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Google Tips and Tricks

Fresh Updates for Google Docs and Drive

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Have you ever been working in Google Docs and suddenly long for a Microsoft Word feature? It happens less and less now as Google Docs gains more options to put it on par with MS Word’s features. In this blog entry, we’ll explore two exciting updates to G Suite released in May 2019.

Google Docs Update #1: Section Breaks

Docs now allows you to easily insert breaks into your documents. Insert next page or continuous section breaks by going to Insert > Break.

You can view section breaks in your document with the new show section breaks tool. Go to View > Show section breaks. When turned on, Show selection breaks yields  a blue dotted line where you may find each section break.

Why Section Breaks Matter

Many often confuse section breaks with page breaks. With the latter, you get a definite break in the document. Section breaks aren’t like that. They allow for a continuous flow of information in the document. There need not be a page break.

In one word processing document I work on, I often have a need to switch from a portrait-sized page to a landscape one. In MS Word, this was easy to do. You inserted a section break before and after the landscape page. Everything before and after the section break are portrait pages. Between the section breaks, all you see is landscape.

One benefit of section breaks is that you can have different formatting within it.  For example, you can adjust left or right margins in each section (as opposed to for the whole document). Expect to see this new feature around July 4, 2019 at the latest.

G Suite Update #2: AI-Powered Drive

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been sneaking into everything we do, often making things better. Only a few days ago, while calling a restaurant, I said “OK, Google” to my Android phone. When I asked for the restaurant’s hours, Google Assistant prompted me for more. The more? To make reservations for dinner. When I said, “Yes,” Google Assistant took over, placing a phone call to the restaurant. Then it made the reservation and emailed me a confirmation. I was a bit shocked at it’s independent nature, but it made a valuable point. That point being that machine-learning-powered suggestions could have practical life impacts.

And that brings us to Google Drive. One of the common complaints Drive users have is that they can’t find important files. Google is implementing a new Priority page. It relies on machine-learning-powered suggestions to give you exactly what you want. The Drive Priority feature comes with suggested documents and action options. The action options include replying to a comment, reviewing recent edits, and more.

With Priority, you can also see how to group your content together. What does Google call this intelligent grouping? Workspaces. You can right-click content to add to a Workspace, making it a cinch to put stuff in the same content bucket.

Bonus

Oh, and don’t forget that Google Drive has shifted from “Team” Drive to “Shared drives.” Files in Shared drives are owned by the team/group rather than a single person. This can have advantages, but I dislike Shared drives document sharing options. They are complicated compared to regular Google Drive sharing. This complexity may be due to the organizational controls that can be applied to Shared drives.

These fresh updates for Google Docs and Drive continue to enhance their product. More importantly, they make working in Google Docs and Drive easier for users who may still be transitioning from desktop applications to the cloud.

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ChromebooksGoogle Tips and Tricks

Digital Sticky Notes

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin
Spend a lot of time in your web browser? If so, you may find yourself wishing for digital sticky notes that you can slap on a web page. Since I work on a variety of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, I find myself trying to remember my next to-do item. While tools like Google Keep and OneNote work great, they don’t connect my notes to a specific web page.

Using actual paper sticky notes seldom works well for the multitude of web pages. The reason why is we travel from browser to browser on different devices. In this blog entry, we will explore several solutions to this common problem.

Problem

“How can I put sticky-notes on a webpage I happen to be visiting so I can remember what I need to do with it?”

Sticky notes can be a boon for students capturing notes on a web page, too. Note-taking has several benefits that go beyond interactive checklists. Now that we’ve clarified the problem, let’s see what Chrome browser extensions or apps work.

Solution #1: Sticky Notes – Just Popped Up!

This Chrome browser extension makes adding digital sticky notes easy and quick. You have a variety of color combinations to choose from for your sticky note. Sticky Notes are “always on top,” but you can hide them for a short time. Click on the stylized “n” on a yellow background. Even if you empty the Chrome browser’s cache or cookies, data is not lost. What’s more, all data is auto-saved. That’s a big deal. One feature I wish Sticky Notes had is the ability to move the note around the web page. As of its current release, the note appears in the top right hand corner of the screen. Another feature that it lacks is having more than one note per web page.

A nice alternative to this extension is Note Anywhere. It allows you to move notes around the screen and saves the notes to a web page. It lacks many features other solutions have, but it does offer adding more than one note to a web page. However, you cannot resize the note. Too bad this first solution lacks these features as well.

