I have a lot of books that I haven't read through. This year, my goal is to tackle some of these educational books in chunks. One example is Alice Keeler's book 50 Things to Go Further with Google Classroom. If I were to sit down and read the book, I wouldn't be able to absorb all the tips as well so I'm trying to set aside some time to tackle just one tip a week. This week, I read tip #50 (don't ask me why I started on the last tip, this is against all rules I have for reading books :)!). She suggested using Google Forms where students reflect on their weekly progress and what they have been learning. With the autocrat add-on in Sheets, these can be set up to email to parents anytime a new response is added. I love the idea of this!
Tuesday
I'm reading Conscious Discipline: Building Resilient Classrooms. Chapter 9 is Positive Intent. This quote made me pause and think. It is so very true.
Wednesday
For something a little lighter today, I learned that Texas girl does not have clothes designed to stand outside when it is 13 degrees! My elementary wardrobe has grown with all types of holiday attire (get ready GES, I have already purchased some Valentine clothes as well!), but now it is growing with winter layers as well!
Thursday
Stick Around App was introduced to me today by my friend, Kerissa Bearce (side note: if you aren't having regular 1:1 PLCs, you are missing out!). The first thing that caught my eye was the Venn Diagram template. I know teachers using iPads have missed the Venn application from Read Write Think. There were quite a few other templates for students to organize their thoughts. I'm looking forward to exploring this further.
Friday
I'm a little behind in my Google update emails, but Google blogged about a few minor changes to some apps in GSuite. There is nothing big in this update. However, I now need to learn about Alt text!
To add a line or page break in Docs:
Before: Insert > Page break or Column break
After: Insert > Break > Page break or Column break
To add Alt text to a shape in Docs or Slides:
Before: Select shape > Format > Alt text. This option will be removed from the menu.
After: Right click on shape > Alt text. This is the new way to add alt text to a shape.
To change a shape in Slides:
Before: Select shape > Format > Change shape. This option will be removed from the menu.
After: Right click on shape > Change shape. This is the new way to change a shape.
The HTML view in Slides is being removed from the menu.
Before: View > HTML
After: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P
If you would like to receive updates on GSuite applications via an email, you can go to the full blog post here and subscribe by email!
These are the few of the ways that I thought about this week. Where did you find your learning? Mine came from books, collaboration, and following a blog!
