Weekly Inspo vids - Week Two

Aug 12, 2023

∙ Paid

Hey friends,

According to my unscientific FB poll, about a fifth of you have started school already, and about another fifth start this week.

To those of you who are already off and running, I hope it was a great first week. To those of you starting in a couple of days, I wish you a reprieve from the shot of adrenaline at 11 PM on Sunday night. May you start the week well-rested and with the knowledge that you’re in your position for a reason. You’ve got this!

More great resources this week! I love this video. It’s short and sweet and of a type that I enjoy sharing. Something simple that reminds teachers that they have a dramatic impact on every student.

Please continue to vote on the video and “Would you rather?” scenario. It’s always fun to see where everyone lands.

Much love,

Mike

P.S. If you’re not a paid subscriber, consider becoming one before rates go up on Tuesday! See all the benefits here.

Remember, if you’re not a paid subscriber, don’t wait! Rates go up on August 15th. Subscribe now and enjoy our lowest rate $60/year or $6/month for LIFE!

Weekly Video

Use in staff newsletters, encouraging emails, etc.

Harry Styles pauses concert to find former teacher in the crowd

Possible Caption: You have a greater impact than you realize. Keep it up.

Looking for a past video. Check our archive.

Vote below, and we’ll track your favorite videos in our archive.

Would you rather?

Use with students, staff, social media … whatever!

View “Would you rather?” archive (with past results)

Weekly Quote

Use in staff newsletters, bulletin boards, write them on your foreheads … you name it!

Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried but you’ve actually been planted.
Christine Caine

Check out the Weekly Quote archive

Weekly Emailable PD (this is the last free week for all subscribers!)

Use in staff newsletters, emailable PD messages, etc.

Download a PDF with references here, PDF without references here, or JPEGs here.

Weekly Trivia (this is the last free week for all subscribers!)

Use in staff newsletters, encouraging emails, etc.

Question: A standard #2 pencil has enough graphite to draw a line how many miles long?

Answer: Graphite pencils can feasibly draw a line 35 miles long! This is enough to write about 45,000 words. Now, if students could only avoid losing them …

Source: Discover Magazine

Weekly Fun with AI (this is the last free week for all subscribers!)

Send to teachers, keep for yourself … just for laughs!

AI Prompt: English teacher subs PE class. Remembers that life is awesome.

Download to share here.

I often have versions that didn’t quite make the cut. Here’s a slightly different version. Just couldn’t get the hands quite right.

Note: Fun with AI archive will be shared with paid users after Aug 12th

Weekly Help with AI (this is the last free week for all subscribers!)

Tools that make your job a little easier.

Quiz Gecko - Test and Quiz Maker

Truly great student assessments are awesome, but sometimes your teachers just need an old-fashioned multiple-choice quiz. Quiz Gecko can take a file, some copied text, or even a YouTube video and generate quizzes (and flashcards) in just seconds.

Pros:

Decent results in no time
The YouTube feature is great if you want to show a Ted Talk and do a quick post-assessment
Interactive quizzes for students simply by copying and pasting a link

Cons:

The free version is somewhat limited - capping at about 10 questions
Probably don’t want to trust AI just yet with student test info

I think this could be a useful tool for certain situations. For instance, if a teacher has a document that they want to use to generate quiz questions, I’d recommend running it through the free version of Quiz Gecko and copying the questions into your LMS. Not as simple as advertised, but can still save your teachers the hassle of coming up with multiple-choice questions.

Disclaimer: This is not an advertisement or endorsement. I’ll never make any money off of the “Help with AI” section. Also, do your homework. Just because I’m featuring a tool doesn’t mean I trust it completely. AI is a new frontier. Tread wisely.

Note: “Help with AI” archive will be shared with paid users after Aug 12th

The Occasional Bonus Video

Something I came across that didn’t fit into the Inspo Vids category, but still great!

Professor Pranks Students on First Day

If you read the description, you learn this was pre-arranged with a student using a broken phone. Still, pretty effective in eliminating phone power struggles.

Hey, Mike Alpert!