Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Cooking with Emoji Kitchen

Emojis are part of the texting world. There are many out there, but I always want more. There is an easy way to create your own emojis to fit your needs. You can combine 2 emojis into one! Head over to a new Google search tab, do a search for “Emoji Kitchen”, click “Get Cooking”, and start creating! You can get there with this link as well, it is just a setup a little different.



Start Cooking:

  1. Either search Google for “Emoji Kitchen” or head over here: https://emoji.supply/kitchen.

  2. Choose one emoji to start with and click on it’s image, then choose a second emoji to “cook” with the first. 


  1. You will now see the combined emojis. 


  1. Click on this and you will be able to paste this new image into any tool you are using!






Head to the Emoji Kitchen and start COOKING!




If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!


Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Bulk Delete Chrome Bookmarks

So you're off to a brand new school year and everything is going well until your kids log into their Chromebook for the first time. You ask them to go to a specific site and they can't figure out how to get there because they go to their bookmarks bar and there are hundreds of bookmarked pages. The feeling of seeing 12 Starfall icons always causes my heart to pump. Don't panic, there's an easy way to fix this. You can easily clean off all of those past years’ bookmarks in a quick and easy way. Then you can build up this year's important sites to bookmark. 


Delete Old Bookmarks:

  1. Have your students open Chrome.

  2. Click on the 3 dots in the top right corner and select “Bookmarks”, then “Bookmark Manager”.


  1. On the left make sure you are in “Bookmarks Bar”.


  1. Click on one of the shown bookmarks (one click). Use the keyboard shortcut of Control+A. (All the links will get selected)


  1. Tap “Delete” or “Backspace” on your keyboard, or click “Delete” on the right side of the screen.


  1. Now you can build the bookmarks you want for your class!




If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!


Monday, March 20, 2023

AI Tools for Education

It is more than just the newest buzzword. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is something that has been improving for years. It is just now becoming so powerful that it is coming to the attention of so many. With the new advancements in machine learning, we are now able to do more than ever before. These programs can “create” in ways never possible. ChatGPT (one of the newest creations) can actually write poetry with rhyme, rhythm, and content if given a topic and type of pattern desired. It really is amazing! These tools may help educators and students, and at the same time force change in how we assess. Some of the writing created in these AI programs are no different than what your students create. This will cause us to rethink how we assign and assess writing projects! Check out some of the AI tools below. There are many many more available. These are just some of the quick and easy tools to explore.



Text Tools:

  1. ChatGPT 

    • This writing tool is amazing and can create essays, poetry, songs, stories, lesson plans, summaries, and almost anything you ask it to create. You will need an email and cell phone to create the required account. If you want a great list of educational uses for ChatGPT, check out this site!

  2. TinyWow 

    • Create short or long writing samples with this tool. Easy to use and no login is required. (My How-To Here)

  3. ChatPDF 

  4. Perplexity 

    • Ask any question and get a short answer, with included citations!




Image Tools:

  1. AutoDraw 

    • Anyone can be an artist with this tool. It turns your rough sketches into clipart-style images! (My How-To Here)

  2. Canva (Text to Image )

    • Enter in text and have Canva create an image for you! (My How-To Here)

  3. Scroobly 

    • Turn a blob into a moving creature using your webcam as the control.

  4. Scribble Diffusion 

  5. Magic Sketchpad 

    • Start a sketch and have the AI finish it depending on the item you choose from a dropdown list.

  6. Animated Drawings 

    • Take a paper drawing and make it animated with this tool. (My How-To here)

  7. DALL-E 2 

    • An AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.
  8. Deep Nostalgia 

    • Bring photos of people to life. (A few are free, but then paid)




Games and Other Fun:

  1. Semantris 

    • Play a word game by making the AI guess a keyword from your description.

  2. Quick Draw 

    • You get a topic to draw and have the AI guess what you drew. FUN!

  3. Experiments with Google

    •  Here are Google’s experiments with AI tools. Take a look and see what cool things there are to explore!






This is just a partial list. There are many other AI tools out there to explore!




If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!

Monday, March 6, 2023

AI Art with Scribble Diffusion

Drawing is not my strong suit. Basically, I can’t even draw a symmetrical stick figure. Google has a great tool called AutoDraw (how-to here). It can make clipart-style images, but there is another tool that makes better photo/painting-style images from your sketches. Check out Scribble Diffusion to turn your chicken scratches into fine art!



Use AI to Create Fine Art:

  1. Head over to scribblediffusion.com

  2. Draw a basic image of how you want your fine art laid out.


  1. Type in a basic description of what your image contains (Ex: a goofy owl).


  1. Click “Go” and let the magic happen.


  1. If you want something different, click “Go” again or edit your sketch or text description.


  1. Right-click on the image and click “Save image as” to treasure this forever. 

  2. If you want to start over click “Clear” and repeat the previous steps.


Here are examples of just hitting the “Go” button again:



Check out a video walkthrough here: Scribble Diffusion Walkthrough





Head over to scribblediffusion.com and start creating!


If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!

Monday, February 27, 2023

Remove Users from Chromebook Sign-In

Now that our district has enabled previous users on our Chromebooks to be available, you can remove all of the previous students from the list. It is easy to clean this up and only have your most current student available to sign in. 


*This is not enabled for those classes using Clever Cards.



Remove Previous Students from the List:

  1. After turning on your Chromebook look for students you want to remove from the right-hand side.


  1. Click on a student you would like to remove.


  1. Click the drop-down arrow to the right side of their name.


  1. Choose “Remove account”.


  1.  On the pop-up click “Remove account”.


  1. Your list will be cleaned up and only the ones you want to sign in and out of this device will be listed 



 


Thursday, January 26, 2023

Present and Record with Canva

Canva is an awesome tool. It is great for creating images, posters, signs, logos, documents, and presentations. Now, you can even take one of those presentations (or upload one you created in Office or Google) and record your voice and yourself presenting the slides for students or parents to watch later!

*Make sure you sign up for Canva for Education to get all the FREE upgrades!


Present and Record with Canva:

  1. Either upload an existing presentation or create one in Canva (canva.com).

  2. When you are ready to record your presentation click the “Present” button.


  1. Click on “Present and record” and then “Next”. 


  1. Then go to “Go to recording studio”.


  1. You will be asked to approve/set up audio/video and then to click “Start recording”. 


  1. While presenting you can advance slides with the arrow on the right. You can click the pause button to pause. On the right, there is a place to add presenter notes that will not be seen by viewers. When you are done click the “End recording” button to end your recording.


  1. You will have 2 ways to share this video. You can click “Copy link” and share this with anyone to view or click “Download” and upload this to your own sharing platform.




Check out a Video Walkthrough available HERE!




If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!