Google Keep on the iPad (or Anywhere)

Google Keep is another option in your Self Service store for staff and students to organize all types of notes.  It is also an alternative to Evernote which seems to be slowing down and becoming less user friendly.   It is a simpler option than Notability, but the features are worth "noting".  See what I did there?  Of course, you did!

Google Docs, Slides, Sheets Templates Workflow on iPads

The Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets apps provides some great TEMPLATES for students to create something that will "show what they know".  All of the screenshots in the presentation below are from the iPad app.  While this was the workflow I used for Lunch N' Learn, all of the same template options are found on a computer.

VIEW THE PRESENTATION

The presentation above was created on Keynote on my iPad.  I "made a copy" of it and sent it to my Google Drive.  If you are desiring students to make Keynote presentations, this is the workflow to get the presentation to a teacher.  As blogged about earlier, I really like Keynote on my iPad while presenting.

IMPORTANT: Teachers must have students turn in any assignment in Canvas that requires a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheet to be submitted as a "File Upload" through Safari and not simply a "Website URL".  See poster below.

Canvas Settings For Google Assignments by ClayReisler

Explore - Design Suggestions In Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets

Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets used to have a "research" area on each file to help with finding information while creating.  Google has changed that to "Explore".

Explore Colorful Image Above Created By Jack Wallen

All of the features are available on a computer or Chromebook.  Unfortunately, they are not available on an iPad at this time.  However, many educators continue to create lesson content on a laptop or computer, and these features may come in handy.

A detailed description of how these work can be found here.

The official Google Docs Blog also has some quick tips on how to use the new features.

Docs...

Slides...

Sheets

Many of the Explore options will be discussed today during Lunch N' Learn.

Google Photos - Unlimited Backup

As a person who has always taken a great deal of pictures at sporting events and educational settings, storage and organization of these photos (and videos, but we are not going to talk about videos today!) has always been an issue.  Sure, school Google Drive accounts have unlimited storage, but many of the photos that are taken pertain to family and friends.  Of which, you may not want in your school account.

A relatively new Google Photos option of unlimited storage (if correct image quality settings are established) is an amazing option for storing or backing up photos from mobile devices and computers.

People obviously use an assortment of photo sharing/photo storage options, join us for Lunch N' Learn or browse the presentation to see if Google Slides meets your photo storing/sharing needs.

Google Apps For Work - Presentation to Pulaski Area Chamber of Commerce

Today, Mrs. Uelmen and I are presenting Google Applications to local business owners.  We are focusing on three areas:

• What Are Google Apps?
• Who's Using Google Apps For Work
• How Would You Use Google Apps

Amy and I have been presenting together since 2010.  It's truly great to present with someone who is energetic, passionate, and knowledgeable.

Music Advocacy Project on iPads, Chromebooks, Laptops with Live Monitoring

Google Images + Google Drawing + Lucid Press = Publishing Options and Success

On Monday, we have one of the best days in our school year pertaining to professional development.  I am part of a group of teachers from our district that are willing to teach other teachers in our district trending innovative teaching strategies that include emerging technology tools.  All of our teachers get to choose three different tech sectionals throughout the day.  We also have lunch and "a sandbox" running opposite each other for emerging tech gadgets.

My first presentation for the day is an overview of the great iPad creation app, Explain Everything.  I have presented this before during the first semester Apple Core trainings, but all of the attendees are new to the details of this tool.


My second presentation is an "first time" presentation of Google Images, Google Draw, and Lucid Press.  Our district is on the verge of moving away from the Microsoft products for teachers.  Our students haven't had Microsoft for three years.  I really like the SlideCarnival template that I used. It is my intent to show new creation options for teachers to create "Microsoft Publisher" type products.  Some items that I focused on:
Google Images:

• Size
• Color
• Type
• Time
• Usage Rights

Google Drawing:

• Integrating With
• Docs
• Sheets
• Slides
• Layering
• Tools

Lucid Press:

• How To Connect To Google Drive
• Creating
• Templates
• Tools
• Publishing

Transition: Microsoft To Google

2009 was the first year that Google and all of it's products was piloted in our district.  Since then, collaboration, creativity, and sharing has occurred thousands of times among Pulaski Community School District employees.

