Learning in Hand Issue 39

Issue 39 • June 24, 2025

This is a special edition of the Learning in Hand Newsletter! It’s sponsored by Quizizz, the platform for making interactive classroom activities.

Quizizz has outgrown its name, and they asked me to help reveal their new name and branding!

Pink Pony Piñata 💥

Quizizz sent me a piñata with their new name hidden inside. Watch as I smash it open in slow motion.

I definitely had too much fun filming this!

Tony in a purple shirt and sunglasses holding a baseball bat, posed as if about to swing at a hot pink pony-shaped piñata hanging on playground equipment. Bold text on the image reads: “Quizizz’s new name is in this piñata!” with an arrow pointing fr

Summer Series 📺

Shake Up Learning’s Summer Learning Series 2025 is an online professional learning experience designed specifically for K-12 teachers, coaches, and leaders.

There will be a total of 14 free recorded sessions, with two released each week. Half the sessions have already been released, with new recordings added on Tuesday and Thursdays. Topics include:

🧑‍🏫 AI for teaching and learning
🗂️ AI for classroom management
🎯 Engaging learning experiences
🛠️ Makerspace activities
🧰 Google tools
🗣️ Coaching advice

This spreadsheet gives details and YouTube links for each session.

Tell-Tale Text 🫆

The more you use AI, the more you start to spot its writing habits. Whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or another language model, you’ll notice certain words, phrases, and patterns showing up again and again.

You can try to prompt the AI to sound more casual or creative, but the next time it writes, it tends to slip back into its default style.

I put together a graphic that highlights some of the common signs of AI-generated text.

Just because a piece of writing has a few of these traits doesn’t mean it was written by AI. And on the flip side, AI can write in ways that feel surprisingly human. It depends on how it’s prompted, how much it’s edited, and sometimes just a bit of luck.

Doodle Delights 🕹️

A Google Doodle is a playful version of the Google logo that appears on the homepage to mark holidays, events, or notable people.

The very first Doodle was published in 1998. Since then, they’ve become more creative and complex. In 2010, Google launched its first interactive Doodle to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man. You can still play it today in the Google Doodles Library.

The Google Doodles Library is fully searchable by date, color, topic, or format. If you want to find games specifically, choose “Interactive Game” under format.

I asked ChatGPT for some of the best interactive Doodles. Here’s the list it generated:

🏆 Doodle Champion Island Games (2021): An anime-style adventure featuring Lucky the cat competing in Olympic-inspired mini-games—massive, charming, and educational.
🐰 Coding for Carrots (2017): Teach basic programming by guiding a bunny through puzzles—ideal for introducing young students to coding logic.
👻 Halloween Games (2016): Join a magical black cat across puzzle-filled adventures—perfect for seasonal brain breaks.
🍹 Celebrating Bubble Tea (2023): Students go on a sequence-based boba-making journey—fun for procedural thinking and cultural exploration.
🐍 Snake Game Remake (2013): A modern take on a classic arcade game—fun and easy for indoor recess or free-choice learning time.

Tiny Typing Time-Saver 📲

Tired of typing out your email address again and again using the onscreen keyboard on your iPhone or iPad? You can set up a simple shortcut so that typing @@ automatically fills in your full email address. No more pecking it out every time!

Here’s how to set it up:

Open the Settings app.
Go to General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
Tap the + button in the top right.
In the Phrase box, enter your full email address.
In the Shortcut box, type @@.
Tap Save.

Now, whenever you type @@, it’ll instantly expand to your email. It works in Safari, Mail, Notes, and just about anywhere else you type.

You can use any shortcut phrase you like, but @@ is quick to type and easy to remember for email replacement.

Wayground Wonders 🤩

If you watched the video above, then you know that Quizizz’s new name is Wayground. It’s a name with 3 fewer Zs. Yes, they found a way to have a name that’s easier to say and spell.

Wayground is more than just quizzes. That is one of the reasons for the name change from Quizizz. I started using Quizizz about 10 years ago, not long after it launched. I remember Skyping with one of the founders and being impressed by how responsive the company was to teacher feedback.

I used Quizizz regularly during the 2018–2019 school year when I was in the classroom, but I have not followed every update since then. Now, as Wayground, the platform includes a wide range of features. I recently completed their certification activity, and it was a great way to get caught up. It introduces the basics, quiz design, lesson and live modes, AI tools, real-time and post-quiz analytics, and more.

The certification takes less than an hour. If you have time this summer, I highly recommend completing it.

In upcoming issues of this newsletter, I’ll highlight specific Wayground features you might not know about.

Wayground’s free plan lets you store up to 20 activities. The individual teacher plan costs $216 per year and includes unlimited activities, access to premium library content, and all question types. You can request a quote for a school or district plan.

Thanks again to Wayground (formerly Quizizz) for sponsoring this newsletter!

Another thing that makes this issue special: it marks the first anniversary of the Learning in Hand Newsletter. I actually registered learninginhand.com back in 2002, but it took me until 2024 to start sending emails like this one.

The site began as a place to share how I was using Palm Pilots in my 5th grade classroom. A lot has changed since then. Sometimes I wonder if I should have renamed Learning in Hand, kind of like how Quizizz became Wayground.

One thing I do know is that my summer is packed. I’ll be busy preparing and presenting professional learning for teachers across the country, so you probably won’t see another issue until August. But don’t worry, I have a long list of ideas ready for year two.

Oh, and if you’ll be at ISTE 2025 Live next week, check out my schedule. I’m presenting several sessions, including one in the Wayground (formerly Quizizz) booth. There will be pink piñatas!

Smiles from Iowa,

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AI helped revise and proofread parts of this newsletter. It also suggested ideas for section titles.