💥 Tech items - Free templates, new features, tutorials, originality reports beta, and more....

Norris students have now added over 20,049 posts to their Seesaw digital portfolios! K-6 teachers... now may be the time!

Are you a part of the success?  I know many of you are already using Seesaw, but if you have not had a chance to check it out yet, now may be the time!  Give Jason a call and he will be happy to visit with you about what Seesaw can do for you and your students.  Parents love it. Kids love it.  And yes... our teachers love it too. 

Three Google Forms Tutorials for Beginners - Some nice tutorial videos to get you started with this powerful tool! 

Autocorrect and Smart Compose now available for Google Docs on web -  Last year, Google announced improved as-you-type spelling and grammar corrections in Gmail. Now, they are bringing that functionality to Google Docs on the web. This will start rolling out in the next few weeks.  More info here on Autocorrect.  More info here on smart Compose. 

Some great Google Slide Templates and ideas in this one!  Grab them now: 

Are you getting some web pages blocked? If so, let us know!

If you see a warning similar to above, please let Bryan know.  If you can take a screenshot that is helpful. (Use the Print Screen button on your keyboard to use the Greenshot tool.)   We recently replaced our old firewall with a couple of new ones.  In the process, some updated firewall rules and signatures may block a few things.  Let Bryan know and we can slowly get those corrected.

Side note on the firewall - Our old firewall served us for almost 8 years.  That's unheard of in terms of "firewall years".  One more way the district tries to make the pennies stretch.  Also - Kudos to Williams.  I am not sure if there is another school network admin that can swap out a firewall with two new redundant firewalls and see almost no interruptions within the network.  This guy truly rocks!  

How to Add Audio to Google Slides – And an Updated Tool for Easy Recording checkout the tutorial here.  And if you need some audio or music for your presentations checkout Nine Good Sources of Public Domain & Creative Commons Audio. 

12 Alternatives to Google Images Check them out here. 

20 digital bell ringer activities to kickstart class - Check them out!

[HEADS-UP] Famous 'Shark' Got Hooked and Lost 400K in an Embarrassing Email Phishing Scam - phishing emails and scams are something we all need to constantly be aware of.  In this story, they even asked the right questions but that was not enough!  Read the short story here. 

Turn a video clip into a looping animation by uploading it to http://EZgif.com. You can choose start and end times, crop, add effects, change speed, write text, overlay images, and optimize the file size before saving as a .gif file.  Great tip from @tonyvincent 

Resources from Shake Up Learning! 
You will find hundreds of free resources for using Google and G Suite for Education, Google Classroom, how to get Google Certified, free lesson plans, templates, downloads, tips, tricks, cheat sheets, online professional learning courses for teachers, and much more!

Great tip from @alicekeeler 

I have one Google Sites I use to make lesson tutorials. I just make all the pages hidden from navigation so I can just link to that specific page.    

20 ways to use Pear Deck to engage students

Here's another great tip from Matt at DitchThatTextbook!  Actively engage your students through PearDeck.  It uses your Google Slides presentation.  The free version is enough for most of us!   

13 Tools to Record Audio on Chromebooks and Other Devices 

Check them out here! 

6 clever Gmail tricks to minimize regret, frustration and spam
Gmail can help keep your inbox -- and your reputation -- clean by giving you control over what comes in and what goes out of your Google account. This is a nice list of 6 tips that I am sure many of you will find useful.  

Google's Teacher Center offers free professional development resources to help educators grow their skills
The Teacher Center houses a variety of free PD resources to help teachers feel confident using Google tools in the classroom. Google’s Teacher Center is a free, interactive online platform with a curriculum developed by educators for educators. Whether your staff is savvy with classroom technology or just getting started, they’ll find courses that expand learning at any level, including video tutorials and multiple certifications to demonstrate mastery of Google tools. The Teacher Center is the go-to spot for educator resources and professional development.  Check out these great resources here. 

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📢 If you use Google Classroom - Check this out! --New Originality reports feature in Classroom  

I know I sent something out in August about this... but I figured I would remind everyone about this feature and now is the time to try it out.  (Unlimited reports are free.)  This could be a great tool if you have students to reports, research papers, term papers, etc..

