Lemon Tech Tidbits

I am so EXCITED to announce Google will soon be releasing an upgrade to Google Classroom called Originality Reports. “When students turn in a document, Assignments will check students’ text against hundreds of billions of web pages and tens of millions of books.” (Google)  “If you enable originality reports on an assignment, students can also check their work for authenticity (a limited number of times) to correct issues, turn in their best work, and save instructors time grading. Since both you and your students can see originality reports, they’re designed to help you teach your students about authenticity and academic integrity.” (Google) For more information, check out this announcement from Google itself: http://bit.ly/2U9XpVY An article in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning explains how to use this new feature. You can access this article here: http://bit.ly/33ZBPbc

The State of Kansas provides FREE databases for all students, teachers, and citizens to use for research. This year, the State has added a few new databases. These include: a mobile app to practice for tests such as the ACT or ASVAB with ebooks and flashcards Read It! A database designed for middle and high school students who have a basic foundation in English grammar and reading but need adapted reading material for a variety of subjects. US Newsstream which provides national and regional news sources from the U.S. Fold3, a resource for genealogists, historians, veterans and their families. Mailbox School & District which is a place for teachers to share lesson plans and worksheets World Almanac World News Digests which provides current event articles Ferguson Career Guidance Center Bloom’s Literature Issues and Controversies: which presents articles in pro/con format that are supported by statistics, timelines, and primary sources.

Jake Miller has an article titled Keyboard Shortcuts in Google Calendar . Before you begin, you will need to make sure you have enabled shortcuts. This is a GIF from Jake showing how: One of my favorite new tricks mentioned in the article is to simply type G whenever you want to Go To Date . No longer will I have to click on the months and then the date to see if I am busy or already have something scheduled. Now, it is one simple keystroke. Another wonderful keyboard shortcut it to type in / for a search bar to appear at the top. Now you can do a search for a particular event by name or activity and it will show you every date associated with that term. To see the complete list of keyboard shortcuts at any time, simply type in a question mark ? Here is another article from PC full of additional tips and tricks in Google Calendar.

Google recently announced the addition of new fonts called Lexend. These are available if you go to Fonts - More Fonts and then do a search. There are many different ones available to choose from. Once you select the one you like the most, it will be available for you whenever you want to change your fonts. SO WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL WITH LEXEND FONTS?  Lexend fonts were designed by Thomas Jockin to help improve reading speed and proficiency. To learn more about the research, see here for more details . For this post, I am using the Lexend Exa. You can compare it to the other fonts to see the difference in how it looks. One thing you may notice is a slightly larger spacing between the letters. The others Lexend fonts are Lexend Giga, Lexend Mega, Lexend Peta, Lexend Tera, and Lexend Zetta.

I am excited to get the school year started as I am sure you all are as well. For this Tech Tidbit, I want to share with you all of the latest updates concerning G Suite and other popular tech sites most of us use on a daily or weekly basis. Remember, my job is to HELP YOU! If you ever want more information or individualized help, just contact me. I love to collaborate with all classes too so if you are interested in incorporating one of these tools into your instruction, PLEASE let me know. Now without further ado….. Google Classroom Drag and Drop in the Classworks Tab! Yes! you can now drag and drop entire topics and individual Class Work items and rearrange them easily on the page. You can drag an entire topic to a specific location on the Classwork page, or drag individual items within—and in between—topics. New look and design. Recently, many G Suite products have been redesigned with a more intuitive look. Along with the new look, they have added 78 new themes you can cho...