Sound the Alert!

Alerts is not one of Google's most well known tools, but I have found it very useful.  

Google Alerts allow you to automatically receive email alerts for search queries that you set up.  

As a teacher, I use Alerts to notify me of current events that relate to the topic I am currently teaching.  For example, during my last unit, evolution, I set up an alert using the keyword speciation.  I wanted to find current and relevant news articles that I could share with my students, but I didn't want to spend the time to keep searching the web.  Anytime google found this keyword, it sent me an email with a link to the website.

If your students are doing a research project, you can teach them how to set up alerts to get new information about their topic.

I think that Alerts would be a useful tool for school administrators to get emails each time their school is mentioned on the web or in the news.  Here is an example of a Google Alert email that I received about my school.  

It is pretty easy and quick to set up.  Just go to http://www.google.com/alerts and fill out the form with your search query.  You can change the settings to customize the search and the amount of emails you receive.  You can even set it to search blogs, news, videos, other websites!

I would love to hear other creative ideas on how you would use Google Alerts.  Please share in the comments below.

Copy and Paste - Using Your Clipboard History

Have you ever needed to copy and paste more than one thing at a time?  I am usually working with multiple tabs open on my Chrome Browser, and many times have multiple links or names that I am trying to paste into one document at the same time.  And it drives me nuts that sometimes I "lose" something in my clipboard when I copy something new. 

The clipboard is the place where the things you copy are stored.  You can add things to the clip board by pressing Control C on a PC, Command C on a Mac, or right clicking on something and choosing Copy.  To paste what is on your clipboard you will press Control V on a PC, Command V on a Mac, or right click and press Paste.  

I'm sure you are used to people saying "There's an app for that"....  Well, now there's an extension for that!  Clipboard History is a great Chrome extension that stays up next to your Omnibox (URL address bar) and keeps a history of all of the things you have copied.

This is a list of things I have "copied" and I can click on any of
these to bring it back to my clipboard to paste into a document.

To Use Clipboard History:

1. The first thing you need to do to use Clipboard History is download the extension.  Click on the Clipboard History link and click on the blue "+Free" button.  
2. After you have installed it, all you have to do is click on the icon of the orange clipboard up on the right of your screen, next to the Omnibox (address bar).  
3. Then click on the information you previously copied and want to use again, and it brings it back into your clipboard and allows you to paste that information into whatever you are working on.

You will love this extension.  It will save you lots of time and make things just a little bit easier for you!  Just to write this blog post, I used the extension three times!

Save Time. Use Your Omnibox

The Omnibox is the search bar at the top of your Chrome Browser.  It does a lot more than just search for information or take you to your web site URL.

The Omnibox can be used as a timer, a calculator, search your google drive, and can even add events to your calendar.  

Timer

If you need a quick timer for a class activity, type timer and the amount of time into the Omnibox.  

It will start counting down.  You can even make the timer full screen by clicking on the blue image of "four corners" on the bottom right.

Calculator

Type in a problem to see it solved on a calculator.

Or just type in calculator.

You can even make line graphs....

and moving 3D graphs!

Search your Gmail (or Google Drive, YouTube, etc.)

To be able to use the omnibox to search your Gmail, you have to set it up in the Chrome settings.

1.  Go to settings.

2.  In the "Search" section, click on "Manage Search Engines".

3.  Scroll to the bottom to add your custom search engines.  

4.  In the first box, enter your new search name.  (Gmail, Drive, etc.)

5.  Then in the keyword box, enter in the letter or shortcut you want to use.  (g for Gmail, dr for Drive, etc.)  You can choose anything you want it to be.

6.  In the last box, enter in the web URL from below.

Gmail
Keyword: g
URL: https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#apps/%s

Drive
Keyword: dr
https://docs.google.com/?hl=en&tab=bo#search/%s 

YouTube
Keyword: yt
URL: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%s&page={startPage?}&utm_source=opensearch

7.  Now, when you want to search your Gmail, Drive, or Youtube, type in a g (or dr or yt) into your Omnibox, followed by tab.  You will see this:

8.  All you have to do now, it type in what you want to search your Gmail (Drive or Youtube) for.

Add Google Calendar Events from Your Ominbox

To add a calendar event directly from your omnibox, you will do the same thing as above.  Go to settings, manage search engines, other search engines, and then add in the following:

Add Calendar EventKeyword:  cal
URL:  http://www.google.com/calendar/event?ctext=+%s+&action=TEMPLATE&pprop=HowCreated%3AQUICKADD

Now, to use it, type "cal" into the Omnibox and press tab.   

