FTT - Goblin Tools AI

Start Small And Simple With AI:

Goblin Tools

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Tis the season for feeling overwhelmed. Whether it's the holidays, the end of the semester, or just the fact that the sun is going down at 4:30 pm, everyone seems to have something that is making them feel just a little more anxious than usual these days. This is the same for our students and even more so for our neurodivergent students.  Things that they struggle with typically can be especially overwhelming this time of year. Some tasks that may seem like common sense may actually be very complicated when someone is stressed or anxious.

I was thrilled to recently come across Goblin.Tools AI as a free tool that can help neurodivergent people with tasks they find overwhelmingly difficult. As a nuerotypical person, I also find Goblin.Tools to be super useful, especially during times when I am feeling overly stressed and unable to focus. 

What Is It?

Goblin.Tools is a collection of small, simple, single-task tools. Many of these tools use AI technology, including OpenAI's models, to achieve the results. As with any other AI tool, you need to evaluate the results given and determine their validity on your own. That being said, I am very impressed with what Goblin.Tools can help you achieve. It is free and available to anyone. There is no log in and there are no ads. The developer states on the site that it will stay free and without ads. There is a small fee for the mobile apps if you want those on your phone for either Android or iOS. 

What Can It Do And How Do I Use It??

There are currently six tools on the Goblin.Tools site. Here's a rundown of each of them and what they can do, including screenshots below each tool. 

• Magic Todo:  This breaks down large tasks into smaller steps. This can really help if you are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size of a task, or you have something you need to accomplish and you're not sure where to start.
• Just type OR click the microphone and speak in the task and then click on the plus button to add it. You will see some chili peppers. You can adjust the "spiciness level", or how much breaking down you need. 
• Click on the magic wand and it will break down your task into subparts.
• You can repeat this process on the subparts to get the tasks even smaller. 
• You can also click the button next to the magic wand and get an estimate of how long it could take, edit the subtask, or add a subtask.

• Formalizer: This rewrites text in several different tones. 
• Add the text you want to change. You can type it in, speak it in by clicking the microphone, or copy/paste.
• Click on the dropdown menu and choose how you want the text to be changed. Some of the choices include: more professional, easier to read, more to the point, etc. There are many options there and I would encourage you to take a look at the list. 
• Click the "convert" button to have the text written in your chosen style. The chili peppers are there to help you adjust how strongly you want the text to come across.

• Judge: This helps you evaluate the tone of a passage of text.
• Insert the text by typing, speaking, or copy/paste.
• Click the "judge" button
• Take a look at the feedback regarding the tone, connotations, and specific phrases and words that contribute to that tone.
• You also can click the plus button to add a reply in a conversation and have the AI judge help you determine the tone of that reply. 

• Estimator: This is now built into the Magic Todo tool but basically it can give you an estimate on how long something could take you.
• Enter an activity by typing, speaking, or copy/paste.
• Click the "estimate" button.
• You can adjust the spiciness based on how hard it is for you to focus on the activity.

• Compiler: Turns your braindump into a list of tasks
• Enter your braindump by typing, speaking or copy/paste
• Take a look at your task list and then you can send that result to Magic Todo so you can generate subparts and estimate how long it will take. 

• Chef: Nothing to do with school but this one is my favorite. Type, speak, or copy/paste in what ingredients you have. You can include dietary restrictions, equipment, time, or anything else you want taken into account. Goblin.Tools will suggest a recipe for you!

I highly encourage you to give Goblin.Tools a try. This is also a tool you may want to show to your students, especially those who struggle with handling large tasks. Want some help getting started? Feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to help.

FTT - ChatGPT Prompts You Should Know (and use)!

 ChatGPT Prompts You Should Know (and use)!

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

It was a wild weekend for OpenAI, the company behind the ever-popular AI program ChatGPT and their parent company and financier Microsoft. OpenAI's board of directors fired CEO Sam Altman, citing a lack of transparency in his communications with the board on AI developments. Altman and his leadership team were immediately hired by Microsoft as valuable labor assets, and hundreds of OpenAI employees threatened the board with their resignations if Altman wasn't hired back immediately. The non-profit board capitulated and the deposed tech CEO was hired back in principle with a brand new board.

