Lemon Tech Tidbits

Yesterday, during our technology session, Mrs. Thornton shared information she had learned in a TikToc about how to use the Google Classroom phone app to randomly pick a student. It is a virtual popsicle stick. The video can be found at https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJUotYoX/ If you are worried about watching the video on TikTok, I noticed that Alice Keeler’s new blog post is about the same thing. You can find it here. I did notice that lately, there seems to be a lot of ads on her blog. So if you would like to just see her video, you can click here .

There is a very active GEG (Google Education Group) in Ohio and every few months, they get together and release a ton of information. You can access all of it from the blog by Eric Curtis titled Control Alt Achieve. I wanted to share with you one of the resources I found that I believe every student and parent should have access to and that is their Google Jr. Training Series. This website contains so many helpful (and very short) videos showing how to do all of the simple things we ask students to do in G Suite every day. For example, make a copy of a Google Doc , use the Explore tool in Google Slides , how to write an Email , and much much more.

A new update (actually restored tool) in Google will allow users an easy way to add, format and manage citations within the document itself. Using this new feature, you can add citations in APA or MLA format. To get started, simply go to TOOLS and then select Citations. Next, select the source type and type in the information needed into the boxes. When you are finished, you simply select Add citation source. All of the citations will then appear in a menu on the right-hand side. When you are finished, you simply need to select Insert Bibliography. Here is a quick video on this new updated feature: https://youtu.be/Pe9ZpjxDjbU Other updates Google Drive trash items will be automatically deleted after 30 days. There has been a tweak to make things look better on line spacing due to different fonts. Sharing now provided with people who do not have a G account. They will be able to view, comment, and edit using a pin code.

What is Fishbowl? Fishbowl is a new professional networking app made for professionals in different fields to anonymously share information with each other. There is a Fishbowl group created just for teachers.  Why use it? Fishbowl may sound like any other social media network but it was designed in a unique way to provide communities with discussions that matter the most to those who participate. When you sign up to be a user, you do need to verify your identity but once you do, all post and comments are made anonymously. This allows you to ask more sensitive questions to the group. Fishbowl was created as a safe place for teachers. All community members have been verified as teachers in order to join. It was created as a place to share information with each other and to make connections with others in the same field. You can download the app from both the Google Play store or the Apple Store.

I was looking for a blog post that I felt would be the most helpful this week and came across this one from Alice Keeler. I know that we are all super busy right now but this is one of those things that if you take a little bit of time, will actually save you a lot of frustration down the line. In this blog post , Alice shares a way to quickly organize your Google Drive to make it easier to find exactly what you need. Her suggestion is to create a folder and name it Hot Mess. Once you have the folder, drag everything in My Drive into that folder. Once you are done, think about how you wished your Google Drive was organized. Create folders you think you will need. Finally, go into the Hot Mess folder and move in the files and folders to where you want them. Alice provides a few tricks to help you get started. Finally, she reminds you to Star any folders or files you use all of the time to make it easier to find. While the blog post has some good information, I would like to add some of...

A wonderful way to take a PDF worksheet and convert it into an online activity they can complete. Most of us have found a great resource we want to use but it is in a PDF or Microsoft Word format. We can try to upload it into Google Drive - right-click - convert it to Google Docs but often the formatting is all wrong. We could put it as the background of a Google Slide but sometimes, the image becomes blurry or there are other issues in the way. With TeacherMade, a FREE service developed by a former teacher, there is a new and easier way. In fact, it is so easy, I was able to take a worksheet, convert it over, share it to Google Classroom, have Chappy complete and return it to me all in under five minutes. Here is a quick video tutorial over getting started using TeacherMade. She goes over each step individually. In my quick tutorial , I am going to show you how you can share your worksheet with your students in Google Classroom. Finally, if you want to see a few more videos over Teach...

Many studies have been done over how important it is for students to have regular “brain breaks” where they get up and move around. Here are few places to go to find ready-to-use activities perfect for elementary students. 25 Brain Break Videos for the Classroom by Janesse Fletcher from Education to the Core. Go Noodle : One of my favorite websites to use for younger students. There are plenty of short videos for students to get up and move around. Wheel of Fitness : spin the wheel to find out what activity you need to do. Try to do it for a count of ten. (good for older students) FitBoost: From Stanford comes this interactive activity to help get kids more active. Simply click on the button that says “Let’s Go” and it will spin and show you a warm-Up, move, and cool-down activity with a timer (one second for each section). KidzBobShuffle: Have older students? Why not have them try to learn a new dance move?

     Today, I discovered a blog post from Nick’s Picks for Educational Technology over how to create and use a virtual waiting room for either Zoom or Google Meet. I thought this was a great idea so decided to share it with you. In the post, Nick provides a few templates as well as step-by-step instructions on how to publish a presentation to the web so it automatically plays. Since I know everyone is super busy right now, I decided to create one for you to use with Zoom! Please take a look at the presentations below. Remember, these are templates so you are more than welcome to customize them to better suit your classroom. High School Middle School Elementary School

Bitmoji is having a moment in the world of education right now. Everyone seems to be obsessed with the Chrome extension creating banners, virtual classrooms, and more. I admit it can be fun and a little bit addicting. However, it can also be time-consuming and frustrating. This is especially true when you find yourself spending a lot of time trying to find the right Bitmoji character. Well, Jillian Graham , an educator on the Facebook group Bitmoji Craze for Educators, has put together a slide presentation showing you what terms to use to find exactly what you want.  Want to go a step further? How about making a talking Bitmoji. I found the best way is to use an app on my phone called MyTalkingPet . Follow the instructions on this youtube video . How about a 3D Bitmoji dancing, clapping, or drinking coffee? Well, follow the instructions on this video to find out how you can download one to insert into a Google Doc, Slides presentation, Sites, etc.

From Matt Miller , author of DitchThatTextbook blog, comes an article where he shares ready-to-use PowerPoint Presentations and other ideas to use in your classroom to add some spice. Some of them include “Snapchat” games, Infographics, Instagram stories, and sticky notes. I know what you are thinking...these are POWERPOINTS and we use G Suite for Education. No problem….all you have to do is drag a Powerpoint into your Google Drive, do a right-click, and select Open With Google Slides. This will convert your Powerpoint into a Google Slides presentation. (There may be some minor format issues you will need to change). Don’t want to convert a Powerpoint every single time you find one? Simple. Go to Settings in Google Drive (Click on the gear - select settings). Make sure you have a checkmark in the box that says Convert Uploads. Now, every time you upload a Powerpoint or Microsoft Word document, it will automatically convert it over for you.

Google Chrome is a search engine that works the best for all applications regarding G Suite for Education. There are many different tips and tricks. Instead of sharing them all, I created a document that only has my favorite tips I believe all teachers should know. Some have a hyperlink to a GIF demonstrating the tip. You can see the list here. In my opinion, one of the best things about using Google Chrome over Safari and Firefox are Chrome Extensions. These little “shortcuts” make life so much easier. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different Chrome Extensions you can use. Everyone has their favorites and below are the ones I swear by. Bit.ly : a url shortener Screencastify : video casting of your screen. Save to Google Drive Save to Keep : notetaking tool Bitmoji Just Read : get rid of everything but the text on a website MyBib : easy citation creator