I'm a Google Innovator!!!!

Long post alert….you’ve been warned!

Beginning of June…submit application for the Google Innovator Program in Venice Beach, California

End of June….received notification that I have been accepted into the Google Innovator Program

July 9, landed in LAX, walked from terminal 5 to 3 to meet Sean and back to 5 to meet Jennifer, hugged it out and got picked up by An in her Google Innovator Taxi-van.  Smiles, hugs, and warm welcomes all  around.

We headed straight to the YouTube offices where we met all of the amazing members of the #LAX18 cohort as well as our awesome coaches!  It was awesome to finally be able to put a face with a name after conversing via Twitter, Google Hangout and Flipgrid in the weeks prior.  We were fortunate enough to go on a tour and see the creative spaces.  On the day that we were there, Kids Bop was recording!  How cool is that?  Our tour guides gave us the low down on how content creators (YouTubers) start to monetize their channels and how they can earn the opportunity to come and record content at the YouTube space.  It had a very creative and innovative feeling walking through that space.  A lot of the rooms were blank canvases, ready for content creators to come and turn them into sets to film content, which I though was very fitting for the experience that we were about to embark on.  We walked into this journey with an idea of a problem in education that we wanted to solve and a blank canvas for how we wanted to solve it….sounds simple, right??

Checking in!

Photo bombed by Mark Wagner!

Innovator Swag!

The lanyard makes it real!

From there we headed over to the Google Venice offices where we received our official Innovator t-shirts and lanyards!  Talk about an “ahhhhhhhhh” moment!  Some of our cohort members, Manuel and Sadie, created us all personalized buttons with the Innovator lightbulb and our faces!  I told you we had some talented folks!  I presented everyone with an Atlanta Braves flag.  Hey, I had to bring a little bit of the south to my peeps!  We received other swag and goodies from our new friends.  Everyone was so thoughtful and amazing!  And then...there's the food!  If Google does one thing well….it’s food.  More about that later!  

Team "Beats of LA!"

We were formally introduced to our coaches and put onto teams.  My team was “Beats of LA” and was lead by the amazing Jornea!  Our team was made up of Misty, An, Chip, Ian, and John.  We had to come up with a team song in addition to a name.  We jumped into our BreakoutEDU boxes and took turns breaking into each other’s box.  The stories that came about through this activity were very personal and heart touching.  This was the perfect activity to bring us all together.  It was in this moment that I grew closer to the team that I had just met!  We also collaborated on how to create the perfect chair by thinking BIG but starting small.  Then we competed against each other in an epic “rock, paper, scissors” type battle until the T’Challa Water Chair was the last design standing!  You had to be there!  

We were told that we would be excitedly uncomfortably while we were at the academy and that was definitely the case!  It was during the opening presentation that we learned that we were 1 of 37 members of the #LAX18 cohort and 1 of 1700 Google Innovators across the world!  Say what???  I can’t lie, I definitely experienced some “imposter syndrome” (@edtechari) wondering how little old me deserved to be in the presence of the other 36 phenomenal innovators that were chosen as well as the coaches!  Like how did I deserve this?  I definitely took several deep breaths and centered myself in gratitude.  I know there there were obviously people that believed in me and my idea and felt I was worthy of being there, so why shouldn’t I?

Les and I!

We were immediately thrown into learning all about the design thinking process and Les took us through it all!  She joked that she got paid to be a professional interrupter and I do believe that it’s true!  Every time you thought you were getting deep into thought, she turned on a dime and brought us back together to consider something else.  It was fast paced and I understand why.  She didn’t give us too much time to think about things as she didn’t want us pondering, questioning our thoughts, and changing our minds  for hours.  Her whole thing was to get our ideas out on paper, IN SHARPIE!!!!!!!  Once it was out into the atmosphere, you could then make alterations as needed going through an iterative process.  

