Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

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Showing posts with label Google Chrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Chrome. Show all posts

πŸ’₯ T𝗲𝗰𝗡 π—Άπ˜π—²π—Ίπ˜€ - SeeSaw & Canva tips. More templates! Free extensions. Video & Photo tools. New features and more in this weeks tech tips.

Friday, February 25, 2022

 


For those of us that are not Photoshop experts.... This is a simple to use and free tool to easily blur things in a pic.  Checkout cleanup.pictures
(We have added this resource to our collection of resources in our Photo Editing and drawing tools doc located here. that have many more simple free editing tools and sites.) 


VideoCandy.com has free tools for doing quick and simple edits to your video files. this one is worth adding to your bookmarks and tech tool list!





CLOSEit is a free add-on for Google Docs. Underlined or highlighted words are replaced with blanks and a word bank is added to the end of the document. https://clozeit.syedkhairi.com/ 




New Google Drive add-on (Marketplace app) added to all staff Google Drives - Folgo for Google Drive™ is great for bulk actions in Google Drive. Copy, transfer, inspect folders (with subfolders & files).  Our how-to doc can be found here.  Powerful tool!  Read the doc for more info! 




Miscellaneous tech resources. 
TEMPLATES! - A nice resource from Lynne Herr at ESU6  -  Ready to Use 2021-22 Slides by Quarter. Daily slides include Fact of the Day, Joke or Puzzle of the Day, Think About It (SEL) and Share Out.  These slide templates are ready for you to make a copy and start using. 

More Templates! - STUDENT PROJECT TEMPLATES - 
Need to rephrase a sentence?  Give WordTune a try. 

10 things you didn’t know you could do with Google Arts and Culture 

Yellowstone Distance Learning Opportunities and videos for your classroom. -Check them out here

GOOGLE WORKSPACE UPDATES - Manage Overdue Tasks in Google Calendar 
If you have uncompleted tasks that were due in the past 30 days, you will have an all day entry that will tell you how many tasks are pending from that timeframe. More info here on this new upcoming feature. 

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (New Table Features in Google Docs) - Have you noticed the new features when you insert a table in Google Docs! You can now pin header rows, add unsplittable rows, quickly add and arrange columns and rows, and even sort tables to organize data! Thanks to Shake Up Learning for this great tip.  Watch this quick video to learn how!

15 Google Classroom Tips for Teachers - Kacy Bell, always has good stuff.  Check them out here. (Some great organizational tips for Classroom, including the resources topic to keep at the top of each class.)  


What is Sub-image Search? And Why You Would Use It? (Many students and teachers do not know you can easily search using images to find out what something is.  Great short walkthrough in this video.) 

Did I Plagiarize? - The Types and Severity of Plagiarism Violations.  A nice visual graphic for use with your kids. 

Free Webinar: Stop Motion Animation with Google Slides! View the recorded video & access resources here.

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (Google Drive Search Chips) - It's even easier now to search your Google Drive files. Try using the new enhance search chips to refine your search!  Watch this quick video to learn how!




A couple great free extensions. Made by Alice Keeler and sponsored by Schoolytics. 

Speaker Notes by Schoolytics - This free Chrome extension will send your Speaker Notes in Google Slides™ to a Google Doc™. 

Quiz Helper by Schoolytics - For teachers, make a quiz with Google Forms™ with confidence. Automatically sets defaults for a quiz. Collects edit link, so students can finish later. Creates Google Docs™  Short tutorial video here.   How-to article here. 



Emoji Tips and tricks: 

Emoji bullets  - Format ➡️ Bullets & Numbering ➡️ List Options➡️ More Options➡️ Emojis

πŸ‘‰ Simply enter a list into http://EmojiBulletList.com and it will do its best to pair a relevant emoji with each item.

πŸ–± Click an emoji to see more suggestions. Sometimes the results are disappointing, but you can paste the list anywhere and add your own emojis.