From what I understand, the chaos revolved around the existential soul of the company and the direction of ChatGPT. Something tremendously important with far-reaching consequences. Should OpenAI be commercialized with a capped-profit model, or should it stay a non-profit? Is ChatGPT moving too quickly without regard for safety, or is it being unnecessarily stymied and overburdened? Reuters reports that several staff researchers warned the board of powerful AI advancements that could literally threaten humanity before the ouster. Reports of Q*, pronounced Q-Star, a mysterious project that is said to be OpenAI's search for an artificial generalized intelligence (AGI), could be what spooked the board into slamming the brakes and firing Altman. As a review, AGI would be a computer system that outpaces and surpasses human intelligence by learning and comprehending on a massive scale (think Terminator).

Whatever the developments, it's hard not to be a little nervous and maybe even excited to see what the future holds with AI. Until then, we can still tap into ChatGPT 3.5 or 4 to be more productive in our own professional and personal lives. Remember, any AI's output will only be as good as the input. Or otherwise stated, if you get a poor output, it's probably because of a poor input. So here are a number of my favorite prompts that you can use word for word that will immediately improve the quality of your outputs:

(Disclaimer: If you need any assistance executing the following prompts, please let me know!)

Prompt Engineering Prompt

The following prompt turns ChatGPT into a prompt engineer that will help you develop more comprehensive prompts that you can then input directly into ChatGPT:

I want you to become my Prompt engineer. Your goal is to help me craft the best possible prompt for my needs. The prompt will be used by you, ChatGPT. You will follow this process:

1. Your first response will be to ask me what the prompt should be about. I will provide my answer, but we will need to improve it through continual iterations by going through the next steps.
2. Based on my input, you will generate 2 sections, a) Revised prompt (provide your rewritten prompt, it should be clear, concise, and easily understood by you), b) Questions (ask any relevant questions pertaining to what additional information is needed from me to improve the prompt).
3. We will continue this iterative process with me providing additional information to you and you updating the prompt in the Revised prompt section until I say we are done.

Basically, once you type this prompt in, ChatGPT will ask you what you want your prompt to be about. Be conversational with it and describe as best as you can what you want your prompt to be about or include. It will give you follow-up questions that you might not have even considered yourself.  Repeat this iterative process until you are satisfied with your prompt and it's ready to be used in a new thread.

Act as a Translator and Improver

This next prompt essentially turns ChatGPT into an interactive translation tool. I recently used it to test out Georgian as we have a transfer student who doesn't speak a single English sentence.

I want you to act as a(n) [insert language] translator, spelling corrector, and improver. I will speak to you in any language and you will detect the language, translate it and answer in the corrected and improved version of my text, in [insert language]. I want you to replace my simplified A0-level words and sentences with more beautiful and elegant, upper level [insert language] words and sentences. Keep the meaning same, but make them more literary. I want you to only reply the correction, the improvements and nothing else, do not write explanations. My first sentence is…

Now you can tweak these prompts any way you need to. Perhaps you don't want the translated text to become more beautiful or elegant. Perhaps you just want a raw translation. Fine. Write it in and be specific in your request.

Act as a Debater

You might run into some issues with one considering ChatGPT isn't connected to the internet and only has access to information before 2021. I used this prompt to give me information and arguments on the current Israel-Palestine war and it still did an impressive job getting me started:

I want you to act as a debater. I will provide you with some topics related to current events and your task is to research both sides of the debates, present valid arguments for each side, refute opposing points of view, and draw persuasive conclusions based on evidence. Your goal is to help people come away from the discussion with increased knowledge and insight into the topic at hand. My first request is "I want an opinion piece about….."

 Act as a [Math] Tutor (or whatever)

This next prompt essentially turns ChatGPT into a private tutor. As I mentioned in past PDs and blogs, I sincerely believe that AI tools can be instrumental as much as edTech can be, in closing the achievement gap between our students. If one cannot afford $100/hr tutors, or even have an adult in the household who can give simple assistance, AI tutors can fill in the gap even more so than raw access to the internet did.

