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Teach Boldly, Adapt Gently
"Teaching isn’t short on tools; it’s short on time."
Week Of : November 3-7, 2025
🧠 Let’s Be Real
🧠 Let’s Be Real
Inspired by the insightful work of educators like Zaretta Hammond, Cornelius Minor, and Pedro Noguera, this offers a more compassionate approach to regaining lost time in teaching while prioritizing the human element.
Inspired by the insightful work of educators like Zaretta Hammond, Cornelius Minor, and Pedro Noguera, this offers a more compassionate approach to regaining lost time in teaching while prioritizing the human element.
💬 Google Workspace – Google Docs’ “Custom Building Blocks”
💬 Google Workspace – Google Docs’ “Custom Building Blocks”
💡 Try This: Create reusable templates in Docs to save time. Save any text, table, or layout section as a custom building block and reuse it easily.
How to do it:
Highlight the text or section you want to reuse.
Go to Insert > Building blocks > Custom building block > Save selection as custom building block.
Give it a name and save.
Later, type @ and select your saved block to insert it anywhere.
Ideas for teachers:
Reuse feedback comments or rubric templates.
Store weekly lesson plan formats.
Save parent communication templates for quick updates.
Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever wrote without it..
NWEA MAP – Find the Story Behind the Numbers
NWEA MAP – Find the Story Behind the Numbers
Head into your Class Profile, filter by Goal Area, and look for small RIT jumps; those are your momentum moments.
Instead of reteaching everything, use those growth points to anchor next steps.
🧩 Pair this with Diffit.ai, paste in a skill or standard, and it’ll generate leveled readings or questions tied to that concept. Perfect for small-group follow-ups.
DMAC Solutions – Smarter Assessment Design
DMAC Solutions – Smarter Assessment Design
Before creating your next quiz, try QuestionWell.ai it builds question sets directly from your lesson text or objective.
Export to Docs or Forms, then tweak for tone.
💡 You focus on alignment; it handles the grunt work.
Canva – Teach with Visual Energy
Canva – Teach with Visual Energy
Use Canva Magic Animate to turn your static slides into motion in one click.
Movement = attention, and attention = memory.
Bonus: students love using it to present their projects with confidence.
🎨 Explore Canva for Education → www.canva.com
Lightspeed Classroom – Empower with Autonomy
Lightspeed Classroom – Empower with Autonomy
Try setting a “focus check” timer, open Lightspeed, share your screen timer, and then let students self-manage for ten minutes.
You’re still monitoring, just shifting from control to trust. https://lightspeedsystems.myabsorb.com/#/dashboard
🐾 “Teaching with AI: Beyond the Basics”
🐾 “Teaching with AI: Beyond the Basics”
Gamma.app – Create Interactive Presentations Instantly
Type your topic, and Gamma builds sleek, interactive slides with notes, visuals, and structure ready to go.
💡 Great for: Quick PD decks, student research projects, or visual lesson intros.
Teachology.ai – Lesson Planning for Real Classrooms
Designed for teachers, not businesses. Generate objectives, success criteria, and lesson outlines aligned to Bloom’s levels.
💡 Use it for: Brainstorming scaffolds or exit tickets for any subject.
Tome.app – Storytelling with AI
Drop in your lesson concept or a student topic, and Tome generates a visual story (slides + narration ideas).
💡 Great for: Student digital storytelling, persuasive writing units, or history projects.
🔬 Tech Tool Spotlight: PhET Interactive Simulations
🔬 Tech Tool Spotlight: PhET Interactive Simulations
PhET simulations from the University of Colorado Boulder offer free, interactive STEM lessons, bringing complex concepts in subjects like forces, motion, and chemical reactions to life without lab clutter.
💻 Perfect for Chromebooks: No installs needed; just open, explore, and experiment.
🎯 Classroom Ideas:
Use simulations as warm-ups or quick labs.
Embed one in Google Slides or Classroom for student discovery.
Have students record observations or screenshots to explain their learning.
Explore it here 👉 phet.colorado.edu
💬 Reflection Prompt
💬 Reflection Prompt
This week, try one AI tool not to save time but to create time.
What could you hand off to AI so you can spend those minutes giving feedback, listening, or connecting with students?
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