Our District recently joined the Google Classroom originality reports beta. This is a unique opportunity for you to pilot a new unreleased feature in Classroom and help shape the development. For more information, see this blog post. <--- you will want to read this for more details.

What is Originality Reports in Google Classroom?

Originality reports is a new feature that brings the capabilities of Google search right to your student assignments and grading interface through Google Classroom. The learning tool helps both teachers and students thoroughly review and analyze coursework to make sure it is properly cited and avoid unintentional plagiarism. This feature was designed to help students improve their writing and spot potential issues while saving you time while grading.

Getting Started and FAQs:

• Share this post via Classroom announcements with your students to help them learn more about how to use the tool for their assignments 
• Check out instructions for Originality for instructors on the help center
• For additional support reach out to the Classroom Community Forum

Submitting Feedback

Did you know you can send feedback directly to the Google for Education team via the “Send feedback” button within Classroom? Feedback on products in their early stages have big impact on product design. When submitting bugs, feature requests, or user confusions, be sure to start with “Originality Report.” Always include screenshots with feedback.

This feature was designed to help students improve their writing and spot potential issues while saving you time while grading. NOTE - When an instructor enables originality reports for an assignment, all students will be able to create reports up to 3 times for Google Docs files before they turn them in to spot check and correct potential missed citations.

Once the feature is generally available, instructors will be able to access originality reports at no charge for up to 3 assignments in each course they teach. Schools that would like unlimited access can upgrade their instructors to G Suite Enterprise for Education. During the beta, all users can use originality reports as much as they need. NOTE - During the Beta, you will have unlimited use of this. After that time, you will be limited to using it on 3 assignments, so using it on major papers or reports would be the way to go.)

If you have questions or need help... let us know.

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And another reminder... Tech training opportunities this summer!  

As noted in my email to staff earlier this week, I am starting to get a few questions about the Google Summit, Doane Classes and more... so I figured I would share what we have. 

• Doane Classes - For credit (Norris teachers can sit in for free without credit.) 
• Google Certification classes and stipend.
• Google Summit - Registrations are due March 30th at 8 am.
• Tech boot camp.
• And more...

Here is a complete listing of dates, registrations and information. 

💥 Tech items - Decorate your pumpkin, Google drive tips, great app list, the motherload of templates and more....

Norris Middle School Social Media featured on ClassIntercom 

The efforts of Jason Cullison and our Norris Middle School students were recently featured in this story by ClassIntercom.  If you have not had a chance to see their video news stories check them out on their Norris MS News Channel.  They do a great job posting to social media so check out their feeds. Our entire listing of Norris Social Media accounts can be found here.  Congrats to Jason & MS students! 

Have you watched any of the Norris sports broadcasts this fall?  If not, you are missing out! 

Volleyball net cams, sideline cams, 1/2 time guest interviews, endzone cams, replays... the nsdV streaming channel is rocking thanks to Andrew Carlson, Bryan Williams and a host of others. Special thanks to Jason Cullison and Dylan Kendal for announcing the games. You can subscribe to any of our YouTube Channels here.  You will want to subscribe to our nsdV and nsdV_alt2 channels to make sure you get notified when games are streamed. (When you subscribe you get an email when they are broadcasting.)

Form Notifications add-on now available in the G Suite Marketplace - There were a few other add-on's that accomplished this, but this is now the one to use.  It's free, made by Google and has a few more features. More info here. 

35 Google Drive Tips You Can't Afford to Miss - This is just a great list.     I normally pull a few gems out and share with you and toss the rest... but this list is solid.  Yes, I already knew many of them but it was a great reminder with a few new ones I did not know!  Check it out here. 

FALL INTO ELEMENTARY AUTUMN RESOURCES  have students create pumpkins without the mess...and more activities & ideas!   - Some great ideas in this article.    Check out the sample pumpkin animation that is easy for kids to do. 

Here are a couple of pumpkin ones:  Build a Jack-O-Lantern (This one you would assign in Google Classroom and collect via classroom) or Pumpkin Building Class Activity (This one you would share the entire slideshow and each student would work on their own pumpkin. 

We have an entire folder of similar activities/ideas in this folder in our public docs. 

