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Showing posts from 2019

Google Chrome: Organize Your Bookmarks

Tidying up can feel awfully good. We all know what to do when it comes to cleaning a desk, countertop, or bookshelf, but when it comes to digital cleaning it can be hard to know where to start. One great place to begin is with your bookmarks in Google Chrome. So grab the nearest feather duster and follow these steps! First, every student and staff member in the Edmonds School District should have the 'Edmonds Bookmarks' folder. This gives quick access to some commonly used websites (see below). If you don't see the 'Edmonds Bookmarks' folder, right-click on the gray 'Bookmarks bar' and select 'Show Edmonds Bookmarks'. As you can see, it's great to have bookmarks organized in folders. Here's how you can organize the rest of your bookmarks. 1. Right-click on the bookmarks bar and select 'Add folder...' 2. Name the folder something that makes sense to you. Could be 'Instructional Resources' or 'Edu Blog

Google Slides: Insert Audio

It's finally here! It's now possible to insert audio files into Google Slides so that music can accompany your presentations. Here's how to do it... 1. Open a Google Slides presentation. This could be a new one or one you've created in the past. 2. Click on the slide where you want the audio to begin playing. It can play through the entire slide show if you'd like. 3. Click on the 'Insert' menu and select 'Audio'. 4. Browse to find the audio file you'd like to insert. Google should show your audio files automatically. Click the file and then click 'Select'. 5. The audio track will display as a little speaker icon on the slide. 6. By default, the audio track will start playing once you click the slide and will stop playing once you move to the next slide. To change these settings, click on the speaker icon so it is surrounded by a blue rectangle and click 'Format options' near the top of the screen. 7. A me

Google Calendar: Find a Time

Scheduling meetings with multiple people can be hard. We're all busy and finding a time to get four or five people together can be a complete nightmare. The good news? You can use Google Calendar's 'Find a Time' feature to make scheduling a little easier. Here's how it works. 1. Go to calendar.google.com 2. Near the top left-hand corner, click the  '+ Create' button 3. Title your meeting, but don't worry about filling anything else out yet, just click 'More options' 4. Add all the guests you'd like to invite to your meeting 5. At the bottom of the guest list, Google will offer some suggested times. Cool! 6. If you want a better visual or to see more options, toward the left-middle part of the screen, you'll see 'Find a Time'. Click it! 7. Here, you'll see a side-by-side comparison of everyone's calendar! When you find a common time when everyone is available, click the white space and a gra

Google Calendar: Clean-up, Delete, or Hide Calendars

Using Google Calendar can be handy for keeping yourself organized. On a day-to-day basis, I wouldn't be able to function without it. The problem is unwanted calendars can really start to accumulate making every day look like an impossible checkerboard of irrelevant meetings. Here's how to clean up your calendar! Hide Calendars Sometimes it's nice to see what your colleagues are up to or at least when they're busy, but knowing what others are up to all the time is overwhelming and probably a little intrusive, too. By default, any calendar you add will display, but you can easily hide them. 1. Go to calendar.google.com 2. If your calendar looks like the one shown below, it's probably time to hide some stuff! 3. The menu on the left will show all the calendars you're subscribed to, they are checked by default which means they will be on display. Click the checkmarks to deselect all but the most important calendars to you. Below, I have WAY too ma

Google Sheets: Randomize Range

Need to pick a random student fast? You can create a class list in Google Sheets and then use the Randomize range feature to mix them up! Here's how it works: 1. Start by creating a new Google Sheets document 2. Copy and paste the names of your students into Column A 3. Highlight all the names in Column A 4. While the names are highlighted, click on the 'Data' menu and select 'Randomize range' 5. The names will reorganize randomly and you can choose whoever shows up in cell A1 (or any other cell, for that matter)! 6. If you're looking to assign random study topics, you could create a list of topics in Column B and follow the steps above to randomize that range, then assign the topics!

Google Calendar: Duplicate Appointment

Ever have multiple appointments with the same people but at different times and days? Happens all the time, right? Save time in Google Calendar by duplicating your appointments and adjusting the date and time instead of having to input all that other information. Here's how to do it...  1. Create your first appointment with the date, time, location, and guests. 2. Click 'Save' 3. Double-click on the appointment in your calendar to re-open it 4. Near the top right-hand side of the page (just to the right of the 'Save button), click 'More actions' 5. Select 'Duplicate' 6. Enter the date and time for your next meeting and then click 'Save' 7. Now your next appointment is all set up without having to enter any info except for the new time! Yay!

App Smash: Word and Google Slides to Curve Text

Sometimes, try as we might, there is no way to achieve a goal without a little help. Sometimes this can be the case for computer programs, too! Here's how to curve text around an image in Google Slides with a little -- okay, a lot -- of help from Word. 1. Open a new Word document 2. Click on the 'Insert' tab 3. Toward the right-hand side, click 'WordArt' 4. Select your favorite design! Changing the size, font, and colors are all possible, but in this post, we'll be focused on curving the text. 5. After you select the design, it will show up in the text field. Click on it and then write your message. 6. To get the curve, click the 'Text Effects' icon that looks like a white letter 'A' with a blue border 7. Move your cursor to the bottom of the menu and hover over 'Transform' 8. There are four options to curve the text. In this post, I'm choosing 'Arch Up', but choose whichever makes your text look bes

Google Slides: Picture Cut-Outs or Digital Cookie Cutters

Rolling out sugar cookie dough and using cookie cutters sure is fun. But, guess what? You can use digital cookie cutters on pictures you insert in Google Slides! Please refrain from using real cookie cutters as these may damage your computer screen 😊 Here's how: 1. Open a new Google Slides presentation (or use an old one) 2. Use the Explore tool to search for and insert a picture (click the link for these steps) 3. Click and drag the image to wherever you want it on your slide 4. Click the 'Mask image' tool (the dropdown next to the cropping tool) and select the shape you'd like to use to cut your picture 5. Voila! Image from:  https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=14088&picture=cute-kitty

Google Docs: Add a Picture, Crop, Create a Border

Adding images to Google Docs can be a powerful resource for all students and can make documents look sharp. Here are the steps to quickly add pictures to your documents. Insert a Picture 1. Open a new Google Doc 2. Give the document a name so you will not lose it 3. Put the cursor where you'd like to insert the picture 4. In the lower right-hand corner, click the 'Explore Tool' icon (see below) 5. If you've already started typing in your document, Google will guess the topic and make suggestions for you. Otherwise, click the box that says 'Search your docs and the web' and type the subject of the image you're looking to include in your document. 6. By default, Google will provide some general information about your topic. To find pictures, click 'Images' 7. When you find a picture you like, hover over it and click the '+' to insert it into your document Crop the Picture 1. Sometimes the image you selected

GMail: Create a Parent Distribution List from Skyward

Sometimes software updates can be good, other times not so much. Unfortunately, this is a case that falls into the latter category. Creating a parent distribution list in GMail used to be easy, then Google Contacts was updated, and now easy is no longer the right word to describe it. I'll leave picking a new adjective up to you, but here are the steps, starting with getting parent email addresses from Skyward. Instructional Video for Part I 1. Sign into Skyward with your district username and password. 2. Follow the links to open your gradebook. For secondary teachers, click the blue gradebook for the class you want to get the emails, for elementary teachers you can select any of your gradebooks. 3. Click the 'Reports' menu at the top of the screen and select 'Class Roster'. 4. Choose 'Student Name & Student Info', and then click 'Clone Template'. 5. Give your new template a name, such as 'Parent/Guardian Email Addresses