Embedded Files
Type special characters
There are tons of special characters integrated with your Mac OS X and which you can easily insert into your documents and posts. To access them, click on ‘Edit’ in the menu and select ‘ Emoji and Symbols’ or press the Control + Command + Spacebar keys on your keyboard at the same time. ♧ ❖
Sentence Starters & Shout Outs
Sometimes you want students to give each other feedback quickly on something they just finished working on or are in the middle of working on. An easy way to do this is to have some sentence starters accessible and ready along with some simple shout out notes printed and ready to use.
Get the templates here: https://bit.ly/3remELX and https://bit.ly/3PvbGtc
How to Create Columns in Google Docs
In your Google Doc, click on Format > Columns and choose if you want one, two, or three columns.
If you don’t have any text in your file, you won’t see much happen. However, notice the ruler at the top of the document now shows column breaks. When you start typing you’ll (by default) type in column one until the end and then your text will continue into column two.
New Feature in Google Classroom. Add Questions to a YouTube video and assign through Google Classroom!
Here's a Tutorial - https://bit.ly/48CbukX
New Teacher Hub in Clever
Clever Portal gives students, teachers, and staff a single, secure login for all digital resources. With more time to teach and learn, you’ll see higher engagement in the education software you’ve already invested in.
Push a Window to the Right or Left
Here's a trick that can help any Chromebook user: use the alt key plus the [ or ] key to push a window to the right or left side of the screen. Note: this only works on Chromebooks, not Windows or Mac (sorry). This can be extremely helpful when you're seeing a presentation over Meet or Zoom so you can see both the presentation and also everyone's faces. Watch the video from a different school district.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AUBjA-BOuvCYjxjMXriccpxYFwjBWbcI/view?usp=sharing
Paste text without its original formatting
If you copy a chunk of text from a web page or from one of your applications and paste it, say in your email, the text looks out of place because it keeps its original formatting. To overcome this, copy the text and before you paste it, click on Edit in the menu and select ‘Paste and Match Style’. The text will be pasted without its formatting.
Spot light
Mac’s internal search functionality called Spotlight allows you to smartly search your mac for files, apps, docs, folders and pretty much everything else by simply typing its name in the search bar. Spotlight also allows you to do calculations and even carry out unit conversions.
Reopening Closed Tabs
Have you ever been working on multiple tabs and accidentally closed your Chrome window or a particular tab? Don't panic!
Either go to File > Reopen Closed Tab or
click on Command, Shift and T at the same time. Click more than once if you closed several tabs.
Cap Locks is different for a Chromebook than other computers.
There is a search button (a picture of a magnifying glass is on it) where the caps lock button is on other computers. Press and hold this button and at the same time the "alt" button to turn on caps lock. Press the "shift" button to turn off caps lock.
Present Google Slides With Live Captions
To boost accessibility in Google Slides, try switching on automatic captioning, which displays the speaker's words alongside each slide. After entering presentation mode, hover your cursor in the bottom left corner of your screen to bring up the menu. Click the three dots, then select Captions preferences, and Toggle captions (English only). Google will listen as you present and transcribe your words as you speak.
Table templates and Drop Down Menus in Google Docs.
Google Docs has a couple of features that I think you can use with your students and in Google Classroom. They can be used separately or in combo depending on your preference. The new Table templates have drop-down menus embedded in them but you can still edit them. If you inserted the product roadmap template, you can edit it after it is in the document. You don't have to use the table templates to use Drop Down menus. You can insert them directly into the document. Here's one I made. You can put anything into these menus to align with your lessons. Put them in your Google Classroom in Assignments and get the data you need.
Book an Appointment right from your Gmail!
Here's a new Gmail feature that makes it easy to suggest your available meeting times. This is similar to the appointment schedule feature in Google Calendar, but can be done while you are composing an email.
The Power of the Preview app
This useful tool is the default viewer for images and PDFs. You can use it for more than previews, however. Preview offers markup and annotation tools along with features for merging PDF files and signing documents.
Creating and Organizing Bookmarks on your Chrome Bar
Make finding sites a little easier.
Quit Endless Scrolling!
