💥 Tech items - amazing templates, Rivit Reading, Youtube tricks, great add-ons for G Suite, and more in this weeks tech tips

Want to get through a tutorial videos a little faster? -This tip may be for you! 

Bump up the playback speed to 1.25 or maybe 1.5 to get through the video faster.  (If you want to really make them sound like a chipmunk you can go faster.) 

The Google for Education YouTube Channel has some great videos to keep current on the new tech offerings. 

Checkout their Channel here.     A few good ones include... EDU in 90: Keeping up with Docs, EDU in 90: Chrome Extensions to Stay Organized, EDU in 90: Time-Saving G Suite Tips, EDU in 90: More Time-Saving G Suite Tips, and many more! Check them out.  Use the tip above to get through the tips faster!  (If find I can watch the videos in 1.5 speed and still get all the material with time to soak it in.)  

WOW - 50 FREE Templates for Teachers -- Some great templates from DitchThatTextbook - You can make a copy of any of these templates and assign them to your students right away. (Through Google Classroom.)  

Remember... we keep other templates in this Google Drive Folder for Norris Staff.  (Some great K-2 ones as well.) 

Originality reports and rubrics now generally available for Google Classroom users

I have mentioned these in a prior tech email... but they are now fully rolled out. Remember, you can enable the originality reports for up to 3 assignments per class.  More info here.

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TinkerCad - Want to start students doing some drawing and 3D modeling - This may be for you.

Tinkercad is a free online collection of software tools that help people all over the world think, create and make. We’re the ideal introduction to Autodesk, the leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. As a teacher you can create a teacher account and then add students. it allows you to easily manage classes. It's great for designs and circuits.  

Sketup is another good one similar to TinkerCad.  It's online program is free and we are licensed for the full-blown desktop version if you ever need it. (Free through the state.) Checkout the SketchUp for Schools site to get started with the free online version. 

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Jeopardy Review Game? 

There are a lot of options when it comes to review games, but I thought I would share a recent question from a staff member on creating a Jeopardy game: 

Use Google Slides:

I like using this Google Slide template. It's free, easy to use and you own the content.  You can add pics, videos, etc.. to each slide (Question). The only downside is that it does not grey-out the question on the main board after it's been used/answered. (We have added this one and several other games as templates in our Google Presentations Gallery at Norris.) 

If you use your projector in extended mode... you can have the game board up on your projector and then have the music (Jeopardy music loop) to start and stop on your teacher computer screen. (Just a thought.) 

Other options: 

SuperTeacherTools has one.  But it is basic with no pics. It is free.  https://www.superteachertools.us/jeopardyx/  

• You can print the answer key
• Slides are fully customizable

This one is a great one too, but no pics.  https://jeopardylabs.com/

You can make your own Jeopardy template online

If you are really into Jeopardy and willing to pay a subscription, this one has all the bells and whistles: Factile has some free features too, but the above free ones are better. You get the bells and whistles when you subscribe. . Here are the feature comparisons.   

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Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens is a full K-12 suite of resources for teaching copyright, fair use, public domain, and Creative Commons. They have free resources for educators, which include:

• in-class lesson plans
• plug-n-play lesson slides
• independent learning videos
• visual aids
• a professional development course for teachers

All resources were developed on a nonprofit basis with input from independent educators, academic copyright experts, and online civil liberties advocates. Check them out here!

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Creating with Google Earth: 10 activities to try - Google Earth's new creation tools let students demonstrate their learning on a map. Tell stories. Share information. Then share it with class!  Checkout some ideas here! 

Google Creatability Experiments -  Exploring how creative tools can be made more accessible for everyone.  What is Creatability? Creatability is a set of experiments made in collaboration with creators and allies in the accessibility community. Check them out here. 

Virtual Desks on Chromebooks
You can now create and organize multiple workspaces within your device with Virtual Desks. Students can create a different desk for each class, or educators can dedicate a desk to multiple projects or tasks. I am not sure if this is that useful of a feature or not... but here is a short video to show you how that works. 

