WOW!  Do I have a post for you this week!  The most challenging aspect of technology integration is that there is just SO MUCH out there, and it is always changing.  However, I’m here to help! Part of my role is staying on top of latest and greatest tools, as well as updates to the current tools we use.  So, let “minnow” if I can help you with any of it! Learning a tool or seeing how a tool updated!

It’s been an amazing week of explosive updates from Google! The GMAIL updates even made the NATIONAL NEWS as seen in the video below!  In addition, there have also been updates to Docs, Slides and even a few favorite tech sites that will be changing. Read below to see the scoop! 🍦 

Email is Changing 📧

The GMAIL Update is so HUGE it hit the national news!  Read the story on NBC here. The updates to the GMAIL platform are so great!  Check out the update from Google here and watch my video below as well to see the updates in action! As of right now, 5/1, all of the updates haven’t officially hit in my email, but they will in the next few weeks. Currently, the expiration feature has not appeared in East Bridgewater, but don’t worry, it will. Google is the first email platform to allow expiration dates on email! AMAZING!  You do not have to have the new platform yet, but eventually, Google will migrate (and force) everyone over. Right now, you can “opt-in” if your Google Administrator sets the correct permissions.

Insert Slides into Docs – WHAT?!

I know, right?!  This is pretty cool and explained much better by video. Basically, you can copy and paste a Slide into a Doc, and the image will Hyperlink to the Slide Deck.  This would be great if you were having students complete a writing and include a presentation with the writing.  All of it can link into one single Doc and have the image of the Slide to go with it. Pretty cool stuff! Read the update from Google here and see the video below:

Use Rulers on Slides 📏

Another great update to Slides this week is the ability to use rulers and guides.  If you really like to make sure items and text line up, or if you are creating worksheets using Slides, the ruler will be very helpful.  You can read the update from Google here. When printing a Slide, the ruler will now let you see where the margin lies. Often, I hear teachers complain about creating certain items in sheets. The solution…SLIDES! Use Slides as a Doc, it’s much less limiting!

In Non-Google News…

Technology Updates – or should we say down? 

In Sad News…

Padlet now has a fee structure.  You are capped at a certain amount of Padlets. However, if you delete a previous Padlet, you can add another so there is still a free component. You can read about the new fee structure here.  A free alternative to Padlet is Wakelet, and this program is getting some good press!

Today’s Meet is going away. If you use Today’s Meet you will need to find another live chat tool. As of 6/15 Today’s Meet will meet no more.  Alternatives to Today’s Meet are Spiral.ac or BackChannelChat.  Let “minnow” if I can assist you with these tools! They’re pretty cool when paired with a documentary!

A little better… 🍐

Pear Deck has had some major updates, and will have even more in the next few months. Please reach out if you’re using this awesome tool and we can discuss the updates!

I’m always here to help with your technology integration needs! Send me a shout out if you’ve seen any updates lately!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

I learn the most by collaborating with others! Colleagues and friends have so much to offer. When we look at our students, many times, they are able to learn and process the information best when they can get into groups and talk it out or create with peers. Collaboration is powerful and truly improves our abilities, it is a SUPERPOWER! The best part is: it’s free and available to all.   How do you foster collaboration professionally? How do you have students collaborate? Let’s take a look below for some great options that enhance collaboration.

Google Classroom – Ask a Question!

I’ve said it before, many times, and I’ll say it again – is there a better tool for a teacher than Google Classroom?  Recently, our building administrators have all started using Google Classroom to communicate and collaborate with staff – AWESOME! I see coaches use it for teams, teachers use it for students, and staff use it for professional development. Classroom is just a GREAT tool.

A useful, collaborative, feature of Classroom is the “Ask a Question” feature. This could basically turn your Google Classroom into a blog. You can ask a question and allow students to respond to each other as well as your prompt.  You can also poll your class with this option and students can see results in LIVE time (unlike Google Forms).

Read more about the  Question Feature of Classroom here!

Group Work – an EASY way to group and share the template!

This was a GREAT post by Alice Keeler this week.  She shows how one can install an add-on she coded and easily create random groups and a group assignment automatically shared with all who need it!  This may look a tad challenging at first to install – but I’m telling you, once you have this going, it’s quite easy.  Plus, you can book me if you’d like assistance 🙂

Suggestion Mode – Collaborative Writing

Last week I co-authored my first article for an Ed Tech Magazine. It was a great experience and I LOVED the collaboration between a friend and myself. I would open up the doc and see the changes he made and what was added, then I would add to it. We would discuss changes using the chat and/or comment feature. It was great, and I highly recommend trying it with students.  A lot of critical thinking went into it and it made me a better writer in the process.  Plus, who doesn’t like sharing the load!  Take a look at the video below to see some of the tools we used to collaborate.

Collaboration with You!

