Think Different #31

Mega Seating Plan is a free tool designed to help you create seating charts

To create a seating chart in Mega Seating Plan simply import a spreadsheet of names or import a Google Classroom roster, or of course type them in, indicate where seats will be placed in your classroom, and then let Mega Seating Plan randomly assign students to seats. You can quickly alter the seating chart by dragging and dropping names on the chart.

Mega Seating Plan also has a random name selector tool built into it. To use that tool just pick a class list then click the center of your browser window to have a name randomly selected from the list.

Take photos while recording video on iPhone & iPad

Thanks to Tony Vincent of Learning in Hand for this great tip. If you don't follow Tony on Instagram, you should be, you will learn something like this a couple times a week. His website and Twitter are pretty amazing too.

There are times when you don’t want to stop recording video, and yet you want to take a photo. With an iPhone or iPad, you can do both! While the Camera app is recording video, simply click the white circle on the screen. The center of the circle will blink, indicating that a photo has been saved to your Photo Library.

Photos taken while recording video are wide screen instead of the usual 4:3 standard aspect ratio for photos. You can crop if needed.
Photos taken while recording video are of a lower quality than those taken when you are not also recording video.
Taking a screenshot after a video is saved is an alternative to snapping a photo while filming. Play the video and pause at just the right spot. Make sure to tap the screen to hide the buttons and controls before screenshotting.
Some Android devices display a camera icon while shooting video. Clicking that button saves a photo.

Join Tony for a 6-week online class this fall! Explore graphic design with Google Drawings. I am taking his class, how about you?

http://tonyv.me/fall17

Unsplash Beautiful, free photos.

Unsplash: Since we are discussing photography, here is another wonderful FREE photo resource. Gifted by the world’s most generous community of photographers

Make something awesome.

Over 200,000 free (do whatever you want) high-resolution photos brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers.

200,000+ photos for your next project

With a huge library of photos and hundreds more being added each day, chances are we’ve got a photo for you. Find inspiration in the new photos we hand-select every day or use our search to find and download exactly what you’re looking for.

Photography likes to be shown together

Find that photo you didn’t even know you needed. It helps to be able to organize content. See some of the industry’s curated collections of free photos (Nasa, Trello, Apple, InVision). Or start collecting your own!

Be inspired by the best photographers

We have 41,872 of them. The Unsplash community is super active. Follow your favs and never miss another photo.

Website: https://unsplash.com

Design like a Pro with Pages on your Mac, iPad and even your iPhone

I know many of you are stuck in Microsoft Word, and some of you have moved to Google Docs. But if you want to make something look really GREAT, neither of those will do the trick. I was a journalism teacher for too many years to count and I was a huge fan of Adobe InDesign, still am actually. However, it is EXPENSIVE. I use Pages exclusively. In fact, I don't even have Microsoft on my computer or iPad. I know you can't believe anybody could function without Microsoft. I have asked myself if it would be possible to completely design the school newspaper or yearbook with Pages and my answer is YES!!! it is easy and FREE.

Here is a video from Macmost (https://macmost.com) about designing brochures, this should get you to thinking about the possibilities. I am also including links to more how-tos on how to do everything in pages. CLICK HERE

I challenge you to just give it a try.

Making the Most of iCloud Drive

I have recently embraced iCloud Drive completely. I got a new mac and did not want to clone my old one and move all the junk to my new one. So I put everything in iCloud Drive . WOW, an epiphany, everything accessible on all my devices, 2 iPads, iPhone and 2 Macs!! Man is my life easier.

Here is another great tutorial from MacMost (https://macmost.com)

With macOS Sierra you can easily put your Documents and Desktop folders in iCloud Drive. This makes these folders available to all of your Macs and iOS devices. It syncs them effortlessly, so you essentially have the same Desktop and Documents folders on all of your Macs.

12 Must watch Ted talks for Teachers

Recently I had the pleasure of attending TedxTalks in Kansas City, thanks to my son-in law TJ for the ticket. If you ever get a chance to go, take advantage of the opportunity. It was an awesome experience. But here is a list that every teacher should watch.

1- Every Kid Needs A Champion by Rita Pierson

2- How to Escape Education's Death Valley by Sir Ken Robinson
3- The Key to Success ? Grit by Angela Lee Duckworth
4- How Great Leaders In spire Action by Simon Sinek
5- The Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink

6- Teach Teachers how to Create Magic by Christopher Emdin
7- Hey Science Teachers... Make It Fun by Tyler Dwitt
8- Math Class Needs A Makeover by Dan Meyer
9- 3 Rules to Spark Learning by Ramsey Musallam
10- A Teacher Growing Green in the South Bronx by Stephen Ritz
11- A Girl Who Demanded School by Kakenya Ntaiya
12- How to Learn from Mistakes by Diana Laufenberg

Accessibility

Think Different #31

Resources for the Week of August 28, 2017

Think Different #31

Resources for the Week of August 28, 2017

Mega Seating Plan is a free tool designed to help you create seating charts

Take photos while recording video on iPhone & iPad

Unsplash Beautiful, free photos.

Design like a Pro with Pages on your Mac, iPad and even your iPhone

Making the Most of iCloud Drive

12 Must watch Ted talks for Teachers

Think Different Resources