Here is one for the K-8 teachers/students -  Rivet is now available through your Clever dashboard

You can now access Rivet's free reading app through your Clever dashboard! Rivet is a free app with over 3,000 leveled books that helps students practice with confidence by offering: Real-time pronunciation feedback, definition support on tricky words, and reading time tracking to meet daily reading goals.  (It runs through an IOS or Android App... so you need to have Chromebooks that will support that.  All of our touch screen models do as well as all of the staff units... so give it a try.)  I know Jason is already working with a few teachers on this!  If you need help or have questions... let us know. We are here to help!

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Speed up your Chromebook:

Delete local files:

You (or your students)  should not store files locally on your Chromebook. - Move locally stored files to the Google Drive! (Or just delete them if you do not need them.) Chromebooks have limited local storage. The closer a device come to storage capacity, the more bogged down it becomes. (Ctrl-J - Jumps you right to the downloads folder on your device.) 

Limit the number of Extensions you run: 
Extensions and apps can really help you get the most out of your Chromebook. Having excessive amounts of extensions enabled can really slow your device down.  Delete any apps or extensions that are suspicious or that you just don’t use.  To check what extensions you have, past this url in your browser:  chrome://extensions/   

You can use this extension (Extensity) to shut off extensions that you only use for certain things.  It's handy to just turn them on when you need them.

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Master Chrome OS With These Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts. (Thanks to Jessie Andre for this one)   Check them out here. 

Slides Randomizer - A Neat Google Slides Add-on -  Use for flashcards or maybe sharing a slide deck via Google Classroom that students have to put back into the correct order/steps.  

Nine Good Sources of Public Domain & Creative Commons Audio  By Richard Byrne Checkout the list here. 

💥 Tech post- Google Slide tools, some nice apps, YouTube tools, free music, and those annoying Windows pop ups... and more in this weeks tech email.

Accessibility Tools Chrome - A presentation by Heather Callihan - Technology Integrationisy, Northwest Public Schools at the Fall NETA Conference.

A couple of nice Google Slide add-ons: 

Slido is a polling service that offers a free Google Slides add-on and companion Chrome extension. Combining the two allows you to easily poll students and other audiences. 

The Unsplash Photos Google Slides add-on gives you instant access to Unsplash's collection of free, royalty-free photographs.

Check out this Google Slide game show template. From Ryan O'Donnell @creativeedtech 

With the new rollout of audio to Google Slides, he added music and sounds to his most popular TV Game Show style review game. Its called "Frazzle" (similar to Heads Up). You access it here for your own free copy.

 

Note - Norris staff, I have added this to our Google Slide templates folder in our tech docs folder. 

World Wildlife Fund's Together app - WWF Together - Revisiting a Favorite App

The World Wildlife Fund's Together app is a great free app.  Here is a little bit more about the app.   We do have several sets of iPad carts that are available for use in the classroom. 

The WWF Explore! app and WWF Free Rivers  are available in the Google Play store so they could be loaded on our Chromebooks.  (These are different apps and feature sets. They gets great reviews.) 

Easy Ways to Add Polls & Quizzes to Existing Slideshows  More info here. 

If you have not used FlipGrid - You need to give Jason a call and have him show you this cool tool.  It rocks!  (And if you have not had the pleasure of working with Jason, you are missing out! He rocks as well!)  This cool tool has a lot of uses in the classroom.

Free Music for Video Projects - Another great resource from  Richard Byrne

@rmbyrne 

It's HERE.... they finally rolled out the ability for users to embed MP3 and WAV audio files from Drive into Slides.  As long as you have added our Norris Public Folders to your google drive (Everyone should have done that already.) you will have a lot of Wav files all ready for you to insert.  In your presentation go to insert audio. (Just search for a tiger, phone, bells, etc...) 

9 Top YouTube Channels to Boost Classroom Lessons -  Article/resources here. 

How to Make a QR Code for Just About Anything - Check it out. 

Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation - Some are free, some are web tools, some are apps... check out the list here to see if there are some tools for you. 

