Toronto Teacher Mom: May 2020

Create Listening Activities Using Google Slides

Cowabunga, it's been a busy few weeks! I have been working away, trying to come up with innovative ideas for remote learning and boy, has there been a lot of trial and error. But when I challenge myself to find a solution, I don't rest until I do. And, while I'm still not 100% content with it, I have found a fun way to create a listening activity within Google Slides. For this example, I chose to focus on French prepositions using PNG images I found through Google image search and combined in Drawings. I had initially created them for the Quizlet study set below.

I love them so much, I decided to use them in an audio book I designed using Book Creator.

Où est le petit cochon?

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.com

I wanted to create a listening test for my students using these same images in a Google Form, where the students had to listen to an audio clip and then click on the corresponding image in multiple choice questions. I embedded the form into my Google Site and tried embedding the audio clips next to the form but the audio player wouldn't play the files consistently; sometimes they would work and other times, not at all. So I resorted to creating a manipulative type of activity in Google Slides instead.

French Prepositions Listening Activities Using Embedded Audio in Google Slides

First, I added all of the images into a layout in the slide master. This can be accessed by navigating to Slide - Edit master. Then I added circles to each image, written instructions and shapes. On a new slide, I selected the layout I had created and began inserting my MP3 audio files.

How to Add Audio Files to a Slide

Record your audio. You could use an online tool, such as Online Voice Recorder, or you can use a recording app on your device. I use the Voice Memo app on my iPhone but it requires the extra step of converting it from an MP4 to an MP3 through iTunes.
Create a dedicated audio folder in your Google Drive and change the share settings to "Anyone with the link can view". That way, whenever you drop an audio file into that folder, the same share settings will apply. This is important because if you don't change the share settings on your audio files, no one will be able to play them.
Change the audio icon to another image, whether it be a number or a letter, for example. To do this, click on the audio icon to access the option to replace image, which will appear in the menu bar above the slide. You could upload images, use images in your drive or select from a Google image search. For the prepositions activity, I created my own PNG number graphics in Drawings using word art and for each audio file, I replaced the audio icon with the corresponding number. This will make it easier for me to mark.

On the first slide, I also added two borderless and transparent text boxes for the student's name and for the total. Finally, I created a second layout for a couple of True/False questions.

French prepositionsTrue/False Listening Activities Using Embedded Audio in Google Slides

While I was hoping to avoid having to manually correct this listening activity given that I have over 160 students, I still like how it turned and I think my younger students will enjoy this type of activity.

If you like, you can make a copy of Les prépositions - activité d'écoute to use with your own students.

NOTE: Because this file has been copied so many times but each copy still links back to my original audio files, I strongly recommend recording your own audio files and inserting them into the file using the three steps above. I have been receiving hundreds of share requests from students from across the province who are unable to listen to the files. This is because Google maxes out at 500 daily "views".

G Suite for Education Resources - Diana Mancuso

Click on the image above to access additional resources, tips and tutorials.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020
8 Comments

Give Your Virtual Classroom an Instant Makeover

EdTech

In case you haven't heard, virtual classrooms, sometimes also referred to as Bitmoji classrooms, have become a hugely popular method of delivering content to our students during pandemic distance learning. And to be honest, it's pretty much my favourite now, too. If you're a teacher like me and are planning to use virtual classrooms for the next little while, I thought I'd share with you a neat hack that will allow you to give your virtual classroom an instant makeover.

I have seen many people create their virtual classrooms by adding the image of the classroom, including wall and flooring, as the background image to the individual slide. The benefit of doing this is to avoid unintentionally moving the background image around and reducing layers on your slide. However, I much prefer to add background images in the slide master and I do not use the "add background image" option simply because I like to be able to edit my backgrounds, which you cannot do once you add them as a background image. Instead, I add the images as layers on my layout within the slide master. One benefit of doing this is that I can crop images and adjusting the colouring or brightness to get just the right tone, for example. I can also change up the flooring or the wall background, and mix and match. But the best advantage to editing the slide master is this:

Create multiple classroom backgrounds
using layouts in the slide master!

By editing the slide master and creating multiple layouts, you can have an instant classroom makeover at the click of a mouse. Here are 18 layouts that I have created in the template:

Give Your Virtual Classroom an Instant Makeover - layouts

Some of them have blackboards or whiteboards added, some of them have bunting banners and some of them are plain. Many of them have isolated wall backgrounds or flooring so that you can change the colour or replace it with different textures, for example.

Grab the template here: bit.ly/vclayouts.

Feel free to make a copy, start designing your classroom and then give it a makeover by changing the layout!

Click on the image above to access additional resources, tips and tutorials.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020
9 Comments

Video Tutorials on How to Take a Screenshot

EdTech

Thursday, May 14, 2020
6 Comments

Dolittle - Now Available on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital!

