Anyways, the Black Menu for Google is an extension that gives you quick access to your favorite Google services with a simple drop-down menu. Check it out!

Interested in learning more about this awesome extension? Watch this video!

As always, I want to bring it back to a pedagogical focus. Here are some ways this can support you and your students in the classroom:

• Time Saver – Teachers and students can navigate GSuite quickly and effectively without multiple tabs.
• Student Research – As students are conducting research for assignments, they can search within the extension, rather than another tab.
• Promotes GSuite Apps – There are so many underutilized GSuite tools. By using this extension, it is easy to find and begin using tools that you may not have explored yet.

Have you used the Black Menu for Google? How could this support your students? Share in the comments below!

Every once in awhile, I really struggle with blogging. This week has been one of those weeks. I’m going to be super honest – this week has been crazy and I found myself really struggling to find my #OneNewThing. However, I realized that Google released the new Gmail this week and it would be a fantastic thing to share. At first, my concern was that I hadn’t used the new Gmail yet. Normally, I try to write these blog posts with a strong foundation on what I am sharing. But…as I mentioned, this week has been busy and I just didn’t have the time.

Anyways, who says that our #OneNewThing has to be something we have already learned? Why not learn together?!

Therefore, I decided to launch the new Gmail for the first time in this video – yikes! I also brought my husband in as a “special guest star” and he was nice enough to humor me throughout the video. So, if you’re interested in seeing us demo the new Gmail for the first time, watch our crazy, hot mess of a video below!

(Note: I have no idea why my screencast dropped our corner video, but oh well!)

Have you tried the new Gmail? If so, what did you like or not like? Also, what was your #OneNewThing for this week?! Share in the comments below!

Attention all Math Nerds! Or, you know, anyone who loves a good puzzle. This week’s #OneNewThing is for you!

I recently came across a fun website called SolveMe Puzzles that has a TON of free games for students (or the nerdy adult) to play. All of the games require players to solve a math-based puzzle. Currently, the website has three types of puzzles:

Mobiles

In this game, players are asked to find the numbers that will balance the scale. This is a GREAT game for introducing equations in a fun, visual way.  Over time, the puzzles get much more advanced and challenging.

Who Am I?

In this game, players have to determine the number based on the clues given. It starts out simple, with numbers between 0-9, but eventually moves to numbers in hundreds place and includes equations.

Mystery Grid

Mystery grid is very similar to Sudoku – but with more Math! As you can see in the GIF below, the early levels are simply about placing the numbers in the correct order. In later games, players have to find the appropriate placement for the numbers while solving equations. Fun, right?!

Build Your Own

One other great feature is the ability for players to build their own games. Within each game, players can select to “play” or “build”. By building their own games, students will be challenged to “backward plan” and engineer their own math games.

Ready to play? Visit the SolveMe Puzzles website!

In the Classroom

As always, I try to bring my #OneNewThing back to applicable classroom activities and strategies. Here are some ways you could use the SolveMe Puzzles in your classroom:

• Bell Ringer Activities – These puzzles would be a fun and challenging activity for students to complete as they are coming into class. Students love playing games, so this is a fun way to get them interacting with math in a visual way.
• Introduction to Equations – Do you teach equations in your classroom? This is a fantastic tool to introduce equations to students! Before they have learned algorithms for equations, help them visualize the balance through the “Mobile” puzzles. Then, challenge them to solve more advanced equations in the “Mystery Grid” puzzles.
• Student vs. Student Challenges – Invite your students to create their own games and trade them with a partner. Can their partner solve their games? Did they make it to easy? Too hard? Students will be immediately engaged when they have this extra buy-in to Math!

As I mentioned before, students love to play games – so let’s trick them to love Math with these fun puzzles!

Have you heard of SolveMe Puzzles and/or used them in your classroom? What do other classroom uses you see for these puzzles? Share in the comment below!

In this week’s #OneNewThing, I am excited to share about A Google a Day. I was introduced to this game by Kate Petty while helping with a bootcamp earlier this week. It was one of those times where I thought, “Wait – how have I never heard of this?!”

A Google a Day is an online game where three questions are posted and the Google search engine must be used to answer these questions. Well, I guess you don’t have to use the Google search engine but I can say with complete certainty that I would not know the answer to these questions without Google.

Click on the image below to try it out!

How did you do?! As you can see, this is a simple concept that could be easily incorporated into the classroom.  Here are some ideas:

• Warm-Ups – If you need a quick warm-up or bell ringer activity, challenge students to answer the “A Google a Day” questions. They can work individually or in groups.
• Google Search Lesson – It’s becoming critical for students to understand how to search for information on the internet. The questions from “A Google a Day” are not easily guessed and must be searched. This could prove to be a great opportunity for teaching students how to search for answers online.
• Class Competition – When students finish answering the questions, they will receive a score based on how quickly they answered them. Students love competition – challenge them to see who can answer the fastest!