Starting in March 2016, All Microsoft products will be unavailable for teacher use.  

Specific questions have been asked with our Director of Informational Technology answering them:

Per email from Mr. Fraedrich on Friday, January 15:

Q.  Why March 25th and what is happening on that date?  What do I need to do before March 25th?  

     A.  Our goal is to have Microsoft Office removed from staff computers that aren't keeping it by the start of next school year (September 1st, 2016).  The reason we picked March 25th is that it is the first day of Spring Break and it gives us a chance to get a start on the removal process.  We will be starting the process on March 25th, however it doesn't mean that during spring break it will be removed from all computers.  With some staff teaching Summer School and staff taking their laptops home frequently it gives the Technology Department plenty of time to complete the process by September 1st.  We will have a better idea of the timing of the removal and will communicate that schedule as we get closer to March.  Before Spring Break we ask that you start looking through files on your U: Drive to determine what you want to convert and what you want to leave in Microsoft Office format on your U: Drive or upload to Google Drive for storage.  We ask that you try to do this before March 25th so that you can be sure you have access to Microsoft Office to help in that process.

Q.  Can I use my classroom or department budget to purchase Microsoft Office?

     A.  The transition from Microsoft Office is primarily a budgetary decision, but it is also to encourage collaboration with staff and students, utilize free unlimited Google Drive cloud storage, and take advantage of the access from anywhere that Google Apps for Education provides.  For these reasons and in fairness to all staff in the district we are discouraging the individual or department purchase of Microsoft Office licensing.

Q.   Are the files in my U: Drive going away if I don't convert them?

     A.  Nothing is happening to any files in anyone's U: Drive.  Microsoft Office files that aren't converted and/or uploaded will remain, you will just no longer have Microsoft Office installed on your computer to open and edit them.  All other files (videos, pictures, PDFs, Etc.) will remain in your U: Drive.  We encourage you to use this opportunity to do some file cleanup to help identify what files you want to convert and upload, what files you can delete, and what files you might want to upload without converting to store in Google Drive.     

Q.  Can I request to be on the list to keep Microsoft Office installed on my computer?

     A.  We are currently conducting meetings with departments or content areas to determine Microsoft Office needs and working with staff to determine alternatives or making decisions on retaining the software.  See question below for more information.  

Q.  Who do I contact to get help with Google Apps or for help finding alternative programs to accomplish tasks I performed in Microsoft Office?

     A.  Your building LMS can assist with helping you accomplish what you need in Google Apps or find an alternative.  They will try to help you with your question and if need be reach out to the Technology Department for assistance.  We are also conducting Google Apps basic training sessions with building staff over the next couple weeks.  Elementary training sessions will be during the January 22nd inservice.  High School and Middle School staff training opportunities will take place in the next couple weeks as well.  There will be time for questions during the training.  There will also be Apple Core training classes focused on utilizing Google Apps for Education to its fullest potential.

On Tuesday, January 19, at 7:10 AM, Mods 7-10, and 3:10 PM, Adam Juelich and I will show a few steps that will make the transition efficient.  The entire presentation is below.  We will be answering questions and giving further details about the presentation.

Converting Microsoft To Google - Tech Coaching

I spent some time with Jessica Moseng, physical education and health teacher, discussing the workflow to convert Microsoft to Google.  I get it, not every Word Document or Powerpoint will convert perfectly.  However, Mrs. Moseng discovered that it was an easy process.

Flex Mod Yearly Planning Schedule (2015-2016)

Planning phases for courses in a flex mod schedule requires thinking that our teachers have not experienced. Mrs. Van Gheem-Rottier and Mrs. Titler collaborated to produce a yearly planner that could be used by teachers and teams of teachers to organize the upcoming year.

Because a Google Doc was used, teachers can collaborate at their own time and in their own place ideas pertaining to their class.  If a printed copy is desired for a collaboration time, that can be accommodated as well.

