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Issue 46 • October 29, 2025
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When I started making Shapegrams for my students, I thought they’d be all about tech and design skills. It turned out they were just as much about perseverance. Recreating a picture with limited tools can be tough, and I realized early on that Shapegrams needed to foster a growth mindset along with creativity. I experienced that again this month. I spotted a glitchy ghost cartoon on a t-shirt and thought it would make a great Shapegram. But when I tried to design my own ghost in Google Slides, I couldn’t figure out how to make the eyes. So I took a breath, zoomed in, and experimented. After some trial and error, I managed to create the ghost by cleverly coloring and overlapping shapes. Sometimes a little patience and problem-solving is all it takes to make things work.
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Fang-tastic Fun with Factile 🧛🏻
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This issue is sponsored by Factile. Clicking the links below shows your support!
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It’s almost Halloween, and your students are already in festive mode! 🎃 Keep that excitement going with Factile’s free Halloween Jeopardy-style games—fast, fun, and classroom-ready. Favorites: Want to make your Halloween games even more exciting? Try these interactive Factile tools: Buzzer Mode: Let students buzz in from their own devices to answer questions in real time—just like a real game show!
Double Factile Plus: Combine multiple games and add bonus rounds for an extended, high-energy competition.
Move a Team Member: Quickly reshuffle players to keep teams fair and gameplay balanced.
Moderator Wagers: Add suspense to the final question by letting teams wager their points before answering, similar to Final Jeopardy.
Want to create your own Halloween Jeopardy game? Sign Up for FREE! Or browse other pre-made Halloween Jeopardy games!
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Did you notice the screenshots superimposed into the two pictures above? In one I placed a Google Slides screenshot over the cartoon computer screen. In another, a Factile game board was placed into the AI generated classroom photo. Because the screens were angled, I could not just drop a rectangular screenshot on top. I had to adjust the perspective. In the past, I used Photopea for this. However, Canva has a free app called Reshape that makes the job much easier. With Reshape, you can distort, skew, warp, and bend an image so it looks like it naturally belongs on the screen. Yes, Gemini and ChatGPT could superimpose the images for me. Frustratingly, AI often changes details in either the main picture or the screenshot. That is why I am glad to have Reshape as a reliable option. Tips for using Reshape: Make sure the image you are manipulating covers the entire target area. You can’t extend any of the corners of the image. Zoom in for precise corner placement. Avoid cropping in Canva, since cropping hides corners you will need to manipulate.
Reshape is not only for screenshots. It works on any image you want to fit into a new perspective such as posters on walls, billboards in photos, or artwork in a museum. Once you get the hang of it, you will start noticing plenty of places where reshaping can make your images look more realistic.
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Speaking of Canva, it’s the season when two special Magic Shortcuts appear. While in Present view, pressing... These spooky shortcuts are temporary and will disappear after Halloween.
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One advantage of subscribing to Gemini Pro is access to video generation powered by Google’s Veo AI model. I can describe a scene, upload an image, and watch the AI bring it to life. For Halloween, I uploaded some of my Shapegrams comics and animated them with Gemini, including: The catch is that Pro users only get three video generations per day. Even if a clip doesn’t turn out as expected, it still uses one of the daily credits, making iteration tricky. I can download the videos and refine them with editing software, like re-dubbing with my own voice or cropping. Gemini’s videos aren’t limited to cartoons. It can also generate lifelike clips, though they’re capped at 8 seconds each. Similarly, OpenAI’s Sora 2 creates videos from prompts, but it’s currently invite-only, and I’m still waiting for an invitation.
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I love making things! Most of what I create is digital, but sometimes it is 3D printed or cut with my Cricut. I got my Cricut Maker just before teaching 5th grade in 2018 and was amazed at how often I used it. I even wrote a grant so my students could have one in the classroom. Our favorite projects were customized stickers, but we also made business cards, wall decals, and shirt iron-ons.
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The Cricut Blog recently featured a kindergarten teacher who shared how she uses her machine to make interactive learning boards. You can see more Cricut Blog posts for school. If you are into Cricuting (or want to be), check out the Cricut for Teachers Facebook group. You can also find tips and inspiration at the Cricut for Schools website, which includes information about teacher discounts. It’s only 15% off, but it’s better than nothing. P.S. If you’re making stickers, I recommend Lzerking Printable Vinyl Glossy Sticker Paper. It prints in an inkjet printer and can be cut with a Cricut.
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The Fall National Tech Coach EdCamp, hosted by Wayground and Forward Edge, gave instructional coaches and media specialists a chance to connect, share, and learn. The 30 sessions covered topics like AI-powered tools, Canva, FigJam, spreadsheets, project-based learning, and coaching strategies that build trust. A highlight was the One Best Thing collection, where participants shared a single recommended resource or strategy. 193 responses were gathered into a spreadsheet. A few that stood out: Magic School AI chatbots that let students interact with a historic figure, a book character, or even practice another language. Microsoft Reflect for quick, kid-friendly emotional check-ins using monster avatars. Mid-lesson tech self-checks where students pause to ask, “Am I using this tool because it adds value or just because it’s there?”
If you missed the live event, you can still explore the recordings and resources. It is packed with practical ideas!
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Before I vanish, here’s an animation showing how I overlapped and colored shapes to create my glitchy ghost in Google Slides. It’s a reminder that while a task can feel scary at first, persistence makes it less haunting.
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Subscribe at learninginhand.com AI gave me a hand with brainstorming, drafting, and polishing this issue. Of course, I reviewed and adjusted everything before sharing it with you.
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