How to create an email group in Gmail

Creating an email group in Gmail is a great way to easily email a group of people such as students, parents, clumb members, or deparment colleagues.  Here are the steps to create a group (mailing list) in Gmail as of 2023:

• Navigate to contacts.google.com 
• Check off the people you want in the group (a checkbox will appear when you hover over it)
• Click the icon at the top of the page that looks like a tag (it will say "Mange Labels" when you hover over it) 
• Click "Create label."
• Type in the name you want to give the group.  I like to add in the school year as I might have another group with the same name the following year (such as 2022-2023 Parents or 2019-2020 Robotics Club).  Click "Save."
• You will see your group on the left side under labels.
• To add people to the group, you can repeat step 3 and select the name of the group to add more people.
• To remove people from the group, click on the label and check of the people you want to remove.  Click on the label icon and uncheck the label.
• Your contacts can be a part of multiple labels too.

You can now use the label to send emails to multiple people at once.  In Gmail, start typing in the name of the group and click on it when it appears. 

Orange Slice: Google Doc Rubric Extention

OrangeSlice is a rubric extension for Google Docs that comes in two parts: a teacher rubric and a student rubric.  The teacher rubric works to provide grades and/or feedback to students.  The student rubric can be used for self or peer review.

There are three types of rubrics: holistic, competency and analysis.  A holistic rubric gives the student an average of their performance across all categories you set up.  Competency rubrics gives the student a score based on their weakest category.  An analysis rubric is the one we most think of when thinking of rubrics and gives a number grade based on the total of all categories.   The nice thing is that you can start off with a holistic rubric during the assignment to provide feedback before the assignment is due and then switch to a competency rubric once a final grade is needed. 

Would you be interested in more posts about creating OrangeSlice Rubrics?  Let me know.  You can also view their help doc here.

Everything you need to know to teach with Google

 The Google for Education Training Center is your one stop shop for professional development on using Google tools in your classroom, both for you and your students. Here you will find step by stop videos on integrating Google Classroom, Sheets, Docs and others into your classroom.  There are user guides for each product along with quick tips sheets. 

You will find lesson plans that are a combination of teaching students to use these tools and a variety of content areas. 

If you want more, you can take one of two tests to earn Google Certification or apply be a Certified Trainer, Coach or Innovator. Lastly there are the communities to connect with other Google Educators in your area. 

Virtual Summit – Reopening: Innovative Tools & Strategies for Anywhere Learning - August 17-20, 2020

Teq is hosting this free virtual summit to discuss innovative tools and strategies for reopening schools — whether in a traditional, hybrid, or distance learning format.

We would like this to be an open forum where communication is encouraged to get a true understanding of the needs of each school. As always with Teq, there will be opportunities for virtual product showcases throughout the summit and our PD team will be available to answer specific edtech questions.

Sessions will be presented live using Zoom and are 45 minutes (30 minutes with 15 minutes for discussion and Q&A). Here are some of the topics to be addressed at the summit:

• Effective Organization of Google Drive and Google Classroom
• Supporting Teachers during Distance Learning with PD
• Rube Goldberg and Minecraft for Remote STEM Learning
• Keeping Students Safe in Any Learning Environment (with Gaggle)
• The Virtual Tech Coach
• Using Microsoft Teams for Remote Learning

For more information and to register for the summit, please click on the link below.

https://www.teq.com/events/virtual-summit-reopening-innovative-tools-strategies-for-anywhere-learning/

Easily make screen recordings (with or without your face)

Screencastify if one of my favorite screen recording tools. A few quick notes before I talk about it more; you have to be using the Google Chrome browser, have a Google account and the free version has a recording limit of five minutes.

 

To start you'll visit the Screencastify web page and install the extension.

Once you have installed the extension, you will see  pink arrow that represents Screencastify.  To get things going you will have to click on it and activate your account.  You will have to agree to some permissions and then you'll be ready to go!  

You have three options to making a recording: desktop, tab or webcam.  Desktop and tab recording are similar.  In both cases you will be recording your screen.  The desktop option allows you to record everything one your screen no matter what window it is in.  The tab option gives the option to record just one tab in your browser.  This means that anything that doesn't happen inside that one tab won't be in the recording.  For both of these, you have the option to add in your webcam in the bottom corner of the screen.  This allows the view to see you as well as your screen.  The last option is webcam and this is what it sounds like.  You will be using your webcam and anything in front of it will be recorded.

Once you are done with your recording it will be saved for you in Google Drive.  Now you have the option to share it with others, embed the video, do some simple editing or download it to use or edit elsewhere.

Now that you know how to make recordings, what will you record?

