☀️ The last moments of summer break
My last moments of vacation (at Glacier National Park in Montana)
Soak it all in while you still can.
I’m back to school next week. (Teacher days Tuesday and Wednesday … students in class on Thursday.)
If you’re with me, you’re probably savoring this weekend before it all kicks back in. (If you’re a late August / early September starter, then make the most of it!)
In a way, though, I have to be honest … I’m looking forward to the routine. In the summer, every day is a little different and we have to adjust to it. When school starts, I settle into my daily routine and get more done. (Are you like this?)
If you’re ready to start thinking about school again, I have a topic for discussion …
Video.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot this week …
I republished a video reel on Facebook about making videos interactive (and it was popular!). Here’s the ebook full of video ideas that it references.
I did a webinar with ScreenPal called “Make Screen Time Count” that included six ways that video can strengthen our instruction (if used well). You can watch it here. Or check out my slides here.
In today’s newsletter, I’ll break down all of it. It’ll give you some options as you start to think about teaching again — whenever that may be for you!
Inside:
🎉 Join Figma for Edu’s FREE virtual PD series!
👀 DTT Digest: 4 resources worth checking out
💻 Tech Tip: 10 ways to make video interactive
💡 The Big Idea: How video supports great teaching and learning
😄 Smile of the day: Nooooo … run away!
👋 How we can help
Ready for Back to School?
Join Figma for Education's FREE Virtual Professional Development Series!
Figma for Education is kicking off the school year with an incredible lineup of virtual professional development sessions, and you’re invited!
Join the Figma team for a Back to School livestream series featuring expert educators sharing practical strategies, creative classroom ideas, and hands-on tutorials—all designed to help you start the year strong with digital collaboration tools. See what they have in store and RSVP here.
Some highlights:
📆 Aug 6th & 11th, 4pm EDT:
Introduction to FigJam in the K12 Classroom for Beginners
📆 August 5th, 4pm EDT:
Easy Back-to-School Community Builder Activities in FigJam
📆 August 12th, 4pm EDT:
What If Group Work Actually Engaged Every Student?
📆 Sep 16, 4pm EDT:
Hook Them Fast: Better Bell Ringers with FigJam
They’re also giving away fabulous prizes at every session - don’t miss it!
👀 DTT Digest
4 teaching resources worth checking out today
🎉 The Ultimate Back-to-School Guide — Download our brand-new free guide packed with activities, templates, screen-free games, AI prompts and more.
💥 Learn how to create comics in Adobe Express — Join Ann Kozma and George Melookaran as they explore Adobe Express for EDU and the Create a Comic feature. Watch live on Friday, July 31 at 11am PT or catch the replay.
😎 Play emoji riddles — Decipher the emojis to guess the movie, fairy tale, or saying. Play together or play against a partner. You can even build your own riddles. Created by Donna Golightly on Teacher Hive.
ICYMI 🏜️ Check out Padlet Sandbox — Sandbox functions as a dynamic, interactive whiteboard canvas. It’s designed to help you launch real-time collaborative activities in seconds.
💻 TECH TIP 💻
📺 10 ways to make videos interactive
Ideas from my video on making class videos interactive
If you want your students to watch a video — and you don’t just want them sitting there passively, you have options!
I recorded a video — 4 ways to make videos interactive (on Facebook) — and here they are …
1. Google Gemini guided notes — Ask Gemini (or ChatGPT or Claude) to create fill-in-the-blank guided notes for your students. Provide it a link to the video and (as long as it has captions / transcript) you’ll have guided notes. Read more here.
2. Brisk Boost chatbot — Boost creates a little chatbot that sits next to the video. You give it instructions on what types of questions to ask students (or let it come up with instructions). You can see student progress on your teacher dashboard. Read more here.
3. NotebookLM graphic organizer — You can make infographics in NotebookLM. Add your video as a source in your notebook and create an infographic, telling it you need a graphic organizer. The more specific your instructions, the better. Read more here.
4. Use EdPuzzle — It lets you create questions on your videos that students must answer before they move on. In some cases, other teachers have created activities that you can use without creating them yourself. Read more here.
🎁 BONUS — Get our free ebook with 10 ways to turn any instructional video into an interactive lesson! It’s packed with practical ideas you can use right away.
💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡
📺 How video supports great teaching and learning
Everyone seems to be talking about the impact of screen time and devices in the classroom.
Dozens of U.S. states have put device bans or limitations into place. One of the biggest U.S. school districts, Los Angeles USD, has instituted screen time limits across several grade bands.
It begs the question: Where does technology actually support good teaching and learning?
In a webinar with ScreenPal called “Make Screen Time Count,” I shared six places where I think video can be used with great success.
Just simply using video on its own isn’t enough. Pushing play on a video and letting it play for 45 minutes.
Here are a few of my favorite ways that video can support learning and strengthen the classroom, pulled from my slides from that session:
1. Build a sense of community
This one might seem counterintuitive. So often, all of us (students, teachers, anyone) watch videos on our devices alone. It can be isolating.
But watching a video together as a group can have impact on the classroom community.
Sociologist Émile Durkheim wrote in 1915 about how social bonds are strengthened with intense shared emotional events.
A 2023 study concluded that when we watch and react together, our bodies and emotions sync up.
How can we do that?
When watching a video together, build in a moment to react.
Turn and talk right after watching a video.
Predict what will happen before — then reveal it.
Call back to a meaningful moment later (minutes, days, weeks).
2. Show, don’t tell
It’s intuitive to lots of us who have taught that a quick video can make a new concept crystal clear to students.
In other words: pencil/paper and lecture miss out on opportunities for engagement and quick learning.
But videos need some specific things to be most effective, according to a 2023 study. Among others, they include motion graphics, visual sequencing, and speakers who felt confident and engaged.
Here are some examples where video can be better than traditional methods:
A time lapse of a seed germinating or a flower blooming (time lapse)
A bridge or structure falling (slow motion)
Body movement, dance, or athletic technique (correct form)
A Google Earth flyover (scale)
Animation of blood flow, electron movement (invisible to the eye)
4. Meet students where they are
Video doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, students see lots of great examples of fun, engaging video all the time on their favorite social media platforms.
Why not emulate some of those popular videos to show what they’re learning?
Some types of popular videos genres that can be repurposed into fun learning activities:
Unboxing videos
Product reviews
Makeup tutorials
On the street interviews
Tour videos
List videos
Tips and tricks
Q&A videos
Want to dig into a specific example? Here’s my guide to creating unboxing videos for the classroom.
More video ideas
Want to see all six — and the supporting ideas and research behind them? Check out my slides from my ScreenPal webinar, “Make Screen Time Count.”
😄 Smile of the day
When you’re NOT quite ready to think about school yet …
h/t name and Teacher Nation via Teacher Memes Facebook group
👋 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!
