Brenham Tech Daily [BISDwired]

Throwback Thursday: What Else Can My Google Sheet Do?

Brittni Branton

What else can my Google Sheet do?

The answer to the above question is a lot. Two simple Google Sheets tips that are overlooked is the "Explore" button and the "Calculate" button next to it.

1. Select data from your Sheet.
2. Click on the "Explore" button in the bottom right-hand corner.
3. It will populate graphs for you.
4. From there, you can insert the graphs and edit the graphs (change labels, change color, size, etc.).

The other tool that is overlooked is the one right beside the "Explore" button. Highlight data in your Sheet, and click on the button right next to the "Explore" button. You can also change it from "Sum" to another tool like count, average, min, or max.

Tech Tip Thursday: Locking Your Cells in Google Sheets

Have you ever shared a spreadsheet with a colleague, friend, parent, or student, and they messed up your columns or rows or changed up all the information or data? If we are honest, we all probably can think of that one time someone changed your spreadsheet. Most likely, it was probably a total accident, too.

Make sure you lock your rows, columns, and cells next time you create a spreadsheet! Then everyone can work in their assigned cell, row, or column.

Here’s how to do it-

1. Highlight your row or column or cell you want to protect.

2. Click on “Data” and “Protected Sheets and Ranges” from the menu on the top.

3. Title the data, and click “save permissions” and then check and uncheck who you want to be able to access that column. Click done to save changes.

You can do this for as many rows, columns, or cells that you want to.

7:26 AM 5/17/18 , cells , columns , google sheets , lock text , permissions , rows , Tech Tip Thursday

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Flexible Seating

Troy Kuhn

Measurable benefits of Flexible Seating are beginning to show in academic results such as these. There are many benefits such as student choice, easier collaboration, student focus, and reducing student anxiety with comfort. If you do a search for flexible classroom seating you'll find there are a plethora of ways you can make your classroom into a setting that works for both you and your students along with the traditional style of desks or tables. Below are just a few examples of some of the great styles seen throughout Brenham ISD.

But it doesn't have to be something drastic or costly.

Lowering the table legs with a rug and a few pillows,

turning your portable podium into a taller seating area,

using foldable lawn chairs around the room,

an older couch,

or just putting a rug or two in your room to let students work on the floor. Whichever style you choose to create in your classroom, you are creating a new place for your students to learn, grow, and succeed.

8:20 AM 9/18/18 , flexible seating , Teaching Tip Tuesday

Must Know Monday: Saving Those Emails Into Your Drive

Brittni Branton

Must Know Monday: Saving Those Emails Into Your Drive

This is a simple trick, but it seems to be forgotten easily. In our district, it is necessary to save your important emails because if you do not, then you will lose them in 180 days. Even in my personal Gmail, I save my important emails into Drive (and that account does not delete my emails).

Saving your emails keeps you organized.

Here's some examples of emails teachers save in their Drive:

When you need to find that parent email, you can find it easily in your Drive. When you need to find the directions on how to update your Chromebooks, it is in your Drive. When you need to remember directions to setting up gradebook that only happens at the beginning of the year, then you have the email from last year already saved in your Drive. When a student writes back to you a year later describing how much they learned from your class, then you are going to want to save that email to reference back to on a sad day.

Here's my directions on saving an email into your Drive:

Open the email you want to save, and click on the print button.
Change the destination to “Save to Google Drive.”
Click “Save” to save the email into Drive.
Go to your Drive, and find the email under “Recent.”
Right-click on the document you just added to Drive, and click "Rename" and give it a title to find it back easily.

*From this point, you can move the email into a folder.

7:30 AM 9/17/18 , drive , emails , gmail , Must Know Monday

Friday Follow Up: Inserting Slides Into Docs

Brittni Branton

Friday Follow Up: Inserting Slides Into Docs

(Source: https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2018/04/google-slides-linking-guides-rulers-commenting.html)

One of the nice, easy updates that Google made was the ability to insert Google Slides into your Google Docs. All you do is go to the slide you want to copy over and copy it (Ctrl + C or Edit-Copy). Then go to your Doc where you want to add the slide in. Paste it into document (Ctrl + V or Edit-Paste).

After showing this easy trick to the teachers, the teachers came up with some great ideas on how this can be utilized.

Copy the slides you actually were able to lecture/teach onto a Google Doc. That Google Doc can be shared and go to your student(s) that are in school suspension, off campus, or absent for extra curricular activities. That way they only see the slides you have gone over (pasted into Doc).
For your final review, you can make a review by copying and pasting only the slides being tested from multiple presentations into a Doc for the students to study.
Students who make Google Slides throughout the year can take slides from their various slide presentations and create a Doc that would be their portfolio of their best work throughout the year.

