ProgressBook Updates

GradeBook items to be aware of for the start of school.  

Created by Scott Aten, August 16, 2018

Below are a couple items in ProgressBook GradeBook that I thought would be good to know for the start of school. Both items have a video demo as well as a quick reference card that you can print or save in your Google Drive for future reference.

• Updated Grid Features (video) - Quick Reference Card
• Weighted Grades 80/20 (video) - Quick Reference Card

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Google Classroom Updates

For the start of the 2018-2019 school year Google has updated Classroom.  

Created by Scott Aten, August 10, 2018

You will notice some significant differences in Google Classroom when you begin to create your classes for this school year. This post will help you understand all the new features and how to best utilize them for you class and students.

• New Classwork Page - Use this section to post assignments and questions. Using topics will allow you to group work into modules, units, or chapters.
• New Grading Tool - When grading things students have turned in through Classroom, you can now toggle between students. You can also save common feedback in a comment bank.
• New People Page - Replacing the "Student" page, the "People" page is the place to view the students in your class, from this page you can invite students to the class, invite co-teachers to the class, and guardians.
• New Settings Page - The gear found on most Google products is now present in Classroom. As always this refers to "settings". The changes you can make in settings include: Title and description of the classroom, the class code to join the Classroom, what students can do in the stream, turn on/off show deleted items, and turn on/off guardian summaries (there is also a link to see a sample of the guardian summaries).
• Copy a class - From the "Home" screen of Classroom you will see an option to "copy" from the three dot on each Classroom in your list. This is perfect for teachers who have several sections of the same class. Here is what will copy from an excising or archived class: Title, Section, Description, Course subject, Topics, and Classwork posts (copied as drafts with no schedule date). The following will NOT copy: Teacher announcements, Deleted classwork items, students and co-teachers, student posts, attachments that you don't have permission to copy. This process might take a while, so you will get an email notification letting you know when it is finished.
• Control notifications by class - Both teachers and students can turn notifications off for any class.
• Teachers can change grade point values when creating or edition assignments of questions.
• Teachers and students can see updated labels—assigned, turned in, graded—for the status of a student’s work.

The one thing that you will notice right away that is not available is the "About" tab. If you go to the "Stream" you you will see a link to "About" in the upper right corner of the Classroom. However, you can't add content to this section like handbooks, syllabus, or other resources like we have in the past. In all the groups I am a part of, this has been a complaint about the new Classroom. It may come back at some point, but for now we are going to have to find a different way to provide this material. The "Stream" now only allows you to add announcements Or reuse announcements from other classrooms. All assignment information is found in the "Classwork" section. In the Classwork section you will be able to add Assignments, Questions, Reuse posts, and create Topics. To do this look for the "Create" button at the top of the Classwork screen.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

The NEW Gmail Look

Gmail has gotten a facelift that includes some new features.  

Created by Scott Aten, May 24, 2018

Google is constantly updating and improving their products.  About a week into my training the staff on our transition from Outlook to Gmail, Google announced that Gmail would be getting a new look with some new features.  Rather than change all my training midway through, I decided to continue to train you all in what is now referred to as “Classic” Gmail and wait to show you the “new” gmail until everyone had a chance to start using Gmail.  There are many nice features of the “new” Gmail and this article will highlight them.

What is new in the “new” Gmail: [watch the video]

• New “Compose” button - works the same just looks different
• Quick action buttons - hover over an email and you now have the option to archive, delete, mark as read/unread, or snooze the email.
• Snooze Emails - You must have conversation view on for this to work.  Hitting snooze on an email takes it out of your inbox for a period of time you designate, then it returns to the inbox at that time.
• Suggested replies - at the bottom of your emails will be some suggested replies that you can use based on the content of the email.
• Show or hide the left menu - to make room for previewing email, you can expand or shrink your inbox view by clicking the three lines in the upper left corner.
• View Calendar, Tasks, Keep & Add-ons - a new right menu allows you to quickly and easily access these tools.

To make the change to this “new’ gmail, simply click the settings gear and select “Try the new Green Local Schools mail”.  This should not be confused with our transition from Outlook to Gmail. What this means is try the “new” Gmail look and features.

I think once you try this new look, you will agree that it is an improvement over the previous “classic” look of Gmail.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous Check This Out! Digests, go to http://www.greenlocalschools.org/technology.aspx

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Gmail Changing the Default Phone Setting from Archive to Delete

Gmail Phone Settings Setting your phone up to delete rather than archive email.  

As we move closer to the date of our change from Outlook to Gmail, I want to continue to pass along helpful tips to make your transition as smooth as possible.  When working with Gmail on your phone, if you swipe across a piece of email you will see that the default setting is to “Archive” the email - not delete it. Remember that archiving a piece of mail does not delete it, but rather moves it to the “all mail” area.  If you are like me, I don’t want to archive most of the email I get, I want to delete it. I have created a short video that demonstrates how to change the default setting from archive to delete email.

How to change the default setting of a swipe from “Archive” to “Delete”: [watch the video]

In case you missed the Gmail training, below are a list of video tutorials on how to use Gmail on your laptop/desktop/chromebook.

Videos

• How to access Gmail
• View Mail in you inbox
• Make my Gmail look like Outlook
• Gmail Labels (similar to folders in Outlook)
• Where did my email go?
• Using stars and importance indicators
• Compose Email
• Adding a Signature
• Contacts in Gmail
• Distribution Lists (Groups)
• Gmail Bonuses (Take Back and Canned Responses)

If you have any additional questions or have any issues after May 21st, please feel free to contact me.

For more helpful information and the archive of previous Check This Out! Digests, go to http://www.greenlocalschools.org/technology.aspx

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Calendar on Your Phone

A complete video example of how to setup your iphone.  

Yesterday I provided you directions on how to setup your phone with Gmail.  Today we will focus on getting Google Calendar on your phone and a few of the things you need to setup with calendar.  I have created a video of me installing and setting up my phone with the Calendar app. I have an iPhone, but the process will be very similar on an Android phone as well.

[Watch the Video]

In case you missed the Calendar training, below are a list of video tutorials on how to use Calendar on your laptop/desktop/chromebook.

Videos

• How to Access Google Calendar
• Across the top of Calendar
• Clear up the left menu of Google Calendar
• Add an Event to google Calendar
• Sharing Calendars
• Add a new Calendar

If you have any additional questions or have any issues after May 21st, please feel free to contact me.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team