If you have not had the chance to work with Jason, he would love to help get you started with using these as well as other amazing tech ideas for your classes!   

Need a buzzer system for your classroom games/quizzes? (Thanks to James Myers for this one!)  It's a great website use with your review games, etc...  and it's free. https://buzzin.live/  (Works best with touch screen devices.)  The power of gaming in education is great and this one makes it easy to do your own review or other games in the classroom. 

All the Best Google Sheets Keyboard Shortcuts  - If you use sheets a lot, these tips may come in handy.

A nice list of Chrome Shortcuts:  Chrome Shortcuts You Should Know. 

Use  Nearpod? The new #GoogleSlides add-on will be a winner for you. Make your slides an interactive lesson in Nearpod.

25 practical ways to use Google Forms in class, school -  You may pick up on an idea or two from this list. 

A couple of nice articles on self-graded quizzes.  (Remember, Google forms makes this simple! 

• Should we use auto-graded quizzes?
• If we use them, how can we make them better?

Your Go-To Educational Apps - There are thousands of educational apps out there, this is a great source for your IOS, Chrome, and Android apps.  CHECK IT OUT! 

Spring cleaning has come early to GoGuardian with their next two additions/features.  Teachers now have the ability to delete Scenes and archived classrooms! This will reduce the clutter of unused Scenes/Classrooms and clean up the dashboard. Read more about these features at the Help Center articles below

• https://help.goguardian.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005496963-FAQ-Can-I-Delete-a-Scene-
• https://help.goguardian.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004056646-Archive-Restore-Remove-Delete-a-Classroom 

Google Slides: The Swiss Army knife of G Suite 

• 30 interactive Google Slides activities for classroom excitement. 
• 20 add-ons and extensions to supercharge your Google Slides presentations. 

The motherload! Spice Up Your Slides with 600+ Free Design Templates 

I always recommend Slide Carnival, which is first on their list... but there are so many more!  Check out the list.  

75+ Google Classroom tips and tricks - Here are some tips put together by the "Ditch That Textbook" groups. Check them out here. 

How to Import Data from Another Google Sheet -  How-to article here. 

Should you need to import data from another spreadsheet in Google Sheets, you can do it a couple of ways. Whether you want to pull the data from another sheet in the file or an entirely different spreadsheet, here’s how.

💥 Tech tools - Hyperdocs, free templates, free AR app, make Google rock, and more in this weeks tech tips

New feature in GoGuardian product- Quick Links.

I toss this out there, since our district uses GoGuardian. 

In a Teacher Session, teachers may create and apply a Scene to limit student browsing.

In a Scene, teachers may block or allow specific websites.  Many popular educational websites sometimes redirect to other websites in different domains -- Quick Lists accommodates this. Quick Lists are groups of URLs that can be quickly added or removed to a Scene's exceptions list. They can be added to block or allow mode scenes.  More info on quick links can be found here.

If you need help with GoGuardian or have never even started with this great tool - Give Jason a call. If you have not worked with Jason yet... you are in for a treat! HE ROCKS! 

Hyperdocs - Have you jumped on this tool yet?

Learn more about them in this Ditch that Textbook Digital Summit presentation. Hyperdocs are not just a doc with links.  Are students creating and not just consuming with your Hyperdoc? Video here.

• How to Create HyperDocs
• Sample activity - Show What You Know Bingo: Maker Space Activity. 
• With the Teacher's Give Teachers site you can search for a ton of free Hyperdocs via keywords. Check it out!
• Checkout their templates to get started. 
• The best template to start with maybe the Explore-Explain-Apply HyperDoc Lesson Plan Template. This will help make sure you plan your hyperdoc and make sure your students are creating and not just consuming.
• HyperDocs from The HyperDoc Online Course they teach. (Padlet resource site.) 
• The HyperDocs Toolbox: 14 engaging example activities   

Free web tools and sites:

PDF Candy - Awesome free/online FPD tool - Convert, save, rotate, cut, etc... the list goes on,  This is a great site!

Mozilla launches Firefox Send, a free self-destructing file-sharing service - Free, simple password-protect options, private file link, encrypted, ... and more!  