Really when I want to learn the most, I go to you! Although we are great on our own, we are even better together!  Through talking out lessons over the phone or in person, visiting classrooms, engaging in Twitter chats or talking at conferences, I learn so much and I would like to think those I meet with learn things in return! Collaboration is key and I would love to collaborate with you. Sometimes the conversation sparks ideas or sometimes it’s just walking into a room and seeing something special that gives you that AHA! moment! #TogetherWeAreBetter

Maybe we can collaborate! I look forward to it! 😊

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

What a week!!  This week, for me, began with no power in Bridgwater since we had another Bomb-Cyclone!  What is with these storms?! I’m both teaching and taking a course outside of school, and to be without WIFI for 72 hours would have been challenging. However, I use Google Apps for everything I do – thank Google! I opened up my Chromebook, without power and without internet in my home, and set to work.  How do you ask? Well…read below 😜

Working Offline  💻

With the recent weather and a recent trip over the February break, working offline has been a HUGE bonus for me!  Did you know that a Chromebook or Google Apps on a PC/MAC will open Docs, Slides, and Sheets and let you work on said apps WITHOUT internet access? Then when access is restored, the Doc/Slide/Sheet will sync with your Google Drive.  I was able to write an entire research paper on my flight to Florida, without internet access! I certainly wasn’t paying for it on Jet Blue, and I didn’t need too. My work simply synced once I got my device back on Wifi! I recommend doing this only with singular documents/slides/sheets etc. If it is a collaborative project, you may run into confusion once your work syncs with a partner’s work.  So, let students know – no reason they can’t write that assignment or create that slide presentation if WIFI is down! As long as you have a charged battery, Google Apps are there! You can read the specifics on this from Google here.

If you get a REAL hankering for internet when Wifi is down or unavailable, your phone can be used as a personal hotspot and your Chromebook can connect to that hot spot. There are a few things I do not on Google Apps, so I find myself going to soccer practice in the dome with my Chromebook. I connect it to the hot spot in my phone, and BOOM, I can work for the hour at soccer practice on blogposts like this! You can read more about how to do this here.  **Note: using your phone as a personal hotspot for Wifi uses quite a bit of data, so be sure you have enough stored up before using this option. 

Transferring Files and Email  ✉️ 

Have you ever wanted to migrate your email or Drive files to another Google Account? How about condense files into one account? Well, of course, Google makes this SUPER easy! With a click of a button, Google will create a nice and neat, new little folder in the Gmail account of your choosing and dump a whole Drive worth of files in there. It keeps all of your files in their organized fashion with folders and subfolders.  You can do this with email as well.

For detailed directions of this process, click here and you can watch the video below as well.

Nothing is EVER Gone 😱 

Are you afraid you wiped out a whole file? When fear not, the revision history is there for you! In many of the Google Apps you can check the revision history for a detailed description of each step in the process of the Document/Slide/Sheet.  This is helpful to see who was responsible for which piece in a group assignment, and also helpful if you accidentally wipe something out that you want back! If you really look carefully through the revision history, you can even see if whole chunks of information are pasted into a Doc.

If you’re ever fearful that you deleted something, and it’s within 30 days, the Google Admin panel has the ability to restore it! So reach out to your Google Admins (me for EB) if this happens to you!

Organizing your Digital Life 📂 

Google Drive is an amazing tool and can be organized and utilized in so many great ways. Check out Neal Sonnenberg’s Slides on Organizing your Digital Life! His tips and tricks are FABULOUS!

Everything is available EVERYWHERE 🗺️ 

So, I’m going to Disney in August… where am I keeping any of my notes, important info, dinner reservation lists?  GOOGLE DRIVE.  It’s never lost this way. I can go ANYWHERE, I can lose my phone, I can lose WIFI access, but my Google Sheet/Doc/Slide will still open. Anywhere in the world, I can access my information in my Drive, even without Wifi! THAT is POWERFUL! Thank you, Google!

Reach out for any of the above tips, or any of your other tech needs!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

HAPPY 100 DAYS EVERYONE! Like my fish pun 🐟 this week, get it Dock and Google Docs….lol….I couldn’t help it 😜. Thanks Jen McPartland for that one! When I look at our GoGuardian statistics, Google Docs is the most used application in our district. We are doing so much collaboration with Docs in our classrooms, I thought a great focus this week would be Google Docs.  Below you will see some of my favorite things you can do with Docs as well as some hidden features. For instance, did you know you can insert Word Art or even animated GIFs into your Docs??!! How about a great add-on that allows you to leave voice comment feedback for students in a doc? Google Docs is a powerful tool for collaborative writing among students. It is also a great tool because nothing is ever really lost, EVER. Read below to check this out!

New to Docs? Still a “Word” girl (or boy)? ✍️  

Are you having a hard time moving away from Word because Docs just isn’t the same? Maybe all of your work is in Word, so it’s just easier to use it. Does this sound familiar? Well, take a look here at the cheat sheet from G-suite themselves.  This training center resource will help you move away from Word and move towards Docs.  Change is hard, but this is the app students are using and the more comfortable we can become with this application, the better we are able to assist our students!

Feedback Tools 📣 

I posted a little while ago about feedback (Fishy Feedback), but since that post, there have been even more GREAT tools that have come out for a teacher to leave authentic feedback for students in Google Docs. Check out WriQ and Kaizena, both add-ons for Docs.

