National Geographic recently published a great video containing remarkable footage of elk, pronghorn antelope, and mule deer migrations in Yellowstone National Park. The short video describes the length and direction of the migrations made by these beautiful animals. Make sure you turn up the volume to hear the sounds of the elk, mule deer, and pronghorn bleats. Further National Geographic information on elk. More National Geographic information on pronghorn antelope. Applications for Education This video could be a great introduction to a lesson on animal behavior and habitat. Ask your students to investigate why the animals migrate, when they migrate, and how political boundaries constructed by humans can affect animal migrations. On a personal note, ten years ago I went off the beaten paths backpacking in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It was an amazing solo experience that I'll never forget. Even though I was there I wasn't able to the animals in the way that is captured in the footage in the video above. H/T to The Adventure Blog. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAnother Great Resource for Learning About Mount EverestWhat Would Happen if You Didn't Drink Water? - And 12 Other TED-Ed Lessons About the Human BodyAn Interactive Build a Body Lesson 

Almost every day I see a Facebook friend or two tag herself/ himself in the comments on a Facebook post purely for the purpose of "saving for later." Perhaps you have a friend that does the same. There is an easier way to save items in Facebook. That is to simply open the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of a Facebook post and select save. All links are automatically organized for you in your "saved" section in Facebook. Take a look at my video embedded below to see how that works. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesAnimal Migrations in Yellowstone National ParkThree Good Places to Learn HTML & CSS SkillsThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last Week 

Minute Physics recently published a great new video about jet engines. In Why Are Airplane Engines So Big? viewers can learn why jet engines have gotten larger over time, why they biggest engines don't always go on the biggest or fastest airplanes, and the basic principles of jet propulsion. The video briefly explains the mathematics involved in determining at which point an engine becomes too big or too small to be efficient. It is a fast-paced video so your students may need to watch it a couple of times to catch everything. Last year I had the privilege to fly on an A380. The A380 is the largest commercial jet in the world. As I saw the plane towering over the jetway in Dallas I couldn't help but be amazed at the engineering that makes it possible for something so large to fly across the Pacific in one shot.  The explanation can be found in a Minute Physics video that Airbus recently sponsored. How Do Airplanes Fly? explains the roles of wings, propellers, turbines, and wind currents in making a plane fly. These videos could be the basis of a flipped science lesson. In this post I provided an overview of how to use five services to create flipped video lessons. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesRiddle Me This - 7 TED-Ed Lessons Based on RiddlesXtraMath Helps Teachers Help Students Learn Math in ASLAnimal Migrations in Yellowstone National Park 

Classtools.net, developed and maintained by history teacher Russel Tarr, offers lots of great templates that you can use to create review activities for your students. Recently, I received an email from a reader who was having trouble with the Dustbin game template on Classtools.net. To help her out I created the video that you see embedded below. Applications for Education Playing the Dustbin game could be a good way for your students to review key vocabulary terms. In a science classroom you could create a game in which students sort animal names into the categories of mammal, reptile, fish, and bird. In a geography classroom you could create a game in which students sort city names according to state, province, country, or continent. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark LinksTry the Collaboration Option in TriventyThree Good Places to Learn HTML & CSS Skills 

Scribeasy is a free iPad app that offers a fun environment in which students can write short stories. Students create stories on Scribeasy by first selecting a background image then dragging and dropping additional pictures onto their chosen background images. When students select objects to add to their backgrounds, a narrator reads the name of the object aloud. Students can move and resize all images to create a visual story in Scribeasy. Once the visuals are in place on Scribeasy students then write a story about the scenes they've created. The next step is where Scribeasy shines. Scribeasy gives students a list of suggested words to use in their stories. The writing process is a timed activity. Students can choose to write for a short, medium, or large amount of time (they can extend the time if needed). Completed stories are saved in the app. Students can also save their stories to the camera roll on their iPads. Applications for Education Scribeasy could provide reluctant writers with a comfortable way to get started on the writing process. The image selection process could trigger a bunch of story ideas for students to write about. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesPoetry Vocabulary Sheets Containing Examples3 Tools for Creating Comics on iPadsStoryTop Story Maker - Create Simple Image Based Stories 