Then, type in the name of the event, the date, and time.  It will bring you to the calendar event add page.  And then you can choose your calendar, edit the event, and then save the event!

One Last Tip

Have you ever had too many tabs open, and want to easily and quickly switch back and forth between tabs?  Press "Control" and the Number "3" (If I want to open the third tab).  On a mac, press "Command" instead of "Control".

Maybe Just One More....

To open a tab that you accidentally closed, type "Control", "Shift", and "T".  (On a Mac:  "Command", "Shift", and "T")

The Google Cultural Institute - an Amazing Resource for Educators

If you can't take your students on field trips  to view artwork in museums, visit other countries to view heritage sites, or show them original archives, bring the world to your students in your own classroom.

Google Cultural Institute is an amazing resources that is broken up into three sections:  Art Project, World Wonders Project, and Archive Exhibitions (Historic Moments).  

I learned about the Google Cultural Institute a few months ago, but didn't really explore it in depth until after I attended the Google Teacher Academy last month in December.  I think it is a wonderful tool for teachers to use in their classes.  Below, I have described the resources available and included some screen shots and Google created intro videos to introduce the different parts of the Google Cultural Institute. 

I believe that this is a great tool that can be utilized in every subject area with a little creativity. It's pretty obvious how history and art teachers would use it.  But math teachers could have students calculate the angles on historical buildings using the World Wonders Project.  World language teachers could have students visit historical sites or look at artwork created in the countries that students are learning about.   Science teachers could have students learn about ecosystems and environments, or the see some the effect of the nuclear bombs in the Historic Moments Collection.  English teachers can have their students visit the Globe Theatre. 

Check it out.  The Google Cultural Institute is an amazing tool that can bring the world to your students.

Art Project

Art Project has brought "street view" inside museums around the world, which you can access from any computer in an internet equipped classroom.  

Walk the floors of the Museum of Modern Art and discover Van Gogh's Starry Night,

look at the entire painting,

and even zoom in to see the brush strokes.

You can even create galleries of work and compare two pieces of artwork at once.  The museum exhibits not only include paintings, but textiles, statues, etc.  And, the educator page gives you some lesson ideas and you create your own quizzes.

World Wonders Project

The World Wonders Project brings World Heritage Sites to life with Google Street View and 3D Modeling.   

View images and street views of amazing historical and important sites from around the world and learn about the history of each location.

Visit the World Wonders Project education page for resources and lessons for educators.


Historic Moments

Explore online exhibitions (including photos, documents, videos, etc.) detailing the stories behind significant moments in human history.  Learn about Nelson Mandela, Marie Curie, the bombing of Hiroshima, and much more.  

Search
The search feature is great.  It allows you to search for any topic or historical figure and find information, videos, photos, and other media.  The LIFE photo collection is included in the Google Cultural Institute too.

Learn How to Use the Google Cultural Institute
Watch this quick video to learn how to use the Google Cultural Institute website.

ThingLink is a Great Tool for All Classrooms

I've written about ThingLink before.  ThingLink is a great tool that allows you to take any photo and then tag the photo with links to videos, images, webpages, or text.  This is a great tool for students to curate content about a topic, or for a teacher to present content.  You can use it on any device with internet access and they have an iOS app.  (An Android App is in the works.)

Here is sample made by one of my AVID students.  It was part of a college research project:  

Right now, ThingLink is having a special for teachers.  They are really working on supporting teachers, and have a lot in the works for 2014.  Right now, they are offering all teachers at schools and universities free access to ThingLink Premium for 2014 (worth $250).  To get this great deal all you have to do is sign up for a ThingLink Teacher Account using this link by the end of December.  Or, if you already have an account, respond to their offer email.

ThingLink Premium allows you to

• use custom icons
• set up groups for classrooms
• view image slide shows (coming soon)
• view image analytics
• and more

Don't miss out!  Sign up for a ThingLink Educator Account today!

Tech Tools to Help Improve Student Engagement

Last week at our All-Staff meeting, we heard the results of the DAIT walkthrough.  Most observed classrooms had engaging teachers, who were talking at their students, acting as a sage on the stage.  However, the students were just passively taking in the information.  They may have been really interested in the content, but we may not be reaching ALL of our students.

Our administration encouraged our staff to add some more active engagement strategies to our lessons.  Here are a few tech tools that can help us easily incorporate more of the Direct Interactive Instruction (DII) strategies into our courses.

