Essential Google Chrome Lessons: 30+ Short Videos Want to know how to make Google Chrome faster? Want to feel productive? Tired of all of those tabs?  Take time to learn how to use Google Chrome better.  These quick tips will have your Google Chrome browser faster like new in no time! Table of Contents I’ve organized this tutorial into four sections: Make Google Chrome Better (Including how to make email links open in Gmail!) Make Google Chrome Faster Make Google Chrome Prettier Make Google Chrome Do Cool Stuff Reference the Google Chrome playlist for future videos added to this series. BEFORE YOU START: How to Download Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Google Chrome is a super fast web browser (if you know how to keep it fast.) You can do all kinds of cool things in Google Chrome if you know how. This video shows you how to download Google Chrome and gives a brief intro. Section 1: How to Make Google Chrome Better 1. How to Add and Organize Bookmarks in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 1 Teaches: How to add bookmarks to Google Chrome. How to show and customize the bookmarks bar in Google Chrome. How to add folders to your bookmarks bar and move them around. Productivity Tip: Be intentional about organizing your bookmarks bar. If you have run out of space, organize your bookmarks into folders. You can even use folders inside folders. Don’t use the names of websites on your bookmark bar or make them as short as possible. Save space. Save typing. Save time. 2. How to Get Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Gmail Updates in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 2 Teaches: How to add a Google Calendar Checker into your Browser How to add a Gmail checker into Google Chrome. How to add a Google Drive checker that shows you updated documents in Google Drive and lets you access them quickly. Recommended settings for the Gmail checker. Extensions Checker Plus for Google Calendar Checker Plus for Gmail Checker Plus for Google Drive Productivity Tip.  Only use the extension that fits your workflow. Email notifications will kill your productivity. A calendar reminder might keep you going to a meeting on time. You don’t probably don’t need lots of notifications, but you might want quick access. 3. How to Zoom in and Out in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 3 Teaches: How to zoom in and out in Google Chrome on a PC and a Mac with the keyboard. How to zoom in and out in Google Chrome on a PC with your mouse. Productivity Tip: Any time you can use the keyboard instead of putting your hand on the mouse, you’re probably going to save time. 4. How to Open a Link In a New Window in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 4 Teaches: How to open a hyperlink in a new window in Google Chrome. Productivity Tip: Opening a new window can save you time and keep you from losing the webpage you are on. Too many windows can slow you down. (See the tip below for handling too many windows.) 5. How to make all email links open into Gmail in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 5 Teaches: How to make your email links open into Gmail. (This solves the problem of clicking a link and your computer trying to open Outlook or something else when you’re using Gmail.) Hyperlink: http://cctea.ch/gmail-open After you click the link, click the little gray diamonds that will appear on the right side of your address bar. It will ask you to reset your default for opening email. And you’re set! 6. How to Check Your Spelling and Grammar in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 6 Teaches: How to use the Grammarly plug-in to check your spelling and grammar in Google Chrome. Productivity Tip: Read 4 Writing Tips to Help the Writing Process if you want to dig deeper into Grammarly and learn some other tools to assist you with your writing, grammar, and spelling. 7. How to Sync Google Chrome Between Computers If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 7 Teaches How to sync your bookmarks, history, and all of your Google Chrome settings to follow you to other computers. Here’s how to set up Google Chrome sync. Security Tip: If you ever sign into Google Chrome on a computer that is NOT YOURS. Make sure you sign out when you’re done. Otherwise, you may put yourself at risk. Note that Chromebooks automatically sign you into Chrome and sync your settings with other devices that have Google Chrome sync running 8. How to Change Your Download Location (and Sync Your Downloads Between Computers) If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 8 Teaches: How to change your download location to a different location than the downloads folder. Also, I include a bonus tip about syncing your downloads between computers (and how you can free up space on all your computers at the same time with this tip.) Productivity Tip: Your downloads may have important documents in them. If you have no time, just move the items in your download folder onto an external hard drive sometimes. Or, take the time to delete what you want and put the other things into a "to file" folder. If you follow the bonus tip on this video and sync your downloads folder, you can clean out all your downloads in one pass. 9. How to Get Google Chrome to Read Web Pages to You If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 9 Teaches: How to get Google Chrome to read web pages to you. Extension Speak It  10. How to Define Words as You Browse Using Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 10 Teaches: How to define a word by right clicking in your browser or double-clicking a word. Extension Google Dictionary Productivity Tip: Learning vocabulary in context is key. So, it is best to see the definition when you see the word on a page. Use this tool with students who are doing research or when you’re wrestling with a page full of big words. 11. How to Search Your Web History in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 11 Teaches How to find a website that you found in the past but can’t find right now. A faster way to find something you found before without searching Google Security Tip: This only goes back to when you last cleared your history. If you erase your history, you lose it. If you use Google Sync, you can see your history from all of your computers. 