View and Make a Copy

Student Learning Emphasizing iPad as a Learning Tool

As our district has a staff inservice to discuss/collaborate/move forward with student learning, I was asked to provide ideas that utilize the iPad.

Icebreaker Ideas:

• Have participants draw a self portrait in a certain time frame using
• Explain Everything
• Brushes 3
• Whiteboard
• Take a selfie and decorate it, share with group
• Have participants describe themselves using
• Chatterpix (take a picture of themselves or anything that they can put voice to)
• Have participants create a three image story that describes a joy in their life using
• PicCollage
• Play a "Game of Phones" or "Game of Chromes
• Use already made cards
• Create your own
• Participants use Smartphone or iPad

List of Creation Apps:

• Explain Everything
• Haiku Deck

Workflow apps are numerous, but some are better than others

• Google Drive is the best app for uploading images or documents to share with others
• Any creation app that can produce something, can be uploaded to Google Drive
• Be sure to save to the camera roll
• All Google apps for the iPad 

Midwest Google Summit Discoveries Shared At Lunch N' Learn

Google Similar Pages Chrome Extension
Perfect tool for use during research!

4C's Above SAMR

Designing educational experiences that focus on collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity is easier to understand than following SAMR, substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition.  (Discussed in L N' L on 11-5-13)  SAMR focuses solely on technology tools, while the four c's focus on instructional design of a lesson with technology seamlessly integrated.  The keynote, Mark Garrison, also completed a great session on Google Apps 45.

Google Communities
An incredible set up communities for professional development.  We'll search for communities that you might be interested.  Same content, same co-curricular activity, same interests!

Google Hangouts in Education
A tremendous tool for connecting with professionals and experts outside of our school. Use these for

• Professional Development
• Book Talks
• Academic Learning
• Lessons To Life
• Connecting Classroom

Jen Zurawski, West DePere, presented many great features/uses/tools from Google.

View all of the Midwest Google Summit Resources

2014 Midwest Google Summit Day 1 Resources and Reflection

The 2014 Midwest Google Summit began today as a two day learning opportunity for educators.  Teachers were focused on integrating Google Apps for Education by certified Google Teachers.  My notes were taken with the Paper 53 app which allows for tremendous creation opportunities.  I used the #Sketchnote option to produce ideas.  I chose this method because all of the resources that presenters create are online.  I wanted to create the notes so that they make sense in a visual way.  Below are the highlights of my learning day complete with visual Sketchnotes and written information.

Mark Garrison - Keynote

Important Statements:

• Experiences In Technology Involve Innovation
• It's Not What The Teacher Knows About Tech, It's What The Students Create
• Ask Students To Change, Need Teachers To Lead
• 4 Cs are Above SAMR
• Start Stop Share

David Freeburg - Google Apps On The iPad

Important Statements:

• Google Search App is Under Used
• Google Earth and Google Maps On the iPad Can Be Integrated
• Google Play For Adding Books

Jennifer Zurawski - YouTube: From Consumer To Producer

Important Statements:

• Four Stages of YouTube Use: Funny Videos, Tutorials, Publishing, Google Hangouts On Air 
• Funny Videos For Hooks and Discussion Starters
• Tutorials For Sub Plans and Video Tutorials of Lessons
• YouTube for Uploading of Content, Web Cams, Hangouts, and Editor

John Taylor: gMath Google Add-On

Important Statements:

• Created By John McGowan
• Math Equation Editor For Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms
• LaTex is the Language That Makes It Work, Preview Is What Makes It Make Sense

Day 2 Reflection

Google Classroom Assignment QUICK VIEW

Google Classroom was presented to our staff on September 15, 2014.  We continue to find great features.  Learn about one of them below.

In one minute, you can learn how to view Google Classroom Assignments QUICKLY!



Learn about Google Classroom on the iPad

iPad and IEPs Workflow For Documenting Student Successes

Yesterday, Kare Goodness, our high school adaptive physical education teacher, and I presented at the Wisconsin State technology in special education conference.  What started two years ago with a conversation has now developed into a tremendous workflow that has created positive relationships between parents and our school and an accurate account of students meeting IEP goals through video evidence.



