A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A picture is worth a thousand words! We are posting pictures and using images that we find online everyday to enhance our multimedia presentations. It is important to teach students to respect copyright and the work that people post on line.  Students should be encouraged to use images that are licensed as Creative Commons or public domain.  

To find these type of images in Google Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Type your topic into Google
2. Click on Images
3. Click on Tools
4. Click on Usage Rights
5. Click on Creative Commons License (this ensure that you are using images that are permitted by the person who put the image online)
​What does Creative Commons Mean?  Watch this video to learn:
There are also many sites out there that offer Creative commons images free for your use.  This article contains links to many of the free image sites:

18 Free Image Sites and Tools for Schools​

I usually check them before using the pictures because some of them would like you to put a link to their site.

Some good guidelines for using online images:

1.Give the creator of the images credit for their work (put the link from where you got the picture-you may need to actually visit the site that the picture is from as it is not acceptable to give a link to Google Images).

2. Get the pictures from a place that is designed for pictures to be shared (for example, Pi​xabay).

3.  Use pictures at are licensed Creative Commons.

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How to ChatGPT Proof Your Assignments

I will readily admit to anyone that I love Artificial Intelligence (AI) and find it fascinating.  AI is a very hot topic and it is changing so fast it is hard to keep up! While ChatGPT is an amazing tool for us and our students to use, there are some scary,  more nefarious uses for it as well.   Please read on to find some tips for preventing your students from using AI​ for cheating and a very important tip about SnapChat AI from Safer Schools.​

I just finished watching a fabulous presentation by Ryan Orilio, a Director of Technology from New York and another presentation by George Couros.  Here is what I learned:

Using an AI detector is not a great way to discover if a student is using AI in their assignments.  They have proven  to be unreliable and prone to giving false results that could cause you to accuse an innocent student of cheating, while also placing their personal writing in a potentially unsafe place online. Still, most schools are not blocking ChatGPT-there are so many places to use AI available, students will just find another one.  It seems like AI will not be going away so it is time for us to step up our game and learn to use it as the incredible tool that it is.​

Here are some ways that Ryan Orilio talked about to “cheatproof” your assignments to prevent students from using ChatGPT and other AI tools to write them:

​1.  Ask students to write about something deeply personal. For example, have the students talk about a challenge they have faced or how a piece of writing relates to their own life.

2.  Ask students to write about current or local events. The free version of ChatGPT does not have current knowledge and it is not designed to search for current events.  You could ask students to compare current events to something that happened in the past.

3.  Do more writing in class. Yes, it is more work for all but it works.

4. Ask students to show or explain their work.  Even if they used AI to help, they would need to understand it,

5. Have students hand in more than one draft.

6.  Have students explain what they did and why? Why did they choose this topic?

7.  Ask students to present some form of oral presentation. Microsoft Flip, iMovie, or just recording an audio recording with force them to read their presentation out loud and analyze it.

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Canva Interactive Whiteboard

I am often asked about the best tools we have available for Mindmapping. One I recently found (and love) is Canva Whiteboard.  Using Canva Whiteboard, you can easily draw diagrams, add images, and write notes to help your students understand the lessons. Plus, you can collaborate with your students in real-time, making it an excellent tool for distance learning or blended learning. Here are some other ways to use it:

  1. Brainstorm ideas: Use Canva Whiteboard to brainstorm ideas with your students. You can create a blank canvas and ask your students to add their ideas, or you can use a template they can build on. There are templates for K-W-L, ​Project Journeys, Design Thinking and more.​
  2. Collaborate on projects: Canva Whiteboard allows for real-time collaboration, so you can work with your students to create projects together.
  3. Use it for group work: Canva Whiteboard is also a great tool for group work. You can create a canvas for each group and allow them to collaborate on their project in real-time. There are templates they can use for essay planning, researching, idea boards…
  4. Share it with students: Once you’ve finished working on a Canva Whiteboard canvas with your students, you can share it with them so they can continue to work on it independently. This can be a great way to encourage independent learning and creativity.

Using Canva Whiteboard in your classroom, can foster collaboration and creativity among your students, whether you’re teaching in-person or remotely. 

Here’s how to find it:

1. Log into your Canva account at canva.com

  • Click on “Continue with Microsoft”
  • Use our school district email and password to log in

2.  How to get to the Whiteboards:

  • Type whiteboard in the search space or
  • click on Whiteboards at the top – This will show you some templates. Select one and try it out. Or
  • click on Whiteboard after “You might want to try…” – This will create a blank one. There are templates on the left
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