3 Tips for making your Google Slides Pop!!

If you've switched to Google Slides from something like PowerPoint or Keynote, you might be missing the templates and themes that those programs provide.  Did you know that Google Slides has a lot of templates built right in?

My first tip is to access Google slides directly by going to slides.google.com instead of going through drive.  You'll get a header that includes templates for you to choose from.  If click on more you'll see so many more templates that you can choose from and the are even organized by category!

FreeGoogleSlidesTemplates.com is a site that offers a number of templates that you can make a copy of.  When you click on the link you'll be brought to a view only version of the presentation.  One you make a copy of it you'll be able to edit it and make it your own.  I would suggest that every time you want to use it you make another copy of it so you always have a clean copy in your drive and don't have to go back to the website to get it.  One quick note on this side...there are ads on this site that look like if you click on them will download the template.  Don't click on those because you'll actually be downloading something else. ;-)

Lastly Slides Carnival is another site to get templates to help your slides pop!  It work just as the last site worked.  You click on the template that you want and you'll get a view only version that you'll need to make a copy off.  Same tip applies that you need to watch out for ads that look like you are getting the template, but are actually downloading something else.

I hope that this has helped you snaz up your Google Slides!

Detecting Quality Sources

Thank you to Carol from I'm technically speaking for this guest post!

Detecting Quality Sources
Have you ever landed on a website and wondered about the accuracy? Or have your students landed on a site that the credibility is questionable for use in their research? How can you eliminate the mystery surrounding website accuracy and credibility?


Using a fake site is a fun way to teach website evaluation skills, as the students are almost solving a mystery. There are clues within the site that will lead them to discover the truth of real or fake. There are even special tools that can be used to help solve the mystery. A good list has been collected by Dr. Mary Ann Bell athttp://www.shsu.edu/lis_mah/documents/TCEA/hoaxtable.html. Aditi Rao has published on techbytes a list of 11 at https://teachbytes.com/2012/11/01/test-website-evaluation-with-10-hilarious-hoax-sites/. One of my favorites is Broilerplate.


Examine the clues
One of the first clues to a website mystery, might just be in the URL/website address. Let’s use
my Boilerplate site as an example. If you truncate the URL (take off all the /’s) and look at the main address: bigredhair.com. Obviously “bigredhair”, does not sound very scholarly and add to that the .com signifying a commercial site. These first clues point to a fake/untrustworthy site.


Another set of clues can be unveiled when considering who the author is and what their purpose is this the site. Ask yourself what intent of the author might be: to inform, explain, sell, share, or other. Does it seem to be more opinion or fact? You can check the links on the site and what they connect to as well. All these clues should help lead you to a good deduction of credibility.


What do you think so far? Is the Boilerplate site fake? Sometimes you need more clues to make the determination. A good detective also has useful tools, let’s put some to use and solve this mystery!


Use the tools
RADCAB (http://www.radcab.com/)
RADCAB stands for relevancy, appropriateness, detail, currency, authority and bias. This site has teaching posters and an evaluation rubric students can use.


Imagine Easy Web Academy’s Website Evaluator (http://webeval.ieacademy.com/)
Simply paste the questioned website’s url into the box and click evaluate. The site will lead you through an evaluation process. Examine the purpose, accuracy, authority/author & publisher, relevance, and currency of the website.


C.R.A.A.P. Test
For older students I like the C.R.A.A. P. test. It looks at currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose. A great rubric that students can use is located here:http://library.lsco.edu/help/web-page-rubric.pdf.


Resource Gude
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html


Now that you have removed the mystery….how did your site score?

Host a ClassFlow™ Dynamic Teacher House Party

ClassFlow is a new LMS and they are offering some cool stuff just for sharing with your friends. Below is some information about the party they are having and how you can host one as well.

You can find more information by going to their website.

As a teacher, you know that the best classes are the ones where your students are engaged in the lesson, interacting with you, and collaborating with each other. Enter ClassFlow™, designed by Promethean. ClassFlow is a free collaborative teaching and learning platform that can bring your classes to life. ClassFlow integrates free and premium curriculum content with an energizing and engaging lesson delivery application that works with most individual devices — laptops, Chromebooks, iPads, etc.


ClassFlow is a key part of the modern classroom, so invite your fellow dynamic teachers over to experience lively learning with ClassFlow. Share tips with each other for great lesson plans and then show them how ClassFlow makes learning more interactive and dynamic. Best of all it's free, so apply to host a party today and help your fellow teachers discover ClassFlow.


This event is only open to residents of the US.

If you’re selected and confirmed as a host, your exclusive Party Pack will contain:

• Visa gift card 
• Set of photo booth props 
• And more

TSST Top Ten Posts of July

July has been a busy month for me and I've gotten back in the swing of a lot of things that I had let slide.  Blogging is one of them so I hope you'll forgive me. ;-)  Here are the ten most popular posts of July for you to read or reread.

1. StudyBlue Pro - give it a try!
2. Socrative quick Questions
3. 5 Ed-Techs to make your time in the classroom easier
4. how to use GradeCam
5. PowToon - Animated Videos
6. Using Mail Merge with Gmail
7. Augmented Reality in the Science Classroom
8. an easy way to group your students
9. Set expiration dates for access to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides
10. Fun Socrative Quizzes

What was your favorite post or what are you hoping appears as a future post?