Fabulous Presentations with Google Slides

Creating moving and engaging Google Slides presentations that look fabulous are more important than ever in getting your message across.

Presentations are opportunities to show people different ways of thinking about a topic and to tell a story. How you structure your presentation impacts how people receive your perspective. Let’s explore a few tips to create fabulous presentations with Google Slides.

Tip #1: Enthrall listeners with powerful narratives.

“It is more difficult to process information if it is coming at us both verbally and in written form at the same time,” says Garr Reynolds, author of the Presentation Zen book and blog. A stirring story well-illustrated can make it easier for your audience to process information. Avoid bulleted lists, lots of text, fancy and transitions and animations. These just get in the way of the story you are telling. Charts are fine to include when they align to the story you are trying to show and tell.

Tip #2: Engage with pictures.

“Pictures should contain the story within a frame,” suggests Tatjana Soli in The Lotus Eaters. This isn’t a bad approach when selecting pictures that capture the flow of your narrative. Once you have crafted an enthralling story, you need pictures that illustrate each well-defined idea or concept. The simpler the image, the more impact it can have on the viewer.

Here are some ways to add pictures to a Google Slides individual slide:

You can upload (put) your own picture; grab a snapshot if on a device equipped with a camera; paste in the URL (web address) to a picture you have found online, in your albums, or on Google Drive; or take advantage of Google’s Image Search. Notice that the results shown are labeled for commercial reuse with modification.

You can also rely on free image repositories, such as those shown below, to find relevant, breathtaking images that adhere to a particular theme for your overall presentation. Here are my top eight image search sites:

1. Compfight
2. Creative Commons Search
3. Free Images
4. Free Images Collection
5. Pexels
6. Pixabay
7. UnSplash
8. Wikimedia Commons

You can also reshape images in Google Slides using the Crop tool. Simply select the desired shape.

Tip #3: Enhance experiences with multimedia.

You can enrich user experiences by adding multimedia. Google Slides allows you to embed videos from YouTube, as well as any videos you may have stored in Google Drive. The latter option makes it easy to insert audio files that have been saved as MP4 files. These MP4 files have audio, but no video, and can provide an emotional touch or enhance an image.

1. Navigate to the non-YouTube MP4 you want to insert in your Google Slide.
2. Use an image or text item to serve as the hyperlink to the MP4 file.
3. To play the MP4 file, click the hyperlinked image or text.

Read this information from Google for an illustrated how-to.

Tip #4: Enchant the eyes with fonts.

“If you need to put eight-point or ten-point fonts up there, it’s because you do not know your material,” says Garr Reynolds. Instead, take advantage of large font size and easy-to-read fonts. In Google Slides, you can add fonts, as detailed in a previous blog entry. Here’s an excerpt:

Step 1 – Go to the Font Drop Down Menu and Choose MORE FONTS at the bottom of the list.

Step 2 – Select the Fonts That Appeal to You. Once you have selected the font(s) you want to use, those will appear in your font list, represented by “My fonts.”

Be brief and use large font sizes with only a few words on the screen. Vary colors of your font text to match the theme of your slide show.

Tip #5: Enlist the help of available slide templates.

Are you stuck for a creative look to your slide theme? Then check out this blog for some amazing templates that can serve as your starting point or an inspiration for what you want to create yourself.

Differentiation with Google Digital Task Cards

Digital task cards can be an effective differentiation tool in your classroom. Explore different ways of creating them in G Suite.

All of the latest research points toward the effectiveness of differentiation for learning. But figuring out how to differentiated can sometimes be tricky. If you are trying to differentiate the learning environment in your classroom, why not try task cards? We all know that not every student learns the same way; therefore, we need to design lessons and tasks that are based on our student’s learning styles.

Task Cards

Task cards are just what they sound like. They are cards that have tasks on them for the students to complete. Task cards can be made to target any learning objective you want studied. They can be used for grammar, math practice, word problems, parts of speech, historic events, science principles, and more.

Task cards are a wonderful alternative to worksheets, and the students love them because each card focuses on only one task. Imagine that you are a struggling student being given an entire worksheet to complete. You would probably feel very overwhelmed. However, if the tasks on that worksheet were given to you one at a time, you might feel a sense of accomplishment when one task is completed before moving to the next one.

Digital Task Cards with Google

Digital task cards are basically the same thing as a paper task card except they are, of course digital. Students can access and complete the task cards from any computer or device.

