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Timelines Made Easy

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Why not introduce students to the concept of creating timelines to document their adventures? Consider guiding them through crafting timelines of their recent experiences. Demonstrating how to illustrate events with pictures and videos can be a powerful learning experience at any time of the year.

Timelines are critical components to teach. Students stuck in paper-and-pencil classrooms struggle to make them. I know I did when I was an elementary student. Sequencing and comprehension go together, per Reading Rockets:

The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. Sequencing is also an important component of problem-solving across subjects.

Sequencing in a timeline aids comprehension for English Language Learners (ELL) students:

Sequencing [in a timeline]…provides comprehension support to English language learners (ELLs), helping them make connections and recognize patterns in a series or process. Because numerical markers such as hours, years, days or months are placed apart with plenty of space in between, timelines can appear visually less complex than pure text, helping ELLs more easily relate events to their corresponding times (Source).

Knowing how to make timelines is an important job skill. Don’t think of it as arranging pictures and dates in chronological order alone. Rather, think of it as an unfolding story about what happened, who did what, where, and when. In this blog entry, we’ll explore a free tool for creating timelines with Google Sheets.

Why Are Timelines Important?

“The project timeline is the beating heart of every project,” says Angela Bunner. “It captures the essence of what the project will accomplish and how it will be done.” As a technology director, project management always involved crafting a timeline. Bunner says that all timelines share common elements. Those elements include:

  • Tasks: A list of what must be done
  • Dates: A list of when tasks will achieve completion status
  • Duration: How long each task will take
  • Prerequisites: The order in which tasks must be done

For timelines that look to the past, there are more expectations. Jen Giambrone (History Associates) recommends you review this infographic. In “A quick guide to Timelines,” they ask a series of questions:

  • Is a timeline the best way to tell my organization’s story?
  • How do I pick a platform for an online timeline?
  • Who is your key audience for the timeline?
  • What are the project goals?
  • What are some of the important milestones?
  • Do you have a style guide?
  • How many entries will you have in your timeline?
  • What kinds of media will you include, and where will that media come from?

For classroom timelines, it may be easy enough to create a Google Doc with tables or a template like this one. Some may prefer to use a Google Sheet, inserting images, titles, and quick pictures. And you may want to see how to make timelines with Google Slides or PowerPoint. But another nifty tool is available. Care to take a look?

Introducing Timeline JS

Finding top-notch timeline making solutions (web or software) can be challenging. Often, they cost money, and who wants to pay for a timeline creation solution they may only use a few times?

Northwestern University’s Knight Lab’s TimelineJS offers a free, open-source tool. You can use TimelineJS to build an interactive timeline with rich visuals and add all sorts of media to your timeline, such as:

  • Twitter
  • Flickr
  • YouTube, Vimeo, Vine
  • Dailymotion
  • Google Maps
  • Wikipedia
  • SoundCloud
  • Document Cloud and more

Take a moment to watch their two-minute video introduction and how-to. It walks you through the process starting with a Google Sheet template that Knight Lab’s provides. In no time, you will have a timeline you can embed.

Timeline Making Tips

Some of the tips the Knight Lab folks offer appear below:

  1. Keep it short, no more than twenty slides
  2. Select stories that have a strong chronology
  3. Embed each event in a story that encompasses all events
  4. Be sure to blend in small events that lead to something bigger

You can see some of the timelines created. Find them online.

timelines

Making timelines means crafting a compelling story that arises from insignificant or significant events. These events, taken alone, may be inconsequential. When combined, they show what happened in a way that can have a profound impact. Use TimelineJS in your school, office, or classroom for timelines made easy.

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Google Tips and Tricks

Five Hacks for Google Sheets

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Do you create Google Sheets? In our office, many use Google Sheets for a multitude of projects. At a recent Google Educator Level 1 training, participants were unaware of my top five hacks for Google Sheets.  Let’s take a look at five Google Sheets hacks you may find useful.  Depending on your needs, these can make your Sheets experience more productive.

Hack #1 – Flippity.net

“Have you explored Flippity.net?” I asked session participants. Almost all shook their heads in the negative. Flippity takes data you have in your Google Sheet and then does cool stuff with it.