Arts and Entertainment

After several weeks of "Go, go, go!" I can honestly say I'm ready to do little. As in Dolittle. I have spent many late nights trying to perfect interactive digital activities for my students, several hours of video conferencing with colleagues and family, and plenty of afternoons helping my own kids navigate this new world of distance learning. I need a movie night! And with one of my all-time favourite actors as the lead, Dolittle was just the right flick for chilling out with the family.

While we missed out on watching Dolittle in theatres, we were delighted to have received a complimentary copy on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital. Last Friday, we pulled out our stovetop popcorn popper and enjoyed a fresh batch while curling up on the sofa. It was a welcome escape from my busy work-from-home routine and plus, Robert Downey Jr.

Nuff said.

The story follows the journey of Dolittle, an eccentric doctor played by Robert Downey Jr. who is called upon to save the queen after she has fallen gravely ill. He reluctantly leaves his lush 19th-century home in England and embarks on a perilous adventure alongside his animal companions with whom he has the ability to communicate. Joining him is an unexpected apprentice Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett) and together they form an unlikely bond. The adventurous tale is brought to life with an all-star cast that includes the voice talents of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Selena Gomez, John Cena, Tom Holland, and more.

Overall, we enjoyed the storyline, along with the impressive CGI and visual effects. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Antonio Banderas, despite my having to do a double-take when his character was first introduced. I also appreciated the witty repartee amongst the animal characters and my son particularly enjoyed the fight scene between Chee-Chee the gorilla (Malek) and Barry, the gold-fanged tiger (Ralph Fiennes). For some reason, I was a little thrown off by Roberty Downey Jr.'s performance and I'm not quite sure if it's because of his English accent, his raspy voice or that it sounded more like a voiceover. At any rate, he was a great fit for the role simply because he does "quirky" so well.

Dolittle is now available to own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

Bonus features include:

TALK TO THE ANIMALS – Dolittle is surrounded by a motley cast of characters. Take a peek at all the fun the cast had giving each of the animals their unique voice.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. & HARRY: MENTOR AND MENTEE – Acting opposite a legendary actor like Robert Downey Jr. can be an intimidating experience, but Harry Collett handled it like a pro. See the unique bond the two actors formed on-set, and how Downey took the film’s young co-star under his wing.

BECOMING THE GOOD DOCTOR - See the process of how this team of talented artists brought this film to life, and how Robert Downey Jr. transformed into the iconic Dolittle.

ANTONIO BANDERAS: PIRATE KING - Antonio Banderas discusses what attracted him to the project, his experiences working with Robert Downey Jr., and what he brought to the role of King Rassouli.

THE WICKED DR. MÜDFLY - Who is the nefarious villain Dr. Blair Müdfly? Michael Sheen dives into his character's motivations for being Dolittle's foil.

A MOST UNUSUAL HOUSE - It takes a special home to accommodate humans and animals alike. Explore the unique rooms and modifications that allow Dolittle to house anyone or anything - big or small.

Giveaway!

Enter to win 1 of 2 copies of Dolittle on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital. Simply complete the Rafflecopter form below. This contest is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec. Please note that due to Covid-19 measures, winners may experience a delay in the shipping of prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received product to facilitate this review. Any opinions expressed therein are my own.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020
6 Comments

My Virtual French Classroom in Google Slides

French Resources

Ever since I first started teaching core French 16 years ago, I've always wanted my own classroom. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have my own space where I could set up learning centres, or a French library, or a coding corner, or a word wall, or a... er, I'm getting a little carried away, aren't I? The point I'm trying to get at is that I've always wanted a classroom to call my own, one that I could customize the way I feel would best facilitate French language acquisition amongst my students. In short, I've longed to fully immerse my students in the target language to maximize learning in the few 30 minutes that I have with them each day. Well, thanks to some incredibly inspiring teachers who have embraced the latest trend in distance learning, I have jumped on board the virtual bandwagon and now have my very own virtual French classroom. Squee!

I really wish I knew who started this trend so I could thank that person profusely since this is one of the most brilliant ideas I have come across in a very long time. There are so many tutorials out there but many of the posts I've been seeing on Twitter have been sharing this handy video tutorial by Thomas Blackmore:

For my virtual classroom, I've decided to only activate a few items this week and have created an audio message, similar to my interactive French activities, to challenge my students to find three hidden activities. (Can you find them all?) I've also added audio messages to the cat and to my Bitmoji as clues. Two of the activities lead to activities that I've embedded into my Google Site and one leads them to a virtual tour. Next week, I plan to add more active links and perhaps a couple of additional objects to my classroom as an ongoing "Where's Waldo?" type of activity. I also plan on making a slight change each day, such as the placement of the cat, and challenging students to identify what has changed from the previous day. For example, "Aujourd'hui le chat est sur le tapis." (Talk about the authentic use of the target language!) I have so many ideas on what else I'd like to try within my room, my head might explode! For now, I will share my top five tips for designing your own virtual classroom.

