Let's Drive

Google Drive and Beyond

Yes, we have Google Drive! Okay, now what? Well, there are tons of ways to use Google Drive to enhance teaching and learning.

Add-ons are really easy to discover and install. They are available across all Docs & Sheets when they are installed. Below is where you can get add-ons and a list of some add-ons you can use in Google Docs to make teaching and learning more efficient.

Doctopus

"An octopus for docs! Teacher-built tool for scaffolding, managing, organizing, and assessing student projects in Google Drive.
Doctopus gives teachers the ability to mass-copy (from a starter template), share, and manage grading and feedback for student projects in Google Drive."

Flubaroo

"Flubaroo helps you quickly grade and analyze online assignments and assessments, as well as email scores to students!
TEACHERS - Transform your grading process!! Flubaroo is a FREE add-on to Google Forms/Sheets which lets you quickly grade and analyze student performance on multiple choice and fill-in assignments. Within a minute you'll be able to: * Get scores for each student, and identify students in need of extra help.
* View average score, and a histogram of scores.
* Quickly identify questions which a majority of the students missed.
* Email students their scores, along with optional notes to the class and/or to each student."


Kaizena 

"Kaizena makes it easy for teachers to give high quality audio feedback on student work - simply highlight and speak to give verbal feedback, or attach reusable resources for common problems. This Doc Add-on allows you to quickly open the Google Doc you're currently viewing in Kaizena, which is very useful if you're using workflow tools that link directly to a Google Doc such as Doctopus."

Texthelp Study Skills 

"Use Texthelp’s Highlighting Tools to highlight key areas of your document to collect, group, and learn from later. Simply select and highlight the desired text and click “Collect Highlights” to extract it and place it in a new document (by color or location) for students or educators to review. Used by educators in the classroom to help students identify and group key facts together, indicate new words to learn, or collect research to assist with studying. Texthelp’s Highlighting Tools are great for all content and grade levels."

EasyBib Bibliography Creator 

"The Bibliography Creator by EasyBib allows you to easily create a bibliography for your research paper. Automatically cite books, journal articles, and websites just by entering in the titles or URLs. Format citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago style. When you're finished creating your bibliography, click Generate Bibliography and we'll alphabetize your citations and add them to the end of your paper."


Below are some great extensions you can add to your toolbar to make planning and sharing easier.

WatchDoc

If you have shared some documents with others on Google Docs, before you had to go check whether anyone's modified them. This Chrome extension will list your shared documents that were updated since the last time you have viewed them.

 Save to Google drive

This extension allow you to save web content directly to Google Drive through a browser action or context menu. You can save links to documents, images, and HTML5 audio and video all by right clicking and selecting 'Save to Google Drive'.

 Send to Google Drive

Allows you to upload a pdf version of the current page to your Google Drive using the pdf crowd service. It also makes it easy to save a web page to your Google Drive.

 Save Text to Google Drive

The Save Text to Google Drive Chrome extension helps you save web text content to your Google Drive.

Wright On!

Post-it to the Max

Post-it to the Max

Post-its are a great tool to use in the classroom.  Wouldn't it be cool to print directly on them?

Here just a few uses for math equations, class poll, story mapping, parent notes, student reminders,  timeline sort, vocabulary, exit tickets, QR codes,  rubrics, and much more.  all you need are some Post-its and a printer. 

Step 1. Print each template out.

Step 2. Place the Post It Note / Sticky Note inside the square. 

Step 3. Type in the template the information you need.

Step 4. Place the template page with the Post It Note / Sticky Notes into your printer & print.

Tip:

·    Be sure that the sticky side of the notes goes head first in to your printer to avoid paper jams.

Adapted from

Angela Crescenzo

Tech Talk: Communicating with Parents and the Community

Tech Talk: Using Video to Communicate with Parents and the Community the First Week of School 

I am passionate about integrating technology into teaching and learning. What better way to start the year off then introducing yourself and the school to your students, parents and the community with a video. 

Early tech integration shows students and parents that technology will be a part of the learning process for your class and allows the you to build a home to school connection.  Including students in the video and apart of the production process will help build academic ownership and establish a relationship with the teacher early. 

Creating a first week of school video can be fun and simple with Animoto. Anomoto allows you to add photos and video clips to create a video in minutes. They have a wide variety of video style options to select from.  They also have a library jam-packed with a diverse selection songs, all pre-licensed for use or upload your own music.  Sign up with as a teacher and you will have access to more features and be able to share your code with your students.

Ideas for back to school videos:

• What happened our first week- pictures of students, teachers, administrators during the first week
• Back to School Night Invitation
• Teacher Introduction
• Course introduction
• The sky is  the limit

Below are some sample videos of how you could use video to build a bridge of communication between school and home. 

First day of school


Meet Mrs. Lindinger!


animoto back to school from omid on Vimeo.

How do you plan on introducing yourself to your students and their families? Comment below. Let me know if you need help creating your video. 

Wright on!