I want you to act as a math teacher. I will provide some mathematical equations or concepts, and it will be your job to explain them in easy-to-understand terms. This could include providing step-by-step instructions for solving a problem, demonstrating various techniques with visuals or suggesting online resources for further study. My first request is "I need help understanding how infinite geometric series work."

Miscellaneous Prompts 

Not all prompts need to be paragraphs long. A simple prompt can become much more effective with a single additional sentence. Here are some additional prompts that can help for a variety of scenarios:

1. What is a concise, one-paragraph summary of the key concepts, context, and implications of…"

2. "Act as a storybot. Transform key concepts or lessons from [topic or skill] into engaging stories or narratives to help me better remember and understand the material.”
3. Ending with "Let's think step by step."
4. “Explain [topic or skill] in the simplest terms possible as if teaching it to a complete beginner. Identify gaps in my understanding and suggest resources to fill them.”
5. "Continue, improve with more detail, pretend you're a snobby teenager…"

Using these prompts can be a simple, yet effective way to become more of a power user of ChatGPT. Do you have some favorite prompts you'd like to share? Do you need help using the prompts provided? Let us know below!

FTT - Less Time Prepping, More Time Teaching

Less Time Prepping

 More Time Teaching 

Brisk Teaching 

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

I have been working with teenagers for a long time and there are so many things that I love about working in a high school. I love creating lessons and activities. I love hearing the students' ideas. I love their energy when they get excited about something they are learning. There are also a few things I don't love. I really don't enjoy grading. I also don't enjoy doing lots of paperwork.  Given that final exams are lurking around the corner, I am always looking for ways to make my time more efficient especially with grading and paperwork.

If you were to do an audit of your time for the week, what would it look like? How much time do you spend doing what is most important? How much time do you spend doing what you love? How much time do you spend doing what you don't love? 

I am a big fan of the Eisenhower Matrix. If you haven't seen this, it is a simple matrix that is designed to help make decisions about how to manage your time and prioritize your to-do list. Here's what it looks like.

I am particularly curious about quadrant 3, the delegate quadrant. In 2023, delegate might mean utilizing some AI tools. This is where Brisk Teaching comes in. Notice that it's called Brisk Teaching and not Brisk Learning. This tool is designed for teachers. 

What is Brisk Teaching?

Brisk Teaching is a free AI Chrome extension that integrates with digital tools you already use such as Google docs, Schoology, and more. You can use it on any webpage to change its reading level or use it in Google docs to write curriculum, generate feedback, or detect the use of AI. Check out the 1 minute video below:

Wait! Did she say it will give feedback? Yes! I wrote a short essay on responsible AI use in the classroom and then used Brisk to give feedback on my essay. Here's what it came up with. As the teacher I can certainly edit or delete anything that is generated but it's a very good start.  Check out the feedback Brisk gave on my essay:

Besides Giving Feedback, What Else Can Brisk Teaching Do?

• Change the reading level of any text online
• Change the language of any text online (choose from 13 languages)
• Create a quiz, an examplar, a resource, and lesson plan, or something else
• Use the AI detector to give an idea of how likely it is ChatGPT was used (not 100% reliable but pretty good)

Here is an example of Brisk generating a lesson plan:

How Do I Get Started?

Go to the chrome web store by clicking here and choose "add to chrome".

The Brisk extension will be in your extensions dock. When you are on a Google doc, it will also appear as a small icon in the lower right corner of your screen. You can click and drag it anywhere you want so it won't be in your way.

Is It Really Free? 

Yes! There is a premium version that is sold to schools that has more features but this version is free.

Want to know more? Check out BriskTeaching.com

Want some help using Brisk? Feel free to reach out or book an appointment. I'm always happy to help.

FTT - AI Policy?

 

AI Policy?

