Author: Mark Salzer

Some new Google updates and features

slides.google.com released a number of updated templates, in Google Slides, access templates using the top toolbar or by going to Insert > Templates. Visit the Help Center to learn more about templates in Google Slides.

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

Star rating in Google Forms – you can now insert a “star rating” question in Google Forms.

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

eSignature available to collect in both Google docs and PDFs within Google Drive

eSignature offers a variety of features to help you streamline requesting and capturing signatures, helping you stay organized and keep your work moving along. Specifically, you can:

Request eSignatures, including signatures from more than one user and from non-Gmail users.
View the status of pending signatures and find completed contracts.
Keep contract templates to initiate multiple eSignature requests.
View an audit trail of completed contracts.
Use custom text fields to request additional information from signers, such as job titles, email addresses and more.

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

Google Lens now built within Google Chrome allows you to quickly take a snapshot of anything in the browser and get more info (see example at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/J1dQSiBMrPk)

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

New Adobe Express Add-on for Google Slides
Install the Adobe Express add-on for Google Slides and get access to lightweight creative tools that let you edit images, visually enhance presentations, and create flyers, infographics, & more. Adobe Express for Education is the quick & easy content creation app from Adobe — free for K-12. visit https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/adobe_express_for_google_slides/682264952061

Misc sites for your consideration

In no particular order…

https://bioart.niaid.nih.gov/ Build figures, presentations, and illustrations with 2,000+ science and medical art visuals

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/ Google’s phishing quiz to help us be more vigilant when it comes to emails

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://sethideclercq.com/teachingtools/ assorted teacher tools created with minimalistic design principles in mind

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://artsandculture.google.com/art-zoom-out with the help of generative AI, Google helps you Zoom Out and envision what might lie beyond the frame of iconic paintings.

https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/2gFc5DkygEURfw Art Remix puts your AI prompting to the test, presenting artworks alongside a prompt that describes them, challenging you to edit the prompt and imagine the work with your own twist.

https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/food-mood/HwHnGalZ3up0EA food mood combinations

https://artsandculture.google.com/project/uslatinocultures explore Latino cultures in the US

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

http://www.gearsket.ch/ a fun, simple web app for experimenting with gears

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://labs.google/gentype uses AI to generate custom fonts using everyday object directions other labs https://labs.google/experiments might be of interest too

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://blog.google/technology/ai/notebooklm-audio-overviews/ reviews audio summations of sources you submit in notebooklm.google.com

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://www.sonicentric.com/ relaxing, themed videos

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://noises.online/ simple noise generator

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://sandtimer.toolten.io/ if you want a digital hourglass with lots of customization options

*****~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~—–~~~~~*****

https://www.canva.com/designschool/courses/teacher-essentials/?lesson=welcome-teacher-essentials Canva teacher essentials

Barely a week away, sharing a reminder – thanks!

We hope you enjoy your winter break, arriving just eight days from now! Before you leave next Friday afternoon…

WOULD YOU PLEASE SECURE ALL VALUABLES in the classrooms and office spaces you inhabit. This includes laptops, document cameras, Apple TVs, remotes, and interactive pens.

Further, if it is equipment you handle, would you please make sure all iPads and Chromebooks are in their carts and those CARTS ARE LOCKED and plugged in before leaving.

Finally, would you please also POWER OFF any of the following equipment, if it is equipment you handle:

projectors
sound amps
SmartBoards
desktop computers
monitors
printers

THANK YOU for your cooperation.

Tech break checklist

Linewize Content Filtering on P-CCS Google Accounts

The district’s adoption of Linewize provides several advantages for our students, staff, and families. We have streamlined our content filtering process, leading to a more user-friendly experience and simplified troubleshooting. Our educators can now leverage Classwize for digital classroom management across various devices (Chromebooks, MacBooks, and Windows) and have the ability to customize classroom-specific filtering rules (within established parameters). Furthermore, Qustodio empowers families to monitor their students’ online activities outside of school hours, even on personal devices, promoting a safer digital environment.

An additional advantage of Linewize is our ability to implement filtering rules based on user accounts, not just devices. This means P-CCS Google accounts will have content filtering applied whether they are used on district-owned or personal devices. When students or staff log into the Chrome browser with their P-CCS Google account, the Linewize extension is automatically installed, ensuring that the district’s filtering policies are applied within that browser window. It’s important to note that these filtering rules only apply to activity within the Chrome browser while signed into a P-CCS Google account.

