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Gafe Gameboard (Google Add-ons and Extensions

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Gafe Gameboard (Google Add-ons and Extensions

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Explore this Googley Game Board to learn more about Add-ons & Extensions

Follow THE LINK

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Getting Googley!

Explore this GAFE Gameboard to learn more about Google Apps.

Rules:

1. Have fun!

2. Complete as many of the squares as you would like, in any order you choose.

3. Use the “fill” tool to color in each box as you complete it!

Click here for a "how-to" on filling cells!

4. If you get stuck completing a box, find a colleague to help you!

5. Discover something cool?
Share your “aha” moments HERE!

6. As you have questions, please post them in Google Classroom! Anyone can help answer these questions, as well!

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Over the last year Richard Byrne has created a bunch of videos on some of the advanced features available in Google Forms. Those videos are all in his Google Forms tutorials playlist that is embedded below. Of course, the playlist will be updated as I create more videos about Google Forms.

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http://bit.ly/introtoGoogleDrive
Created by @Megan_Gerdts as part of the MDUSD summer learning acdemies.

Google Drive is an online storage and synchronization service that enables sharing and collaborative editing of files created on the Google Apps office suite, which includes documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and more.

In other words, Google Drive allows individuals with permission to view, comment, and edit a file simultaneously from multiple locations!

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11 Tips if you are new to Google Apps for Education

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11 Tips if you are new to Google Apps for Education

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http://alicekeeler.com/2016/04/25/google-apps-essential-things-know-getting-starting/

As the 2016-2017 school year gets going here are 11 blog posts that you may find helpful to get your rolling into the new year. If you are new to Google Apps for Education or are ready to take it to the next level, check out some of these blog posts. If you are new to Google Classroom check out 50thingsbook.com for a tour of Google Classroom.

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Google Apps for Education (GAfE) encompasses several products. Typically this starts with a branded Gmail account, specific to your school district. If email is turned off the account sign in appears to be an email address on the schools domain, but is used only for accessing other Google products.

1. Start with Google Drive

Google Drive is online storage. This will replace your thumb drive. Files saved in Google Drive can be accessed in the web browser or through the mobile Google Drive app.

Suggestion to make your Chrome browser home page Google Drive. Create Google Docs files in Google Drive. Locate all of your files in your Google Drive.

2. Create Google Docs

Google Docs encompasses Google Text Documents, Google Sheets spreadsheets, Google Slides presentations, Google Drawings and Google Forms. Create Google Docs straight from Google Drive. Click on the "New" button.

3. No Save Button

Google Docs save automatically to Google Drive. No save button required.

4. Blue Share Button

Google Docs is a collaboration suite. By default the documents are private. Locate the blue sharing button in the upper right hand corner.

Type the email address of those you wish to give access to the document.

Get Shareable Link

Share the Google Doc more generically by clicking on "Get shareable link" in the sharing settings. This gives view only access to the document to those on the domain (at your school.) Click on the drop down arrow to give others the ability to comment or edit the Google Doc. To give viewing or editing access outside of the domain, click on "More" at the bottom of the sharing options. Click Here for more details.

Sharing a Document

The URL at the top of the document can be copied and shared with others as a means of distributing the document. Paste into an email or post on a website. Prior to sharing a Google Doc with the link, check the blue sharing button to ensure permissions are set. Sharing a link to a private or restricted document will show an error to the potential viewer.

5. One Version

Collaborators edit the same document. When using Google Docs there is no need to save or make multiple copies of a document. Documents saved in multiple folders are the same document, simply linked from multiple locations. This avoids version confusion.

6. Revision History

Google Docs records edits in the revision history. You are able to see what was contributed to a document when and by whom. Use the File menu in the document and choose "See revision history."

Revision history provides a list of edits. Click on a revision to view what the document looked like at that moment. Edits are color coded to show who made the edits. Click on "Restore this version" to roll the document back to an earlier revision.

7. Insert Comments

One of the most powerful elements of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate on documents through comments. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings all allow for inserting comments. Highlight a word or portion of text to reveal the comment icon in the right margin. Click on this to insert a comment. This allows you to give students specific feedback on the exact portion of their work you are commenting.

Commenting in a Google Doc takes feedback from being a one way note to being a conversation. Students can reply to the comment to gain clarification. This is especially powerful when utilized prior to the due date.

