Google Slides Update
Skill Level: Beginner Use: presentation tool
Google Slides got some updates last week that will make your job easier. You can now insert a video from your Google Drive into Slides. Hip Hip Hooray! In the past, you could only insert YouTube videos.
Google Slides also offers some awesome video options. You can choose to have the video automatically start when you are in presentation mode. You can mute the audio on the video. And you can select a portion of the video to show by adjusting the start and stop times. Gotta love that!
Love Your Chromebook
Skill level: everyone Use: customize keyboard
I love learning from other teachers! A great big thank you to BHS math department for showing me how to turn the search key on my Chromebook into a caps lock key. (Confession: I'd never even noticed the search key. Oops!) When you are in Chrome, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of your screen. Then click on Settings. Scroll down to Device and click on the gray box labeled Keyboard Settings. The first option is the Search Key. Toggle the arrow and select Caps Lock. That simple!
And thanks to the awesome AES teachers who showed me that pressing CTRL and the key above the 5 toggles the display from mirrored display to extended screen display. That will be a huge timesaver for me in the library!
Chromebooks don't have Delete keys either, but if you press the ALT key and the BACKSPACE key at the same time, you get delete. I know! It's the little things that matter!
For more keyboard shortcuts, click HERE.
Get rid of those sticky notes with
Google Keep
Skill Level: beginner Use: organizational tool
Three smart phones ago, I used Google Keep, but after moving from Android to IOS, it's been off my radar for a few years. No more. Google Keep has gotten some upgrades over the last couple of years, and it's a great tool for everyone! You can access it from your computer or through the Google Play app or the IOS app on your personal device.
On your Chromebook, just open a new tab and type keep.google.com. You can create a digital sticky note, assign a label (tag), add collaborators, and turn the list into checkboxes. If you are working on a project with your team, department, or partner, you can keep track of the to-do list all in one place. When one person checks a box as completed, the item moves to the bottom of the list with a strike-through.
If you have a personal gmail account, Google Keep is a great way to share the grocery list with a spouse or the daunting to-do list with a senior applying to college, etc.
