Google Specific Tips

I help administer a large group on Facebook. In the past year, there have been a number of recurring questions. I thought I would answer some of them here to help others as they learn about the Google Suite for Education.

Writing on PDFs.

There are a variety of ways to do this.

• Upload your PDF and have students use DocHub, Kami or other extension to annotate it.
• Use a PDF to image converter (like https://pdf2jpg.net/).
  • Add image as background to a Google Slide.
  • Create text boxes where necessary or teach students to do this.
  • Make copies to students
• Throw away the PDF and create a new way to deliver the content.

Assignments Not Showing Up in Google Classroom

When a teacher sends an assignment to students through Google Classroom, they can see it immediately for most of their students. The issue comes when there are a few that don't have the attachments. There is a simple solution.

Do nothing. Just wait.

This is not a Google Classroom glitch. This is actually a way to see which students aren't logged in when you make the assignment. As soon as those students log in, and click on the assignment, the attachments will populate. You will see more of this when students actually log out and turn off their Chromebooks when they are done. but most just close the lid and walk away.

Unable to Make a Copy for All in Google Classroom

This usually happens for two different reasons:

• You are not the owner of the document. You can't a copy for others with a document you don't own.
• You are trying to edit an assignment you already assigned. Once the assignment has been made, you can't go back and change the file share.

How Can I Clean Up the "Shared with Me" Portion of My Google Drive?

Don't even try.

Please try to understand the purpose of this space. It is a temporary holding place for files that actually belong to other people. They control these files, not you. If you delete something from this area, the owner will have to re-share it with you for you to see it again. Google has just started referring to these "files" as links. This is to help everyone understand what is actually happening. You can put a link to the file in your Google Drive by right clicking on the file and choosing "Add Link to Drive".

Why is my Google Classroom Banner So Dark?

Google puts a layer over any Google Classroom banner so that it is easier to read their text. Any tips you may see about altering the HTML code for the page are only temporary fixes and do nothing to change the way your students see the banner.