• Equity Cards
• Teachers Pick - iOS app
• you can import in your class lists to make "popsicle sticks" for each of your students.
• call on student's randomly, or just choose the next student.
• Stick Pick - iOS app
• this app allows you to add in questions prompts for each student based on ELL levels or Bloom's 
• you can't import student lists, you have to type in each student individually
• Clickers & Exit Tickets
• Plickers - iOS or Android app
• students hold up cards based on multiple choice or true false questions
• the teacher is the only person who needs a mobile device
• Poll Everywhere - texting or internet
• Sign up for K-12 Basic Acct for free
• 40 responses per poll.  (So you would need to set up the poll separately for each class, or clear them between class periods.)
• Integrates into Powerpoint
• Multiple Choice or Short Answer

• Socrative - iOS, Android, or Internet
• You can set up questions ahead of time, or ask questions on the fly
• Export the answers at the end of the poll
• Multiple Choice or Short Answer
• Games 
• Easy to Use
• Free
• Infuse Learning - internet based
• Similar to Socrative, but students can also draw answers
• Students Voice
• Google Voice

• Students can call your google voice number to leave audio responses to share what they have learned
• Audiboo - iOS App or internet
• Students can create 2 minute podcasts to share what they have learned
• Students Rate Their Own Understanding
• Geddit - internet based
• Allow students to self-evaluate their learning as you are teaching
• Check for understanding throughout your lesson

Search Google Like a Pro

Google is a great tool to find out information and even to find last minute lesson plans.  But do you always find what you are looking for?  Below are some search tips by Anthony Dejolde that will help you narrow down your searches.

by Anthony Dejolde:  Image Source

Do you want to find a quick lesson for the day?  There is no need to reinvent the wheel.  Before creating a brand new lesson, search for one using Google.  To narrow your searches, try searching for file type.  Enter in the search term followed by filetype:ppt to find a powerpoint presentation.

• Ex:  mitosis filetype:ppt for a powerpoint on mitosis.
• Other file extensions:
• word documents:  filetype:doc
• pdfs:  filetype:pdf
• SMART Notebook:  filetype:notebook

For more ideas, learn about more search tips and tricks from Google.

Easily Switch Between Personal, Work, and Student Accounts on Chrome

Have you ever been frustrated when you have to keep signing in and out of your Gmail, Calendar, or Drive accounts?  Or afraid that a student using your computer will see your personal emails?

There are way to solve these problems if you are using Google Chrome as your Internet Browser. 

Manage your Personal and Work Accounts
Add multiple users to Google Chrome

1. Click on the three bars on the top right of your screen.
2. Click on settings.     
   
3. Add a new user.
   
4. Here, you will add in your other Gmail account (either your home, work, etc.)  You can enter in a name (ex. personal, work, your username, etc.) and choose a picture.
   
5. Now, in the right hand corner of your screen, you will see the picture that represents your account.  (It is on the right if you are on a Mac.  If you are on a PC, it is on the left of your screen.)
   
6. If you click on it, you can easily switch back and forth between your personal and work Google Accounts.
   
   
7. It will open up a new Chrome window.  Each one is logged in with the separate account.  So you don't need to worry about signing in or out. 

Student Login on Your Computer
Use Incognito Window

1. In chrome,  press Control + Shift + n (on a PC) or Command + Shift + n (on a Mac)
   
2. Now the student can log in to Drive or any other account.  Your saved passwords or accounts will not be seen by the students.
3. When the window is closed, all accounts that the student logged into are logged out of.
4. Note:  On a GAFE account, you may not be able to open an Incognito window.  For example, my school seems to have locked that option.  I have to open the Incognito window from my personal Chrome User window.

Easily Create Unique and Amazing Videos Using Powtoon

Do you need to make a quick and easy video?  Or do you want your students to create a presentation using something other than the Powerpoint?  Powtoon is the perfect solution.  It allows you to create unique videos with fun animations - and best of all, it is easy to use.

There is a free version, but they also have a educator version which allows 30 students to have accounts too.  You get additional features with this upgrade.  (SUHSD teacher - we have free Classroom accounts for you.  Email me for the account info.)

Here is a sample video I have made using Powtoon.

Here is a student sample from an 11th grade English student I found online:

By Eric Chapiewski

Create Commons Attribution License (reuse allowed)

Chrome Extensions, Apps, and Tips to Improve Teacher Productivity

As a teacher, there is never enough time in the day to get everything done.  Google's web browser, Chrome, has a lot of great ways to increase your productivity.