What ideas do you have in mind to try with this new update?

7:30 AM 9/14/18 , docs , Friday Follow Up , google , slides

Tweet Out Thursday: Classroom Review Competition and #AppleEvent

Troy Kuhn

You don't always have to go digital to review for tests in your classroom. And while teachers like Eddy Jezisek do use Chromebooks in many different types of instructional ways, sometimes it's you just have to have fun!
In Mr. J's class on test review days, a portable basketball game rolls in. Students are divided into two teams and whichever team answers the question correctly, they then get to shoot for a goal. The team with the most goals when the timer goes off wins.

If basketball isn't your style, then there's the velcro pitch board. Same concept, just different ways of scoring.
Winning teams get stickers that will be tallied at the end of the six weeks for various rewards. Way to be creative @BrenhamJHS

Also the big news on Twitter yesterday was the annual #AppleEvent where of course the latest in iPhones (like the iPhone Xs Max)

and Apple Watches were announced. While we are not a Mac/Apple district, many of us still are iOS users on our personal devices. If you are interested in their latest announcements you can check them out here. I for one would love the new Apple Watch 4 - so if you are reading this @Apple 😉😉

7:47 AM 9/13/18 , Tweet Out Thursday

Web Tool Wednesday: AudioPlayer Extension for Google Slides via the @edtechteam

Tom Spall

Web Tool Wednesday:

AudioPlayer Extension for Google Slides via the @edtechteam

This great extension is for all my Google Slide friends that have ALWAYS wanted/needed to add audio to their Google Slides. Well, the wait is over, check out AudioPlayer for Google Slides. This amazing extension is from the @edtechteam. Read more about it here, too: http://www.audioforslides.com/

What does it do? This extension allows you to pull mp3 audio files from your Google Drive and add them to your Google Slide Presentation. Contrary to the belief of some, this works for the whole presentation, not just some slides. They even have a RECORD feature which allows you, or your students, to record their voices and add to the presentation.

How awesome would this be:

Add recordings for reading passages, sentences, vocabulary words, etc.
Have students dictate their writing samples and/or presentations
ESL accommodations for students
Have students record audio for their "About Me" slide, or end of the year slide, or mothers day slide.
Take snips of a test, add to your slides, and record your test for your students.
A digital recipe book, and record your audio talking through procedural directions
ETC...

1:30 AM 9/12/18 , audio , AudioPlayer , chrome extension , edtechteam , Extension , google slides , mp3 , Music

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Using Pictures in the Classroom

Tom Spall

Teaching Tip Tuesday:

Using Pictures in the Classroom

Pictures are great to use during the school year, especially during the first couple of weeks to match faces with names. An amazing educator in our district, Chelsea Riley, uses class photos to help her with classroom procedures, discipline, and behavior.

Above, Chelsea uses class photos to highlight the day and month of each students birthday. Below, Chelsea uses student photos when assigning job duties to her students. This procedure helps students learn who other students are. Also, helps make everything in her room much more visual and easier to comprehend.

How do you incorporate photos in your class? Let us know on Twitter with the hashtag #bisdwired or share with us at @BISDwiredTeam

5:30 PM 9/11/18 , behavior , Classroom management , jobs , photos

Must Know Monday- What Tool Was That?

Brittni Branton

Must Know Monday- What Tool Was That?

Have you ever wanted to use a tech tool, but couldn't remember the name of it? Or, do you remember how the tool works, but cannot remember which tool it is? If you answered yes to the questions above, then you are not alone. It gets confusing when there are so many tools out there. I made a chart and picked a few tools that commonly get mixed up.

*Click on chart image to go to chart with links.

7:30 AM 9/10/18 , flippity , Formative , kahoot , Must Know Monday , Quizizz , Quizlet Live , tools

Fab Find Friday: Yo Teach! backchannel

Troy Kuhn

Online backchannels are great tools to use when presenting or giving all of your students a chance to speak. The #BISDWired team's favorite was TodaysMeet until that service ended. A new free online backchannel, Yo Teach! - is now promoting itself as

To get started, simply name your backchannel room and give it a description.

Then click and check Avoid Search to keep outsiders from entering your backchannel room. Also, click Enable Admin Features and then create a Room Entry Password so only your students or audience can enter.

The Admin Feature lets you mute or remove anyone from the room, as well letting you keep track of which guests have spoken in the backchannel and how often.

As far as a being a participant in the backchannel, one feature that sets Yo Teach! above TodaysMeet is the ability to add images and even draw responses.

Overall, Yo Teach! looks clean and easy to use. Give it a try.