YouTube can find, track, and blur faces of people who appear in your video.- A great tip from Tony Vincent @tonyvincent

Teach Civics or government - this one is for you. Annenberg Classroom - Civics website makes teaching the Constitution manageable, meaningful. EDU review can be found here. 

Gsuite Update - Insert collapsible text boxes into new Google Sites
Coming soon - Quick launch summary
Site editors can now insert collapsible text boxes into a new Google Site, which site viewers can click to expand. Collapsible text boxes can help condense large blocks of text, like content on FAQ or Help Center pages, allowing site viewers to quickly navigate to the most relevant information. More info here... it's coming soon! 

How to Make a YouTube Playlist for Your Favorite Videos - How to article here.  Organize your playlists by subject, assignments, etc...  You can share a link to a playlist that contains the list of videos for that subject, project, etc...   If you are not doing this now... check it out.  It's a great time saver and keeps you organized. 

In Google Classroom - New feature in Rubrics Beta, Reuse Rubrics!

In both Classroom and Assignments, you now have the ability to create a rubric from scratch or reuse an existing rubric you’ve already created. When you select the option to reuse a rubric, you can select to use a rubric available in the current class or switch to another class to reuse a rubric from that one.  

Once you find the rubric you’d like to use, you can preview it or select it to use immediately. While in preview mode, you can also flip between rubrics to easily find the one you need. We will be rolling out this functionality to all instructors in the beta over the next few days. Learn more about rubrics in Classroom and Assignments.

Pro tip: If you'd like to share rubrics you've set up in Classroom with other teachers, simply add co-teachers to a shared class with multiple rubrics. All teachers and co-teachers will see those rubrics for assignments in other classes in the new reuse workflow.

Are you getting annoying reminders in Windows 10 that look like spam? If so, you are allowing notifications from certain websites and they are popping up in Windows 10.  These can be bad... if you allow them from sites that are not that great.  In other words... the website can continue to spam you with notifications. 

Go into your Chrome settings here: (Paste this in your URL) --->   chrome://settings/content/notifications

Under your Allow - Remove most sites.  (You may still want a few from Google Drive, etc... but most should be removed.)  If you can not remove them via a 3-drop menu, then they are an app or extension you have installed. 

When you go to a website and it asks you this.... say no! 

Some great ideas from ditch that textbook:  http://ditchthattextbook.com/

14 ways to turn your classroom into a game show - You've likely heard of -- or used -- Kahoot! or Quizizz. They turn review activities into a fun game show-like experience.

Want to ramp up that experience beyond "just a Kahoot! game"?

Check out these 14 suggestions for bringing game show elements into the classroom. (Hint: There are some new websites and apps you might not know yet on this list!)

If they like TikTok, they'll LOVE this.

• Do you have students who are enamored with TikTok? If so, you're not alone!
• Hundreds of millions of users age 16-24 use the app regularly worldwide.
• Want to grab your students' attention and inject some fun in a lesson?
• Give them the template in today's post and make a TikTok-inspired activity!

It's all ready to... grab the template and assign it in Google Classroom!  Let the creativity begin! 

💥 Tech tools - Map tools, see changes to our world via Google Earth, Gsuite tips and more in this weeks tech posting.

Misc web tools:

Watch videos together as a group - https://www.watch2gether.com/  (Create a free room and get started - no registration required.) Thanks to our very own James Myers for this one! 

31 of My Favorite Ed Tech Tools - By Richard Byrne Here is the video. 

AWESOME Math Drill site! - All grade levels- check it out+ https://www.math-drills.com/

Need a quick and easy password for student? - Check out https://www.dinopass.com/ (There is a button to generate a simple one or a strong one. (Do the strong one!) 

This one is a must for Teachers and YouTube.  I use to recommend Majic Actions for YouTube but now I recommend Improve YouTube.  This one has a lot of features and is simple to use.  (Go through the settings and slide one of the settings to stop YouTube ads.) 

The new kahoot creator makes game creation easier and 3x faster!  If you have not used kahoot or quizizz ... give it a try for a review game. 

Need to print a Calendar? - This site has a ton of different styles. They have them by year. 2019 is here. Find the ones at the bottom and select Google Sheet.  Example 2019 one here.

