Get Even More Out Of Canva 

With Canva Apps

@LisaBerghoff

Raise your hand if you love Canva! The design software company has found its way into the hearts of educators everywhere. Canva continues to be the first choice for educators and students when it comes to making creative presentations, videos, flyers, posters, and more. They continue to add tools and capabilities. Have you used their whiteboards or tried their AI powered photo editing tools? 

Believe it or not, there are some things that Canva cannot do. But before you jump to a new tool, check out the apps housed within Canva. These apps are created by third party providers and are available in the apps section of the Canva toolbar. Some of the apps are AI powered, some are not. Some have a freemium pricing structure and others are totally free. When you are working with students in Canva and they say "I wonder if I can create..." and you aren't quite sure where to send them, consider having them peruse the apps. 

How Do I Access Canva Apps?

When you are in the design editor, click "apps" on the left side toolbar. There you will see a huge menu of various apps that you can explore.

Some of the apps that I use most frequently are:

1. YouTube: This app allows me to embed YouTube videos into my designs.

2. Embed: This app allows me to embed pretty much anything from websites into my designs. 

3. Text Maker: Create text with very cool effects with just one click.

4. Giphy: Search and add gifs and stickers to your designs.

5. Bulk Create: Create multiple pages using data from a spreadsheet

I have not tried the following but they exist and I will be checking them out:

• GenQuiz: Creates quiz questions based on your text or a link.
• Bingo Cards: Makes bingo cards based on the word list you enter.
• Translate: Will auto translate anything on your designs to the language you choose.
• Image Upscaler: Enhances images using AI.
• Image Importer: Grabs images from any public website for you.

This is just the beginning. There are lots of apps for creating music using AI, enhancing photos, and creating images. There are also some that are more geared towards productivity.

If you don't have a specific need, but want to see what apps are available, you can always go to https://www.canva.com/your-apps/ and browse.  New apps are being added all the time.

Have you or your students explored the apps section in Canva? I would love to know what you have found and tried. Connect with me to learn more. 

I Have To Learn How To Do What?

AI Prompt Library For Educators

@LisaBerghoff

I have been talking to many educators who are interested in dipping their toe in the AI waters to explore and see what all the fuss is about. I am so happy to share some basic tools and then I typically start to explain how AI prompting works and how it is different from an internet search. We have all gotten so good at searching and prompting for AI is not quite the same thing. This is where I often lose people. The idea of needing to figure out how to create a prompt can seem daunting. That's why I was thrilled to discover the AI prompt library provided by AI For Education.

AI For Education is an organization whose mission is to provide AI literary training for one million educators. They empower educators and academic institutions through responsible AI adoption and training. Their website has a wonderful treasure trove of free resources, including online courses.  On the free resource center, you will also find the prompt library for educators. 

What Is The Prompt Library?

This is a generative AI chatbot prompt library for educators. These ready to use prompts are perfect for use with AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. The prompts are designed to help you lesson plan, do administrative tasks, create slide decks, and more of the stuff that eats away at your time. The library is divided into categories so you can easily find what you are looking for. You will see an example prompt that you can then copy/paste/edit. 

First, there is a group of prompts for administrative tasks. 

The one that I was most interested in from this group was a prompt to summarize themes in survey data. Here is the suggested prompt:

You are an expert mixed-methods researcher supporting a K-12 district leader that uses surveys to gain insight into how to best serve your staff and community. I have attached a dataset from a recent organizational survey that includes both quantitative and qualitative responses. The audience for the survey was teachers who attended professional development over the summer, and they were providing feedback and input on the quality and usefulness of the training for a new instructional model. Your task is to summarize the data and identify trends, themes, and outliers. Please include the following in your analysis: 1. Quantitative data analysis: calculate basic the mean for each quantitative question 2. Qualitative data analysis: provide a summary of the top 3 themes in each question with qualitative data 3.Identify outliers and explain them in the context of the other data 6. Identify 2-3 actionable recommendations based on your summary.

