Dressing Up Google Classroom

I thought that because this blog is being posted on Halloween,

 Dressing up Google Classroom would be fitting topic. 

One the features that is lacking in Google Classroom is to manipulate text. In order to get around this and to make your assignments and posts stand out here are a few tips.

Tip 1

Go to a site such as Cool Fancy Text Generator  or Fancy Text Generator. Enter in your text. Next copy a version of the text you like.

Finally, go to your Google Classroom and past the text into your post or assignment. Note: text might look different on Chromebooks than on PC's, so make sure you look at it on a Chromebook before you post.

Tip 2

Download the Google Classroom App to your smart phone.
Use standard emojis to jazz up assignments, posts, and topics.

Tip 3

On a windows computer press the windows key and the period at the same time to get an emoji keyboard. Use it to put emojis in your posts or assignments. 

In the comments below, tell about a time your class was scary.

KonMarie Your Google Drive

Marie Kondo is a world-renowned expert in organization. She's well known for her book
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and her Netflix show Tidying Up.
This might seem like an odd piece of trivia to start a technology blog with, however, for
many of us, keeping our digital lives organized is an ongoing struggle. In this blog post
we are going to use a modified version of Marie Kondo’s strategy for organization known
as KonMari to help organize our Google Drives.

Step 1:  Commit yourself to tidying up.

 Ask yourself if any of these scenarios apply to you:

• your Google Drive has  dozens of files that you haven't used in years
• half of your file names start with Untitled.
• there are files that you aren't sure where they even came from

If you said yes to any of these scenarios, then you need to organize your digital files.
Schedule a time such as  during a planning period, or when you're at home away from
the students, that you can focus your full attention on organizing your files. 

Step 2: Look at all your files and think about how they should be organized. 

Textbooks are organized into units and chapters, and because of this you can easily find
the information that you want to cover. However for most people, files are often lumped
together regardless of what they are. As you start seeing patterns in your files, make
folders so that similar content can be stored together. For some teachers this will be as
easy as making a folder for each standard or topic but remember that you can put folders
into folders. One way  how I organize my classroom folders, is a Subject folder, Course
Folders, Topic Folders (such as content), Unit Folder, and Instructional Type Folder. 

Step 3: Does the file bring you joy?

This seems like a stupid thing to ask about a file, but the truth is some things that you
have made or found for your classes are really great, while others are lousy. If you are
proud of something you have made, keep it. If you aren’t ditch it. Also really reflect on
how the file helped the students learn the content. Just because you have a worksheet
that lines up with the standard, doesn’t mean it will help the students.
If it doesn’t, get rid of it!

I know it might take some time and effort, but it will be well worth it. During the process
you will most likely find some great activities that you forgot that you had. You will also
see areas of your content that don’t have as many resources, which will show you areas
where you could improve instruction. Best of all, when you are ready to use something,
you know right where it is and you don’t have to open dozens of untitled files to find the
one you want. In the words of Marie Kondo, that will, “Spark Joy.”

In the comments below,

tell how you organize your files!

Digital Coexistence- Syncing your home and work calendars and email.

In a previous post we talked about how you can be more productive by using your phone. One of the tips was to sync up your work email and calendar on your phone so that you can quickly see everything from your personal accounts, as well as from work. There will be times you will not want to see details from work, so you can easily change from one account to another, or when you need to, you can see both.  Below are the basic steps for syncing your district email and calendar to your phone (note: phone updates might change the steps, but it should remain similar).

iPhone: 

1. Open Settings
2. Select Passwords & Accounts
3. Tap Add Account > Select Google
4. Enter your District email address > Tap Next
5. Enter your District Google (same as Google Classroom) password > Tap Next
6. Choose to sync Email and/or Calendars. 

Android: 

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Click Accounts and Backup.
3. Click Accounts.
4. Click + Add account (If you don't see this option, scroll to the bottom).
5. Choose Google from the list that appears.
6. Follow the directions on the screen to sign in to your District account.
7. Once you are logged in, select the features you want to sync.

If you have trouble setting it up, please contact Mr. Coffey and he will be glad to help.

One Password to Rule Them All.

Wouldn't it be great if you could have just one password for everything? Some of you might be saying to yourself, "I only use one password for every website." Well, that is not a recommended practice if you want to keep yourself safe online. Let's say you use the same password for Facebook that you use for your credit card's website. If Facebook is hacked (like it was in 2018 where around 30 million people had their data compromised), hackers now have your email address and password. They can try to use your email and password on every bank and credit card site until they get in. Once they do they can cause you real trouble. So, you shouldn't use only one password for every website, however keeping up with dozens of different passwords can be difficult.  This is where Password Managers come in handy. 

Password managers are apps/extensions that help you create strong passwords, save them, and retrieve them. You only have to remember the password to your password manager, and the password manager does the rest. Many people immediately think, "How can that be safe?" The answer is that it is safer than using one password for everything. Password Managers like LastPass and RoboForms have been around for a long time and haven't had any major breaches. So, along with being more secure, password managers can be used with most browsers and cell phones.

Here are a few Password Managers that you can start using (most are free, but they might charge for specific features).

• LastPass
• Dashlane
• RoboForm
• KeePass
• 1Password

Click here to see a video about setting up Dashlane (which is similar to setting up any Password Manager).

Click here to read a Washington Post article about Password Managers.

In the comments below, tell about a time that forgetting a password has caused trouble for you. 

Teachers on the move. Using your phone to be more productive.

Teachers are asked to work such strenuous hours, why would a teacher want their work to follow them around everywhere they go? It's simple, the easier it is to access information you need, the less stressed you will be. Think about it, as teachers most of us don't want to think about our checking account, but when you need to see how much money you have left until payday, pulling it up on an app is a lot less hassle than going to the bank or calling an automated response center. The same is true for information about your classroom.  Being able to pull up information about your class means you don't have to go back to your computer every time you need to check on something. This can be even more helpful if you aren't near your computer. Here are a few suggestions of ways to use your phone to be more productive inside and outside of the classroom.

1. Add a PowerTeacher link on your home screen. You can meet your students at the door and take attendance at the same time. (Android, iPhone) 
2. Download the Google Classroom app. Post announcements or make changes to assignments while you are on duty. (Android, iPhone) 
3. Sync your email and calendar to your phone. You can set reminders so events don't sneak up on you, and your inbox wont be overflowing when you sit down at your computer. (Android, iPhone)

Bonus: Set up your notifications, or the Do Not Disturb option, so that when you are done with work you will not be annoyed by school-related messages. After all, you work hard and you deserve some free time.