As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? OK, seeing one or more of those icons during a lesson really doesn’t prompt a giggle, but since it’s summer, this image did make me laugh! At least we don’t have to worry about a Plan B today! Have a great one!

While traveling here and there this summer, I’ve noticed more than ever that visual symbols are everywhere around us; they actually guide us through everyday situations—through signs, image, infographics, etc. And that got me thinking about how I should bring back tech-y with this oldie but goodie—The Noun Project—just to make sure my readers were aware of this tech gem. The Noun Project is a site dedicated to providing users with standard clipart for every noun in the English language. Yeah, I know—it doesn’t sound very techie. But if you’re an infographic junkie like me, this resource is more than a must-have. Seriously, no more endless surfing for the perfect free icon or spending hours developing your very own. Instead just dial up The Noun Project and search the collection to your heart’s content for the one that will rock your next design project. So, how does this super cool tool work? Access the site, enter the desired icon in the search box and boom—the fun begins! Within seconds, tons of choices will appear on your screen. To download your favorite(s), simply right click on the icon and this action will provide you with options to save a high quality png or svg file to your device. Next step: Have at it! All of the thousands and thousands of images (and counting) in The Noun Project live in the public domain under a Creative Commons license—which means they are free to download as long as the designer is properly attributed. If that doesn’t work for you, royalty free icons can be purchased for $1.99 each. No sign-up or registration is required to utilize The Noun Project; however, users can create an account in order to download icons to a personal library within the site and/or to contribute icons to the global library. For a sneak peek at the various collections of icons, check out the snippet below of some of iPod images I snagged from a recent search. But wait! There’s more… As you can see, the icons featured in the The Noun Project are black and white, but if you would like to pimp them out with some color, check out this awesome post from Learning in Hand that shares some ways you can transform all of your favorite icons into colorful works of art! Classroom Connection: Use The Noun Project for any type of classroom activity that requires the use of icons—infographics, logos, brochures, illustrations, diagrams and/or multimedia projects. If you’re really feeling adventurous, the symbols could be utilized in various storytelling activities. For example, create a fun scenario in which students develop a dialogue based on a set of icons. Of course, the universal sets of icons could also be integrated into a foreign language class to teach vocabulary or practice basic phrases and sentences. The icons could very well lead the way to more profound language acquisition. Actually, with a little imagination, the The Noun Project presents an endless list of possibilities in an educational setting.

With a myriad of web tools and apps available to teachers, it’s sometimes mind-boggling trying to identify which are the most effective for the classroom. But if you’re looking for some innovative ways to showcase student work in the upcoming year, here’s an awesome visual collection of resources spanning 11 categories—audio recordings, collages, comics, posters, slides, digital books, narrated slideshows, movies, animations, screen casts and study aids—to help get you started! Two thumbs up to Tony Vincent, author of the awesome Learning in Hand web site, for creating and sharing this extremely useful infographic! Classroom Connection: Use the visual to discover resources that best suit your students’ needs.

A headline is a two-second tryout for an audience’s attention—a short snippet that must snag a reader from the distractions of the world and engage them with content. But that’s quite a tall order in our over-stimulated image-based society. So, how does one go about getting others to pause and take a chance on reading a blog post? Well, since it’s all about the headline, especially in the online world where that is basically what ends up being shared on social media sites and/or seen in search results, one needs to use a tech gem like the Headline Genius to create titles that readers won’t be able to resist. It’s simple, free, super useful and it works something like this: Access the Headline Genius site, enter your title, click the "Analyse Headline" button and check out the results which includes a grade, sentiment score and a character and word count. The best part is the section that provides feedback regarding how to improve the headline. For example, when I initially entered my title for this post, I received the following recommendation: Your headline could use some power words. Use words with an impact to provoke an response from your audience, such as ‘fantastic’ or ‘awesome’. Download a list of Power Words. Um, in case you’re wondering… Yes, I did request the free list of 102 Power Words Would Be Really Useful Right Now! It’s a great doc to share with students! Anyway, users can edit the headline as many times as necessary until it receives an A+ rating! Oh, and another cool feature is the tool records the history of all modifications so users can view progress. A shout out to the Tech Chef for sharing this tool with your PLN. It’s a neat one to add to the tech-box! Classroom Connection: Even though the Headline Genius was developed to assist bloggers with developing eye-catchy titles in order to capture an audience, this tool can be used by students to assist them with writing powerful titles for any assignment, including but not limited to, blog posts.

