Noel Erskine, Technology Coordinator Norris Schools

Welcome to my technology blog.
Follow me on Twitter, @noelerskine
Noel's Home Page
Showing posts with label gmail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gmail. Show all posts

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

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

 


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! 


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. 


Some great Google Classroom Cheat Sheets:


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



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.)




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




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! 




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



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/







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: 

Compared to regular Youtube share: 




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.) 


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. 





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

  










 





πŸ’₯ Tech items - Free templates, new features, tutorials, originality reports beta, and more....

Tuesday, March 3, 2020


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. 


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 



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



πŸ“’ 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.


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...






πŸ’₯ Tech items - New Gsuite features, video & photo tools, free templates, hyperdocs AND free Chick-Fil-A nuggets until Jan 31st!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020



Richard Byrne's Favorite New & Updated Tools in 2019 - This short list of tools from 2019 are always great from one of the best out there!  SlidoGlide Apps , ClassTools , BoClips  and more in this list!  

Please turn off your projectors when you are not using them! -Please do not leave them on over lunch, during your prep period, etc...  It really takes the life off of the projector and bulb. Thanks from your tech department. 

Are you using your Chromebook to its fullest potential?  If it's just sitting at home, your wasting a valuable resource. Use it for staff meetings or maybe casting from it to your projector, 

A few new resources from Google: 
G Suite for Power Users: This page contains resources specifically curated for advanced users so they can get even more out of G Suite.
G Suite Hack for power users: This training has five challenge tasks employees can complete at their own pace, giving them a fun way to learn about G Suite.

New Feature in Gmail Send multiple emails as attachments in Gmail. (This makes it easy to forward a string of emails.) 

 select the emails and then from the overflow (three-dot) menu select “Forward as attachment
View the version history of a new Google Site


Version History coming to new Google Sites in 2020: 
What’s changing: We’re starting to add version history for sites created in new Google Sites, a highly requested feature from our site owners and editors.

Version history will roll out over the course of 2020 for both users creating new sites as well as for previously existing sites. Version history will be gradually enabled on a user-by-user basis for newly created sites, while a separate roll out will enable version history for previously existing sites. We anticipate:
  • By March 2020, all users will have version history enabled for newly created sites
  • By the end of 2020, most existing sites will have version history enabled
Review the latest changes to a new Google Site before publishing

Announced on December 4, 2019  What’s changing
Before publishing changes to your new Google Sites, you can now compare the currently published site with the soon-to-be-published draft site in an annotated, side-by-side view.

How To Share Spark Videos on YouTube - This short article will walk you through the steps. 

Remove Image Backgrounds With PhotoScissors - I shared this one last year, but thought I would share again. And a couple others in this article: Three Ways to Remove Image Backgrounds With Just a Click or Two. 

We have updated and added a few resources to our Computer Science & Coding Resources document. You can checkout our doc here.  (If you have additional resources to add, let us know and we will add them to our resource list.) 

More Options for Copying Presentations in Google Slides
More info via G Suite Updates | When creating a copy of an existing Google Slides presentation, you'll now be able to select specific slides to copy instead of the whole deck and remove the speaker notes from the copy. This feature makes it easier to parse out and share the most relevant content with your team, audience, or other.

If you are using FireFox - UPDATE IT!  (Use Chrome here at school... but I know some of you may use FireFox at home.  If so update it!) 
More info can be found here about this major exploit if you do not update! 

Well, this one is not a phishing email, it's a legit offer. Get a free Chick-Fil-A  8-Ct Chicken Nuggets or Kale Crunch Salad - Now through Jan. 31st.
If you already have the rewards app, open it up... and it will show you the offer.  If not, download the app and join their rewards and you will get the offer via the app. (iOS or Android). 


A Comparison of 6 Blogging Services for Teachers and Students - Updated -  I think for Norris I would use Blogger for the older students and SeeSaw for the younger students.  Checkout the article for more info and options. 

12 Alternatives to Google Images 
Tip: Make sure you get the Pixabay GoogleDoc add-on for docs and the Unsplash addon for Google Slides

Create Your Own Story Cubes with Google Drawings  - With templates to download! More here. 

Hyperdocs and more Hyperdocs!   What is a HyperdocCheckout the templates and Samples

GOOGLE TEMPLATES FOR STUDENTS - Not a new one, but still great templates in this list.


. 

πŸ’₯ Tech items - Some great tips and tools to check out πŸ‘€ in this weeks post!

Wednesday, September 11, 2019


Google releases Chrome Canvas web app for drawing with ‘Ink’  - Just visit this site and start drawing! More info here.   (We have added a direct link to this and the AWW App in Clever) 
  • -Save drawings
  • -Export file if needed (PNG picture file format.) 
  • -Easy, Simple, & Fast!
I have added this one along with some other great ones to my doc: Use your iPad or Chromebook (Android app) as a Whiteboard <---Check it out! 

