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Monday, November 30, 2015

3 Useful Google Docs Add-Ons

Google Docs Add-Ons are new tools created by 3rd party developers that add functionality to Google Docs. Users can access and search for Add-Ons through the menu bar in any Google Doc or Spreadsheet. There are many handy tools to Add-On to Google Docs to improve efficiency and help get work done, and there is even a section for education. Here are a three of my favorite Add-Ons, which I believe are well-suited for teachers and students.

Read more on GettingSmart.com

GoogleDocs for Learning on Scoop.It

View Google Docs for Learning on Scoop.It

I've put together a collection of resources for using Google Docs for Learning on Scoop.It and I'm always looking for more.

If you have ideas to share, please take a minute to complete my Google form and share.

Google Docs for Learning Glog on Edudemic

Read on Edudemic

I was excited to see my Google Docs Glog featured in a post by Jeff Dunn on Edudemic last month. This morning it has been getting some attention on Facebook and Twitter, so I thought it would be a good idea to direct the readers of this blog to the post, 12 Effective Ways to Use Google Drive in Education.

I've received some requests for the link to the live glog through my PLN, so I've embedded it here. If you're looking for more Google Docs resources, be sure to check out my Google Docs page on this blog or attend one of my upcoming webinars.

Many thanks to Jeff for sharing this resource!

GoogleDocs Presentation: New Look and Features

Recently Google released a new version of its online presentation software and with it comes some additional features that have been available in traditional presentation software programs like PowerPoint and Keynote. Here are some of the highlights:

Include transitions in between slides
Use simple animations, or "flying text"
Link images
Include tables with improved formatting options
Draw directly on a slide to create flowcharts, mind maps and doodles

To get a glimpse of the new tool in action, please view the Google Presentation below.

Live Event: Best Google Tips for Your Classroom

On Saturday October 25th, Simple K 12 will be hosting a free Google day of learning designed to provide educators with The Best Google Tips for Your Classroom. Educators can enjoy a series of webinars throughout the day, starting at 10 AM EDT.

I am looking forward to hosting Improve Writing Skills Using Digital Writing and Google Docs at 1:00 PM. The session is designed to help educators learn to use Google Docs to thoughtfully incorporate digital writing into the curriculum.

Improve Writing Skills Using Digital Writing and Google Docs

Would you like to improve your students' writing skills and help them bridge the gap between writing in school and writing in the real world? One way of doing so is by using digital writing and Google Docs, the documents editor available in Google Drive. Since Google Docs is collaborative and available 24/7, students using Google Docs often write more frequently and better than when given traditional paper and pencil writing tasks. Join Susan Oxnevad as she shows how to use Google Docs to thoughtfully incorporate digital writing into the curriculum. She will explain how to fully utilize the latest Google Docs features, such as integrated reference tools and collaborative revision tools to help you and your students embrace digital writing.

Learn more about the webinars offered throughout the day and register at Simple K 12.

Using ThingLink for Powerful Professional Development

My toolkit is filled with interactive graphics I've created and packed with resources. I use these to successfully jump start the learning of busy educators in places near and far. I frequently update and adapt the resources in my toolkit. They grow with me.

I will be sharing some of my favorite ThingLink Powered PD resources during a webinar on Tuesday, September 23rd at 8:00 PM EDT. Dan Gallagher will be providing assistance as our webinar moderator so I can share what I've created clearly and efficiently for participants to enjoy.

Can't make the live broadcast? Sign up to receive the archived video.

Explore This Channel of Professional Development Resources

Great Ways to Use Google Drive
Digital Differentiation - Flexible Learning Paths
SAMR Through a Variety of Lenses
+ More

I hope you will join our next ThingLink Webinar to explore my Toolkit of ThingLink Powered PD Resources. Can't make the live broadcast? Sign up and receive the archived video.

Sign Up

Common Core Connections: Halloween Writing

The Common Core Standards identify six instructional shifts necessary for effective implementation of the ELA/Literacy strand. These instructional shifts provide a framework to help us understand the big picture before diving into the specific individual standards.

CCSS Shift 5, Writing from Sources, calls for an emphasis on analyzing and synthesizing information from multiple sources to reach a conclusion or make an argument. This type of writing requires students to construct knowledge through research and present evidence that is accurate, precise and clear. Regularly engaging students in this type of writing will foster the development of essential skills to help them succeed in college and beyond.

