WOW, this is a game changer for video - This is what we have been waiting for! Create videos in Canva!
(WeVideo is great, but it's not cheap for schools.) Now Canva has a great video tool! (And remember we LOVE Canva, and it's free for teachers and students.)
Checkout there video maker here: https://www.canva.com/create/
Canva is one of the best tools for graphics, posters and now video too! (They even have slide presentations too, but we like Google Slides better for that.)
They give educators the pro version for free! Super simple! It's the best online graphics program for teachers.
Sign up for an educator account here to get the paid features for free. 100% free for educators and their students! They have a lot of templates for hundreds of things. (Remember my last tech tips email featured the Google Classroom header templates.
New in Edpuzzle - (One of our Favorite Free Tools! ) - Give your students a more personal and accessible way to respond to questions with our new Audio Response option!
(Remember, EdPuzzle allows you to assign videos and ask questions along the way!)
(Remember, EdPuzzle allows you to assign videos and ask questions along the way!)
Audio Responses are great for:
- Younger kids
- Students with learning disabilities
- English language learners
- And all students!
P.S. New and exciting things are coming to Edpuzzle! Learn more here.
Delete files in Google Drive that we no longer need - All staff should do this!
LucidPress (Which most people no longer use anyway) uses Google Drive to keep backups of its files on your Drive. Now is a great time to delete these!
It's as simple as clicking on this link, <-- Do this! which will search your Google Drive for these files, and you can then delete them.
If you want to delete large files that you no longer need/want... Click here to see the list of your files with the largest shown at top.
Are you using the Norris Clever and Clever Teacher pages? If not, you are missing out!
The Norris Clever portal - https://clever.com/in/
The secret sauce for teachers ---> With Clever teacher pages, you can easily add a custom link that is available to any class you teach. (Your classes and students are automatically rostered already, so you basically add the link and pick what class you want it to show up for.) Make it your class portal/hub from here you launch all of your learning activities!
Get started with your teacher page here: https://clever.com/in/
Need help with teacher pages? Reach out to Jason or me to get rolling with this great feature!
5 Google Docs features you should know - I know I picked up several tips! Checkout the full article here.
Smart chips in Google Docs? Yep- this is a great tip!
Type the @ key into a Google Doc while in Chrome on the web, and a list of smart chips options are displayed. The list might include people, files, dates or upcoming calendar events.
Google Docs now supports checklists.
For more tips like these:
How to control paragraph placement between pages in Google Docs
How to layer images above or below text in Google Docs
Want to stay safe? Always keep your browser updated!
Don't lose your personal data at home or here at school! Just like checking your spam folder, do this at least once a week! Directions can be found here. You can also paste this into the Chrome Browser to take you to the settings: chrome://settings/
Do not save passwords in your browser! - use LastPass (Free version limited.) 1password (Great for families & multiple users. Best for Mac/Apple users. No free version.) or Bitwarden (Not as intuitive, but free plan is very usable and premium plan is cheap.) Each of these have a browser extension. Never use the same password on sites. (That is hard to do without a password manager.) (Apple's Keychain is good too, but only works on Apple products.)
Enter text into TextGiraffe.com to see it stylized in dozens of different ways. Download the image and insert it into a document, email website, etc...
More Free Jamboard templates!
Free Jamboard templates for secondary students (And teachers via TCEA) We have added this to our template list at the bottom of our Jamboard Doc. <--More templates here!
5 Ideas for Using Google Jamboard This Fall From one of my favorites - Free technology for teachers by Richard Byrne
Miscellaneous tech tips:
iPhone tip: With the Camera app open on iPhone, hold down the volume down button to instantly start recording a video. Releasing the button ends the recording.
Edit PDF with Kami: This 2-minute video shows us a clever way to "edit" a PDF using the free Kami extension.
Printable Calendars: Full size and mini calendars for any month or year in Google Sheets! Get free templates from Spreadsheet Class.A fun video: Watch NASA’s stunning new panorama of the Martian landscape
Take a tour of the red planetYou can now make all file types (It used to be just Google Docs) available offline in Google Drive. Coming in the next few weeks... read more about how to do it here.
Free Google Slides templates for your classroom - This TCEA resource includes, Journals, Participation Charts, Calendars and more!
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (Layer & Arrange Images in Google Slides) - Did you know you can layer and arrange images and objects on top of each other in Google Slides? Yes, and you can and your students can use this to create some awesome projects. Learn how to use the arrange tool and group objects together in this quick tutorial.
I bet you didn't know this! The Google Classroom app (For IOS and Android) has a random student selector built in. You can randomly select students for participation in class. You can also skip a student and select them later or mark a student absent. More info here.
You can also copy and paste the drawing into Slides, Docs and more! Checkout Autodraw.com to get started. 
If you ever use Bingo in your classroom, this is a great resource for easily making those cards! (Free!)
Copy-and-use templates
This is a pack of 20 Jamboard templates on reflection that you can start using right away with students. Make a copy. Adjust. Then assign. They include:
- Stop Start Continue: A way for students to evaluate their work
- Struggle / Work at / Good at: A three-part self evaluation
- Reflection questions: Including "Where can I improve my learning?" and "What are my learning strengths?"
Don't use Jamboard? No problem. You can download any of these templates as an image file. Add it to Slides, PowerPoint, Docs, Word, etc. and assign them to students.
30 Ways to Use Google Forms in the ClassroomThere are so many ways to use Google Forms beyond a standard survey or quiz.
Learn how you can use Google Forms to engage students in new ways, use powerful add-ons, and save valuable time! And don't miss out on the handy infographic with 30 Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom!
Learn how you can use Google Forms to engage students in new ways, use powerful add-ons, and save valuable time! And don't miss out on the handy infographic with 30 Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom!
30 Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom (Thanks to Kacy Bell's Shakeup Learning site for this great resource.) Add Audio in Google Forms
Here's another one from here regular email:
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK (Add Audio in Google Forms with Mote!) (I love the Mote Chrome extension!)
Did you know you can use Mote to add audio to your Google Forms?
Better yet! You can even have students record an audio response in Google Forms! (Must have the extension installed for this to work.)
Watch this quick video to learn how!
Do this at home on your home internet to help identify needs in our state and community for faster broadband!
Did you know you can use Mote to add audio to your Google Forms?
Better yet! You can even have students record an audio response in Google Forms! (Must have the extension installed for this to work.)
Watch this quick video to learn how!Do this at home on your home internet to help identify needs in our state and community for faster broadband!
If you would like to help identify areas of need and direct resources to increase broadband access across our state, I would encourage you to take this three-question survey and 60-second speed test from your home.
Click here to start the test: http://www.
The Nebraska Regional Officials Council and its members are needing over 300 test results from each county to achieve statistically significant data. If you hover over your home county on the map results linked above, you can see the number of “sample results needed”.
Pretty Cool Video - If you have not seen the Atlas Robot you need to check out the Atlas Robot Partners in Parkour. It's almost... well... kind of scary and cool at the same time.
