Managing Make-Up Work - Teacher Showcase

 Here at SMASD we are very fortunate to be able to see our students 5 days per week.  Our face to face instructional time is valuable, and we still do many activities in class, not on a device.  

That said, we want to provide assignments digitally for students when they need it.  Many times students are absent and/or they left the work in their locker. 

Posting every activity that we have done in class online, is no small feat.  It can also clutter up your Classwork page, making true digital assignments hard to find. 

Mrs. Erich and I are brainstorming and piloting a new approach to make-up work for tasks that would typically be done in class. 

The approach involves a Resource Doc full of links to activities that she uses in class.  However we have hacked the urls of these files to "force a copy". 

This document is listed under her Resources topic in an assignment called "Make-up Work".

I then, in a demo student account,  created a How-To video to help students use this resource, and submit Make-Up work for prolonged absences.   Students only access and submit what they need.  You as a teacher have 1 place to check for makeup work. You can see, share and use this tutorial below.

 

This will also create a communication space in the private comments for students who are absent.

We all as teachers are unique. Certainly workflow systems are something that inevitably vary from teacher to teacher. 

What system do you use for providing make up work?  

Are there any aspects of this process that could be useful for you? 

Add to the conversation in the comments below. 

End of Year Tech Check! - Save the Files!!

Only one more Tuesday to go!

The year has surely flown by.  You have all done so many great tech-infused activities in your classrooms, that we want to be sure we have them safe and secure for next year!  Take the following steps to not be a victim of file-loss in September!


1. Save your Files - Your teacher machine & Surface may go through re-imaging this summer. Be sure that you don't have anything saved locally (e.g. on your Desktop).  All of your files need to be in your Z Drive on the network and/or your Google Drive to be sure they are safe. 

Let me know if you would like me to stop by and see that you have everything where you need it!

2. Archive Your Google Classrooms- Start with a clean slate next year, and avoid any unnecessary Ss comments, submissions etc over the summer.  You WILL still have access to the classrooms next year for reusing posts, etc. 

3. Get your To-Do lists ready. Google Keep and Google Calendar are great resources for planning out the start-of-year reminders.  Set yourself an alert for those first in-service days about the great ideas you have to improve your classes in 2019-2020!

Have a great end of the school year.  

Let us know what you need 
& any ideas you want to brainstorm for the fall.

Google Maps, Tours & More!

Google My Maps: 

This week in 8th grade Spanish we are mastering phrases that help us tell the weather.  To demonstrate learning with an added bit of geography and culture, we head to Google My Maps.  

My Maps is an application located in your Google Drive > New > More > Google My Maps. Here you can create and store maps just as you would other Google Files such as Docs, Sheets, Slides & Forms. 

For this assignment I created a template that included directions and a sample "pin". 

I created 5 copies of the map and assigned it to 5 groups on Google Classroom, allowing them editing rights. Students will spend time this week dropping pins in different parts of the Hispanic world.  Students are able to add a title, a text description and an image to any pin.  For me they are adding the location name in Spanish, the current weather and a picture of an iconic place in that country. 

Easy to share, easy to collaborate & easy to review. 

Google Tour Builder

Do your students have a story to tell with their map?  Do the pins have relationships or a chronological order?   Try Google Tour Builder!   It is similar to Google My Maps, but it connects the pins to create a story. Photos and text can still be added to each pin.  The tour then has a cronolgical presentation.

Check out this blogpost from Eric Curts of controlaltachieve.com to learn more about Tour Builder and to see more examples of tours for history, literature, science, art and more!


Google Tour Creator

Do you have some students who desire an extra challenge in their map projects?   Have them take it one step further with VR and Google Tour Creator!

Students can create a Virtual Reality Experience with their tour by adding 360 images found from Google Street View.


Sra. Wensel's Spanish classes have already immersed themselves in the streets of Spain.  Students created tours of prominent cities in the country and presented to their peers.

Tours are created by adding "scenes".  Each scene gets a 360 image, a title and a description.  You may also add hotspots with an overlayed image and a detailed description.

Click HERE to see some examples of tours that can be used on your board, student devices or with VR goggles.

If you can map it ... you can build it!   With Google My Maps, Google Tour Builder and Google VR Tour Creator the options are endless!

How do you see yourself using Google Maps in your classroom?  Comment below.