Free app! For kids in grades K-3 - Quality reading practice has never been easier.
Rivet is a free (Developed by Google Labs) program that provides access to  3,000+ free books across 14 categories in a kid-friendly interface. More info about the app can be found in our info document.  (Feel free to share this with parents tool) 

EdPuzzle has some great new features.  (This is an awesome tool for videos in your classroom.) It integrates with Google Classroom too!  Great for making sure students have watched the assigned video. You can even quiz them along the way! 

Here are a few of the new features:
Live Mode 
Project your edpuzzle for the whole class while your students answer live on their own devices… watch together, have fun and spark discussion!

Open Class 
Now students can watch videos without having to create an account – perfect for quick practice and elementary students! 

Are you using Comments in Google Classroom with grading assignments/Docs? 
Remember, the # will bring up your list of comments to insert. It's a nice time saver!  More info in this short 2-minute video. 

Display the word count as you type in Google Docs - New feature 
(Starting gradual roll out on 9-9-19.)  Instead of going to Tools > Word Count each time you want to view this information, now, you can simply select Tools > Word count > Display word count while typing to continuously display it in the lower-left corner of your doc:


Here's one for the math teachers - Need to do equations in Google docs?
Give the Auto-LaTeX Equations add-on a try. This add-on lets you automatically convert every LaTeX equation in your document into beautiful images! Simply enclose your math equations within $$ ... $$ and click the button in the sidebar, and all of your equations will be rendered in LaTeX!

3 easy strategies to organize your Google Classroom - This article has some great tips on getting your classroom organized.  Note - I have added this resource to our Google Classroom tips and trick doc

New Features coming - Switch to a Blank Screen and Set Advanced Time Options for Presentations in Google Slides
Via G Suite Updates | Google is adding two new features in Slides Present mode to help you better control and customize your presentations: keyboard shortcuts to switch to a blank screen and looping and auto advance time options for presentations. More info here. 

Some great resources from Matt Miller's Ditch that textbook email:
Check out his site with some amazing resources that grow each week! 
Here are just a few: 
20 Seesaw ideas with Chromebooks for K-12 classes  We are pushing every K-2 teacher at Norris to use SeeSaw - but check out these great ideas for everyone! 
Signup on the right-hand page of his website to get a weekly email with some great resources. 


Great email tip if you do not really want to give out your actual email address. This avoids creating a junk email address for conferences, etc...

Have you ever signed up for a conference, newsletter, or other services as a requirement or to get a discount Instead of setting up a different Gmail account for that unwanted Spam give this a try!

By simply adding a + to the end of your username (but before the "@") you can create infinite variations of your Gmail address. For example, ted.smith+norris@nsdtitans.org will direct email to your main address (ted.smith@nsdtitans.org) without giving it away to spammers. You can then filter messages containing "username+norris" into your junk or trash folder so you never have to be bothered to delete them again.   (Do this using Filters in Gmail.)  As shown above, this will work for EDU domains like our nsdtitans.org or for regular Gmail accounts as well.) 

Google Drive tips:

Share for a limited time - You can make a file in your Drive storage available to someone else only for a limited period of time. Right-click the file and select “Share,” Type in the name or email address of the person with whom you want to share and click the “Send” button.

Fax a file from drive - Need to send a fax from your Google Drive - No problem with the HelloFax add-on.  (Free and paid plans.)  Click the big “New” button in Drive’s upper-left corner, select “More,” and then “Connect more apps.” Search for “HelloFax” in the window that appears, then click the green “Connect” button and follow the steps to authorize the service.

Maintain different versions of files -  With Google Docs you have version history as well as named versions right inside of the doc.  But with non-google files like PDF's Pictures, etc... did you know you can keep up to 100 different/older versions of the same file?  In Drive right-click on a file to upload a new version or to download an older version of the file.  This how-to article will help if you have further questions. 

Color code folders or add emoji to the names of folders.  Right-click (or Ctrl-click) any folder and look for the “Change color” option.  Right-click to rename the folder and past the emoji as a part of the name. 

πŸ’₯ Tech tools - Some great new Gsuite features, Google Drawing tips, tech tools and more... in this edition.

Thursday, April 18, 2019



✔️Finally - they added it!  Enhance presentations in Slides with audio. 
Google is adding the ability for users to embed MP3 and WAV audio files from Drive into Slides. It will be rolling out soon.  More details here. 
Another Slides update Easily Customize Theme Colors in Slides

Gmail Smart Compose Subject Suggestions

Schedule your Gmail - It's here for Norris users already!
In the past few weeks, Google has been rolling out the capability to schedule when your email is sent.  (In the past, this required an extension like Boomerang for Gmail)  


Note: You must enable Gmail offline for this feature to be present on your Chromebook or desktop computer. (These settings are specific to each device you log into.) 