At the end of the first day, we were greeted at our hotel with a mystery delivery of a candy filled taco piñata!  I can’t make this stuff up!  Somehow, the “mascot” if you will, for our time together was a taco and it took on a serious life of it’s own!  I’m talking taco stickers, taco blow up life rafts, actual tacos, taco cookies….this group is UBER creative!  

Presenting my prototype to Team "Beats of LA!"

Day 2 was probably the most intense as we really delved into our projects and even more of the design thinking process.  We sketched out ideas, created a prototype, got feedback on our ideas, gave feedback to others.  It was definitely one of the most intense things I’ve ever been through, simply because of the pace.  BUT the quick pace was NEEDED to move everything along. It made sense!  Day 2 happened to be Tuesday and in alignment with the theme, it was a Taco Tuesday!  Complete with a live guitarist, a magician, massage chairs, caricature artists and a full taco bar!  It was a night to decompress from the intensity of the day, fellowship with our cohort and really begin to wrap our minds around all that we had accomplished that day.

Day 3, the last day, was definitely bittersweet.  We wrapped up our prototypes, received even more feedback and put together a 90 second pitch that we would share with a group of about 15 of our peers.  We then received their feedback.  I’m going to step out on a limb and include my pitch here.  I definitely welcome any feedback that you have to offer.  Keep in mind this is a new project idea and it’s in the very beginning phases!

Throughout the academy we were also able to hear from all of our coaches in the form of Spark Sessions!  They didn’t disappoint!  Mark Wagner offered words  on “More, Now.”  Being in the moment and dreaming BIG to change the future.  Jornea Erwin offered her 3 keys of resilience for the art of living.  She shared her love of New Orleans and her passion for life!  David Chan spoke about the importance of doing right by children in a creative podcast themed way!  Ari Flewelling spoke about having imposter syndrome and why we question the goodness that comes to us in our lives.  To stop wondering why you, and start asking why not you?  Michael Kosko took us through an epic crowd sourcing activity after talking to us about a gaming app that addressed medical advances in HIV/AIDS research.  And last but not least, the ever so witty, Micah Shippee exposed us to some AR awesomeness and even gifted us all a Merge Cube!  Each of these sessions, although very different were extremely inspiring!  I can’t wait to take bits and pieces from all of them and merge them into my daily practice!

I created the Google "G" on my nail!

We were also able to take part in Sparks put on by some of our cohort members.  I learned how to do nail art with Lisa, the basics of sketch noting and creating with Manuel, and gameifying your class with Ben.  It was cool to learn from our peers on what their passions were.  Other sessions including beat boxing and spoken word, juggling, aquaponics, breakdancing, coffee making, and others!  

Two innovators from previous cohorts called in through Google Hangout to share their growing pains and successes with us. Derek Doucet and Quin Henderson were awesome and took time to answer our questions.  I immediately connected with Quin as our projects, although different, look to solve the same problem in education. 

It's officially official!

Once the pitches were complete, we walked across the stage in our graduation ceremony.  Members from previous cohorts came back to offer us words of advice for going forward.  That was an awesome surprise!  Being able to see friends like Ken Shelton and Meghan Kelly made me smile and I was grateful that these people traveled all the way to Venice to offer us words of wisdom and celebrate with us.   

The problem that I am passionate about solving in the field of education, aligns with my dissertation research.  I am looking to address the issue of teacher attrition for new teachers within their first 3-5 years of teaching.  My solution (in its current iteration, as I’m sure there are plenty more to come) is to first, create a YouTube video explaining why I want to address this issue, what the send of urgency is in solving it, and how I want to solve it.  I am also going to create a website that will host more information, FAQ’s and interest forms for new teachers that want to receive a virtual mentor as well as veteran teachers that want to serve as virtual mentors.  I am going to match the new teachers with their mentors after going through their interest forms and announce them on a “Match Day!” Kind of like how they do in medical school!  We will meet virtually as a collective unit and then each pair will meet monthly via tools like Google Hangouts and Flipgrid with a monthly focus that addresses the growing pains that come with being a new teacher.  Most new teachers receive a face to face mentor at their schools once they begin teaching, however there is something to be said about having a mentor that is outside of your school and district to bounce ideas off of and to begin to grown your PLN.  I hope that by having new teachers paired with veteran teachers, I can address teacher attrition in some form, shape or fashion.  