12.How to Remember Your Passwords in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 12 Teaches: A safe way to remember your passwords in Google Chrome using Last Pass. Extension Last Pass SECURITY WARNING AND DISCLAIMER: Use Last Pass instead of Google Chrome’s password remembering feature. Just make sure that you can remember your master password if you use LastPass, or you can lock yourself out of all of your accounts. I am not responsible if you set up a password you cannot remember. You need to remember ONE password for this service, but you MUST remember it, or you can lock yourself out of everything! Section 2: How to Make Google Chrome Faster If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here.  13.How to Make Google Chrome Faster: Turn Extensions off in Chrome with Extensity If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 13 Teaches: How you can speed up Google Chrome by turning off Google Chrome extensions when you don’t need them. How to install and use Extensity, a free extension, to turn extensions on and off in Google Chrome without restarting Chrome. Extensity will make your life easier and your Chrome browser less cluttered. Extension Extensity Productivity Tip: Just keep the things running that you need currently for your work. When you have too many extensions, they can conflict with each other. It happens all the time. Learn to turn on what you want and need at that time. 14. How to Make Google Chrome Faster:  Turn Off Plugins in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 14 Teaches: How to view your plugins. How to turn off some plugins. How some plugins are needed in Google Chrome. Technical Tip: You need some plugins. For example, in the video, I mention how Silverlight is necessary for viewing Netflix. Google Chrome’s help center on plugins also notes that at some schools, administrators have to handle your plugins. If you’re a beginner, you might want to stay away from this one. Or, if you have problems, re-enable the plugins one at a time until whatever you’re doing starts to work. 15. How to Clear Your Browser History in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 15 Teaches: How to clear your browser history and other items in Chrome. Productivity Note: I only use this when I’m having problems with a site loading or speed issues. Because I do so much research, I often want to search my history (Tip #11) and you can’t do that when your history is cleared. You can also just clear your cache or other items. 16. How to Use Google’s Chrome Cleanup Tool to Clean up Your Chrome Browser (Windows Only) If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 16 Teaches: How to make Google Chrome faster by downloading Google’s Clean Up tool to Clean up Your Google Chrome Website: https://www.google.com/chrome/cleanup-tool/ - Windows Only. Technical Note: This tool is only for Windows. Chrome removes the most common culprits that will slow your browser down including Conduit, My Search Dial, and SmartBar so you may see your browser look different after you’re done. Removing these programs is a good thing, these programs are doorways to even worse spyware. See the current list of what this tool removes. See Google’s recommendation for a Mac or just follow tip #17. 17. How to Make Google Chrome Faster: Remove Malware from Google Chrome and your computer If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 17 Teaches: Where to download the free version Malwarebytes. Why you would want to use Malwarebytes to scan your computer. Why a person might want the pro version. Website: Malwarebytes (just download the version for Malware cleanup) Technical Note: I keep a current version of this handy program on my thumb drive since Edtech Expert Luke Allen recommended it to me years ago. His tech tools for teachers is a great list. 18. How to Search Text on a Page in Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 18 Teaches: How to highlight text on a page and create a new search from that text with one click. Productivity Tip: Combine this with Tip #19 for a super fast search experience. All of our student researchers should know these. 19. How to Open Multiple Links at Once in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 19 Teaches: How to click and drag a box that will open multiple links in new windows. Extension: Link Clump Productivity Tip for Teachers and Testers: If you have to review many web pages for your students or just to test them, this tip will save you time. Try it and see how much faster you work. Close each window as you review each web page and when they are closed, you’re done. I recommend opening no more than 8-10 at a time. You can slow your work down. (Or open all you want and use Tip #20 to manage those tabs!) 20. How to Manage Your Tabs Better in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 20 Teaches: How too many tabs can slow things down. How to suspend tabs but still find them later. Extension: Too Many Tabs Productivity Tip: Remember to use Extensity (Tip #13) to turn extensions on and off as you need them. When I’m researching, I use tips 18-20 together.  21. How to Search with your Voice in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 21 Teaches: How to turn on voice searching in Google Chrome. How to search using your voice in Google Chrome. Privacy Tip: Google may be saving your voice searches too. See tip #30 for how to know what they are collecting and to clear it if you wish. 22. How to Voice Type in Google Documents If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 22 Teaches: How to activate Voice Typing in Google Docs How to type with your voice in Google Docs Productivity Tip: I give more detail about Voice typing and other productivity tips in 4 Writing Tips to Help the Writing Process  23. How to Put a Website Shortcut on Your Desktop If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 23 Teaches: How to put a website shortcut on your desktop (works on PC and Mac) What to do if a website shortcut doesn’t look like the Chrome icon.  24. How to Take Pictures of Your Screen in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 24 Teaches: How to take a picture of your screen in Google Chrome. How to put the picture in your Google Drive How to download the picture Extension: Techsmith Snagit Productivity Note: Snagit will also do a video of your web browser and screen recordings with your voice. The only limitation is that it can only do what is showing in your web browser screen. If you want to take screenshots and videos of other programs, use a tool like screencastomatic. 25. How to Get Rid of Ads in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 25 Teaches: The most popular way to block ads in Google Chrome How you can remove other clutter and read just the text of the web page. Extensions Adblock Clearly (If you use Evernote, Clearly has extra features that work with it.) Productivity Note: Sometimes ad blocker tools can slow your computer down. Section 3: How to Make Google Chrome Prettier  26. How to Make to Use Themes in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 26 Teaches: How to install a theme in Google Chrome Why you might want to uninstall themes in Google Chrome Productivity Note: Some themes can slow your Google Chrome down and make it slower. Be careful about themes that haven’t been installed by a lot of people. Just about anyone can upload a theme. If it slows your browser down, you can always go back to themes in settings and go back to the default.  