Google Apps Tips

Update: The link in this post has been suspended.  Instead, here is another article on 10 things you should know about Google Docs!  I hope it helps take the place of the other article!

Original Article:
I was sent this article today on "5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do with Google Apps" by James Ferreira.  Take a moment to look at what he has to share.  Then, feel free to browse the Apps4Gapps website as they have a lot of information there that can help you as a Google user.
What tips and tricks do you have for using Google Apps?

The Monster Project

My awesome friend Chad Lehman just posted an article on his blog about The Monster Project he just did with his 3rd and 4th grade classes.  While he chose to do it with 3rd and 4th, it could easily be adapted to other grades as well. Take a look at what he wrote on his blog (sorry, his blog is blocked for SCS teachers so I had to copy and paste):

"My third and fourth grade classes are participating in the Monster Project. All five of my classes are connecting with classes in Illinois, California, Florida, and Alberta. The project is rather simple, but really, really fun. Students create and draw a monster. Then, they write a descriptive paragraph about their monster. The writing is shared with another class and the new classes draws the monster based on the written description. Then, the monster drawings are compared. If the students do a great job in their writing, the monster pictures should look pretty similar. If not, the students can take a look at their writing and see where they could have improved. Pretty cool, huh?"

Great project and he used Google to do it.  You could use Google Drive to write the descriptions and use Google Drawings to draw the monsters!  If you attempt a project like this, I'd love to hear about it!

Technology Habits: Rewired

Everything in moderation, and there's a perfect balance in this life if we can find it." ~Ryan Robbins

This article, How to Break 5 Soul Sucking Technology Habits,  could be a great way to start a discussion with your students or even begin a great writing activity in your class.   It discusses some of the cons to this wonderful digital age we live in.  Many, many of our young people are falling into this internet addiction and while the internet is our friend, we need to use it properly.  Take a moment to read it and feel free to comment on ways you, your family or your students find to combat this problem.  

Holiday Gift Guide

Every year around this time, CNet shares a Holiday Gift Guide featuring techy gadgets that those on your shopping list might want this year! There is a section for top gifts under 50.00, one for phones and even one for best laptops.  This is just part of the list so I'm sure if you're looking to buy technology this holiday season, you'll find something here to help you make your selection.  Check out http://www.cnet.com/holiday-gift-guide/ to get started!

Google Drive Suggestion Mode

Google Drive recently added Suggestion Mode allowing teachers to do edits on student work easily and more efficiently.  When a student shares a document with you, you can click on the editing button and get a menu for editing, suggesting or viewing.  

In editing mode, you will be able to edit the document directly meaning that any changes you make are automatically added to the document. (Reminder: You can still view edits from other people in the revision history...under the File menu)


In Suggesting mode,  any edits become suggestions and are listed out to the right of the document as an option to update the document.  When you make a "suggestion", the student can then press the check mark to accept the change or the x to clear the change and not use it.  If they accept it by pressing the check mark, the change will automatically be inserted into the document.   (See the image below)

To make a suggestion, just make sure you're in suggestion mode and start typing or changing the document as you normally would.  You'll see it will highlight the suggested area for changing and keep the former typing in case the student doesn't want to make the changes you suggest.  (See the image below)

This is a great tool to be used in conjunction with Google Classroom and a fantastic option for grading papers within Google Drive.  

New to Google Drive: Manage Revisions

Google Drive has always allowed for you to upload any file including Microsoft files and pdfs.  The problem was that if you shared these files with anyone, you would have had to reshare any revisions.  Google makes it easy now to share new revisions of non-google files with your students and coworkers.  Google Guru has a great video detailing how this can be done.  Check it out by clicking here!  

Poster My Wall

Do you run a club or sport?  Do you teach about campaigning or marketing?  Do you want to have a yard sale this weekend?  Do you use posters in your class?  If any of these apply to you, Poster My Wall is a great option for you!  

Not only is it easy to create your own posters from scratch with Poster My Wall, but you can also work from templates that are already designed for various needs.  Categories for templates include: Campaigns, Yard sales, Event Flyers, Fundraising, School Posters and tons more!  

Once you have created a poster, you can download it, share it with social media or order a high quality version to be printed and delivered to you!  Here is an example of an already created poster: