Looking for an online public discussion platform designed to facilitate debates about any topic?  Try !��

Kialo allows educators to create and curate focused spaces for students to work through any topic together.  It gives students and teachers the space to ask questions, discuss, and evaluate new ideas.

The interface makes it easy to visualize pro and con arguments in an interactive tree. At the top is the thesis, which is supported or weakened by pro and con arguments underneath. 

Below are some resources to help you get started:

Training videos delivered to your inbox each week to get you started using G Suite for Education

Interested in the FUNDAMENTALS of Google for Education?
Want video-based tutorials on Drive, Docs, Classroom, Forms, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and Gmail?
Willing to spend less than 15 minutes a week to learn new digital skills?

Here’s your chance:
Getting Started with Google for Education is an 8-week training program that delivers bite-size training tutorials directly to your inbox.  Each lesson takes less than 15 minutes to complete and provides basic training videos to get you started with G Suite for Education.

Sound too basic? Need something different to meet your needs?

Learning never stops

Dedicated educators are lifelong learners. With that in mind, Google has designed free, online training for the classroom that helps educators do what they do best, even better.

Distinguish yourself as an educator

Get certified to be recognized for the work you’ve done. Google offers two educator certifications so that you can show mastery at the level that’s right for you. Use the content in the teacher center and your own teaching experience to best prepare you for the performance-based exams. Once you feel adequately prepared, exams are available online and the educator certifications can be achieved at any time.  (Check the Wellesley PD offerings for a course designed to prepare you for the Level 1 Certified Educator Exam.)

is a FREE resource if you are looking for an easy way to collect, store, and share content with your students and colleagues? THIS visual content curation tool allows you to compile links (including google drive), tweets, images, text, videos, and pdf’s in one place . Each collection can then be shared via a link or QR code.  You can even embed it on your website. Another great thing about Wakelet is that you can continue to add/edit resources even after you’ve shared the link. 

Some resources to help get you started:

• • is a quick video on getting started with Wakelet.   
  • Download this useful
  • post gives you some ideas of how to use Wakelet in the classroom.

Both GMail and Google Drive are changing (or have already changed) the way they look, also known as its “user interface”…

Making the switch:

• In GMail, currently, you can CHOOSE whether or not to update your user interface by clicking the gear and selecting “Try the new ����ֱ�� Mail” [You can also switch back to the “classic GMail,” but likely you will eventually be forced to the new GMail with no option to switch back.]
• Your WPS Google Drive automatically switched to the new user interface sometime last week – this is/was not a choice nor can you switch back!

While the changes in Google Drive are mostly “cosmetic”, there are some new features in GMail to call your attention to:

1. 1. A new, right-hand Sidebar allows quicker access to Calendar, Google Keep & Tasks
   2. Smart Reply ​might ​suggest ​responses based ​on ​the ​email ​you ​receive. ​To ​save ​time, select ​a ​response ​(edit ​it ​if ​you ​want), ​and ​send your ​reply.
   3. Take action on an email directly from the inbox (without “opening” the message).  Quickly ​archive, ​delete, ​mark ​as ​unread ​or ​read, and ​snooze ​email ​from ​your ​inbox. ​Point ​to messages ​in ​your ​inbox ​and ​choose ​an ​option.
   4. If ​you +​m��Գپ��Dz� someone in the body of your email ​with ​a ​plus ​(+) ​or ​at ​(@) ​sign, ​Gmail automatically ​adds ​them ​to ​your ​email ​as a ​recipient.
   5. Use the clock icon to Snooze ​email ​until ​exactly ​when ​you ​need ​it. ​The email ​moves ​out ​of ​your ​inbox ​and ​opens ​again ​at a ​time ​you ​choose.
   6. GMail will now “” users to reply to emails they may have missed and to follow up on emails for which they haven’t received a response.

For more detailed instructions about these new features, and others, check out the following:

To save or print this handout click .

Today, I am including their catchy Pause & Think Online Video.
(Classroom posters are available as well, .)

The website is a wealth of information…definitely worth checking out…their blog  has some great posts focused on “parenting, media and everything in between.”