27. How to Make Google Chrome Easier to Read If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 27 Teaches: Some options to make Google Chrome easier to read. Accessibility options for those with disabilities. How to change the font size and make it larger in Google Chrome Section 4: How to Make Google Chrome Do Cool Stuff  28. How to Have a More Productive New Window When You Open One If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 28 Teaches: How to have a productive new window open in Chrome that will keep you focused on your goals and on task. Extension: Be Limitless Productivity Note: Be Limitless will also track how you spend your time. You do have to "train" it a little. It lets you set your goals. One note: It does not sync across web browsers, which I love. You can set goals for home and work that are different!  29. 2 Ways to Save Money with Extensions in Google Chrome If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. Video 29 Teaches: How to search the price trends of Amazon products (book prices vary over time) How to compare Amazon prices to other websites. Extension: The Camelizer Price Jump Money Saving Note: There are other apps and tools, but check the ratings. Some of them are spyware. Only turn these on when shopping and turn them off when you are not.  30. How to Clear Your Google History in Chrome Video 30 Teaches: How to see what Google tracks about you (including search, voice, and location) How to clear this data Privacy Note: Some services may not function without this data. You do want to know what they have on you. You should clear it if you want to. (I do.)  Google Chrome Playlist I’ve compiled all of these tutorials into a Playlist that will play without stopping. You can embed this on a website or link to it. I’ve found that so many people don’t know how to use their web browser. Learning to use Google Chrome will make you more productive, safer, and save your time! OK, friends. What did I miss? Please share your favorite extensions with me in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter. Got any more tips about how to make Google Chrome faster — please share! I hope this is helpful. Vicki The post How to Make Google Chrome Faster, Better and Prettier appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Every Classroom Matters Episode #179 Parent involvement matters! We know it but do we realize we’re talking up to a full point of a student’s GPA? Let’s look at some well-known research showing what kind of parent involvement matters most. Today’s guest, Dr. William Jeynes authored one of the most comprehensive studies to date. He analyzed the grades of 300,000 students and the behavior of their parents. He discovered what really impacts student learning as it relates to parents. Amazing! From 3/4 of a point to a full point of a student’s GPA is impacted by parental involvement. (That’s almost a whole GRADE LETTER!) It wasn’t just any parental involvement but a specific kind. Try Bloomz: Bloomz is your one-stop solution for parent-teacher communications. More than just connecting with parent cell phones, you can send long or short messages. You can send pictures and links. You can even coordinate volunteer schedules, donations, and parent-teacher conferences. I’m using Bloomz in my classroom. Thank you, Bloomz for sponsoring this show. Today’s episode is a must listen for PTA’s and schools who are working with parents to help their kids do their best. This is a show you must share with parents. Don’t just guess about what works, know what works. (You can use some the quotes from this show with your parents on social media. Scroll down to take the pics. You have permission to use them anywhere.) Important Takeaways The number one parenting aspect improving how students perform. The incredible importance of reading and parent involvement. The kind of communication that hurts students the most. What kind of parental involvement programs work? The shocking lesson Dr. Jeynes learned about what is wrong in schools when a child was hit in the head with a baseball bat. (I am not kidding!) Dr. Jeynes makes the parent research simple. Anyone can understand his explanation on the show. I’ve included the research below for those of you who want to read it. Educator Resources Dr. William Jeynes’ Meta Research on Parent Involvement Contact Dr. William Jeynes @BloomzApp - our show’s sponsor Use these graphics to share with parents   You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above. Join the Every Classroom Matters Awesome Educators Network on Facebook Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored show." The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to edit and post it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) The post Why Parent Involvement Matters: The Research appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

The Tool We Should All Be Using to Improve Education In the 1970’s the parking lot would be full of parents ready to see the school play. Or Christmas pageant. Or spelling bee. Students performed, and parents came. The school auditorium was the place where students showed off their work. The halls showed artwork that parents came by to see as they attended events. The school building was the hub of the community. Everyone came. Everyone roamed freely. A child’s bookbag went home, and Mom checked it every day. The notes were read. The artwork went on the refrigerator. Papers were signed and returned. Simple. Today many families have someone working 24/7. Some parents are out of town. Another does shift work starting at 4 pm. Families are changing too. Notes don’t get home. Sometimes notes get to one home, but some kids have two. Some book bags don’t even go home. Communication can be a challenge. A new stage emerges. So does a new note home to parents. Social Media: The New Stage All the world’s a stage has never been truer. Parents no longer pack parking lots, but they pack Facebook. They tweet. They share pics on Instagram. They look at them. Parents congregate and share online to see what is happening. There are those who turn up their nose at such newfangled approaches. They long for the old wooden stage with the squelchy mike and wooden seats. "Things were simpler then," they mumble. And they were. There were fewer stages. There were less parking lots. And the largest ballroom was the American Legion. Now, (if I want to) I can pop my cell phone out of my pocket and bring up Periscope and stream a school play to my one hundred and ten thousand Twitter followers. I can take pics of my students and share them with Kid President and everyone following #kpawesomegirls. When my school had Homecoming last week, thousands of people took to our Facebook page to see the pictures and videos. Everything from the announcement of the Homecoming Queen to the mini-parade was uploaded soon after it