Chrome extensions:

Can Canva get any better?  Answer:  YES! 
Tables & Charts are in Canva for Education! Seamless integration with Google
 Sheets! So many possibilities & so easy to create! Yes, you can do charts inside of Sheets, but this adds even more possibilities as well.  Checkout the short 1-minute video here!  (Remember, Canva gives teachers and students free pro accounts!





ELL Teachers! - check this out!
A Self-Checking Translation Quiz in Google Sheets  Practice another language with your own words & sentences, with color-coded feedback & hints. Great for ELL & all language learners!





Google Classroom headers, newsletter templates, worksheets, and virtual backgrounds and more are found in this teacher's free Canva templates.  Check them out here!  AND remember, Canva is FREE for educators and students!!



SeeSaw tips: You can now access select standards-aligned collections and lessons right in Seesaw.

Start exploring these multimodal collections today!


What's new in SeeSaw? This slide deck walks through each month's updates along the way. (Good bookmark to check once in a while.)

CANVA TIP! 

You can download your Canva designs into your Google Drive, which allows you to manipulate the items within your design?!! This changes the game for accessibility with cute designs! (Remember, It's easy to convert the PowerPoint file (PPTX) into Google Slides!) More tips and free EDU account info is located in our Canva doc.





Experiments with Google - Experiments with Google is a place for people to share ideas and coders for Google experiment with the ideas. This one is a fun experiment that would be great for any musical class.  Blob Opera allows you to take a look at how interacting with the different cartoon character blobs changes the singing voice assigned to each blob.  It's just cool! (You can search other experiments here.) 





Let's protect and inform our kids! 
I know many of you have gotten similar emails saying they charged you X number of dollars for a subscription and then call this 800 number if you have issues.  These guys are after your money and your computer/info.  This one even runs a call center and matches up the name with the Transaction number.  They then send you to a website that installs a program on your computer. 

This was sent to one of our 6th grade students: 




The only way to protect yourself and our kids is... being informed and always being cautious.  Please remind students about these kinds of things and never call or give out information. 



πŸ’₯ Tech items - New staff Chromebooks, Jamboard app- WOW!, Tips, Tricks, Templates and more in this weeks tech tips!

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

 



Remember -  New teacher Chromebooks will be distributed on April 23rd! (PD/Workday.) 
Have your Chromebook, charger and stylus ready to check in on that day!  
  • If you are going to be gone that day, we can check you out a new Chromebook anytime!
  • If you want a stylus for your new Chromebook, remember to sign up in the next couple days! (These are a new/different stylus, so read that prior email for more info.) 
  • More information on time/location will be sent out prior to the 23rd. 
(See my March 29th email for more information. As well as the form to reserve your stylus.) 



Repurposing VR Kits In a post-Google Expedition World - We have several Google Expedition kits we have put together.  Here are some great ideas on still using those kits within your classrooms!  (I still can not believe Google dropped Expeditions!) 


Some new features coming next year to Google Classroom:
  • Improved photo creation, attachment and submission for mobile first (IOS/Android app) users. 
  • Student engagement and tracking page.  See all students in a handy dashboard! 
  • Use Classroom offline for students with limited internet connectivity 




Miscellaneous tech

Are you using rubrics in Google Classroom?  They are easy to use!  Checkout this short video discussing and showing their use. 

How to Access the Clipboard Manager on a Chromebook - Yes there is one!  Find out how.(Hint search + V on a Chromebook.) 

Get Your Copy of the 2020-21 Practical Ed Tech Handbook  By Richard Byrne - Richard always has good stuff and this one is no exception.  Grad it here. (This is such a great resource.)  

Eight More Electrifying Elementary Web 2.0 Tools - If elementary students are your joy in life, check out these eight great web tools to use with them for learning and fun. Read More >>>

Tools to Boost Students' Vocabulary and Knowledge - Discover four tech tools to help students of all ages master critical vocabulary words and become better readers and writers.
Read More >>>

This Is Sand. Remember making sand art as a kid? Now you can do it digitally. Check it out and click the play now. 

MapCrunch. Here’s your chance to go on an adventure without ever leaving your couch. The website will put you in a random location in the world and then it’s up to you to do the exploring.