Solution #2: Sticky Notes

Similar in name the previous solution, this Sticky Notes has a few different features. This Chrome app (as opposed to a browser extension) makes it easy to save notes. It is designed to be used as a desktop computer app. But, since it saves your notes to Google Drive, you could also use it on a Chromebook to keep track of any needed notes. It features a menu that offers speech-to-text, link embedding, and much more, as you can see from the list below. For example, the text showing in the note below was dictated.

Its feature list includes speech recognition for dictation, Google Drive synchronization, and online note sharing. You can move notes around on the screen, pin a note “always on top,” and choose colors and fonts. A feature many Google Keep users wish for is the ability to format text with bold, underline, and italics. This app enjoys all those. It also handles task or to-do lists as well.

Solution #3: Post It All: Sticky Notes

This powerful solution combines many of the features of solutions one and two. You add sticky notes to your favorite web pages and then notes appear across browsers and devices. The multi-colored notes are easy to add to pages you visit or created in a dashboard. A serious drawback to this extension, however, is that it reloads your open browser tabs. It appears to lack a graphical interface to text formatting options. If you know keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-B for bold), you can take advantage of those features.

Windows 10 Sticky Notes app

Did You Know?

If you are a Windows 10 user, there is a built-in “Sticky Notes” app. Launch the Win10 Sticky Notes app via Cortana in the bottom left corner of your screen. Look for a space to type or magnifying glass. You can also find it listed under “S” in the Start Menu list of programs. Type Ctrl-N to create a new note or Ctrl-D to delete it. Learn more.

Solution #4: Notematic or Note Board

Need more complex solutions? While these are outside the scope of this blog entry, here are two. The first is Notematic.

A bit more complex at first, Notematic comes with a tutorial. To create notes, you long-press with your left mouse button to create a note. The note allows you to specify a title and then fill in your notes. You can create pin boards to house your non-website attached notes. I do not recommend it for use with younger learners. Older students may find its feature set rich and worthy of exploration. One caveat: To synchronize your notes, you will have to create a Notematic Cloud account. This may be undesirable in a K-12 environment.

A similar, more robust solution is available for Android and iOS apps. Try the cross-platform, cross-browser Note Board. Again, you will need to make an account. Consider Google Keep and/or OneNote as free alternatives to these two options.

Solution #5: Notes for Google Drive

A nifty note-taking solution, this Chrome extension saves your notes to Google Drive. You can open the notes as Google Docs. Some features that set it ahead of the others include bold, italics, and text highlighting, and the ability to add bulleted or numbered lists. This particular extension works independent of a web page, so no assigning notes to a set page. The fixed position of the notes make it less than desirable. The inability to adjust the note window size can cover up valuable screen space. This can block critical content.

What Do You Recommend?

Finding the right digital sticky note solution can be tough. After looking over so many note-taking apps, I have two recommendations. Need to keep it simple? Use Solution #1. It makes adding a single note to a page easy.

Need something a bit more full-featured? Use Web Page Sticky Notes. This is a Chrome extension that allows many, movable digital sticky notes. Web Page Sticky Notes gives power users encryption options for security. You can export/import notes and use Markdown and many more options.

Not sure you like these choices? Spend a few hours exploring the Chrome Web Store “notes” options.

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Google Tips and Tricks

Five Googly Things Teachers Can Do This Summer

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Before you get too relaxed for the summer days ahead, I wanted to share a few little googly things you can do to get a jump start on the new school year.  Of course, you shouldn’t spend your summer just working. But a little bit of work mixed with a lot of fun will keep you fresh and prepared for the new school year. So, after you’ve taken a few days or weeks to decompress, try some of the following.

1. Reflect using Google Docs

I can’t say enough about the power of reflection. However, you might be thinking that the last thing you want to do is look back on the school year that just ended. But it will definitely help you identify a few areas to grow in.

Make a copy of this Teacher End of School Year Reflection Google Doc. Take a few moments, while lying on the couch or sitting out by the pool and answer the questions. You don’t actually have to look at it again anytime soon. At least you have reflected on the previous school year and know what to tweak next year.

googly

2. Organize Your Google Drive

Summertime is a perfect time to get your Google Drive organized. Sometimes our files get scattered everywhere and we need to organize them to make our drive more manageable. Even if you are a super organized person (like I try to be), you might still want to take a look to see if your Drive needs any tiding up. I know I always find things I need to delete or put into folders. If you need any help, check out these Three Tips to Organize Your Google Drive.