Since leaving the academy, I’ve already come up with a name for my project, started creating the bones to my website, created a logo, and have started drafting the curriculum!  My brain has not shut off since leaving!  And I’m loving every minute of it!  In the next few weeks, we’ll be matched up with our Innovator Mentor and I can’t wait to see who it is!!!!  Eeeeekkkkk!!!!
Going through the Google Innovator Academy made me excitedly uncomfortable, took me out of my comfort zone, exposed me to some amazingly innovative educators and fanned the flame for my passion to help solve a problem in the educational space.  I am so humbled, grateful and eternally thankful that I chosen out of 400 applications to be a part of such a life changing experience.  I don’t take the responsibility lightly at all.  I look forward to keeping in touch with the innovators of #LAX18, seeing how their projects progress, failing forward, thinking BIG, wanting and demanding more, now, and watching us all change the world of education, one innovative idea at a time!

Team "Beats of LA!" after graduating!

#GoogleEI
#LAX18

ISTE 2018....that's a wrap!!!

Well...#ISTE18 is officially over and I, along with my brain, legs and feet are TIRED!!!!!  I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel, waiting to check out and thought I'd jot down my highlights from this amazing conference!  As I'm reflecting, this post may be a little all over the place, so bear with me!  Update....I am now home, unpacked and finishing this post!  😀

First, Chicago is BEAUTIFUL!  This is my third time visiting The Windy City, The Second City, whatever you want to call it, but this was definitely my favorite visit!  Probably because of all of the like minded individuals that I was surrounded by while I was here!

ISTE is a time to connect with all of your ed tech colleagues and friends from around the WORLD!  While here, I was able to connect with colleagues from Australia, Canada, and all across the United States.

So....here are SOME of my takeaways:

1. I am UBER inspired to REALLY learn how to sketch note, like for real this time, by listening and being around Sylvia Duckworth (@sylviaduckworth) and Wanda Terral (@wterral)!  Wanda sketched the opening keynote and at the time that I'm typing this, she has over 490 retweets and 966 likes on this ONE post!  She was so excited that this post had such a far reach!  And it's REALLY a well deserved honor for her!  If you know Wanda like I know Wanda, she pours her whole heart into all of her sketches!  Congratulations, Wanda!
2. There are some new updates coming to Google for Education and I am so excited to dive into them and share them with my team in Atlanta Public Schools!  Pretty soon you will be able to keep your students from being distracted during a quiz by locking quizzes in Google Forms.  You'll be able to create quizzes directly in your Google Classrooms.  You will also be getting some more organization features within Google Classroom.  I might be the most excited about that one!  The Training Center is getting an update and will be called the Teacher Center.  There are a ton more updates coming, so get ready!  Read more about them here:  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/live-iste-12-google-education-launches-save-time-creativity/
3. Microsoft for Education is rocking and rolling with new and updated accessibility features across their apps including but not limited to Sway and One Note!  If you have not checked these out, you definitely need to.  They bring learning to the levels of all of our students and make reading and fluency so much easier!  You are able to make your screens larger, and brighter.  There is a narrator built in that can read the text to you. It will highlight the text as it reads. It can break down the syllables so as you are reading, it makes the words more digestible.  These tools make sure that all students are able to learn, the way that they need to each and every day! 
4. In case you have been living under a rock and haven't heard....my AMAZING friends at Flipgrid talked to my AMAZING friends at Microsoft and now FLIPGRID IS FREE FOR ALL EDUCATORS!!!!   This is the most AMAZING news ever!!!!!  Now everyone gets to take advantage of unlimited grids and not be confined to recording limits, etc!  If you're not yet using Flipgrid, let THIS be the year that you dive in! Check it out here:  www.flipgrid.com
   