This week I wrapped up a series of workshops that I facilitated for a local school district that is transitioning to Google Apps for Education. To synthesize how everything in Google Apps for Education, particularly Google Classroom, can work together I created a short workflow list. The Google Classroom workflow list has three sections covering the workflows for homework/ long-term assignments, polls and quizzes, and posting announcements. Grab the Google Docs version of this workflow and you can print it has a handy reference guide. Workflow for homework/ long-term assignments: 1. Create your assignment descriptor/ template in Google Docs or Slides. 2. Post assignment in Google Classroom. 3. Check "done/ not done" status of assignments in your Classroom stream. 4. Review completed assignments. Add comments to students’ work in Google Docs or Slides (if that is how they completed assignment). 5. If you’re using the Google Classroom gradebook, enter grades. Workflow for polls/ quizzes: 1. To create a poll that will not be graded, select "create question" then write your question. You can create short answer or multiple choice questions. 1. To create a quiz that will be graded, first create your quiz in Google Forms. Directions for creating quizzes in Google Forms are available in this video playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUL9j30NYkc&index=6&list=PLtx-qUNKJwDz4DeWI6x4dGY50KYfhPx_j 2. Post your Google Form as an announcement in Google Classroom. 3. To grade the responses to your quiz, use the Flubaroo Add-on for Google Sheets. Directions in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8AJQfpQkkM Workflow for distributing announcements/ assignment reminders: 1. Post announcement/ assignment in Google Classroom for students to see. Students who have the Google Classroom mobile app installed will receive a push notification (provided they have notifications enabled). 2. To share the announcement/ assignment reminder with parents you will need to email or text message them directly. To send email reminders in bulk use the "Add reminders" Add-on for Google Sheets https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/add-reminders/heaonogefgelopikfimfllmifhbohdbn?hl=en Directions available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGP1HXaoGik Try Remind to send text message reminders Remind tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMYoSLDTFTE&list=PLtx-qUNKJwDzX0l1b3hyrKsngR0APXhYu Topics like this one and many others are covered in-depth during the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp and in my online course Getting Going With GAFE. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark LinksThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last WeekNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

When your school issues you a new Google Apps for Education account your profile picture will just be a simple letter icon featuring your first initial. Many people leave it that way only because they don't know how easy it is to change it. In the video below I demonstrate how to change your Google profile image. Applications for Education Changing your Google Apps profile image can help with name recognition so that parents begin to put a face with a name as soon as they start receiving emails from you. They won't have to wait until the first parent-teacher conference or open house night to make the association between your face and name. If you have more than one teacher in your district with the same name or similar name (at one point there were three Mr. Burns and a Mr. Byrne in my district) students seeing an email with your profile picture can visually confirm that they are emailing the correct person. Learn lots of tips like this one and get in-depth Google Apps training in my online course Getting Going With GAFE.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesNew Polling Feature Added to Google ClassroomHow to Make a Copy of a Public Google Drive FileA Short Overview of Workflow in Google Classroom 

The Google Calendar app on your iPhone or Android phone had a great new feature added to it this week. Google Calendar now helps you set and track goals. Now when you tap the "add item" icon in Google Calendar you will see an option to set a goal. When you select "goal" you will be asked a few questions about when and how often you want to work toward your goal. After answering those questions Google Calendar will identify and set times in your calendar to work on those goals. Goals in Google Calendar will be rescheduled if you schedule another event in direct conflict with your goal. For example, if you schedule a parent-teacher conference at the same time as your exercise goal, the exercise goal will be overridden in your calendar for that day. You can also defer your goals in your Google Calendar. Defer too often and Google Calendar will reschedule your goals for a better time. Applications for Education Setting Goals in Google Calendar could be a good way for students to set aside time for themselves for things like "reading for 30 minutes a day" or "reviewing SAT vocabulary words." Teachers seeking to restore a little work/ life balance may find the Goals feature of Google Calendar to be a good way to remind themselves to take time to exercise, read for pleasure, or play with the dog. People looking to find time to write a blog could find Goals in Google Calendar to be a good way to set aside time for writing. Goals in Google Calendar will be rolling out over the next few days. Make sure you update the app to see the new Goals option.  This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesHow to Change Your Google Profile Image & Why You ShouldThree Google Apps Updates You Might Have Missed Last WeekNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom 

I was setting up a new Chromebook today with a brand new Google Account. One of the things that I did on that Chromebook was enable some accessibility options (more on Chromebook accessibility in a future post). The Chrome web browser supports a handful of accessibility options. To enable accessibility options in the Chrome web browser visit the Chrome Web Store list of accessibility extensions. While signed into your Google Account select "Add to Chrome" listed next to any of the extensions. In the video embedded below I provide a short overview of how to enable accessibility options in the Chrome web browser. Join me at the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp to learn more about using Chrome, Chromebooks, and Google Apps in your classroom. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesA Short Overview of Workflow in Google ClassroomHow to Create a Vocabulary Sorting Game on ClasstoolsHow to Use Facebook to Bookmark Links 

Add-ons for Google Sheets, Docs, and Forms can dramatically increase the features and utility of those tools. A domain administrator has the power to push Add-ons out to all users within a Google Apps for Education domain. Doing that ensures that every teacher and or student in a domain has the same set of Add-ons. It also saves teachers time because they don't have to walk their students through installing the Add-ons that they need. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to distribute Add-ons to an entire domain. Learn more about Add-ons by browsing the videos in my Google Tutorials playlist or by getting direct instruction in my online course Getting Going With GAFE. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesSet and Track Goals in Google CalendarHow to Change Your Google Profile Image & Why You ShouldNew Polling Feature Added to Google Classroom