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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VIZOR simplifies the task of managing Chromebooks by integrating the Google Admin Console and your SIS so that you can instantly monitor the health and status of your fleet of devices.

Several schools that I work with are happily using VIZOR to manage their devices. This is a great time of year to learn more so that you can implement VIZOR ahead of the summer rush! Sign up for a short demo and you’ll get 20% off your first year!

Here are my top 10 links for December 2023!

Excuse assignments in Google Classroom – Teachers will soon be able to “excuse” a student from an assignment! This feature will be available to all Google Classroom users.  

Add questions to YouTube videos in Google Classroom – This new feature is now available to all teachers with access to the premium edition of Google Classroom. 

Google Vault adds support for Calendar – IT admins will need to configure their retention rules for Calendar. This video will help you ensure that Vault is configured correctly. 

Record Google Slide Presentations – EDU Plus domains will be able to natively record presentations in Google Slides. This feature is very similar to what you can do with Loom or Screencastify, without needing to install an extension. 

Migrate your Jamboard lessons to FigJam – Figma released an import tool so that you can re-use your Jamboard activities using FigJam. I had a chance to try it out and it works really well! 

Get Google Certified in 2024 – Every winter I work with a group of teachers on passing the Level 1 and Level 2 Google Educator exams. This cohort starts January 16 and is already half full. 

NotebookLM by Google – This new AI tool lets you use AI to understand your personal notes and documents. I got early access and tried it out using my ELA notes on a famous American novel. 

AI Policy Collection – This large list of AI policies are mostly from higher education, but can be helpful as your school considers how to encourage responsible use of AI tools. Lance Eaton maintains this list and is worth a follow. 

Lock up the presents – one of our family Christmas traditions is a “break out” puzzle on Christmas morning. I’m already working on the puzzles for this Christmas. 

Holiday choice board for elementary students – add some holiday cheer into your classroom with this collection of 10 holiday activities. 

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!