10 helpful links you should visit!

As part of my daily routine, I scan dozens of blogs, visit a handful of Facebook groups and skim through Twitter. The goal: find the most helpful resources, tools, and articles that I can share with my teacher friends (that’s you!)

Here are my top 10 links for February 2020!

Google adds 2 years of life to Chromebooks & raises license cost – Google increased the auto-update expiration (AUE) for Chromebooks from six to eight years. They are also increasing the Chrome management licenses fee from $30 to $38/device. 

Rubrics and originality reports now available to all Google Classroom Users – These two features have been beta since June will become available starting on February 3.

• • Take a look at this “learning on the loo” tutorial from Laura Wheeler.
  • Get a closer look at rubrics with this video overview.  

Biography Project Templates  – Jill Hostetler (@messy_tech) asked Twitter for biography project ideas…and the Twitterverse responded with some GREAT ideas and templates! 

62 new emoji icons are coming to your device – Did you know there is an official body that governs emoji? This year they added 62 new icons..coming soon!

Add-ons for Gmail and Calendar  – You can now integrate third-party tools into Gmail and Calendar. Your IT admin will need to approve these add-ons before you can use them. 

Check this neat biome map  – “Ecoregions” is a neat map that displays biomes across the globe. This is a great resource for science, ecology, and environmental studies courses.  

They’re filming a movie at my house! – If you want to hear the story, head over to my Instagram profile and check out the “movie” highlight.

Celebrate Black History Month – Google Arts & Culture has curated a collection of special exhibits and celebrating “risk-takers and history makers.” 

Valentine’s Card Template – this cute Google Slides template created by Amanda Sandoval will help you prepare your class for Valentine’s day! 

Google Classroom Tips – this is a podcast episode by MS math teacher Tim Cavey which features some solid advice and ideas for mastering Google Classroom.