Would you have written that? I'm pretty sure I would not but it gives a great example of how to construct a prompt in a way that will yield the results you want.

The next group that you will see is for assessment. Yes, you are seeing that last one correctly, it's an AI prompt designed to assist you with creating AI resistant assessments. The assessment category is one area where I think AI can really shine in terms of helping us. If you only look at one section, I suggest looking at this one.

Here we have another very helpful category, communication. Want the ai chatbot to make slides for you? There's a prompt for that! This group has everything from reference letters, to newsletters. These prompts are beautifully crafted and will help you get the most out of your generative ai tool of choice.

Ok. You get the idea. There are many more groups including lesson planning, social-emotional learning, professional development, special education, and prompts to use with students. 

I love that the site is clean and clear of clutter. Each of the prompts comes with an explanation, example prompts, and additional prompting strategies to think about.

Are you ready to get started? Even if you're not quite ready, perusing the prompt library is a good idea so you can understand how an ai prompt is different from an internet search.

If you want a partner, feel free to reach out! I'd love to help you. 

 

New! 

Document Tabs In Google Docs 

@LisaBerghoff

I'm not someone who naturally loves spreadsheets. I certainly appreciate what they can do and admire those who can effortlessly insert formulas that can organize data. Usually, one of my favorite spreadsheet features is the ability to create multiple tabs. It reminds me of a binder. Each tab is it's own section of information and you can click from tab to tab in order to see the different groups housed all in one place. 

Now, I'm excited to share that Google docs has the same tab feature. 

This can be a wonderful way for you, and your students, to organize and keep track of lots of content in one place. The document tabs feature in Google Docs allows for opening multiple documents within the same window, using tabs—just like you would in a browser. Instead of needing to switch between different windows or search for your documents, you can now have multiple Google Docs open in one place and toggle between them with ease. 

With tabs, from the left panel you can view the document structure any time, and use the tabs as sections of the document for easier navigation. 

How To Create Tabs In Google Docs:

1. To open the left panel in a Google doc, click Show Tabs And Outlines in the upper left corner (three horizontal lines)

2. Click the Add Tab icon (plus sign) You can create and manage multiple tabs in the same document in this space.

3. You can also add subtabs by clicking the three vertical dots (tab options) and click add subtab. You can add three subtabs to each tab. 

You can delete, duplicate, rename, and move tabs, as long as you have more than one tab created and you are the editor on the document. 

There is a maximum limit of 100 tabs on a document. That's a lot of tabs!

Suggested Use Cases For Tabs In Google Docs

1. Project organization and management. Create a project template with tabs and have your students complete the work using the structure you created.

2. Student portfolios. Use tabs to show different examples of student work and reflection to show growth over time.

3. PLC work. Use a document with tabs to house data, information, questions, and reflection as a group.

4. Lesson planning. House all relevant documents and information for a unit all in one place. 

Click here to see an example that I made. This is a project organizer.

What are some other ways you will use document tabs in Google docs?

I'm excited about the possibilities.

Want some help getting started? Book a time with me and let's talk about it together. 

 Let's Get Our Students Talking!

Audio/Video Tools In Schoology

@LisaBerghoff

It's "TalkTober" everyone. This is the time of year when we have settled into our routines. The excitement of the start of the school year has worn off. We know a little bit about our students and we know that we need everyone to be participating, sharing their voice, and engaged in learning. There are so many reasons why a student may not be talking in class, and those are worth exploring. In the meantime, there are some tools that are built into Schoology that help get students sharing their thoughts and ideas in a way that doesn't require them to raise their hand and speak in front of a group.  This is a wonderful option to make sure you hear from everyone in your class and not just those who have their hands in the air.

What Are Audio/Video Tools In Schoology?

The audio and visual tools allow both course admins (teachers) as well as students to post or respond via audio only or video in lieu of or in addition to text. 