Teaching tips with tech: 


Google Maps walking tours with Street View and Screencastify (We use Loom instead of Screencastify - both work well.) 

Show learning in motion with stop motion animation - If students can envision it in motion, they can show it in motion on the screen with Google Slides. 

Create a top 10 video with Flipgrid - Checkout the how-to. 


Write choice stories in Slides  - Remember "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories? They gave readers choices and helped them reach endings based on their selections. S


All about that audio. - In this youtube recorded webinar you will learn about adding sounds in slides, captioning in Meet, talk and comment extension (Even works in forms), and many more tips along the way. 


Video Editing Tools for K-12 and adult learners - This resource has several great tools.   This resource is part of the TCEA lunch and learn webinars. site.  




Mote

Exploding on to the #edtech scene in the last 12 months, this versatile extension for Chrome works directly inside Google Slides, Docs, Sheets and Classroom and allows you to leave audio comments and feedback on these different tools. A complete timesaver that promotes inclusion, accessibility and reducing workload, Mote is a must-have tool for the savvy educator looking to make the most of their Chromebook.

Learn more about it and get the extension via https://www.justmote.me/   It's free plan includes most of the essentials. 

Use Immersive Reader (unofficial)

Immersive reader is a fantastic tool, designed for accessibility, but promotes good reading habits and language learning support for all. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on Chrome, unless of course you use this fantastic unofficial version of the tool. It works just like the Immersive Reader you probably already know and love but just in your Chrome browser.  

You can learn more about it and access the extension here.    

25 virtual field trips for your classroom

Virtual field trips allow us to take our students where the bus can’t. Here are 25 field trips and 10 activities to do while you're on one! Check them out here.  and NEW: Our virtual field trips home page, with 50+ trips


   


Add and manage four new types of citations in Google Docs 
Now you can add these four new citation source types in Google Docs:
  • Film
  • TV Series
  • TV Episode
  • Miscellaneous
This will make writing academic papers easier, since you won’t have to copy citations from other tools. The four new citation source types come in addition to the types you already have available, including books, websites, journal articles, and newspaper articles. More info here
   

How would you do on Adam's tech Tuesday Kahoot?
Adam Kranz shared this with our MS staff and I thought it would be fun to share with our entire NSD staff.  (Thanks for creating a great Kahoot Adam!) 
If you have not used Kahoot, Quizlet, Quizizz or several others... checkout our Assessment Tools document to help you get started. 
   

FREE GOOGLE SLIDES TEMPLATES FOR YOUR CLASSROOM - Don't reinvent the wheel when templates are available!  Get them here! 
Checkout our Google Slide templates doc for tons more! (We keep adding resources like this one to this growing doc.) 



   

A few nice Chrome Extensions! 

Link to Text Fragment -  Link to Text is a Chrome extension provided by Google. You can highlight a text on a web page and then create a link that you can share. When someone clicks on your link, they go to the website AND the text that you had highlighted will be highlighted for them.

Full Page Screen Capture. -Captures the entire screen. It scrolls for you all the way to the bottom to get the entire page. Check it out. 

Remember... review your extensions yearly and disable the ones you find yourself no longer using.  (They take up resources and slow your device.)  I use extensity to turn them on and off easily. 


Ran across this quote... let's hope we are all energy builders. πŸ˜€





QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (Create a Google Classroom Custom Banner) via Kadey Bell

Did you know you can create your own custom banner for Google Classroom?  It's super easy in Google Drawings, and I even have a FREE blank template to get you started. 
πŸ“Ί Watch this quick video to learn how!



WOW - You thought you knew Jamboard, I bet you were wrong! (I was)
Did you know there are some added features in the App vs. the web version?  (We are allowing the Android version of Jam to be installed on all of our Chromebooks!)  (We have added this to our approved apps list.) 

This video webinar will walk you through those features. At this point in the video they show you the app differences. 
Spoiler alert: Stickers, Auto draw, insert from drive, handwriting recognition and more in the App version! 

MORE JAMBOARD:

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (Jamboard Version History) - You can now access the version history in Jamboard and see exactly what your students contributed and WHEN! 
πŸ“Ί Watch this quick video to learn how!