8. Apps Chooser

In Google Drive and in Gmail a 3 by 3 grid of squares can be located in the upper right. This icon is known as the apps chooser (or informally as "the waffle."). Click on the grid to reveal additional Google Apps. This is one way to locate Google Drive; use the apps chooser from Gmail.

____.google.com

Most Google products are the product name dot google dot com. For example Google Drive is drive.google.com. Google Maps is maps.google.com. Google Books is books.google.com. Google Scholar is scholar.google.com. Google Classroom is classroom.google.com. Google Calendar is located at calendar.google.com.

It is recommended that you learn this pattern to quickly locate Google Apps. It can be quicker to type the product name and add dot google dot com to the end. Google text docs can be created at docs.google.com. Google Sheets at sheets.google.com. Google Slides can be created at slides.google.com. It is my opinion that Google Forms is the greatest thing since sliced bread, you should use this data collection tool often. Create and locate your Google Forms at forms.google.com.

A notable exception to this pattern is YouTube, which can be located at youtube.com.

9. Folder Permissions

Organize your Google Docs in Google Drive by creating folders. Use the "New" button to create a new folder. Right click on the folder to set the sharing permissions on the folder. Choose "Share" from the options. Explicitly share the folder with specific individuals by typing in their email address. Share more generically by clicking on "Get shareable link" in the sharing settings.

Docs Inherit Folder Sharing Settings

Any documents placed in the folder will automatically inherit the sharing permissions of the folder. If the folder is shared with person A, then all docs inside the folder are shared with person A. If the folder is set so that "anyone with the link can edit," any documents in the folder are also "anyone with the link can edit."

It is recommended you set up a folder with individuals you collaborate with frequently and share the folder with them. Open the folder in Google Drive prior to creating a Google Doc using the "New" button. This will create the document in the folder and automatically share it with collaborators.

It is also recommended that you set up a view only folder. Create a folder where the sharing settings are "anyone with the link can view." Creating documents in this folder will ensure that the documents are visible by parents or anyone else you share the link to the document with.

10. Search Google Drive

Google Drive is a Google product so of course one of the things it does well is search. Use the search box at the top to quickly locate documents. Google Drive searches the ENTIRE document, not just the document title. The search box contains a drop down arrow to allow you to filter your search. Search for documents you own or that were edited within a certain time frame.

11. Shared With Me

When opening Google Drive, notice on the left hand side is a filter for "Shared with me." Quickly find documents others have shared with you. Note that this is a filter and not a folder. You can not organize the shared with me view. When someone indicates that they have shared a Google Doc with you, click on "Shared with me" to easily locate it.

Shift Z

You will want to organize this file in your "My Drive" so it is easier to access. Single click on the file and use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT Z to ADD the file to one of your folders or "My Drive." A file can easily live in multiple folders. Each appearance in a folder is simply a link to the document. Double click on the file in a folder to open the document.

Recent

Like "Shared with me," "Recent" is a filter in Google Drive. Make it your habit to go to Google Drive and immediately click on "Recent" to get back to files you were recently working on.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016

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11 Tips When You're New to Google Apps for Education - Teacher Tech

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Google Apps for Education (GAfE) encompasses several products. Typically this starts with a branded Gmail account, specific to your school district. If email is turned off the account sign in appears to be an email address on the schools domain, but is used only for accessing other Google products.

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The Best Add-ons for google Docs and Google Sheets

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The Best Add-ons for google Docs and Google Sheets

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http://www.labnol.org/internet/best-google-docs-add-ons/28440/
Add-ons in Google Docs are like extensions for Chrome. Just like extensions add new features to the Chrome browser, add-ons extend the functionality of Google Docs and Google Sheets.

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Written by Amit Agarwal on Nov 2, 2017

The availability of third-party add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets and Google Slides have certainly made the Google Office productivity suite more capable and useful. If you haven't tried them yet, open any Google document or spreadsheet in your Google Drive and look for the new add-ons menu near Help. G Suite users may have to ask their admin to enable support for add-ons for the organization.

For starters, Google add-ons are like extensions for Chrome. Extensions add new features to the Chrome browser and add-ons extend the functionality of Google Office applications. To give you an example, here's the screenshot of a Twitter add-on I wrote for Google Docs and Google Sheets that you can use to find and curate tweets right inside your documents.

Anyone can write an add-on for Google Docs. All you need are some basic programming skills for writing HTML, CSS for styling the add-on while the server side code is written in Google Apps Script which is similar to JavaScript but runs on the Google Cloud.