From the teacher side of things, this is a fantastic option for students who benefit from hearing your voice and seeing your face as opposed to just reading text. When you add an assignment, page, discussion question, even a calendar event, you can generate audio or video. Just look for the microphone icon. 

You can also create "assessments" that require an audio response or a video response from students. This is the best option when you don't want the audio/video tools to be optional. 

For students, it's the same microphone icon and they will see it in the upload section when they submit an assignment. They will also see it when contributing to a discussion question.

If you ask your students to submit an assignment using audio or video, here is what it will look like on your end once they have submitted. All you need to do is click to watch or listen, and provide feedback. All of the recordings are in one spot, making them easy to find and assess. 

How Do I Use Audio/Visual Tools In Assessments?

Remember, just because it's called Assessments doesn't mean it needs to be a quiz or a test. It's just a great tool that you can use so students can show you what they know in different ways.  I love to use the assessment feature for assignments when I want to make sure my students use the correct tool. 

When you use assessments, just like when you use assignments, you can incorporate audio/video recordings as the teacher and also accept audio/video recordings from your students. Both have benefits.

• From the edit questions page in your assessment, choose audio question type or video question type. This ensures that the students will record and submit.
• To add your own audio or video into the question, click the tools icon and record your audio or video using the audio player or video player tabs. 
• Click record to start and click stop when you are done. You can watch it and re-record or click ok to insert it into your question.

Here is what it looks like from the student's point of view. The question has an embedded video with instructions. There is an audio recorder below it where the students click to record their response.

Allowing students to record a video or audio recording is a fantastic way to hear everyone's voice. Whether you are looking for them to share reflections, practice explaining a concept, or make an argument, this will make sure that everyone gets a chance to talk in a way that is safe and private. What a wonderful stepping stone to helping students then share their thoughts an ideas in front of a class.  Also, providing audio/video instructions can be an important accessibility tool that our struggling students can benefit from. 

Want some help getting started with these tools? Please reach out to me. I'm happy to help!

Make Student Videos Simple With 
Screencastify Submit

@LisaBerghoff

We have known for a long time that video can be a powerful learning tool. There were teachers who had pretty sweet recording setups who would put their videos online for the rest of us to use and remix. I can remember the first time I took a look at Kahn Academy and was blown away by how effective it was. The idea of creating videos ourselves and being seen on camera was a pretty scary proposition. We all had to get over that real fast during the pandemic. We also learned that having our students record themselves can be a wonderful way for them to demonstrate their understanding. With the easy access to recording tools, we now know that a recording studio is not necessary, unless you are teaching video production. 

Screencastify is one of those tools that is small but its impact is huge. When you see that cute little arrow in your extensions bar, you know that you can record your screen while you talk, but there's a lot of power built into that little extension. Let's unpack everything that is inside Screencastify.

What is Screencastify?

According to the Chrome Webstore, Screencastify is Chrome's simplest free screen recorder and interactive platform, empowering everyone to be a better communicator. A screencast is a type of video content that captures what a person sees on their own screen. Screencasts often include audio narration and may also include an embedded webcam video so that viewers can see the person who’s creating the screencast.  Screencastify also has optional drawing tools that can be used while recording. These tools can help guide your students has you are teaching. Watch the two minute video below to learn more about the drawing tools.

One of the most beautiful things about Screencastify is that your recording will automatically be saved to your Google drive, making it super easy to share with a link. No need to download, upload, worry about file size, or whether or not your students will be able to access the video. Yes, you can download your video to your computer. You can also export to YouTube. There is also the option of embedding your video with the html code.  In other words, you don't have to worry about how you're going to get your video to your students.

What if I want, or need, to edit my video?

Screencastify has a built in video editor. When you click "edit video" you have the ability to cut, crop, zoom, add text, or add blur to your video. You can also bring in other media that you have on your Google drive or saved on your computer. You may want to add a title frame to your video, Screencastify has a tool for that too. While it is not the most robust video editor, it has the tools that you will most likely need for your screencast and they are not complicated to use at all. Your edited video will also be saved to your Google drive making it very easy to share.