Users can browse without Linewize content filtering on a personal device by signing out of their P-CCS Google account in Chrome, creating a separate Chrome profile not associated with their P-CCS account, or using a different web browser altogether.

Please note that signing into the Chrome browser is different than signing into any Google website. Signing into Chrome syncs your browsing data and settings, while signing into a Google website only grants access to that specific site and other Google websites.

REMC October courses can support your new school year initiatives

REMC courses are designed to enhance your teaching toolkit and foster engagement and student learning. Whether you’re looking to inspire your classroom with innovative teaching methods or simply want to refresh your approach, REMC courses provide the perfect opportunity.

With the convenience of virtual learning, you can complete these courses from the comfort of your home, at a time that fits your schedule. Plus, upon completion, you’ll earn 10 FREE SCECHs!

Registration deadline is Thursday, October 3rd, each course begins on Monday, October 7th. Thanks to the generous support of REMC SAVE’s vendor partners, all courses are FREE and there are no SCECH fees. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to expand your skill set and strengthen your classroom!

Register for October courses here:

Register by Thursday, October 3rd. You will receive a welcome email with the course information prior to the course start date. If you have questions or need further assistance with your course registration, please click here.

MISTAR-Q: Supportive Training for (New) Teachers

Registration is open for Q ACADEMY: TEACHER EDITION (formerly Monarch)
Aug 26 through Dec 2, 2024
Registration fee: $0

Teachers are invited to participate in Q Academy: Teacher Edition, an asynchronous online course formerly known as Monarch. While this course is rebranded and reorganized, the learning activities remain the same as Monarch.

Working online at your own pace, you will complete activities designed to increase your skill and knowledge of MISTAR teacher apps including Class Attendance, Grade Book, Seating Chart, generating reports, and more. This course is especially beneficial for teachers new to MISTAR.

You may earn between 1.0 and 17.5 SCECHs, depending on which topics are completed by Dec 2, 2024. At least two topics must be completed to qualify for SCECHs and you may select which topics to complete:

Should I register for Q Academy if I previously participated in Monarch?
The activities are the same – if you completed Monarch, you completed all content in Q Academy. If you participated in Monarch but did not complete the course, you are welcome to register for Q Academy but your progress will not transfer from Monarch.

Please register only if you fully intend to participate as there is high demand for this course.

Some Google for Education newsletter highlights

Stay Connected Over Summer Break with Applied Digital Skills
Our Stay Connected Over Summer Break Collection features engaging lessons that include creating a digital scrapbook, a vision board and much more. While on summer break, this collection helps students learn valuable digital skills while having fun!

Arts & Culture: Portland
Explore the history and culture of Portland in an extensive new resource launched in collaboration with 16 local cultural organizations.

Arts & Culture: Musical Canvas
Encouraging creativity through drawing and music: Musical Canvas is a new experiment by Google Arts & Culture which will generate a soundtrack to your drawing with the help of Google AI.

Arts & Culture: America’s Chinatowns
Discover a new cultural hub celebrating the heritage and impact of Chinatowns with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and 14 cultural organizations , on Google Arts & Culture.

Generative AI for Educators is Now Available

In collaboration with MIT RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education), Grow with Google created the Generative AI for Educators course to help teachers save time and enhance student learning with generative AI tools. Learn more.

Explore AI with Applied Digital Skills

We’ve refreshed our Discover AI in our Daily Life lesson by integrating new generative AI concepts throughout the lesson to enhance student engagement! Additionally, we made the popular Verse by Verse extension a core video in the lesson, allowing students to flex their creativity and compose an AI-generated poem.

Arts & Culture: Freshwater, Our Most Precious Resource

Discover startling facts about freshwater, explore an interactive experiment created with data from NASA, and learn how our shared heritage is affected. Understand how we can use water more wisely and how to help protect the planet’s life sustaining ecosystems.

Arts & Culture: Kelp, The Invisible Forest

Discover the underwater ecosystem, home to endangered Giant Kelp forests filled with an array of unique species and wildlife. Expert stories, scientific research, stunning photographs, videos and a lesson plan, makes this an underwater journey for the whole class to explore.