Google Apps Script vs Google Add-ons

Google Add-ons are written in the Google Apps Script language but while regular Google Scripts can work on any document in your Google Drive, add-ons only work against the document or sheet that's currently open in your browser.

Also, while Google Scripts support triggers and can run in the background (like this Website Monitor), add-ons can only run while a document or sheet is open and active. (Update: Google now allows you to create time-based triggers for add-ons)

The other big difference is that you can view the source code of regular Google Scripts while in the case of add-ons, the code is hidden from the end user. This helps developers protect their code but a downside is that the user has no clue about what's happening behind the scenes.

We have seen issues with Chrome extensions and add-ons for Google Docs can be a target as well. For instance, an add-on can possibly email a copy of the current document or sheet to another email address? Or maybe it can share a folder in Google Drive with someone else. All add-ons currently listed in the Chrome store have been tested and reviewed by Google but if they open the gates for all, I would be a little hesitant to install add-ons created by unknown developers.

The Best Add-ons For Google Docs, Sheets and Google Slides

The Chrome store lists hundreds of Google add-ons and here are some of favorite ones that you should have in your Google Docs and Sheets

1. Mail Merge for Gmail - Send personalized emails with emails to multiple email recipients with Mail Merge for Gmail and G Suite.

2. Document Studio - Generate perfect documents automatically in Google Drive from source data in Google Sheets or Google Form submissions.

3. Save Gmail as PDF - Download your Gmail messages and attachments in Google Drive for archiving.

4. Twitter Archiver - Save tweets for any search term or hashtag in a Google Sheet.

5. Email Scheduler for Gmail - Schedule emails inside Gmail for sending later at a specific date and time. Send repetitive emails that go on a recurring schedule.

6. Google Drive Permissions - Know who has access to your files in Google Drive.

7. Gmail Address Extractor - The add-on extracts the email addresses from the header and body of email messages for preparing a mailing list.

8. Twitter Curator - Search, filter and add tweets in a Google Documents. It is like Storify for Google Docs.

9. Bulk Gmail Forward - Easily forward one or more email threads from Gmail to any other address.

10. Google Forms Notifications - Get Google Forms responses in an email message when people submit your forms. Send customized email notifications to respondents.

11. Email Spreadsheet as PDF - Convert and email Google Spreadsheets as PDF, Excel or CSV to multiple people. Email sheets manually or on a recurring schedule.

12. Email AutoResponder for Gmail - Setup email autoresponders in Gmail and quickly reply to messages using pre-writtenemail templates.

13. HelloFax - You can now send a fax to any number worldwide directly from inside Google documents. The free version lets you fax up to 5 pages.

14. UberConference - You can have an audio conference with up to 10 people while working on a Google Document. There's an option to record the call too.

15. PanDoc - You can send the current document to the client from within Google Docs to request their legally-binding signature.

16. Unsplash Photos - Instantly search and embed free photos in your Google Slides from the extensive image database.

17. Avery - Create address labels inside Google Docs for printing.

18. MindMeister - Create a hierarchical bulleted list in the the Google document and MindMeister will converted that list into a visual mind map.

19. EasyBib - Cite books, journal articles and websites and add them to your Google Documents in MLA, APA and Chicago style.

20. Lucidchart - Create flow charts, diagrams, site mockups, org charts and other technical drawings inside your Google Documents.

21. Mapping Sheets - Create a spreadsheet with a list of places and the sheets add-on will plot them on a Google Map.

22. TextHelp - This is like the yellow highlighter for your Google Documents. Select and highlight passages and save the annotations in a separate document.

Related tutorial: How to Create a Google Docs Add-on

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The Best Add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

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Meet some of the most useful add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets and Google Slides. Also learn how Google Add-ons are different from regular Google Apps Scripts.

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Help teachers quickly create, deliver and grade assignments or assessments. With Quizzes, teachers can select correct answers for multiple choice and checkbox questions and enter explanations or review materials to help students learn.

Try it here: https://goo.gl/ZfwK68

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Editor's note: On Monday, we announced four new ways to help teachers engage their classes using Google tools. In this post, we'll dive deeper into one of these tools: Quizzes in Google Forms. If you are at ISTE in Denver, visit us at booth #2511 in the expo hall to learn more and demo our new tools.
Educators have told us that collecting feedback earlier in the learning process results in better outcomes for both teachers and students. But they've also shared that creating assessments and providing feedback can lead to hours of repetitive grading.

