Schools around the world use G Suite to facilitate collaboration and creativity with ease. Here, at PSUSD we have G Suite for Education. Google G Suite for Education is a powerful system for instruction and learning that provides tools for both educators and students. Our district has been delivering professional development about Google tools for the past couple of years and below are some tips to simplify your workflow. Google Chrome TipsIf you are using the Google Chrome browser, then you will love these time-saving tips. 1. Use a "Pin Tab". If you have multiple tabs open, use a "Pin Tab" to make the tabs the size of the little icon on the left side. 2. Reopen a Closed Tab. Oops! If you didn’t mean to close that tab, just press Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen it. 3. Go Incognito. If you don’t want to leave traces of where you were browsing, use incognito mode instead of having to go back and delete your history and cookies. Incognito mode is a clean window that is not automatically logged into anything, and it doesn’t save your history or save cookies. It will also remove login information so that it doesn’t appear the next time a window is opened. Google Search Tips1. Search for a specific file type. If you know you want a PDF (or maybe an MP3), just type in "filetype:pdf" and your search term to find results that are only in that file type. 2. Search within a specific kind of site. If you know you only want results from an educational site, try "site:edu" or for a government site, try "site:gov" and your search term to get results only from sites with those web addresses. 3. Search withing a specific website. If you know you want to look up Babe Ruth in Wikipedia, type in "site:wikipedia.org Babe Ruth" to go directly to the Wikipedia page about Babe Ruth. It works for any site, not just Wikipedia. Drive Tips1. Add files or folders to different locations. In Google Drive you can add the same file or folder to multiple locations. This means the original file or folder is accessible in different locations without being duplicated. First,select your file or folder. Next, press and hold Shift+Z (PC and Mac). Then, choose your target folder and press the Add button.
2. Temporarily Share a Google Drive File or Folder. You can set a time limit on a share of a file or folder in Google Drive. Once you have shared the files, click the Share button again and then click on Advanced. Next, click on the stopwatch next to the user group and choose how long you want to share the file or folder. 3. Advanced Search on Google Drive You can find files in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides by searching for: file title, file contents and items featured in pictures, PDF files, or other files stored on your Drive. You can only search for files stored in My Drive or shared drives. Files stored in folders shared with you won't appear in your search unless you add the folders to My Drive.To narrow your search results click on the down arrow to the right of the search box to open a drop-down that will allow you to narrow your search by File type, owner and location with additional filters. Thanks to all the friends on Twitter to share all their favorite tips. Bhavini Patel
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No, not the music festival, I’m talking about the Coachella CUE Affiliate! We all know that we can’t do it alone in education. It is important for educators to connect with one another and build supportive relationships. Collaboration with other like minded individuals helps take our passion and skill set to the next level. I feel as educators it is important for us to network and learn together in order to improve student learning. We are better together when we build strong PLNs (Professional Learning Network). PLNs are all about working together in order to improve our craft. PLNs are about sharing and learning from each other. I know we have PLCs within our own schools and districts but it is very valuable for one to network outside your own environment. We have so much to gain from collaborating with other educators in our own community and globally. PLNs are an essential part of lifelong learning for teachers. They allow for professional development for teachers by teachers. In addition to joining communities and connecting with other educators on platforms such as Twitter, it is also important to connect with others face-to-face by joining professional support networks or associations and attending meetings, meetups, workshops or conferences. Outside of our PSTA you should be aware of the awesomeness of our locale CUE affiliate, Coachella Cue. Coachella CUE is the Coachella Valley and Lower Desert affiliate of Computer Using Educators Inc. (CUE). Coachella CUE represents the Southern California desert and resort communities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage, Thousand Palms, Thermal, Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Mecca, and the Salton Sea. This past weekend they held their first ever workshop type event called Coachella Bar-b-CUE. For $12 attendees got to attend a 3 hour workshop of their choice which included It a delicious barbecue lunch catered by Tanya's Kitchen, Thom Emery Barbecue and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit. In addition they raffled off 2 Spring CUE registrations. It was a great day filled with learning, collaborating and delicious food!