Arts & Culture: Food of Egypt

Explore Egyptian culture and history through its culinary heritage with this new immersive digital experience for those hungry for a taste of Egypt, featuring high-resolution photographs, dozens of expert stories and videos.

Arts & Culture: Rewild the World

Learn about wildlife conservation with Rewild the World, an interactive game developed with the World Wildlife Fund and bringing focus to four threatened species and their habitats: tigers, gorillas, polar bears, and sea turtles.

Black Culture and the Performing Arts

Explore Google Arts & Culture’s new Performing Arts hub, which celebrates Black excellence in the performing arts, from dance to music to theater.

Arts & Culture: Embark on an art-filled quest in The Forever Labyrinth

This new immersive experience invites learners and players to explore and learn about art up-close and to discover unexpected cross cultural connections within an interactive world.

See past issues or sign up for the Google Education Newsletter.

Free REMC courses in June

June is a great time to fast-track your learning and accelerate your skill development!

Are you looking to enhance your classroom engagement and equip yourself with valuable tech skills? Take advantage of a FREE REMC course designed to empower educators like you with innovative tools and strategies to boost student success and foster an interactive learning environment. All June courses offer 10 FREE SCECHs and can be taken from the convenience of your home and when the time is right for you.

Registration deadline is Thursday, May 30th, each course begins on Monday, June 3rd. Thanks to the generous support of REMC SAVE’s vendor partners, all courses are FREE and there are no SCECH fees. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to expand your skill set and revitalize your classroom!

Check out June 2024 courses here:

Register by Thursday, May 30th. You will receive a welcome email with the course information prior to the course start date. If you have questions or need further assistance with your course registration, please click here.

Access to Microsoft Office 365 desktop apps ending in August

Earlier this month, Microsoft notified our district that they would be ending our access to Microsoft Office 365 desktops apps when they retire our licensing program (Office 365 A1 Plus) on August 1, 2024. Their announcement impacts all school districts with the same licensing. While we shared with them our frustration for the short notice, they aren’t changing the retirement date. After August 1st, staff that have downloaded and installed Office 365 versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will find those programs no longer work. You can identify if you have an impacted program by launching one of those programs and looking in the top right corner for your name and initials. If you see your name and are signed in, you have a program that will stop working in August. See this pic for a sense of where to look in Word.

Some options post August 1st for those impacted.

Use the Google Workspace for Apps (Recommended). As a Google Workshop for Education district, it is strongly recommended that staff use Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. All of these apps (and more) are available through Google Drive.
You can still use Microsoft Office 365 online since that licensing remains. Browse to portal.office.com and sign in using your email address and network (not Google) password.
Use a free office suite alternative, such as Libre Office, which is available in the Company Portal for those that want to download and have installed a desktop office suite. Libre Office is highly compatible with Microsoft Office documents. It can open and edit all of the Microsoft Office file formats, as well as save in those same file formats. See this video guidance for how to set it up to natively load and save in Office formats.
Departments/schools interested in purchasing licensing for Office 2021 for one or more of their staff can submit a service request so our department can work with the requester on their purchase and our installation. Current REMC pricing for Office Standard runs through June. The new purchase price will be updated in July (see here for July and beyond pricing).

FREE Summer PD from Teq

Make your summer learning fun and convenient with Teq’s free, virtual PD! Check out their great lineup of courses for everything from brushing up on basics to exploring cutting-edge edtech. Free to register/attend and space is limited, so snag your spot early!

Sign up for any course, a series, or join them for all! Topics include:

• Google: Transitioning away from Jamboard; Gemini AI tool; and getting started or learning advanced skills with Google for Education apps like Docs, Classroom, and Slides.

• Lumio: Get started with SMART’s online lesson delivery platform or take your skills to the next level.

• Blended Learning: Brush up your blended learning skills and learn some new tools with either our beginner course or the advanced course.

• Administrator: Start your school year off right before it begins with administrator-focused PD.

• Minecraft EDU: Learn how to implement Minecraft EDU in your class or school and how to content it across content areas.

• Getting Started with CSDF: Learn how best to align to the new Computer Science and Digitial Fluency standards.

• Microsoft for PBL: Discover how to use Microsoft tools to deliver memorable PBL.

• Tinkercad: Learn how to use Tinkercad to help students create amazing 3D designs and prints.