 @LisaBerghoff/@DanKim

Last week the Biden Administration issued an executive order for "Safe, Secure, and Trustyworthy Artificial Intelligence." The order looks to maximize benefits of AI by sustaining American leadership in development and research, while simultaneously managing potential security risks and other opportunities for harm and discrimination. How should our nation keep up with innovation and competition while safeguarding our privacy and equity standards? Country-sized questions being collaboratively worked on by various nations, organizations, and even the UN. Much like the onset of the computer and the internet, recent advancements in AI could be the next big thing to alter the paradigm. Bigger questions like these also tend to hide smaller questions beneath them. Questions like: which of my assignments should I allow my students to use AI for? How formally should students communicate their usage of AI to their teachers? 

Will we have our very own "executive order" on the educational use of AI in our district, building, or classroom? If our students are urged not to utilize AI to completely fabricate their assignment, should staff be barred or penalized for using AI to write an evaluation reflection in TalentEd? What about letters of recommendation? These questions are currently being asked in staff lounges, and administrative meetings all around the world. So what are other teachers or educational institutions thinking? 

Ethan Mollick is an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is actively studying the impacts of artificial intelligence on work and education. He recently created and released his course policy on AI and his starts with, "I expect you to use AI in this class...In fact, some assignments will require it..."

He then goes on to highlight the limitations of large language model AI tools like ChatGPT. Mollick's policy is in line with the thinking that AI usage is now ubiquitous with out students, and we are well past the point of banning its usage outright. Instead, he argues that appropriate and guided usage of AI tools can be productive and beneficial to student learning. We should also keep in mind though, that he is teaching undergraduate and graduate students.

Another voice, coincidentally also from the University of Pennsylvania, is Professor Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches education and history. His relatively recent Op Ed in The Washington Post titled, "Here's my AI policy for students: I don't have one" attempts to convince readers that overutilizing AI tools to think for you will rob one's capacity to know what you really believe in. Zimmerman believes that the banal processes that AI generators promise to eliminate are actually crucial in your development as a critical consumer (and producer) of information. He writes:

I want you to be intelligent. I want you to stare at a blank page or screen for hours, trying to decide how to start. I want to you to write draft after draft and develop a stronger version of your own ideas. I want you to be proud of what you accomplished, not ashamed that you cut corners.

...So here’s my question: Do you want to live your life this way? If so, AI bots are definitely for you. Let them write your essays, do your problem sets, draw your artwork, compose your poetry. As they get better, outpacing the systems designed to detect them, you’re less and less likely to get caught. And you might even ace your classes.

But you will never know what you really believe. You will become the kind of person who is adept at spouting memes and clichés. Like ChatGPT, you will sound as if you know what you’re talking about even when you don’t. 

I will readily (and unhappily) admit that many college classes don’t help you figure out what you really believe in. They reward students who spit back what the book or the professor says. You might as well be a robot. So I don’t blame you if you draw on an actual robot to do the work for you.

But some courses really do ask you to think. And if you ask an AI bot to do it instead, you are cheating yourself. You are missing out on the chance to decide what kind of life is worth living and how you are going to live it...

I don't necessarily think these two schools of thought are mutually exclusive paradigms to hold. They both have their merits and sound justifications. The difficulty lies with how much of the answers are contingent upon conditions and standards that bleed through myriad shades of gray. Where do we begin to wrap our heads around this? If there was ever a time to be extra aware and attentive and thoughtful of one's own curriculum and pedagogy, well, now may be time to change the paradigm. Let us know what you think below!

FTT - Faster, Friendlier Commenting with Mote

Faster, Friendlier Commenting With Mote

 @LisaBerghoff/@DanKim

I can remember getting papers back from my teachers and trying to decipher their comments. Yes, reading their handwriting was a challenge. They read and commented on so many papers that by the time they got to mine it looked like scribbles on the page. Most of the deciphering had to do with understanding the meaning behind their comments. Often there would be just a word or two written in the margins and I felt like I needed a decoder ring to figure out what my teacher was saying about my work. If the feedback was supposed to help me learn and get better for next time, knowing what my teachers intended by their notes was incredibly important. In an ideal world, we would be having ongoing conversations and conferences but that is so challenging with everything we need to get done in a day and the number of students we have in our classes.  There are also times when we would like students to comment on each others' work and hearing their voices would be so much more meaningful than simply text. We also know that they are more likely to give more feedback if they are talking and not just typing. 

