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!)

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Here are my top 10 links for January 2023!

Sneaky Gmail trick – you can create unique email addresses by adding + to your existing email. This is one of five neat Gmail tricks shared on the Keyword blog. 

Unclutter – some websites are so full of ads and distracting content that they are hard to read. Clean them up with the Unclutter Chrome extension! H/T to Richard Burns for sharing this extension. 

Shared Drive Updates – The default policies for shared drives will be updated to include a 100GB limit and restrict shared drive creation. These policies can be modified or removed by IT administrators, if desired. 

Highlights from CES 2023 – The consumer electronics show highlights creative, innovative and absurd technology. This year we saw color-changing cars, dual-screen laptops, and electric roller skates.  

2023 Google Educator exams – Every year I take the L1 and L2 Google Educator exams before the Google Certification Academy. Here’s a summary of updates for 2023. 

Learn about Chat GPT – There’s been a LOT of talk and discussion about AI written content. I’m still wrestling with the implications of this new tech myself, so I gathered a list of blog posts written by others that I have found useful. 

Write Assist – The power of Chat GPT is now available as a Chrome extension. Simply right click on text and ask Chat GPT to finish one of dozens of queries. 

This person does not exist – I was working with a group of MS students who needed images of people for a brochure on the book Holes. We used an interesting website of people who don’t exist. 

This person does not exist…

[a thread] pic.twitter.com/tBVqPsXxpr

— John R. Sowash (@jrsowash) January 6, 2023

January 28 is data privacy day – This is my list of 10 lessons and activities for elementary, middle, and high school students to help them manage their digital footprint.

Clickbait as a class project? – Nicholas Ferroni had his HS students develop fake new headlines and articles. This is an interesting way to teach storytelling and writing. I’m a little nervous for the future, because these kids are GOOD!

What awesome resource did I miss?

Got something that’s too cool not to share? Hit me up on Twitter or Instagram (@jrsowash). I’m always on the hunt for interesting and useful resources!