Turn a .PDF worksheet into a Google Classroom Digital Assignment

Today we are going to learn a quick and easy way to turn those .pdf worksheet files into a format that can be assigned and completed in Google Classroom.

I will walk you through the process in the video but here are the basic steps:
1) Save the worksheet as an image (make it the background on the slide)
2) Create a new Google Slide
3) Change Google Slide size to 8.5×11 or 11×8.5 depending on your worksheet
4) Enter text boxes for students to type answers over the image

It is super simple to accomplish and can turn something old into something useful during these times.

EdTech Quick Tip: Trouble printing .pdf in Google Chrome

We have been struggling around our household with printing pdf files. When you click print the browser is freezing on the print preview screen. The work around I have come up with is to download the pdf and open it in Adobe Acrobat Viewer instead of Chrome. You can change the settings of your Chrome browser to force it to do that. In the Chrome settings search for pdf. Under Site Settings will be the PDF Documents menu. Expand that and turn on the setting to “Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome”

EdTech Update 26 March 2020

EdTech Update
26 March 2020

What a busy and interesting time we are all working through!
Today I am bringing you something new, a reminder, and something fun. In true dessert first fashion let me throw something fun at you first.
This is my current favorite song. You will either love it and think it is genius or you will HATE it and hope you never hear it again. Feel free to let me know where you fall on the issue.

For our reminder, you can get help with Google Hangouts, Meet, Contacts, Calendar, and how they all work together to run your new online class through the link below.

https://edtechmrbrown.com/quick-tips/f/quick-start-guide-to-google-hangouts

Something New!!!
Google Jamboard
Jamboard is an interactive whiteboard software that you could use during your Google Meet sessions or even in class someday….
Check out the video and link below for a quick introduction to Jamboard.

Google Voice

Google Voice

March 17, 2020|Accommodations, Blended Learning, EdTech, ELAR, Elementary, ELL, FERPA, Google, Kinder, Math, Organization, Science, Secondary, Social Studies, SPED, Tools

If you are unable to get to your school phone and don’t want to use your personal phone number, Google Voice could be a great option for you to use when making phone calls to contact parents.  You can set up a free Google Voice account with your personal Google Account.  You cannot set up a Google Voice account with your school Google account, it must be a personal account.  Google Voice will generate a phone number that will forward to your personal phone number.  When you make calls from the Google Voice Application it will show the new Google Voice number as our caller ID.  You can access Google Voice through a mobile phone application or on a computer with a headset.

Here is a link to information about getting started with Google Voice:  https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115061?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en 

Getting Started with Google Meets and More

March 17, 2020|Accommodations, Blended Learning, EdTech, ELAR, Google, Math, Organization, Science, Secondary, Social Studies, SPED, Tools

Google Hangouts Meet will be a primary contact tool that you use with your students during this time. 

The first step you will need to take is to create a Gmail Contact Group of your students.  Those groups are called “Labels” and they are in Google Contacts.  Here is a quick video walk through of how to set up a Label.  

Do you need to create a spreadsheet of parent email addresses?  There is no exact and easy way to accomplish that in Infinite Campus but we have worked out a plan to help you create that list if you do not already have one.  There are two steps in this process.  The first step will be to create a Google Form requesting that parents verify their current email address that they wish to use.  The second step will be to send that form out through the Messenger platform in Infinite Campus.  This is not going to be a perfect solution.  You will have to fill in the gaps for students who you do not get responses from but this will hopefully drastically reduce the amount of email addresses that you have to look up one at a time in Infinite Campus.  

Step 1 Video Creating the Google Form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXKd39rYiEs 

Step 2 Video Sending that Form out through Infinite Campus  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sDWT9g55OQ 

If you want to create a Gmail contact group label list for parents here are the steps to create that.

There is no way to just pull a list of parent emails only for all your students. You can select print roster in Infinite Campus to speed up the process of getting all those parent emails. Make sure to check guardians and show guardian contact information.

To schedule a Google Hangouts you will need to send out a Calendar invite.  Your students will receive an email confirmation about the Calendar invite.  In that email will be the link to join the Hangouts meeting.  Here is a quick video on how to send out a calendar invite.  

Are you getting spammed with emails from parents and students accepting your calendar invite?  You can create a filter to automatically archive those responses and keep them out of your inbox.  Here is a quick walk through for setting that up:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNSiI2vjNPw&feature=youtu.be 

Now when you are ready to join your Google Hangout Session the quickest and easiest way to access your meeting is through your calendar.  Here is a quick video walk-through on how to join and operate the meeting.  

You CAN record a Google Hangout Session so that students who missed it can watch it at a later time.  While in your Hangout Meeting click the 3 dots in the bottom right corner and click Record Meeting.  After your meeting is finished and you stop the recording (same place) a recording will be automatically uploaded to your Google Drive in a folder called “Meet Recordings”.  The recording could be uploaded to Google Classroom.  The video recording of the meeting should also be available to the invited guests on the Calendar invite.