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- 🗑 Google, Bluesky, turkey, and more
🗑 Google, Bluesky, turkey, and more
Lots of practical goodness in today's email!
Matt Miller
November 22, 2024
My week: Join Bluesky, go to the Googleplex
Whew, it’s been a busy week … so busy I’m sending my Thursday email on Friday!
Two things to report:
1. I joined Bluesky! 🦋 Twitter has been a HUGE part of my professional life for 10+ years. But it isn’t what it used to be. I’ve heard nothing but praise from educators on Bluesky.
I just joined … like an hour before I sent this!
You can follow me here: @jmattmiller.bsky.social
Check out educator posts at the #EduSky hashtag
I’ll be following back folks who reply to this post!
2. I spent Tuesday at the Googleplex — Google’s HQ in Mountain View, Calif.
Hello from the Googleplex!
It was their “Learning in the AI Era” event, focused on learning in academic, professional, and informal contexts. You can read about what I learned in my AI for Admins newsletter I sent yesterday. I’ll share some AI-powered Google tools I learned about here next week!
But for now … let’s talk turkey. 🦃 Thanksgiving is coming up next week!
If you’re looking for some interactive Thanksgiving activities and resources, we’ve got you covered.
Inside:
🎙 I’m keynoting the NCCE Conference in Seattle!
👀 DTT Digest: 4 resources worth checking out
💡 The Big Idea: 10 interactive Thanksgiving activities
🗄 Template: The emoji reaction template on Diffit
😄 Smile of the day: Teacher Thanksgiving probz 🥴
👋 How we can help
🎙 I’m keynoting the NCCE Conference in Seattle!
Pacific Northwest friends — I’d love to see you at this event!
I’m the closing keynote for the NCCE Conference, the largest edtech event in the Northwest. I’ll present some breakout sessions, have copies of my books, and give away free stickers!
🎙 Event: NCCE (Northwest Council for Computer Education) Conference
🗓 Dates: Feb. 26-28, 2024 (my keynote: Fri. Feb. 28)
📍 Location: Seattle Convention Center
👀 DTT Digest
4 teaching resources worth checking out today
📺 Watch my NCCE LIVE presentation! — If you didn’t catch the live stream of my NCCE Live session don’t worry! You can still go back and watch the recording whenever you’d like.
📲 ICYMI: The “Let’s Go Viral” writing activity — This lesson template lets them go through the same process as some of their favorite creators — but with whatever they’re learning in your class.
💭 Try an interactive CFU! — These interactive checks for understanding in FigJam?!? 🤯 Check out this example from The Great Gatsby 🎩 Then get started with your own at figma.com/education
🍂🦃 Get ready for Thanksgiving with Book Creator’s Thanksgiving Library! — Explore themed templates, activities, and creative projects that will engage your students and celebrate the season.
💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡
🦃 10 interactive Thanksgiving activities
Thanksgiving is right around the corner!
If you’re like me (and in the U.S.), you probably have a short week next week … and you might be looking for was to integrate Thanksgiving into class.
If so, we have ideas! DTT Blog/Social Media Editor Karly Moura curated a FANTASTIC collection of interactive activities.
Try a Turkey Trouble Escape Room
Oh dear! It’s that time again when your turkey friends find themselves in a heap of trouble. They’ve done their best to conceal themselves, but now they desperately need your assistance. It’s up to you to solve puzzles, gather clues and unlock the locks in order to help them escape.
View or download the PDF guide for our Turkey Trouble digital escape room which includes tips, links to both the Google and Microsoft versions, an answer key and more.
The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story?
In this activity from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian students will participate in a class discussion about how national stories can leave out important details, exaggerate events, and be one-sided. They will also make predictions about how and why the story of the “First Thanksgiving” is incomplete. The lesson includes videos and digital activities you can copy and assign to students.
Design a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon
Use Google Slides to design your own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon with this Design a New Macy's Parade Balloon HyperDoc created by Nadine Gilkison. This explore, explain, apply lesson gives students lots of opportunity to reflect, respond, think, and create!
Write a gratitude poem
Using this “Developing an Attitude of Gratitude” HyperDoc, created by Sarah Landis and Kelly Hilton, students will learn about gratitude through multiple texts.
After reading/watching and responding to various gratitude resources students will then create their own 6 word poem sharing what gratitude means to them.
Build a "What I Am Thankful For" turkey with Google Slides
This awesome “What I Am Thankful For” Turkey activity comes from Eric Curts and can be found on his blog ControlAltAchieve. It’s super easy—students build their own turkey, and each feather represents something they're thankful for on Google Slides.
The blog post comes with a tutorial video, step-by-step directions, and even a Google Slides template to get you started.
💡 Get more ideas!
Find all 10 interactive Thanksgiving ideas in our post: 10 interactive Thanksgiving activities for the classroom
🗄 TEMPLATE 🗄
🤪 The Emoji Reaction template on Diffit
I absolutely love Diffit (diffit.me) for creating quick teaching resources about very specific topics and sources.
🎁 Bonus: It has TONS of activity templates you can pull that content into … and there are always free ones you can use every month.
🎁 Bonus Bonus: Right now, the “Emoji Reaction” template we made for Diffit is available for FREE!
Create some content with Diffit
Pull it into the template
Export it to Slides/PowerPoint
Assign it in Google Classroom / learning management system
Students drag emojis to react AND type responses/thoughts in the comments. It’s fun!
😄 Smile of the day
30 minute lunch =
5 mins: get to teacher’s lounge
4 mins: wait in line for the microwave
9 mins: gobble your food down
3 mins: hustle back to classroom
9 mins: grade papers before kids get back
On Thanksgiving, let’s slow down. Your health depends on it! 😂
h/t TeacherGoals @teachergoals on Twitter/X
👋 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!
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