Note: With each Sheet, you will must go to File->Publish the sheet. This make its available on the web for viewing. When you get it setup, you will copy the Flippity.net website address (URL) (shown in blue in the image below) then share that with students or staff.

Here are some of the problems that the free Flippity website helps you solve as an educator:

  • Flashcards – Take content in a Google Sheet and turn it into online flashcards. You create two columns in a Sheet, putting side one (the prompt) of the flashcard in column one. In column two, you put side two content (the response). With this option, you can also generate more resources. Those include a simple list, practice, matching, and word cloud. Flippity makes it easy to send your list of data to create Bingo cards, Crossword, and even Hangman. It can generate a Memory Game, Word Search, and Print Quiz.
  • Quiz Show – Want to create your own trivia game a la a Jeopardy show? Flippity makes that easy.
  • Random Name Picker – Need a random name picker for selecting students for projects? This tool will use your class roster to make it happen.
  • Scavenger Hunt – Turn any Sheet into a scavenger hunt activity.

More creations that Flippity makes possible include Timeline maker tool. You can use its Badge Tracker, Spelling Word Manager, and Word Search tools, too. MadLibs, Mix and Match, and Certificate Quiz appear, too. Ready to get started? Go to Flippity’s website and follow the instructions that go with each tool.

Hack #2 – RosterSync

This free add-on to Google Sheets makes it easy to create and update Google Classroom. With RosterSync Teacher Edition, you can sync a copy of a Google Classroom course roster. Student names and email addresses get saved to Sheets. Why is this important? It makes getting at data saved in Classrooms easier to use elsewhere. Once you have that class roster of students, you can use other add-ons (like Flippity) to do more.

Hack #3 – Save Email and Attachments

Get a lot of emails with attached files? Use this add-on to Google Sheets to create a custom filter. This add-on will save file attachments from selected incoming email as PDF files. You can create a “rule” that has two options. The options include save the email body (the contents) and file attachments. Here is what one query looks like:

Query:

label:All from:SOMEONE@tcea.org has:attachment

More options are available in the premium version ($29 per year). Those options include:

  • Unlimited rules for saving emails and attachments to:
    • Google Drive
    • Google Team Drive folders
  • Faster save rate (every 15 minutes), which is great if you have tons of incoming email
  • Custom file names
  • Permit or deny file attachments that have specific extensions (e.g. EXEs to avoid potential virus carriers)
  • Remove watermark in generated PDF files

The free version can get you started. Want to learn more? Watch this short video. An alternative solution is CloudHQ.net’s Save Emails to Google Drive add-on. CloudHQ’s version lets you save one hundred emails to Google Drive for free. They feature another add-on, Save and Backup My Emails, that will backup all emails and files.

Hack #4 – Power Tools

Feature-rich, this add-on offers rich variety of tools you can use to manage your data in a spreadsheet.  If you have three minutes, you may want to watch this video overview. Some of the tools in this must-have tool for Sheets include:

  • Change case (e.g. capital, lowercase)
  • Sum colored cells
  • Remove duplicates and compare two or more columns
  • Split, merge, compare, find data
  • Unpivot tables, unmerge cells
  • Autosum numbers in every row or column
  • Add or remove text by position
  • Transform formulas
  • Change formula reference types
  • Delete unwanted characters
  • Merge sheets
  • Randomize data

Power Tools offers a helpful toolbar that provides one-click actions (like those listed above). The Power Tools add-on is one of my top hacks for Google Sheets. I expect it will soon become yours.

Hack #5 – Bulk Email Tools

Have you collected students’ parent names and emails via a Google Form? Make it easy to stay in contact with custom updates to parents. Send a clickable email (instead of paper) that parents will be able to interact with. Need to send a standard email to workshop participants? You can do this with one or both of these two bulk email tools:

My favorite uses of these tools include emailing:

  • Parents with student-specific information that is not FERPA related
  • Students (in older grades) with specific non-FERPA related information, including assignment reminders
  • Colleagues and staff about upcoming or past events that include links to more information

Five Hacks for Google Sheets

Adopt these hacks to step up your work with Google Sheets. You will be able to get more done and collaborate with others in new ways.