Upcoming EventsBREW CUE- February 21, 2020 at 5:00 pm How do I learn more?Visit their website: https://coachellacue.weebly.com/
Follow them on Twitter: @CoachellaCUE Connect with one their Board of Directors President- Edward Simoneau Twitter @Simonometry Vice President- Jennifer Dean Twitter @Techy_Jenn Secretary- Maricela Hernandez Twitter @flackahh Treasurer- Eduardo Rivera Twitter @EdTechEddie Bhavini Patel Source: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/20-tips-for-creating-a-professional-learning-network/ Incorporating mindfulness activities in the classroom can add many benefits. It can help alleviate classroom management issues, allow students to be calmer and more focused, reduce stress levels, be more present and bring more balance mentally. It just takes a few minutes a day. The following is a video to help you get started. January is National Get Organized Month - Let's Get Started by Organizing Your Google Drive!1/15/2020 January is National Get Organized Month and a great way to celebrate is by organizing your Google Drive! Having a nice organized Google Drive is not as overwhelming as it may seem. Here are some tips and tricks to getting organized:
Simply right click on your screen to get the menu for creating a folder 2. Star Files Are there files that you use often? Star them! This adds ease of access in finding your most frequently used files so you don’t spend most of your time trying to find them. To “star” a file. Click the star next to the file name: Navigate to your starred files using the menu to the left of your screen: 3. Name Your Files
File naming is very important because it will help you search for your files with greater ease. A great way to do this is by creating a standardized naming system. Make sure to be specific with your naming as well. For example, don’t just name your lesson plans, “Lesson Plans”, be specific by adding dates or unit information. 4. Color Code Folders Think about the folders that you use the most. Choose colors that you like most for those folders. To change the color of a folder, simply right-click on the folder and scroll down to “Change Color” and make your selection. 5. Delete Things You Don’t Need Is there something in your Drive that just sits there and doesn’t make sense to keep? Delete it! Items in your Trash will stay there until you empty the Trash (just in case you change your mind). Keep in mind, if you delete a shared item and you are the owner, everyone else will lose access unless they’ve made a copy for themselves. 6. Add Files to Your Drive AND File Them When someone shares something with you, make your life easier by adding it to your Drive (to add it, find “Add to My Drive” under “File”) AND file it! Filing it is the most important part! Put it somewhere that makes sense to you. When you add a document to your Drive, what you are doing is adding the “live” file to your Drive. Meaning, if the owner adds information or changes information, you will still see those changes. When you File > Make a Copy, you are adding a copy of the file to your Drive, meaning, if they make any changes, you won’t see them. It is now your file and you are the only one who can make changes (unless you share it with someone else). 7. Most Importantly- Take Baby Steps! Don’t plan on getting it all done it one sitting! Take it one step at a time. ~Ursula Fabiano Welcome to PSUSD’s CakeWalk Coding program. Elementary schools around our district are participating in CakeWalk. Cakewalk inspires students to create code. But what exactly is coding? Your browser, the apps on your phone, Facebook,- they’re all made with code. Cakewalk is an after school program that will introduce students to coding. Students will walk away with the development of a basic understanding of computer programming. Participating teachers are facilitating the coding club after school. Students are using computer science to tell fun and interactive stories using Google CS First. What is Coding? Coding or computer programming is writing a set of instructions that a computer understands so it will perform a task. Why coding in elementary?
Check out the schools participating in the CakeWalk program!Bhavini Patel
There is a new exciting update - Nearpod is now an add-on in Google Slides! Now you can add activities, questions, polls, and other interactive questions to your Google Slides presentations by installing the free Nearpod add-on in Google Slides. After you add your questions and activities in Google Slides, you will click "Save & Go To Nearpod" then present the live or student-paced lesson from Nearpod. You can also edit the presentation as often as necessary and it will take you directly back to your Google Slide presentation. Click "add-ons" "open Nearpod" make any changes, then click "Save & Go To Nearpod" and your lesson will be automatically updated and ready to present.
The following is an additional video tutorial:
Kathy Surdin Every December, we celebrate Computer Science Education Week. The purpose of this week is to promote knowledge and interest in computer science education with K-12 students. We celebrate in December in recognition of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a computing pioneer, whose birthday is Dec. 9th. It’s important to teach our students Computer Science, as it is an ever growing field (50% of all jobs in STEM are computing jobs) and is a foundational skill for a world that is increasingly dominated by technology. And, did you know that students who study computer science also perform better in math?! That’s a win, win in my book! Check out this infographic to see more about the importance of teaching computer science: There is so much you can do during this week to get your students participating in Computer Science! One thing that you can do is participate in Hour of Code. There are tons of activities, videos, and other resources there. If you’re feeling nervous because you’ve never coded, don’t! There are activities for all levels. Click here if you are interested in more information about Hour of Code. There are also several activities from other websites that you can check out here: Hope you enjoy Computer Science week and that you continue coding for the rest of the year. Your students will definitely appreciate it!
~Ursula Fabiano What is FlipgridAR?AR stands for augmented reality. It’s the ability to “place” virtual elements in the physical world. FlipgridAR allows you to stick Flipgrid videos almost anywhere. You can add QR codes to your students’ work. All you need to do is create and access the videos code through the Flipgrid app. How Do You Create FlipgridAR?
Classroom ApplicationsHere is one classroom application for using FlipgridAR. I used it as an activity for station rotation. There is only one teacher in a room full of students. I wanted to be able to duplicate myself for small group work. I took advantage of using Flipgrid shorts to create a video of myself leading an activity for sight word practice. I read the sight words aloud and had students identify and color in the correct words. I turned what could be a whole group activity into an independent practice activity. This type of activity allows for differentiation as students work at their own speed and can pause and replay the video as needed. This is simply one example. The possibilities are endless (check out this Wakelet collection!) Sample ActivityFlipgrid Video(Video in QR Code) LinkBhavini Patel
A new feature this year in EdPuzzle is Live Mode. Teachers project their EdPuzzle video assignments for the whole class while students answer live on their own devices. Below is a tutorial for more information. Kathy Surdin
Last weekend I was fortunate to be able to attend Fall CUE. This was the first time I would be attending as well as presenting on my own, so I had a lot of excitement about the event, as well as a lot of anxiety! |
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