A task card will usually include a title and a number and perhaps instructions, definitions, or examples. A border and clip art can be included to jazz up the task card. Let’s take a look at two sample digital task cards I created in G Suite. You will see how easy it is to differentiate and scaffold instruction with these task cards.

Part of Speech Google Task Cards

This set of task cards was created in Google Slides. Students select the part of speech by highlighting the correct choice option. They can complete any or all of the task cards. Give them some choice.

Along with your task cards, you can include Challenge Cards that might include open-ended questions or require longer responses. The last card in this example is a challenge card that requires the student to actually type out the part of speech that appears in the sentence.

If students need to answer questions verbally, these cards can easily be replicated in Google Docs. That way, students can use the voice typing tool to speak their answer choices.

Get your own copy of the Google Slides Task Cards template here – Google Slide link.

Drawing Conclusions Google Drawing Task Cards

Give your visual learners a few task cards to complete that enable them to draw their answers. Drawing helps students visualize their learning. For some students, a picture really is worth a thousand words. This set of task cards was created in Google Drawings. Students read the scenario, come to a conclusion, and then draw their answer utilizing the drawing tools. There are two different task cards in this example; however, you can create them with fewer or more cards.

Get your own copy of the Google Drawings Task Cards template here – Google Drawings link.

Using Digital Task Cards in the Classroom

There are many different ways you can use digital task cards in the classroom. Below are just a few:

• Introduce a new topic by sharing digital task cards with groups of students. Have them work on the task cards as a whole group activity and then have one person in the group “share” the completed task cards with you.
• Assess student learning by using digital task cards as exit tickets that you can share with individual students. Again, once completed, the students can then “share” them with you.
• Set up one or two technology stations in your classroom as a center where your students could complete the task cards. This could even be an activity for those students who finish work early.

So Many Possibilities

Digital task cards open up so many possibilities for differentiating and scaffolding in your classroom all year long. They provide students with alternative ways of exploring and expressing key ideas and using key skills. With task cards, students can work independently at their own pace. Different students with different needs and abilities can be given different task cards.  Task cards give opportunity for choice and provide a challenge that is just beyond what your students can already do. In addition, they enable students to progress toward stronger understanding and, ultimately, greater independence in the learning process.

Even More Classroom Icebreakers for Back to School

Try these fun back-to-school icebreakers with your new students and be amazed at how quickly you learn who they are and what they like.

Last year, I wrote a blog about classroom icebreakers that could help students and teachers break the ice the first day or the first week of school. Find even more icebreaker activities below to try with your students in order to start the year off right.

Two Truths and a Lie Flipgrid

If you haven’t caught the Flipgrid Fever (#FlipgridFever), you should! Flipgrid is a video discussion board service that will allow your students to respond to a question you ask. Teachers can create a grid for free just by signing up for an account. It’s a great way to capture your student’s voices and ideas.

A fantastic icebreaker would be to create a Two Truths and a Lie Flipgrid. Give students the URL to your Flipgrid or they can scan the QR code to access it. Your students would then click on the green plus sign and record themselves telling two truths and one lie about themselves. You could even pair students up and have them record each other. After all the students have finished, you can pull the Flipgrid up on the screen and the class can take turns guessing which statement is a lie. It’s a great way for the class to get to know one another. Want to try it? Test it out on this sample Flipgrid I created.

Create Your Own Emoji

Emojis are so popular these days that students are using them all the time. So why not have your students create their own Emoji and then write a paragraph about themselves as an icebreaker activity? Try it out for yourself by following the steps below:

Step 1:

• Go to the About Me Emoji Google Slide.
• Note: You must be logged into your Google account.

Step 2:

• Read the directions on Slide #1 and pick a slide that doesn’t already have an emoji created on it.
• Create your emoji by dragging and dropping the images on the side of the slide or by inserting new images.

Step 3:

• Write a paragraph about yourself and/or why you created your emoji the way you did.

Once again, after all your students have created their emoji, you could display them on the projector and let the students talk about their emoji. Get your own copy of the About Me Emoji template here: “About Me Emoji Google Slide” Template – Google Slide link.

Green Screen LEGO Puppets

Another idea for an icebreaker is to have students use green screen technology while recording a video introduction of themselves.

First, have your students design a LEGO mini figure of themselves. You can give your students this template to use as a starting point.

Next, purchase a green tablecloth at the Dollar store, which you will then tape up on the wall. Then download a green screen app, such as the Doink app. It only costs $2.99 and is very easy to use. For a free option, you can try Touchcast (iPad) or Free Photo Green Screen Tool (iOS). Use your iPad to take a picture that you will use as a background for the green screen. You could take pictures of the front of the school, the playground, or a spot in your classroom. Upload the picture to the app.