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hands on keyboard working on a spreadsheet
Google Tips and Tricks

Exploring Google Sheets’ Functions: Import Range

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“How do I get the numbers off this spreadsheet onto this other spreadsheet?” she gave me with a quizzical look. “If I copy and paste, I get the weird #REF! error.” Jessica had spent a lot of time working on several critical Google Sheets. Unfortunately, because of who she had to share each Google Sheet document with, she couldn’t put all the data together in ONE document to share. She wanted to have all the data flow into ONE Google Sheet so she could do some spreadsheet magic! 

As you may know, Google Sheets is a free, online, collaborative spreadsheet. It features functions, formulas, mail merge, and allows you to easily insert images, GANTT charts, and more. In this blog entry, please allow me to share a few common challenges of Sheets and tips for overcoming them. In spite of Google Sheets being around for several years, these questions continue to come up.

Why Use Import Range?

Have you ever had to pull data from two or more spreadsheets into another? You may wonder why this would be useful. One reason is that you can share your third spreadsheet with View or Edit rights with another person. This allows them to manipulate the data on the third spreadsheet. However, the original data from the first two or more spreadsheets is protected and data cannot be changed. One way I have used it involves publishing the link to the third spreadsheet to the Web. This means I can then give that link to anyone for viewing without having to grant access. And, when I update the data in the spreadsheets where the original data is saved, it will be updated in the published sheet. Isn’t that amazing?

The process to accomplish this is straightforward but can trip folks up. Be sure to take the actions listed below to successfully complete the process. You’ll also find a short video tutorial that illustrates the import range action.

Note: You can access the Google Sheets used in this blog entry online.

The Import Range Process

To solve Jessica’s problem, we need a quick way to import data from another Google Sheet into the current one. One way to achieve this is to use the IMPORT RANGE function. Before we get to that, though, let’s take a few actions.

Action #1 – Take the time to name your Google Sheets document with a single word or two words put together.

Use a one word label for your sheet, avoiding spaces if you must use more than one word. This may help eliminate confusion later. In the example (blue highlighted text) below, you see I have combined two words into one, Inventory Costs.

Action #2 – Take the time to rename your Google Sheets sheets.

That is, instead of relying on Google’s default naming scheme of “Sheet 1,” then “Sheet 2,” etc., rename them. Use a one-word label for your sheet, avoiding spaces in the name. Below is the screenshot of the traditional way Google Sheets names the sheets. Note the yellow highlighted section indicates the sheets that need to be renamed.

Here’s the same Google Sheet with sheets renamed (highlighted in yellow):

Action #3: Make a note of the document ID # for each of your Google Sheets documents.

This document ID # is an identifier code for the Google Sheet. You can find it in the web address (a.k.a. URL) bar, as shown below. Since the whole address is usable as a part of the ImportRange function we will be using, I’ve highlighted (yellow) the entire URL from http:// up to the end of the identifier code.

Our goal will be to grab data from both the InventoryCosts spreadsheet and the CapitalOutlay spreadsheet, then put them into the Reports Google Sheet. One way to map this out is to get it to look like the image below. Note that both spreadsheets will contribute data to the Report Google Sheet.

Action #4: Grant permission for ImportRange to work.

The Import Range function is straightforward except for one additional step. This additional step will only happen the first time you pull data from one Sheet to another. Google support describes it in this way:

Spreadsheets must be explicitly granted permission to pull data from other spreadsheets using IMPORTRANGE. The first time the destination sheet pulls data from a new source sheet, the user will be prompted to grant permission. Once access is granted, any editor on the destination spreadsheet can use IMPORTRANGE to pull from any part of the source spreadsheet. The access remains in effect until the user who granted access is removed from the source.

The video tutorial in Action #5 will highlight the process of granting one-time permission.

Action #5: Use the ImportRange function to combine the data from two or more Google Sheets into one.

Ready to combine the data from two Google Sheets into one? Watch this video to see how to do it.

Action #6 – Share the link (optional).

