Teach with Tech
Monthly Newsletter
Free EdTech PD: Ditch Summit
The Ditch Summit, created by former educator and digital innovator Matt Miller, is an annual online conference designed to inspire and equip educators with fresh ideas in teaching and edtech. As the founder of Ditch That Textbook, Matt Miller brings together thought leaders to share insights on using technology and pedagogy effectively in the classroom. This year’s summit features nine guest speakers, with one new pre-recorded video released each day. Past speakers have included education visionaries like Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like a Pirate, and James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
When is it?
The Ditch Summit runs from December 16, 2024, through January 10, 2025. Videos are available on-demand and remain accessible until the summit concludes, so you can tune in at your convenience.
Why participate?
Each year, the Ditch Summit delivers practical, inspiring content from a lineup of innovative educators and edtech specialists. Every session you watch earns you a PDU certificate (self-filled and emailed to you), adding value to your professional growth.
Interested? Register Here.
Get Organized with Document Tabs in Google Docs: A Practical Tool for Educators
What’s Changing
Google Docs has introduced a new document tabs feature that makes organizing and navigating long documents easier than ever—a perfect addition for teachers, instructional coaches, and school administrators. Now, you can create dedicated tabs within a single Google Doc to centralize important information, making it easy for your students and colleagues to focus on specific content. Whether you're planning lessons, structuring curriculum documents, or creating collaborative resources, document tabs bring added flexibility and organization.
Why Educators Will Love It
Tabs in Google Docs allow you to break down documents into sections, each with a distinct focus. This makes large documents more manageable and accessible for your readers, whether they’re students, parents, or colleagues. Here are just a few ways teachers, coaches, and administrators can benefit:
For Lesson Planning: Organize units by creating tabs for objectives, resources, assessments, and student reflections. Within each tab, use subtabs for week-by-week plans, key vocabulary, or differentiated activities.
For Curriculum Mapping: Develop tabs for each subject area, unit, or essential standard. Each tab can hold resources, notes, and pacing guides, while subtabs can contain specific activities or assessment strategies.
For Collaborative Team Docs: School teams and grade-level groups can keep track of meeting agendas, notes, action items, and resources by creating tabs for each. For recurring tasks, subtabs allow you to break down meeting notes by month or topic.
For Project-Based Learning (PBL): Teachers working on project-based learning can add a tab for each phase of the project—research, planning, execution, and assessment. Subtabs might include links to research resources, student roles, or rubrics.
For Student Portfolios: Instructors can set up tabs for different assignment types or subjects, allowing students to organize their work and reflections in one document, which is easy to track over time.
How It Works
Using tabs, educators can quickly structure content, giving students or teams a clear, organized document experience. Each tab in Google Docs can be customized with an emoji to give it a visual identifier, helping students and colleagues navigate to the right section immediately. The emoji appears in the left panel next to the tab title, making navigation more intuitive.
Using Brisk to Create Classroom Resources for YouTube Videos: Guided Notes, Assessments, and Discussions
Creating engaging, comprehensive resources for video content can be time-consuming, especially if you’re looking to leave behind well-structured materials for a substitute teacher. The AI tool Brisk simplifies this by enabling you to quickly generate guided notes, assessments, and discussion questions directly from YouTube videos. Here’s how teachers can make the most of Brisk in just a few steps.
You will need to add the Brisk Chrome Extension to your web browser. This is a Google add-on and will only work when using the Chrome web browser. If you do not have access to Brisk, put in a help desk ticket requesting access.
Step 1: Locate the Video on YouTube
Start by finding the video you want to turn into a classroom resource on YouTube. Consider educational content that aligns with your learning objectives, whether it’s a TED-Ed lesson, a documentary clip, or a specific tutorial.
Step 2: Open the Brisk Extension
With the video loaded, click on the Brisk extension in the lower-right corner of your browser. If you haven’t installed the extension yet, download it from the Chrome Web Store, then pin it to your Chrome toolbar for easy access.
Step 3: Generate Guided Notes
- Select the "Create" button on the Brisk menu.
- Choose "Guided Notes" from the options. This selection will prompt Brisk to create structured notes that summarize key points in the video, ideal for students to follow along and jot down their thoughts.
- Review and customize the notes as needed. Brisk provides editable, pre-filled notes, allowing you to add specific questions, highlight essential details, or translate the content into different languages.
Step 4: Review
Once all resources are generated, Brisk will open each in a new Google Doc. Take a moment to review, make any last adjustments, and save the documents. Now, you’ll have ready-made, shareable resources for your class or substitute teacher.
The same steps can be used to create quizzes (select Quiz) or to create discussion questions (select Something Else and specify in the directions that you want open ended whole class or small group discussion questions).
Using Brisk is an efficient way to create high-quality, adaptable teaching materials. With guided notes, assessments, and discussion prompts ready in just a few clicks, you can focus more on the art of teaching and less on the logistics of preparation.
Streamline Your Classroom with Canva Bulk Create
Canva's Bulk Create feature is an efficient tool that helps teachers save time by automating the design process for personalized classroom materials. By importing data from spreadsheets or entering text, you can quickly generate multiple customized designs, such as certificates, flashcards, or newsletters, all at once. This tool makes it easier to focus on teaching while still providing high-quality, tailored resources for your students.
What Is Bulk Create?
Bulk Create allows users to automate the design process by importing data (like student names or vocabulary terms) into Canva templates. Instead of editing each design manually, you can upload a spreadsheet or input text directly, and Canva does the heavy lifting by generating multiple unique versions of your design in seconds.
Who Can Use Bulk Create?
Bulk Create is available to Canva users with a Canva for Education account. This free account, designed specifically for educators, unlocks premium features like templates, images, and the Bulk Create tool. If you’re not already signed up, you can apply for a Canva for Education account here.
What Can Teachers Use Bulk Create For?
Bulk Create has endless possibilities in education. Some practical uses include certificates, name tags, flashcards, exit tickets, and labels.
Resources:
- Learn how to use Bulk Create step-by-step with this Canva Help Guide.
- Video Tutorial - certificates
- Video Tutorial- overview of Bulk Create for teachers
- Video Tutorial- exit tickets (using MagicWrite/AI & Bulk Create)
- Video Tutorial- bulk create with images
With Bulk Create, you’ll spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time engaging your students. Try it out today and transform your teaching workflow!