Tech Tip Tuesday #34

Today's Tip:

Please remember to complete the EOY Technology Checklist before leaving for the summer! Don't forget to archive all classes in GoGuardian, this is essential to the summer school staff. 

I love summer reading! I like to read all year round, but there is something special about sneaking in a few chapters while I am drinking my morning coffee or while lounging in the yard for an afternoon break. I have picked out a few education/teaching books to read this summer. If you are interested in one, let me know and I can lend it to you when I am done. Don't worry, I have plenty of not-work-related books picked out too! ;)

What's your favorite summer activity?

Tech Tip Tuesday #33

 

Today's Tip:

Encourage seniors to transfer files to their personal email. 

(Staff members can utilize this app as well.)

Seniors are losing access to their school email on June 20th and their Google Drive on September 1st. Please encourage seniors to use Google Takeout to transfer files from their school accounts to their personal accounts. Encourage students to complete this sooner rather than later as the export can take hours or even days to complete. 

For more information and a "how-to" sheet to share with seniors, check out this "one-pager" on Google Takeout. 

Tech Tip Tuesday #32

 

Today's Topic:

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is one of my favorite Google apps! Some of you may recall our True Colors experience, where I discovered I was "24-karat gold." The first sentence in the description of "gold" is "You are very detail-oriented and love to plan ahead." I guess that's why Google Calendar is so important to me.  I have listed some of my favorite features below to help you get more out of Google Calendar, and some resources to help you get started with Google Calendar if you have never/barely used it before. I am also willing to meet with you individually and help get your calendar set up in a way that's useful for you. You can schedule a Tech Integration appointment with me.

Here are a few of my favorite features:

️ It's available as a sidebar in Gmail. (Note: For your calendar only. Other calendars, like the ECHS calendar and School Year calendar, will not show up in the sidebar.)

️ You can turn on notifications so you don't forget an important meeting.

️ You can get an agenda emailed to you each morning so you know what's going on in your day. (This was featured in a similar collection of Gmail Features.)

️ You can share your calendar (with details or with "Busy" to hide details, your choice) with others. 

️ You can add attachments to events, making agendas and important documents easy to access for a meeting.

More Resources:

➡ Getting Started with Calendar - A "how-to" guide in the Google Workspace Learning Center.

➡ 12 Teacher Tips for Google Calendar - A YouTube video (24:08) with great "how-to"s and tips. While in the YouTube video, click the "Show more" button under the video to see the list of 12 tips and click to jump ahead.

➡ 10 Tips to Unlock the Hidden Power of Google Calendar - A "how-to" guide for the business world. There are many applicable tips for advanced Google Calendar users.

What are your favorite features of Google Calendar? What is your favorite Google app?

Tech Tip Tuesday #31

 

Today's Tip:

Take a moment (or day) to optimize your relationship with technology & those around you.

Digital Wellness Day was last week on May 6th. I came across this day after the fact in an interesting forum on ISTE about fading the term "Digital Citizenship" in favor of  "Digital Wellness." (While the forum is for members only, here is an article referenced in the forum for further reading: Is Tech Destroying Kids’ Social Skills? Here’s How Social-Emotional Learning Can Help.)

Ideas to Get Started

• Bingo Card for Staff at @HVTechCoach
• Bingo Card for Students at @GHFutures2030
• Further Reading at 5 Ways Teachers Can Model Positive Digital Wellness

How will you celebrate Digital Wellness Day?

Tech Tip Tuesday #30

 

Today's Tip:
Try something new!

A few years ago, I came across this Why Spring is the Best Time to Try Something New concept. Kristin's reasons are spot-on: "Your students trust you and will forgive any disasters. You have built relationships with them already." Also, I need something new and exciting in my teaching life at this point in the year! This Spring, I have a few apps and extensions that I am going to use with my students. Maybe you'll see a couple featured in future tech tips. 

Tech Ideas:
(Because this is a Tech Tip Tuesday, but the concept could apply to anything!)
 Are your students completing a research project? Try having students research using the Electronic Library (ELM) or EBSCO. Both are available on the HS Media Center page at https://www.eastcentral.k12.mn.us/echs/hs_media_center/media___learning_center_resources.
 Are your students giving presentations? Try allowing students to record a video of the presentation to show to the class instead of a live presentation. I recommend Loom to share with just the teacher and Flipgrid to share with the whole class.
 Interested in trying some new formative assessment tools? Try a bunch of different exit ticket types to find the one that works best with your teaching style and content. Check out 10 Ideas for Digital Exit Tickets (and some analog ones, too) for some ideas.

What will you try? What ideas do you have for others to try?