Notebooking, Teaching, and Technology

  Cosmobuzz.net is a great FREE tool for hosting online review games with students via Zoom or Google Meet. It is basic but does the job of recording who buzzed in first and displaying student answers.  Our district had it blocked for students (it was classified as "gaming") but after reviewing the site I put in a recommendation for it with my full justification and review and it was unblocked. Give it a try with students using simple trivia to learn how the site works and then start building your own academic review games.

Zoom offers some limited canned virtual backgrounds for teachers to use and the ability to upload your own pictures. Last year, when I taught a sketchnoting class online , I changed my background out daily and the kids enjoyed seeing what the picture was going to be. I loved this personalized Zoom background a teacher posted on Twitter and shared it with staff, who instantly wanted to know how to make your own customized background. I made a very simple customized agenda background and put together a quick video to share with teachers who are working hard to get everything set up for the first day of school on Tuesday. If you have some customized virtual Zoom backgrounds you'd like to share, please comment below or post on Twitter and tag me at @techcoachlife .