Terry's Tech Tips

Gmail has over 1.5 Billion users according to the latest statistic Google published in 2019.  The average American worker receives 126 emails per day ( Radicati ).  That means a lot of users with a lot of emails.  Google just introduced search chips .  They help you refine your search within Gmail to locate emails more quickly. Search Chips When you place search criteria in the Gmail Search box, search chips will automatically appear underneath.   Courtesy of the G Suite Updates Blog Click on the search chip to further refine your search.   Some search chips have options to refine the search even further.  The Any time search chip gives options to narrow the search within a specific window of time: Clicking the Has attachment search chip automatically adds options for searching for specific types of attachments. If you still need the extra power of  Advanced Search , you will find it to the far right ...

You may already know I am a big fan of keyboard shortcuts.  Simple keystrokes like Command + C (Copy) and Command + V (Paste) shave hours off your work time over the course of a year! Paste without formatting:  Shift + Command + V: My favorite keyboard shortcut is probably Shift + Command + V or  Edit>Paste without formatting .  Why?  I work a lot in Google Slides and Documents.  I often find I copy text from one place and paste it into my slide or document.  Then I need to spend time highlighting the text, changing the font style, changing the font size, and changing the font color to match my slide or document formatting.  That can take a lot of time! Instead of Pasting (or Command + V), I add the shift key:   Shift + Command + V.   The text automatically uses the formatting already set up in the document or slide! My first attempt using Control +  paste in the image below demonstrates what happens when ju...

We have a new app available in the Google Suite called Jamboard.  What is Jamboard?  Great question!  Jamboard is a tool that allows students (and teachers) to work together collaboratively. Jamboard provides you with a whiteboard space where you can draw, add sticky notes, import images, or add Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.  Jamboards live in your Google Drive and are shared similarly to other Google Suite apps. Some ideas on how you could use Jamboard in your classroom with students: Space for group project resources Collaborative brainstorming Design thinking or challenges Collaborative graphic organizers Presentations - Jams can have multiple pages! Mind mapping Character analysis in novels The uses are only limited by your imagination! The example below shows students' thoughts and findings on identifying bias and credible sources: How is Jamboard different from other Google products? You are given a 'whiteboard space' ...

Google has developed a new series of fonts explicitly designed to enhance reading speed and fluency for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. Google teamed with Education Therapist Dr. Bonnie Shaver-Troup and typographer Thomas Jockin.  Dr. Shaver-Troup found that perception-based solutions were more effective in improving reading performance and cognition than cognitive-based ones.  Together with Thomas Jockin, they developed the Lexend font series.    What benefits do the Lexend font series provide to readers? Bonnie Shaver-Troup theorized that reading issues may be a result of student's sensitivity to typographical factors like size and spacing.  The Lexend font series provide a clean Sans Serif font base with spacing options helping the reader improve both reading speed and cognition.   (Sans Serif fonts assist students with Dyslexia and other learning issues.)  Lexend is especially suitable for readers who are bothered by visual crowd...

Google introduced a lot of updates over the summer.  As a Google for Education School, we work in the Google Suite all the time.  We create for our classroom or assess work students create. Below are some highlighted changes for Google Docs and Slides. Google Slides Present Mode: If you use Google Slides in your classroom, Google has added these capabilities while in Present mode : Resize speaker notes and slide thumbnails in the presenter view  Navigate to a specific slide with a keyboard shortcut   -   For example, 7 followed by Enter sends you to slide 7. Control video playback with keyboard shortcuts: View all available Present mode keyboard shortcuts by clicking the new “tips” button in the presentation control bar.  Read the full Google post here. New Customization Features for Google Docs Headers and Footers: Previously, Headers and Footers in Google Docs had to remain the same on every page except for page 1....

Google has been busy this week, updating both GMail and Google Drive! I have been excitedly waiting for the Intelligent Search feature in Google Drive.  Everyone could use a little help finding items in their Drive! You are familiar with the Quick Access files Google shows you via their Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Place your cursor in the search box located above your Google Drive. Courtesy of Google Artificial Intelligence, you see a new list of options: First:  Suggested search queries Next:  Top collaborators Next:  File types, edit history, priority items, and more! Do you miss the old search box where you have additional criteria you can add?  Click the Advanced Search found at the bottom of the box.  The advanced search dialogue box you opens for your use!

The new year brings a welcomed update to the Google Classroom interface.  Google has changed a few things that make a huge difference!  Watch the short video below for all changes: A quick outline of the important changes: Drag & Drop Assignments in a Topic (Classwork tab): A seemingly small thing that has a huge impact on your time!  Easily controlling assignment placement within a topic is life changing. Join Class Code Easily Accessible with the Display Icon (Stream page): Just in time for the second semester (with a surprising number of new courses), the join class code is front and center!  One click makes it display size. Updated look and feel: Google's mantra is to make it clean and simple.  They have updated the font and style to make Classroom less visually cluttered. In addition, Google added 78 new themes to help you easily personalize your Classroom. From the Google Keyword B...

In the spirit of the holiday season, here are a few more of my favorite things! Google Slides Google Slides are the Swiss army knife of the Google Suite in my opinion.    They are so versatile.  Slides are so much more than a presentation. I have almost abandoned Google Docs.  Most of my work involves directions - images with arrows and circles added.  I love the tools Google Slides and Google Drawing provide.  (The tools are the same in both apps.) If you use Google Docs, you can access these same tools by clicking Insert>Drawing.  You have the best of both worlds with the drawing embedded in your Doc for editing! Page Setup: By clicking File>Page Setup you can make Slides any size you want.  This means you can use Slides for way more than just presentations!  I use this feature to create slides that are: Directions  like these  in 8.5 X 11" format. Cool templates like this  National Geographic ...

Around this time of year, the iconic Sound of Music song ' These are a Few of My Favorite Things ' always seems to be playing in my head.  For the second year, I'm publishing a list of my favorite things that help me do my job faster or better.  I use many of these daily. Keyboard Shortcuts 8 Days per Year Would you be interested if someone showed you how to save eight days a year working?  Of course, you would!  Without question, teachers nationwide name lack of time as a top (if not THE top) obstacle they face in their professional practice. Keyboard shortcuts are a way to gain more time.  Watch this video to learn how the time savings were calculated by BrainScape, an education platform that provides flashcards based on brain research.  Or view the formula below: [2 wasted seconds / min] * [480 min / workday] * [240 workdays / year] =  64 wasted hours / year! (2 seconds is the amount of time it takes to move yo...

Web pages contain all kinds of information relevant to your content.  They include scholarly articles, websites devoted to your topic, and current events.  You likely assign web-based resources to students as part of their learning all the time!  You may wonder: did they read the online article/paper/assigned web page? did they understand the content of the article/paper/assigned web page? what conclusions or opinions did they develop based on the content presented on the webpage? Why Use InsertLearning? Use InsertLearning to: add clarification for words/phrases that your students may not understand.   enhance student interaction with your web material by inserting questions for understanding .   ensure close reading by asking them to highlight (using the Insert Learning tools) who, what, where or anything that is appropriate to the content.   ask opinions about the content that will be shared with classmates for...