Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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πŸ’₯ T𝗲𝗰𝗡 π—Άπ˜π—²π—Ίπ˜€ - Canva tools, more add-ons, Class templates, Tech tools list, and more in this weeks tech tips and resources.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

 Miscellaneous tech tips -

Checkout TCEA's tech video: Simplify Your Browser: OneTab It's the end of the day and you have a million tabs open in your web browser. You need to keep them all for tomorrow, but how do you save them? How do you organize them in a way that makes sense? OneTab is the answer to your question and helps you maintain your sanity. (I use this extension, and it's great.) 
 
Need another live Buzzer for use with your classroom review games?  This free one, may be worth checking out: https://buzzin.live/host 

24 Digital Breakout Tools - Checkout this poster with hot links to the tools.  (Notice how it's made in Canva.... we love this tool for teachers!)  AND a few more in this Google Doc

Schedule posts for multiple classes in Google Classroom - Google just rolled this out to the masses. (We were fortunate enough to be a part of the beta, so you have already had this feature already.) 

New email draft template in Google Docs - More info here.  Tired of writing and then copying and pasting email drafts from Google Docs into Gmail? You don't have to anymore!  You can also draft emails with others and export them to Gmail. - More info here on this feature.

Just in case you are not already using this time saving tool/workflow in Gmail - How to Automatically Label and Move Emails in Gmail. People use all sorts of methods for organizing their inbox. One way is to move emails to specific folders, which in Gmail, are called Labels.

Tools to Help Students Cite Sources - Great resources Via Practical Ed Tech

Google Classroom for Parents. Google Classroom does not have a parent view. Use this guide to help parents better understand Google Classroom.  We have added this to our newly updated Google Classroom -Tips and Tricks doc

Just a fun, or scary one....  Is This Paperweight Better Than a Master Lock Just when you think you can lock things up to secure them.  πŸ˜€ (This guy's channel is pretty cool.) 

Schedule Assignments for Multiple Classes in Google Classroom - We have had this feature for a while, since we were a part of the beta, but it's been released and here is a quick how-to video in case you missed it.

QuotesCover - This quote maker turns any text you write into beautiful graphics for social media, web, and printouts by combining worry-free licensed fonts and breathtaking backgrounds. No design skill required. NO log in, NO sign up! 

Google Docs tip: Remember you can force copies, templates, previews, etc... with a few URL tricks. Check them out here. Google Document URL Tricks


A Few Free Google Marketplace add-ons worth trying? 

OrangeSlice Teacher Rubric is an add-on that will increase your grading productivity, and it professionally presents a scored rubric and grade for your students. 



Doc Builder – Save hours of typing with reusable text snippets 
If you regularly use the same text snippets in your documents, Doc Builder is for you. Its basic function is to insert text snippets that you often use and save custom styles. 



Eric Curtis's SPARCC Technology Integration Updates doc is a rolling doc with monthly updates, including some great general tech tools and some curriculum resources specific to science and STEM.  It's definitely worth bookmarking and checking back every month to keep up with some great tools. Article here.  Check it out here via direct link.! 




For teachers: Late Work Report in Google Classroom πŸ“‹
The free version of the Schoolytics Dashboard for Google Classroom allows you to connect 10 Google Classrooms to view a dashboard with a lot of analytics as well as reports for your Google Classroom.  They have added this new report into the mix.  Checkout our Schoolytics Tools and Dashboard for Google Classroom doc to get started.

We've had a lot of requests for this, so we're excited to let you know that you can now get a report for students' late assignments (assignments turned in after the due date).   



Are students hiding what they are doing in GoGuardian using the new multiple desktops feature in Chrome? 

Chrome added a feature called Multiple Desktops.  Students may try to hide what they are doing. Students may try using the 2nd virtual desktop to watch a video after clicking on the first one to make it the "active" desktop.  Our GoGuardian Teacher dashboard will show the thumbnail for that "active" desktop, while the students continue watching the video in the 2nd desktop split-screen fashion.  However, GG will still show the additional virtual desktop tabs as being open on the student device. So you can close that window/desktop as shown:





Text Cleaner - A great Google Doc's add on! 
If you find yourself frequently moving pieces of text in and out of Google Docs, then Text Cleaner is an excellent add-on which might just make your life a whole lot easier. Check it out!






SlidesMania continues to amaze with her innovative ways to interact with Google Slides!  Checkout this free toy free claw machine template for brain breaks.  (Or adapt to fit your needs.)  While you are there, checkout their entire collection of free templates





SHAPE UP!
 A game show for geometry (shape attributes) Jamboard is available on this site as well as a bunch of other Jamboard templates!  Check all the Jams out here.





The Kami Library is now open! 
Check out hundreds of free, ready-made teaching templates to download, customize, and share – no strings attached!  These are PDF docs you can download or markup with the free version of Kami. 




30 Whiteboard Hacks Every Teacher Can Really Use




Add some nice custom headlines or logos with these free, simple to use online generators! 





Doc to Slides Add-on - May be a useful Add-on for some of you, depending on your uses.  Easily create a Google Slides from a Google Doc. Each paragraph text generates a unique slides in a Google Slides. 






Google Slides Short and Long Vowel Sounds Audio Activity - Check it out and grab the free template here. 




It's sad, how soon things can change in a country.  The Top 10 Places To Visit In Ukraine - Beautiful 4K Travel Guide.  Many of us may not have realized how many beautiful places there are/were in Ukraine.  -Check it out here.  






What if STUDENTS made the questions for our Quizizz game, not us?
Another great idea from idea from @jmattmiller  and Ditch That Textbook

Quizizz games are FUN, and they can help us see what students know. (Formative assessment, right?) Let's put a different spin on them. What if STUDENTS made the questions, not us?

It's super easy with this Google Forms template. Students fill out the form with the questions. We use the spreadsheet it creates to upload them to Quizizz.

You can have a student-created Quizizz game in a matter of minutes! Use the slides tutorial and the Google Form template to get started!
 
Slides tutorial: How to create a student-created Quizizz game

Google Form template: Student-created Quizizz game


Need more Canva ideas?



Try the Game Templates in Canva -  Example here.  How-to video hereExplore more here. 

20 Ways for Students to Use Canva in the Classroom - Check them out!

Social Emotional Learning Resources in Canva - Stickers, posters, collaborative activities, and so much more! Edit templates, download and print or share a link to view or edit. So much available for educators and learners! Short 30 second video to show you where.