5. zSpace has announced that they are releasing a NEW more portable augmented reality device!  They are going to release AR laptops!!!  Say what!?!?!?  Our district will be the FIRST district in the world to get their hands on them and we are SUPER excited about it!  Check out the Forbes article announcing it's release, including thoughts from my executive director, Dr. Aleigha Henderson Rosser here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2018/06/25/the-biggest-ar-company-youve-never-heard-of/#70b4703c282a
6. The power of a tweet should NEVER be underestimated!  In line with Wanda's AMAZING tweet-feat, I snapped a picture during a presentation by Laura Bradley (@LAMBRADLEY) while she presented about coding at the EdTechTeam booth.  It was a quote by Jamie Casap and boy has it traveled!  At the time that I'm typing this, it has 221 retweets and 478 likes with a reach of 32,365 impressions!  The picture is below!  I think that it's the most genius thing that we can do for our students to dive into inquiry (Trevor, see what I did there?) and REALLY work towards solving real world problems THROUGH learning the content. 
   
7. I met sooooo many AMAZING people this year!  This is going to be a LOT of "I met" so hang on!  I met the actual creator of Google Docs!  I met Captain Kindness (who you TOTALLY need to follow through her father's Twitter account @BrianRSmithSr).  I FINALLY met Claudio Zavala Jr from #singasong!  I met a lot of my Innovator #LAX18 peeps!  Glad to say that I'll actually go into the experience in a few weeks knowing some people!  I met Heather Dowd from EdTechTeam, who I've been working with and Google Hang-outing with for months regarding Applied Digital Skills!  She is much taller in person!  😀 I met THE Eric Curts from controlaltachieve.com, and on his birthday I might add!  If you haven't checked out his blog, you NEED to!  Trust me!  Mark Wagner, the CEO of EdTechTeam was amazing!  He even autographed a copy of his new book, More Now, for me!  I can't wait to dive into it!  THE Dee Lanier was just as awesome in person as he is on the internet!  There are a TON more people that I met!  And of course I took pictures with them all!  There is a link to my #ISTE18 photo album at the end of this blog!
8. It was TOTALLY inspiring to see so many ed tech people of color at ISTE this year!  One of Microsoft's Hack the Classroom keynotes was a teacher from the DC area who looked just like me!  She's doing phenomenal things with her elementary students in getting them to read using accessibility tools.  Check her out at @meryljgravey !  There were students of color presenting and checking out the exhibit hall!  My Our Voice Academy cohort members (new and old) where everywhere!  We had an awesome meet up and go to chat with Jennie and her bump! 
   
   And to top it off, my friend, Ken Shelton (@k_shelton) received the 2018 Digital Equity Excellence Award from the Digital Equity Network!  He is sooooo deserving of this honor!  He lives, breathes, and eats digital equity for ALL students, EVERY day!  I think it's soooo important for us to share these types of success stories with our students of color that need inspiration to continue to dream and know that ALL things are possible!
   
9. It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to do and see EVERYTHING!  While I did get lay eyes on a lot of my edtech peeps from Google, Microsoft, EdTechTeam, Our Voice Academy, and my Innovator #LAX18 cohort, scrolling through Twitter, I realize that there are a LOT of people that I didn't get to see and there are some awesome sessions that I didn't get to attend.  While scrolling through, I definitely felt the FOMO, but what I've come to realize is that there is value in the time that I spent with those that I did see as well as valuable takeaways from the sessions that I did get to attend.  I was EXACTLY where I needed to be and I was with who I needed to be with!
10. One of the moments that stuck out to me was at Hack the Classroom and included Toney @herhymeswithme (from the Surface commercials currently airing on TV).  I tweeted (of course I did) during his portion of this event.  He stated that EVERY student deserves to be heard and none of their voices deserves to be silenced!  Students should wander AND wonder!  But what REALLY got me was when he said that students are what stands in between what currently is and what COULD BE!  Let that sink in....I'll leave you with that!

