Let's Talk EdTech

Canva is a free design tool you can use to make just about anything. One of the best things is that teachers get access to Canva Pro features for free! In this episode, Beth and Holly go over some of their favorite things about using Canva in your classrooms. Get your free pro account https://canva.com/education Log in with your school info Timestamps 0:45 What is Canva? 1:30 What can't you make?...

Billi Jo interviews Elkhart's Elementary Media Specialist, Lindsey Walters. She shares what she does day to day, how she uses the library to engage teachers and students, and ways you can interact with your librarian to expand on class instruction.  0:00 Introduction 1:00 What does a media specialist do? 1:52 Developing a curriculum for the library 2:58 Technology in the library 4:12 Curating mate...

Billie Jo and Holly talk with Dodie Norris, the Elkhart elementary math coach, about a huge project they just finished. If you're using Math Expressions, you now have access to a complete set of Quick Practice slides you can use with your students. This saves you the time and energy to make your own and lets you get started now using quick practice routines in your class. Blog post announcement Cl...

Do you use Seesaw? In this episode, Billie Jo and Holly bring their favorite things about Seesaw to discuss. You'll hear about the new Seesaw Library, how to manage communication with families, and some tips on using Seesaw Groups with your students to make life easier. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:15 Billie Jo is driving the Seesaw wagon 1:26 Tip 1: Seesaw Library 3:00 Daily routines in the Seesaw Lib...

Keyboard shortcuts can make your work more efficient and help with common tasks. Beth and Holly go through their favorite shortcuts and discover the magic of using "cut" instead of "copy/paste." Here's a handy reference sheet of everything we discussed - and more! 1:30 - Insert a hyperlink 2:10 - Cut text 3:20 - Toggle open tabs in Chrome 4:00 - Open a new Chrome tab 4:30 - Open a link in a new ta...

Beth and Billie Jo bring their biggest personal pet peeves they face in their Google accounts. Beth is converting all of her tab titles to emojis. Billie Jo explains what "carbon copying" is. 1:40 - Calendar event documents 3:15 - Too many tabs in Chrome 5:08 - Workona (Chrome Extension) 6:20 - Going to google.com to start a search 7:05 - Reply to all in Gmail 8:25 - Using “bcc” over “cc” in email...

There is more than one way to send a message in Google. Google Chat is built right into Gmail and allows you to get in touch with someone without having to send an wait for an email to come back. Billie Jo and Beth go over where to find Google Chat and then why you would choose to use Google Chat over email. You'll also hear Beth get excited about names you can give your Chat Spaces with your PLC...

Billie Jo and Beth share their four favorite tools within IXL. Why would you care about each of these and what difference do they make in your classroom? IXL Quizzes Live Classroom activities Assigning skills for students Adding audio support (check out Teaching Settings on your account) Links Googlify your PLC processes Elkhart PD Elkhart Instructional Technology blog Find us @ElkhartEdTech on Tw...