Edtech Certs

You already know we are hosting a Google Boot Camp this summer, but what you may not realize is that GoogleEDU is not the only edtech company that has certification programs to prove your skill with incorporating technology successfully into your classroom. Here is a list of great edtech certifications which make a useful option if you are still considering how to use your flex time.

Google Level 1 Certified Educator

Google Level 2 Certified Educator

Apple Teacher

Flipgrid Certified Educator

Common Sense Educator

National Geographic Certified Educator

Raspberry Pi Certified Educator

Schoology Champion

SMART Digital Educator

Not all of them are created equal. Some have tests and some have tasks. Some are free and some have an associated cost. Figure out what is best for your classroom and give it a try!

Five More Add-Ons for Google Docs

Inspired by Theresa's post from last week, and Greg's post from March, here are five more add-ons for Google Docs. Just like add-ons do in G-Forms, they allow you to extend the use of Docs and make it work hard for you.

Scroll to the bottom to learn how to get and use add-ons in Google Docs.

Easy Accents

Allows you to easily insert accents for different languages from a sidebar in your Doc.

MathType

Allows you to type and hand write notations for mathematics and chemistry.

Doc To Form

Allows you to quickly and easily create a form text in a Doc.  Teachers can turn a paper test into an online test with just a few clicks.

HelloFax

I know it's 2018, but some people still like faxes.  This add-on allows you to add a fax number and cover page to a Doc.  Click send, and the add-on sends the fax!  You even get an email when it arrives.

DocuTube

Users can embed videos in Google Slideshows, but not Docs.  But with this add-on, now you can!  Add videos to Google Docs that you share with your students, so that students no longer need to leave the doc to watch a helpful video.

How to GET add-ons in Google Docs

In Google Docs, click Add-ons > Get add-ons, then look for the add-on you want.  Once you find it, click the blue button to add.

  

How to USE add-ons in Google Docs

In Google Docs, click Add-ons > the add-on you want to use.

What add-ons do you use??  Let us know what else is out there in the comments.

WeVideo

When students (or teachers) work on video projects, they often turn to WeVideo, the non-Apple answer to iMovie.  WeVideo works directly in your browser, so students can use their Chromebooks to make incredible videos with ease.  The web tool also offers a Google single sign on (SSO), so it's easy for students and teachers to access quickly.

Up until last month, we were just utilizing the free version. Now, the free version is good.  But the paid version is better.  So WRSD purchased WeVideo school licenses for up to 500 users.  Let's explore that.

If you would like to utilize WeVideo licenses, contact Liz Brobst for the group link and access code.  These work for both teachers and students; you need them access the premium features.

In addition, to the perks listed above, WeVideo makes it SUPER easy to use the green screens we have around our buildings.  All students need to do is film in front of a green background (or any solid color background, really), and then they edit it out in WeVideo.

If you would like to utilize WeVideo licenses, contact Liz Brobst for the group link and access code.  These wors for both teachers and students; you need them access the premium features.

I've been working on tutorials for WeVideo: here are two for you use to use and share with students.  The first shows you how to use the color keying effect (for green screens), the second shows you how to add audio to your video.

There are so many things you can do in WeVideo, just click around and explore.  I'll share more tutorial videos as they are created, so you can watch those too.  And as always, if you have further questions, just ask your friendly school librarian.

If you would like to utilize WeVideo licenses, contact Liz Brobst for the group link and access code.  These wors for both teachers and students; you need them access the premium features.

Online Portfolios at all levels

Many classes use portfolios to collect evidence of student learning. This can take a few different forms:

• Evidence of successful completion of a task 
• Journaling on a project, such as what they learned while going through a process 
• Reflection on their learning 
• Pictures or videos that demonstrate understanding or implementation 

When creating a portfolio, teachers may indicate what evidence needs to go in the folder. However, it is also useful to have students choose the best elements to represent their learning. In order to best represent all concepts, a teacher may still guide the necessary components.