As we all know, Google Drive has so much to offer. After your drive is organized, ask yourself if you are taking advantage of the full potential of Google Drive. For example, did you know that you can create badges right inside of Google Drive? Did you know that Google Drive has a gallery of templates you can use? If you answered “no,” then check out  Five Google Drive Tips You Should Try and Be More Productive with Google Drive in 2018.

3. Get Your Planner Ready using Google Drawings

If you are like the amazing Lexi Law (@lexilynnlaw), fifth grade science teacher at Wichita Fall ISD, and spend a pretty penny on a paper lesson planner but never use it, then you’ll definitely want to try this. Lexi created a Digital Teacher Lesson Planner in Google Drawings. The planner is for the 2018-2019 school year and all you have to do is make a copy of her template to get started. There is even an area where you can personalize your planner with photos. If you need extra help, Lexi even created a how-to video. I’m with Lexi on this one . . . why spend money when you can do it digitally with Google?

4. Get Familiar with those Fantastic G Suite Updates

Google does a lot of updating to its products throughout the year. For example, Google recently redesigned Gmail to help you respond to email even quicker. You can now see and click attachments in your inbox before ever opening a thread. You can also hover over messages (you don’t have to click into them) to do things like RSVP to a meeting invite, archive an email thread, or snooze an email.

In addition, updates and improvements were made to Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sites, Google Drive, and more. If you didn’t get a chance to see the new updates, now is the perfect time to read all about them on the G Suite Updates Google Blog. Furthermore, check out the What’s New in G Suite Monthly Newsletter.

5. Read the TCEA Google Blog Posts

You don’t have to be an avid reader for this last thing on the list. All you have to do is read one or two TCEA TechNotes blog posts a week. That way, you can catch up on those blogs you might have missed during the school year. You can find all the blogs related to Google by doing a search for the word Google on the TCEA TechNotes Blog. To make it even easier, we have Our 2017 Google Resource Round Up and Our 2016 Google Resource Round Up, which are a compilation of all blog posts about Google for that year.

These are just five googly things you could do this summer to help you get a start on the new school year. Do one or two or do them all. You’ll be glad you did.

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Content AreasGood TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

Creating gBooks, er, eBooks Just Got Easier

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Creating ebooks just got easier with the addition of new tools. If you haven’t kept up to date, you’ll want to read this blog entry. We will demystify key elements such as locating ebooks, ebook formats, converting eBooks, three fun approaches to creating ebooks, and copyright-friendly media. Ready to get started? If so, let’s begin!

1- Locating eBooks

Below, you will find some sites I have used in the past to find non-DRM (Digital Rights Management)-formatted ePubs. Finding non-Digital Rights Management (a.k.a. non-DRM) books can be a challenge for schools. This may be why OverDrive is heavily used in many libraries, and solutions like BiblioTech are quite popular.

As in any library or book store, there exists content that may be inappropriate for younger readers. Have learning conversations with students and parents when counseling that they “find free stuff” to read on the web. With that caveat in mind, I have tried to link to the Children’s/Juvenile section of each ebook distributor below.

Did You Know? You can get free audio versions of traditional books via LibriVox. Why not use a QR Code to link directly to a story’s audio version? Or have students make their own!

2- eBook Formats

eBooks come in a wide variety of formats. Let’s review them, shall we?

ePub

ebooksEPUB is an ebook file format with the extension .epub that can be downloaded and read on devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, or e-readers. It is a technical standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum. Wikipedia

It is the standard format for these book publishers/sellers:

  • Amazon Kindle Fire (not previous versions of Kindle, though)
  • Apple iBooks
  • Barnes and Noble
  • Kobo

It is easy to make ePub-formatted documents. In fact, many word processors like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and OpenOffice/LibreOffice support the export of documents to ePub format. Read about how Jonathan Moeller, one of my favorite authors, uses  Sigil (a free cross-platform tool) to create/edit his ebooks.

ePubs come in two formats:

  • Standard (without media like sound/videos) (text/images are included)
  • Multimedia ebooks which feature sound/videos/text/images

Some eBook readers that work well with this format include Aldiko, Lithium, iBooks, Google Play Books, Freda, and Kindle. Some web-based tools include Readium or ePub Reader for the Chrome browser, and ePUBReader for Mozilla Firefox browser.

