Podcast Spotlight: Innovator Insights

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "Innovator Insights" podcast from GAT Labs.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is hosted by Scott Fisher and is described as follows:

Exploring the minds and journeys of today's innovators to inspire tomorrow's leaders. Every episode tells the story of an innovator-someone who has faced challenges, overcome obstacles, and carved a new path in industries like technology, business, education, and beyond. Through their triumphs and setbacks, we uncover the heart of what it means to lead, to innovate, and to shape the future.

I had a wonderful time chatting about:

• How my journey from math teacher to tech integration specialist shaped my approach.
• The challenges of limited resources and how creativity with existing tools can break barriers in education.
• The role of AI in personalizing learning and providing teachers with actionable insights.
• And more!

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

What's New in Google - February 2025

Catch up on everything new in Google Workspace for Education from February 2025, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our February 2025 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 February 2025 meeting:

EdTech Links - Week of 2-17-25

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 Student Learning Activities with Prompts! Interviews, Debates & More

AI can be a powerful tool for educators to help save time, create content, provide feedback, and much more. As helpful as AI can be for teachers, it can also be a powerful tool for students.

Understandably AI use with students may be limited in many schools for several reasons. In some cases the students may be too young to use AI tools, as many times the required age is 13 and above. Or it may be a situation where AI tools are not yet approved by the school.

 

Thankfully there are many ways that AI can still be used with students. These activities involve the teacher managing the AI, but including the students in the learning activity. Some sample AI activities for students that teachers can lead include:

• 🎙️ AI Interview
• ⚖️ AI Debate
• 🧩 AI Games
• ✍️ AI Co-Writing

I recently recorded a new version of my PD session "Today's Special Classroom Guest: Mr. A.I. Chatterbot" where I do a demonstration of each of these activities. See below to watch the recorded video and to access all the prompt templates.

My UCET 2025 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again be presenting at the UCET 2025 Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 25th and 26th.

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 get all of the details about the conference including registration, presenters, sessions, and more on the conference website at:

https://ucet.org/conference/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at UCET 2025, 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!

My 2025 NCTIES Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again be presenting at the 2025 NCTIES Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 5th through 7th.

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 NCTIES information and register for the conference at:

• https://www.ncties.org/2025-registration.html

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at NCTIES 2025, 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!

Give Your Students a Voice - Be An Author Month 2025

This blog post is sponsored by Book Creator, but all opinions are mine.

Book Creator has long been one of my favorite EdTech tools, providing students with both the inspiration and the tools to tell stories, share their ideas, and let their voices be heard.

I have often shared about Book Creator, including how this tool can be used to help students write and illustrate their stories. For more details on that, see my earlier blog post and tutorial video here - "Book Creator Pen Tools - Let Your Inner Illustrator Come Alive!"

Well March is "Be An Author Month" and Book Creator is helping to celebrate it through activities, webinars, templates, and a personal narrative competition for all students.

Writing is a passion of mine, including this blog, my "Control Alt Achieve" book, my poetry for kids, my essays on wellbeing, and more. I am so excited for resources that support and inspire students to write.

See below for all the details on how you can access these free resources and engage your students in the writing activities.