Dr. Ismael Piedra, a professor at the Instituto Technologico de Monterrey, for example, used "exit tickets" after his lectures to check student comprehension. But his attempts at gathering quick feedback would often result in 300 quizzes to grade and hours of work.

After months of pilots with educators like Dr. Piedra, we launched Quizzes in Google Forms on Monday to help teachers quickly create, deliver and grade assignments or assessments. With Quizzes, teachers can select correct answers for multiple choice and checkbox questions to reduce repetitive grading. They can also enter explanations and review materials to help students learn. And to make sure students understand the lesson material, teachers can prevent students from sending themselves a copy of their responses.

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Give feedback faster with Quizzes in Google Forms

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Editor's note: On Monday, we announced four new ways to help teachers engage their classes using Google tools. In this post, we'll dive deeper into one of these tools: Quizzes in Google Forms. If you are at ISTE in Denver, visit us at booth #2511 in the expo hall to learn more and demo our new tools.

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A free Chrome app that allows students and teachers to share their screens wirelessly from anywhere in the classroom - no hardware required! Check out the full details for more info on how to deploy in your district: go.co/castforedu.

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20 Google Apps Activities for Collaborative Schools

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20 Google Apps Activities for Collaborative Schools

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Google Apps is beginning to revolutionize education.

With its highly collaborative, online/offline format — and its attractive price tag (free!). There’s so much you can do with these apps in class to get students — AND teachers — working together. Here are 20 collaborative ideas, taken from a presentation Matt Miller did  at the Google in Education Indiana Summit in Evansville, Ind.

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G Suite has revolutionized education. With its highly collaborative, online/offline format - and its attractive price tag (free!) it provides students and teachers with effective tools for a blended learning environment.

The way that G Suite is interactive and easy to share is powerful. My students can share ideas in real time with other students around the world, an option that never existed before.

There's so much you can do with these apps in class to get students - AND teachers - working together.

Here are 30 collaborative G Suite apps activities that you can use in your own classroom.

DOCS

1. Shared notes. Students often have lots of information to share with each other when they work together as a group. By sharing a document with group members, they can all add ideas and resources - and see everyone's changes in real time.

A table of contents can make a large document more manageable. It can also help collaborators find their area on the page quickly and easily.

Admin application: A document like this can let everyone on staff share info/notes/etc. without having everyone digitally step on each other's toes as they modify the document. Teachers can use this in committee work and at staff meetings.

2. Rethinking rough drafts. With the comments feature in Documents (and other Google Apps), rough drafts aren't a paper students submit to a teacher. They're a process. Teachers can guide students throughout the entire writing assignment so there are no surprises when it's time to turn work in.

3. " Add and pass" activity in docs. Have you ever played a game where someone begins a story then the next person adds to it, the next adds a little more and so on? This is a digital version of that. Begin with an image at the top of a blank document (perhaps a picture of a spooky house, a historical figure, a scene from a story or anything you want!). Share the document with a group of students. Number students off. Student 1 writes the first part of the story. Student 2 begins where they left off adding to the story but giving it their own spin. This continues until you have a completed story. You can give students a certain number of words or sentences they need to add or just let them go.

SLIDES

4. Shared presentations. Create a presentation with one slide per student and give students permission to edit it. Then assign an activity - some quick Internet research, a writing prompt, an image search to find an example, etc. When they're done, show the presentation on a projector. It's student work instantly on display. Want some more guidance? Check out my post on student collaboration in shared Google Slides for step-by-step instructions and ideas for using them in class!

5. Virtual art gallery. This goes for any creative student work - poetry, video, visual art, etc. Display the work in a presentation via text, image or video. Share the presentation with permission for anyone to add comments, or embed a live version of the presentation in a website for others to see.

Kick this assignment up a notch with a Google Earth and Slides appsmash! Google Earth is a visually stunning experience, giving users a first-person view of life from places around the globe. Google Earth is great for giving virtual tours, but there's a simpler and faster version of it. Take screenshots of scenes from Google Earth and paste them in a Google Slides presentation. Add a title and/or some text description. With lots of slides, a virtual tour can happen quickly and meaningfully.

6. Collaborative "Caption This" activity When you add a speech bubble or thought bubble to an image, you let students speak or think for the subject of the photo. Understanding different viewpoints is also a great way to delve deeply into a topic. When students can take the place of the person in the image, it helps them see what's happening in a whole new light. When students work together in groups, the conversations around what the characters should be saying brings the " Caption This " activity to a whole new level.

