Teach with Tech
September 2023
Organize Your Inbox
In today's fast-paced digital age, our email inboxes often serve as the epicenter of our communication and information flow. However, the constant influx of messages, newsletters, and notifications can quickly turn this essential tool into a chaotic mess, causing stress and hindering productivity. Fortunately, there are effective strategies and habits that can help us maintain a well-organized inbox. We'll explore actionable tips and techniques to streamline your email management, reduce clutter, and regain control of your inbox.
- Set Up Folders or Labels
- Create folders or labels for different categories of emails, such as work, personal, newsletters, and projects. Here is how to set-up Google Labels.
- Use filters or rules to automatically route emails to their respective folders based on sender or keywords. Here is how to use filters, add labels or actions in Gmail.
Use a Priority System
- Mark important emails as "Priority" or use stars or flags to highlight critical messages.
- Sort your inbox by priority, ensuring that you address the most important emails first.
Unsubscribe from Unwanted Emails
- Regularly unsubscribe from newsletters and promotional emails that you no longer find valuable. You can search for the word "unsubscribe" to make it easier to find those emails.
Archive or File Completed Emails
- Once you've read and acted upon an email, archive it or move it to the appropriate folder to declutter your inbox.
- Keep your inbox reserved for emails that need your attention.
- Empty the Trash and Spam Folders
- Regularly empty your trash and spam folders to free up storage space and reduce clutter.
- Set up a To-Do or Follow-Up System
- Create a dedicated folder or label for emails that require follow-up.
- Use flags or labels to mark emails that need your attention at a later date.
- Regularly Clean Out Old Emails
- Periodically go through old emails and delete or archive those that are no longer relevant.
- Set aside time for a "clean-up day" to tackle a backlog of emails.
Wonderopolis
Wonderopolis is an engaging platform designed to ignite curiosity and spark discovery in learners of all ages. Created by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) in 2010, Wonderopolis is a dynamic educational resource that offers daily wonders, fostering a sense of wonder and exploration. Here's what you need to know:
Daily Wonders: Wonderopolis presents a new and intriguing "Wonder of the Day" each day, encouraging exploration and curiosity-driven learning.
Expansive Content: With over 2,000 Wonders of the Day and counting, Wonderopolis covers a vast range of topics, ensuring there's something of interest for everyone.
Interactive Community: The platform thrives on user engagement, with over 65,000 user comments, each receiving a personal response, and a Wonder Bank featuring over 130,000 user-submitted Wonder questions.
Educational Alignment: The platform aligns with Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the STEM Educational Quality Framework, and Bloom's Digital Taxonomy, making it a valuable addition to K-12 curriculum and classrooms worldwide.
Educators can leverage Wonderopolis in various ways:
- Use the daily Wonder to stimulate critical thinking and curiosity among students.
- Explore the extensive collection of Wonders to find content that aligns with specific themes and student interests.
- Access classroom resources, lesson plans, education standards correlations, and real-world applications in the Wonder Ground, an educator support network.
- Have students submit their own questions.
Animate Drawings
Watch student drawings come to life with Metademolab. This free website is easy to use and doesn't require logins or passwords. You simply take a picture of a single character and upload it to the website and follow four easy steps to create an animated character (Yes, I drew the flower person). From the full screen you can click on the menu (three dots) and select download.
If you or your students feel extra creative, drop that animation into a Canva video and add a background, sound, or narration. Here is a short video tutorial from the techy teacher couple TheMerrilsEDU on how to enhance the animation in Canva.
Collaborate & Learn
The EdTech Huddle is for all educators who want to expand their knowledge and use of educational technology. Especially those who use technology in the classroom, actively work to integrate technology into their lessons and curriculum, and are willing to share/model instructional tech to others in their schools and districts. There will be three in-person EdTech Huddles at the Pendleton IMESD. This year there will also be three Virtual Tech Talks- these are shorter and are more presentation based.
- Virtual Tech Talks 4:30-5:15pm Link to Meeting
- September 20, 2023
- November 15, 2023
- February 21, 2024
- EdTech Huddles 4:30-5:30pm in Lodgepole/Ponderosa at the Pendleton IMESD
- October 25, 2023
- January 24, 2024
- April 24, 2024
Teach with Tech
If you would like more information EdTech tools, resources, or training, please contact:
Ayla Olson
Instructional Coach
Email: ayla.olson@imesd.k12.or.us
Phone: 541-966-4657
Website: sites.google.com/imesdapps.org/instructional-coaching