And of course, I had to get my hands on the original Garrett's Popcorn and some Chicago deep dish pizza from Giordanos!  Delicious!!!!

Regardless if you were in Chicago this week or not, be sure to follow the hashtags, #ISTE18, #ISTE2018, #notatiste, and #notatiste18 to learn all about the amazing things that happened!

Here's a link to my Google Photo Album with all of my #ISTE18 fun!!!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zH5LdNgmX33sZ4QRA

I look forward to ISTE being back in Philadelphia again next year and maybe I'll even run up the infamous ROCKY steps while I'm there!

After flight delays due to rain, we finally made it back home to Atlanta!  Chicago was amazing and the learning and networking was phenomenal!  Thanks to all that made attending ISTE 18 such an awesome experience!  Adios, Chicago!

What was your favorite part about attending ISTE this year?  What were your biggest takeaways?

#ISTE2018 Bound???

It's June....and as a technology educator, you know what that means!!!  It's time for ISTE 2018!!!  ISTE is the LARGEST international technology conference in the world and brings in hundreds of thousands of educators from all over the place!  This year, ISTE will be located in Chicago, IL.

I remember attending my very first ISTE when it was located in Atlanta, GA (my backyard) many years ago!  Since then, it has been in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Antonio.  That first year was UBERLY (yes that's a word!) overwhelming!  I remember going into the exhibit hall and being taken back at how many vendors were there, and even more so, how many attendees were there to visit those vendors!  I didn't know which sessions to attend.  I didn't know which presenters I wanted to see.  It was definitely a LOT to take in!  Sooooo, with all of the hype about ISTE in a few short weeks, I thought about putting together a quick blog post with my top 10 tips that I THINK will make you have a fantastic experience!

1. WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES!!!!!  This is the most important ISTE tip that I can give you!  You will do a LOT of walking around the exhibit hall, to and from sessions, to breakfasts, lunches and dinners, etc!  Break them in NOW while you still have a few weeks to put some miles on them!  Trust me on this one!  I learned this valuable lesson after it was hosted in Atlanta.  Whew!
2. Wear comfortable clothes!  You will see people dressed SUPER DUPER comfy all the way to business professional.  Find where you fit in the mix and dress accordingly.  Some of the rooms can get a little chilly so you may want to bring a sweater or cardigan, just in case.
3. Do your research!  Research the keynote speakers so you know what to expect.  The opening keynote speaker is David Eagleman.  Read all about him here.  Go online BEFORE You get there and pick out some sessions that you want to attend.  Categorize them by: "must attend" and "would like to attend."  You will be exhausted as you are walking throughout the conference and may decide that you want sit and chat with some new friends instead of attending a session.  Or perhaps you want to spend some more time in the exhibit hall rather than attend a session.  Leave your options open!
4. Meet people!  Don't be afraid to talk to people.  Talk to the people sitting next to you in your sessions.  Talk to those people that you bump into in the exhibit hall.  Make connections!  I've met some AMAZING people at ISTE!  What's even better is when you FINALLY meet someone that you've been stalking, I mean following on Twitter for a while!  You will definitely have some fan girl/boy moments while you're there! 
5. Explore the exhibit hall.  I have spent a TON of time in the exhibit halls at ISTE and this is where I've gained a lot of the PL from!  It's great to meet the people behind the products and really get to pick their brains about how to use different tech tools in different and innovative ways.  Be sure to check out the vendors that you both know about already and ones that may be new to you.  There are a PLETHORA (my favorite SAT word) of awesome companies that you have no idea even existed.  So be sure to schedule time in your day to check them all out!
6. Bring your business cards.  You will meet a ton of people and will want to exchange contact information quickly.  Besides following each other on Twitter, you also want to bring your business cards with you to quickly exchange your information.  Be sure to carry a pen with you and jot down notes on the back of cards that people give to you so you are able to make the connection back to that person when you get back home.  QUICK TIP: By the way, in your registration bag, you will get a booklet of entry cards to enter various giveaways in the exhibit hall.  Save the time of filling them out by bringing some tape or a mini stapler and attaching your business card to the entry forms.  This is a TOTAL time saver and you can thank me later for this quick tip!  😀
7. Save some space in your luggage for all of the goodies you'll get!  You will walk away with tshirts, posters, books, hand sanitizers, lip balms, manipulatives, brochures, pamphlets, etc.  You'll want to have somewhere to stash all of that to get it back home.  So, save a little room in your suitcase for all that you'll be bringing back with you! QUICK TIP: You may want to make your way to a Garrett's Popcorn and get you a few bags of the Chicago Mix (caramel and cheese popcorn) to bring back home with you.  I may or may not have brought back an ENTIRE suitcase full of this popcorn the last time I was in Chicago...just sayin'!
8. Take it all in.  Again, you will be 100% totally overwhelmed when you are at ISTE and once you leave.  Take the time to take it all in!  You can't believe how many educators across the world WISH they had the opportunity to attend this amazing experience!  Guess what??  You get to go!!!  So take it all in and be ready to share the knowledge that you gain while you're there!  Don't keep all of the goodness to yourself.  Pass it along!  Each one, teach one!
9. Don't try to do EVERYTHING once you get back to your schools.  Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT attempt to try to come home after ISTE and implement EVERYTHING that you learn.  Pick a few things to become an expert in and perfect those!  You can't be a master at all of the things!
10. Decompress on the way home and in the days to come.  Whew!  You will leave ISTE feeling like a superstar that can and will want implement each and EVERY idea that you have stumbled across in Chicago!  Once you leave ISTE, take the time to decompress and marinate on all the new knowledge that you gain while you're there.  This is an important step and will help you in deciding what you want implement and what sounded good in the moment.  You may get home and realize that something that you were super excited about while you were at ISTE, won't work, or perhaps isn't the right fit for your classroom or your teachers.  Breathe. Review your notes. And THEN figure out your next steps!  

So there you have it.  My top 10 tips for a newbie attending ISTE.  I can't wait to hear all about your experiences while you're there!  And if you see me there, say hi!  I'd love to meet you!  What are you most looking forward to while at ISTE?  Safe travels!

Sir-Links-A-Lot

This is DEFINITELY my mood after receiving a comment from Curt Schleibaum on my last blog about his extension called Force Copy.

As if the Force Copy extension (read more about it here:  http://natasharachell.blogspot.com/2018/04/force-copy.html) wasn't the business by itself....along comes Sir-Links-A-Lot!

This extension allows you to not only force copy, but to create a preview link, a template link and even a PDF all from ONE CLICK!!!  How cools is that?  Having the option to do all 4 of these things in one space is a total time saver!!!  Keep in mind that you must be logged into your GSuite tools (ie. Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc) to be able to use this extension.  I love that if you attempt to click it and you're not in your GSuite tools, it gives you a nice little reminder that you need to use this extension in one of the tools!  Be sure to check this one out!  

I absolutely LOVE that there are innovative educators out there that find solutions to issues that they experience.  Sometimes there are simply just smarter ways to do things that make our lives a little bit easier and dare I say, happier!  This extension is one of them!  Thanks to Curt for reaching out and sharing Sir-Links-A-Lot with me!  It truly is the bees knees!!!  

Have you checked this one out yet?  How will you use it?

Force a Copy!

Here's a quick Friday tip that will save you some time!!

About a month ago I stumbled across a Google Chrome Extension that has CHANGED MY LIFE!!!!  Yes, it's THAT dramatic!!!

Follow me for a sec....you've all been here.  You've created a Google Doc, Sheets or Slides and you need to share it with someone but force them to make a copy of it.  In the past you've had to take the shared link, add it to a new browser, delete the ending and add the word "copy" to the end the link.  You then share that link with whoever you want to be able to make a copy of the awesomeness that you want to share.  Are you with me?

