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

✔️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

Via G Suite Updates | Smart Compose can now make suggestions for the subject of your email.

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)  

More info here: Write now, send later with Schedule send in Gmail.) and More info in this Google help article. -Works on mobile apps too! 

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! 

 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.

Great 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!)

My 5 Favorite Google Docs Add-ons 

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

• RESOURCE #1: The Google Drawings Manifesto for Teachers, a post we just updated this week. It's full of Google Drawings tips and tricks -- plus lots of activities you can do in class right away!
   
• RESOURCE #2: A phenomenal full-length webinar from Tony Vincent from LearningInHand.com about Google Drawings. He shares successful activities he uses in his own classroom that your students will love!
   
• RESOURCE #3: The PDF notes from Tony's presentation. TLDR (too long; didn't read)? Or, in this case, TLDW (too long; didn't watch)? No problem! We capture the highlights of Tony's video in this PDF notes file. You can download them or print them if you'd like.

(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!  

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.)

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.

📧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. 

Where 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

• Fantastic Feedback Tools for Google Docs
• Beyond the Slideshow: Google Slides Activities for all Subjects
• Google Tour Builder for Any Subject
• Google Tools for Struggling Students

Note- Eric presented at NETA 2019 - so the topic above were all presented live.  

Some great resources from... Tony Vincent

Create Learning Activities in Google Drawings

Animate Learning with GIFs

Crafting a Class Brand

Documenting with Style

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.

📆 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!