💥 Tech items - Amazing K-2 (Maybe even K-4) resources, templates, no YouTube ads, how many masks, and more in this weeks tech tips!

 

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How to Forward an Email as an Attachment in Gmail - 

Instead of forwarding several emails individually, you can send them all at once as attachments. With Gmail, you don’t even have to save the emails to your computer to do it–there’s a built-in option just for you.  Check it out! 

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Miscellaneous tech:

Chrome is getting faster! -  Google’s latest Chrome update delivers ‘largest performance gain in years’  Chrome 87 will be rolling out soon with a few other features including tab search. 

Kasey Bell's Google Quick Tips Library - This playlist keeps growing with her short video tips that are always great. 

Google Sites update - Customize text style and appearance in Google Sites. This significantly expands control over how individual words, paragraphs, pages, and sections look. We hope this will help you make your site look and feel just the way you want it to.

How to Create a Landing Page in Seesaw - Great for organizing your classes! Checkout this How-To video here. 

Simple free online tool for animations. Wick Editor - Is a simple free online tool for animations. Allows for 2d animation creation. The timeline is simplified but very functional. The process of making a tween is different than Adobe. You can create symbols, turn on onion skins and save in multiple formats. The limitations lie in text and tool features. They are there but it needs more options.  We have added this tool to our "Photo Editing for staff and students -Online" Document. 

Math teachers! - If you have not seen the free EquatIO extension to add formulas into Google Docs - Now is the time! Checkout this 2 minute clipMust-Have Google Chrome Extensions for Teachers to see it in action.  Here's another one for the math teachers: VIRTUAL MANIPULATIVES FOR MATH REMOTE LEARNING.  

Even More Virtual Field Trips - Virtual field trips are a great way to engage students, especially if they’re at home. Here are even more ways to explore the world virtually. -Check them out. 

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Some great Google Classroom Cheat Sheets:

• For the teacher  
• For the Students
• Another good one for the teacher

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25 Fantastic Free Google Slides Templates and Themes for Teachers!  Check them out! 

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This is why we recommend a password manager ...like lastpass  or 1password. They make having different and difficult passwords for each site easy.  Just make sure you have a good password for those accounts and setup 2FA. (2 factor authentication.) 

(Never use the same password on multiple sites.  -So a password manager helps with that as well.)

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Just a fun one...Can you find every mask in this picture?

(Answer here.) 

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Another great Math resource with assignments ready to assign right to Google Classroom!

Assistments.org Create assignments using our wide library of curricula, textbooks, and custom problem sets in mathematics.  You can easily select some of the OER resources (Try the NewYork OER as a sample) and then assign them right in Google Classroom!  (Great Google Classroom Integration!)  

Note: We have added this to our OER (Open Education Resources) document to join our top list! 

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Must-Have Google Chrome Extensions for Teachers - A great list with a few new ones that I hadn't seen before! 

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Did you know PBS Learning Media materials are free and are integrated with Google Classroom?

They have a ton of materials and subjects! Check them out: https://net.pbslearningmedia.org/

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YOUTUBE - You can remove the ads, comments, suggested videos - all the things - to SAFELY share videos w/students in 1 click!

TIP:  Just add a " - " in the URL after the T

Try it out: 

Example: 

https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=BdeAdPzCRfA  

Compared to regular Youtube share: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdeAdPzCRfA

A couple other solutions:

• When you insert a video into Google Slides it removes the ads. 
• You can also insert videos on your Classroom Screen page and there will be no ads. (One of my prior tech emails talked about this nice tool.) 

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Want some Great K-2 (Maybe even K-4) tech resources!  Check it out!

Here are some great ones!  They are set up as a slideshow newsletter, so page through the slides for new or past posts. 

I like using the one-tab extension and setting them up as a locked group so I just open them all up at once and they are each in a different tab ready to scroll through. 

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Here are just a few from the sites/resources above:

  

Check it out. 

 Check it out.

 

 Check it out. 

 Check it out.

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💥 Tech items - An amazing G-suite resource, markup files on Chroembooks, a ton of class resources and more in this week tech tips.

 Did you know our 1-1 take home Chromebooks (Gr. 6-12) run android apps? If it's a free Android app, we can install it. One advantage of the Google Classroom Android app is that students can draw on PDF files or images. 

Above graphic complements of Tony Vincent.

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WOW - Check out our new spreadsheet for G Suite (Now call Google Workspace).  Check it out here. This one is a big winner.  Use it for personal learning or with students. You can easily make a copy and modify it for what you want to teach the students as well. 

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Did you know you (or your students) can markup PDF files right on a Chromebook without adding an extension?

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When creating custom headers, change the page or canvas size to the recommended dimensions in pixels. (In Google Slides go to File → Page Setup → Custom) (Another great tip from @tonyvincent) 

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Online Timers for the Classroom -  These 6 online timers will keep your students engaged. 

