😍 10 ways to use my fave template

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💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

🛒 The Amazin’ Google Slides templates

My book, Tech Like a Pirate, is all about using tech to make learning fun. Memorable. Something students look forward to.

Here’s a big idea I share in the book …

“You don’t need the APP to create the EXPERIENCE.”

I ask myself, “What are the apps, the websites, the social media that students are excited about? And … can we make learning feel like that?”

It’s like asking, “How can we make learning feel like Snapchat without getting the Snapchat app?”

Let me illustrate with a site we know your students have all probably visited …

Amazon.

You know they’ve shopped there. (Or seen family or friends shopping there. Or their mom has bought them something there.)

If it’s something they’re familiar with, can we use it somehow to make learning more engaging?

I think the answer to that is a resounding YES.

One way: my Amazin’ templates on Google Slides. They look just like a product page — or a product search — or the homepage — on Amazon. Only everything is customizable and editable.

Here are some fun ways you can use those three templates with students right away.

(With, of course, links to copy the templates so you can assign them to your students …)

Template 1: Amazin’ product page (make a copy)

This template looks just like the page where you buy products on Amazon. Students can customize everything — product images, description, price, star rating, reviews, etc. How can you use this?

💡 Idea 1: Sell a historic innovation. Pick an invention — or an innovative idea — that you’re studying about. Write an Amazon listing for it from the inventor’s perspective as a way for students to show what they’ve learned about it.

 💡 Idea 2: List a famous location. What details would you include if you sold a night’s stay at a famous landmark like the Louvre or the Giza pyramids?

💡 Idea 3: Debate over a product. Write a listing for something that’s controversial. Make the product description very positive — write a review showing the negative side (or a different side).

💡 Idea 4: Sell something intangible or abstract. What is most necessary to succeed in the class that students are taking? How would you describe “hard work” or “integrity” so someone wants to “buy” it?

💡 Idea 5: Sell yourself. Have students list their most positive characteristics or traits. Bonus: They can ask a classmate to write a positive “five star” review about them.

Template 2: Amazin’ product search (make a copy)

When you search a keyword on Amazon, it shows you the product search page. With this template, students have fun brainstorming the items that would display if a certain item was searched for.

Example: a search for “items in Harry Potter’s dorm room” might include a wand, a broom, etc.

In this template, students can type what they’re searching for into the text box at the top of the page — then replace the dummy images and text with the items the search would return.

💡 Idea 6: Science lab orientation. Example search term: “necessary items for a science lab.” Students add images and titles of science lab items.

💡 Idea 7: Strengths and weaknesses. Example search term: “weaknesses of super heroes.” I think Superman’s kryptonite would be the top search result!

💡 Idea 8: Traits for a career. Example search term: “important characteristics for <insert career>.” These might be abstract and intangible qualities.

Template 3: Amazin’ home page (make a copy)

On the home page, Amazon suggests items you might want to buy based on your previous purchases. This could lead to some fun activities that show certain items that are representative of a certain person …

💡 Idea 9: A literary/historical character’s home page. Based on what students have learned, what would Amazon suggest to Juliet of Romeo and Juliet? Or Theodore Roosevelt?

💡 Idea 10: A student’s personal home page. This could be a fun “get to know you” activity at the beginning of the year. They wouldn’t even have to be items to buy — just items that tell us something about that student — grouped under category headings.

Loving all of these templates?

Remember, we have dozens of them you can make a copy of in our Ditch That Textbook template library. (It’s like Teachers Pay Teachers … but you don’t have to pay.) 😝 

🎯 Quick Teaching Strategy: Concentric circles

I’ve used this in the classroom — and in teacher professional development workshops!

(I call it “speed dating,” so the name “concentric circles” might be less awkward.) 😂 

Students get in two concentric circles (an inner circle and an outer circle) and face each other. They discuss something for a set amount of time (a minute or two?).

Then, one circle rotates to the right or left. (I like to tell them how many people to move right or left.)

It keeps them moving on their feet. It mixes up conversations — and conversation partners.

Learn more about this strategy from Facing History and Ourselves.

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!