How to use Screencastify for free screen recording

Screencastify is a Chrome extension (meaning that it only works on in the Chrome browser) that allows you to record what is happening on your computer screen.  While there are a number of other screen recording tools that you can use, this one is my favorite.  Let's take a look at its features:

• you can record a browser tab, your whole screen or just your webcam
• you can add your webcam into a browser tab or whole screen recording
• it can record offline!
• drawing tools to annotate
• spotlight tool to call attention to something
• highlights your mouse clicks
• recordings save in Google Drive
• option to upload directly to Google Classroom or YouTube
• export recording as an MP4 (video file) or an animated GIF
• basic video editor

As I mentioned earlier, this tool is free, but there is a limit of 5 minutes per video.  If you want the ability to record longer videos the paid version is $29 per year.  In addition to the extended recording time the paid version also give you additional editing features. 

It's honestly a very easy program to use and I think you can figure it out by just playing around with it (that's what I recommend for most things), but they do have some training resources that you check out as well.  Plus you can earn a fun badge and certificate if you take the whole training courses. 

How to Split Text into Columns in Google Docs

The Google Suite is great for its ease of use, but sometimes it's missing features that you are used to from the desktop programs that you are used to.  One of these things is taking text that is in one column and splitting it into many.  The classic example of this is when you have first and last names in one column and you want to split it into two.  Take note that anything in the columns to the right could get written over if the text goes into those columns.

To split text what you need to do is: highlight the column with the the text to split, click on the Data menu and then split text to columns.  You will now be prompted to choose the separator.  This is the trigger that Google Sheets will use to know when to split the text. Choose the one that applies to your data and your data will be split.  How easy is that?!

If you are more of a visual person, take a look at the video below.

Turning Google Docs Footnotes into Endnotes

In my schoolwe don't ask the students to use footnotes.  Rather we have students do a works cited page at the end of their document.  If you are school that uses Google then you might be familiar with the autocitation feature of Google Docs.  This is really helpful for students, but the problem is that it creates footnotes, not endnotes.  In the past, I have had my students copy the footnotes and paste them at the end of their paper.  While not terrible, students often forget or don't capture the whole citation.  I recently came across a Google Doc add-in called Endnote Generator and I think it's just what my students need.  Is this something that you think you would use with your students?  Do you know of something similar?

Make the most of your data

You probably collect so much data in your classroom and you don't even realize it.  It could simply be assignments grades or surveys that you have students fill out or something more complex.  If you do any of this electronically you will most likely have an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheet.  When you have data in this file type there is so much you can do with it!  I think that Excel is one of the least understood program out there and it can really do so much (I'm trying to convince my students of this now!).

One of the great things you can do with a spreadsheet is to use conditional formatting.  This allows you to change the look (formatting) of a cell based on its content.  One easy way to use this is to color code your gradebook.  I set up conditional formatting in my gradebook so that all kids who were failing would show up in red, those one the boarder line (which I determined to be 65-75) show up in yellow and those doing fine (over 75) to show up in green.  There are so many different ways to use conditional formatting.  What's one way you think you can use it in your classroom?

If you want see more details on how to do this, check out this blog post by Alice Keeler.

Individual student feedback in Google Forms

Google is always listening to feedback from teachers on how we can better use their tools in our classrooms.  One change Google had made is the addition of individual feedback in Google Forms.

Once you are in a Google Form, click on Responses and the Individual.  When on an individual's responses you can grade questions and assign points.  Under the answer, there will be something that says Add individual feedback.  Enter your feedback and click save.  Be sure to click save once more before you exit and you can then proceed to e-mail scores and feedback to the students.

How do you provide feedback to your students? 

G Suite Learning Center

I've talked before about the G Suite Learning Chrome Extension in a prior post. That is a great option is you want help and tutorials about the specific app you are using. If you want more, you can head over to the G Suite Learning Center.  This is your one stop shop for all things G Suite Learning. It starts off with some common questions that you can access as well as some featured content, such as how to switch over to Google from Microsoft. You can search by specific product that you want to use and then a number of tips will show up for you to peruse. It's a great resource for anyone who want to learn more about using G Suite but wants just a short tip at a time.

Choose a Random Person from a Google Form

If you have people fill out a Google form and you want to select a random person from this form you can do that easily with the script that Alice Keeler wrote. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything about coding or script writing to use this. Alice Keeler made a template that you start with. You can access it by clicking here. Start off with this form and edit it to make it the way you want it to look. Distribute it and collect your responses. After you have collected the response click on the puzzle piece icon in the Google Form and run the add on “Choose Random Responder.” A random response will be selected and a pop up will tell you who it is. Each time you run this add-on a spreadsheet is created with the winner and all the (up to 19) runner ups. You will receive a link to that spreadsheet in your e-mail. If you already have a form that you want to use, the script is provided for you if you want to add it into your form. You can find more details on that and this whole process by visiting Alice Keeler’s blog directly.