No more scrolling down to page 158. A new feature in Google Chrome makes it possible to send readers directly to a specific section in a text. On a Mac, click your trackpad and the Ctrl button on your keyboard at the same time then select “copy link to highlight.” This generates a URL ending in a # symbol, which you can then share with others. Upon visiting the new URL, readers are taken directly to the highlighted portion.
Want to see what's on your desktop quickly?
Have a clear view of your Desktop - To have a clear view of your desktop without the opened windows blocking you, you can simply hold down Command and click on F3.
Keep Your Documents Untouched!
Eliminate the possibility of students or colleagues inadvertently typing directly in your document by granting users access only after they make their own copy to work in. First, make sure you’ve shared your document as either “anyone with the link” or “public.” Next, copy the link and put in the URL in the search bar in Chrome. Replace the word edit at the end of the URL with the word copy. Then click enter (or return on a Mac) and you’re all set! Share this new URL and it will force users to make a copy of the document prior to opening it.
Use Direct Links to Assignments!
Did you know you can get a direct link to a specific assignment? This makes it so easy to refer students back to a particular activity. Just go to the Classwork page, locate the assignment, click on the 3 dots to the right of the assignment and copy the link. Here's a short tutorial: https://bit.ly/3VWGt4s
LIve Poll Maker for Slides
-Install the "Live Poll Maker for Slides" add-on.
-Open Google Slides, look for "Live Poll Maker for Slides" under the "Add-ons" tab and open it.
-Enter the poll question, options, and other settings in the sidebar according to your needs and click "Save" to set up the poll. When you are in the slideshow and you click on "Click to Present", students will be prompted to scan a QR code to get to the site or type in the URL of the side so they can participate.
Using Padlet for Student Collaboration!
Google Classroom Student Selector -
(iPad or Mobile (IOS or Android) only!
Click here for a Tutorial
Practice Sets in Google Classroom Have Arrived!
Create an online Jeopardy-style quiz game board in minutes!
Factile (https://www.playfactile.com/), which is approved by the Massachusetts Data Privacy Alliance, is a free learning platform that lets teachers create jeopardy-style quiz games for the remote or in-person classroom as well as assess students' understanding of new topics or review the latest concepts using the user-friendly gameboard template. The Free edition lets you play jeopardy style games. The Pro edition has many more features but is $5.00 a month.
Use Split View!
Split View lets you have two apps running side-by-side on one Mac screen without having to resize either window. This saves you from switching between apps and losing your place if you're working in two different programs.
Here's how to enable and turn off Split View.
1. Open two apps and place them on opposite sides of the screen.
2. In the top left corner of one app's window, hover over, or click, the green bubble to open a dropdown menu.
3. Select either Tile Window to the Left of Screen or Tile Window to the Right of Screen. That app will fill that side of the screen.
4. Click the other app on the opposite side of the screen for the app to fill the remainder of the screen.
To exit Split View, click the green bubble again or press Esc on your keyboard. This only exits one app from Split View -- the other app will now be in full screen mode on its own Desktop.
Read it Later, to Save Computer Memory Now
The Reading List is a bonus way to save computer memory. Add open tabs you want to come back to later to your reading list, then close the tab to get a memory boost
1. When you’re on a site you want to read later, like news, open the side panel and select Reading list.
2. Click Add current tab to add the website to your list.
3. Then close the tab to free up memory.
Excuse assignments in Google Classroom
Teachers can mark an assignment for a particular student as “Excused” instead of giving it a 0-100 score. This will exclude that particular assignment from the student’s overall grade.
Easily Take a Screen Recording
Some individuals learn better by watching a video than reading instructions. Taking a screen recording may be easier for these students than any detailed list you could write.
Press Command + Shift + 5, then in the toolbar that appears near the bottom of your screen, click either of the icons highlighted below.
The icon with the dashed border on the right will allow you to set a border to what you're recording, and the icon on the left will record your whole screen. When you've selected which you want to use, click Record. To stop recording, click the Stop icon in your Menu bar across the top of your screen, or you can press Command + Control + Esc.
Add GIFs and stickers to Google Slides!
To add GIFs to your slides, create a new presentation or open an existing presentation > go to Insert > Image > GIFs and stickers > search for GIFs and/or stickers > click on one or several to insert into slides.