happened. Parent Engagement Matters The research shows that parent involvement can make as much of a difference as 3/4 to a full grade point of a child’s GPA. That’s a letter grade. We need to involve parents. We need a new stage. Social Media: The New Audience But the world’s not just a stage. It is also a grand meeting place. Social media gives us largest ballroom ever assembled where people from around the world can mix, mingle, and find their clique. Jacques du Toit and his students can be Tweeting Aztecs and Karen Lineman’s first graders can tweet what they learned today. Kathy Cassidy’s six-year-olds blog for the world. My students can write a blog about their offense at human trafficking and create apps and websites encouraging people to be kind. Authentic Audience. A 2008 ASCD article says, "When student work culminates in a genuine product for an authentic audience, it makes a world of difference." We know that audience improves student work. Whether kids write tweets that they audition on a classroom "Tweet Board" and the teacher picks the best, or they connect in a massive Twitter chat about improving education (#stuvoice), students are eager to share. They want an audience. Staging a Comeback in Education Students are standing on the stage already in their private lives. So are parents. Let me tell you who’s not on the stage. Schools. Too many schools fold down the wooden seats, turn on the squelchy mikes, plan events, and wonder why no one comes. Too many schools whine because parents don’t show up. Too many teachers complain that kids don’t want to write, or that parents won’t read to their kids anymore. But complaints are just words. Let’s put our words out where they really matter. We’re ignoring the world stage. We’re ignoring a powerful way to get out the powerful messages that can and will engage parents in the learning of their kids. We’re ignoring a powerful platform that will help kids want to write again: social media. Yes. Social Media! Why aren’t more schools using social media? Because we want to "protect kids". We want to keep them safe. From what? Their parents actually knowing what is happening in the classroom for a change? In reality, kids are in more danger from the person they jump into the car with after school than some invisible bogeyman who lurks on the Internet. (We teach kids how to cross the street, but how any schools talk about the risks of geotagging pics on social media? But I digress.) Using social media in schools isn’t about trite "make progress" sayings. It isn’t even about accepting what is new or leaving behind what is old. Using social media is actually about three good old traditional values that can make a country great: encouraging strong families, loving kids, and pursuing excellence. What We Do Because We Love Children When you love kids, you do what is right for them. When you love kids, you want them to be well educated. When you love kids, you empower and encourage their parents to be the best parents possible. When you love kids, you change even when it makes you uncomfortable. Powerful allies.  We must be a generation of educators who builds a new stage. We must welcome a new way to communicate with parents, show student work, and educate for student success. If a school building constructed 50 years ago had never been maintained or improved, we would complain. It is time to update our communications methods too. For, we cannot let generations future look back upon the watchers on the wall and see a band of educators and parents who saw only a frozen north. Social media and schools need not wed in a blood-red wedding. Social media and schools make powerful allies, not sworn enemies. More work I’ve created on social media in schools A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom published on Edutopia What Your Kids Really Need to Know about Digital Citizenship published on Edutopia What are Teacher Rights on Social Media? (with Scott McLeod) How to Get More Volunteers and Donors for Your School Using Social Media (with Beth Kanter) Tweeting Down Classroom Walls - a Twitter guide I wrote for Edsurge Reinventing Writing - my book about 21st-century writing (including using social media in the classroom  The post Social Media in Schools appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Every Classroom Matters Episode #180 History, literature, and math teachers are desperate for easy ideas to engage kids. We want kids to be excited about our subject, and we want to use technology. But we don’t want anything really hard. What can we do? Well, today’s guest Lucas Gillispie has something you can do that might be much easier than you think. He runs on of the largest implementations of Minecraft of any school in the world. He should know. Important Takeaways Easy ideas for every subject area using Minecraft How hard is Minecraft anyway? Ideas for convincing parents and administration of the value of Minecraft in schools. Why Minecraft in Schools is The Modern Marvel Did you play in a sandbox as a child? You took the sand and built castles. You might have had a bulldozer drive through the sandbox making "brrrr" noise as you scooped up sand and pushed it to the far ends of the box. Or, on the beach, you built a sandcastle, frantically deepening the moat so your sandcastle won’t wash away in the incoming tide. Playing in the sand is a child’s game, but now we have a game that all ages are playing. A sandbox game. What is Minecraft? Split it into the two words: Mine and Craft. Kids mine for all kinds of things in the game. With the minerals and wood and items they mine, they can craft things. Minecraft is a game where kids build and create. The boxes are exactly square, so Geometry and Math are easy to teach in there. History and literature work too because kids can make the ancient wonders of the world or the a street in Paris just prior to the French Revolution. Educator Resources @lucasgillispie Edurealms - Lucas’ blog with lots of information on gaming Want to know more? more Minecraft shows: 3 Ways Monsters and Minecraft Can Drive Great Teaching & Learning with Joel Levin, creator of Minecraft EDU Many Education Games are Worksheets with Points: 6 Ways to Find Better Learning Games with Kae Novak, chair of ISTE Games and Simulations Network Lesson Plan: Enabling Kids to Game their Way to Literacy with Dr. Lee Graham about the GiverCraft Minecraft Project that has kids collaborate in a literacy project. Join the Every Classroom Matters Awesome Educators Network on Facebook You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above. The post Why Minecraft in Schools is the Modern Marvel: 5 Epic Ideas appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