As you know, there are a zillion tools in the technosphere for developing just about anything imaginable—some are good; some not so much. That said, when I recently discovered a collection of tools compiled into one resource by one of my favorite edtech gurus using one of my go-to tools, I knew I had to get the thumbs up to share it on my space. Soooo, if you’re in need of some excellent ways to create one or more of the following—graphics, infographics, images, labels, posters, flyers, lists of info, tutorials and more for classroom and/or professional development purposes, then the TechChef’s Smooth Tools is a must-see concoction of geeky goodness. In the words of the TechChef: I have had several inquiries to the tools that I use to create and curate. These ingredients seemed to be just the spice to complete this ed tech dish. While these may not be the most new and flashy tools in the edusphere, they happen to be tried and true ingredients in my kitchen for concocting and curating content… so I thought I would share. Just hover over the image shown below to reveal all of the "Smooth Tools"… Click here to read the TechChef’s entire blog post containing this awesome interactive image that was generated utilizing ThingLink. Oh, and by the way: If you don’t know much about ThingLink, you should definitely check out this fabulous tool and its classroom benefits by visiting some of my past posts and/or my ThingLink channel: » Educate with Thinglink » Interesting Ways to Use Thinglink in the Classroom » jf20’s ThingLink Channel A shout out to the TechChef for giving me the green light to feature her swanky stuff on my blog!

Even though there is always a mind-boggling amount of invaluable info shared on the Discovery Educator Network (DEN), one of the best resources available is the Spotlight on Strategies (S.O.S) series, a must-see DEN favorite designed to provide teachers with simple yet effective instructional practices for using digital content to support student learning. To date, there are 70+ teacher tried and tested strategies featured on the DEN blog, and with permission from Discovery Education, I am now featuring some of these techniques on my space. So, enough of that. Let’s fast forward to the really good stuff… This week’s spotlight—Half the Story—is a simple strategy that can be utilized to ignite a conversation about any topic. Background How many of us have ever struggled to begin student conversation around a particular topic? They say pictures are worth a thousand words.  If this is true, why wouldn’t we use images as a springboard to discussion.  Whether we are trying to show students that we need the whole picture to make an opinion or we are trying to encourage their minds  to begin processing and making connections, images provide a quick and easy way to build a foundation for learning. Now that I have your attention, all you have to do is click here to snag a PDF version of this super cool strategy which includes info related to materials needed and step-by-step instructions for utilizing the Half the Story strategy in the classroom. There’s even valuable bonus info you can check out here. Pretty cool, eh? Better yet—click here to check out the entire S.O.S. series on the DEN blog! So, there you have it: Another S.O.S. trick to add to your edtech toolbox. Stay tuned for additional ways to activate learning in your classroom… Like what you see? Then take the digital integration challenge by trying to implement the Half the Story strategy and/or one of these additional ideas into a classroom lesson: » Reading Between the Lines » ABC Summary » 6-Word Stories » What Did They Say? » A-E-I-O-U » Snowball Fight » Whittle It Down » Concept Circles » The Envelope Please » Get Venn-y with It! » MVP » Partner Time

It’s back to school for this geeky girl—for the 44th time to be exact! Oh, my! I know—I’m becoming a fossil, but just to clarify: It’s only my 27th first day as an educator so you can do the math with the rest of all that! In any event, I’m ready to roll with a brand-new attitude—one that developed after encountering many new life experiences—some challenging and some rewarding—throughout the past summer. And it looks something like this: Yep, it’s true! Regardless of what we might encounter on our respective journeys—both the positive, the negative and the unexpected—we always have the freedom to choose how we handle all of these circumstances. That means we can either allow others or events beyond our control to ruin the moment and wound our spirit, or we can decide to move forward step-by-step even though we might not be capable of seeing the entire staircase at any given time. So, with all of that said—if you’re looking for a super cool motivational video to kick start the year in your classroom and/or school… Or maybe you need an inspirational video to set the tone for a professional development session… Or you might just need a boost to rejuvenate your own mojo… Whatever the case may be—one or all of the above—then here’s the perfect solution to "get your learn on" for a new another go-round of being awesome!