Now that your source spreadsheets (in this example, InventoryCosts and CapitalOutlay) are feeding their respective totals into a third spreadsheet (Report), you may want to take one more step. That step is to publish your Report Google Sheet to the web so anyone can see it. This is for view only access, of course. In the highlighted image below, you can see that Link Sharing is turned on, and “Anyone with the link can view.”

Bonus Tip:

Give Alice Keeler’s AnyoneCanView Chrome extension a try. It makes sharing easier. “Instantly change the sharing permissions of a Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/Drawing to “Anyone with the link can view.”

Ready to Give It a Try on Your Own?

Here’s a quick overview of the steps.

  1. Login to G Suites for Education (GS).
  2. Create Folders in Google Drive.
  3. Rename spreadsheet tabs.
  4. Find the unique code that identifies each GS. You will need the code for your spreadsheets.
  5. Use the formula to import data from multiple Google Sheets into one. Items in red must be present, while you supply the items in green.
    =importrange(“unique_webaddress_with_documentIDcode“,”GoogleSheet_tabname!A1:S36“)
  6. Place the formula in a new Google Sheet.
  7. Make sure to allow access for each Google Sheet you are connecting. One time permission.
  8. Publish your spreadsheet to the web as a link.
  9. Share your spreadsheet (all tabs or just one) as an embedded document on a web page.

Wasn’t that easy?

 

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Twitter takeaways
Google Tips and Tricks

Twitter Takeaways: Five Google Tips

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Jump onto Twitter and you can learn something new. While hashtags make finding relevant content easier, not everyone uses them. Here are my Twitter takeaways focused on Google tips and tricks. From Google Translation in your spreadsheet to email filters to the day the dinosaur died and Google Forms, there’s a lot to explore.

#1 – Google Translate Equation in Sheets

Who knew you could drop a list of words in and then have Sheets translate them into a wide variety of languages? Brad Dale did.

 

#2 – Make Sense of Your Email with Gmail Filters

One of the first lessons I share with those new to email management (Everyone has email, but only a few manage it well.) is how to filter out the unnecessary. What’s unnecessary? A thousand and one emails that add clutter to your digital inbox. Cut clutter with well-formed filters. One way to accomplish that is to right-click on emails you get a lot (e.g. Starbucks, Macys, superintendent) and then select MORE->Filter Messages Like These:

twitter tuesday

Alice Keeler recommends a similar approach using Gmail filters in this tweet:

You can read about more ways to manage your email in this blog.

#3 – Bio Interactive with Google Earth

Curious about the day the dinosaurs died? Then you will want to check out biointeractives. These rely on Google Earth to provide a guided tour around the globe featuring videos, text, and interactive images. Find more bio interactives via the hhmi website, which offers hundreds of free science resources.

#4 – Intelligent Response Validation for Google Forms

Looking for an overview of a few new Google Forms features? Look no further than David Geurin’s tweet. Follow the link to see more information on intelligent response validation, setting defaults for Form preferences, checkbox grid questions, and section re-ordering.

#5 – Create Google Slides Templates

Create templates that save time, are customizable, and make the look and feel of your Slides consistent. One way to accomplish that involves creating Google Slides templates.  @UsingTechBetter provides some suggestions on how to better accomplish that. Knowing how to do this can come in handy when creating hyperdocs. You can find some of our great templates here and here, along with these for students here.

What Are YOUR Twitter Take-Aways?

Now that you have had a chance to see how I have “mined” my Twitter stream, what are your Twitter takeaways? Share them in the comments or your own blog, then post a link to this blog entry and tweet it. Invite a few other folks to share their takeaways and link back to this blog entry. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

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Google Tips and Tricks

App-Smashing Google Tools

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“How do you blend tools to solve a real-life problem?” That’s a question that pops up often for me. A popular concept from using iPads is “app-smashing,” which involves taking what you made in one app and dropping it into another. Usually, this results in a refinement of the initial product, enhancing it with audio or video. You can do the same with Google Apps tools.

Let’s consider these real-world scenarios which may all be solved by combining key Google tools such as Sites, Forms, and Sheets:

Classroom Scenario:

Students have asked how they can know who else has signed up to attend an after-hours, academic field trip. To automate the process, create a Google Form to capture student registrations, which are saved to a Google Sheet, and those responses can be displayed on a Google Sites location.

