• Google is testing a new tool called Originality Reports. When creating an assignment just click the 'Originality reports' box and it will allow you use Google to scan the web for passages that are similar to your students' writing. To take part in this beta version testing, just fill out this form.

• Get involved in testing the beta version of Google Rubrics so that teachers can create and save custom rubrics for assignments in Classroom by filling out this form.

• Lock students into the view of a Google Form when your using it as a quiz or test (so they can't open search engines to help them on their assessments).

WriQ (pronounced rye-Q) is a Google Chrome extension from Texthelp (the same company that makes Read&Write and other extensions you may already use). WriQ will score documents for spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. It also has a built in rubric you can use to score student writing. This video shows you how to install and use the WriQ extension. 

If you need further help using this extension in your classroom, please let me know.

As a district we've been using Hapara at the middle and high school levels to monitor students on the Chromebooks for a few years now. 

This year we're adding the same capability for elementary teachers that have Chromebook carts in their buildings. 

All teachers can find resources on how to use Hapara on the Tech Integration's Hapara page. Learn how to edit the details of your classes, force students to view only certain websites, see what screens they are looking at, and more.

If you'd like a more personal tutorial about how to use this tool in your classroom, let me know and we can set up a time for me to come to your classroom.

Remind is a tool you can use to better communicate with students, families, etc. Teachers and coaches might find this especially helpful. Remind can be accessed using the internet or an app for smartphones. 

All of our district teachers and coaches now have access that allows them to create 'classes' that stakeholders can subscribe to. To get started just go to Remind online and login using your @vallivue.org account.

Visit the Tech Integration Remind page for tutorials on how to get started.

• Google Slides, Sheets, and Docs have added some new fonts that are intended to increase reading speed for students. 

• Forms now has the option for you to copy questions directly from one Form to another. This would allow you to easily pull questions from multiple quizzes into a unit test, differentiate items for students, etc.

• Docs now gives users more control over their options for headers and footers.

• Google Sheets allows you to view the edit history of a specific cell. Version histories of a Doc and Slides have been available for a while, but it's new to cells in a Sheet.

This review comes from the site Teachers First Review:

This "wordy" site offers word definitions with a challenge! You see the first letter of a word and its definition. You must quickly type in a word you think fits the definition. The site allows you to pass if you do not know the word, but the definition of the word appears anyway (along with the answer). Once the correct word is entered, the definition changes quickly so you can accrue as many points as possible in a limited time. The site also keeps a list of words used at any interaction, so you can see the words correct and missed. Some definitions offer easier hints in their wording.

Teachers and students can sign in with their Google account to create 'packs' of words. Teachers can share the packs via Classroom or with a hyperlink. Try this example if you'd like.