More Than 3500 Free Civics Lessons

4 ways to make math come alive with Google tools 

15 go-to resources for teachers short on time 

This free online tool uses AI to quickly remove the background from images- A handy utility if you don’t have access to Photoshop! (Works great!) 

Free AR app and tools!

My Very Hungry Caterpillar AR is free for a limited time. (IOS app)   If you have not played around with AR - grab this app, your kids will love it too! 

6 ways to start using Augmented Reality in your classroom   

Free Audible News:

Audible: News Digests from NYT, WSJ & The Washington Post are free for  Amazon Prime Members. Details here. 

Make Google Suite rock with these tools/tips:

25 Good G Suite Add-ons & Chrome Extensions  CHECK IT OUT! - Great list from one of my favorites - Richard Byrne  

Article: The Best Google Sheets Add-Ons  

Google Slides interactive notebooks + 20 activities to fill them CHECK IT OUT! Think out of the box on how to use slides! 

8 Fantastic Ways to Find Anything in Google Drive   

The 10 Best Google Docs Add-Ons for More Professional Documents via MUO. 

Google Classroom:

20 great ways to start using Google Classroom now Updated March 2019. 

 

Can AI help you make your quiz questions for you? 

Give it a try! Automate question creation with Quillionz.  Check out the 5-minute video to see how it works.  So if you’re excited about automating question creation, you’ll want to check out this AI-powered tool. Get started with Quillionz for free!   If you try this, let me know... it looks pretty cool! 

Some great tips from @tonyvincent: Follow him for more great stuff!

Create a QR code that links to a shared Google Drive folder with images you've selected. 

http://tonyv.me/galleryqr 

Set a Google Form to give instructions and a clickable link after the form is submitted using the Presentation setting. 

Did you know that you can change the background color of a Google Doc?  

 

 

💥 Tech tools - Form add-ons, make your own GIF's, Cool brush tool and more in this weeks tech tips!

If you in the Elementary and not using SeeSaw... you are missing out!

Jason has been working with a lot of teachers in the elementary getting Seesaw up and rolling. The feedback from staff and parents have been great!  If you have not tried it out yet... make an appointment with Jason to check it out!  SeeSaw's home page. -- 2-minute video overview. 

Misc. Tech Resources: 

Intelligent Search in Google Drive Available for All G Suite Editions - This new feature has just been added to Google Drive. (Our nsdtitans.org domain is on rapid release for feature sets.)

G Suite quick access side panel in Drive - Coming to the web.

You can now access the side panel while using Drive on the web. That means you can access Calendar, Keep, and Task while using Drive, Gmail, Calendar, or Editor products (Docs, Sheets, and Slides).

Organize Your Browsing with This Chrome Dashboard Extension 

Record a 3-second reaction video with your computer's webcam and share as an animated GIF with the free website http://andtheniwaslike.co  COOL!

How to Make and Use Your Own VR Tours in Google Expeditions  -Remember we have a couple of VR carts available for Google Expeditions! 

How to Make Common Craft-style Explanatory Videos. 

VoicePods Adds a Multiple Voice Option

How to Virtually Place Yourself in Front of Any Landmark With Free Image Editing Tools - Using  Remove.bg  

How to Create & Use Canned Responses in Gmail - This has been one of my favorites for a long time now! - Give it a try. I love this Gmail feature! 

How to Use and How to Disable Gmail's Smart Replies - Short 2 minute video, (If you are not using these... you are missing out. 

 Google Has Improved Access to G Suite Accessibility Settings 

✂️ Upload a photo to http://online.photoscissors.com. Mark what to keep with green and what to remove with red. See the results instantly, and download as a PNG with a transparent background.

Gdocs and Forms add-ons:

5 Favorite Google Forms Add-ons  and My 5 Favorite Google Docs Add-ons via Richard Byrne @rmbyrne  

Head over to http://brush.ninja . Draw a series of frames and export as an animated GIF. COOL!

Classroomtools.net has added another tool! 

Animated Cube Creator -  What is it?

Create an animated 3D cube with text, images, and media. 

Save your work for future editing and embed it in your own website. 

If you have not looked at any of their other resources... now may be a good time! https://www.classtools.net/  

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Some great resources from Ditch That Textbook:

Google Slides for interactive notebooks - Google Slides interactive notebooks + 20 activities to fill them.  Think out of the box using slides- it's the best-kept secret for teachers! 