20 YouTube Channels for EducatorsYouTube = Learning at Your Fingertips!When you want to learn something new these days, most of us head over to YouTube. You can learn just about anything on YouTube: how to fix your dryer, how to create a blog, or how to use Google Docs. For students, YouTube is often their first stop when learning a new skill. Did you know you can also get notifications when new videos have been added by your favorite channels? Or that you can use YouTube as a curation tool to create playlists for your students?Today, I am going to share with you some of my favorite YouTube Channels. Just about all of your favorite educational organization and bloggers have a YouTube channel. When you subscribe, you can set up notifications when something new has been posted. This is a great way to stay up-to-date with innovative tools like Google Apps. Below are 20 YouTube Channels to get you started!Alice Keeler: Alice is a fantastic blogger and Google Certified Innovator who freely shares her Google tips and tricks online. She is my go-to resource for all things Google Classroom. She is also the spreadsheet queen! Follow her blog and her channel!Amy Mayer/FriedTechnology: Amy is another Google Certified Innovator and Certified Trainer who offers fabulous free tutorials on her YouTube channel. Hat's off to Amy and all things "fried!" Gotta give some love to my Texas friends!Google for Education: If you are a GAFE user (Google Apps for Education), this is a must channel for you. Here you will find lots of great information on Google products, tutorials, and case studies from other Google Apps schools.Google for Work: Google Apps are used in the business world as well as education. This channel offers even more resources for increasing your skills, AND they do a semi-weekly Apps Show which is AWESOME, and includes updates to Google Apps, tips, and tricks.Google Chrome: If you have followed this blog for long, you know I'm a huge Google Chrome fan, and this channel does not disappoint! Lots of tutorials, tips, and tricks are included in this channel for all users of Chrome AND Chromebooks!Google Help: There are so many Google-owned YouTube channels, so I tried to share the ones I find the most useful. Google Help offers just that--help with Google Apps and devices. But what I really like here are the videos that are available in other languages like Spanish, Vietnamese and more. Great way to support ELL!Google Science Fair: Google offers an incredible opportunity for students 13-18 to be part of a global science fair! Subscribe to this channel to get all the details, and watch videos of the finalists.Google Students: This one is geared more toward higher-education, but still a great resource for secondary students and teachers to learn more about career opportunities and products at Google.Infinite Thinking Machine: The folks over at CUE produce this highly engaging internet TV show/podcast to help inspire creativity and innovation in Education. Subscribe to this channel to get cool ideas for the classroom and be inspired by the talented host, Ramsey Musallam, along with inspiring guests.ISTE: The International Society for Technology in Education is a world-renowned organization and conference. This YouTube channel offers a glimpse into the conference, keynotes, and other ISTE learning opportunities throughout the year.Teacher Cast: Jeff Bradbury hosts the TeacherCast podcast, and a few others, AND shares tons of resources, webinars and tutorials through his YouTube Channel. Subscribe to learn about new apps and gain access to FREE professional development for educators.Make: Makezine, the Magazine for Makers, has a fabulous channel loaded with Maker/DIY projects and ideas.Michael Fricano II: Michael Fricano, a Google Certified Trainer and author of the EdTechnocation Blog, has some great tutorials for teachers, and a lot of resources for Google Apps. He also shares his weekly Google Hangout show, EdTech Mixed Plate, on his channel. Check it out!Office of EdTech: Yep, that's THE Office of EdTech at the U.S. Department of Education. They are actually beginning to share some great videos from events like the Games for Learning Summit and #FutureReady events.Richard Byrne: Of course one of the best bloggers around, Free Tech for Teachers, has an amazing YouTube channel with tutorials on all kinds of digital tools for the classroom. Be sure you subscribe to the blog and the channel to get the latest from Richard Byrne.SciShow: Thanks to my #GTAATX friend, Cori Frede, for sharing this one! Don't be fooled by the title, this channel offers more than just science! Here you will find creative animated videos on science, news, and history!Soul Pancake: Do you like Kid President?! Get all the Kid President videos and more gems that are good for the soul from the Soul Pancake YouTube Channel.TED Talks: "TEDTalks shares the best ideas from the TED Conference with the world, for free: trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses, all giving the talk of their lives in 18 minutes." If you haven't explored TED Talks before, make it a goal for this school year. These talks are informative and inspiring!TED-Ed: Here you will find video lessons that inspire curiosity in the classroom. These high-quality videos offer engaging animations to tell the story of things like Football Physics, and the Origins of English.The Gooru: (a.k.a. The Google Gooru) The Gooru is a great resource for Google Apps, and they offer tons of tutorials on their YouTube Channel with updates every week. Follow The Gooru to stay up-to-date on all things Google.What are your favorite YouTube Channels? Please share in the comments below.

Google Spotlight StoriesExplore interactive stories that take students into a fully 360-degree immersive environment that doesn't require a special VR viewfinder. These stories are viewable on both iOS and Android devices, and coming soon to YouTube!This app is something you really have to see to believe! Install the app on your phone (iOS or Android), and choose a story to download. (Yes, requires a download inside the app.) The story will then "play," but you can move your device in all directions to see an entire 360-degree view. These award-winning are very engaging, and some are gorgeous animations, and some are even in 3D!I am really excited to see where this technology will take us, and more importantly how we can leverage this for learning in the classroom. Not all of the stories that I explored are appropriate for the classroom, so please review the material before sharing with students. "Buggy Night," was something I discovered that would be great for the younger students.Be sure to download (inside the app), "Help," while it is free and check out the 3D story for yourself! This one is definitely for an older audience, but a great way to see the potential of this technology.Share your thoughts on Google Spotlight Stories in the comments below!

How Can Shake Up Learning Help You and Your Students?Help me, help you!!!The goal of the Shake Up Learning blog has always been to help teachers, and by helping teachers I hope to reach more students. I have a lot of new resources planned and a big update to the site, but I'd love to hear from you! Now is your chance to ask for what you want and share your biggest needs?  Like Jerry Maguire says, "Help me, help you!"What are your biggest struggles as an educator?What resources are you looking for as your prepare for back to school and the fall semester?What cheat sheets and guides would make your life easier?What have been your favorite posts? What would you like to see more of?What are your biggest roadblocks to integrating technology?What video tutorials would you like to see?Please share your responses in the comments below, and I will use your needs to drive my editorial calendar and try to help in any way that I can!