Embedded Files
published by Mike Neumire on 11/3/2025
What to know for November 2025
1
Breakout EDU Links
Breakout EDU recently updated the way their digital games work. Now, students are required to login to a free student account in order to start a game. If you have a link to a Breakout EDU game in your curriculum, please reach out to me about addressing that problem, so that you're not caught on the day you have planned for a game, suddenly unable to get students access!
2
Teachers and students can access Google's Notebook LM
Google calls Notebook LM your "research and thinking partner." The idea is that you upload your sources of information, whether they be PDF files, links to articles, Youtube videos, etc. and Notebook LM helps you understand them with the power of AI. It will give you things like study guides, FAQs, and more based on all of the resources you've added to that particular notebook. Notebook LM went a little bit viral with its "audio overview" feature, which sounds just like two podcasters discussing whatever topic your resources cover. Recently, it caught attention again with its "video overview" which works similarly to the audio overview, but pairs it with visuals, almost like someone recording themselves narrating through a slideshow. It's very impressive. Google recently updated privacy terms so that staff and students can now access this tool. Please reach out if you have questions or concerns!
3
Canva has a bunch of AI features, and we can decide if students can use them or not!
One of our favorite tools- Canva continues to update and add features at an aggressive pace, many of which are AI-powered. Now that we have single sign-on set up, we have complete, granular control on who can access those AI features. This needs to be a conversation at the school level to decide which features students should be able to access and which they shouldn't. For example, one option is "Canva Code" which lets students write a single prompt from which Canva will write the code for an interactive widget, game, etc. This is a very cool application and would be a great way for students to wrap up a lesson or unit, or practice vocabulary.
4
DIR Updates
We have recently approved a new request for a free site called "Toy Theater." The name is very misleading- it is a collection of math tools, puzzles, teacher tools, and more. It doesn't require a login or any student PII data, and could be very useful in a variety of situations. Click here to check out one of their puzzles, Nonograms. You can easily navigate their different categories of tools, and each one has a unique link that you can share with students. There are TONS of different options, so explore and see if there's anything valuable to your context!
5
Resource highlight: Magic Student
New this year, we have Magic School, which includes its student-facing platform, Magic Student. We have already seen so many great uses of this AI-powered tool. This tool is well-loved because it is teacher-focused. Students cannot access it on their own- they need a teacher to put together a room to share with them. When teachers do create a room, they control the tools in it and how and when students can access them. Teachers can see everything students do in those rooms, they get AI summaries of student activity, they can lock the rooms, and they can kick students out. Teachers have total control! It is also well-loved because it is completely flexible and gives teachers new approaches to engaging with students. As a teacher, you can add custom chatbots that follow your instructions exactly. For example, in this room, the chatbots are instructed to roleplay as suspects in a who-dunnit where students have to question them and determine who the most-likely culprit is. There are so many creative and unique applications for this tool, and students are responding positively, showing new ways of thinking and making awesome gains! If you're interested in doing a deeper dive, check out this self-paced training I put together on it.
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