, Otus, or MyBigCampus–these often include an interactive gradebook, parent inclusion devices, a student discussion forum, polls, a way to collect and share resources, a class calendar, and access across a variety of digital devices.
- digital portfolios for students–this can be accomplished with the LMS you use, Google Apps, Google Classroom, or even Dropbox
Four school-based pieces you’ll need:
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Tech Tip #112: How to Open 2 Gmail Accounts at Once
As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!
Q: I have a home Gmail account and a school one. How do I open both at once so I can keep track of what my kids/home business/etc is doing while at my teaching job?
A: The quick answer I got from e-friend and tech guru Chris Hoffman is: Open each account in a separate browser (in my case, I use Firefox and Chrome). Click here to get all the details why this works. It has to do with each browser keeping its own cookie.
Why do you need this:
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#100: How to Web 2.0 Accessorize Your Classroom
Web 2.0 is the most exciting thing to happen to education since the schoolhouse. It is a limitless classroom, allowing students access to anything they can define. Includes what’s a digital citizen, how to create a blog, a classroom internet start page, a classroom wiki, how to join social networks and post pictures on Flikr, where to go for podcasting and online docs, and more.
Here’s where you start:
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How to Compare and Contrast Authentically
To students, knowing how to ‘compare and contrast’ sounds academic, not real world, but we teachers know most of life is choosing between options. The better adults are at this skill, the more they thrive in the world.
Common Core Standards recognize the importance of this skill by addressing it in over 29 Standards, at every grade level from Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade. Here’s a partial list:
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. (K-5 and 6-12 Reading Anchor Standards)
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Learn How to Play a Musical Instrument on Your Smart Phone

Do you want to learn how to play an instrument or sing? Your smartphone or tablet is your gateway to the world of music. There are plenty of apps that can help you get started, and help progress your musical interest and talent. In addition to the apps listed below, you could also find a music teacher to help advance your artistic abilities.
Note Perfect!
Note Perfect! makes a game of learning to read notes. It is a timed game testing the student’s ability to recognize written notes, which is a crucial skill for all musicians. The game design is both fun and intuitive for easy learning. The app allows play in four different clefs, and in three different levels of difficulty. You can even play with friends to try and capture the high score.
GuitarBots
According to the GuitarBots website, “The future of guitar learning starts here.” The app allows the use of either an electric or acoustic guitar, and it employs the tablet or phone’s microphone to hear what the student plays to assess progress. Awards are given to induce practice and development. Subscriptions allow the student to dig deeper into the content and features for a greater experience. The FCC has parental control guidelines and information to keep children safe online, with this app, controls can be activated to protect younger students from accessing inappropriate content through the app on the internet.
Don’t let the name fool you; Sing Sharp will help you sing in tune. It is a game learning platform that gauges your pitch accuracy in real-time. This will help you learn to find the right note as you go. There are ten game levels with over a thousand ear training and vocal exercises. Warm-ups at the beginning of each session get your voice ready to sing. The app learns your vocal range and tests it each time to make you a stronger singer.
GarageBand
Garage Band can make a complete novice sound like a virtuoso, but still has functionality that an experienced musician can use. Mac owners should read cultofmac.com’s, How to get all the awesome extra sounds for GarageBand 10 to get the most out of the app. The touch instruments and loops can have a newbie composing and recording in no time. A more experienced musician can plug in their instrument, and a guitarist can choose amps and effects to capture the perfect sound. The Inter-App Audio feature allows third party apps to combine with GarageBand so you can add in your favorite drum machine and effects.
Find a Teacher
There is nothing better to take you to the next level than to find a teacher. Learn from their experience as they tailor your training to your natural ability. Lessonrating.com can help you find a teacher close to you to help further your musical interests. Just enter your area of interest and zip code to find the teachers close to you. Check the reviews to locate the right mentor, then contact them and get started.
Technology has given many resources to musicians all around
the world. They can help the beginner master their instrument and the advanced player hone their skills. Get started with an app or use it to augment the learning you get from a music teacher. Either way it is a win-win situation for the student wanting to become a better musician.
Sara Stringer is a former medical and surgical assistant who now does freelance business consulting. She enjoys blogging and helping others. In her spare time (translation: the time spent doing what’s most important), she enjoys soaking up the sunshine with her husband and two kids.
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of dozens of tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, adjunct professor in tech ed, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, a tech ed columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
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