Mote is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to leave voice comments on Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, and Gmail. The free version allows you to record up to 20 voice notes per month and you get 1 minute for each note. When you first add the extension and create an account, you will get a 30-day trial for the unlimited version. In addition to voice memos, the upgraded version of Mote also allows you to have a transcript of the voice notes and can translate that transcript into many different languages.

Here's how you get started:

1. Go to the chrome webstore and search Mote

2. Click on Add To Chrome

3. You can click on the Mote extension icon to log in with your Google credentials

4. On docs, slides, sheets, forms, and gmail, look for the Mote icon and click on it to begin recording. Click it again to stop.

That's it!

Everyone who has access will be able to click on your voice comment to hear it.

Here is a quick introduction video to Mote:

Accessibility and Differentiation With Mote:

You might  have a student who struggles with typing or has stronger verbal skills, you can have them use Mote voice comments instead of typing.  Or, if you have a student who struggles with reading, you can leave them Mote voice comments to make sure they understand your feedback. You can also have students add the Mote Chrome extension and offer it as an option. Suggest to students that they try using Mote when they send gmail messages so the tone of their message is clearly understood. 

How will you use Mote? Want some help getting started? Let me know. I'm always happy to help. 

FTT - Brisk Teaching

AI Tool: Brisk Teaching

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS 

Today we are proud to start featuring Free Tech Tools proposed by some of our classroom teachers. This guest post is from DHS Special Education teacher, Paige Jack

What is Brisk Teaching? 

It is an AI Chrome Extension tool that is created for teachers to use to create lessons and materials, give feedback, and use it as a tool to create awesome material and save some time. 

I have been using the Brisk Teaching AI tool, free version, for a few weeks now. Here are the benefits I have seen as a High School Special Education Teacher, and some descriptions for the different features it has to offer. Some of the descriptions are written by me, and others I have used the Brisk Teaching AI tool to write the descriptions. 

Lesson Plan support

- You can get help writing a detailed lesson plan. You can select the grade level, length of time you want the lesson to be, and what standard you want it to match (i.e. Common Core). 

- All you need to do is tell brisk what the lesson plan should cover in as much detail as you can and it will create the lesson 

- Lesson plans can includes (based on amount of time you want for the lesson): 

• objectives
• materials
• standards
• bell-ringer activity
• introduction
• direct instruction 
• guided practice
• independent practice 
• exit ticket and conclusion 

Create a Resource 

- If there is a resource you want to use in many different ways 

- It can provide an introduction, an explanation of the topic with examples, and a conclusion

- Can be a good reference tool for students to increase that independence and possibly use in different settings/across curriculum 

- You can select the grade level for the reference to be written in 

- I have used this to create materials that include steps and examples for how to self-advocate in person or via email, editing writing, and a few other materials that are shared with students and parents to support the practice of skills at home. 

Give Feedback (written by the Brisk AI tool - Create Something Else tool) 

- The Give Feedback tool on the Brisk AI tool allows teachers to provide targeted feedback to students. Teachers can use this tool to highlight specific areas of improvement, offer suggestions for further development, and praise students for their accomplishments. This tool helps teachers save time by providing pre-written feedback options that can be customized to meet the needs of individual students. It also promotes student engagement and growth by providing timely and constructive feedback.

Change the Readability Level 

- You can change the reading level of various materials 

• Materials you have on a Google doc
• Articles online 

- Online articles that you adjust will be populated in a Google Doc with a link to the original article at the top of the document 

- Select the grade level you want the article to be read at 

- You can increase or decrease the level of the text that you have written using the AI tool OR that you have already created and open on a Google Doc

- I have used this many times to find articles of interest for my students, but rewrite it to their independent reading level or the level that matches their IEP goal. 

Create a Quiz 

- Identify the number of questions you want 

- Provide the topic or skills you want covered 

- Multiple choice, short response, long response options 

- Will provide an answer key with justification

- I have used this to create questions on a passage focused on the IEP goal (sequencing, main idea, key details, text evidence, inferencing, and more) 

- You could use this to create a quiz or test for a unit so you can work backwards from the unit assessment to plan the curriculum accordingly. 