District Scenario:

Staff have a variety of questions regarding a new initiative. They want to make sure you, the administrator, are getting the responses. To eliminate email traffic (after all, who needs more email?), you want them to fill out a Form with their question. Then, you and your team are able to record your response in an additional column. Both their questions and your responses appear in a Google Sheet housing the responses.

Solution:

Create a sample Google Sites location that provides some background information on the event, has the Forms link, and displays the responses (as well as any additions you have made). Share the link via social media or email the link to the Sites location to those who need it.

Let’s walk through what this might look like:

Step 1 – Create the Form and Sheets spreadsheet for responses.

To begin, develop your list of information queries. For example, in the case of the classroom scenario, you might want to include queries like the following:

  • Your First Name
  • Your Last Name
  • Your District Email
  • Staff or Student?
  • Attend Field Trip?

Once the person has completed the form, they would be shuttled off to the Google Sites location that is to be created in Step 2. In truth, you could probably complete Step 2 first to get the link or just come back and edit the form. Another key component of this step is to create the Responses form and designate where those responses will appear in a Google Sheet. To verify the form is working, submit a fake response. Once the response has been submitted, you will notice that the Responses Google Sheet has placed your responses beneath a column corresponding to the information queries.

After the last column in your responses, add another column entitled “Status.” In this column, you and/or your team will update the status of each form submitted. In the case of questions, you can type a short response, being sure to set the format for the column to “wrap text.” You will also want to set up notifications on your Google Sheet featuring the responses to the Form so that you receive an email every time the form is completed. Here’s one example with data partially blurred to protect the innocent:

Step 2 – Create the Google Site

Create a Sites location with three tabs to include the following:

  1. Home – This tab is your “Welcome” screen that allows you to provide background information for visitors to the Google Sites location.
  2. Ask for Help – This tab includes a link to the “Ask for Help” Google Form. The form is actually embedded in the Google Sites page, enabling visitors to fill it out and submit it without having to leave the Sites location.
  3. Check Status – This tab features an embedded copy of the Google Sheet which houses your responses.

Once your Google Sites location has been created, you can share it with others, even using a URL shortener to make it easier to share.

As you can see, you can add even more information to your Google Sites. But this makes it easy to quickly capture and share information and questions without being inundated via email with people’s requests for assistance. It also more quickly organizes the information for your review and externalizes it so that anyone you designate can look it up via Google Sites. This eliminates people calling or emailing you repeatedly to ask for the status. And it helps create a knowledge database that facilitates information sharing with interested individuals.

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Google Tips and Tricks

Bend It Like Beckham, er… Google Sheets!

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Bend it like Beckham” is a term that meant little to me as someone not interested in soccer. That is, until I saw an engaging movie with my family a few years ago. One of my favorite movies, Bend It Like Beckam, is described in this way by Wikipedia:

The film is about the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikhs in London. She is infatuated with football (a.k.a. soccer in the United States) but her parents have forbidden her to play because she is a girl. She joins a local women’s team, which makes its way to the top of the league. Its title refers to the football player David Beckham, and his skill at scoring from free kicks by curling the ball past a wall of defenders.

So what does that have to do with Google Sheets? The idea is that you can use a technology (such as the free Google Sheets) to score and to get the job done, in spite of difficulties and obstacles. At a recent Google Educator Level 1 Certification class I had the opportunity to help facilitate, I had the opportunity to share some of my favorite Google Sheets add-ons and tools. Here is a quick overview of those:

Mail Merge Tools: Looking for a quick way to send out bulk email to others? Take advantage of one or both of these tools, listed in order of preference:

  • FormMule – Allows you to quickly add create information in Google Sheets, then “email merge” it together. This is a great feature because it allows you to organize the mail merge fields in columns in Google Sheets, then drop the column headers into the text of the email, blending them together. It’s my go-to tool when sending email via Gmail and there is a need to send complex instructions or links that are customized for each individual (represented by a row in the Google Sheet).
  • Yet Another Mail Merge – Allows you to quickly “spam” or bulk email people.

