Chrome Extensions for Education

I know that as a teacher I am always looking for little tips and tricks to help save time.  Today I came across a Chrome extension, Dualless, that I think could be useful for both teachers and students.  Dualless allows you two view two different Chrome Broswers on your computer screen.  Students could easily have a Google Doc and a website open side-by-side without having to go through the hassel of resizing windows.

Another Chrome extension to take a look at is Word Cloud Website Preview.  If you are a fan of displaying word clouds for your students or having your students create word clouds themselves, this Chrome extension allows you to create a word cloud from a website with one simple click.  Options are limited, but you can select the number of words to view by clicking on the "Options" link in the bottom right corner.

Do you have any Chrome extentions that make your life as a teacher just a little bit easier?  Please let us know and we will feature them here. #sharethetech

Middle School Teacher Gives Students 20 time

By Jason Horsman

Carrie Faria is an ELA teacher at El Capitan Middle School.  This school year she is trying an innovative approach to allow her students to get creative.  She has allocated 20% of her in-class time for students to work on any project they like.  The focus of 20 time is to create a socially aware project that could give back to others.  Student's have taken this idea and created projects that range from teaching piano to learning another language.  The idea stems from the technology industry, where places like Google and Apple give their employees time to "get creative" with any ideas they like.  Products like Google Classroom and the iPad have come from those times.  Carrie hopes it will expand the quality of projects coming from her students and allows them to work on things that are interesting to them.  "Wednesday's are our 20time days.  Students are given this day to work on anything of their choice.  We are in our 7th week so most of the students are out of their research phase and into the actual creating or inventing portion."  Recently the school purchased a 3D printer for her classroom so that students can fully realize their inventions.