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"We all know Google Presentations is a great tool for making multimedia slideshows. But did you know it can also be used to make interactive quizzes and "Choose Your Own Adventure" style stories? With Google Presentations ability to link to specific slides you can build a non-linear slideshow that allows the user to make choices and go to different slides depending on their choice. Learn tips and tricks to make this work best, and see how this can be used for you or your students to make interactive quizzes and stories." This looks like fun. Users warn that some of the links to help files don't work, but give it a try.

Detailed lesson plan to get students to use animated RSA style movies to learn and teach each other. Good way to get some critical and creative thinking into your lessons.

Teach-This.com is an interesting site that appears to be developed by teachers for teachers. A typical page, like this one contains a dozen or so activities/lesson plans with a brief description and downloadable pdf files for each. The bottom of the page has links to other topics in the site. The activities specify a learning level, but not age, but almost all are for teens/adult learners. A really good resource, but you'll have to decide for yourself if the activity is appropriate for your own students and teaching style.

Give students a quickie assessment from other students. This could be adapted from paper to an actual Twitter account. Students have to count down to 140 characters, so editing skills are important. Students are thinking about what they've learned and trying to make it succinct. In this model, students share assessments in class as well. Teachers save time, as they don't have to pick out the essential meaning -- the students have to do it for them.

"A week or so ago, someone in the Macmillan marketing department took it upon themselves to send out this tweet. What grabbed my attention was the claim that it is 'a well-known fact' that teaching students a growth mindset makes them perform better academically over time. The easily demonstrable reality (which I'll come on to) is that this is not a fact. It's fake news, being used for marketing purposes. " The article looks at several research projects -- pro and con -- to come to this conclusion. A good read for those sceptical of simplistic, but vague, solutions to the broad, complex problem of school success.

This article makes the point that Moodle just isn't that good, and recommends a handful of really great LMSs that might work for you. Especially noteworthy is Frog Trade, which is an adaptable interface much friendlier for K-6 or K-12 than Moodle.

These are some interesting ideas to assess students and get a fuller picutre of their interests and what they know, understand, and can demonstrate.

As always, I feel like these are just good teaching strategies: we are all visual learners to a large extent. That's why the visual cortex is so important in the brain, and relates to reading as well as seeing. But if you are a fan of Gardner, this is a good article for you.