No longer do you have to do allllll of that!  Go to your Chrome Webstore and download: "Ed Tech Heroes Force Copy."

Now, all you have to do is this....When you've created your Doc, Sheets, or Slides and you're ready to share it with people to make a copy, simply click on the extension in your tool bar and BAM!  It does it for you!!!  You just click on "copy" to get the link that you need and share that with your peeps!

TOTAL TIME SAVER!!!  Trust me on this one, peeps!  You NEED this extension in your life!  Have you found any cool extensions lately?  Share them out!

Have an awesome weekend!

Earth Day 2018 Ideas (tech and non tech)!

Earth Day is on Sunday, April 22, 2018!  Have you thought about what you and your students can do to make this an exciting event?  As a former high school science teacher, I always used to come up with activities that my students could participate in that would bring awareness to the importance of taking care of our earth, not just for us, but for generations to come!  Consider making your classroom paperless (if it's not already) for the week of Earth Day 2018!  Using FREE tools like Google Classroom, Twitter, YouTube, Microsoft, and Flipgrid (to name a few) to deliver your content and have students create AMAZING products that allow them to do things like raise awareness, start conversations, change minds and drive change (for example) will make a HUGE difference in the way that you teach and the way that they learn!  

I LOVE this graphic that I found on social media a few years ago and I STILL see floating around the Twitter-sphere.  I have no idea where it came from originally, although I wish I did so I could give credit to the creator!  I did not create it and can't take credit for it, however all these years later, it's STILL extremely relevant!  

Keep in mind that technology is NEVER the b all and end all about what we do as educators in our classrooms!  Technology is simply the tool to deliver the content to the students AND for students to to create products that do those things you see on the right hand side of the graphic above!

So, Earth Day is all about raising awareness about the way that we treat our precious earth!  I wanted to share some tech and non-tech options for Earth Day activities.  Some of the things that you can do with your students are here:

• Have students take Earth Day quizzes:  https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-quiz/
• Have students calculate their Ecological Footprint:  https://www.earthday.org/take-action/footprint-calculator/   

• Have students create their own memes about what the earth might have said in the year 1900 versus in the year 2018!  Here's a template you can use here:  https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1H4EtDSyScuOG7cT-kPkAzhUgSehAN-pANjxC5EA63QU/copy
• Have students create a poster via Google Drawings about saving the earth and have them post them around the school.
• Have students sign a "Digital Pledge" to pledge to make a difference for the week of Earth Day.  Here's an example:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gr6x8S1_95kQB3GScvGQkWwctc5rxo1faEYdm9YpgsA/copy

• Here are a TON of Earth Day activities found on TeacherVision:  https://www.teachervision.com/holidays/earth-day
• Have students create their own YouTube videos (maybe using green screen) about why taking care of the earth is important.
• Students can create their own interactive Sways  (www.sway.com) about the importance of saving our earth. 
• What would Earth Day be without The Lorax by Dr. Seuss? I would show The Lorax to my class every year on Earth Day! We would even create Truffela Trees...YES, in HIGH SCHOOL! Here's a link to some resources and activities surrounding one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books/movies:  http://www.seussville.com/loraxproject/

• There are some great resources on the My Garbology site that allow kids to understand which items should be recycled, composted, reused and put into a landfill:  http://www.naturebridge.org/garbology.php
• Flipgrid is a NO BRAINER to use for Earth Day and will allow for your kids to verbalize their pledges to make the earth a better place! There are OVER 2,000 educator created topics about Earth Day waiting for you to check out!

 Flipgrid is FREE, but if you are interested in exploring the FULL classroom version FREE for 45 days, you can use the code: RACHELL to check it out!

So there you go!  A few Earth Day activities to get you going!  This is JUST the top of the iceberg!  What will you be doing with your students surrounding Earth Day?  Let us know!