G Suite Training Chrome Extension

If you are new to using Google Apps, or you know people who are struggling using it, this extension is what you (or they) need! You simply visit this webpage in your Chrome browser (it does have to be Chrome) and install the extension. Now, that extension will be waiting for you read to give you advice and help when you need it. Once you are in any app that you need help in (Sheets, Drawings, Doc, etc.) you just click on the extension and you can access step by step written tutorials, video tutorials, product features and most anything else you would need to help you out. While it is fully functional in English, it does offer some limited support for Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Lastly, if you are the domain administrator you can customize your domain’s’ training by installing the G Suite Training App in the Admin console.

If you want a quick visual of how to install it check out this post. 

What is one of your favorite places to look for edtech training (other than this blog of course ;-)?


If you would like to view a walk through, take a look a this quick walk through that I did.

PhET sims can now easily connect to Google Classroom

Yay!! PhET has added support for Google Classroom for all HTML5 and Flash sims. Less focus on tech, more focus on teaching.  If you aren't familiar with PhET, you can read my past blog post for more infomation.

To add a sim to your Google Classroom, click the  link on a sim page.  Sims can be added as assignments, supplementary materials, or homework.

Do you use pHet?  Which sims do you like? 

5 Things To Explore in Google Calendar

Another of my favorite EdTech blogs is Alice Keeler's blog Teacher Tech.  She recently posted about five things to try in Google Calendar.  She talk about Appointment Slots, dragging events, Agenda view, toggling calendars on and off and using Google Hangouts from Calendar.  You can read her whole post by going to this page.

Are you a big Google Calendar user? 

G Suite Google Apps Training Chrome Extension

Synergyse is a company that Google purchased some time ago. What's great for us is that they integrate G Suite training right into the apps. When you add this extension to your chrome browser tutorials pop up that direct you on using the program. This makes it really easy to get the training and constructions you need right when you need it.

Add the G Suite Chrome extension from the Chrome Webstore.  (Remember, you must be on a chrome browser for this to work.)

Google Tone - easily sharing link with groups of people

 Google Tone is an easy way to share links with a large group of people.  Yes, you can use sites like bit.ly or TinyUrl.com to shorten a link, but I have found that some schools actually block these sites because questionable site could be shortened and the filtering system wouldn't catch it.  What Google Tone does is use the speakers on your computer and the microphone on your students computers to send and receive a tone.  Your computer will make what I'm going to call a robot noise (beep, bop, bop) and the students' computers will hear that sound and go to a specific website.  You and your students do need to be logged in to your Google accounts and have this app installed into your Chrome browser.  If you are looking for more information, you can view the video below. 

Google Docs gets Columns!!!!

Google Docs users have been asking for it for a while and now and Google finally gave it to us; columns in Google Docs.  You can now create documents with with two or three columns.  As with many things Google, it's pretty simple to include columns in your document.  All you need to do is to click on Format and then choose Columns.  How easy is that?  Then you can pick one, two or three columns.   You can also click on more options to customize it a bit more and change up things like spacing between columns.

What other things do you want to see updated in Google Docs?

3 Tips for making your Google Slides Pop!!

If you've switched to Google Slides from something like PowerPoint or Keynote, you might be missing the templates and themes that those programs provide.  Did you know that Google Slides has a lot of templates built right in?

My first tip is to access Google slides directly by going to slides.google.com instead of going through drive.  You'll get a header that includes templates for you to choose from.  If click on more you'll see so many more templates that you can choose from and the are even organized by category!

FreeGoogleSlidesTemplates.com is a site that offers a number of templates that you can make a copy of.  When you click on the link you'll be brought to a view only version of the presentation.  One you make a copy of it you'll be able to edit it and make it your own.  I would suggest that every time you want to use it you make another copy of it so you always have a clean copy in your drive and don't have to go back to the website to get it.  One quick note on this side...there are ads on this site that look like if you click on them will download the template.  Don't click on those because you'll actually be downloading something else. ;-)

Lastly Slides Carnival is another site to get templates to help your slides pop!  It work just as the last site worked.  You click on the template that you want and you'll get a view only version that you'll need to make a copy off.  Same tip applies that you need to watch out for ads that look like you are getting the template, but are actually downloading something else.

I hope that this has helped you snaz up your Google Slides!

Google Hangouts in your Classroom - Free Online Conference

How can you use Google Hangouts in your classroom?

Join Simple K12 for their FREE Online Conference on Saturday, June 11th, to discover ideas on ways Hangouts can be used to connect and engage your students.


Learn how to use Hangouts for:

1. Conducting "hangout" sessions

2. Mystery location or mystery number calls

3. Connecting with experts

4. Collaborative projects including peer editing and researching

5. Broadcasting school events

6. Podcasting in the classroom

And so much more!


Click Here to Register

BONUS: Register today and receive their new Free Resource Guide!

Inside you will find a sampling of some of the best Google tools for your classroom...

And ideas on how to use them!