Google Takeout
Takeout allows you to download everything in zipped up folders. Unlike Google Transfer, where you have to have another Google account to send files too, Takeout lets you hold on to everything on your computer (or wherever you download the zipped files to) as long as you need them.
Before going any further, I suggest you consider what information you're about to download. Information regarding your students or anything else confidential that your school district doesn't want you to take with you should probably be avoided. If you're uncertain, you should talk to an administrator.
Google Take out or Transfer?
Google Transfer - You can copy and transfer these kinds of files from your Longmeadow Google account to another/personal Google Account: Your original files will stay in your school account until it is disabled. Any changes you make to the copied files in your other/personal Google Account do not affect the original files in your Longmeadow Google Drive. Google Takeout - Using Google Takeout, you can export and download your data from the Google products you use, like your email, calendar, and photos. In a few easy steps, create an archive to keep for your records or use the data in another service.
Note: Downloading your data does not delete it from Google’s servers.
Book an Appointment right from your Gmail!
Here's a new Gmail feature that makes it easy to suggest your available meeting times. This is similar to the appointment schedule feature in Google Calendar, but can be done while you are composing an email.
Annotate on Google Slides!!!
1. To annotate your Slides presentation, open ‘slideshow mode’ by clicking the ‘Slideshow’ button in the appbar > mouse over the bottom-left side of the viewer and open the three dot menu by clicking on the ellipsis icon >select “Turn on the pen”. Use your stylus if using an iPad or touch screen. Use your mouse on your laptop.
2. To erase annotations, use the eraser tool in the bottom left viewer menu. Two areas of concern that I see are your writing doesn't save but it doesn't go away as you progress through your slide show and you use the erase, you will erase all the writing on the slide.
Here's a silent tutorial: https://bit.ly/3PCAVeK
Clearing your cache and cookies - both Mac and Chromebook!
When you use a browser, like Chrome, it saves some information from websites in its cache and cookies. Clearing them fixes certain problems, like loading or formatting issues on sites. We’ll take you through clearing cache and cookies in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and a Chromebook.
For Chrome - https://bit.ly/3uB2i0z
For Safari - https://bit.ly/3R3oj0b
For Firefox - https://bit.ly/3QZK7cv
For Chromebooks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u2XXGwq_y4
Disable submissions after a due date in Google Classroom
A possible way to play YouTube movies without ads with Google Slides!
Why not use an Ad Blocker? Some ad blockers send your browsing behavior to a third-party server that pays them for information. So, it means that they can track every single page that user visits. That's why we don't encourage the use of them.
Here's a tutorial on how to play YouTube movies with Google Slides.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F8B8V7InptlDTRcO7Ln7GN_4TSKIeOku/view?usp=sharing
Study Tools -Flashcards with Flippity.net
Flashcards such as this are effective because they promote active recall in the brain, which is the process by which we retrieve a memory. Seeing a term, or a term and image, and then actively attempting to remember the meaning helps to move it from short-term to long-term memory.
Here's a tutorial on how to create flashcards from a Google spreadsheet with Flippity.net - https://bit.ly/3TlG9Oi
Here's a new tutorial on how to create up to 10 sided flashcards from a Google spreadsheet with Flippity.net - https://bit.ly/3RD1JfJ
Using Preview to reuse an Animated Gif
Preview, the application that comes with your Mac, has many great features:
Fill out and sign PDF forms right on your Mac
Protech your confidential documents
Combine PDF documents
Convert image files to a variety of file types
Annotate jpg's
One of the features that I like to use for newsletters or email is sending animated gifs that I find as tutorials or inspiration. For example this one: https://bit.ly/3ZoNu0k
Image Candy
Image Candy is a free site that makes modifying your images a cinch! With over 10 options to choose from and no registration required, you’ll want to bookmark this page as your new go-to editor. From the meme generator, background remover, and video to the GIF tool, you’ll find everything you need to add a bit of creativity to your content. Better yet, invite your students to create images that represent concepts they’re learning. Image Candy is a perfect one-stop-shop for both teacher tasks and student projects. I know this site does not store any info from students or teachers. There is no login. I did, however, request that it be put on our Data Privacy site. Just heard back from the Digital Privacy Consortium about Image Candy. It can be used as long as the documents you upload do not contain any student PII. Even though there is no login, they can collect data on any images you use.
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