24 Google Docs Templates That Will Make Your Life Easier 

Great shortcuts for use in Google Docs. 

8 Nifty Apps to Identify ANYTHING Using Your Phone’s Camera

8 Options for Making Digital Maps 

Our Tech Boot Camp is coming - August 6 & 7 - Be on the lookout for more info.

• Great sessions!
• Great lunch!
• Stipends!
• And more!

We would love for you to present (Contact Jason) as well. 

Free book reading app for the younger kids!

Better Reading Practice. - Reading practice has never been easier with Rivet, a reading app with over 2,000 FREE leveled books for kids. Check it out.  (It's really free!) 

GSuite Updates:

Check out the new G Suite Learning Center - Posted: 28 May 2019 - Visit the learning center.

Update all linked content with one click in Docs and Slides - Posted May 24, 2019, More info here. 

New features for Slides Present mode coming to Google Slides. 

Gradebook in Classroom now generally available - This new feature adds a tab in your Google Classroom with a grade book view. Coming next year - Looks like the grade book in Google Classroom may sync to our SIS (Student Information System) -PowerSchool. We have signed up for this beta to sync to PowerSchool but not sure if we will be accepted. 

Announcing Grammar in Google Docs 

See 35 years of change on Google Earth  -See the shirking Glaciers, expanding cities and more.   Meandering rivers, mining, and urban growth are just a few themes that you can explore in Google Earth Timelapse. A global, zoomable video that allows you to see anywhere in the world and witness Earth’s surface transform over the past 35 years.

Sign up to get Google for Education updates in your inbox. -  Sign up here. 

See Changes in Google Docs Over Time With Compare Documents
Via G Suite Updates | It’s now easier to compare two Google docs. This feature will show you the differences between the docs as “Suggested Edits” in a new document. NOTE - This will be rolling out soon.

Side note - This is a great extension for teachers to see the document history played back like a movie. Great for looking at student's docs. - Draftback. 

View the Edit History of a Cell in Sheets
Via G Suite Updates | “Show edit history” is a new feature in Sheets that will help you easily see the edit history of a cell, including who made the last edit, when that edit was made, and the cell’s previous value. NOTE - This will be rolling out soon. 

Two new formatting tools available in Docs - Posted: 30 May via GSuite updates.  More info here. 

• Insert section breaks and view section breaks in Docs
• Adjust margins per section - It’s now possible to use the ruler to adjust the left and right margins by section.

26 Incredibly Useful Things You Didn’t Know Google Calendar Could Do -  Checkout the article here.

#10 was great -  Switch your calendar view in an instant by tapping into one of Google Calendar’s super-handy hidden shortcuts: Press “1” or “d” for the day view, “2” or “w” for the week view, “3” or “m” for the month view, “4” or “x” for your custom view, “5” or “a” for the agenda view, and “6” or “y” for the year view.

18. Did you know you can add an attachment directly to an event within Calendar—something like a PDF, image file, or document that you want all the invitees to see? 

Find out more: Check out the article here.

How to Split Text in Google Sheets
Via How-To Geek | Often, you need to split the content of a cell in your spreadsheet that is separated by a comma or space, such as the first and last names of a contact. Luckily, Google Sheets provides a simple, straightforward approach to dealing with merged datasets. Short how-to article here. 

Remember - help in G Suite is only a click away for you and your students.

Quick tutorials, short videos and more are only a click away.  More info here. 

I love Google's MyMaps - Use it this summer for your vacation!

Take a road trip with Google MyMaps - There are many classroom uses and personal uses (Can we say vacation!) for Google's MyMaps.  Have students create maps of historical trips, battles, etc...  Check it out.  (Yes it is one of the 8 mentioned in the posting above- "8 Options for Making Digital Maps " 

Google Photos Will Stop Syncing to Drive on July 10, 2019
Via G Suite Updates | Starting on July 10, 2019, Google Photos will no longer sync to Google Drive. From that date forward, if you add or delete files in Photos, they won’t be automatically added or deleted in Drive.  (In settings for drive you had to click a checkbox for the photos to appear as a folder in drive-...so you may or may not see this folder or use it.) This will really only affect you as a user if you used this feature in drive.  More info here: Google Drive and Photos Are Splitting: What You Need to Know.  