Interested in using Maps and Tours in your class?  Let me know, and I will help you through the process!

Google Drive Keyboard Shortcuts

Saving Webpages/Emails to Google Drive

Have you ever been searching the Internet and wanted to save information from a webpage?  Here is a quick way to save the information to your Google Drive.

1.     Make sure you are using Google Chrome to search the Internet
2.    When you are on a page you want to save, go to File - Print
3.    Change the Destination to Save to Google Drive
4.    Then click the blue Save button -- **Don't forget this step**
5.    The saved information can be found in your Drive as a .pdf file
6.    This also works in your Gmail.  -- Just click on an email and choose print, then you can choose Save to Google Drive

**Don't forget to organize all your new saved files**

In your Google drive, click on the blue New button and choose Folder

Name the folder

The folder will appear in your Drive

Drag and drop your saved files to the new folder(s)

Save to Google Drive...With the Click of a Button!

The Save to Google Drive extension can be easily installed and used if you want to quickly grab information from a Google Chrome tab on the internet, and don't want to have to copy/paste that information into a new document. 

This little extension takes a screenshot of the current Chrome tab and saves that data in one of the following formats:

• .png
• .html (source of the page)
• .mht (web archive)
• Google Doc

*It also will allow you to save .pdf files directly to your Google drive.

Installing Save to Google Drive

1. Open Chrome.
2. Navigate to the Save to Chrome extension page.
3. Click ADD TO CHROME.
4. When prompted click Add Extension.
5. Allow the installation to complete.

Configuring Save to Google Drive

Right-click the small Google Drive icon to the right of your Chrome address bar and select Options to configure the extension. From the Options page, you can set the following:

• The Save To location for Google Drive (it will default to the root of your Google Drive)
• Save As file format (.png, .html, .mht, or Google Doc)
• Convert saved link to Google editor format

Using Save to Google Drive

Save to Google Drive is simple to use. When you're on a page you want to save, left-click the extension icon and the file will be saved. A popup window will appear, giving you the chance to rename or delete the file.

Share and Share Alike

Having access to the G-Suite apps within our district is an easy way to increase collaboration and productivity. By using shared folders and/or Team Drives in Google Drive, multiple people can have access to the same files. This can eliminate the need for trying to email documents to each other or worrying about whether you can all access the files from the shared drives on the district network. 

Sharing Folders:

Shared folders are great for grade-level or department teams who use a lot of the same files. Shared folders can also be beneficial if you have a personal Google account and want to be able to access those files from your school account-just share them with yourself!

1. Within Google Drive, click on the folder you want to share.
2. Click Share  (found toward the top right corner of your screen).
3. Enter the email addresses of the people you would like to share the folder with.
4. To choose how people can use the folder, click the down arrow next to the pencil, which is to the right of the addresses you've typed. You can set their permissions to "can organize, add, & edit" or "can view only." 
5. Finally, click the blue "Send" button and the people you've shared the folder with will receive an email letting them know. They will be able to find the shared folder here:

Team Drives:

Within a Team Drive, groups can share and store files that they can access from any device. For example, the MTSS team created a shared drive for our most recent presentation in Gettysburg, and it made it easy to collaborate even though we all work in different buildings. Fox and BV each have a team drive where we have folders to share photos and more. Again, this could be beneficial for grade-level and department teams, clubs, and tutors or other support staff.

Creating a team drive is easy, and once you have it created, you can add members, and add and organize folders/files. Check out the quick tutorial below!

If you have had success using shared folders or Team Drives, let us know in the comments below!

Google Drive: Get your license.

Unlimited Storage, Access from Anywhere, On Any Device, Link, Share & Collaborate....

That is Google Drive.

• PC's can crash.
• Pbox is only available at school or through the VPN.
• Thumb drives get lost, or aren't where you need them to be.
• Email attachments can't be organized.

When our district went to Gmail, I was most excited about two things: its integrated use with Calendar & Google Drive.

Google Drive can house ANY file.  Then, you can LINK any file via Url to show & share with anyone.

Below I have a Google Slide Deck with more Tips & Tricks.  

Browse it at your own pace or watch the video tutorial on Google Drive below. 

Don't forget to submit for your Google Drive Badge when finished!  Badge Patrol is coming at the end of this week!