Welcome back, educator,

I'm out of school. And so glad. My son's wedding is done. I'm done. But not quite.

Tonight I'm teaching an online-only 2.5 CEU course from 5:30 - 8pm EDT, there's still time to register and even if you can't attend, you can get the video and my notes. [Eventbrite Link]

You'll get an unboxing video for my Rise Vision media player that turned my old clunky whiteboard into an amazing wireless screen sharing hub. Learn more about how to update your old projector or screen with Rise Vision, the sponsor of this newsletter.

In the meantime, I've also shared a few things to help you. I hope you'll read the first one for sure.

• ​A Tiny Little Voice - Why your voice matters and how AI-induced arrogance can be a problem (and drown out human voices if we let it)
• ​Stop, Think, Question: A Teacher's Guide to Responsible AI - an interview with Audrey Watters
• ​Teacher Brain Burnout, GPT 4.1 and 8 Other Headlines that Matter​

Here are 16 of my favorite tools we used in my classroom this year:

1. ​Book Creator - still the best ebook creator
2. ​Code Combat - AI/game based tool for teaching Python (and other languages)
3. ​MirrorTalk AI - AI voice reflection tool
4. ​Juicemind (amazing AP Review and live-coding kahoot-like activities) - must use for coding
5. ​MAD-Learn - my favorite app building tool - get a 14 day free trial with this link.
6. ​BoodleBox - an amazing tool that colleges are licensing to give their students access to all of the AI and image generation models
7. ​Canva Education - the presentation tool is still the favorite of students.
8. ​SciSummary - an amazing tool that lets you compare and drill down into research reports. I highly recommend this for higher ed as it is different from the other tools and lets you compare papers and research in ways that are far better than your regular AI tool. Hat tip to Alice Keeler for this one
9. ​Adobe Firefly - generative AI tool
10. ​Gamma - for image creation
11. ​Perplexity Pro - their Labs feature is incredible
12. ​ChatGPT Pro (The $20/month version) - for image creation, infographics, and so much more
13. ​Claude - the free version still has the best coding tool available today, in my opinion
14. ​Rise Vision Media Player - it helps me show everyone's learning as we prompt and work with AI and test various models.
15. ​Feedly -for Reading RSS
16. ​Readwise Reader - to pull things into for reading ana annotating and sending to Readwise, my electronic quote box
17. I have many more tools I use for this blog, newsletter, and such and I did a deep dive into them on part 3 of my 3 part radio/tv/youtube series on personal branding, including an interview with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. If you write, share or research, that is a resource for you.
18. Of course I still use Google Classroom, Google Apps and Services, and Office 365 as well as Microsoft Power Automate (now called Flow) for our digital bulletin and more...
19. Some of these are affiliate links which means I get a small commission if you choose to use the service, nevertheless I would recommend these tools anyway.

Meanwhile I'm getting ready for ISTE...

• ​AI and Edtech Power Hour - Monday June 24 1:30 - 2:30 pm with Gabriel Carrillo, Eric Curts, Jaime Donally, Alice Keeler, Dr. Rachelle Dene Poth, Mike Tholfsen, Victoria Thompson
• ​Innovations in Coding: Game-Based AI Supported Computer Science Teaching - it is a turbo talk at the Grand Hyatt on Sunday , June 29 from 2:45 - 3:15 pm about how I use AI tools to support my AP CSP class (which had a 100% pass rate on my first year teaching it.

There's lots happening and I'm excited about tonight's webinar.

I'm also due for some downtime and rest and ready for that as well. It is a season of loss and hurt for us in our family, and yet, even in this, there is joy and purpose in the jouney.

I hope your summer is great. next week I plan to give you my list of amazing books of summer.

See you later, educator,

Vicki Davis
@coolcatteacher

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