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...

We all spend a lot of time using Google Calendar.  I was surprised to learn a few new tricks that I didn't know existed! Go to Date: It is common to receive a list of meeting dates we need to attend for the school year or semester.  It can be tedious to navigate to each date to enter the meeting on your calendar.  Did you know you can type a ' g ' (short for Go to Date ),  and a box will appear?   Type in the date of the next event , click Go , and you are automatically taken to that date! Search: One of the things Google does best is search, so it shouldn't surprise me that you can search for events in Google Calendar.  But, I didn't know that you could! Click the ' /' , and a search box appears at the top of your calendar.  Enter search terms, and Google will show you all the events that meet your search criteria! Enable Keyboard Shortcuts: For these shortcuts to work, you need to enable Keyboard Shortcuts in your Googl...

Google Drive has incorporated a new feature called the Priority Page .  You may have noticed it on the left-hand side above My Drive.  If you have ever been frustrated about the time it takes to navigate to frequently used files, you will want to check this out! What Does the Google Drive Priority Page Offer? Section 1:  Quick Access The Google Drive Priority page has two parts.  The first section is similar to the one you see in Google Drive.  Google AI (artificial intelligence) gives you quick access to the documents it decides you will most likely want to use.  But, there is one valuable addition! Notice the arrow located to the right.  Clicking that arrow reveals additional files that Google AI has identified, so you can now easily access more documents. Section 2:  Workspaces  The real beauty of the Priority Page lies below!  Google's Workspaces allow you to create and name a Workspace where you add ro...

Do you want an easy way for people to access anything that has a web address with their phone?  Consider using a QR code! What is a QR code? You've seen a million QR Codes.  QR codes look like this: If you point the camera on your phone at this QR Code, a browser on your phone should open to the CCHS Staff Resources page.  Why would I use a QR Code?  QR codes work really well, allowing simple access to any item with a web address via phone.  Guess what?  ANYTHING stored in your Google Drive has a web address!  Museums often use them with their exhibits to provide context and additional information.  Below I'll list just a few ideas on how you might want to use a QR code.  (Our staff is very creative!  I'm sure you can think of many other uses!) Post a QR code to your Course Expectations for parents on Back to School Night (No paper to copy!) Post QR codes around your classroom to student digital work.  Rather...

Have you ever faced a situation where two Google documents exist that are similar, and you want to quickly figure out the differences?  Last week's blog post covered how you can use Version History to compare a single document's changes over time - and even restore a previous version if you had an 'oops'! This week we explore the newly introduced option to compare two separate documents. If you are a teacher who has students submit one document as a 'rough draft,' and students submit an entirely different document as their 'final draft,' you should love how easy it is to see what suggestions students incorporated into the last version. Comparing Two Google Documents: To analyze the differences between the two documents, open the first document.    From the toolbar, select Tools > Compare Documents. In the dialogue, click on Choose document to select the second Google Doc to compare against.  In the “Attribute differences to field,” ent...

Students are writing across the curriculum - essays in English, papers in Social Studies, and lab reports in Science.    For any significant piece of writing, teachers usually provide students with valuable feedback to better their written assignments. Grading written work with feedback: Grading these assignments can be confusing.   It can be challenging to determine what changes the student made (if any) to improve the writing.   Many teachers like to have students turn in a 'rough draft,' give feedback with comments, and then have the students resubmit 'final' drafts.  Sometimes, teachers do this within the same document, while others have separate documents. If you face this problem, here is a solution you might want to use! If you use one document as both 'rough draft' and 'final draft.'   If you like to use one document to see the comment threads, you may already know you can click File>See Version History  to view how...

Grammarly Premium is now available to Staff! How do I get Grammarly Premium? You should have already received an email from Grammarly inviting you to the CCHS Grammarly Premium group.  Click on the link provided in the email, create your account, and add the Grammarly Chrome extension.  (Note:  You must use Google Chrome to access Grammarly in Gmail, Blogger, and Drive.) If you have never used Grammarly before, following this process should provide you premium account access. If you have used Grammarly before, follow the directions in the slides linked below: I have used the Free version of Grammarly   I have paid for Grammarly premium using my @concordcarlisle.org account. How do I use Grammarly Premium? Grammarly Spelling and Grammar checks: Once you log into the Grammarly Chrome extension using your @concordcarlisle.org account, Grammarly automatically provides necessary spelling and grammar checks for all Google products: Gramm...

Fall sports are in full swing, and the Activities Fair will be held soon!  Before the month is out, we will submit many of our School Sponsored International Trips for School Committee review. If you are a coach, club advisor, or trip organizer, connecting with students and parents can be time-consuming.  There are several ways to set up systems to communicate with these students and/or parents.  One option is to create a snapshot in Aspen. Why create a snapshot in Aspen for clubs, sports teams, or trips? As a teacher, you can easily communicate with students in your classes.  Communicating with students in clubs, sports teams, or trips means you need to access them under the Staff View>Student top tab with all 1300 students.  If you create a snapshot in Aspen, you can specify that snapshot as a filter and with one-click access only the students you want to communicate with.  When contacting students and/or parents, any email changes made in Aspen ...

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....

I was so excited last year when I noticed that Google Classroom provided the ability to copy the classroom for the next year. Good News: I tested this process out at the end of last year, and my results were great!  Every assignment saved as a draft with all related documents and support links placed under the topics I had created.  I knew teachers who had used Moodle in the past would appreciate the new feature.   Bad News: That's good news.  But, there was something that I didn't consider last year.  When you copy a Google Classroom, it makes a copy of everything in the Classroom.   Every document, every video, including your directions, course syllabus, and other 'view only' documents you provided to your students in their assignments.  Let's consider how that might look: You have a Course Expectations document.   You taught two sections last year.  You added this document to each course.  If you...

Today's post is an update for suggested strategies teachers and students can use for final exam preparation.  I have added one additional strategy tip from the previous post! As final exams approach, your students face the challenge of preparing for them.  Cognitive learning research provides insight into the best practices for studying.   The Top 2 Study Strategies are Retrieval Practice and Spaced Learning: Retrieval Practice  Retrieval Practice is the act of  pulling information out of your brain.   You remember what you know about a word, topic, or lesson,  pull it   out of your mind  and then articulate it in some way.  For example, you write down everything you can remember.  This is the way your brain really wants to learn!   Retrieval Practice is the opposite of reviewing notes or the textbook and trying to ' stuff ' the knowledge into your brain! Teacher Action:...