Voice to Text for Google Docs

We often rely on voice typing when it comes to our cell phones, but some of us forget that our computers and programs can easily type for us. Some of us love to talk so much that when we go to send a text message, we rather our virtual assistants be called upon via "Hey Siri" or "Hello Google" to save ourselves from the inevitable carpal tunnel.

Although I type most of the time, I do occasionally use Google Docs' Voice Typing feature, and it's something I have shared with students when they needed to write dauntingly long essays, or if a student physically isn't able because of a sports injury or whatnot. CTRL + Shift + S while on the Google Doc is the "Hot Key" combination. Alternatively, you can go to "Tools" and then click "Voice Typing" to access this feature.

Google Doc Voice Typing is frighteningly accurate, and even if there's a mistake (usually, I am the one making the mistake because I think faster than I can speak), you can correct mistakes while voice typing. You can also add punctuation, and make voice commands to select words, phrases, independent, next line, add a bullet, etc.

Here's a 30-second video showing you the capabilities: Type, edit, and format with your voice in Docs
Here's an article listing all the voice commands that are possible and general information. Click on "Step 3."

The Paint Roller Trick and Text Giraffe

Do you or your students want to make presentations that stand out, but you don't necessarily have the time to make them look better?🎨

Here are two tips when it comes to making your text fonts more appealing for presentations on Google Slides.

In this video, I am sharing how to use the "Paint Roller Tool" in Google Slides (already built-in) to save you time on formatting your text boxes, and I am also sharing my favorite website for font logos, which is www.textgiraffe.com. Next time you or your students have a presentation on Google Slides, try these out!

Google Chat To Reach Out To Colleagues

Google Chat has recently been enabled for staff (NOT for students). It's designed for group collaborating with messaging capabilities and chatroom, but you're also able to share Google Drive content, which makes it very useful for working together. If you used Google Hangouts before, it's been absorbed and evolved into Google Chat.

Also, I think it would be nice for you to use with your colleagues to communicate with one another by common grade, team, or department as I know it's often difficult to find time to common planning time. Try messaging a colleague now if you haven't done so already. You can easily create groups and message an entire grade or department and have what's essentially a professional "group text".

Snooze Your Emails!

We are all overwhelmed with emails every day. I'm always afraid I am going to forget something, so I used to leave my emails that weren't "handled" as unread and have a super cluttered inbox. That was until I learned to snooze my emails.

Just as the name implies, you're essentially ignoring your email temporarily but will be reminded at a more convenient time for you to handle it. Snoozing an email means that it will disappear temporarily and then reappear at the top of your inbox at a time you pick, as though you’re receiving it all over again.

If you want to snooze an email, hover over your email with your cursor and click on the clock all the way to the right of the email, and then set a time that's best for you.

Closed Captioning in Google Meet

Did you know that you can turn on Closed Captioning on a Google Meet and it will keep a dialogue box open at the bottom of the page? This dialogue box will listen to what you say and then have it written out almost simultaneously.

Think like a TV show with closed captioning, but for Google Meet!

On your local Google Meet. The button is on the main bar at the bottom of the screen and says “CC”.

Organize Your Google Drive Using Move and Star

This is a simple tip that I think is often overlooked. Have you ever received a file in your Google Drive and wanted to tuck and file it away, but you didn't know how to do it efficiently? Here's the easiest way.

Good practice is for you to move a file (or "star" it, if it's important) immediately upon receiving it so it's not cluttering your Google Drive.

Here's all you need to do. When you receive a shared Google Doc, Slide, etc, simply look for the option to "move" or "star" the file (it should be right next to the title of the document).

By clicking on the folder, it'll automatically open up the folders you have already created so you can move it or click "star" (this is equivalent to a favorites option) without it being a hassle. You just need to know what to look for. It should be to the right of the Google Drive document that is shared with you. Get in the habit of moving the file right away in a place that's best for you to find it and declutter that Drive!

Import Previously Created Questions to New Google Forms

Did you know that when you create a new Google Form, you can actually import previously created questions from other forms? No need to reinvent the wheel. This is useful if you want to revamp a previously created test or quiz. Even if you've created a survey before, you can copy over old questions/information!

When you start a new Google Form, click the logo underneath the + (to add). Then you can select your previous test/form and choose all the questions or cherry-pick what you need.

Flippity: Empower Your Google Sheets!

For those of you who remember Flippity, it was down for a while, but it's back and better than ever! Flippity is a simple way to create interactive games or tools to engage students in learning activities as well as classroom management. Flippity easily turns any Google spreadsheet into flashcards, a badge creator, a spelling quiz, a memory game, a word search, and more. Teachers can use Flippity for a variety of purposes: to present to the class, to assess individual students, or to have students make their own creations.

Fun, new feature: Are you obsessed with Wordle (like everyone else) but you hate having only one daily puzzle? You can now make your own "Wordle" for your own use! The demo is here, and if you're ready to make your own custom Wordle, click here.

Check it out! There's definitely something for everyone.

Provide Closed Captioning While Presenting a Google Slide

Many of us know about using Closed Captioning on videos, like Youtube, or even on a Google Meet, but did you know you can do this while you're presenting on a Google Slide?