How to Make Whiteboard Videos With Loom & Jamboard (3 min. Tutorial video.)  (Both free tools! Remember to sign up for the educator account with Loom! More info here.)

Our Jamboard resource doc with tons of resources and templates can be found here.



πŸ’₯ Tech items - More Google templates, Jamboard tips, SeeSaw tips, a couple GREAT extensions and more in this weeks tech tips!

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

 


Several staff (Via the Chromebook survey) did not realize you can already do these with your current Chromebooks and setups:
  • You can easily cast your Chromebook to your projector. How to Cast here
  • You can easily use your phone as a remote mouse for your computer.  More info here. 
  • Your current Chromebooks do have dual cameras. (So you have a camera when in tablet mode as well as your webcam.) 
Contact Jason or myself to help get you started with any of the items above. 





Did you know? ... all of my tech tips emails get archived to my blog?  You can access them here




Miscellaneous tech tips:

Looking for Royalty free music for student or teacher projects?  Check this one out: Bensound




20 Ways to Use Google Drawings in the Classroom  - Google Drawings is a hidden treasure for teachers and students, but many have yet to discover its benefits.

Quick Tip of the Week (Extract Text from Images and PDFs) - Did you know you can convert images and PDF documents into a Google Doc and extract ALL the text?  This tip could save you valuable time!  πŸ“Ί Watch this quick video to learn how!

Market, an Interactive template for counting money. Free Google Slides template! Check it out! 



How to become a Google Docs power user (free PDF) a few highlights include:
  • Top 5: Tips for getting the most out of Google Docs
  • How to tag collaborators in Google Doc comments
  • How to add more fonts to Google Docs
  • How to insert a text box in Google Docs
  • How to add footnotes in Google Docs
  • How to check the word count in a Google Doc
  • How to create a long dash in Google Docs
  • How to make your Google Docs easier to read using indents and spacing
  • How to make the most out of the mobile Google Docs editing tools
  • How to add page numbers and bookmarks in Google Docs
  • How Google Docs grammar check compares to its alternatives
  • How to translate documents into different languages with Google Docs
  • How to share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
  • How to add images, tables, and drawings to a Google Doc file


Great poster or cheat sheet to share with your students - Send a copy to your students or enlarge and print a copy for your classroom. Get a copy of this Chromebook shortcuts sheet! 



Jamboard Activities for Independent Learning - It's located in our Jamboard templates folder.




USING BITMOJIS IN YOUR VIRTUAL (AND REAL) CLASSROOM -Some great resources are here as well as a few new tools that were new to me. (Pixton, Wimp yourself and more...) 





CREATING AND USING RUBRICS IN GOOGLE CLASSROOM - Rubrics are an excellent way to assess your student's work. Google Classroom makes it easy to share these rubrics with your students before they work on the assignment and after you have graded it.  Check it out. 




Don't reinvent the wheel!  There are a lot of templates for Google that are available from a lot of resources. We have just added Templates for Teachers  to our template resources.  Check out our Google Templates doc that is chocked full of template resources! 



This is a good  Seesaw tip - especially if you’re having students take pictures of work - it’s hard to hold up the work and use the trackpad!!




A couple great Chrome Extensions! (We have added these to our approved list for students too.) 

Record to Slides easily allows you to do a quick recording from your webcam/Chromebook and insert it into slides. 




mote: voice notes & feedback     (Great find by Gault!) 
Easily add audio notes when grading your student's assignments! Mote is integrated with Google Docs, Google Classroom, Slides and Sheets. You can create a voice note by clicking the mote icon in any Comment box. They have a few paid features, but the free version still gives you 30 seconds per feedback note, which is more than enough time. 






We are seeing a lot of Phishing emails similar to this! 




The past week we are seeing a bunch of automated phishing emails.  They are getting better... using an actual picture... using a fake gmail account with the name... etc...

Always be cautious!  You guys are doing an amazing job so keep up the great work! 


Import Google Classroom Roster to create a group in Flipgrid with the latest update! Checkout this short 1 minute video to learn how