Chrome allows you to add things called extensions and apps which can help you speed up your every day tasks.  And you can set Chrome up so multiple users can use the browser, so that you don't need to sign in/out of everything all of the time.  

Here is a Google Presentation full of my favorite apps, extensions, and tips to make an educator's life a whole lot easier.

Read through it to learn how to capture screen shots, cite your sources, leave voice comments for students, and more.

If you have some of your own favorites that are not listed here, please share in the comments.  I love learning about new extensions and apps.

Creating a Google Custom Search Engine

Have you ever wanted your students to search a topic on the internet, but were afraid of the results that they would get?  Are the hits they get age appropriate or even the right topic? You can create your own custom search engine, where the students can search and only find websites or sources that you want them to find.  

What you need to do first is find all of the sites that you like.  You will then go to Google Custom Search Engine.  

How To

Choose "New Search Engine" and then start copying and pasting your websites into the boxes.  

Change the name of your Custom Search Engine.  (It auto-names it the first website you enter.)

Now you will be able to get the link to send out or an html embed code to add the search bar to your own website.

Here is a sample Custom Search Engine for Science Current Event/News Articles.  This is what it looks like when it is embedded into a website:  

The BEST Way to Assign and Share Google Documents with Students

The best way to organize, assign, and share google documents with students is using the script gClassFolders.

I have been using google docs with my students for years.  Last January we became a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) school and I began to discover google scripts.  Scripts are magic!

In the past, I had had students create their own documents and share them with me.  I gave them a specific way to name/title the documents, but they didn't always follow my instructions.  And many times they would forget to change the sharing rights and I couldn't view their documents.  And I was so bad at organizing my google drive - their files were everywhere.

That is where the magic of scripts come in.  I can send out documents to students that are already name properly, with the student name, class period, and assignment in the title of the document.  I can control the sharing rights and even "embargo" the assignments, by changing student editing rights so they can't change the document after the due dates.  And I can automatically organize the documents into class or student folders.  I can use google search to find them, or go to a spreadsheet for an assignment and click on the link to each student's document.

To do all of this scripting magic, I use gClassFolders to set up the folders for each class and student.  Then to send out the documents/assignments, I use the hub in gClassFolders to run the Doctopus script.  I can assign individual or group assignments and change the share settings for the entire class at one time.

In the following videos I will share how I export my class rosters from Infinite Campus, run the gClassFolders script to set up my class and student folders, and then run the Doctopus script to send out an assignment.  

How to export class rosters from SUHSD's Infinite Campus and auto type in student email addresses:

How to set up and run gClassFolders:

How to send out documents using Doctopus:

*Note (9/3/13):  It looks like you can now create folders in your gClassFolder Teacher folder and they will show up in Doctopus when choosing folders for templates.  When I created this video, that was not an option.)  

This seems like it is a really complicated process, but you only need to set up gClassFolders once - at the beginning of the year.  If students enter or leave your class, you can update your gClassFolder roster and run the script again.  

From that one original roster, you can then run three other scripts; Doctopus (for sending out documents and running the goobric (rubric) script), Autocrat (a mail merge script), and pageMeister (a script that creates a page for each student on a class website).  

The first time I did this, it took less than a half an hour.  Once you get the hang of this, it will be a snap each time you assign students a google document or presentation.  

Pictures of Documents, Folders, etc. After Using the Scripts:

Sites with more script information:

• My script website (work in progress)
• YouPD
• Jay Atwood's script site

Communicate with Students and Parents Using Remind101

Welcome back to a new school year!  As you are thinking about procedures and resources you will use with your students, you might be thinking of ways that you communicate assignment instructions and/or due dates with your students.  

Remind101 is a online tool that allows teachers (and coaches, admin, advisers  etc.) to send text reminders to students.  It is an easy and safe way to communicate with both your students and parents.

Pros: 

• Students/parents NEVER see your cell phone number
• Teachers never see student's numbers
• Students can subscribe to remind101 and receive texts or emails if they don't have a free texting plan
• It is safe for teachers and students - messages go out to the entire class at once - you can't message individuals  
• Soon you will be able to send messages to groups of at least three students - this will be great to communicate assignments with students who missed class
• You can send links to websites, google forms, images, etc.
• You can embed a feed of your reminders into your website
• You can schedule reminders ahead of time from the web or iOS/Android apps
• The Remind101 developers are friendly, happy to help, and are open to ideas and suggestions.  They respond quickly to comments/questions.
• When students or parents complain that they didn't  know when assignments are due, (even though you write it on the board, post a calendar online, and announce it to the class) you can let them know that you send out reminder texts as well.  Most parents will sign up during parent meetings.

