Terry's Tech Tips

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...

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...

Are you one of the lucky people who have a 'clicker' that allows you to control your Google Slides presentation.  Controlling your slide presentation from anywhere in the classroom is an excellent strategy for keeping students engaged and on task.  Google Chrome has an extension called Remote for Slides  that turns your phone into a 'clicker'! Watch the 55-second video below to learn how to use Remote for Slides: Steps: If you prefer text directions, follow these steps: Step 1: Click here  to navigate to the Chrome Web Store Remote for Slides extension.  Click Add to Chrome.    The Remote for Slides icon now appears to the right of your Chrome address bar.  Step 2:   Open any Google Slides presentation.  You will now see a Present w/ Remote button on the top right-hand side of your Slides.   Click  Present w/ Remote. Step 3: The Slides presentation automatically changes to...

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....

Your classroom has wide-ranging student needs and situations.  Some of your students may have conditions that make presenting in front of the class challenging. Google Slides provide a lot of flexibility for students who might be reluctant to present in front of the class.  I'm including a few ideas on how you might use Google Slides (or Adobe Spark!) for students with conditions that make presenting a challenge.   Or,  you can use the tools to provide practice for students in a less anxiety-inducing environment. Narrate the Slide Deck Slide by Slide: As I mentioned in my last post, Google Slides now allows you to add audio files to your slides.  You can use any program that allows you to create an audio recording, but I like online-voice-recorder .  Students record what they would say for each slide, and add the audio file to the slide. (Insert>Audio).   Set the audio to autoplay as the slide is clicked, and you have a narrated ...

Google Slides provide the most flexibility of any tool in the Google App suite.  Some people call it the Swiss Army knife of Google!  Now you can add audio files!  From the Google Slides top toolbar, select Insert>Audio for any audio file stored in your Google Drive.  Your audio file appears on the slide in the form of a sound icon. Select the icon and  Format options dynamically appear on your menu bar: Click Format options and playback options are now available to you on the right side of  your screen: You can control how the audio file starts playing, its volume, if it should continuously play, or whether to stop or not when the slide changes.   Why would I use this option? If you use Google Slides as your presentation software for your courses, I'm sure you can think of a wealth of ways to incorporate audio into your classroom.  A few I thought of: Add music files to the first slide, so mus...

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 ...

Google Slides has just introduced the ability to close caption your classroom presentation/discussion!  When in Presentation mode, simply click the CC icon on the slide navigator toolbar  or click Command + Shift + C.  Any speech picked up by the presentation computer microphone will be closed captioned! Watch this 21-second video from the Google blog to see how easy it is! Can closed captioning your direct instruction and class discussion help learning? Students can hear/understand: Sometimes we have students in our class with a documented hearing loss.  In this case, we think about and use the Redcat microphones provided in every classroom.  (Though I would suggest the amplification of your voice really helps ALL learners!)  In a classroom where you don't choose to utilize the Redcat microphone, there may be students who are: located in a part of the room where they can't hear as well. near noise from another stude...

Have you ever added a text box to a slide, and discovered your text font and size is your Slides default, not the Slide Theme default?   You can spend a lot of time re-formatting the newly created text box!  Each time you add a new text box, you have to format again. Google has just improved a rarely used tool (by me, anyway) that can be really helpful.  You've seen it many times, but probably have never used it before! The paint roller is officially called the Format tool and is found in  Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides .  Google has recently updated the tool to include  Persistent mode.  Here's how it works: Highlight a text box or object that uses the formatting you want  Double Click the Format tool (Paint roller) for Persistent mode* Create a new text box, or highlight an existing object Voila!  The text changes to match the highlighted object you selected when you entered Persisent mode.  Yo...

Learning Menus and Choice Boards have been getting a lot of attention in the teaching community recently.  They provide built-in student choice, a key component for activating Student Engagement. Learning Menus and Choice Boards have been around for a long time in paper form, but have seen resurging interest with the incorporation of digital tools.  They are so flexible, they can be structured in many ways.  Teachers use them to provide choice for the following reasons: Accessing your content - students have a choice of activities to access course content Show What you know - students have a choice of multiple activities to demonstrate their understanding Capstone Project - students have a choice of project for the end-of-unit or 'capstone' project. Choice Boards: Choice Boards give students multiple options for a single assignment or a small number of related assignments.  If you are a seasoned teacher, you probably have lots of already cr...

HyperQuests (also known as Hyperdocs) have been receiving a lot of teacher attention lately.  HyperQuests support differentiated student independent inquiry learning.  They leverage the use of technology (though not all activities are digital), embed collaboration, and build in student critical thinking and problem-solving! The concept works because it begins with strong lesson design, curates quality instructional content, and packages learning experiences in ways which engage learners.  (1) Note:  While the rest of the world calls them HyperDocs, the CCHS Tech Leaders prefer the term HyperQuest .  HyperQuests are based on the old WebQuests, and the name HyperQuest eliminates confusion with an older application actually called Hyperdocs! What are they? HyperQuests can be any digital tool and are often built in Google Slides.  They provide a visually engaging digital framework leading students through a lesson or unit of carefull...