21 Money-Making Strategies for Social Media Newbies with Dr. Cheri Toledo My friend, Dr. Cheri Toledo has pulled together 21 social media experts to share the basics of getting started with social media. This free video series is for beginners! Do you ever ask yourself, "Could I be growing my business with social media?" Have you ever thought, "What are some effective strategies for using social media tools for my business?" Or maybe you’ve wondered, "What is social media and why should I use it?" If you are ready to take your first steps into the social media world … or move to the next level of implementing social media to grow your business … then here’s your chance! Creating a Buzz with Social Media: 21 Money-Making Strategies for Social Media Newbies, will give you the introduction that you need to start taking advantage of all that social media can do for your business. I will be talking with Cheri about using blogging to grow your business. Ready to jump on board? Sign Up Here The interview is live now but will only be up for a limited time! Click here to sign up! Join Dr. Cheri Toledo for Creating a Buzz with Social Media: 21 Money-Making Strategies for Social Media Newbies. I am sharing this with you because Dr. Toledo has been a friend and someone I’ve worked with for many years. It is a free resource, and she has lots of amazing people she’s interviewed. I’m a tad late posting about this event, so you’ll want to join in it quickly. This free video series is one of those to share not only with teachers who wish to use social media better but business people as well. Enjoy! Another awesome, free resource for you!  - Vicki Davis The post Creating a Buzz with Social Media appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Inspiration for People Working in High Stress Environments Stress at work is real. Particularly in high-stress jobs like teaching. While study brain research, four E’s jump out. Our secret for coping with stress at work will lie in understanding executive functions and emotions. To cope, we must  make the most of encouragement and enrichment to make it through. Let’s dive into our brain and how it responds to stress at work. The "High E" Moments that Cause Stress at Work There are two "E’s" that make things stressful and need lots of energy. Executive Functions: Switching Between Tasks Rapidly Executive functions are those parts of your thinking that need lots of energy. Learn more about this in books like Two Awesome Hours or The Organized Mind. In the Organized Mind, Daniel Levitin talks about one part of the executive functioning of the mind, the insula. The insula is the "attentional switch." Levitin says: "if it is called upon to switch too much or too often, we feel tired and a bit dizzy, as though we were see-sawing too rapidly." (43) Executive functions are finite. We don’t multitask. We uni-task but might switch between more than one task quickly. When we do this, we can fatigue our decision-making process. Stress depletes self-control. Decision fatigue is real.  Ever wonder why you have a rough day and go home and blow your diet? With too many decisions or too much stress, our willpower wears out. (Sounds like teaching, doesn’t it?) In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg says "If you want to do something that requires willpower—like going for a run after work—you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day," As a teacher, we’re answering what feels like a million questions. We also get interrupted what seems like a thousand times. All the while, our insula switch is flipping between tasks. No wonder we’re frazzled by 2:15. After reading research on executive functioning, we can see why. When a person is asked to make too many decisions too rapidly, it fatigues their decision making and depletes self-control. High stress during the day can mean unhealthy eating at night and many more lapses of self-control. The secret: cut out nonessential questions. How can you reduce questions? Procedures. I have a sign-out sheet at my door for kids to write where they want to go when they ask to leave the room. They are taught to just hand me the board and I sign. No asking, no decision. Just sign. Sometimes I choose to question or say no, but this is the exception. So, instead of having to decide YES. I’ve already decided "yes" and only have to decide "no." This one procedure eliminates at least 20-3o questions a day! (And I can remember where they went and when.  This may seem small but it is HUGE. I feel less stress and the class flows more smoothly. Coping with Stress at Work Secret #1. Reduce stress by reducing the number of times your insula has to flip by reducing small decisions. Have rock solid classroom management procedures. When we put as much of our classroom on autopilot as possible, we are freed up for critical decisions. (Read The Classroom Management Book by Wong and Wong for help.)   Emotion. Secondly, there’s also the other "high E" — emotion. As educators, most of us can handle tough situations. Difficult decisions. Professional discussions. But personal attacks can wear you out. There are those people who go around and do drama all the time. They love to fuss about this or disagree about that. They do what I call this "neck thing" where their head starts bobbing as they fuss and fuss. Sometimes they look like hens. But for me, they look like a big red sign saying, "run for cover." Some see drama and "fun" but I see "high E." The scenes in Real Housewives of Atlanta look like hell to me. When I see "high E" I know it will zap my energy. I will be worthless the rest of the day. Schools Are Hard Places to Work. But sometimes the drama comes running at you like a big old angry bull, and you can’t get out of the way. You don’t know it’s coming. One moment you’re having lunch in the meadow. Then, you open a door and on the other side you have a big snorting bull running for you, horns gleaming. You just hope you’ll survive. Lots of people say, "life’s too short" and it is. But this is one thing about schools people need to understand. Schools grow High E situations like a petri dish growing penicillin. Because if you want to get people upset, mistreat a child. And rightly so. Stomp on their dreams and I will be the bull coming at you, and you’d better hold on. Of course, too many people go into "charging bull" mode before listening to all sides. Or they can’t know all sides. This type of person on a school board or in a school makes it particularly hard to survive. Coping with Stress at Work Secret #2. Wise people know there are always two sides. They listen to both of them before making up their minds. If it is not their right to listen to both sides, they give people the benefit of the doubt.  Save emotions for after you have all the facts. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Learn to listen quietly. Learn to expect emotions to run high and be a person who keeps yours in check until you can sort through the issues. High E Overload: The Schtuff that Fuels the Fire Most teachers love to teach the kids. But what we don’t love are the high E situations in the hall, in the parking lot, and in the front office. We have that colleague, and we’ve been around the block enough with this person to know that there’s nothing we can do. They should tattoo an E on their forehead. Every interaction will be tangling with a drama Brahma. The High E Schtuff that Kills Educators It is the other schtuff that burns us out.  Why do I call it schtuff?   Shhhhhh. Well, it combines the "shhhhhh" sound. Like, be quiet. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t say anything. There’s a real pressure in schools not to speak of those things that are wrong. Schools are full of elephants, and we shush them like noisy kids in the library. Tuff. And then tuff at the end because it sounds like "tough" because the schtuff is just that — shush and be quiet about the things that are most tough. That schtuff that: Breaks your heart, hurts your feelings, and leaves you spinning out of control like a speeding truck on wet south Georgia clay in a flood. That schtuff. The schtuff that has you cry yourself to sleep. It gets your neck muscles so tight that you think you’ll break your own neck. Schtuff has you so upset; you don’t know if you can even walk in the building. And if you’re going to make it through the High E schtuff — you have to have encouragement. Schools that Handle Their Schtuff When you have schools with lots of schtuff, you feel the tension in the air. Don’t talk about the elephants. Pretend they aren’t there. Tough it out. Even though the hope has been sucked out of the room as the air out of a cargo bay on the space shuttle opened in space. My pastor gave a great example yesterday at church. He says everyone has big heavy baggage. They load up the overhead bins with it. It is heavier than they are. When turbulence hits their life or organization, the bins open and baggage starts falling out. Exceptional superintendents and principals are great at dealing with schtuff.  We’ve got too many people who just keep cramming more in the overhead bins. Keep feeding elephants. Keep shushing the troops telling them that everything is OK.  Many of us work in toxic environments. If I told you that how you’re coping with your job was killing you - would you cope differently? It is what we DO with what we HAVE TO DO  that determines our physical health. There are ways we can cope, but it is vital to know that YOU have control over YOU  How To Thrive in a High E Environment (even with schtuff) When you work in a "high E" environment - you HAVE to add the third and fourth E’s, so you can make it ANYWAY. High E #3: Encouragement Encouragement is vital. We need people who love us. We need to vent. We need to hear positive things. We must have hope. We need support. We need encouragement. There are ways to work through problems. Books like The Influencer and How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living are helpful books. Coping with Stress at Work Secret #3. Find encouragement in the pages of great books. I just finished reading 21 Great Leaders by Pat Williams. Somehow the fact that Walt Disney failed, and Steve Jobs did too, and Nelson Mandela struggled in prison — that helps us when we face a prison of our own. Knowing the struggles of others can helps us as a fail and get back up and try again. Find encouragement in the presence of people who are encouragers. And if someone is always "sucking your will to live" - GET AWAY!" High E #4: Enrichment If you’ve seen a baby be born, you know that a beautiful soul comes into the world through much travail and pain. Some of the biggest progress comes through some of the greatest pain.  If you wait until you have great circumstances to progress, you’ll only digress. The birth of Mickey Mouse. An unethical distributor stole a rabbit character Walt Disney invented. So, Walt went back to the drawing board (literally) and created Mickey Mouse. Out of agony came genius. There are those who see the world as win-lose. Great people choose to see the world win-win. Small people play king of the hill on tiny hills. Big people make bigger hills.  Be a person of greatness — always work to make a bigger hill. Be welcoming to new people. Encourage others and enrich your own learning. The world is a vast place. There are many amazing people in it. There are many incredible "undiscovered" talents. Oh, that I could find and encourage great talent wherever it is. People like: Sylvia Duckworth and her talent for sketchnoting and Justin Tarte and his ability to find a perfect tweet and Jerry Blumengarten and his ability to curate the world. These are just three amazing people out of the thousands of talented people in my PLN. These three (among many others) see the world as a place to make bigger hills. They are welcoming more people to jump on the hill too. Coping with Stress at Work Secret #4. To improve high-stress situations, it is going to take lots of people in lots of places being encouraged to make progress. Make a bigger hill for your profession by encouraging more people. Recognize excellence everywhere you see it. Look to enrich the lives of others and your profession.  So, my dear friends. I’ve talked myself out of a funk. I was down and despondent and now, by the end of the post, I’m encouraged again. For there will always be those bulls. And listening to bulls too much is bull. Don’t do it. There will… There will always be people who make schtuff and hurt people and hurt kids. There will always be people who are in positions but do not lead. There will always be short-sighted people who would rather stuff more schtuff in overhead bins and feed elephants than to clean out the mess and get real work done. As long as there is breath in at least two noses on this planet, there will be interpersonal struggles. As long as I have breath… But as long as I have breath, I will work to encourage us to be excellent anyway. As long as I have breath, I will work to enrich the lives of others. As long as I have breath, I will work to make bigger hills and welcome all beginners and undiscovered talent. You can… You can live in a small town and have a big mind. You can be a teacher at an exhausting school and have an amazing classroom. You can live your whole live misunderstood and use that to better understand students and their parents. In the end, to me, High E is about achieving a High Level of Excellence. Anyplace. Any time. Anywhere you are. If you’re going to be excellent, you have to take on tasks that are emotional and require every neuron of executive functioning you have. If you’re going to be excellent,  you must be encouraged and enriched to do better. If you’re going to be excellent, it starts with a decision. If you’re going to be excellent, it is up to you.   