Halloween - An Engaging Theme

It's fairly safe to say that many teachers use the Halloween theme to launch creative writing activities that focus on stories and personal narratives. Perhaps with a little twist, teachers can take advantage of Halloween writing activities that focus on gathering information from sources through research to present information about haunted places, dispel or defend myths, and present conclusions that are based in fact to support the CCSS Shift 5.

Explore a sample launcher for a CCSS aligned Halloween writing project that has been embedded here.

Created with Padlet

Tools to Power the Learning Experience

Use an Essential Question to Fuel the Inquiry

An essential question can be a very effective tool for guiding research and tapping into students' enthusiasm for inquiry and learning. These questions provide students with challenges that allow them to invest in the learning process as they make decisions about their own learning. Since essential questions do not have one correct answer, students can choose flexible learning paths to find success and demonstrate learning.

Use a Google Custom Search Engine for Safe Searching

A topic like this could send students on searches that lead them to questionable websites. A traditional work around might be to publish a list of acceptable websites for students, but perhaps a better solution is to create a Goggle Custom Search Engine for use with this type of project.

Searching involves critical thinking and it is an important skill that needs to be taught. The Goggle Custom Search Engine Tool allows teachers to easily build your own search engine that is customized with content you choose to be appropriate for your grade level or for a particular unit of study, This tool provides teachers with the ability to bring relevant and reliable sources into the classroom while also teaching students how to conduct a search and it can be embed into any blog, wiki, or site for easy access.

Use a Padlet Board for Collaboration

Padlet is the tool I used to launch this project. It is a free tool that allows you to create an online collaborative board of online sticky notes for use in the 24/7 classroom. In addition to text, the notes can include images, links and videos. One of the best features about Padlet is that students do not need an account to log in, making it an efficient and useful tool for a variety of learning tasks.

Use the Common Core App by Mastery Connect to Design a Rubric

To make sure to cover specific writing and research standards for your grade level, consider creating a rubric with the guidance of the Common Core App by Mastery Connect. Use the app for quick and easy access to standards that are presented clearly and provide snippets of relevant information without overwhelming. With the information at hand, you can fine-tune the learning experiences to target many specific standards in one project.

Use Google Docs to Create and Publish

If your school is using Google Docs, there are plenty of opportunities for students to collaborate, brainstorm, write, research and publish their work. Use the document for written papers or try the presentation to express learning in a multimedia format.

A Writing Project Toolkit

Explore this Interactive Image, created with ThingLink

4 New Ways to Use a Google Docs Forms with Students

Go to GettingSmart.com

Webinar on Tuesday
Please join me and Simple K12 for a webinar to explore the integrated writing and research tools available in Google Docs to help students improve writing skills.

Back to School with Google Docs

Google Docs is truly one of my favorite tools for teaching and learning because of the features it offers to support research, writing and collaboration in the 24/7 classroom. Here are some things to try with Google Docs as you make plans to use a little more tech and embrace change this school year.

Google Docs for Research

Google Docs supports a full-featured integrated Research Tool that is conveniently located right on the page of any Google Document or Presentation. This powerful Research Tool provides students with convenient access to information in manageable chunks that are ready for use. Students can narrow search results to find images, quotations, definitions, and more.

In addition to helping students efficiently find information, the Research Tool can help students engage in real world writing by streamlining the process of creating hyperlinks and appropriately formatting citations. All this can be done with the click of a button found directly under each source in the Research Toolbar. The push button features provide teachers with the opportunity to introduce important digital citizenship skills to students as part of the research process in a way that is efficient, timely and manageable.

Google Docs for Collaborative Writing

According to Sharon J. Washington, executive director of the National Writing Project:

"Today's young people are using a range of digital tools to compose and create in new and exciting ways. It is a game-changing moment for teachers of writing. The very notion of what it means to write is shifting, and educators are faced with adapting their teaching practices to integrate new technologies while redefining writing and learning for the 21st century."

Google Docs provide teachers with a great starting point for helping students develop 21st century writing skills because they are collaborative, available 24/7, and stored in the cloud. The tool is well-suited for facilitating digital writing workshops that combine peer editing with cooperative grouping and small group fine-tuned writing instruction. Here are some of the powerful writing features:

Sharing and Commenting
Sharing and commenting options provide students with opportunities to receive immediate feedback on their writing from teachers and peers in the 24/7 classroom. Student can write, edit, revise, collaborate and share one copy of a live document, providing them with the resources and opportunities to significantly improve their writing. Students can collaborate in real time, creating opportunities for virtual mini-conferences. Of course, students are more likely to revisit their work if they know someone else will be commenting on it and they are more likely to edit their writing if they have the opportunity to publish it for an audience.