Mobi

ebooksMOBI is an e-book file format with the extension .mobi that can be downloaded and read on devices that support the Amazon Kindle app. The format, customized by Amazon, is often used by Amazon’s ebooks and on little else. There are various programs for making a .mobi ebook file and Amazon provides some tools you can take advantage of. “You can upload and convert your eBook manuscript file from several supported formats. Before you publish, browse the topics below to learn more.” Learn more at this link.

Some ebook readers that work well with Mobi format include Aldiko, Lithium, iBooks, Google Play Books, Freda, and, of course, Kindle.

PDF

PDF is not an ebook format. Rather, it is a format that seeks to capture the printed version of a document, capturing the look-and-feel of the printed item as if it had appeared on the author’s printer. A large percentage of documents presented as ebooks appear as Adobe Portable Document Formats (PDFs).

The reason PDF is not an ebook format is that it was never designed to appear in eReaders or reshape itself into a format viewable in such a device. It CAN be viewed on most modern devices, however.

Considering what version to publish ebooks to? The best answer is that ePub is the best format to create ebooks in. You can convert most documents into the ePub format and it will work on almost all devices using an eReader piece of software.

3 – Converting eBooks from One Format to Another

ebooksNeed to convert ebooks from one format to another? Use Calibre, the free, open source software that works on any computer (not Chromebooks, though). Here’s how it’s described:

Using Calibre to convert is very easy.

  1. Plug in your ebook reader.
  2. Open Calibre and click the “Add books” button on the top left. Select your book.
  3. Click open. Select your book in the library list. By now, Calibe should have detected your ebook reader.
  4. Click “Send to device” from the middle of the top toolbar.
  5. Calibre is smart enough to know if the book is in a format supported by your reader. If it’s not, it will ask you if you want to auto convert it. Say yes, and it will take care of the conversion and put the book on your reader.

Calibre worries about the formats and converting for you. Auto conversion is the easiest way to go and, in most cases, will be all you need to do. Here is a short video explaining how to use Calibre:

4- Creating eBooks: Fun Approaches

There are several approaches you can take to create ebooks in your classroom. Let’s explore a few, as well as learn about a new one from Apple that just became available.

Approach #1 – Book Creator

If you haven’t used Book Creator, it is an excellent, collaborative ($) ePub creation tool boasting over 15 million ebooks. It works on Chromebooks, iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Book Creator allows you to create a simple ePub without media or an enhanced ePub with video, audio, and more embedded. Read their blog for TONS of ideas.

This versatility means you can create content on an iPad/iOS device and share it with a wide variety of audiences. You can also share it to cloud storage (e.g. Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or iCloud).  It also supports the creation of digital comic books, something your students will love. That’s amazing!

Check out my ebook on App-Smashing, created with Book Creator.

Approach #2 – Google Docs to ePub

EPUB is the most widely-supported file format for publishing accessible documents and digital books, allowing people to consume long-form content in their preferred apps on a diverse range of screen sizes and devices, including smartphones, tablets, and ereaders.

To make it easier for authors, publishers, and academic institutions to create works that can be consumed digitally, today we’re launching the ability to export Google Docs files as EPUB publications. Simply go to the File menu > Download as > EPUB Publication (.epub). (Source)

Here are two ebooks created in Google Docs using the ePub export.

What documents could you take and export to ePub format to make them easier to read on mobile devices?

Approach #3 – Google Slides to PDF

Use Google Slides as a collaborative ebook development tool. Ready to get started? Follow these four easy steps outlined in this TCEA blog entry, Google Slides Ebook Creation in Four Quick, Easy Steps:

  1. Customize the slides
  2. Add content
  3. Download as a PDF (or publish online as a Google Slides)
  4. Share the ebook

Here’s another guide to ebook creation from Texas’ Kasey “Shake Up Learning” Bell.

Use one of the many available ebook templates available in PowerPoint to create your own Google Slides ebook.

Tips for PDF eBook Creators

Here are some tips from two ebook authors, Erfili Davis and Jennifer Gonzales. Check out Erifili Davis’ blog entry on the topic of ebooks with Google Slides. She’s created some great video tutorials and a free template packet (click link to make a copy) you can start with. Read Erifili’s six tips to help you (or your class) create your first ebook using Google Apps for Education. As she points out, “These techniques are just as useful to anyone looking to self-publish an ebook, including general users of the free Google Drive and Google Apps for Work users.”

