Lemon Tech Tidbits

  What is it? Fishtank Learning is a site in which you can download entire units of instruction for ELA (grades K-12) and Math (K-PreAlgebra). Each unit comes with a lesson plan and all of the links needed to successfully complete. The site promises all units to be relevant, rigorous and adaptable. How much does it cost? There are about 8 units per grade level that can be accessed for FREE. In addition, you can search their archives for lessons that have been retired. If you want to go further, there is a subscription called Fishtank Plus for ELA and one for Math. The enhanced version includes more details such as ready-to-use slides, Google Classroom Integrations, rubrics and more. The cost is $95.00 per year. How do I use it? To access the units offered for free, you must first create an account. Once you have done so, you can click on Curriculum at the top. Select the grade level you need and explore the units available. If you see one you want, there is a download button. HINT...

  (this is from Ronnie Williams latest post) What is it? Curipod.com is an AI website designed to help teachers create engaging presentations. You can select to create a full lesson, discussion questions, or even an exit ticket only You can either type in the content you are searching and then the specific standards you want to cover. You can easily copy and paste it into the text box. Presentations will be created based upon a certain grade level that you choose. (K-12) You do need to fact check the content. It provides you an easy way to add or edit what it came up with. How much does it cost? You can create and use up to 5 slide presentations. After that, you will have to pay $7.50 a month. There is a school subscription service as well.  How do I use it? To see a demonstration of how to use it, visit Ronnie Williams blog post and watch his video. You can access it here.

  What is it? Conker .ai is an Artificial Intelligence website that was created by Mote and is currently in Beta form (meaning it will just be getting better the more it is used). Conker is “the fastest way to create engaging quizzes and formative assessments for your classroom.”  The quizzes and assessments can then be easily turned into a Google Form quiz ready for you to give to your students, saving you a lot of time.  Assessments types include fill in the blank, general quiz or reading comprehension.  It can be used for grades K-12. How do I use it? It is easy to set up with your Google credentials and a few questions. If you touch one of the colored words, a drop down menu will appear letting you make the choices you wish such as changing the word quiz to fill in the blank, the number of questions, and grade level. You can enter in a single keyword and it will search the website to find questions and answers or you can upload your own source material (as of r...

  ChatGPT seems to be all over the news and teacher blogs today. If you have not tried it out yourself (go to https://chat.openai.com/ ) or if you have played around with it a little bit but want to know more, there is a free webinar you can attend called ChatGPT: A boom or our doom by Rushton Hurley .  From Richard Byrne: “ ChatGPT: Boom or Our Doom? is a free, self-paced course in which Rushton leads you through five lessons about ChatGPT and its implications for classrooms. Each lesson features a five minute video and a suggested practice or reflection activity. The lessons cover what ChatGPT is and how it works, how to handle concerns about cheating, and using ChatGPT to create materials and activities for your classes. The course is hosted by an organization called Warm Demanders. The sign-up process does require you to enter your email address then check your email to access the actual course materials. If you're looking for a good, concise overview of ChatGPT and it's...

  We may try to hide from it but AI technology is here to stay and it will revolutionize how we teach today and in the future. When I look at all the other tech blogs, websites, and social media posts, all I see is information about AI. An article by Matt Miller from DitchThatTextbook is really good about explaining all of the different AI tools out there and breaking down exactly what they can do. He has included some AI tools that I had never heard of before. I strongly suggest you take a few minutes to read his blog. You can find it here: https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai-tools/ One of the AI tools he mentioned was Perplexity. I found this tool to be very enjoyable. It reminded me of how all of our students are currently using Google for searching by typing in an entire question and then “picking the first thing that shows up.” Or…it reminds me of doing a “Hey Google” or “Alexa…” search on your home device. You simply ask a question and it gives you an answer. What I really l...

  The website was created for math teachers by other teachers as a way to get them to think about math concepts. It is good for elementary through high school students. The pictures are divided into three categories: Shapes, Numbers, and Graphs&Equations. Teachers have submitted pictures in groups of four and together, your students have to explain which character does not belong with the others. There are no answers so students must justify their reasons. When you find a picture you want to use with your students, do a right click and copy the picture. You can then paste it into a new Google Slide presentation or document so it is bigger for your students to see. 

  Google recently announced they are streamlining the email notifications teachers can receive from Google Classroom. What is the change? When a student is in Classroom, they can send a comment to a teacher. If the teacher has the email notifications turned on, they will receive the comment via an email. In the past, you had to navigate into the classroom page to reply back to the student. Now, you can do it right inside the email itself, saving you time as a teacher. This new feature is on a slow rollout with a completion date of February 20th. So if it is not there yet, it will be very shortly.

  Arizona State University, Crash Course, and Youtube have put together a series of youtube videos in a playlist called Study Hall for students interested in going to college. The videos include information such as how to pick the right college, how to get financial aid, how to prepare or apply to colleges and much more. Great tools for high school students thinking about their career choices after high school. Check them all out by going here: https://www.youtube.com/@studyhall