8:03 AM 9/7/18 , Fab Find Friday , yo teach

T-TESS Thursday: Putting Your SMART Goals in Eduphoria

Brittni Branton

SMART Goals in Eduphoria

It is that time of the year to put your SMART goals into Eduphoria. In Brenham ISD, our goals are due September 14th.

Here's how to put your goals into Eduphoria:

Do you remember how to write a SMART goal? Please read our previous blog post on how to create a SMART goal.

https://brenhamtechdaily.blogspot.com/2016/09/t-tess-thursday-creating-smart-goal.html

7:30 AM 9/6/18 , Eduphoria , Goals , SMART goals , T-TESS Thursday

Web Tool Wednesday: Insert a BUTTON into Google Sites

Tom Spall

Web Tool Wednesday:

Insert a BUTTON into Google Sites

Straight from the G Suite Update Blog:
goo.gl/xrpLjd

August 29, 2018

We’re making it easy to add buttons to the new Google Sites. These are clickable graphics which link to other content within your site or at an external URL. Users often click on buttons more frequently than they click on in-line hyperlinks, so they are a good way to guide people to important content. For example, you could add a “Contact Us” button to encourage users to get in touch with you.

Buttons will automatically match the color scheme and theme of your site and can be resized easily through the interface. This will help you:

Make your site easier to navigate
Increase the visibility of important links
Keep your site looking consistent and attractive

Now that you can add buttons with just a few clicks, we hope you’ll be able to more easily create attractive sites which guide users to relevant content. Visit our Help Center to learn more about how to add, edit, or delete buttons.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

2:00 PM 9/5/18 , button , google , google sites , link , Wednesday

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Morning Meetings, Huddles, Coffee Breaks, and More!

Tom Spall

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Morning Meetings, Huddles, Coffee Breaks and More!

Call it what you want: morning meetings, huddles, or coffee breaks, no matter the name, these morning meetings are beneficial for both the teacher and the students. These meetings are especially imperative after extended breaks/holidays. This morning, while observing classrooms, I was able to join this morning meeting in Mrs. Kubos' 4th-grade classroom. Mrs. Kubos usually holds these morning meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings as a beginning of the week, middle checkpoint, and end of the week wrap up.

"It's a great way to talk with them and build relationships"

-Mrs. Kubos (4th Grade ELAR, Brenham ISD)

There are many versions of morning meetings. Some are had throughout morning centers with small groups, some are held as a campus in a central location, and some are in the classroom like Mrs. Kubos' class.

Coffee Break in Mr. Spall's room

Back when I was teaching 4th grade at Alton Elementary School, we used to do informal morning meetings prior to the beginning of the school day. Students would come into my classroom usually around 7:15, grab their Chromebook and work on genius hour passion projects or check their Gmail for messages sent by myself, peers, or our amazing administration. Students could collaborate in groups, work independently, come converse with me while I prepped for the day, or work anywhere around the classroom while sitting in my alternative seating (couches, bean bags, etc.) Eventually, I started having students bring in their own breakfast and coffee. This extra 45 minutes every morning gave my students the ability to:

Become acquainted with their Chromebooks and G-Suite while working on their "Interest Projects"
Gave them an opportunity to comfortably conversate and collaborate with peers
Took away the stress of "home life/baggage from outside the room" prior to the 8:00 am bell.
Allowed my students to work with less used G-Suite Elementary Ed tools, such as Gmail, Calendar, Chrome, Extensions, Apps, and more.
Practiced their typing skills
Got them intrigued and excited about learning for the day
Gave me the ability to see struggling students and/or shy students excel in other avenues of education.
Allowed me the opportunity to talk to the students, find out how they were doing, and get them situated for the day.
Coffee Break preso from the Texas Google Summit 2015

Morning Huddle (Whole Campus)

I first experienced a "whole campus" morning huddle while working up in Oklahoma City Public Schools. Most of the schools had gone through a program called, "Great Expectations". One of their core beliefs was to have schools hold morning huddles (Rise and Shine) as an entire campus at the beginning of each school day. This idea transferred down to Alton Elementary School here in Brenham ISD. Mr. Ogg, the Principal of Alton, has been implementing morning huddles for a couple of years now. The students LOVE it. They go over announcements, say the pledges, congratulate various student accomplishments, celebrate birthdays, and much more!

1:20 PM @lyndseykubos , @principalogg , 9/4/18 , coffee break , genius hour , great expecations , meetings , morning huddle , PBL

Fab Find Friday: Classroom Ideas

Brittni Branton

Fab Find Friday: Classroom Ideas

Teachers are creative with their rooms, and each school year, it seems like the teachers come up with even more clever ideas for their classroom. Check out just a few of the classroom ideas I found around our high school.