Student portfolios can be compiled online in a number of ways. The easiest way in a Google school is with a Google folder. For those of you using Hapara, it seems even easier when you use the Hapara folder created for each student, but just remember that these will be archived at the end of the year! Anyway, here are some alternate ways (not Google Drive) at each level to compile an online student portfolio:

As the state rolls out the Future Ready Index, there will continue to be more and more discussion about evidence of student learning.  This will allow us to focus on deeper levels of learning and what we know to be meaningful.  I hope these tools provide you with a starting point to try a new tool related to this topic.

Keep Learners on Task with Focused Browsing

Hapara has recently rolled out great updates designed to “refocus learners on the task at hand.”  Their updated include Open Tabs, Focused Browsing, Scheduled Browsing, and Viewing Browsing in Progress.

This blog post will focus on Focused Browsing.  See what I did there?

Focused browsing allows teachers to focus their students on a specific site for a specific amount of time.  While focused browsing is active, students cannot open new tabs, go to a different tab, or browse new/other URLs.  This helps them stay on task without getting distracted.

This is ideal for online assessments.  If you give quizzes, tests, or other timed exercises online, now you can eliminate the worry of cheating and plagiarism simply with focused browsing.  If you’ve thought about online assessments but weren’t sure how to overcome the worry, focused browsing is the way to go.

There are several options for customization in focused browsing:

• Allow students to go anywhere within a particular site or limit them to only select pages
• Time limits up to 3 hours
• What happens at the end of the session, whether you close the pages or keep them open

If you're intrigued by focused browsing, give it a try in class! And then click here to see the rest of Hapara’s new updates.

Making Gmail More Efficient

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your Gmail account, I assure you, you’re not alone.  We all receive a bazillion emails all day long, from colleagues, students, administrators, advertisers, organizations… so. many. emails.  But we need email to communicate.

So today’s blog post is how to make Gmail less overwhelming and more efficient.

Turn Off Sharing Notifications

Our students share Google files with us daily.  But it’s frustrating to receive an email for each file every time a student shares something.  It can clog up our inboxes real quick.  To combat that, ask your students to turn off sharing notifications when they send you a file.  The file will still land in your Shared folder, but you will not receive an email notification.

Archive vs. Delete

I love getting rid of things.  Love it!  But I also like to save things just in case I need them later.  This is when you should archive emails, instead of deleting them.  Archiving allows you to clear your inbox (woo hoo!) without the anxiety of “what if.”  As Google says, “archiving removes messages from your inbox, but keeps them in your account so that you can always find them later.”  Bingo!  So the next time you’re waffling over an email, click the archive button instead the trash button.  Benefits to this include:

• You’ll still have the email under the All Mail label, so you can search for it easily.
• If someone replies to that email, it will come back to your inbox.
• Your inbox is clear!

Inbox Setup

There are several ways to set up your inbox.  To change to one or the other, click “Settings,” under Settings .  Then choose “Inbox.”

1. By default, Gmail gives your inbox tabs, like Primary, Social, Forums, etc.  Your emails will be auto-sorted into these categories, or you can sort them yourself.  Some people really like this, as Google sorts through things for you; it keeps your “real” emails under the Primary tab, then sorts coupons under Promotions and Facebook under Social.  To change/add/delete any tabs, click “Configure Inbox,” under Settings .

2. Choosing “Unread first” will separate your emails into two categories: “unread” at the top, and “everything else” at the bottom.  I like to use my inbox as a “to do list,” so this works best for me.

 

3. Three more layout options include “important first,” “starred first,” and “priority inbox.”  They are variations on the “unread/everything else” layout, but allow for more customization.

Conclusion

Email is a necessity but can be overwhelming and/or frustrating.  But Gmail can be made more efficient through a few simple tweaks, like asking your students to turn off sharing notifications, archiving emails, or choosing a different inbox layout.  Don’t let a clogged inbox keep you down!