The post Secrets for Coping with Stress at Work appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Practical Graphic Design Tips Anyone Can Use Graphic designers need to understand color. But there are some basics we all need to know. We should remember: a little bit of color theory, how to pick colors, and how to use them. This three-part video series will help you learn the basic color theory and tricks you’ll need to use great colors together in Microsoft Office. Graphic Design Video 1: Understanding Color Theory This video from the Artist Block explains basic color theory better than I could. (Plus, he’s cool.) The important thing for students to understand is the primary colors and that certain colors go well together. Once they are a tad overwhelmed or at least convinced that this is complex, then they are ready to get the help given in videos 2 and 3.   Graphic Design Video 2: How to Pick and Use the Perfect Color in Desktop Publishing My Google Plus connection Penny Cristensen added this note to the video today (and shared a cool resource) after it went live: Vicki, I’ve been using this extension for a couple years now & love the Color Picker. Thank you for adding Color Schemer Online to my toolbox! I like to show others where that hex code can be used: Picmonkey, Google Draw, Canva. I also include the tools Adobe’s Kuler and the Kuler app for picking colors from your real life surroundings and point out how to use palettes curated on Pinterest. Feel free to check out my post on the topic: hotlunchtray.com/color-me-happy-technology-thursday/ I have added your link to the comments of the original post - thanks! Graphic Design Video 3: How to Pick the Perfect Color and Put it into Microsoft Office In Microsoft Office, you will probably want to change the color in three ways: the background, the borders, and the font color. Learn how to take the "perfect colors" and color in Microsoft Excel. This technique also works in all Microsoft Office Programs: Microsoft Word, Publisher, and PowerPoint. Graphic design doesn’t have to be difficult. Learn the tools that help you do it better. Please share your tips in the comments.  The post How to Pick the Perfect Color and Use it Anywhere appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Every Classroom Matters episode 181 Kid President is a cute kid. His short videos pack a powerful message. His brother-in-law Brad Montague helps craft his message. Take a behind the scenes look at the viral sensation sweeping through classrooms today. Important Takeaways Brad gives a behind the scenes look at how he and Robby Novak started Kid President. Have you heard of #kpawesomegirls? Hear the story behind the new Kid President rap about awesome girls throughout history?  The Awesome Girls Rap Went Live Oct 22, 2015! What about the pressure put on Brad and Kid President to just be "entertaining"? Learn about socktober and helping homeless shelters? This chat with Brad Montague makes me fall in love with Kid President even more. I love the message behind the fun but also love Brad’s passion. Brad wants to leave a library of work to make the world a better place. If so, he and Robby Novak are off to a great start. Share the Story of an Awesome Girl You Know! Want to tell Kid President about an awesome girl in your life or school? Here are 3 ways to celebrate the awesome girls in your life: Tweet Kid President @iamkidpresident on Twitter and hashtag it #kpawesomegirls Give a shoutout to your #kpawesomegirl on Kid President’s Fanpage on Facebook Email Brad Montague.  Kid President Resources and Links @thebradmontague Contact Brad Montague @iamkidpresident KP Awesome Girls Playlist from Soul Pancake How we used #kpawesomegirls in my classroom Join the Every Classroom Matters Awesome Educators Network on Facebook You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.  The post Kid President: Kids Inspiring Kids to Change the World appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Productivity Tools for Students and Researchers Social bookmarking is the modern student’s research tool. As I share in Reinventing Writing, research and pre-writing helps a student start strong. But how? Here’s your answer: Diigo has a fantastic new outlining tool! Before students write, have them turn in their outlines to you. Also, require that they rephrase their research sources at the point they bookmark it. I teach how to get a private link for the outline. If you still want it in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, I even show you how to export your outline! So easy. TIP FOR TEACHERS: If you’re using a Learning Management System, you can cut and paste the key points and action steps and use the videos as is. Social Bookmarking is green! One ream of paper is 6% of a tree! It is estimated that a page of paper costs 6 cents each in terms of waste. Then, why do we have students printing a fifty page Wikipedia article or a 10-page document to verify one quotation? Why are we using paper when social bookmarking can make research so much easier. You can even link Diigo to other services like Evernote using IFTTT.com. Each video is separated below, but you can also view this series as a playlist on Youtube.    1- Why do we need social bookmarking? [0:34] Key Points: Why Do We Need Social Bookmarking? It saves paper. It keeps your email from filling up. It is an easier, more productive way of researching. After You Watch This Video You Should: Understand some of the benefits of using social bookmarking. Why you need a tool to help you organize your online research.   2- What is Diigo? [0:21] Key Points: What is Diigo? Diigo lets you easily share with groups. You can annotate web pages. You are creating your personal library of online bookmarks to use in many ways. After you watch this video, you should: Understand that Diigo is a social bookmarking tool to help you organize and share your research.    3- How to Sign Up for Diigo [0:28] Key Points: How to Sign Up for Diigo? Sign up at www.diigo.com. Teachers should sign up for a free teacher account to get extra features. After you watch this video, you should: Sign up for a Diigo account at www.diigo.com TIP: If you have a Google account, click "Sign In" and click the Google button, then just fill in a username and password. It will link with your Google account!    4- Install the Diigo Chrome Extension [0:28] Key Points: Install the Diigo Chrome Extension The Diigo Chrome extension can save you time. The button is typically found after logging into Diigo the first time. (You can also use the link below.) After you watch this video, you should: Install the Diigo Chrome Extension by clicking here. (The rest of this tutorial uses the Chrome extension, but you can bookmark and use outliner from any web browser.) If you use any other Web browser including Internet Explorer or Firefox, use the Diigolet.    