Wonderful Weekend Websites 9-25-15

Short videos from can be quite helpful in introducing topics to students and or reinforcing concepts that you have taught.

Vibby allows you to break YouTube videos into segments and insert comments into those segments. To segment a YouTube video simply grab the URL for the video and paste into the Vibby editor. Once inserted into Vibby you can highlight a segment on the video timeline. Vibby can then play only the sections you've highlighted or the entire video. Click on a highlighted section to add a comment to it. Videos edited through Vibby can be  embedded into Canvas

Check out the TED-Ed YouTube channel where you will find a number of curated playlists. These lessons can be sorted by grade level by choosing the Student drop down menu. If you want to make your own you have a YouTube channel tied to your Google account.

I have had many inquiries about how to record a test for students. There is an easy-to-use app in the Chrome Store. Search the store for  Audio Recorder, install it to Chome. Access it by using the rubrics cube in the bookmark bar, then click the microphone to start and stop and click the save button. It will save in your default download folder.  

Quick Chrome tip: change the location of your download folder by going to the Chrome menu icon (the 3 lines upper right) -- settings -- show advanced settings -- put a checkmark in “Ask where to save each file before downloading” or change where the “Download location” to Google Drive.  

Tuesday Tech Tip 9/9/15

Canvas  

1. All courses need to be published. You can create a front page informing students and parents to check the calendar for events and Parent Portal for grades. There is a Sample Home Page that you can use and modify in the Canvas Commons. Click the Commons button in the header, then search in Forney ISD for Sample Home page.

2. If the Canvas course is public make sure that you are using the course that TEAMS created because it is the one with students in it. You can tell which one is the TEAMS created one because it has  “S1” next to.

3. After students in grades 2-12 students have changed their passwords they will need to provide this new password to their parents so the parents can create their observer account.

4. You can embed content for students inside of a Canvas page by using a Thinklink, Padlet or Symbaloo. Contact me if you want to learn how.

Google Mail

1. To make Google Mail as your default email
1. Browse to Gmail
2. Click the double diamond shaped icon in search bar at the top of your browser
3. When prompted to "Allow Gmail to open all email links?", select "Use Gmail," and click "Done."

Wifi

Please refer to Howard Carlin’s email from Sept 4 for the instructions on how to connect to the new ForneyISD network. It is VERY important to do this, if you or your students want to use a cellphone or tablet on the district WiFi.