Styles: This add-on allows you to customize the look and feel of your spreadsheet, adding headers, coloring rows in alternating colors (e.g. row 1 is grey, row 2 is white, row 3 is grey, row 4 is white, and so on). It meets a need those of us who use MS Excel have to quickly customize the look and feel of a table in a spreadsheet. The Styles add-on makes it easy to achieve a similar effect.

QR Code Generator: This is an easy way to generate QR codes for students or to inventory items. One of my favorite uses for this involves creating HTML or web links to various resources with a QR code, then having QR Code Generator auto-create them. After that, it’s just a matter of printing them out on sticky labels or having students stick them on their intended targets. This add-on also makes it easy to create a text label for each QR code generated so you are not left guessing as to what you are looking at, or trying to scan it with your smartphone’s cross-platform (e.g. Android, iOS, Blackberry) Inigma QR Code Reader app.

Split Names: This is an absolute must-have add-on. Although you can use complex formulas to split names (e.g. “Juan Guhlin” to “Juan” and “Guhlin” in different columns), Split Names makes it a cinch. You are also able to separate out salutations and other elements commonly included.

PowerTools: This particular add-on has so much to offer, you probably will want to read the web site for it. Some of its best features include making the process of dealing with extra spaces, formulas and data in the wrong format, inserting or deleting cells and shifting adjacent data, changing case, or swapping values easier. Also, you can click once to AutoSum numbers in every row or column, as well as sum and count cells by color. PowerTools also makes it easier to search all selected sheets for certain values, formulas, notes, and hyperlinks, as well as split values in a column by any delimiter, string, or by position (think Split Names with more features). You can also automate a variety of tasks, and much more.

What are some of YOUR favorite Google Sheets’ add-ons that help you “bend it like Beckham?” That is, get the job done for free? Please share them in the Comments section below.

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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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Image of a Chromebook
Google Tips and Tricks

Five Google Drive Tips You Should Try

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Google Drive has so much to offer, so why not take advantage of it? If you asked me to name an application I use every day, Google Drive would be at the top of the list. It’s one of those tools that’s so useful and extensive. Did you know you that you can create badges right inside Google Drive? Or did you know that you can access your Google Drive files without having an Internet connection? Learn about these tips and more below.

Tip #1 – Analyze Data in Google Sheets with One Click
With a recent addition of the Explore feature in Google Sheets, you can now analyze your data with just one click. Just highlight the data in your Google Sheet and then click the Explore tab in the bottom right corner to instantly create charts and see an analysis of your data. If you make changes to the data, the Explore view will update and adjust in real time. This is a tremendous tool for having students analyze data and not spend so much time inputting it.

Tip #2 – Gamify Your Classroom with Google Drawing
At a recent TCEA Lunch and Learn, tools were shared to gamify your classroom. If you know anything about gamification, you know it consists of adding game elements to a non-game situation. It introduces concepts like badges, levels, and points to the classroom. Google Drawing is a great tool to use if you have ever thought about creating your own badges. It is simple and easy to use, and you can even collaborate with others to get your badge created in no time.

Tip #3 – Find and Insert Copyright-Free Images in Google Docs
One of the challenges in education is finding copyright-free images to use in daily student work. Google has a collection they provide free to anyone. While in Google Docs, click on Insert, Image, and then click on the Search link. The option to search Google, Life, or stock images will appear. Google restricts the results to images licensed as Creative Commons.

Tip #4 – Collect Digital Exit Tickets with Google Forms
When you reflect on the day’s lesson, do you often wonder if your students “got it?” If so, collecting exit information from students will help answer this question. Google Forms is a fantastic tool to use to collect responses from students. Your form can simply be re-used from class to class and contain questions such as “What did you learn today?” or “Do you have any questions?”

Tip #5 – Access your Google Drive Files without the Internet
Internet outages shouldn’t prevent you from working. Just set up offline access so you can access and edit your files at any time. While in Drive, click on the Gear icon and scroll to Settings. Under General, check the box next to Offline.

If you want more Google tips, join us monthly for the free-to-member webinar series Get Your Google On. They are held the first Thursday of each month. Register for them today!

Featured Image: Chromebook by Melk Hagelslag from Pixabay

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