When presenting on a Google Slide, you can enable the "Accessibility Feature," but I rather show you the shortcut as I am a huge fan of hotkeys.

First, click present/play for your Google Slide. Next, click on the hotkeys below!

On a PC: Click Ctrl+shift+ C when presenting

On a Mac: Click CMD+Shift+C when presenting

Lastly, start speaking. Be sure to stand close enough to the microphone and enunciate! There will inevitably be mistakes, but I think it's worth using.

Open up a Google Slide you're going to teach/present with and try it out!

Unsend an Email

Gmail has the ability to unsend an email by adjusting one setting prior to writing your email.

Open up Gmail and then click Settings.
In the Undo Send section, it is defaulted to 5 seconds.
Click the drop down and you can choose to delay by up to 30 seconds.
After you send an email, you’ll have the option to “Undo” it for up to 30 seconds on the lower left of your screen.

Schedule An Assignment To Multiple Classes on Google Classroom

You can finally, after years of waiting, schedule an assignment ahead for multiple classes at once. It used to be you could only schedule an assignment in advance for a single class, but Google finally caught up to their LMS competitors.

How To Schedule Assignments To Multiple Classes At Once:

1.) Select the classes you want the assignment to go to. Check off all that apply.

2.) Click the dropdown arrow next to "Assign", and then click "Schedule" like you normally would to do one class.

3.) You'll be prompted to pick when you want your assignments to post for each class. You can either apply settings to all if you want them all to go off at the same time OR if you're like me, you can have it that the times reflect the class schedule. Your choice.

Here's a one-minute video if you need it.

Dropdown Menu on Google Docs

You now can do a dropdown option on a Google Doc to allow the person viewing the document to have a choice! While on a Google Doc, go to "Insert" on the top and then click "Dropdown." You can even change the color! This is useful for students, faculty, and staff alike.

Note: A tip for teachers using the menu as a way for students to indict their choice: by default, the menu will display with the first option showing. Students may not recognize that they need to click in order to see all the options, or they may think the teacher selected it for them. To help, make the first choice say “CHOOSE HERE” in light gray then add the options with a different color to highlight. Or if it's a "Cloze" activity, simply put a line or a blank.

Find Unread Emails & Bulk Delete/Archive

In Gmail, you can type is:unread in your search bar and it'll filter all your emails.

Now to save yourself time, simply click the "Select All" box (right below where it says mail) and it'll highlight all the messages, and then deselect the ones you want to actually read, such as weekly tech tips.

Live Pointers on Google Slides

Another small, but noteworthy change on Google Slides released today for us: Live Pointers. Now when you (or students) collaborate on Google Slides with multiple people, you're able to see each other's mouse pointers in real-time so you can work more efficiently and see exactly what others are doing. Check out the GIF below:

To use this feature, it needs to be turned on, so let others see your pointer by selecting Show my pointer in the toolbar or View menu.

Turn Google Share Links into Templates (Before Forcing A Copy) & How To Force Copy

Change your share link for Google Slides, Docs, Forms, etc into a template preview so that recipients also don't mess up your original. It is easy. Take any shared link, remove the back end all the way to the word "edit", then replace it with "template/preview". Then, when you share that link, they click on it and are able to see what they are making a copy of before making a copy in their Drive, and then your original remains untouched!

Example Original Link:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Q3XBZX0MFijxJ01451WZLKQ4RfwOLSBBuE8_ZMQXQPY/edit

Example Template Preview:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Q3XBZX0MFijxJ01451WZLKQ4RfwOLSBBuE8_ZMQXQPY/template/preview

Extra Tip: If you already didn't know, if you want to "Force a Copy" (great for students), you can change the words edit to "copy" and it'll force a copy. It's just like using the Google Assignments LTI on Canvas, but faster!

Example of Forced Copy:

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Q3XBZX0MFijxJ01451WZLKQ4RfwOLSBBuE8_ZMQXQPY/copy

Turn Google Share Links into Templates (Before Forcing A Copy) & How To Force Copy

If you find yourself writing the same type of email, such as a "form letter" for parent communication, or if you are fed up with repeatedly composing the same response when receiving emails containing common questions, you need to start using email templates!

First, you'll need to enable the feature on Gmail. After that, all you need to do is write an email and save it as a template. The next time you need it, simply insert the template, and even the subject line will be filled!

Enable templates

Open Gmail.
At the top right, click Settings See all settings.
At the top, click Advanced.
In the Templates section, select Enable.
At the bottom, click Save Changes.

Create or change a template

Open Gmail and click Compose.
In the Compose window, enter your template text.
Click More Templates.
Choose an option:
- To create a new template, click Save draft as template. Save as new template.
- To change a previously saved template, click Save draft as template and under Overwrite Template, choose a template and click Save to overwrite it.
(Optional) To send an email, compose your message and click Send.

Insert a template

Open Gmail and click Compose.
Click More Templates.
To insert a template, under Insert template, choose a saved template to insert in your email.
Compose the rest of your message and click Send.