Integrated Writing & Reference Tools

The integrated writing and reference tools provide students with convenient writing support right on the page. A built-in dictionary supports 12 languages and allows user to look up words without leaving the document. Word Count capability provides feedback on number of words in a selection or the entire document. Built in Google-powered smart spell check allows students to easily identify spelling and grammar errors and access suggestions as they type. For students using a variety of sources, EasyBib will save a bibliography in a student's Google Drive with the click of a button.

Revision History

The revision history features provides users with access to digital documentation of changes made to any Doc. Review edits or revert to a prior version of a document at any time. Use the Revision History to track contributions made by individual students or to measure progress made on a document.

Final Thoughts

Google Docs is an efficient tool for for use as a starting point for teachers who want to provide students with opportunities for research, writing and collaboration in a digital workspace because of the availability of so many amazing features. If students in your school have access to Google Docs, it is definitely worth exploring beyond the basic features to discover the benefits of the using the tool for teaching and learning. If you are looking for more ideas, be sure to check out additional resources on this blog.

Google Docs for Teaching and Learning

If you open a Google Doc or Spreadsheet you will find a new option in the menu bar named Add-Ons. An Add-On is a way to add functionality to Docs and Sheets through integration with 3rd party apps. It's similar to the Google Chrome Apps store.

There are many useful tools to Add-On to Google Docs to improve the efficiency of working in Google Docs. You'll find Add-Ons to help you get your own work done, and also for use in the classroom.

To grab an Add-On, select the Get add-ons... option from the Google Docs menu bar on any Document or Sheet. You will be taken to the Add-ons store where you will find many useful Add-Ons to choose from.

Many of the Add-Ons are well suited for the type of work teachers and students do, such as Hello Sign for utilizing electronic signatures, and Table of Contents. With so many Add-Ons to install and explore I decided to narrow the results and take a closer look a Add-Ons labeled for education. At the time of this writing, there are three.

EasyBib

The EasyBib Bibliography Creator provides Google Docs users with direct access to citation formatting. Users can create citations, format them, and insert them directly into a Google Document. this one click access is an extremely useful way to streamline the process of teaching students about acknowledging the relevance of the works of others. Watch this video to learn more.

Text Help Study Skills Highlighting Tools

Highlighting just got more efficient with the use of the Text Help Highlighting Tools. This Add-On provides the functionality of collecting and organizing highlighted text that is displayed in separate document for use. This trick to using this tool could be the need to think about and define the organizational structure of a piece of writing prior note-taking so the colors can be used effectively. One way to teach students to think about organizing notes as they highlight information is to help them define the organizational structure of a piece of writing through a well-designed rubric.

Kaizena Shortcut

The third option labeled for education as a Google Docs Add-On is a shortcut to Kaizena. When users choose this feature their document leaves Google Docs and opens in Kaizena for even more options. Since this Add-On requires more than one click to access, I haven't yet fully explored it, but you can learn more about Kaizena by watching their tutorial.

I'm looking forward to learning more about Add-Ons and watching them develop.

Google Docs Research Template - A Stepping Stone

Google Docs Presentation is well-suited for use as a tool for short student driven research projects because of the availability of efficient integrated research tools right on the page. Earlier this year I designed a template to introduce teachers to the usefulness of the tool.

The purpose of the template is for use as a starting point to help teachers plan and implement technology driven learning experiences that are fueled by Essential Questions and aligned to Common Core Standards. The template includes built in screencast tutorials to help students learn to use the technology. This allows teachers to focus on the content instead of being consumed by student questions about using the tech. After all, technology is a tool for learning, not a subject area. It is meant to be integrated, not isolated.

It should be noted that the template is like a recipe that produces end products that are all very similar, and it was designed to help teachers and student build their tech expertise and increase their comfort level with tech integration, but it is not the end goal. The goal for teachers is to eventually feel comfortable enough to design their own flexible lessons that allow them to get out of the way and let students make their own choices about which digital tools to use to complete research and present knowledge and ideas. Please consider the template to be a helpful stepping stone to guide the learning.

The template is available for modification and reuse. Feel free to edit the topic. Just change the Essential Question and modify the template to create your own Multimedia Research project. Please use it to jump start the process of using technology as a tool for learning, but once you are comfortable, please keep going.

Multimedia Research Template

CCSS 3.W.7: Conduct a short research project to build knowledge about a topic

Digital Tool: Google Docs Presentation

Pickup a Copy of This Template

You must be signed in to Gmail before you can pickup your own copy of this template.
Click on this link: Chicago Research Template
Choose Use This Template and a copy will be added to your own list of Google Docs.
Feel free to edit the topic. Just change the Essential Question and modify to create your own Multimedia Research template.