 <– This is an image from WriQ, it will score the work (for you) and allow you to give feedback in a student comment.  Check out the video below on WriQ. It is pretty awesome!

How about AUDIO FEEDBACK that you can just pull out anytime??!! Or canned text comments as well that you write yourself? Kaizena has really hit the mark when it comes to feedback! Check out my video below showcasing this amazing add-on!

Want more? This is a great post from Eric Curts that has even more feedback tools, including video and audio options!

Nothing is ever really gone in Docs!  💡

One of the best features of Google Docs is the VERSION HISTORY found under the File Menu.  With the version history, you can see the progress a student makes with writing over time. You can also see, in a group writing, who has contributed and to what degree.  You can also restore a version of a Doc in the event you accidentally delete something important.  Check it out below:

For Fun  🕺

Something really fun, that differentiates Docs from Word, is the ability to install add-ons.  Add-ons for Docs are items that “add on” or enhance the Doc itself.   There are so many different add-ons available including music notation, clipart, rubric builders and many more! I personally love Magic Rainbow Unicorn! See my short video below for some of my favorite add-ons!

For More Docs Awesomeness  🎉

Looking for more hidden features of Docs? Check out these posts below by some great tech bloggers on some hidden features within Google Docs like voice typing or the research tool!

Click Here

Click Here

As always, reach out if you’d like any help! I hope these tips and tricks make your experience with Docs that much better!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟

Hello FISHY Friends!

Seriously, is there anyone out there who HASN’T used forms in one way or another?  Google Forms is an amazing G-Suite tool that can be used in a variety of ways, and like anything Google, it is always improving!  In fact, did you know you can suggest improvements to Google on their products (click here)?  They take into consideration every suggestion made.  Google Forms is a great online survey and/or assessment tool.  Many of us have either taken a Google form, administered a Google Form, or both!  I make roughly 2-3 Google Forms a week for various tasks – so reach out! I’d be more than happy to make one for you!

 Reuse Google Form questions ♻️ 

Have you ever made a new test and you want to take some questions (but not all) from another? Well, this is a great post for you! Richard Byrne posted recently about the add-on for Forms called Form Recycler. What this allows you to do is pull in questions from other Forms you’ve made, without having to duplicate or copy and paste!

This would be great if you wanted to create your final from all of your yearly tests or a REVIEW for MCAS from all other tests! 

Check it out here: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2018/01/how-to-quickly-copy-questions-from-one.html#.Wl-wj65KuM8

Response Validation (set rules in forms) ☑️ 

If you are a frequent giver of assessments using Forms, and you want to set some parameters around answers for various questions, response validation is a great tool.  Let’s say you have a checkbox question and students need to choose 2, you can set the validation to not let them continue the quiz until they pick two. If you have a short answer or paragraph response, you can set a validation to not let them continue until their response contains a certain word or words. If you’re giving a math assessment, and the number should be within a certain range, you can set this in response validation and the assessment will not let the student pass in the test if they do not have their response validated. This would be a great modification for certain students on an exam.  Giving a range may assist the student in trying the problem again if he or she is way off the mark.  It is EXTREMELY easy to set response validation within forms and it is one of the best-hidden tools that many are unaware of.

How to set rules for your Google Form: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3378864?hl=en

This is a great post with video how-to’s and ideas for response validation in Forms: http://www.i-heart-edu.com/response-validation-with-google-forms/

You can even REQUIRE certain information and not allow a student to turn in an assignment unless it contains that particular item.  Check out Alice Keeler’s example of how she forces email: http://www.alicekeeler.com/2018/01/17/google-forms-require-valid-email-address/

Send certificates EASILY with Google Forms 🏆 

Would you like to send certificates once a Google Form is completed? This add-on for forms does just that, quite easily!  If you already have assessments in place in Forms, you can enable this add-on and it will automatically send a certificate to the taker of the form if they receive a certain score. Students could get a cute certificate reward for getting a certain score on a test!

Check out this add-on here: https://www.certifyem.com/try-it-now

This is a great video how-to by Meagan Kelly of this awesome tool!

Score WRITING in Google Forms 📝 

Google Forms used to only score multiple choice and short answer back in the days of Flubaroo (I wonder how they’re doing now). However, now you can even give large writings by choosing long paragraph.  This is a great option to have a variety of question types on a test.  You will need to go through each long response and manually grade, however, it’s pretty quick to give a score and copy and paste some feedback in the comment box.

Check out some detailed directions here about extended responses: http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/10/extended-response-forms.html

Eliminate Choices in Forms 🚫 

If you want to use a Google Form as a sign-up for a party or even for appointments, the add-on Choice Eliminator is a great tool.  This add-on allows you to choose when an option disappears from a form.  If you had “popcorn” as a food item for a party and you only want two students bringing it, once 2 people choose it, it disappears from the form.  Check out more on this great add-on for Forms here:

We’ve only just scratched the surface with these tips! I hope to talk with you more about FORMS, reach out anytime!

oFISHally yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