Create Something Else 

- If you need ideas or prompts generated, or supplemental materials for a lesson this is a great feature. 

- In my Social Issues Essentials Class, I used this tool to create short articles about made up governor candidates for our voting unit. 

Detect AI (description written by Brisk AI Tool-- Create Something Else tool) 

The Detect AI tool on the Brisk Teaching tool can be used by teachers to identify areas of improvement in student work. By simply uploading a document or assignment, the tool can analyze the content and provide feedback on grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This tool helps teachers save time by automatically detecting and highlighting mistakes, allowing them to focus on providing targeted feedback and support. It also promotes student growth by helping them identify and correct their writing errors.

Adjust length and complexity (description written by Brisk AI Tool - Create Something Else tool) 

The Simplify option in the Brisk Teaching AI Chrome Extension allows you to simplify complex texts or materials to make them more accessible for students with different reading levels or learning needs. It can help break down difficult concepts and provide explanations in a more straightforward manner.

On the other hand, the Expand option allows you to expand on a topic or concept by providing additional information, examples, or resources. This can be useful for challenging students who need more in-depth explanations or for extending the learning for advanced students.

The Less Detail feature in the Brisk Teaching AI Chrome Extension allows you to simplify complex texts or materials to make them more accessible for students with different reading levels or learning needs. It helps break down difficult concepts and provides explanations in a more straightforward manner.

On the other hand, the More Detail feature allows you to expand on a topic or concept by providing additional information, examples, or resources. This can be useful for challenging students who need more in-depth explanations or for extending the learning for advanced students.

Note - these options can be used JUST after you have the text generated. Going back this option does not pop up with the tool on Google Docs. 

Wrap up: 

I have found this AI tool very helpful and use it almost every day. These are also just the tools that are used in the free version. There are so many other tools for the paid version that I have not used. If you try it out let me know. I hope if you do it is useful and helps save you time and is another tool in your teacher tool box. 

FTT - Digital Citzenship and Beyond

Digital Citizenship And Beyond

 @LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Happy Digital Citizenship Week!

I have been learning, wondering, and talking about digital citizenship for many years. The conversation has shifted greatly over time. Initially, it was solely about keeping kids safe online. We needed to make sure students understood the dangers lurking on the internet and we thought if we told them enough scary, troubling, and shocking stories, they would be careful. One major error with this teaching method is that we spent a lot of time making lists of things that students should not do, but we never really told them what they should do. In this age of awareness of the connection between mental health and technology use, both good and bad, we absolutely must teach and also model what digital citizenship means in 2023.

 One thing that has not changed in this conversation over the years is the idea that digital citizenship should not be taught in isolation. Stand-alone lessons in digital citizenship make it really hard for students to transfer these skills. Also, digital citizenship is going to mean something different in a graphic arts class than in a world language class. In this post, I will unpack the many parts of digital citizenship as well as provide resources and some easy tips that you can start using right away.

What is Digital Citizenship?

Just like being a good citizen in society, digital citizenship is a collection of skills we need in order to fully participate in our communities and make smart choices online. As technology is moving quickly and students are introduced to technology at younger ages, the skills needed become more and more important. To make it easier for us to make sure we are teaching the right things, the ISTE standards are the compass for digital teaching and learning. ISTE lists digital citizenship as one of the standards for both students as well as educators. For students, the digital citizen standard has 4 subparts. You can unpack the digital citizenship ISTE standard, including viewing videos, here. 

• Digital Footprint: Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation, and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
• Online Behavior: Students engage in positive, safe, legal, and ethical behavior when using technology, including in social interactions online or when using networked devices
• Intellectual Property: Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
• Digital Privacy: Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security, and are aware of data-collection technology used to track their navigation online.

The Do's Instead Of The Don'ts

In today's digital world, it is critical to give students a list of things they can and should be doing in order to be good digital citizens. The digital citizenship competencies were created by the DigCit Coalition, led by ISTE, along with many other coalition partners, in order to change the way we approach teaching digital citizenship away from don'ts to do's. I love this framing as it feels much more comfortable when I am speaking with students. These competencies make a lot of sense both online as well as in our in-person spaces. 