GoogleDocs Templates: A Virtual Copy Machine

If you're looking for an easy and efficient way to provide students with a starting point for a digital project, Google Docs Templates can help. You can save time and guide the learning by providing students with a consistent page format by using and creating your own templates. A Google Docs template is like a virtual copy machine. There are plenty of user-submitted templates already created and available for public use and there is even a category for Students and Teachers. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.

How to Use an Existing Templates

Sign in to your Google account
When viewing your list of GoogleDocs, choose Create New > from Template .
Use the search box at the top of the page to find templates and use the links on the left side of the page to narrow your search by category or specific type of Google Doc.
When you find a template you like, click Use This Template. A unique copy of the template will move to your list of Google Docs, while the original template will remain in tact.
Modify the template as needed and use it.

How to Create a Template

Sign in to your Google account
Create a new document, presentation, form, spreadsheet or drawing.
Add your content and save.
Go to your list of Google Docs.
Choose Create New > From Template .
On the new screen that appears, choose Submit a Template.
Click on the link to Choose from yourGoogleDocs
Complete the form with information about your template and submit.
The template will become available in the gallery in a few minutes.

Sample Some Templates Available for Use

Note: You must be signed in to your Google account to view


HistoricalFacebook, created by Susan Santoli		Charts in Spreadsheets created by the GoogleDocs Team		20 Questions Self-Grading Test, created by John Warf

5 Ideas for Use in the Classroom
You're bound to think of more!

Create a collaborative Google Presentation with copyright-friendly images or your own photos as a starting point for students. Have studemts open the template and write about the images.
Create a digital note-taking page complete with pre-formatted note cards, links to research resources and a link to Easy-Bib to collect information for the bibliography.
Use the drawing tools to create a mind-map, then group the shapes, text boxes and arrows together so students can easily contribute without worrying about formatting.
Create online student record-keeping templates. Use them to help students easily log their at-home, reading, instrument practice, food consumption or any task you want students to keep track of.
Create a template for student portfolios to guide them through the process of self-reflection and publishing work.

Free Online Event: Improve Writing with Google Docs

Would you like to improve your students' writing skills and help them bridge the gap between writing in school and writing in the real world?

One way of doing so is by using digital writing and Google Docs, the documents editor available in Google Drive. Since Google Docs is collaborative and available 24/7, students using Google Docs often write more frequently and better than when given traditional paper and pencil writing tasks.

Join me and Simple K 12 for a online event and learn how to use Google Docs to thoughtfully incorporate digital writing into the curriculum. We will explore ways to fully utilize the latest Google Docs features to help you and your students embrace digital writing.

Learn to use built in research and reference tools available in Google Docs to redefine writing.

Explore ways to incorporate peer editing and collaboration into writing instruction.

Take a peek at the Google Classroom to learn how to manage digital writing assignments.

Explore the use of Google Docs Add-Ons as options for adding functionality to Google Docs.

Learn to help students become digitally responsible by teaching them to credit sources.

Google Tips & Tools for Teachers All Day

Good news! This webinar is one of 6 webinars offered throughout the day during Simple K-12's free online event on August 9, 2014.

Learn more about more great webinars and register for this free online event.

Manage Google Docs with an Assignment Tracker

One of the challenges of rolling out Google Docs for all students at our school is in managing all those docs students are turning in. Teachers are experiencing the frustration of cluttered In Boxes taken over by individual messages from students sharing their assignments. Fortunately, I have found an awesome idea from John Miller @162 that utilizes a Google Form as an Assignment Tracker. The idea is innovative, efficient and simple. Here's how John's invention works:

Teachers create a very simple Google Form to be submitted by students every time they turn in work. Information on the form should include name, class period, assignment name and a link to the Google Doc with the assignment. The information submitted by students automatically populates a spreadsheet to be used by teachers to keep track of assignments and also to launch those assignment for grading and review.

Benefits:

Teachers only have to create one form to used for the entire year. At certain intervals, teachers can simply copy and paste the information into a new page on the same spreadsheet for the purposes of record keeping, then work from a clean sheet.
Use of an assignment tracker requires virtually no work for teachers. The additional effort necessary for the assignment tracker to work is a very quick task that is completed by students, but the task in itself is easy and it should actually make them feel good when they turn in work. The task is similar to crossing items off of a To Do list and we all know that just feels good.
When students submit the form, a time stamp accompanies it, so teachers can see when an assignment was turned in. This means there is no need to be diligent about checking the form on that date an assignment is due. There is a digital record.
Since the information is in a Google Spreadsheet, it can be sorted or even exported to Excel and used as a database for generating form letters for missing assignments.

