🏈 Next stop: A conference at an NFL football stadium
This week, I’m heading to the MassCUE Conference in Foxboro, Mass.
I’ve been to lots and lots of teacher conferences before. They’re usually at schools … or conference centers … or hotels.
But the MassCUE Conference? This one’s a bit different! The Massachusetts state edtech conference is held at Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play football. (Yes, American football.)
I got to be a featured speaker there 10 years ago (back when I caught a glimpse of Tom Brady on the practice field nearby). It’s a unique venue. The breakout sessions are held in the luxury suites that overlook the field!
I get to debut my new keynote speech there. It’s called “Screens: Teaching Humans in a Tech-Obsessed, AI-Saturated World.” It’s focused on this central question: What are screens for? We inserted them into classrooms and schools without deciding what they contributed — and when they should (and shouldn’t) be used.
It’s an important issue that we all need to think about. And also, we need to be ready when someone tells us that screens have no place in the classroom. If we think they have impact (and I do), we need to be ready to talk about it — and our results.
And my slides? Well, I am designing them in Canva — and creating the background graphics with an AI image generator. (It’s a 1980’s theme with bold cyan / magenta graphics. I’ll share sometime soon!)
If you’re a fan of Canva like me — and if you use Google Gemini to help you get work done — you’ll appreciate today’s newsletter. There are TONS of tips you can use right away!
Inside:
😲 Look what you can create with Gemini Notebook …
👀 DTT Digest: 4 resources worth checking out
👥 Community: Come say hello!
💻 Tech Tip: Canva for Education Cheat Sheet
💡 The Big Idea: 25 ways educators are using Gemini Notebook
😄 Smile of the day: Wait, I’ve seen this kid before …
👋 How we can help
😲 Look what you can create with Gemini Notebook …
Slides. Infographics. Video overviews. Audio overviews.
And that’s just scratching the surface!
WHAT IS Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM): It’s Google’s free tool that helps you create all of these fantastic teaching resources.
The best part? They’re based out of YOUR teaching materials … PDF files, documents … even scan a chapter out of your textbook. It stays within the confines of the material you’re teaching.
💻 ONLINE COURSE: Our latest online course — Getting Started with NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) for Teachers helps you make the most of this incredible tool.
PS: Group discounts are available! Just hit reply and I can provide you with a quote.
👀 DTT Digest
4 teaching resources worth checking out today
📺 Earn a Google for Education badge! — Learn how to use Google Gemini to design process-based assessments, rubrics, and quick checks that highlight real, authentic student reasoning in this free webinar from Phygital Labs on October 17th.
🤖 Go from AI-curious to AI-confident — Learn how AI works, practice with personalized learning exercises, and walk away ready to bring AI into your classroom with confidence and care.
💼 Getting started with classroom jobs — Teacher Gina Ruffcorn gives her students classroom jobs — and it sparks their autonomy and choice in class.
ICYMI 🍁 Celebrate Fall with Storyvoice — This October, thrill your class with our un-be-LEAF-ably fun Read-Aloud Fridays lineup, starring authors and illustrators your students will love. Tune in live every week!
👥 FROM THE COMMUNITY 👥
👋 Come say hello!
Have you joined our free DTT online community yet?
Today we’d like to give a little nudge to all of our readers to head over to the DTT community and introduce yourself - we’re dying to meet you! Tell us a little about who you are and your work, and then take a minute to read about all the other incredible educators making magic in there - all 4,500 of them! 🤯
It can be one of the best corners of the community because it’s full of teachers from all over who want you to know that they are figuring out the same things you are.
A new idea we’d love your input on…
So… we’re thinking about starting a weekly evening community hangout. 🫣
Nothing formal, just a relaxed hour to meet new people and listen to each other, with a different member hosting each week. Would you come? Would you host? Let us know what you think by voting/sharing your interest at the link below.
You can join the free DTT Community to read ideas like this, connect with other educators, discuss, and share ideas of your own.
💻 TECH TIP 💻
🎨 Canva for Education Cheat Sheet
Ready to streamline your workflow and level up your tech? Here is a quick snapshot of what you’ll find in our new Canva for Education Cheat Sheet😀
Time-Saving Classroom Tools: Powerful ways to use AI Magic Studio, batch-generate custom items with Bulk Create, and run live interactive Q&A sessions.
Built-in Speed Shortcuts: Essential keyboard commands (like T for text, L for lines, and Ctrl/Cmd + G to group) so you can design in half the time.
Presenter Magic Keys: Classroom-tested presentation tricks—press C for confetti, Q for quiet, or 0–9 for an instant countdown timer!
Aesthetic Search Terms: Direct keyword shortcuts (Modern Boho, Kawaii Doodles, Minimalist Academic) to quickly grab matching graphics without endless scrolling.
Your downloadable cheat sheet has all the details—keep it handy by your desk or bookmarked on your desktop!
💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡
💫 25 ways educators are using Gemini Notebook
Image created with Gemini Notebook
AI gets a lot more useful when you stop staring at a blank prompt box and start with resources you already trust.
That's the idea behind Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM). Upload your lesson slides, PDFs, videos, notes, and curriculum materials, and you can use AI to turn them into practical resources for teaching and learning.
We asked educators in our Getting Started with Gemini Notebook course how they could use it in their classrooms. Their ideas ranged from saving planning time to helping students engage with content in new ways.
Here are just five of my favorites:
1. Help absent students catch up. Turn lesson slides, handouts, and class notes into a student-friendly overview so students can review what they missed without waiting for you to reteach the lesson.
“I could see using it for students who are absent to instantly catch up without missing a beat.” - Joleen Michalowicz
2. Create Visual Study Tools (Infographics & Quick References) Transform complex standards, vocabulary lists, and math processes into bite-sized visual references that help students build connections during independent practice.
“I have used the infographics to create study tools for my 7th grade math students. They were great at providing a quick reference tool for my students as they worked through independent practice.” — Jack Z Sanders III, 7th Grade Math Teacher
3. Turn course materials into audio reviews. Give students another way to review before a test by transforming your existing materials into podcast-style audio overviews.
“I can see using the audio recordings as an exam review for the students, and the videos as a form of quizzes to make students practice their listening skills in Spanish.” - Marisol Latorre DeWeese
4. Make AI literacy part of the lesson. Have students examine AI-generated summaries, trace claims back to their sources, and discuss what the AI included, overlooked, or interpreted differently.
“[Gemini Notebook] be used to help students verify the AI content and have discussions about the Interpretation of the source. What does AI include in it's summary that maybe they would not include or they thought was powerful? What would they change about the summary?” - Christa Polzin
5. Flip the Classroom: Let Students Become the Teachers. Have students evaluate AI-generated infographics, summaries, or flashcards to spot missing information, critique structure, and recreate superior versions themselves.
“I will use the AI generated materials to discuss why AI designed the infographic or study cards in the way the materials look. We can flip these materials to teach students how to create their own.” — Laurie Moretti
These are just five of the 25 ideas educators shared, and you can adapt them to your grade level, subject, and students.
Want 20 more ideas to try?
Read the full post for all 25 practical ways teachers are using Gemini Notebook, including ideas for multilingual learners, primary-source analysis, instructional coaching, professional development, and more.
You don't have to try all 25. Pick one classroom challenge, start with the resources you already have, and see what Gemini Notebook can help you do.
Ready to get started with Gemini Notebook yourself?
First: Sign up for our free DTT online community. And then …
😄 Smile of the day
I think we’ve all had deja stu before 🤣
Source: We Are Teachers
👋 How we can help
There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:
Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.
Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.
Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!