 “With Google Slides, students can create a simple ebook that includes text, photos, videos, and links,” says Diana Benner in this TCEA TechNotes blog entry. “They can even create or select themes, templates, and layouts for their book. Once created, the ebooks can be shared with other students, both locally and around the world, for feedback.” Find more ideas online at this blog entry to find out about more ideas.

Apple Announces ePub Export Function

“The update to Pages brings some of the features of Apple’s book creation app for the Mac ‘iBooks Author’ to the iPad for the first time,” states the Book Creator blog entry. Apple’s Spring 2018 Education event made this news public. “With Pages, you can export your documents in EPUB format so they can be read using iBooks on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or with other third-party EPUB readers,” says the Apple website where you can read up on the process.

Make Computer Voice Narrated Audiobooks (Updated: 7/28/2019)

Wish you could turn student-created ePub files into narrated audiobooks? Or, make any ePub into an audiobook? You can on your Windows 10 computer. Take advantage of the Freda ebook reader’s built-in audio reader. First, save your Google Doc file as an ePub file on your computer. Then, open the file using Freda ebook reader. Once the file is open, have Freda read the file to you.

When you first ask Freda to read an ebook to you, you will see the following…you’ll want to choose READ ALOUD:

You can choose several voices (Microsoft David, Zira, or Mark) when having Freda read the ebook to you, as shown below:

Try out the different voices to see which you prefer.

The next question to consider is, How to record Freda reading the ebook to you? To accomplish that, you’ll need to get the free, open source audio editor, Audacity. Once you have it installed on your Windows 10 computer, you will need to adjust some of its settings. You’ll need to set the preferences as shown below:

Make sure to change the Recording settings to ENABLE “Sound Activated Recording.” That way, you can turn on Audacity, have it record once you turn on Freda to read aloud.

This will allow you to record audio from your Windows 10 computer as Freda ebook reader reads the book aloud to you. Here’s what that looks like:

Listen to Microsoft David read About Carroll.

Ready to Begin?

“Student-centered products enable learners to showcase their new knowledge and skills in relation to a particular topic in an infinite variety of ways,” write the authors of Digital Media in Today’s Classrooms. Charge your students with tasks that require creativity, analysis, and application. Get started now!

 

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Google Tips and Tricks

Our 2016 Google Resource Roundup

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is here and soon 2017 will be upon us. However, before we jump ahead to 2017, let’s review some of the great Google resources from 2016 on our blog that you might have missed. From Google to Chrome to Android and all of the tools in between, these are resource-rich posts that you simply must read!

Android

Calendar

Two Great Google Calendars for the Classroom – Learn about two great Google Calendar tools for both teachers and students.

Chrome

Classroom

Docs

Add New Fonts in Google Docs and Windows– Add new fonts to your Google Docs.

Drawings

Wondrous Ways to Use Google Drawings – Learn about different ways you can use Google Drawings in your classroom.

Drive

Forms

Gmail

Hangouts

Make Thinking Visible: Google Hangouts for Educators – Learn how Google Hangouts can help promote visible thinking for you and your students.

Music Lab

Why You (And Your Students) Must Try the Chrome Music Lab – Experience how the Chrome Music Lab can spark creativity, innovation, and experimentation in your classroom.

PhotoScan

Digitizing Your Memories with PhotoScan – Learn about a free app from Google that makes it a breeze to quickly digitize old photos.

Research

The Remarkable Research Tool – Use Google’s Research tool to make student research projects more meaningful.

Sheets

Bend It Like Beckham, er… Google Sheets! – Learn how to enhance Google Sheets with add-ons.

Sites

Slides

Google-Animated Book Display for Your Library – Use Google Slides to create an animated book display to feature your school library’s new books or collections.

Templates

Miscellaneous Google Tools

As we move into 2017, don’t forget to stay tuned to more fabulous posts on our 2016 EdTech’s Must-Read K-12 IT Blog! In addition, be sure to join our email list to ensure the hottest new content gets delivered to your inbox.

 

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Google Tips and TricksMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

Add New Fonts in Google Docs and Windows

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Yesterday, I sent a document to someone, only to have blank boxes ( ⯐  known as tofu) appear where words should have been. That’s what happens when you write something with fonts that the recipient lacks on his/her device. On October 6, 2016, Google co-released an open source font that seeks to eliminate these types of problems in 800 languages. The Noto font is now available for download.

Online Sources

Although this newly-released open source typeface works in 800 languages, there is often a need to find other creative ways of expressing yourself. Unique fonts show the fontspersonality of the author and provide a feel for events like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and many others.