Samples:

Click the images to view the actual student form and teacher spreadsheet.

Many thanks to John Miller @162 for this great idea!

Video Tutorial

I enjoyed presenting the Infinitec webinar today and truly appreciate all the attendees! Here is a link to the interactive slideshow with resources.

The final webinar in this series will be held on December 3rd at 4:00 PM CST. SAMR Through the Lens of the Common Core. The webinar is free and registration is open to all.

Click the X to view full screen

I used ThingLink to organize and put together some useful resources for Google Docs for learning. Scroll your mouse over this interactive image to explore the resources.

Flubaroo: Automated Google Docs Self-Grading Quizzes

A truly remarkable teaching tool is one that can collect information to evaluate student performance and provide students and teachers with immediate feedback for modification, reteaching and challenge.

Until now, the best tool I've shared has been Using Google Docs Self-Grading Quiz as an Exit Ticket. This post has claimed the position of runner up in popularity of posts on this blog because many teachers recognize the need for quick and efficient ways to collect and use data to maximize and fine-tune instruction.

Great news!

Flubaroo is a free and user friendly script that automates the steps of manually creating the self-grading quiz and adds additional functionality to the process.

Flubaroo is easy to set up, it's reliable and it's far more efficient than the manual method I used to use and support.

What is Flubaroo?

Flubaroo is a free script you can easily add to the Google Docs Form to help you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments. Just follow the steps in the user's guide to install Flubaroo and you will get access to a Flubaroo menu. This menu replaces the need to add functions manually to columns in a spreadsheet and it automates email results.

Watch Demo

Start Using Flubaroo

Flubaroo was designed by an awesome teacher. There is a complete, illustrated walk through to help users get up and running with the tool in a matter of minutes. It is very well done!

Visit the Flubaroo website and follow the steps in the user's guide.

Benefits of Use

Provide Immediate Feedback
Flubaroo will email results to students. For students without email you can easily publish the GoogleDocs Spreadsheet results and take advantage of student codes or pen names in place of actual names to protect student identities.

Modify and Fine-Tune Instruction
Quickly gauge student understanding and adjust instruction to provide for the reteaching, support and challenge indicated by the results of the quiz. Use the time you saved not grading to fine tune your instruction.

Explore Additional Ways to Use the Google Docs Form

If you haven't used a Google Docs Form with students yet, this experience might open the doors to a variety of additional uses for collecting information from students via an exit ticket to provide students with opportunities to voice their opinions, express concerns, reflect and collaborate in the 24/7 classroom.

There is a wealth of research to suggest that vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of student academic achievement across all curriculum areas. Experts agree that vocabulary development is an attainable goal. If given the opportunity to receive effective vocabulary instruction, most students can acquire vocabulary at rates that will improve their comprehension and also their chances for success in school. Technology is an effective and engaging tool that can be used to improe vocabulary acquisition for all learners and engage them in the learning process. Google Presentation offers some features that make it an attractive tool for a lesson in which students work collaboratively to construct knowledge about vocabulary by creating vocabulary cards.

Lesson: Use Google Presentation to Build Vocabulary Cards

In this activity students use the template found at the bottom of this post to guide the learning. The template includes formatting which allows students to focus on content rather than technology. An added bonus of this template is that it includes a Help Page with links to resources and video tutorials about how to complete certain tasks when using Google Presentation.

Help Page with links to tutorials

Grouping:
Students work in groups of three. Each group works on a copy of the template that has been shared with members of the group. Each student within the group has a job to do.

Jobs: Click on the images to jump to a page with tutorials and resources
.

Finds and inserts a video to illustrate the term using the handy feature that lets users preview and insert YouTube videos without leaving the presentation.

Find a copyright-friendly image or use the drawing tools available to draw directly an illustration of the term directly on the slide.

Use dictionary tools to compose a definition.

Create a Slide: Each student contributes to the slide, using the Help Button, if needed.

sample student card with jobs

sample student card completed

Create a Quiz Card:

After students create the vocabulary card, they use the animations feature available in Google Presentation to turn their cards into a Quiz Card for review and practice when studying the terms

Vocabulary Card Template:

Get Template:
You must be logged in to a Gmail account to copy and use this template.