Then attach the LEGO puppet to either a green ruler or a green straw (usually available at Starbucks) and place it in front of the green tablecloth. Use the app to record a short video introduction with groups of students. See the example video below:

Animated Fidget Spinner

Fidget spinners are especially popular with our students today. Therefore, why not try using them as an instructional tool in the classroom?

For the icebreaker below, I used animations in Microsoft PowerPoint to allow the spinner to spin and land on different parts of the color wheel. For this particular icebreaker, you can pull the spinner up on the screen and group students into teams in order for them to discuss the topic the spinner lands on. This is great way to connect with students while allowing them to get to know one another.

Get your own copy of the Fidget Spinner Icebreaker template here: “Fidget Spinner Icebreaker” Template – Microsoft PowerPoint Template.

Try one of these icebreakers during the first week of school and give your students and you a chance to get to know one another. Leave a comment below with some of the icebreakers that have worked well for your students.

Engage Students with Google Slides Q&A

If you’re looking for a way to actively engage your students in the classroom, try utilizing the Google Slides Q&A feature.

Last year, Google announced a new feature for Google Slides, Slides Q&A.  The feature allows for more interaction, as well as real-time feedback, and is fabulous for both classroom and professional development use. By simply submitting questions from any device, students can now be more engaged and directly involved in lessons.

Getting Started

To get started with Google Slides Q&A:

Click here to download poster.

1. Open your Google Slide lesson. (If you don’t have one and want to try it out, open this Memorial Day Lesson.)
2. Click the drop down arrow next to “Present.”
3. Select “Presenter View.” A new Presenter View information box will appear.
4. Make sure that you are under the “Audience Tools” tab and press “Start New.”

Note that a banner that contains a link is automatically generated at the top of your slides. Students can now go to that link to ask questions as you go through the day’s lesson.

Furthermore, students can also vote on the questions asked if they have the same question or feel like it was a good question to ask. In addition, if your students are logged in with their Google account, their name will appear next to their question.

As questions are asked, they will be sent in real time to the information box that appears. Most noteworthy, you have the option to present the questions on the screen by clicking on the “Present” button. This is perfect for doing whole-class review.

Classroom Implications of Slides Q&A

As a result of using Google Slides Q&A in the classroom, there are several vital implications for you and your students.

1. Students are more engaged because they can actively participate in the lesson.
2. Students who don’t want to speak up in class now have a place to ask questions.
3. Teachers can see which questions students have that are similar by having students vote on questions they want answered.
4. Students can ask questions immediately as the lesson is being delivered.
5. Teachers are able to address questions immediately while going through the lesson.

Slides Q&A is such an easy feature to use with so many benefits. If you haven’t tried it in your classroom, I challenge you to do so. It’s a great way to get your students actively engaged!

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This blog was originally posted at the TCEA Blog, http://tcea.org/blog.

10 Chrome-ifying Tips and Tricks

Are you an avid user of the Google Chrome browser? Did you know that Chrome is full of shortcuts and hidden functions that can save you time? I’ve compiled my favorite tips and tricks that will help you work faster and do more with your favorite web browser. All you have to do is carve out a few minutes and learn how to take advantage of them.

Save Web Pages as PDFs

         Click on image to download infographic.

Google Chrome has a built-in PDF writer. Open any web page, press Ctrl+P on Windows (or Cmd+P on your Mac) and choose “Save as PDF” from the list of available printers in order to download that page as a PDF file. No extensions required.

Make Favicons Your Bookmarks

In Chrome, there is another way to get quick access to your favorite websites by creating a favicon of the website instead of whole URL text. To do this, first click on “Settings” (the vertical dots icon in the upper right-hand corner), select “Bookmarks,” and then select “Show bookmarks bar.” Next, bookmark a site by clicking on the Star in the omnibox (address box). Then right-click on the bookmark and delete the text in the name box, leaving only the favicon.

Pin Tabs

In Chrome, there is an option to pin a tab that can minimize the tab to display only the icon. When you have a number of tabs opened, this feature is very useful, as it will display the icons, leaving more space for multitasking. This option also avoids tabs lost on the side of the screen when you have numerous tabs open at one time. To pin a tab, right click on the tab, and select “Pin tab.”

Open Recently-Closed Tabs

You can open any recent tab that has been closed by mistake. To do this, press Ctrl + Shift + T. You can also reopen it by right-clicking on the title bar and selecting “Reopen closed tab.”