Take action faster with customizable swipe actions in Gmail on iOS
This feature was already in Android... but If you have an iPhone it's a nice addition!  Check out how to do it here.  (I loved this update for my iPhone! - Swipe one way I delete the message and swipe the other way and it' archived. Customizable!) 

Google Classroom update - NEW (Students/Staff will want to update their apps!)
Note - This will only affect new classes created after 4-17-19.
What do I need to know?
From April 17, 2019, any new classes created in Classroom will experience new ordering rules on the Classwork page. New topics or items posted to the Classwork page in these new classes will start to appear at the top of the page instead of the bottom. We have made this change to improve the user experience of Classroom based on teacher and professor feedback. This feature will not be supported by versions of the mobile app which are older than 2.2019.06301 on iOS and 5.2.102.04xx on Android.

What do I need to do?
To enable your users to view the new ordering on mobile, please update your devices (via the Play and App Stores) so that they are running the latest versions of the Android and iOS apps.

✍🏾 The Google Classroom iOS and Android apps have the ability to markup assignments. A teacher can use a finger or a stylus to add colorful annotations, handwriting, and highlighting.
Note: The K-2 Chromebooks and 9-12 Chromebooks are set to run the Android Google Classroom app- so this works great! Make an assignment and students can mark it up and turn it back in via the Android Classroom app! 


πŸ’° Remember - It's easy to give a percent of your Amazon purchases to the Norris Foundation! At no cost to you! 
This document will get you started.  Only takes a couple of minutes - and at Norris, you are always taken to smile.amazon.com so once you set your charity, it will go to the foundation.

πŸ“ŒGreat reminders from our Norris Staff - Limit the "reply all" emails.
  • If you want to avoid people doing a reply all to an email you send - send it out with the BCC instead fo using the C or CC. Great tip!
  • You can also change Gmails default reply behavior - I recommend doing this! Here is a how-to article, or here is a screenshot courtesy of Andrew Carlson:







Pretty cool: 
From Charlie Hutzler - @CAHutzler Mr. Applegate led his #NorrisTitans through a virtual tour of #Auschwitz utilizing #Chromebooks and http://panorama.auschwitz.org .

Misc. Tech:
Several from via Richard Byrne @rmbyrne 
31 of My Favorite Ed Tech Tools - video (54 Min. but great tools!)


The following resource is from Matt Millers DitchThatTextbook email.  Check out his great website for a ton of resources and subscribe to his email list for more goodies. 

More Google Drawings goodness



(PS: That Tony Vincent Ditch Summit video presentation is only available for a few more weeks, and then it'll go offline until the summit in December. Don't wait!)

Today, the #DitchBook Twitter community has shared in a big way! In addition to the resources listed above, they shared 35 MORE ideas for using Google Drawings in the classroom!  


πŸ—“ NETA 2019 Session resources
Didn't make it to NETA - you can still view the session resources here. (Some great ideas and resources for K-12 classrooms.)

πŸ”‚Updates to Stream in Google Classroom
From Google - Thanks to your feedback, we brought back the ability to move posts to the top of the Stream, just like in classic Classroom. We also introduced a setting for controlling how notifications appear in the Stream.  To stay on top of what's new in classroom - Checkout out this site

✅IT IS BACK!! To-Do in Google Classroom 
To Do List in Google Classroom is Back - learn more here.

πŸ“§Write now, send later with Schedule send in Gmail!  
Yes, Boomerang has been a great extension that gave us this functionality in the past... But coming in the next few weeks... It will be built into Gmail! More info here. 



πŸ“ŒWhere on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
The world's greatest super thief has struck again! Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Google have created an interactive quiz that takes your students across the globe to find clues and solve the mystery of the Crown Jewels caper.

Build and share your own VR experience
You and your students can now view and guide your own VR tours in Google Expeditions on both iOS and Android! Start by visiting https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/ 

CHROME MUSIC LAB - Check it out!
Pretty cool site for teaching some music concepts - Rhythm, Chords, and more. You will love it... and kids will love it too!
Here is a NETA 2019 presentation and a few resources on the subject.  

Google Trends?
Want to see what's trending in search - https://trends.google.com/trends/ 
Here is a 5x5 grid of what's being searched - Pretty cool! 

 Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of
You will find some pretty cool ones in this slide deck by Eric Curtis of Control Alt Achieve. 

Some great resources from... Eric Curtis of Control Alt Achieve

Note- Tony presented at NETA 2019 - so the topics above were all presented live.  His tips and resources rock.  Special thanks to @tonyvincent for allowing me to use his graphics in my posts! 

How To Share Pictures of Student Work with Spark Page. If you are not using the Spark tools... you are missing out.  Check out our help article on how to log in and more about these great tools. 

Google help is great - and the help adapts to what Gsuite product you are in and what you are doing! 


If you want others to only view your Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, or Drawings document, you can cut the clutter by making a Preview link.




πŸ“† How about adding visual cues to your digital calendar with emojis? Since emojis can be entered anywhere you can enter text, you can add emojis to calendars and lesson plans!