While this is for physical education, it truly could be for many items.  Reading fluency, demonstrating proper emotions, math facts, standards based grading, and much more.

*Due to privacy of students, some of the documents are unviewable in the presentation.

Google Forms: Only One Response, Shuffle Questions and More

Google continues to improve FORMS!!!

For assessment, data acquiring, surveying, t-shirt options, and more!

New features in Google Forms could be utilized to validate the data.  I created a form to specifically test all of the new features.

Google Form Options
Clicking the final two boxes provides some options.

Only allow one response per person provides this if a responder wants to fill the form out again.

From my testing, I have concluded that this works even if the Require "your organization" login to view this form is NOT checked.

It occurs Incognito mode as well.

I also tested the "Shuffle Question Order"

My original form looks like this.

Another feature while adding multiple choice or choose from a list questions is shuffling the answers.

I completed the form four times and each time the form questions were in a different order.  I did notice that the PASSWORD question was always first - that's a good thing!

The responses in the spreadsheet were all in the same order! The form questions were not.  That rocks!

View LIVE form

View RESPONSE sheet

Google Forms - Customize Banner via Google Draw & Password Protected

Through Chad Kafka, I learned how to use Google Draw to customize a heading in Google Forms.  Google Forms are being implemented by teachers for everything from student surveys for Teacher Effectiveness to assessments in class.

A banner is at the top of the Google Form.

While themes are available for changing,

the ability to customize may be something you, as an educator, could model for your students.  Students may find them to be helpful as they create forms for different data accumulation.

While Chad shows us how to make a customizable banner using Google Draw, any image that is 1200 pixels wide by 300 pixels tall will fit.

You'll need this Google Drive TEMPLATE. You will click FILE > MAKE A COPY

I made one for our biology department's common assessment.

It was truly easy to complete and really added some design to the Google Form.

If you would like more Google Form customizing, view the video below.

To create more items to enhance the validity of the assessment, we created passwords.  The idea originated for me, here.  The first field in the form should be password with the following additional settings. In between the ^$ type the characters that you would like to add as a password.  

In the next field, add an item that is a page  break.

Finally, add an item as your first field of you assessment or survey.

If you would like to use a previous Google form, but would like to delete "last year's data entry), simply select all of the rows and delete them.  The data in the rows will delete, but the form will be unaffected.

Modeling Google Hangout With An Educator

Mrs. Brylski, high school human geography teacher, wants to connect with a former student who is in Spain.  To help Mrs. Brylski, I sat next to her desk and walked through setting up her Google + account.  (This video up to 5:00 was helpful in learning how to do this) After this, I invited her to a Google Hangout, she invited me to a Google Hangout, and finally we completed one while recording while in the same room.  The recording allowed us to explain why we were using Google Hangouts and to truly experience it under a low pressure situation.

It was also a great time for me as a tech coach to record my first Google Hangout.  I know that I'm slightly behind in doing this, but now that it was successful, I'll continue.  I have also discovered that by default the recorded video is set to unlisted.  I changed it to public.

As much as possible, I like to model tech tools and the implementation of them with teachers.

Success.

View The Hangout


View The Hangout With The Alumni From Spain


Impact On Students:
Collaboration: Allowing former students and experts to join students "in their classroom virtually" can add insight into the content and questions that students may have.  Google Hangouts enables for collaboration with experts!

Google Doc Add-Ons For Productivity and Creativity

The Lunch N' Learn topic for March 18 will focus on new tools that could improve the productivity of staff and students in Google Docs.  We'll demonstrate how to search, obtain, and implement the "Add-Ons" so that they can help with productivity and creativity.

Watch An Overview


There are many Add-Ons that could be applied to education.  Three of these Add-Ons include...
EasyBib


MindMeister


Lucidchart
 

Maps For Docs

Table of Contents - Instructions

Google Toolbar (Today)

Anyone else experiencing this?

View Video