💥 Tech tools - New gmail right-click, add-ons, Googel slide tools, YouTube tricks and more!

Can You Spot When You’re Being Phished? (Hey - A hacker just tried phishing a lot of school employees via our retirement plan, so be careful!) 

-Take Google's test to test out your phishing chops. To make this quiz, the team drew from materials they've used to train thousands of journalists, political figures, and activists. Can you tell what's fake?  

Another great resource to avoid Phishing:  social engineering red

flags  

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Khan Academy Kids - a free award-winning app for ages 2-6! 

If you have brothers, sisters, friends, or neighbors who are ages two to six, be sure to share Khan Academy Kids with them. Khan Academy Kids makes learning engaging and fun. Thousands of activities, aligned to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Common Core, delve deep into topics ranging from math to language arts and socio-emotional learning.

It’s now available on Google Play, AmazonFire, and the iTunes App Store.   

10 YouTube URL Tricks You Should Know About. 

Some pretty neat tricks in this article... link to a specific spot, create a Gif, download, etc... 

How will technology affect jobs in the future? 

(JD.com opened a completely automated warehouse near Shanghai, that employes four people.)  See what their automated warehouse looks like today  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFV8IkY52iY  (Amazing Video.) 

Teach Coding with CS First

Google's free, video-based computer science curriculum is designed for teachers with no prior CS knowledge and for students in grades 4-8 (ages 9-14). Explore the getting started videos and check out how teachers like you are using CS First in their classrooms.

Free ebooks, audiobooks, movies, K-12 resources and more...

The Open Culture website is worth looking at!

A Soft Murmur - If you like background sounds!

A Soft Murmur allows you to simply play around with the sliders to create your very own background noise.

Google Docs add-ons:

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

5 New Google-Made Apps That Are Cool, Useful, and Fun.

One of these (Password Checker) we have deployed to all staff and students already.) - Check them out! 

Google Slides - Pretty Cool! 

• Slides Superpowers: Engaging slide-to-slide linking activities 
• Create stop-motion animation
• Make a collaborative workspace for your class
• Brainstorm with sticky notes
• Plan lessons digitally
• Create an Instagram Stories and Snapchat experience for learning
• One Story, MANY Endings: A fun, creative Google Slides activity

Misc. Resources:

The Library of Congress has lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school students easily searchable and organized by collection. From African American History to World War II the choices are fantastic. Check out their Primary source sets too! 

Shadow Puppet EDU (IOS App)  has partnered with the Library of Congress to give students access to a collection of images. Students can create narrated slideshows using images to record their understanding of different topics in history.  With Shadow Puppet EDU videos creations can now be up to 30 minutes long and include 100 slides of pictures.  Users have the ability to add images from NASA, Flickr Creative Commons, and the Library of Congress’ archive without leaving the app. It's a great free storytelling app worth checking out for the iPads. 

Photo Resource - “Remove Background” - https://www.remove.bg   Great resource for teachers and students to remove background images from photos. Thanks to Lisa Harrington who found out about this resource at a conference, and shared it with our high school staff.

9 Top YouTube Channels to Boost Classroom Lessons

24 ways to create great classroom video with Screencastify

Check out these 10 AR apps for your classroom—  coding not required 

EDU in 90: Innovate with Google Keep for Math - Short 2 min. video. 

Password Managers: A great tip from our amazing network admin - Thanks @bryancwilliams 

The last I checked, I personally have over 100 online accounts.  Each account has a unique password that I don't even have to remember.  Wait...  What???  You don't know the passwords to over 100 accounts.  That is correct.  Am I crazy?  Yes and No, depending on who you ask.  Regardless, I am able to pull this off using a password manager and I highly recommend you start using one.