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Msc. Tech tips and tools:

Google Docs Quick Tip of the Week (New Citation Tool!) - There's a new citation tool in Google Docs.   Watch this quick video to learn how!

Free app! - PicCollage EDU Collage Maker - Reg. $1.99. Free until Nov. 30th.  (This is a good one!) (We have obtained a lot of licenses to deploy to our iPads as well.) 

Resources for teaching 4th grade electrical circuits - This Wakelet board has a variety of resources, videos and activities for teaching the basics of circuits. 

Solve Math Equations using Google Search - Get help solving equations by typing them into the Search bar or snapping a picture with Lens to get a step-by-step solution, live in English and coming soon to 70+ languages including French and Japanese.  (Teachers need to be aware of these capabilities (of our students) including the Google Lens feature. (Similar to the Photomath apps.) 

Norris Teachers - Are you ready for remote learning?  Not sure we will ever be back to remote learning, but you always want to be prepared!  Remember, here are a few great resources including parents:

• Our Parent's guide and tech help for remote learning doc. 
• Our Required Tech & Remote Learning Teacher Tools and Skills doc. 

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The Google Master Slide is powerful! - Save time creating Google Slides by editing the Master Slide! Change fonts, colors, and more on EVERY slide at once!   Watch this quick video to learn how!

TIP - want to lock words, shapes, or images in Google Slides? Put them in the master!!
Check it out here - https://youtu.be/5Z86V2O_5zc  

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Click here: How to create student blogs in Google Slides for FREE 

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This is what I looked like after finding out Google Expeditions and Tour Creator are going away! 

(Well, I guess I may take this look... he's got a full set of hair!)

Both of these tools were awesome for educators.  It's VR field trips are getting rolled into their Arts and Culture app, so I guess it's not a total loss.  More info on that here.   I am afraid you will not have the same functionality that expeditions had when it comes to seeing where your students are at in the VR trip, etc... 

They are hoping the creating tools in Google Earth for the web will fill the void for Tour Creator.  (More info here.)   Here is what Google sent out on this:  Three years ago we introduced Google Earth for modern browsers and devices, and last year, we launched creation tools in Google Earth for Web. With creation tools, anyone can create, collaborate, and share custom Google Earth projects, similar to the functionality of Tour Builder, but with compelling 3D perspectives. Furthermore, Google Earth Project integration with Google Drive allows for much more seamless collaboration when working with multiple project authors.  

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What free learning resource has 10.8 billion minutes learning so far this year? 

If you guessed Kahn Academy... you were correct. Khan Academy helps anyone, anywhere learn, 100% for free.  (It's a great resource for parents too.) They have so many features with so many subjects it's almost too good to be true.   If you have not checked it out... now might be a great time.  You can even use NWEA MAP Test scores (Math example here.) to generate personalized study recommendations. Checkout our OER resources document to get started with Kahn and a few other great OER resources with other subjects included. 

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Just thought I would share a success story! Just when we think we may be pushing too many security tips your way and flooding you with too many security reminders. 

This email is from a Norris teacher that I consider pretty tech savvy:

Just wanted to send you a thank you note. I'll explain below:

I am currently selling my macbook pro. Obviously, being a mac, it is worth a pretty penny. I am selling it on Facebook marketplace, where I have sold many things before. Somebody planned on buying it, and seemed very legit. Got some emails from paypal that looked VERY real, and almost left to ship the macbook. However, the constant reminders at school about cyber-security and scams made me look again. Luckily, I discovered the emails were fraudulent and I was able to cancel the entire thing. If I hadn't known what to look for, I would've easily been fooled as the scammers have gotten pretty good at making things look good.

I consider myself pretty tech savvy and am usually pretty good at sniffing out scams, as I've never been scammed before. I always felt like the constant barrage of information about security was overkill, but without it nagging at the back of my mind, I might be out a macbook pro.

Just wanted to pass along a huge thank you to all of you for what you do. Keep up the security tips!

You asked for it. so here it goes....  ... Here's another tip:  Be careful of text messaging scams. We are seeing a lot of these!  They often have a link to click on and may take you to a site that looks like your bank or other business. It's similar to vishing.  (No I didn't miss-spell phishing.) 

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💥 Tech items - Virtual fieldtrips, Amazing SeeSaw tips, Google Classroom Gems, PDF tool, and more in this weeks tech tips.

 Have you tried a virtual field trip yet?  (Our KG visits the Zoo about 4 times a year via their virtual field trips!) 

Checkout this list of over 100 virtual field trips.  Many of them are free!  Everything from "A Day in the Life of a Homesteader" to "Building of the Transcontinental Railroad" from a variety of great organizations! 

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How to Create a Landing Page in your SeesawJournal  Squeeze the most out of the new Pinning feature with this idea!!  Watch this short 8 minute tutorial to show you how. 