How can my students create and turn in videos? (Screencastify Submit)

Screencastify Submit is a new-ish feature that makes the workflow for you and your students seamless. Here is how Screencastify Submit works.

• To access Screencastify Submit, click on the Screencastify extension and then from the more menu (three horizontal lines) click "My Recordings" and then click "Submit".
• Click on one of the templates or choose "New Assignment".
• Give the assignment a title and enter the instructions.
• You can also adjust the assignment settings here, including what type of video submission you want your students to create. You may just need them to record their screens, or just their webcams, or both. Pay attention to "link privacy" and "video privacy" to adjust who can access the student's videos.
• Click "Create And Share" when you are ready to send it to your students. 
  
  
  

Watch below to see how the setup works.

Watch below to see what it looks like from the student perspective.

Go back to the submissions tab to view and grade your students' videos.

If you want some help, Screencastify has put everything you could possibly want to know about the submit feature here.

What else can Screencastify do?

1. Add Questions: Yes! You can embed questions into your video so your students need to respond before they can continue. Click "Add Quiz" and create your questions. Add multiple choice, short answer, or a note.
   
2. Add captions: Screencastify will automatically generate captions for you once you click the "Add Captions" button.
   
3. Use the AI assistant: There is a built in AI assistant that can help enhance your video by generating a transcript, creating captions, generating a title, generating a description, or soon there will be the ability to add an AI voiceover.
4. Translate your captions: Once your captions have been created, you can translate them into a number of languages.

Wow! There's a ton packed into that little arrow extension and the possibilities are incredible with regards to access for students. I hope you will give these Screencastify tools a try, especially Screencastify Submit.
Want some help? Reach out. I'd love to work with you!

What's Different About Diffit?

@LisaBerghoff

As I was walking into school yesterday, through the throngs of students gathering in the cafeteria to get their morning moments of socialization in before class, I thought- this is such a funny place to work. People who work in offices with adults all day must be so bored. The kids were so animated on a Monday morning. They were telling stories, laughing, drinking brightly colored beverages from the coffee bar. This is what I love about working in a school. Being around teenagers means every day is different. Every learner is different. They come into learning spaces with a wide range of experiences, abilities, and ideas about themselves as learners. Sometimes, I wish I could create lessons that are easy to adjust for each of my students so they can get access to rigorous curriculum that also acknowledges what they are bringing in because of their individuality.

What is Diffit?

Diffit is one of those ai powered tools that feels like it was sent from the future.  The interface is simple and clean. It is not flashy, shiny, or distracting with silly tools that I will never use. Instead, it is a straightforward generative AI tool that will help me create content based on a topic, standard, theme, question, or prompt. It will also create learning activities based on an existing article, video, text, excerpt, or vocabulary list. 

In addition to creating content, you can have Diffit adjust reading levels and languages. You can also choose to show or hide the source citations. Every output is fully customizable and you can easily create multiple copies for students depending on their needs. You can make sure that critical vocabulary is included and vary the types of questions you want students to answer. 

Below is a 2 minute video explaining what Diffit does.

What makes Diffit different from other AI tools for teachers?

1. First, the outputs are formatted by strategy and in ready to share Google docs, slides, and forms.  Want students to work on close reading annotations? There is already a format for that. Want your students to work together? There are collaborative partner work slides. Working on identifying claims and supporting evidence? That's also already built into Diffit. Since the activities are in Google, it takes out the guesswork of how you will share with your students in a way that they can easily respond and get feedback from you. Removing these barriers facilitates students' access to the material. Below are some examples of formatted slides, forms, and docs that were created with Diffit. 

2. Next, most digital tools assume that the activities will all be completed digitally. Diffit understands that there are times when printing copies and writing is most appropriate and so you can also filter output types to show you which ones are formatted for printing. Have you ever tried to format Google slides so your students can write on them? I have, and it is absolutely no fun. Diffit makes it easy. 