A password manager is pretty self-explanatory.  It manages all of your passwords in one central location utilizing one master password to secure all of your credentials and information.  Putting all of your eggs in one basket can be a little unsettling for some people but the advantages of doing so far outweigh the disadvantages of not having one.  There are two password managers I would recommend. 1Password (which I use) and LastPass (which Noel uses).  These are the two of the most popular PM's that we can provide basic guidance on.  There are others out there but a person needs to do their research to make sure they are repeatable.  Here are just some of the benefits that might entice you to move into a password management product.

• One Password.  One strong password or passphrase gets you access to all of your accounts.
• Greater Security - If one of your passwords is ever breached, all other accounts remain secure due to each having a different password.
• Faster Logins - Using autofill or keystroke combinations,  passwords are automatically filled in in less than a second.  No thinking about what username or password to use.
• Shared Logins - Share logins with family members.  Give access to family members on a regular basis or in case of an emergency.
• Encryption -  All passwords and information is encrypted and stored securely on 1Password and LastPass servers.

When implementing a PM, remember you now have one password that holds all the keys to the kingdom.  Make it strong!  Don't forget it!  Make a backup copy of any recovery process or keys provided!  Side Note: The current industry trend is to use a passphrase rather than a password.  Both 1Password and LastPass both support passphrases.  I would suggest your master password be a passphrase.

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💥 Tech tools - Last one of the school year - But some great ones! Clipart, New features in Google and more!

Misc websites and tech tools:

Favorite Sites for Free Clipart and Photos

IOS App -  Stickyboard 2 for iPad is free right now. It's usually $4.99.

16 practical YouTube pointers for teachers.  (Some great tips!) 

Twelve Tools for Building End-of-year Review Activities (That Aren't Kahoot Games)

Make a QR code that opens to a gallery of Images. -  Ever want students to do a quick activity and don’t want them to spend all their time searching for images? Or, maybe you are not comfortable sending students out on the web to search for photos? Perhaps you want students to use a specific set of images? Then consider creating a QR code that links to a shared Google Drive folder with images!

Kids (Or teachers)  interested in programming? - Three Ways to Develop Programming Skills This Summer

Google Classroom:

Some great tips by Tony Vincent. (Guessing even a veteran will pick up a few tips from this one!)  

Automate Repetitive Tasks in Google Sheets With Macros

This new feature in sheets can same you a lot of time with repetitive tasks. Check out this short 1-minute video to see it in action. 

Elementary & Intermediate teachers - are you using Google Classroom?

...If it wasn’t for Disney on Pandora, you could have heard a pin drop! Love seeing them so focused with Google Classroom to review reading! Check it out from our own Katie Mueller @MrsMueller2nd 

There are a ton of great uses in the younger grades! The #GAFE4Littles will get you started. 

Google added Offline Gmail baked into the new Gmail -No extension installs, etc...

Here are the quick settings:

• Log in to your Gmail account.
• Click on the gear icon to open the Gmail menu, then click Settings.
• Under Settings find Offline. Click on it.
• In the Offline menu, click Enable Offline Email.
• Choose how many days to sync, and whether to keep or remove cached email when signing out of a Gmail account.
• Click Save Changes and you're done.
• Give Gmail some time to download messages, and be sure you have Gmail open in Chrome before going offline.

Just Like Twitter, Gmail Lets You ‘@’ Mention People

Via TNW | Gmail got a much-needed visual refresh and some clever new features recently. But did you know that the revamped interface also supports user mentions, à la Twitter? When you’re composing a new message or a reply, you can insert anyone’s email address in the body by entering the @ symbol, followed by their name. It'll bring up a list of people in your contact list with that name, and choosing any of them will add a mailto link labeled with their name. When your recipient clicks that link, it’ll bring up a new compose window so they can write to that contact.

Have a computer at home - you may want to run this once in while! - Chrome Has a Built-In Malware Scanner, Here’s How to Use It

Google Slides tip:

4 Key Google Slides Tips and Tricks to Know

Tip - In case you didn't notice, Google Slides has a Grid view. Click the View menu and select Grid view or click the Grid view icon in the bottom left corner. 

Remember - New things coming to Google Forms!

Six New Features Coming to Google Forms