Cons:

• Students can't communicate back if they have a question - but they can email you.
• Some teachers believe that it is too much "handholding" for students to receive these reminders - but I feel that the more open I am with students and parents about assignments, the less I have to deal with unhappy students and parents.

Ideas for Use:

• teachers send out homework assignments and due dates to students and parents
• teachers send links to google forms to collect information from students or parents
• coaches send out practice and game announcements
• advisers/teachers send out meeting locations and times during field trips
• admin sending out all clear notices or announcements to staff during fire/evacuation drills
• librarians send out announcements about library due dates or open/closed hours

Here is a video explanation of how Remind101 works:

Remind101 from remind101 on Vimeo.

Recommendations:

• Put a copy of the PDF instructions on how to sign up on your webpage.
• Have students take out their cell phones and sign up in class.
• At Back to School Night, have parents sign up.

Remind 101 is a great and easy tool to open up communication in your classroom.  They also have a YouTube channel with lots of how to videos if you get stuck.

Lesson Planning Using Google Calendar

For years I lesson planned in a educational lesson planner book that I purchased at the local teacher supply store.  I didn't like writing my lessons in columns, so I would add in dates to make it look more like a calendar, reading from left to right.  I don't write huge formal plans, just main ideas, activities, and changes from one year to the next.

I decided to go digital after a few years.  I wanted to be able to access my plans from both home and school, without having to carry the book with me.  So I used a calendar template on word, and added in my plans.  I saved the file in my dropbox, so I can access it from both home and school.  I then made a pdf of the plan to post on my website for students and parents.  But every time I updated it, I had to make a new pdf, and update my webpage.

I had tried to find sites online for lesson planning, where you can link the state standards, add in the documents, files, etc.  There are a few out there, and I tried a bunch.  But none were perfect and did exactly what I wanted, so I just went back to using a word document for my plans. 

This year, I am trying something new.  I am using a google calendar for each of my classes. I have even added in links to the assignments (go to the calendar settings and enable the lab "event attachments".  I can then embed the calendar into my webpage.  Now, every change I make in the calendar will automatically update on the webpage.  Since I made my lesson calendar public, students and parents can add the calendar to their own google calendar, and they can even add it to their own mobile devices.  And it will still auto update with any changes I make.  

I think that using a google calendar will make things so much easier for me, and it will benefit my students and parents by having the most up to date information about my class.

I have included some how to's below.



HOW TO ADD YOUR GOOGLE CALENDAR TO YOUR WEBPAGE:  

1. After creating a separate calendar for your class, click on the arrow on the right side of your calendar name.  
2. Share this Calendar.                                                    
        
3. Check the boxes to make it public.  
4. Click on Calendar Details.                                         
   
5. Fill out any details, customize your calendar, then copy the embed code.  This is the html code that you will use to embed your calendar into your website.  
   
6. This is what my webpage looks like with the calendar embedded.  

HOW STUDENTS AND PARENTS CAN ADD THIS CALENDAR TO THEIR iPHONE:

1. When on the calendar settings page, click on the green ICAL button.  Give this URL to your parents/students.  (Accessing it on my webpage using my phone was a little hard - I couldn't copy the link.  So I used a URL shortener, bit.ly, to create a small URL that can be easily typed in.)   
   
2. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
3. Choose "Add and Account", then choose "Other", and then "Add Account"
4. Select "Add Subscribed Calendar"
5. Type in the link from the green iCAL button into the second screen you see below that says “Subscription” next to “Server”.  Click on “Next” and it will check/verify that the link is correct.  
6. Open your calendar app.  It will take a few moments for all the calendar items to sync, but you should soon be able to see the calendar items in your app!  You can change the color of the icons for this calendar so they stand out on your phone.  You can also deselect the calendar if you don't want to see it all the time.   

HOW STUDENTS AND PARENTS CAN ADD THIS CALENDAR TO THEIR GOOGLE ACCOUNT ONLINE:

1. On your computer, click on the + Google Calendar icon on the bottom right of the calendar.
2. Choose "Yes, Add this Calendar".  
3. You now will be able to access this calendar on your computer using google calendar.