Want more Great SeeSaw tips and tutorials? This is a great YouTube Channel for SeeSaw tips and tutorials - Check it out.   Here is just one gem for this resource: How to Create a Listen and Write Activity

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WOW! - Some great Seesaw classroom activities to inspire and engage your students!  Check them out. 

3 Tips for the Microphone in Seesaw - Checkout this short video!

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If you only use one tool/tip today - This is the one! This is so great, I am repeating a post! - This is a game-changer for Classroom whiteboard tools!  Whiteboard.fi – This is a winner for in-class or remote learning tools! This online whiteboard tool that is different from all the others! Each student has their own board and the teacher will see each board as a tile as the students work. A ton of features - waiting room, kick student, lock room, save boards, students see your board, etc... and all FREE.   Here is a great tutorial to get you started.

We have added this one to our list of top whiteboarding tools for teachers.   

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PDFescape - This online PDF editor lets you easily edit a PDF without any extra software! This includes annotating PDF files and filling out fields in a PDF form. It works in all major browsers and the online version is free!  Need to sign a PDF - This Adobe online tool is pretty handy.    

 

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Misc. tips and resources:

• JamboardTip:   Hold down Shift while drawing with the Pen tool in Jamboard to draw a straight line.
• FREE Google Lesson Plans for Teachers and Students – Remember  Google’s Applied Digital Skills resource FREE Google Lesson Plans for Teachers and Students. These are super handy for teachers!
• Quick Tip of the Week (Clip a Video in Slides) - From Shake Up Learning. Google Slides gives us several options for formatting videos, like setting a start and end time (clipping a video), muting audio, and more. Short how-to video here. 
  
• TIP: Remember - Never delete a Google Classroom.  Just archive it!  (You can not reuse work from archived classes, so if you have assignments that you want to use again you can always make a copy of the class before you archive the class.) 

Here is one for the Math teachers! -  The Math is Fun website has a lot of great K-12 resources!  Check it out. 

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Some great Google Classroom tips: 

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Great online resource for human anatomy.   

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CleanPNG -   This website provides free high-definition images without a background. It offers millions of PNG images for your brochures, banners, websites, and more. The website provides unlimited free downloads with no registration or other hoops to jump through.

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 Have you noticed a better cell signal at Norris the last few months? 

Verizon recently fired up their cell booster that they placed on our campus through a project that has been in the works for the last couple of years. So the good news is that many of us now have better Cell signals around campus.  (The bad news is that kids do too as well as data access via their phones too.) If you find yourself in an area with bad coverage, you can still enable WiFi cell access.

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Checkout the templates for teachers site. 

There are a lot of great slide templates and class activity templates in our "Google Slide templates and ideas" doc.

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Flipgrid just added the comment feature for students.  If you have not used this amazing tool with your students... now is the time!  Reachout to us if you need assistance getting started!

Our "Using FlipGrip in the classroom document" will help get you started. 

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Checkout Blooket! 

Thanks to our own Megan Good for sharing this great tool.  I have added this one to our Assessment and Quizzing tools doc. Thanks to her and all of the staff for sharing such great resources and helping everyone out!  We have the best staff! 

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💥 Tech items - FREE (Reg. $49) JOIN NOW! TCEA Membership until October 30th! Tips, templates and more in this weeks tech tips.

 JUST JOIN - This is a great resource and is free for a short period of time!  TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) has a ton of resources available for K-12 teachers.)  (Similar to NETA but much larger and a lot of free online resources, events and more.) 

Membership is free until October 30th. - JOIN HERE. 

Yes our Nebraska NETA is great too... so if you have not joined that... membership is always free.  Join NETA here.   BUT  join TCEA too... it's never free. 

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WOW - some great virtual math manipulatives!  Check it out! 

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Yes, Flash is finally going away.  iPads killed it years ago. Adobe announced they were killing it in 2017... and now it's officially dying after 2020.  (Chrome will no longer support it.)  If you have any sites that you are using that require Flash, they will be dead in a few months. 

No... not this Flash.   

This one: 

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Jammin with Google Jamboard has some great tips, templates and more in this Wakelet Collection. 

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Checkout this FlipGrid collection of 26 letter of the day activities.  Great for the young readers for letter recognition, sounds and exploring their surroundings. 

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Grab this updated version of the Seesaw Icon Shortcuts for Activities!

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3 FREE Halloween-themed digital escape rooms

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Speaking of Halloween... Here is a Halloween Google slideshow template from Slidesmania.   Remember, there are a lot of great sites for templates. 

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Halloween Charades

This resource was from TCEA  found here.   JOIN as noted above! 

I can definitely see charades working on a virtual platform. You could even shout things out while pantomiming because your microphone would be muted. I think this might help my acting abilities. ThisHalloween charades game contains 36 words or phrases to guess, along with a section of Double Trouble words (just in case you need a challenge.)

Make a copy here.

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