ZamZar turns Documents into MP3s!

Yes, you read that right... ZamZar can convert text documents into MP3s!!  Now, if this is not news to you, then I apologize.... But it was fantastic news to me!!  I have a large number students with IEPs this year and this is going to help quite a bit.  

All you do is go to ZamZar, upload your document, choose MP3 and wait for an email with the link to download your file!!  Now, it is not perfect (think about the two different ways to say the word "read") and it sounds like Stephen Hawkings but it is a whole lot easier than trying to record the document myself!!

I only tried it with a Word document so if anyone tries it with other types of documents (or have had success with other types of documents) please pass on the good information!!!

By the way, I found this out looking through the site called 21things4teachers. If you have never looked at it, it is worth a look!

Google updates sheets to allow inserting Trendlines

Today ladies and gentlemen I am happy and sad at the same time.  As many of you are aware, I created an "add on" for Google Sheets to allow for adding trendlines to graphed data.  I recently made version 2 public (here is link Trendline Add on Ver 2).  In this version I included the statistical analysis to include showing the "r^2" value as well as the slope and y intercept.

I just learned today that Google has updated Sheets to allow.... wait for it.....  adding trendlines to a chart!!!

Here is a link to a GoogleGooru video that discusses adding trendlines: Adding Trendlines to Charts

Something that the video did not cover is how to show the "r^2" value and the equation of the trendline.  The "r^2" value is easy: there is a box that you can select to show it.  To show the equation you need to select the "Label" dropdown and choose "Use equation".

So, I am a sad that Google added something that I spent a lot of time and energy working on... but happy that they did so!!!

New way to locate files in Google Drive!

I really just uncovered this wonderful feature of the new Google Drive interface.  I love the search capability of Drive but as a teacher I usually have other docs that correspond with the doc I am looking for so I need to know what folder it is in.  I know I can look at the details but there just needed to be a better way.  Well today I found it... do a search for your document, in the results you can right click on a file in and select "Locate in My Drive"!

I don't know about you but this is going to be a wonderful tool for me!!

Change the background of a PDF?

Excellent question.... and this was asked by Stephen Colley in a recent  Google+ post 

I know that you can use Micro$oft Word to convert the PDF to a Word doc, then change the background then re-save as a pdf but this requires Word. If you convert the pdf to a Google Doc then all you have is an "image" of the pdf and changing the page color does no good.

So, I went to my trusty pdf editor known as PDFEscape  and I found out something very interesting... I can open the PDF, add a rectangle over the whole page, set its color and, wait for it..... change it's opacity!!  I found that if the PDF was on a white page then an opacity of 30% makes it look great! I then took it an extra step and tried it with an image, and guess what.... it works!! Here is a link to a the pdf that I edited (note that it will show up in PDFEscape's read only viewer) Change the PDF background

My only compliant with PDFEscape is that it is not connected to Google Drive (at least as far as I can tell) so you have to do a "download - upload" dance.  But for me, it is worth it!!

Let me know what you use to edit PDFs or if you have a better way of changing the background of a PDF.

Trendline Addon Version 2

After some long delays I am happy to announce that Version 2 of "Trendline Addon" has been made public! (To skip the rest of the post and get straight to it here is the link: Trendline Addon Ver2  Make a copy, open script editor and run "onInstall")

The most feedback I got from version one was the need for the "coefficient of determination" or the "r² "value.  After some trial and error I came up with a solution that I think will work just fine.  What happens is when you create a graph now you have the option to run a "linear regression analysis".  When this option is selected, an analysis is done and the results are placed on a hidden sheet called "STATS" and the important parts of the analysis (namely the slope, y-intercept and coefficient of determination) are then added to another sheet called "mbr^2".  If you unhide the "STATS" sheet you might want to look at "Google Sheets Linear Regression Info" to get an understanding of what all the numbers represent.

The stats and the data are connected.  So if you change your data the "STATS"and "mbr^2" sheets are updated appropriately.

Here are the basics steps to use Version 2:

1. Click the link, save a copy, 
2. Go to "Tools - Script Editor" and run either "On install" or "On open". This will add a menu command on your "Add ons" menu.  
3. Click "Create Graph" and follow the instruction in the sidebar!  

Please let me know what you think! I am working on how to add more trendline options such as power and exponential.  

List of links:

The spreadsheet:  Trendline Addon Ver2  

The original post: Adding a Trendline to a Google Sheets Chart

BlogBooker - Blog Book

BlogBooker - Blog Book:

This is a handy tool that many teachers and students can use.  It will turn your blog into a pdf document complete with a table of contents.  This can be handy for an archive or to share with a publisher.

The steps are simple: export your blog, go to BlogBooker, select your blog service (Wordpress, Blogger or LiveJournal), select PDF, upload your blog, set some options and create your blogbook!

I did this for this blog and the whole process took 8 minutes from exporting my blog to viewing the pdf generated.  I can see students using this service at the end of the school year to have an archive of the blog they created during the year.

Evaluate Traditions While Leading Change - Leadership 360 - Education Week

Evaluate Traditions While Leading Change - Leadership 360 - Education Week

"Our most important job right now is to manage the raising of standards and educational rigor while protecting the space and attention given to the social emotional aspects of learning.  While we still face the challenges of teaching children in poverty, or with learning or language difficulties, we cannot be resisters of change.  We need to lead change. "

This is a very interesting article.  The authors make the point that education leaders need to be aware of

"traditions" but to be proactive and not afraid to create new ones.  When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to have a Commodore 64 computer but my mom still typed my papers on a manual typewritter.  Today, I can use my smartphone and dictate to Google Docs tor create my lesson plans.... Times have changed.....

It is up to us, the educational leaders  to see how using educational technology can influence new traditions.  I have been steadily moving to a paperless classroom the last couple of years with Google Apps for Education as the main technology.  I feel I have one more year and I will not need to use any printed material.  I believe this is a move to a new tradition that is aligned with how our students operate now.

Traditions are great, it is what makes our society who we are, but we need to be careful to not lot outdated traditions define us.  Times have changed......

How do you see educational technology being used to create new traditions?