30 Google Classroom tips every teacher must know!

Taking notes can be a drag. - Creating notes into something special -- something very visual that actually represents your personality and learning preferences -- is magical. 10 tips for creating awesome diginotes with Canva

Speech & Thought Bubbles in Google Drawings

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💥 Tech tools - Great new features in Chrome!, add-ons to rock your doc, form tips, STEM and more in this weeks tips...

Google Docs Add-Ons to supercharge your experience! (A NEW tips doc I just created.)  

 Take a look at these add-ons for Google Docs. I am guessing there are a few new ones that you have not tried out yet. 

Loom - It's the best screen recorder out there! I love this FREE tool.

Act Now!  It will always have free features, but it's adding pro features and pricing soon.  

• One major change is that only Pro members will have unlimited storage. New people who sign up for Loom will be able to store their 100 most recent videos for free.
• With that said, on the day that we launch Loom Pro, if you choose to keep your Loom Basic account, your new video limit will equal the total videos you've recorded with Loom plus 100. For example, if you've recorded 250 videos by the day we launch Loom Pro, we will add 100 videos to that and you will have a 350 video limit.
• Erskine's trick -- SO - Record a bunch of short videos now to increase your free limit above the 100! You can later delete them, once they do the upgrade. That way you will get the 100 along with all these you have recorded and can later delete. 

8 Noteworthy New Features Coming to Chromebooks This Month

Via Computerworld | These hidden gems will make Chrome OS more versatile and powerful — but it's up to you to find 'em on your Chromebook. (They come with the new version 70 of Chrome rolling out this week.)  The new multitasking gestures are cool! (Make sure you are on the new Chrome version in tablet mode... and check them out!)

Check out my Loom recording highlighting the multitasking features in Chrome 70! - Highlights the above 2 tips into one nice recording. - Check it out here! <-- Watch it now!  

Google Has a .New Time-saving Trick for Starting Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Forms  Via Quartz at Work | The search giant announced last week a new time-saving trick that lets you open a blank document, presentation, spreadsheet, or form simply by typing .new as the domain name in the URL bar. For example, instead of having to navigate to Google Drive, click “New,” and select “Google Docs,” you can now type doc.new (no www.) in the browser and a new doc will appear.

The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning Math - Checkout the list here. Note - Some are paid sites, but many are free. 

Is That a Big Number is a website that puts numbers into context: http://www.isthatabignumber.com

A Simple Guide To Free Images, Copyright, And Creative Commons For Students And Teachers - This guide walks you through the process of easily and ethically finding quality images for classroom use.

Google Slides: Watch Students Collaborate with Grid View  How to here. - via Alice Keeler. (Those of you that sat in on her session at the GP Google Summit this year, probably already saw this trick. )

Copy Formatting to Multiple Objects in Google Slides -New Feature 

G Suite Updates | Google is making it easier to copy formatting from one object (like a block of text or a shape) to multiple others in Google Slides. Article Here. 

ClassroomQ - A digital hand-raising tool. 

It's a free website created by two teachers. Check it out. 

This is what people do after being shown how to make their own animated GIF using ...  https://andtheniwaslike.co Visit the site. Allow your webcam access. After creating the GIF, right-click on it to save the GIF for you to use. 

 

Speaking of animated GIFs - Create one using a Google Slide Doc

Check it out here. 

Ten Ways to Use Google Earth In Your Classroom - PDF doc here. 

Two Good Tools for Making Multimedia eBooks -These two sites/tools are great!

Three Good Places to Find Hands-on STEM Lessons - Resources here.

How to Create Captioned Flipped Video Lessons - Via Practical Ed Tech - Resources here. 

How to Insert Equations and Special Characters Into Google Documents - Short 2 minute video. 

Set a minimum or maximum character count for a response in Google Forms. The form won't submit unless the response fits the rule.  Thanks to Tony Vincent @tonyvincent for this great tip! (If you are not following him, you are missing some great tech tips!) 

Set a Google Form to give instructions and a clickable link after the form is submitted. 

Create Augmented Reality Breakout Games – Perfect for Geography Lessons Check it out.