Select a set of pictures that either introduces your current lesson focus or is key to your subject for the lesson and let students caption them as a group. You can add the images to a Google Slides presentation and share the same set of images with each group of students through Google Classroom. OR, you can have students create a new Google Slides presentation share it one another and add the images themselves.

Add a thought bubble or speech bubble to each of the pictures. Give students a prompt for filling in the bubble, or give them freedom!

When they're done, have students turn the image into you via Google Classroom (or however you collect digital work) and share each group's presentations with the class. Have groups share why they chose their captions, how it differs from other groups, and how they came up with it as a group.

7. Create a class yearbook. This idea comes from Jennifer Scott, an English teacher, and technology leader in California. Rather than pay companies for high-priced software, students use Google Slides to create their own Basic Yearbook. Think of Google Slides as a blank canvas waiting for student graphic designers.

To create a unified look, students create with Image templates. These layouts can be duplicated and their images replaced with images shared either with Google Drive or Google Photos via Google Classroom. In the example below, the image templates in the Word Art Yearbook layout are replaced with photos from the #Mex16 Google Innovator Academy. are written to preserve memories.

A layout like this...

...becomes this.

SlidesYearbook.com was born in December 2016 and continues to grow. Easy-to-use directions are available on the website in both English and Spanish. If creating a yearbook from scratch is not an option this year, feel free to use already created . Start with a class yearbook and move to a schoolwide yearbook next year.

8. Digital brain dumps.Use a more brain-friendly way to study! Retrieval is the practice of studying by pulling information from the brain. That's different from traditional studying methods, like re-reading chapters and reviewing notes. Retrieval can be done with a brain dump, where students write down everything they remember about a topic. A collaborative brain dump lets students do that writing on their own slides within the same slide presentation. Each student gets a slide for his/her own brain dump. Then, as a group, the class can identify what the class knows well and what each student left off of his/her own slide.

SHEETS

9. Quick "do now" activities. Create a spreadsheet and assign each student a row on it. Ask a question to gauge comprehension of a new concept in class. Students type their answer in the shared spreadsheet but don't hit "enter" until you tell them. When they do, it's fast, instant feedback on what they know.

10. Weather/environment lab. Science classes (or any class, really!) can connect with one or more classes in another city, state, province or country and gather data about the weather or environment around them. Log it in a Google Spreadsheet with a page for each location. Compare and contrast the world around you.

11. Sign-up sheets. They're a necessary evil for many activities in schools. By making and sharing a digital place to sign up, you eliminate paper and make your list accessible anywhere. Create a spreadsheet that can be edited by anyone with the link (using the blue "Share" button).

12. Give students their own tab automatically. In a spreadsheet, a tab is a perfect workspace to give each student. It's easy to access each student's work. Every student has virtually unlimited space for working. By using the RosterTab template by Alice Keeler, you can generate personalized tabs for each student. Provide a roster (by typing names or copy/pasting them) and run the script. There are instructions in this blog post.

DRAWINGS

13. Interactive whiteboard. Create a Google Drawing and share it with students, giving them permission to edit. Display the drawing on a projector screen. Students can add text and shapes, draw arrows to important ideas and connect concepts with lines. Everyone can make changes, and anyone can watch - in class or away.

14. Informational graphics. In traditional research reports, students gather information, analyze and organize, and then present their findings in essay style. They could demonstrate all of those findings in another way - with an informational graphic! Infographics are all over social media and are very popular. Learning to create an infographic is a useable skill in the real world.

15. Timelines. Students can work together to add text and pictures to mark events on a timeline. Use the same elements from the informational graphics above to create timelines. Add a horizontal line to a drawing. (Pro tip: Hold down shift while drawing the line to make it truly horizontal and straight!) Add information for the different dates on the timeline and illustrate them with images. When they're finished, the image can be saved as an image file (JPEG or PNG) or a PDF file. It can also be embedded in a site to share with others.

16. "Add and pass" activity. To spark creativity for the day, have students create a new drawing and add a few elements to it (some shapes, lines, etc.) and pass it digitally to another student (through a shared folder or with a link). View the students' work in class afterward. These drawings can be used as writing prompts or story starters too. You can even use these images as the prompt for the "add and pass" activity in docs mentioned above!

