As we head into May, schools are in busy season and it is the time of year where many classrooms are preparing for end of course exams and projects, with summer on the horizon. It is not unusual to hear a countdown until summer mentioned on a campus. In a Voxer chat that I am a part of, an idea came up to use social media to shift the focus away from a countdown and on to the great things happening in classrooms up until the #lastbell. Beginning May 2 and every weekday during May, we are encouraging teachers and administrators to share moments on social media up until that #lastbell. We think that by highlighting learners and educators up until the #lastbell, you will spark enthusiasm and maybe a bit of innovation.  Use social media to highlight the amazing classroom experiences that are happening in your school. Encourage teachers and administrators to snap a quick picture, take a short video or share a student product through social media and let us all learn from what is happening in your school.

Teacher Appreciation week is the first week in May. Sharing something that you see in a classroom is one of the biggest compliments that you can give to a teacher. Share those moments by tagging teachers teaching to that #lastbell in May.

We all know that there are some days in May that are less structured than normal school days.  May is the perfect time to encourage teachers to go out on those skinny branches and try some new strategies and expand the practices that they are currently using. Use these days to push out a new idea or tool that teachers might want to take for a test run with their students. I believe that if our school culture embraces the #lastbell movement and the expectation exists that great things are happening up until the #lastbell then that is what we will see in our classrooms. 

Chrome is my go to browser and I really love it when I find add-ons that save me time.

Recently I have added a couple of add-ons that not only have saved me time but increased the efficiency of my work flow.   goo.gl URL Shortener is one add on that has made it's way to my chrome menu bar. I use to copy and past long URL's in a separate window and use bit.ly to shorten the link. There is a much simpler solution. Install goo.gl URL Shortener and when you go to the website that you need a shortened URL for, just click on the extension and select copy.  You can also click QR Code and the add-on will auto generate a QR code for you. This is what you'll see:

It's like magic and fast! (Ok, it's really not magic but the first couple of times it feels like it is.)

The second Google Add-On I recently added is Black Menu.

Once you install the add-on you can customize the menu that appears on the left navigation menu and include the google tools you use the most.  If you have multiple google accounts you can add them in the upper right corner where your username appears and switch easily between accounts. 

Have you found add-ons that you really like? Share and let the rest of us know! #WeAreBetterTogether