DT With Mrs B

Kia ora, fellow educators and parents! Today's blog post takes a slight detour from our usual content to introduce a game-changer for teachers who are also parents, especially those with younger children. Meet SquareOne , a Kiwi-created app designed to revolutionise the way we manage pocket money. As a teacher and a parent preparing for an upcoming family trip to Australia, I found myself on a quest to instil financial responsibility in my 12 and 14-year-olds. The challenge was to discover a digital tool that not only facilitated money management, but also made the process engaging and educational. SquareOne emerged as the answer to my quest. This New Zealand-developed app allows parents to set chores and allocate corresponding amounts to their children. The beauty lies in its simplicity – kids submit completed chores, and parents approve payments through the app. The real magic happens when the money is transferred from the parent's account to the child's account. SquareOn

Kia ora, fellow educators! 🌟 Have you ever eagerly clicked on a hyperlink, only to find yourself stuck on a 'share request' page? Annoying, right? Let's tackle that inconvenience and make link-sharing a breeze. Clicking on a link that leads to a 'share request' page can be frustrating for both the document creator and the person trying to access it. But fear not, there's a simple solution to avoid this digital roadblock. Prevention is Key: Adjust Sharing Settings Before creating links, ensure your documents are ready for sharing. You can modify the access settings for individual documents or go big by making an entire folder sharable. This way, any docs linked from that folder will automatically grant access without the pesky 'share request.' Quick Steps to Share without Stress: 1. Open your Google Doc (or any Google app). 2. Click on the 'Share' button in the top right corner. 3. Adjust the access settings to either 'Anyone with the link

We've all used Kahoot, right?  But have you used Gimkit yet?  If not, this post will change your teaching world... Gimkit, a digital quiz game (similar to Kahoot, yet soooo different), offers a dynamic approach to introducing, reviewing, or assessing various subjects. It brings an element of fun and engagement to even the most challenging topics. Gamification blends game elements into non-game contexts, making learning tasks more enjoyable. It adds elements of competition, challenge, and reward. Gimkit embodies gamification with features like: - Competition: Students compete to answer questions correctly and earn points. - Challenge: Questions can be tough, but students can earn power-ups to help them answer correctly. - Reward: Students earn virtual currency for right answers, which they can use to buy power-ups or compete in other games. Source: re:ed tech Gimkit can be used for: - Introducing New Concepts: Use it to introduce topics in a captivating way, like teaching cell parts

Let's chat about Applied Digital Skills , a sweet program by Google. It's all about arming students with the digital skills they need to shine in school, work, and life. The cool part? It's aligned with New Zealand's Digital Technologies curriculum, and it's here to lend a hand to our Kiwi teachers. Applied Digital Skills has got your back, with a bunch of resources to support you in implementing the New Zealand Digital Technologies curriculum. Here's what's in the toolkit: * Lesson plans: You'll find a variety of lesson plans that match up with the New Zealand Digital Technologies curriculum. These plans are a breeze to follow, complete with step-by-step instructions, along with resources for both students and teachers. * Digital tools: It's in cahoots with Google's digital tools like Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. That means you can easily integrate these digital tools into your lessons, giving your students hands-on experience. * Professiona

  Kia ora! In today's post, we'll unveil the versatility and practicality of Google Lens, a tool that has the potential to reshape the learning landscape for both educators and students. What is Google Lens? Google Lens is a remarkable visual recognition application that harnesses the power of your smartphone's camera to identify objects, text, and landmarks. This technology has the potential to revolutionise the classroom experience by providing instant access to information, fostering curiosity, and promoting interactive learning. Features for the Classroom Google Lens offers a plethora of features that can be leveraged to enhance teaching and learning in a variety of ways: Text Translation: Google Lens can seamlessly translate text from one language to another in real time, offering students a dynamic way to explore languages and broaden their horizons. Plant and Animal Identification: In science classes, Google Lens can act as a botanical and zoological guide, facil

Emojis can add a creative and interactive dimension to your Google Classroom topics. In this post, I'll guide you through the process of using emojis within topics and explain why it's a valuable addition. Why Use Emojis in Google Classroom Topics? 1. Visual Organisation: Emojis can be used as topic icons to make your Google Classroom more visually organised and attractive. They help students quickly identify different subjects or modules. 2. Engagement: Emojis can make topics more appealing. They add an element of fun and can pique interest in the subject matter. 3. Personalisation: Emojis allow you to infuse a bit of your personality into your virtual classroom. You can choose emojis that reflect your teaching style or the topic's content. How to Add Emojis to Google Classroom Topics 1. Access Classwork: Start by navigating to the "Classwork" tab in your Google Classroom. 2. Create a Topic: Click the "+" button to create a new topic. This is where you&