17. Collaborative interactive posters. Creating posters is an activity that's a staple in many classrooms. If you don't want to hassle with glue sticks, markers and magazines for cutting images out, Google Drawings can help. Drawings is a great spot for creating interactive posters. Regular posters are static and only contain the information you can fit on them. Interactive posters have clickable links, making the poster just a starting point for more information.

How to do it: Students create a Google Drawing and share it with the other members of their group. They add text boxes with information and shapes to help organize (think of the construction paper behind the text). They can add Creative Commons images by going to Insert > Image ... > Search tab to be good digital citizens. (This falls right in line with my post on how to find and use images the right way in class!) They can highlight text and push Ctrl+K or go to Insert > Link ... to make clickable links in their text. Want some more guidance? Check out my post on interactive Google Drawings posters with an example you can click on and copy into your Drive if you'd like.

18. Picture This and Take a Stance. Instead of asking students to write a quote or caption like in the caption this activity above, let's start with a quote!

Have students find a quote from your content or a character/historical figure and add it in a speech/thought bubble to a Google Drawing. Students will then share it with a partner.

Their partner adds a picture that illustrates the quote. They can find an image using "Insert" and "Image" and "Search the web."

Students explain the scene. Students can add a text box or a shape at the bottom of the image for typing text to explain the scene.)

Once they have added their explanation of the scene, then they form an opinion/take a stance and write about their opinion/stance. You can even ask students to add a Bitmoji, avatar, emoji or other images that represent how they feel and have it take a stance. (Note: Some Bitmoji images are inappropriate for younger children. You might want to use emojis instead OR just download some Bitmoji images in a Google Drive folder you can share with students.)

When they're done, have students turn the image into you via Google Classroom (or however you collect digital work).

FORMS

19. "Choose your own adventure" stories. This one can take some serious student planning, but the results are worth it. Using the "Go to page based on answer" feature in Forms, students can work together to create a story where the reader chooses how the story unfolds. Students write the story and give the reader options with multiple-choice questions.

20. Exercise or reading logs. There are many things students can log using forms. Teachers gather information using forms. Student data is gathered in a spreadsheet, where it can be sorted and analyzed. Teachers can display any information they see as pertinent to classes for discussion or analysis.

21. Digital share out. Students can use a Google Form to share their learning. Have students respond to the same Google Form sharing their information, ideas, reflection and a link to their work. Provide a "view only" link to the spreadsheet of results to the class. That way, everyone can see everyone else's ideas all in one place. Changing the sharing permissions to "anyone with the link can comment" allows students to give feedback to one another within the same Google Sheet.

HANGOUTS

22. Mystery Hangouts. Using Hangouts - Google's video chat service - classes from different parts of the country or the world can play this "guess where we are" game. Find a class (using your own contacts or through this Mystery Hangouts Google Plus group) and video chat using Hangouts. Students ask each other yes/no questions until they guess where in the world the other class is. A Mystery Hangout is a great, fun, engaging activity that more classes should take advantage of.

23. Sharing learning. After you've had a Mystery Hangout, continue that connection between the two classes. Connect and share what each class has been learning - or share in the same lesson across many miles. Ask questions. Reflect. Add information. Use each other as a resource. It's a great way to connect your classroom to the world.

24. Guest speakers. Can't afford to fly in an author, researcher, professor, historian or scientist that's an expert in what you're studying? Try to arrange a Google Hangout. Even a short Hangout can make a long-lasting connection with students. All speakers need is a webcam, an Internet connection and some time. You never know if they'll do it until you ask!

SITES

25. Share and discuss student work. By creating a site for student work - either individual student ePortfolios or a class site - you're giving your students' hard work at home online. You also give it a global audience. Anyone in the world can find and comment on their work. Sure beats writing for just the teacher - an audience of one.

26. Create a class or group Breakout EDU Digital. Like the choose your own adventure activity this will also take some serious planning and combines quite a few G Suite apps embedded in a Google Site. With Google Forms and data validation, students can create a digital version of the locked box and hasp from Breakout EDU then use presentations, drawings, docs or other puzzles making tools to create clues.

Be sure to check out this Wakelet collection of ready to play Breakout EDU Digital games for you and your students. It's a great idea to experience the game from a player's perspective before diving in and creating one of your own.

Mandi Tolen, a Missouri math teacher, and #DitchBook Twitter chat regular, created a Breakout EDU Digital game for her students. It's called, "Digital Breakout Data Cruncher."

