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April 12th-April 16th Keyboard Shortcuts Edition From Ditchthattextbook.com If you’re navigating your computer, laptop or Chromebook primarily by using your mouse or touchpad, you might be losing valuable minutes every day. Regain your time by learning a few keyboard shortcuts. If using shortcuts is new to you I suggest picking a couple that you think will help you and get comfortable with them. Then add a new shortcut to your repertoire as those become second nature. Before we get started: Ctrl/Cmd Your school laptop has a Ctrl key and Apple products use Cmd. In these shortcuts the + means you press on both buttons at the same time; eg to copy you highlight the text you want to copy then click on the ctrl and C buttons simultaneously. The Basics:
The Text editing shortcuts: Can be used in Google Doc or Microsoft Word files
Information for someone with a Chromebook Wanda Terral created this Google slide deck of Chromebook Tips
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April 5th-April 9th Screencastify Extension Screencastify is an extension that allows you to quickly create recordings of your screen with both internal and external audio input. Videos save directly to your google drive. Use it to make videos that students can watch at their own pace. Screencastify is great for giving students instructions/examples by linking your videos directly into your note catchers!
Adding Nearpods Directly to Google Classroom By installing the nearpod extension to your chrome browser, you can add nearpods directly to your google classroom page as an assignment. This will provide easy access for your students, all they will need to do is click on the assignment and type in their name. Adding nearpods directly to your google classroom is helpful because it allows you to set due dates and enter grades in your GC!
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Mar 3/29 - Mar 4/2 Google Extension: Padlet Mini Whether you have been using Padlet with your classes all year or remember hearing about it in August but just have not had the opportunity to try it out, the Padlet Mini Chrome extension might be just the tool to take your classroom discussions to the next level. Padlet is the online bulletin board that gives students a place to interact with videos, websites, audio files, and documents. These can be curated by the teacher and/or uploaded by the students. It gives students a common place to comment on material that has been posted, collaborate and brainstorm ideas. Many of you signed up this summer using your HPS email account. Note: the free version only allows you to have three boards but you can erase and make new ones. Padlet Mini is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to bookmark webpages directly to your padlet board. This way you create your Padlet as you are doing the research and do not have to search for them later. To download the extension:
Google Extension: Checker Plus for Google Calendar Here is a handy way to eliminate one of your tabs! This tool adds a calendar button in your Chrome toolbar which allows you to view and edit your calendar from any tab. To download the extension:
Now you have the extension, what do you do with it?
How to pin an Extension to your toolbar. If you choose to download the Checker Plus for Google Calendar extension you are going to want to pin it to your Google toolbar. First off some of you may be wondering - What does it mean to pin an extension to your toolbar? When you download Google toolbar extensions they are all available through the drop down menu which you access by clicking on the puzzle piece in the upper right hand corner of your browser. When you pin an extension its icon is added to your toolbar and you do not need to use the drop down menu. This makes accessing extensions you use frequently a breeze. To pin an extension to your toolbar:
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Mar 3/22 - Mar 3/26 Arranging Windows for Multiple Screens There are a number of ways to organize windows on a second monitor. Your setup will vary depending on assignment type and your personal preference. Below is one option I’ve found helpful when using a google doc as a note catcher throughout a lesson:
Benefits of the setup: Organizing your windows in this way is helpful to see if students are in the right spot following along with the lesson. If they are not where they should be in terms of pacing, a gentle nudge through the private chat can be effective. It is also helpful for finding students to warm call. Simply private message the student in the chat to give them the heads up. Resetting Edpuzzle Videos If a student does poorly on an Edpuzzle Assignment and you feel they would benefit from an opportunity to redo it, you can reset the video allowing students a second (or third) chance
The Collaborative Tool Kit With a seemingly endless amount of online resources, it can be hard to find the ones that are right for you and your students. The Tool Kit below contains a list of many resources with brief descriptions of each. They are broken down by: -Tools for Teacher's Instructional / Teaching Use -Tools for Teachers’ Administrative / Organizational Use -Special Resource Table for Elementary / Primary Grades -Tools for Special Needs Students -Tools for Teacher's Use for Common Core State Standards Implementation Podcasts for Teachers and Students (New as of Winter 2019) Link to the Tool Kit Link to original
Mar 3/8 - Mar 3/12 Letting Students Choose Their Own Breakout Rooms Zoom has updated so now students on chromebooks can choose their own breakout rooms. This can be especially useful when providing choices for students that go along with each room
Use images/prompts to provide options for your students to breakout. One idea below: If you’d like to use the template above, you can make your own copy here! Bitmojis sold separately. Modify to your assignment type and find what works for you! Checking Quarter 3 Period Attendance In preparation for 5 week progress reports, here is a guide to checking quarter 3 attendance for your classes by section. When you get to step 4 in the guide, be sure to look for second semester classes indicated by a 2 after the decimal point in the class title. Book Creator https://bookcreator.com/ Looking for a new style of project for your students to create? Or a new medium to present information to your students? Book Creator may be right for you. In this free program, students and teachers are able to read digital books and/or create stories of their own. Benefits of the software include: -Read aloud -Voice Playback - Embedded videos -Voice to text -Insert videos/audio taken from laptop Examples from Book Creator: Science example Math example English example History example Link to original
Mar 3/8 - Mar 3/12 Breakout Room Tip: Check your main room! When in a breakout room, you will not get a notification of any late coming students or students who may have been kicked out of your zoom trying to rejoin.
