A few quick strategies to help you cut through the clutter and access your files faster.

Advanced Search - Google Drive in Chrome

• Click into the Search Drive box at the top of your list of files.

• Click the Advanced Search icon (three slides lines) on the right side of the search bar.

• Refine your search criteria:

  • Type: select if it is a Doc, Sheet, Slides, PDF, Folder, etc.

  • Owner: Chose "owned by me" or "Specific person"

Recent and Starred

Use the built-in shortcuts to keep your current and most important files one click away.

• Recent: Click "Recent" in the left sidebar to view your files listed in exact chronological order- perfect for jumping right back into the file you were working on yesterday.

• Starred: Bookmark your heavy-hitter documents by adding a star:

  • While the file is open: Click the Star icon to the right of the file name at the top.

  • From your Drive: Right-click on any file and select Organize > Add to Starred.

  • To view them: Click Starred in the left sidebar to see all your bookmarked files in one place.

Ensure your grade-level, department, or building resources are securely stored in a centralized space owned by the school district rather than a single individual.

• What it means:  When a file lives in your personal My Drive, you are the sole owner.  If a teacher leaves the district or transfers buildings, their My Drive files can become inaccessible to the rest of the team.  Files placed in a Shared Drive belong to the district collective.  If a team member leaves, all the resources stay safely intact for the remaining teaches.

• How to access: If yo ubelond to a shared drive, you will see Shared Drives in the left sidebar of Google Drive.

• Request a Shared Drive: If your department, grade-level team, or committee needs a centralized workspace, do not create a shared folder in Drive.  Instead, click here to submit a request for a shared drive.

You can organize files that colleagues have shared with you into your own folders/organizational system in Google Drive.

• Search for the file in "Shared with me" or using the advanced search bar.

• Right Click on the file and select Oragnize > Add shortcut

• Choose the exact folder in your Drive and Add.

When you make a new Google Doc, the default margins are XXX” on top and bottom and XXX” on the left and right.  Every time you make a new document you have to change it to smaller margins, or you are .  You can change the default so that YOUR choices are the defaults for every document you create.  You can also change from the default font to the font and font size you prefer.

1. Open a new Google Doc.

2. Select File>Page Setup.

3. You can enter the exact top, bottom, left and right margin measurements (in inches) in the page setup dialog box.

4. Click Set as Default>OK.

5. The margins are adjusted to the size you specified on every new document that you create.

6. To change the default font and font size, first set the font and size in the toolbar.

7. Click on Format>Paragraph Styles>Options>Save as my default styles.

Break long documents- like lesson plans, project instructions, or multi-day meeting agendas-- into clean, clickable tabs.

1. Open a Google Doc.

2. Look at the top-left margin (just above your page) for the Show tabs & outlines icon (it looks like a tiny bulleted list).  This opens the tabs panel.

3. Click the Add Tab button to generate a new tab.

4. To Manage Your Tabs: 

   1. Double-click the tab name to rename it.

   2. Click the three dots to add subtabs.

   3. Drag and drop the tabs to reorder.

5. Tip: Click the three dots next to a tab and select Choose emoji to add a visual icon to the tab label.

Required for Grades 9–12 | Highly Recommended for Grades 5–8

All 9–12 teachers must maintain a clearly labeled course syllabus at the top of their Schoology course pages for both First and Second semester.

•  Need a template? Use our OCS Course Syllabus Template to quickly generate a ready-to-fill Google Doc. 

•  Schoology Placement: Link or upload the completed syllabus directly into the top section of your Schoology course materials for easy student and parent access.  Make sure you change the share settings to allow anyone with the link to view.

Instantly format large spreadsheets to make them more readable.

• Highlight the rows or columns you want to format.

• Click Format > Alternating colors

• In the formatiing sidebar the opens on the right, select a color palette.

Receive automatic email notifications for a submitted Google Form or changes made on a Google Sheet by following this short tutorial.

• Select the slide where you want the video to appear.

• Click Insert > Video from the top menu.

• By URL: paste the specific link to a video you've found here the press return.

• Click the video thumbnail and then insert.

• Pro Tip:  Once the video is on your slide, clikc Format options to set the video start and end times.

Easily annotate slides while presenting Slides to your class.

• Launch your presentation.

• Move your cursor to the bottom left corner to reveal the hidden navigation bar.

• Click the three dots to open the tools:

  • Laser Pointer: your cursor becomes a bright red dot  (keyboard shortcut: L)

  • Pen: Write directly on your slide using your Wacom tablet (keyboard shortcut: shift + L)

  • Note: all markings disappear when you exit the slideshow presentation.