She's a big fan of using Breakout EDU Digital to get kids excited about learning. "BreakoutEDU is a great 'hook' for a lesson," she said. " It provides opportunities for students to problem solve and persevere. While solving the Breakout, students will be learning about the content. It would also be amazing to have students create their own BreakoutEDU."

Mandi's steps:

You can create a digital BreakoutEDU using Googles Sites as the shell. By inserting a two column table onto the main page of your site and embedding a Google Form on one side and Google Drawing image on the other, you can create an exciting adventure for your students.

On the Google Form, you will insert a timer from YouTube (BreakoutEDU has one you can use or find another if you want less then 45 minutes) and make sure you validate each answer so students can't continue until they have entered the correct clue.

In Google Draw, create your image with invisible hotspots linking to the websites or clues. To create an invisible hotpot, create a shape on top of the image and change the line and fill to transparent. You can still insert a link into the invisible shape. Make sure its order is in the front. Have a few people test your BreakoutEDU to make sure they can solve the clues. You know what you intended but you want to make sure the clues aren't to difficult (or easy.)

Play "Digital Breakout Data Cruncher" here: https://sites.google.com/site/digitalbreakoutdatacruncher/

And check out Mandi's tutorial on making a Breakout EDU Digital game: https://infinitelyteaching.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/make-a-digital-breakoutedu/

Want some more guidance? Check out this guest blog post by Justin Birckbichler and Mari Venturino on creating and using Breakout EDU digital games in your classroom.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM

27. Share project resources. Students can use the stream in Google Classroom as a place for posting ideas and conversation - to list sites, articles, and ideas for a collaborative project.

28. Take a quick poll. Create a question in Google Classroom. You can create short answer or multiple choice questions and can also have students reply to one another.

29. Create a Frequently Asked Questions section (or document). Create an "anyone can edit" FAQ document for frequently asked questions. When any student asks a question, type your response (and the question) in the document. Or ask the student to type a summary of your answer in the document for other students! In fact, students can be encouraged to add questions their peers might come across with their own responses

30. Group activities. Google Classroom allows you to assign an activity to a group. Then, all the group members are all together in one place. You won't have to check and double check who is in which group.

What are other ways to use Google Apps to help students, teachers and others at schools collaborate? Which of these are you most apt to use? Share your ideas in a comment below!

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30 collaborative Google Apps activities for schools - Ditch That Textbook

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G Suite has revolutionized education. With its highly collaborative, online/offline format - and its attractive price tag (free!) it provides students and teachers with effective tools for a blended learning environment. The way that G Suite is interactive and easy to share is powerful.

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Google's Digital Literacy and Citizenship three-part curriculum is designed to teach students how to critically evaluate the validity of online sources, communicate appropriately via social networking sites, protect one's data and privacy, and build a positive digital reputation. Use the  resources of Google and the digital safety experts at iKeepSafe when integrating information literacy and digital safety lessons into their curriculum..Each course includes pre and post assessments, student activities, and is aligned with Common Core State Standards.

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All information courtesy of Chromebooks: A Resource Guide for BPS Educators

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Google Apps for Education Reference Guide

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Google Apps for Education Reference Guide

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Have a question about Google Apps? Below, are links to detailed walkthroughs of Drive and Docs, Gmail, Calendar, and Sites. Each guide contains step by step directions and screenshots, allowing you to learn GAFE inside and out and at your own pace.

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Google Apps For Education (GAFE) - Reference Guide

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Have a question about Google Apps? Of course you can Google your question and search for the answer, however Google's education training center provides in-depth reference guides covering all of...

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Google Docs Cheat  Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Google Docs Cheat  Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Contains Information such as
Sharing a Doc
Inserting Research and Citing a Resource
Revision History and Restoring a Doc

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Be able to implement Google Apps in meaningful  ways in the classroom to increase collaboration, efficiency and engagement.

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Google Slides Cheat Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Google Slides Cheat Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Contains Information such as
Create a New Presentation
Changing Backgrounds
Animation between Slides
Inserting Hyperlinks

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Google Drive Cheat Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Google Drive Cheat Sheet by @cogswell_Ben

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Contains Information such as
Posting an assignment from drive.
Assigning to individual students
Returning work

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Google Classrooom for Northgate Teachers

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Google Classrooom for Northgate Teachers

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Contains information such as
Introduction Video for Google Classroom
Teacher Login Information

Student Login Information
What if my student doesn’t have a Gmail account?
Google Classroom Cheat Seet by @cogswell_Ben