Here are a few places where you can find new type:

kgprimaryfont.png

You can easily take advantage of these fonts to enrich your documents and printouts. Here are some ways you can get them set up on your device.

How to Add a TrueTypeFont (TTF) to Google Docs

Unfortunately, you cannot add typefaces you find at the websites above to Google Docs. Instead, you have to rely on Google’s built-in font selection. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1 – Go to the Font Drop Down Menu and Choose MORE FONTS at the bottom of the list.

fonts2.pngStep 2 – Select the Fonts That Appeal to You. Once you have selected the font(s) you want to use, those will appear in your font list, represented by “My fonts.”

How to Add a TTF to Microsoft Windows

If you are on a Windows computer, follow these steps:

Step 1 – Save the font from the website. If it is in zip format, you will need to extract it (right-click on it and choose Extract All Files).fonts3.png

Step 2 – Open the Windows 10 → Windows → Fonts folder. Then drag the TTF font into the folder. You can easily find the folder by clicking in the search box (Cortana box), typing “fonts,”  and then opening Fonts in the Control panel.

Conclusion

Take advantage of these knockout sources to create content that displays your personality and livens up your worksheets, handouts, newsletters, and more!

 

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Tasty looking banana split
Google Tips and Tricks

The Cherry on Top? Google Add-Ons

by Peggy Reimers
written by Peggy Reimers

If GAFE (Google Apps for Education) was a banana split, then Google Forms is the whipped cream on top. Forms is the best way to create a poll, survey, or quiz, or collect information. But sometimes the data that collects in the Google Sheet is hard to read and decipher AND you need the data saved back in the Google Form layout. For that, you need a powerful add-on.

We all know that reading long paragraph field entries are a nightmare in the spreadsheet. But good news! The add-on, Save as Doc, is the cherry on top when it comes to finding a solution for your Google Forms content.

Save as Google Doc Core Features

  • Choose any name for the generated document.
  • Select any number of adjacent cells to output.
  • Choose any heading style for column headings.
  • Add a pagebreak after each row of data.
  • Save the current settings as the default.
  • Generates a Google Document in your Google Drive.

How to Use This Google Add-on

  1. Download the add-on
  2. Within Google Sheets, click on Add-ons
  3. Choose “Save As Doc > Start”
  4.  Select the cells, rows, or columns to include or choose “Select all data”
  5. Type a Save Doc File name
  6. Modify the output settings in the sidebar
  7. Choose “Save as Doc”
  8. At the bottom, click on the blue Open the Doc

You’ve heard of the Texas two-step? Now you have the Google three-step:

  1. Use Google Forms to enter the information.
  2. The responses are compiled in Google Sheets.
  3. Use the add-on to turn your information back into a Google Doc.


Want to top off Docs, Sheets, and Form with more cherry-on-top add-ons? I’ll be sharing some more of my favorites in upcoming blogs. And, if you’re a TCEA member, check out our list of recommended Chrome apps and extensions. They’re divided by category and then subject, making them easy to search through.

Feature Image: Mirsa in Pixabay

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Google Tips and Tricks

Google Templates for Students

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

Sometimes, a content area teacher may not want to worry with the trouble of having students start a technology project from scratch. Instead, he or she may want to use an already-prepared template so that students can focus more on the content than on the mechanics of the technology. Here are some great Google templates for students to use either as their project starting block or for ideas. Note: Make sure you make a copy of the template before you begin using it!

