Tech Tips

Format Videos in Google Slides

by Erin Vallejo

In Google Slides, you (or your students) can format videos (from YouTube or Google Drive) to start/stop at particular times, autoplay, or mute sound. This is an awesome feature for customizing presentations. No more queuing videos on the fly while you are speaking!

Click on the video in the slide → Format → Format Options

Check out this tutorial video for step-by-step instructions.

Student Friendly Web Page Text

by Karen Brown

You found the perfect article on a web site for your students but there are lots of ads and extra links. There's even paragraphs that you don’t need your students to read. PrintFriendly allows you to select only the information you want on the web page so you can customize the article for your lesson purposes.

To use PrintFriendly, you can copy the web page URL and paste it into the PrintFriendly.com site or you can add the browser extension for quick access. With the browser extension added to your toolbar, you just click the PrintFriendly icon from the web page you want to save or print.

PrintFriendly removes the ads and then allows you to delete addition items. You can remove or resize all images, resize text, and delete paragraphs. Once you have customized the article, you can can save the article as a PDF, print it, or email it.

Hyperdocs

by Melissa Fields

Looking for a new way to present information? Try a hyperdoc! This site has lots of hyperdocs already made that you can copy and edit to suit your needs. It also has tips and tricks. The Hyperdocs facebook page is a great place to get input from experienced users.

Go Back to Google Classroom Classic

by A.J. Oliveira and Charlie Belveal

In Google Classroom class select the gear icon. Find classwork on stream, select from the dropdown show attachment and details. You will have to do this for each class you have. You now have all the details of each assignment and your students view of stream will change as well to show a more detailed assignment for them….less clicking! Easy to follow video https://youtu.be/eV9dQebvjtA

Infographics!

For Open House, Timelines, Formative Assessments, Etc…

by Felicia Suminsk

How to Create Flex Assessment:

Creating a Flex Assessment.docx

How to Administer Flex Assessment:

How to Administer Flex Assessment Online.pdf

Go Paperless Using Illuminate to Administer Assessments

by Jennifer McCort

Illuminate makes it simple to upload your existing exams and then administer online to your students. You can take an exam you already have created in Google Docs or Word and upload it to a Flexible Assessment in Illuminate.

Overview of the steps :

Log into Illuminate
Create a Flexible Assessment
Upload your exam document (Word or PDF)
Enter the key (it's just like bubbling in the correct answers on a scantron)
Save and then administer to your class.

Worried about students taking exams online, well fear not, we have an Illuminate App on the Chromebooks which locks students into the exam and prevents them from navigating on the web. The app is found in the bottom left of the Chromebook start up screen - the same place they go when SBAC testing. Once they open the app, you will provide them with the Quick Code for the exam. They cannot navigate out of the app while taking the exam, so your test is secure and they are unable to use the computer to look up answers.

Illuminate allows you to go paperless and get instant feedback on how your students perform on assessments.

If you are at DHS, contact me mccortjennifer@dublinusd.org and I can help walk you through the process. If you are at another site, you can reach out to our Illuminate guru at the DO, Andrea Ramirez ramirezandrea@dublinusd.org.

Quick Key Combos for Chromebooks

by Max Eissler

Have you ever walked up to a student's desk, only to have them quickly close their browser tab before you can see it? Just press Shift + Ctrl + t to re-open the last tab closed!

Is the website text on your classroom TV too small to read? Press Ctrl and + to magnify the screen.

Your Chromebooks have a ton of useful keyboard shortcuts that can increase your productivity and open new possibilities for classroom use. Below are some of the most useful, but you can find a complete list on Google's webpage. Better yet, just remember Ctrl + Alt + / to see all the keyboard shortcuts directly on your Chromebook!

Screenshot: Ctrl + Show windows (the stacked rectangles) or Ctrl + F5
Caps Lock (you know you miss that caps lock button!): Search + Alt.
Delete a Whole Word (from back of word): Ctrl + Backspace
Switch Tabs: Ctrl + Tab
Switch Windows: Press & hold Alt, tap Tab until you get to the window you want to open, then release.
Jump to the End of a Line: Search + Right arrow
Open Options Menu (the three dot menu): Ctrl + e
Open an Incognito Tab: Shift + Ctrl + n
Reopen Last Tab: Shift + Ctrl + t
Zoom in Page: Ctrl and +
Zoom out Page: Ctrl and -

This list just scratches the surface. Visit the Google webpage to learn how to take a screenshot of just a portion of your screen, dock windows, and much more!

PDF to Google Doc in Seconds!

by Susie Rios

Turn PDFs into Google Docs in a few simple steps.

While in your Google Drive, right-click any PDF
click “Open With”
click “Google Docs”
A new Google Doc tab will pop up!

Viola, now you have an editable document.

**Depending on the formatting of your PDF, you will have to edit your Google Doc a bit to be exactly how you like.**

Listen Notes: The Google of Podcasts

by Ron Hubbard

Do you want to try and use podcasts in your curriculum? Listennotes.com strives to be the “Google of podcasts” Therefore, you can search for podcasts related to whatever topic that you are teaching. You can also search for authors, professors, doctors or specialists regarding a topic that you are teaching. It will search both individual podcasts and also podcast shows. Listennotes also allows you to easily set up your own podcast playlist, save individual episodes, add notes for your students to listen for and they then give your podcast list a shareable link can then easily place into your Google Classroom lesson. I shared podcasts on specific science topics, podcasts regarding triangles, Pi, statistics, an author of a novel we were reading, and US History topics. Give it a try and bring experts into your curriculum.

Combine Several PDF Files into One

by Karen Brown

Combine several PDF files into one using PDF mergy. Just go to the website, click “select files from computer or Drive,” then click “merge.” You can save the merged files to the same Drive folder you selected the original from. Your originals are retained also.

My Favorite Quick Key Combo: Shift+Control+V

by Felicia Suminski

Shift+Control+V will paste what you copied onto your clipboard into your document with the document’s current format with no adjustments needed - Yes, It is magical!

Remove Background from an Image

by Karen Brown

Quickly remove background from an image using photo scissors. You can use use this to create a student worksheet from an image that is labeled. Check out this video to see how I used a textbook image to create a quick formative assessment having students label cell organelles. .

Report abuse