Waffle Bytes

A great comparison of TL;DR Chrome extensions from Justin Cowen at Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District (in the UP!) - check it out! If you have never heard the term TL;DR before, it stands for "too long; didn't read." It is a common phrase you can find on message posts around the internet but now it can also be used in your web browser. There are a couple of different Chrome Extensions that can provide your learners with the ability to TL;DR a website. These extensions have several benefits to help those in your classroom and assist those that need a little extra assistance. TL;DR extensions can help students judge a website quickly while researching to see if it contains information they need. The extensions can also remove districting images from the text and help keep the learners on task. Lastly, TL;DR extensions can also help the struggling reader in your classrooms. Instead of being overwhelmed by giant articles, a student with readi...

The Michigan Open Book Project is a multi-year project to provide Michigan social studies teachers with OER (Open Educational Resources) textbooks that can be downloaded, modified, and used in their classrooms.  These are FREE resources (as licensed under Creative Commons) that you can modify to best meet your needs!  From the site: "A simple math problem:  T+D+TE=MOBP T = Textbooks - your district spends thousands of dollars on them, but they were written for other states and by the time they make it to you, they're already out of date. D = Devices - your district is getting more devices every year.  Perhaps an update to the aging computer lab.  Perhaps a mobile lab of tablets to check out for your classroom.  Maybe you're going 1:1.  Whatever the scenario, more devices are making their way into Michigan schools each year. TE = Teacher Empowerment - The best teachers know their content and know ho...

Awesome Table was an add-on that made sharing information from a spreadsheet very easy in the old Google Sites.  Guess what?  You are able to insert an Awesome Table in the New Google Sites! This is a dynamic way to share spreadsheet data - even data that changes often - and make it searchable for visitors to your website. Make your spreadsheet of data: Look like this on your website: Step 1: Set up your spreadsheet Here are their directions for setting up the spreadsheet: https://support.awesome-table. com/hc/en-us/sections/ 115000315609-Basic- configuration The basics - create your spreadsheet, making sure each column has a header at the top.  Add a second header row that sets up the filters and keywords - these tell Awesome Table how to display your spreadsheet. Step 2: Connect the Aweome Table service with your Google Account Once you set your spreadsheet up, you will need to log into this site with your Google Account: https://awesome-tabl...

From the Michigan Electronic Library - Did you notice that MeL's A-Z journal list went missing there for a little bit this summer? We went out to bid for a service that could meet this need for the Michigan eLibrary and opted to change vendors. We're now using EBSCO's Full Text Finder. It includes the ability to both search and browse for titles. While searching, a keyword suggestion drop-down menu will appear to assist you. Once you have a list of results you can refine your search via facets located on the left hand side of the screen that include the ability to limit via various subjects, to peer-reviewed journals and by resource type such as "report" or "newsletter." Just like with the former A-Z list, once you have a result Full Text Finder will show you each database in MeL that contains access to that title, the years available, and a link to reach it. The browsing list contains subject areas such as Health & Medicine or Relig...