Have you used “A Google a Day” in your classroom? What other ways could this simple game be used to engage learners? Share in the comments below!

Earlier this week, I wrote about my goal to learn one new thing per week and blog about it. It’s my new blogging challenge to encourage me to continue learning and writing.  For this week’s #OneNewThing post, I am excited to share that I learned TWO new things! Well, I am sure there is actually quite a bit more but these are the big ones that stuck out in my mind.

Adobe After Effects: Creating GIFS

I have been a fan of Adobe’s products for a long time. Little known fact, I actually used to run a fairly popular (and nerdy) graphic design blog on Tumblr. This was several years ago but it was an amazing experience because I found that I had passions and interests that extended beyond teaching. If you know me well, I might even be willing to give you the link to this (insanely) nerdy blog. It may be in hiatus but it still exists!

This week, I had a couple of different projects that I was working on this week that inspired me to take my graphic design experience to the next level. Let me also be super transparent here: I am not an expert in graphic design nor do I have any formal training. It’s just a fun hobby that sometimes makes it way into my professional life. Anyways, I found this amazing tutorial video on how to create GIF’s using After Effects:

Major props to the author of this video! It’s super easy to understand and follow. Even though it is only 40 minutes, it definitely took me much longer to learn because I had to rewind so often. However, if you are interested and pay for the Adobe Creative Suite, I highly encourage you to check out this fun and interactive tutorial.

Here is one thing I made this week:

Super simple but a lot of fun to create. I look forward to going more in-depth with After Effects in the future!

Instagram Hack: Post Photos from Your Chrome Browser

Earlier this week, I found myself needing to post some Instagram photos from my Chrome Browser. In addition to this, my dad has become quite the photographer and I keep encouraging him to share on Instagram but he wanted to be able to upload his high-quality photos from his computer to Instagram. Anyways, I found two solutions to this problem. Check out this short video:

Chrome Extension

Isn’t that SO awesome and simple?! My mind was totally blown when I found this extension. Hey, it’s the little things in life, right?

Classroom Connections:

As promised, I want to try to bring this back to the classroom. Here are some ways my #OneNewThing could be used in a classroom setting:

Adobe After Effects

• I’ve always loved the idea of teaching graphic design to students using Adobe products. If you have these products available at your school, don’t waste these resources! Challenge students to create graphics for the school, build their own portfolios, and share their work globally. The possibilities are endless!
• Create gifs for your students – they’ll love it! It could be academic or something fun. Just give it a try!

Instagram Hack

• Do you have a classroom Instagram for parents? If not, you should think about it. As long as your students have the appropriate permissions and approval, of courese. This hack could be useful for your classroom Instagram by allowing you to post high-quality photos, graphics, or announcements to share with parents.

Have you decided to take the #OneNewThing challenge? If so, share your stories below or tag me in your learning on Twitter!

A year and a half ago, I set a goal to blog once a week on an educational topic. These topics have ranged from instructional strategies, lesson plans, educational technology tutorials, and a variety of other resources. I am excited to say that this is a goal that I have achieved, as well as a goal that I do not plan on giving up anytime soon. To date, I have written 128 blogs posts on I-Heart-EDU and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It has challenged me to continue to grow as an educator and think of ways to support teachers and impact student learning. It’s not always easy to find a new topic to write but the challenge has kept my mind fresh and engaged with current educational strategies and resources.

While this current goal is not going away, I’ve also found myself craving a new blogging goal. Something that would inspire me to continue writing but, more importantly, to continue learning. I absolutely love learning. Seriously. I enjoy learning about anything and everything. I was one of those kids that actually liked going to school. When I finished high school, I was ready for college. When I graduated college, I was ready for my masters. When I finish my masters, I….well, I actually needed a little bit of a break after that one. Anyways, my point is that I truly enjoy learning and discovering new things. Based on this idea, I have developed a new blogging goal:

The Name: #OneNewThing

The Goal: Every week, I will develop a blog post on one thing that I learned from the week.

The Details:

As a part of this goal, I will:

• Learn one new thing per week on anything – the topic does not have to be education-specific.
• Write a weekly post on the thing that I learned.
• Keep it simple – it does not have to be a long post or tutorial.
• Share the resources that I used to learn about the #OneNewThing.
• Attempt to tie it back to education.

If you’re keeping track, this means that I will now be writing two blog posts per week – yikes! While that completely intimidates me, I am hoping that this new challenge will be a fun and simple way to learn and share. Perhaps it will also teach me to be more short and concise in my writing, which I think we can all agree is a challenge for me!

Now, my challenge to my readers…Who wants to join me in sharing their #OneNewThing each week? It doesn’t have to be a blog post – it could be a simple tweet, post on Facebook, microblog, Periscope – the choice is yours! If you do decide to take this challenge, I encourage you to tag me in your tweets or blog posts so I can reshare it with others.

Are you ready to take the #OneNewThing challenge?