Winter Themed Google Fonts

As I have shared in several previous posts, I have always had a love for fonts. The right typeface can help to communicate information or spice up content.

With the winter season almost here, I decided to share some of my favorite fonts for this chilly time of year.

My favorite place to explore typefaces is Google Fonts, where (as of this writing) Google provides over 1,700 free fonts. You can explore and preview all of these typefaces at https://fonts.google.com/

These fonts can be used by you and your students to add style, personality, and creativity to your Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, Sites, and more. You can easily add any of these fonts to your Google tools by clicking the font menu, choosing "More fonts", and then typing in the font name.

If you are not using Google tools, you can also download the fonts for use in the programs on your computer.

See below for 15 of my favorite fonts for wintertime listed in alphabetical order. Some tie into the snowy side of the season, while others lean into the festivities and fun.

My 2024 RSAC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2024 Raising Student Achievement Conference (RSAC24) in Oak Brook, IL on December 9, 2024.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more RSAC24 information at:

• https://rsac.iarss.org/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at RSAC24, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

Google Sheets for Educators (or Anyone)

Google Sheets is easily one of the most powerful tools in the Google Workspace suite of programs. I use it every day in one way or another.

It can be used for many tasks such as:

• Analyzing student data to identify at-risk students
• Tracking student behavior
• Managing inventory
• Collecting attendance from a PD session and generating certificates
• Providing conditional formatting feedback in learning activities
• Building a learning database for students to draw conclusions from
• Making pixel art
• Creating interactive learning games and activities
• And much more!

Unfortunately many people can feel intimidated by spreadsheets and not be sure where to begin. I want to take that fear away and help ease you into the wonderful world of spreadsheets!

To help with, below you will find an 80-minute recorded webinar on Google Sheets where we cover topics including view options, freezing rows and columns, sorting data, filtering data, formulas, charts and graphs, sparklines, conditional formatting, data validation, and even pivot tables.

You will also find templates you can make copies of to follow along and try out each of the features demonstrated. I am excited to see what you do with these skills, and welcome any questions you have as you learn!

EdTech Links of the Week - 12-4-24

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

AI Tool Spotlight: TeacherServer

New AI tools for education are constantly being created. It can be challenging to stay up to date with what is new, as well as determine the value of each new tool.

To help with this I try to explore as many new tools as I can and then share my findings in my blog.

For this post we are exploring TeacherServer - https://teacherserver.com/

I had been hearing a lot about this tool recently and finally had some time to try it out. And I am so glad that I did!

TeacherServer is an AI prompting tool similar to MagicSchool, Khanmigo, Eduaide and others, where you choose a tool, type your details into a form, and the AI generates your content.

However, TeacherServer has some specific benefits:

• Absolutely Free - TeacherServer is free to use. No ads, no fees, just tools to help you teach.
• Amount of Prompts - There are currently over 800 prompt tools for science, social studies, math, reading, writing, art, music, PE, special ed, leadership, parents, higher ed, research, and more.
• Speed - TeacherServer uses a locally installed AI server, rather than going through ChatGPT, so you get super quick results.
• Full Privacy & Security - All data is processed locally and never stored or shared.

See below for a deeper exploration of this tool. As always please share with me your questions, comments, and suggestions.

What's New in Google - November 2024

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from November 2024, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our November 2024 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda with all the awesome resources and Google updates from the last few months. This includes lots of new Google updates and Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Workspace news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Workspace is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the November 2024 meeting:

Bluesky Starter Tips for Educators

Social media always seems to be changing. Many tools have come and gone (I still remember with fondness my Google+ account) but many more still have come to take their place.

Recently Bluesky has exploded in popularity, adding millions of users over the last few months. Most importantly for me (and maybe for you) many of these users are educators.

Over the last few months I have been thrilled to see how many educators have joined Bluesky. Even better, many are actively posting and participating. In some ways it feels similar to "old education Twitter" for those of us who remember that.

If you haven't joined Bluesky yet, I would encourage you to consider it. The site makes it super easy to connect with others and customize your feed so you see just what you are interested in, making it a more personalized and valuable experience.

To help you get started, I have listed some helpful tips and resources below that got me going with Bluesky. Please share your suggestions as well, and I hope to connect and learn with you there! You can find me at https://bsky.app/profile/ericcurts.bsky.social