Top 5 Tips for Designing a Virtual Classroom

When inserting images, add either "png" or "transparent" to your search query to find objects that have a transparent background.
If you can't find an image in the colour you're looking for, insert an image and click on it. Then go to Format options that appears on the menu above (or right-click on the image) and select an option from the Re-colour menu that appears on the right panel. I did this for the easel, blackboard, window, shelf, rug and stool, using the grayscale option. It brings me great joy to have everything all "matchy matchy"!
To add audio to an image of your choice, first add the audio file to your slide. Then click on the audio icon and click Replace image which will appear in the menu bar above. Then either search for the image in Google or upload an image. If the new image is not square, parts of it may be cut off but it is easily fixed by clicking on the "crop image" icon and adjusting the bold, black cropping handles as required.
If you plan on using various Bitmoji stickers, I suggest creating a file folder and downloading your favourite ones. I chose to add them to a folder in Google Drive by using the Google Drive Desktop App. This has been a game changer for me since I can easily drag and drop my Bitmoji stickers directly from the Bitmoji extension into a dedicated folder on my Google Drive through the desktop client, and the stickers maintain their transparent background. This has a number of benefits such as eliminating the need to save to your computer and taking up precious space on your hard drive. You can also alternate changing your Bitmoji outfit using the Bitmoji app and then copying those stickers to your Google Drive folder so you can access different outfits later. It is also great if you plan on attaching audio files to your Bitmoji, since you need to replace the audio icon image with another. (You cannot copy and paste your sticker from the Bitmoji extension and then add audio to it, unfortunately.) This way, you could replace the image via your Drive. Here is a tutorial on how to use the Google Drive Desktop Client:

For any objects that you wish to keep stationary such as the wall, flooring, or blackboard, I recommend that you add those to the slide master. It just clears up your canvas as it can get crowded with several images and it's not always easy to isolate a single image if you need to move it or make changes. To access the slide master, click on Slide - Edit master.

If you'd like to use the template I created, click here for a similar version in View only mode. Click on File - Make a copy so you can customize it.

Click on the image above to access additional resources, tips and tutorials.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020
20 Comments

Je vous salue, Marie Read-Along Using Screencastify

French Resources

Monday, May 11, 2020
4 Comments

Interactive French Activities for Distance Learning

EdTech

Several weeks ago, I came across a template for a Weekly Planner for Online Lessons by SlidesMania that I loved so much, I decided to tweak the colour theme and I have been using it for interactive activities for my FSL students ever since. I share with them the link to the published version (which is found under File - Publish to the web) so that they can more easily navigate between slides, watch videos and click on the audio files.

Interactive French Activities for Distance Learning using Google Slides

The sample slide deck I am sharing below was designed for my grade 2 core French students. For that grade, the curriculum focusses on listening and speaking, which is not so easy to do during distance learning. So that's why I find the audio feature in Google Slides super handy. I use a lot of YouTube sing-alongs, too. I've also created a French Google Site where I can embed my slide deck at the top and my published Book Creator audio books, my customized Flippity activities and manipulatives, the use images in the slide deck to hyperlink directly to them.

And of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add some Bitmoji stickers of yours truly. This is done by way of the Bitmoji Chrome extension. You're sure to find one for pretty much any occasion. You can also get stickers with French expressions by switching the language on your Chrome browser to French!

Tips for Adding a Certain Je ne sais quoi to Your Google Slides

When searching for images, add "png" or "transparent" to the end of your search query to find images with transparent backgrounds. These are very handy when you are overlapping other objects on your slide.
Add depth to images by selecting the image, then selecting Format options and enabling the drop shadow feature. I'm a little addicted to this one. F
Can't find an image in the colour you want? Adjust the colour and brightness under Format options. I used this technique to create paint splotches in the colours I needed for my "couleurs" slide.
When inserting audio clips, you need to make sure the file is .mp3 or .wav. (I use Voice Memo on my phone, import the files to iTunes and convert to .mp3.) An alternative that I hear people have been using is the Online Voice Recorder, where it allows you download an .mp3 copy of your recording. Create a folder in Drive and adjust the share settings (I have mine set to "anyone with the link can view") and plop your audio files in there. Any files uploaded into that folder will automatically be given the same share settings. Then you can go to Insert - Audio and select the file from your Drive.
To select objects that you want to link to other sites or to other slides within the presentation, such as the activity numbers on the first slide, hover your mouse over the object's border until the arrow pointer turns into a four-point arrow. Then click on the chainlink icon that pops up in the menu bar and add your hyperlink.
To have an object linked to an audio file, you would have to insert the audio file first. Then click on the audio icon and click on "Replace image" in the menu bar above, and select the image you would like to use.