3. Finally, unlike other AI tools, you have several entry points in Diffit. You can begin with a prompt, like most of the others. However, you can also begin with the end in mind. If you know that you want your students to work on an activity to help them learn vocabulary, you can choose one of those outputs first, then it will create your content and automatically with that preset activity. 

How To Use Diffit?

• Go to app.diffit.me and log in with your school credentials. 
• Choose how you want to get started. To have Diffit create content for you, start with "Literally Anything". If you have a link to an article or a video, you can enter it. You can also enter text or an excerpt via pdf or copy/paste. Your last option is to enter a vocabulary list.  If you want to begin with a type of activity, click on "Activities" in the upper left corner of the screen. 
• Choose the reading level and language. You can remix these resources with other languages and reading levels so all of your students are learning the same content.
• Choose if you want to align to standards
• Click on "Generate Resources". From there, you can edit anything you want and choose the output.
• To revisit previously generated activities, click on "My Resources" in the upper left corner of the screen.

Remember, we have a premium license for Diffit. If you need access, please reach out to me.

I would love to hear how you are using Diffit with your students!

 

What's New With PearDeck? 

@LisaBerghoff

Pear Deck is one of those tools that often gets taken for granted. When we first were introduced to the idea of students interacting with our content in slide decks it was mind blowing. We were so fortunate to have access to this resource when we were teaching online. Now, Pear Deck has been as common as our notebooks and binders, which is wonderful. However, I thought this would be a good time to do a bit of a reset and refresh what we know about how and why Pear Deck can be used and also to see the recent updates including an AI powered feature.

What Is Pear Deck?

Pear Deck is a powerful online tool that encourages student engagement and allows for real-time student feedback utilizing Google slides. It integrates with Schoology so your students don't need to go to a new site to access the content. Many of us already use slides in our classrooms, you can easily use Pear Deck to make those slides interactive. Here are some of the main features and reasons to use Pear Deck.

• Use Pear Deck templates to create on the fly checks for understanding before, during, or at the end of a lesson. 
• Use the teacher controls while presenting so the students move through the slides at the pace that you set. Set timers for student responses. Lock screens so students stay with you. Show student responses without names. 

• Utilize the many options for students to interact. Have them draw a picture, put a pin on a map, drag a dot to show how they're feeling, 

• Use Pear Deck in class with a group of students and have every single student interact with the content instead of waiting for hands to be raised or cold calling on students. 

• Have students access the Pear Deck slides outside of the classroom by setting your slides to student-paced mode. This allows students to work at their own pace while engaging with the content. You have access to the dashboard and can see everyone's progress and give them feedback.

• In addition to interactive questions, you can embed websites for students to access through Pear Deck, making it easy and less likely they will become distracted.
• Create audio for each slide so students can hear your voice. See below.
• Generate "takeaways" at the end of a lesson so students will have their own copy of the slide deck, with their responses, in their Google drive.

Add audio to your slides:

See What Is New!

Ok. This is not really new to Pear Deck but I am assuming it's new to you. Did you know that you can enable Immersive Reader for students in Pear Deck? This will allow students to access text to speech and other accessibility options right in the Pear Deck environment. To turn it on, log in to Pear Deck and click on your account and then "settings". Toggle the switch to on next to Immersive Reader. You can click "learn more" to find out all about how it works.

Ok. This is what is really new!

There is now a feature called Instant Pear Decks that uses AI to create an entire slide deck complete with Pear Deck interactive slides based on your inputs. You can enter a topic, grade level, standards, add files to be referenced, or links to articles or websites. You can also decide if you want a full lesson, which covers three learning objectives, a targeted lesson, that covers one objective, or end of class exit tickets. Click create and in 30 seconds or less, you will have a fully customizable Pear Deck activity. Watch the video below or click here to learn more. 

Are you ready to use Pear Deck more intentionally to help some of our struggling students have better access to content? Want some help getting started? Let me know!