5- Annotating a Web Page with Diigo [1:05] Key Points: Annotating a Web Page with Diigo Annotating a web page means that you can highlight the page. You can also add a private sticky note to a page. You can add a public sticky note to a page if you send it to a group. (You have to join a group first.) After this video, you should: Annotate a web page by going to a page and using different color highlighters. Write a sticky note and put it on a page. If you are a member of a group, put a sticky note on a page and send it to your group. Go back to your Diigo account and click "library". See what annotations look like in your library. Look at the screenshots below and read the captions to see how annotations will show up in your library and in your outliners. Screenshot 1: The annotation made in the video and how it shows up in the library view of Diigo. Note that sometimes it appears faster if you go ahead and bookmark the page. Screenshot 2: To see annotations in the outliner view (that I teach you below), you need to click the "view mode" button instead of "edit mode." Then, the annotations show up. 6-Bookmarking a Web Page with Diigo [0:52] Key Points: Bookmarking a Page with Diigo Anything you select with your mouse will go into the bookmark when you hit the button. You have to turn off the annotation’s Highlighting feature for this to work. Whatever you type in the box becomes part of the bookmark. Summarize what you’ve read in the box. (This will help prevent plagarizing work by putting it in your own words.) Be consistent with your tags so you can see patterns and organize your bookmarks. After you watch this video, you should: Bookmark a web page using your Diigo button. First, find the web page you want to bookmark. Using the mouse, select and drag your mouse across some text. Click the bookmark button. Type some text in the box summarizing what you’ve read in addition to what is already showing. Don’t click "Save" yet, watch the next video first!    7- Adding a Diigo Bookmark to the Outliner Research Tool [0:26] Key Points: Adding a Diigo Bookmark to the Outliner Research Tool and Tagging You can create outlines for different projects. You can share bookmarks with groups when you’re bookmarking it. After you watch this video, you should: Send your bookmark to an outline. Make sure that you create a NEW outline for the project to send your research to. After you send the bookmark to your outline, go to diigo, then click "outliners" to see what it looks like.    8-Using the Diigo Outliner Tool to Plan [0:46] Key Points: Using the Diigo Outliner Tool to Plan Use your tab key to indent and shift tab to out-dent your outline. You can turn in a public link when you are done. After you watch this video, you should: Click on a line in your outliner and press tab. Hold down shift and press tab and see what happens. Use your mouse to point at the bullets and drag something around in the outliner. Type something in the outliner to see how it works. TIP: You don’t have features to change the font or format. I’ll show you how to export this to a wordprocessor to make this fancier if you want to.   9- How to Organize a Diigo Outline [1:27] Key Points: How to Organize a Diigo Outline When you have bookmarks already in Diigo, you can find and quickly add them to your outliner. You can organize your outline with text that you type. Click the shareable link button to share a private link for people to see your outline. You can copy and paste it into Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can also copy and paste the notes into Powerpoint and make it into an outline in PowerPoint. After you watch this film, you should: Type some text in your outliner. Click the shareable link button and email it to someone else. Let them see if they can open it. Click the Export button to open up a report. Copy some of the text and paste it into Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Copy some of the text and paste it into a PowerPoint slide. (Advanced users can use the Outliner in Powerpoint!)    Have you read Reinventing Writing by Vicki Davis? There's a whole chapter on social bookmarking!   Bonus Diigo Tutorials These tutorials are not necessary for beginners but show some advanced features that many of you who are already using this tool may want to use. The bulk tool lets you move bookmarks, retag them, and re-organize. Researchers will want to know these tools. Bloggers or those sharing resources might want to auto-share their bookmarks to their blog. 9 - 5 Minute Power Diigo Tutorial [5:05] 10 - How to Auto Post Diigo Bookmarks to Your Blog [3:27] Want to know about modern writing? Check out my book Reinventing Writing.  The post How to Use Diigo’s New Outlining Tool: Social Bookmarking Made Easy appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Connected Educator Month! The K12Online Conference 2015 is a fantastic resource. You’ve got another week to experience it LIVE. Even afterwards, all of the work is still there. You don’t want to miss out! Join in! K12Online is never really over … it’s all online and archived. If you look really hard, you might even find one about integrating on a shoestring….. K12Online Conference 2015 Keynotes The 2015 keynote speakers include Don Wettrick @DonWettrick, Alan Levine @cogdog, Stephanie Chang @MakerEdOrg, Scott McLeod @mcleod, and Karen Bosch @karlyb. The K12Online 2015 Conference Schedule The full lineup of presentations and presenters is available on the 2015 Schedule. There is an entire week yet of presentations, but all the presentations from every year are archived - just navigate to The Main Site and look across the top … each year the conference has been held is listed. Also remember all video presentations are available in iPad / iPhone / iPod touch compatible format in the iTunesU Portal Connecting with K12Online Conference Website http://k12onlineconference.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/k12online FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/k12online Conference hashtag #k12online15 The K12Online conference organizers 2015 deserve a big shout out for helping create such an incredible resource for educators around the world. A big thank you to: Carol Broos Karen Fasimpaur Leslie Pralle Keehn Peggy George Susan van Gelder Wesley Fryer I appreciate also Lisa Durff’s work with the K12 Online Conference 2015. (Lisa helps me in amazing ways while still finishing up her PhD!) I hope that all of you out there will use these resources and get started with your learning. You can get started with my friend Don Wettrick’s keynote and just keep going! As anyone who has presented at the K12Online Conference will know, these presentations take SO MUCH WORK. Creating video isn’t easy. (I know that some of  my past presos  took days to make!) Thank you to all of the volunteers, organizers, speakers, and attendees. K12Online is awesome! I learn so much all year long from them! -Vicki Davis The post Incredible FREE PD! K12Online Conference 2015 appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!