Even More Helpful Stuff

• How to Keep Your Inbox Clean, including archive vs. delete, automatic filtering, priority inbox, and unroll.me.
• How to Organize Your Gmail Inbox to be More Effective, including the difference between a label/folder/tab, how to use and manage labels, inbox settings, and archiving.
• How to Filter and Block Unwanted Emails (Spam) in Gmail

Embed Your Google Calendar on Your Sapphire Page

Here's a step-by-step tutorial for embedding your Google calendar into your CLASS PAGE on Sapphire.

PART 1 - Get the URL for your Google calendar

If you use "New Calendar," click here for instructions.
If you use "Classic Calendar," follow the instructions below.

In your Google calendar, find your list of calendars on the left hand side.  Click the dropdown arrow for the calendar you’d like to share.  Choose “calendar settings” from the menu.

In the “calendar address” section, toward the bottom of the page, click the blue HTML button.  A window will pop up that says, “calendar address.”  Highlight and copy the URL from that window and click OK.

PART 2 - Put your calendar on your Sapphire page

Go to your class page.

While editing your content, click the little pencil icon in the upper right corner.  Then click the icon with the globe.  (When you hover your mouse over the globe icon, it will say “iFrame.”)

A window will pop up called, “IFrame Properties.”  Paste your calendar’s URL in the space provided.  (To get your calendar’s URL, see Part 1.)  In the “width” and “height” fields, put “800” and “600” respectively.  Click OK.

You will see the frame of the calendar in your content field.  Click Save, on the left.

When you are successful, your calendar will appear on your page.

If you have any questions, please just email me: lbrobst@wrsd.org

Saving class time with typing shortcuts

One gripe that I have heard a lot about students in the past five years is the lack of typing skills and the way that this interrupts instructional time.  While our district has taken steps to add to the time focusing on building these skills, there’s still only 24 hours in a day, so I thought I might share some ways that you can limit the typing for students or allow them to work on these skills during free time.

1. Use the shelf on the chromebooks or create webpage icons on the iPads.
2. Bookmark pages that students will visit frequently.
3. Use a URL shortener like goo.gl or tinyurl.com.
4. Share to them in Hapara/Drive/Email and tell them where to find the link.
5. Also in Hapara, push out a link to all students.
6. Create a Symbaloo page for your class with all the links you need.  Students can have a shortcut to that, and then just click the tool they will use that day.
7. Use QR codes to login (Greg is working on this for Elementary).
8. In Chrome, use the App Launcher.
9. In iOS, Air Drop to your students.
10. Allow students to use one of varying typing skills websites, such as typing.com or nitrotype.com, if they finish their work early.

If you have questions or need help with these items, please let me or one of your building tech helpers know.  We will always be glad to help.  Together, we will make 21st century learners that know where to find the W on the keyboard.

The Super Helpful G Suite Training Extension

When we first started this blog, Liz did a post on why you should be using Google Chrome (if you aren’t already).  In addition to using chrome, you should also be signing in to Google chrome on your personal device.  If you see your name like this:

Then you are signed in to chrome.  When moving through Google pages and apps, you will remain signed in.  It will also remember you when you shut down and restart.  DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE ON A SHARED COMPUTER.  If you see this:

Then you are not signed in.  You can be signed in to Google WITHOUT being signed in to chrome.  As noted in the picture above, signing in to chrome will sync your tabs, bookmarks, history, and your other settings.  View this page for more information and instructions.

In addition to this super useful feature, check out G Suite Training.  This icon appears in the top right hand corner of your browser on most G Suite apps (Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets).  It autopopulates as an extension on your pages.

Depending on the page, it will give tips and tricks or instructions on how to use it (as interactive lessons).  It invites you to learn about features that you may not have already known about.  Here’s an example for Google Docs:

You could use it to learn how to use a feature, explore new features that you didn’t know about, or refresh your memory on something you haven’t used in a while.  Check it out and let us know what you think!