It is no secret that our students always need extra pencils. Mrs. Cloud gets the small golf pencils (cheaper and go a longer way). After using these for a few days, your student may just find where they left their pencil.

Check out Ms. Ciabocchi’s reading corner. This small area is a great way for students to feel comfortable when reading.

This is Mrs. Ross’s charging station. Students can charge their devices at her nice charging station.

This simple container has been an awesome classroom management tool in Mrs. Featherston’s, Mrs. Fielding’s, Mr. Barber’s, and Mrs. Ruiz’s rooms. The students put their phone in the middle of the table in the container. The phones stay in the container the whole period. If it rings while in the container, they don’t get in trouble, they just turn it off.

Do you have any other classroom ideas? Please share with us.

7:30 AM 8/31/18 , classroom , Fab Find Friday , ideas , tips , tricks

The 5 "V's" For Building Positive Relationships With Your Students

Tom Spall

The 5 "V's" For Building Positive Relationships With Your Students

The beginning of the school year is here! It's time to brush off that old playbook, and bust out an amazing gameplan!

Building positive relationships and trust with your students at the beginning of the school year will help ensure successful instruction, discipline, communication, and mediation with that student during both the good and bad moments of their educational journey this year.

We have laid out a solid back-to-school gameplan for you with our list of 5 "V's" you can use to build positive relationships with your students.

Vent

Give students time to vent. We all come to school with extra baggage, emotions, and frustrations. Sit down with the student, get rid of any distractions (grading papers, or being on your phone) and truly listen to the student. Allow them to open up to you, even if this means teaching them how to control their frustrations and discuss them in a calm manner. We all want to be heard, sometimes we just need an educator to listen.

Validation

Students don't just want validation, they need it. Providing students validation teaches them empathy... something that is extremely difficult to teach students. Providing validation at times will model empathy, build trust, and show that you care. One of the best articles I've read recently was from Jennifer Gonzalez (@cultofpedagogy) via her blog, Cult Of Pedagogy. She discussed, providing excellent examples, the "Magic of Validation". Jennifer states in her post,

"Validation is the act of recognizing and affirming the feelings or perspective of another person. It’s acknowledging that these thoughts and feelings are true for that person. It’s a very simple, astoundingly fast way to make progress in a conversation: It eases tension, builds trust, and gets you and the other person to a solution more quickly."

Victories

True, in my opinion, not every child should get a ribbon. But students still need minor victories to feel successful in school. Whether that's celebrating their work, allowing moments to teach the class something, or tell about a recent story/success, give them a victory and let them feel accomplished. In my class, we had a "cheer box" with cheers on laminated cardstock. Even my most difficult students couldn't pass up the opportunity of receiving a class cheer for answering a question right or following a procedure they finally conducted correctly. I wrote about these class cheers in a blog post last February, here:

Top 5 Ways to Enrich Your Classroom Without Technology

Valued

When building positive relationships with your students, remember that they need to feel valued. Students need to feel as if they are a part of the school, they need to feel included, and they need to know that they are an integral part of the class. Give them a class job, have students provide positive comments and feedback to each other (digitally or non-digitally). Greet them at the door every morning with a smile and a greeting. Tell them how happy you are that they are a part of your class. Call on them during class instruction, listen to their thoughts and opinions, and make positive phone calls home acknowledging to their guardians that their child is valued in your class.

Voice

Lastly, allow your students to have a voice! Listen and let them talk when needed. Give them voice and choice when it comes to their learning and engagement with digital and non-digital learning menus. Allow them to talk, collaborate, and share in groups. Students need to feel heard, be heard and have a voice in class discussions, decisions, and their education.

8:15 PM 5 v's , 8/30/18 , building relationships , relationships , validation , valued , vent , victories , voice

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Brenham Tech Daily [BISDwired]

Throwback Thursday: What Else Can My Google Sheet Do?

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Flexible Seating

Must Know Monday: Saving Those Emails Into Your Drive

Friday Follow Up: Inserting Slides Into Docs

Tweet Out Thursday: Classroom Review Competition and #AppleEvent

Web Tool Wednesday: AudioPlayer Extension for Google Slides via the @edtechteam

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Using Pictures in the Classroom

Must Know Monday- What Tool Was That?

Fab Find Friday: Yo Teach! backchannel

T-TESS Thursday: Putting Your SMART Goals in Eduphoria

Web Tool Wednesday: Insert a BUTTON into Google Sites

Teaching Tip Tuesday: Morning Meetings, Huddles, Coffee Breaks, and More!

Fab Find Friday: Classroom Ideas

The 5 "V's" For Building Positive Relationships With Your Students

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