If you’d like to use the template above, you can make your own copy here! Bitmojis sold separately. Modify to your assignment type and find what works for you! Update your Zoom! Are you wanting to use some of these cool features in your Zoom room but it does not seem to work for you? Check out this video on how to update your version.
Google has updated some of the features to Jamboard.
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March 1 - March 5 Sending links to Google Classroom assignments or materials (recommended by Emma Opitz)As we approach day 100 and have been looking for ways to shift the lift to our students this tip could be just the scaffold you and your students need! You want students to go to a specific GC assignment or material and they just are not getting there. You can drop a link to the assignment or material in their GC so when they click on it they can see where it is and then can click into the assignment
Note: You can also do this with a posting on your Google Classroom Stream. The importance of using Google Classroom due dates on assignments Make sure that you are using Due Dates on all assignments that you expect students to submit. Why is it important to set due dates?
Example: Below is a screenshot of all assignments a student has. The second image is a screenshot of their “missing assignments”. Here is a screenshot of their missing assignments. If you want to extend a due date you can edit your assignment at anytime and change the due date If you need a refresher on how to do that there is a drop down menu on the left side of your window when you are creating the assignment. Link to original
Feb 2/22 - Feb 2/26 If you haven’t already watched the instructional video from the technology department on how to set up/use each new technology you can watch it here or follow the written guide. Timestamps for each technology in the video can be found below. As the high school will be receiving swivels, we will not be getting the logitech webcams. ASUS monitor: 3:23 Bluetooth Speakers: 5:55 Headset: 9:58 ASUS Portable Monitor This lightweight portable monitor makes having two screens a breeze. There are many right ways to use multiple monitors and everyone has their own preference. During a lesson, I like to have one screen that I share with students and one that I use for schoolbrains/attendance/HOWLS grades. To share the screen of one monitor, simply press the share screen button on zoom and select which screen you’d like to share: Bluetooth Speakers If you’ve been relying on your laptop speakers to listen to students speaking you’ve likely had some difficulty hearing them. These speakers will make student voices much easier to hear. If you’re tight on desk space, use the bluetooth option to make a setup that works. The speakers are significantly better at projecting sound than the classroom TV screens. Headset with Microphone Students have reported that a teacher's voice is much clearer when using the headset. Like the speakers, listening to voices becomes much easier as well. Link to original
8 Feb 21 - 12 Feb 21 Jazzing up your Google classroom with Emojis We showed you how to use emojis to draw attention to your emails but did you know you could use them in Google Classroom too? As we head into Semester 2 and everyone is getting a handle on how we are using Google Classroom you can up your organization game and highlight key information. Here are some ways emojis could be used in the Google Classroom:
Adding multiple occurrences of an assignment in Schoolbrains: Particularly useful when you have a weekly assignment like HOWLs or a weekly homework. Here is the step by step tutorial: http://ior.ad/7qEV Copying assignments from one block to the next in Schoolbrains: Particularly useful when you teach multiple sections of the same class. Here is the step by step tutorial: http://ior.ad/7qFh Link to original
2/1 Feb- 2/5 Feb. 2021 The Art of the Bookmark Today we will be expanding on a previous tech tip for creating bookmarks. Bookmarks are links to websites/documents that stay pinned to your chrome browser. They greatly improve organization and ease of access to links and documents.
-HHS Master Academic Calendar -The A/B Schedule Rotation -Teacher Office Hours - 20-21 Inst. Look Fors -The Attendance Buyback Form
Workona- A Tab Managing Add On I don’t have personal experience with this add on but it comes highly recommended from Coach Eric Levine. If you’re looking to take your bookmark game to new levels, consider checking out Workona. Video resource below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO27jzFCuo0&feature=y |
AuthorMike Cotto and Heather Fuller are Science teachers and Building Technology Leads at Holyoke High School North Campus Archives
April 2021
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