Digital Citizenship Competencies:

• Balanced: Students participate in a healthy variety of online activities and know how to prioritize their time between virtual and physical activities.
• Informed: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media, and have developed critical skills for curating information from digital sources.
• Inclusive: Students are open to hearing and recognizing multiple viewpoints, and engaging with others online with respect and empathy.
• Engaged: Students use technology and digital channels to solve problems and be a force for good in their families and communities.
• Alert: Students are aware of their digital actions and know how to be safe and create safe spaces for others online.

Easy Resources:

• Common Sense Education has created 4 lessons for high school students and they are very good. Also, they are ready to go. All supporting materials and resources are included. Take a look here.

They also created a calendar for this week, but you can do these whenever it best fits into your scope and sequence calendar. Each day has a guiding question, an activity, something you can share with families, and a Spirit Week suggestion. Click on the image below to open it.

• PBS Learning Media AND KQED: This is a really nice roundup of resources that is both searchable and filterable. You can take a look by age and also by resource type. All videos also include closed captioning as well as a transcript. Topics are super relevant and helpful. They also include educator guides, source lists, vocabulary glossaries, and classroom activities  Click here to view.  I found this one on YouTube Algorithms: How To Avoid The Rabbit Hole, to be super informative. 

• Be Internet Awesome (created by Google): This is a collection of lessons, activities, and information that has the appearance of a very cute video game activity for younger kids. Given that you never know what our high school students will gravitate towards, I think it's worth checking out. The game is called Interland, but there are lots of other really useful tools in here. You can download the curriculum in both English and Spanish. There is also a collection of digital wellbeing lessons that were just added this past June. Again, I know these are created for younger students but I think they are easily transferable to our teens. (I actually learned a few things myself!) Take a look here.

Key Takeaway And A Challenge:

The key takeaway is this- we cannot wait for someone else to take on the responsibility of teaching our students how to be good digital citizens. It is the responsibility of every single one of us to foster these skills for our students in our own way. Our students need to be hearing this from us all year long in every content area. Just as you work on creating community in your classrooms and check in on their wellbeing, you also need to work on creating community online and check in on digital wellbeing.  

What will you start doing in order to promote digital citizenship skills in your learning spaces?

Challenge! Prize Alert! 

The first THREE people who complete FOUR items on this DigCit bingo card will get a prize. You can download it and print it or you can check them off digitally. It's up to you. Here's the link. Have fun!

FTT - AI Creation Tool #301: SlidesGo

 

AI Creation Tool #301: SlidesGo

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS 

When I first started teaching, Prezis were all the rage. Google Slides had yet to wrestle supremacy away from PowerPoint, and being able to zoom in and out of the Z axis during a presentation was extremely exciting. Although I spent countless hours making some fairly effective and entertaining Prezi lectures, I slowly began making my journey back to traditional Google Slides. Slides were easier to share and edit and collaborate on. I was also a little worried about putting all of my educational eggs in one rather small basket. I mean who knew when Prezi would go belly up and I would be shucks out of luck? It's just as well considering many of the sharper AI creation tools are focusing all of their attention on Slides and Powerpoint. 

One thing I try to explain to the freshman advisory classes is that AI tools can be more than just, "hey chatGTP, write me something..." It shouldn't merely be a simple replacement for our efforts and intellectual endeavors. We can use AI to enhance and augment ideas we've already got brewing or content we've been using for years. Instead of always asking AI to create a brand new worksheet or reading for class, I will input successful materials that I've used for years to look for ways to improve. Even when I do have ChatGTP or Perplexity create something for me, that's only a starting point that I myself will hammer and chisel into something worth sharing.

SlidesGO is a free and relatively powerful AI creation tool that can help you get started on creating a presentation on Google Slides or PowerPoint. It's easy to use, relatively free (freemium plan), and has a large library of templates and styles for you to choose from. All of their templates are fully customizable which allows you to tailor them to suit your specific teaching style, content, and classroom needs. Images and slide themes are beautiful, colorful, creative, and can fit 16:9 for class and A4 for printing. There are a few different AI options for creating Slides presentations, but this one is a good mix of practical and aesthetically focused and I highly recommend it!