Cross-Curricular Resources

  • Ask and Respond Template – Use this template and Google Slides to get information from your students about something they’ve read or studied, what they’re thinking, or their favorite band.
  • Baseball Review Game – This great review game in Google Slides is technically for teachers and not students. But it was so great that I just had to share it with you.
  • BreakoutEDU Student Reflection – The most critical part of any breakout is the reflection done by the students at the end. This is a nice template to help them with that process.
  • Build a Jack-o-Lantern – Carve a pumpkin with this Google Slides deck.
  • Class Twitter Account – This Sheets template provides a way to manage Tweets sent out by your students from your classroom Twitter account.
  • Collaborative Yearbook – Let your students celebrate their school year by creating a Google Slide yearbook together.
  • Flippity – Flippity provides nine different templates that are designed more for teacher use, but could also be used by students. All of them take data from a Google Sheet and transform the information. My favorite is the Mad Libs one.
  • General Resources and Templates – There are a ton of different templates available at this website, including a cartoon template, a character map, Cornell note-taking form, and an iPhone Message template that could be great to have students create a conversation between two literary or historical characters.
  • Google Drawings Chess and Checkers – If only as a way to have students learn more about how Drawings works, these templates are a valuable classroom addition.
  • Google Drive Mastery – Gamify student mastery of Google Drive with this template.
  • Graphic Organizers – There are 30 different graphic organizers in this collection for Google Drawings.
  • Greeting Cards – Use Google Drawings to have your students create wonderful holiday greeting cards.
  • Infographic Templates – Eight different templates for creating beautiful infographics are available. Infographics are an excellent way for students to organize and summarize key information that they’ve learned.
  • Jigsaw Activity Template– Use this Google Slides template whenever students are placed in groups for a jigsaw learning activity.
  • Meme Template – There’s nothing students love more than creating memes. Turn them to an education use by having them create one that demonstrates their learning using this Google Drawings template.
  • More than 40 Google Drawings Templates – These are amazing templates that are perfect for students of all ages in math, ELA, science, and notetaking/organizing information.
  • Motivational Poster Template in Google Drawings – Have your students use either the horizontal or the vertical poster to share a favorite quote, a main idea, or something important to them.
  • New Templates from Google – Google has released a variety of new templates, including a nice book report template from Reading Rainbow.
  • Personalized Scratch-Off Templates – This website offers a fun and easy way to create personalized scratch-off cards that can be printed. The template is included.
  • Power Up Your Spring with Flowers – Use Google Slides to help your students create beautiful flowers for a special someone. Have them list words that describe their creations or, for older students, have them create a poem or short story about them.
  • Print Custom Sticky Notes – This great resource from Tony Vincent includes a Google Slides template along with specific instructions on how you can design and print your own sticky notes.
  • Problem/Solution – Works great for makerspaces or real-life problems students are trying to solve.
  • Stop Motion Animation with Google Slides – This innovative idea has hundreds of potential uses in the classroom.
  • Tammy Worcester Tang’s Favorite Templates – Our favorite convention speaker, Tammy, has 40 templates perfect for student use.
  • Topic vs. Topic Infographic – Use this topic to have students create an infographic sharing the differences between two concepts.
  • Twitter Fictional Account Template – Use this Google Drawing template to have students create fictional Twitter accounts for literary characters, famous people in history, scientists, and more. The creator of this template also offers an infographic template, Harry Potter’s Daily Prophet newspaper, templates for Time Magazine and National Geographic, and a comic book template.
  • Vocabulary Slide Deck – This great template based on the Frayer model is a perfect way to learn any new words.
  • Wanted Poster – This template is perfect for learning about famous people in history or characters in literature.

Did You Know?

TCEA offers amazing learning events for educators to level up their learning. Learn more about our events.

Elementary Templates

  • Elementary Student Newspaper – This is the perfect way for elementary students to create a classroom or project newspaper. It includes room for several articles, ads or quotes, graphics, and even a graph. The template is available for both a one-page and a two-page newspaper. Older students may use this template with four articles and accompanying graphics. If your students need to create a newspaper about colonial times, this template and accompanying rubric will work well.
  • Leprechaun Scene – This activity has younger students create a scene with the drawing, graph their items, and complete word/number sentences.
  • One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Sorting Template – Have your elementary students do this fun activity to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2.
  • Pattern Block Templates and Activities – Google Drawing makes this template very easy to use for both you and your students.
  • Pixel Art Template – This template, at its simplest level, is a paint-by-number activity great for younger students. At its more complex, students can use the template to create fun pixel art.
  • Presidents Day Hyperdoc – This great template for grades K-2 is perfect for February.
  • Super Digital Citizen – Have your students in grades 2-5 practice their digital citizenship with this innovative template.
  • Self Evaluation – This is a very simple evaluation form for elementary students to complete about themselves. It asks them “How is it going for you?” in several different subjects: writing, reading, and math.