Go into Incognito Mode (Secret Mode)

For private browsing, you can enable incognito (secret) mode, where Chrome will not keep your browsing or download history. You can enable secret mode by pressing Ctrl + Shift + N, or by clicking on “Settings” and selecting “New incognito Window.” Using incognito mode is great for reserving hotels, booking flights, or shopping. This way, your email is not later plagued by spam or ads.

Navigate Between Tabs Quickly

You can navigate between open tabs very quickly by using some shortcut keys. Use Ctrl+Tab to navigate tabs one by one, Press Ctrl-1 to go to the first tab, Press Ctrl-2 to go to the second tab, and so on. You can also switch to the last tab by pressing Ctrl-9.

Open Multiple Pages on Start Up

You can control what page or pages appear when you launch Chrome on your computer. Rather than opening your browser with just one homepage, Chrome gives you an option to open several pages as it starts up, providing instant access to the different websites and services you prefer to start your day with. To set your startup pages, select “Settings” and then scroll to “Settings.” Under the On Startup section, select “Set pages” and enter the URLs of your preferred start-up pages.

Solve Mathematical Problems, Equations, and More 

The omnibox (the address bar in Chrome) can solve mathematical calculations. It can even solve questions such as “How many cups in 4 liters?” Try to add or multiply any math calculation in the omnibox without pressing the enter. For example, try typing, 60 x 90 and see what appears.

Play Media Files in Google Chrome

Did you know that you can play a wide variety of movie and music files (.avi, .mov, .mp4, .mp3, .mkv, .ogv, .ogm,.webm, .wav etc) using Google Chrome? Simply drag your file into the search bar and enjoy listening or watching it play. Chrome can even be used to view images and open Microsoft Office files and PDF files as well.

Bookmark All Tabs

If you have several tabs open and want to bookmark them all at once, all you have to do is right-click on one of the tabs and scroll to “Bookmark all tabs.” A bookmark popup dialog box will appear asking you where you want to save your bookmarks.

This blog was originally published at http://www.tcea.org/blog.

Easily Analyzing Student Data with Google Explore

Teachers are responsible for monitoring student learning on a regular basis. One way to do this is by analyzing student data, and if you have that data in Google Sheets, you’ll really appreciate how Google Explore makes it so much easier to connect you to your students and their learning.

What Is Google Explore?

Google Explore is a built-in application interface that monitors what you type and responds with related, on-the-fly content. It was introduced in the fall of 2016 and is available for not only Google Sheets, but for Google Docs and Slides as well. You can also find it on Android and now on iOS, too. Think of it as another set of hands (and eyes!) to help you examine student data to better ensure mastery.

Explore in Sheets helps you decipher your data easily, whether you’re new to spreadsheets or are a pro with them. Just ask Explore and get answers about your data. You can ask questions like “Which person has the top score?” This equates to less time spent crunching numbers and more time finding key insights and using them to help your students.

How to Get Answers About Your Data

As you examine how to use Google Explore, use this Example Grade Sheet I created that contains some simple data.
To use Google Explore:

1.  Open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
2. In the bottom right, click the green Explore icon.
3. Under “Answers,” type your question in the box and press the Enter key. Try asking some of these questions:
   • Which student has the top score on Test 1?” (Note: You must use the fields that exist in your spreadsheet. For example “student” and “test 1”)
   • Which five students have the lowest score on Test 1?
   • What is the average of Assignment 1?
4.  Google will give you some suggestions to explore as well. To see the suggestions, click on the suggestions under the text box.
   

See Automatic Charts

To see automatic charts about your data:

1. Open the Example Grade Sheet, if you don’t already have it open.
2. In the bottom right, click Explore and scroll down.
3. Charts and an analysis will appear showing trends and patterns from the data in your spreadsheet. Hover over a chart to see which data in the spreadsheet is being used in that chart.
4. The charts can easily be inserted into your sheet by clicking on the insert chart icon or by clicking on the chart and dragging it into your sheet.
5. Once a chart is added into your spreadsheet, you can use the Advanced edit option from the drop-down menu in the top right of the chart to further edit the chart.

View Even More Analyses

To see more information about a specific portion of your data, try the following:

1. Open the Example Grade Sheet, if you don’t already have it open.
2. In the bottom right, click Explore.
3. Highlight column E and see what happens.
4. Try highlighting different sets of data as well.

Depend on Google Explore

The next time you need to analyze student data, don’t forget about Google Explore. It’s incredibly helpful, easy-to-use, and will become a tool you can depend upon.

This blog was originally published at http://www.tcea.org/blog