Instructions:

1. Go to Slidesgo's website: https://slidesgo.com/
2. Sign Up: Click on the "Sign Up" button typically located at the top right corner of the page.
3. Browse Templates: Once logged in, navigate to the "Templates" section on the website.
4. Filter by Category or Subject: Use the filters to search for templates relevant to your subject or theme.
5. Preview Templates: Click on templates to preview them and find one that suits your requirements.

From there you can customize text, insert images, mess with your colors and fonts, and duplicate or add slides as needed. Once you're finished you can export the presentation and export it by clicking the "download" button and choosing either Google Slides or PowerPoint. 

Wait, there's more!

You can even create Infographics and charts that you can share or even print. You can use the AI tool to ask it to generate and organize your data with any type of chart you can think of: bar, pie, pyramid, cycle, anything!

We know plenty of educators out there that have aesthetically beautiful presentations that truly capture the attentions of our students. While there are a number of other important parts to a successful lesson, we know that people are primarily visual creatures and I think this could help with that. Give it a try and let us know what you think below.

FTT - Jamboard Alternatives

When Collaborative Whiteboards Are Your Jam

Alternatives To Jamboard

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS 

A colleague reminded me the other day of a phrase I used to say often when I started working as the Director of Instructional Technology. I definitely did not make it up but I can't remember who said it first. 

You date the device, but you marry the capabilities.

What does that mean? Devices and software will always come and go. Think about all of the different devices and applications you have used over the years. When we get too attached, it can feel devastating when that particular tool is no longer available. We need to realize that while we may have loved that device or that particular piece of software, we really mean to say that we loved what it did or gave us the ability to do. To that end, we then need to search for something similar and while we often wax poetic about the original, there are generally many other options to choose from. 

Last week, Google announced that they would be winding down the Jamboard application in 2024 so if you are a Jamboard user this is your official notice that you have been broken up with and need to find a new collaborative whiteboard space. While I know that to some of you, this is very, very bad news, I have done this enough times to know that this is very likely an opportunity to find something new and potentially even better.  Think about what it is about Jamboard that you love? What are the capabilities that you and your students benefit from?

In their announcement, Google also suggests some alternatives so let's take a look.

FigJam, LucidSpark, and Miro will now have Google Workspace integration to help us manage the transition. I am also a big fan of Kami, which has interactive whiteboard templates. 

Below we will look at FigJam and Kami as some great alternatives to Jamboard. 

FigJam: FigJam has partnered with Google to provide its tools FREE to educators and students. FigJam is an advanced collaborative whiteboarding tool with features including stamps, emotes, stickies, shapes, connectors, drawing tools, plugins, interactive widgets, and much more.

You and your students can use FigJam to:

• Brainstorm ideas for projects and assignments with sticky notes, shapes, and freehand drawing.
• Organize thoughts and research with decision trees, diagrams, and mind maps.
• Collaborate with classmates and teachers in real-time with feedback and comments.
• Plan and run group projects, presentations, and more.

Figma has lots of templates that are easy to use. 

Here is what the brainstorming template looks like:

I found this collection of voting templates to be super interesting:

Ok. Check out FigJam here.

Kami

The next option that I really really love is Kami.

Kami is a Chrome extension and it connects seamlessly with Google Drive. Kami started out as a tool to use with PDFs. You and your students can annotate on any PDFs using Kami BUT there is so much more to this tool. Kami has tons and tons of incredible templates, accessibility features, and whiteboard and collaboration tools. 

The template library is what really makes Kami stand out in my view as a superior option. If you want part of one template and part of another, you can also use Kami's split and merge feature.  Here is an example of a digital notebook from the Kami template library. You can see below that it shows you exactly what you can do with this template and you have the option to open it in Kami or just download it.

The Kami library also lets you filter and search by subject, item type, and grade level.

It's definitely worth taking a look.

While I know that there were so many things about Jamboard that we loved. The good news is that collaborative whiteboards are here to stay. Check out these two alternatives and let me know what you think. Want some help getting started? You can always reach out and I'm happy to work with you to make sure it's a success for your students.