English/Language Arts

  • Build a Snowman and Write a Story – This is a simple to use template in Google Slides that lets students get creative while building a snowman and then describing it, for vocabulary practice, or writing a story about the snowman. You can use the same idea with anything that students can build, from the parts of a plant to a gingerbread house.
  • Cloze Test Generator – Scroll to the bottom of this page to download a copy of a great cloze activity template in Sheets.
  • Frayer Model Vocabulary – Allows students to use words, definitions, and drawings to learn vocabulary words.
  • Prediction Chart – Ask students to make predictions before and after reading a book.
  • Reading Chart – Use Google Forms to create a live reading log. Instructions are available here (scroll down to the third activity).
  • Reading and Writing Tools – Here are 12 more templates perfect for the ELA classroom. They include different charts and concept maps, as well as a plot diagram and a journal.
  • Shades of Meaning Linear Array – Show how five words are interconnected.
  • Short Story Graphic Organizer – This Google Slides template helps students to organize their thoughts when writing a short story.
  • Springtime Magnetic Poetry – Have your students create wonderful poems about spring using Google Drawings.
  • St. Patrick’s Day Magnet Poetry with Google Slides – This template includes more than 60 words and phrases that students can use to create fun poetry or a story.
  • Valentine’s Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings – This idea of using Drawings to create a template with words that students can use to create their own poetry is genius. You can reuse the basic template for other holidays and themes, simply changing the graphics to match.
  • Writing Prompts – With these templates, you have a choice of writing prompts with pictures or journal templates with blank layouts. As always, make sure to Make a Copy of the template before you begin using it.

Mathematics

  • Adding Fractions – Basic showing of how to add fractions
  • Analyzing Shoe Sizes – The “Analyzing Shoe Sizes” activity contains many mathematical concepts and student activities for students to complete.  Ideally, this activity would be appropriate for students in the 6th through 8th grade using Google Slides.
  • Area of Shapes Scavenger Hunt – Using Google Slides, students can document shapes they find around them and then calculate the perimeter and area of those shapes.
  • Battlesheets – Have your students practice grid coordinates and logical thinking as they play the familiar Battleship game in Google Sheets.
  • Discovering Pi with Google Sheets – Eric Curts provides another excellent lesson and template. In this lessons, students “measure real life circular objects, examine some calculations, look for patterns, and discover what Pi is and what it means.”
  • Division Brownies – This fun template will help students solve a very real-world problem of how to fairly divide a pan (or pans) of brownies.
  • Exploring Surface Area – This is an excellent template with lessons for exploring surface area using Google Slides.
  • Exploring Tangrams with Google Drawings – This site includes a free blank template with all the tangram pieces already created, a dozen pre-made tangram puzzles to solve, and detailed directions on how to manipulate the shapes using tools in Google Drawings and create your own tangram puzzles.
  • Frieze Patterns – Illustrate reflection, translation, and rotation.
  • Game-Based Learning with Google Slides: Coordinate Plane Battleship – This is a great way to incorporate some fun into Algebra class.
  • Google Graph Paper for Math – If you’re a math teacher, you will love these seven different templates for graph paper.
  • Interactive Clock Face – This is a really clever template that lets students learn about telling time using an analog clock and two interactive hands.
  • Math Dice – This is a great game for elementary students to play.
  • Tessalations
  • Word Problem – Allows students to create their own problems and illustrate them.

Templates for Science/Social Studies

  • Drag and Drop Solar System – Allows students to group the planets in different ways as they learn about the solar system.
  • Exploring Human Heredity – High school students work in groups of three to investigate human heredity with this template.
  • Historical Facebook – Students can plan a “fake” Facebook page for a historical figure. A literary Facebook template is also available.
  • Historical Tweets – Using this Google Slide template, students can create “fake” Tweets from historic (or literary) figures they are studying.
  • Infographics Toolbox – Challenge your older students to take existing data they would normally just read over and create amazing infographics highlighting key points with this beautiful template.
  • Labeling – The example is the parts of the brains. But students could use any subject.
  • Map of the United States – Use this colorful map of the US to study any type of geographic, political, or historical data.
  • Planet Research – Help students know what kind of information to gather while studying the planets.
  • Virtual Museum – Have students create their own museums to showcase their learning with Google Slides.

Technology Applications – To help your students master Google apps, you can use the Google Docs Scavenger Hunt and the Google Slide Scavenger Hunt.

For one final all-encompassing resource, be sure to check out this Wakelet of Twitter-sourced resources for students to use. These are all for Google Slides.

If you would like to learn how to create your own templates in Docs, this four-minute video is perfect. And learn how to take basic templates to the next level with HyperDocs – an innovative lesson in Google Docs that contains everything the student will need. You can find additional HyperDocs by searching the hashtag #hyperdocs in Twitter.

(Update: Additional resources for this blog were added on January 22, 2020.)

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