You can now mark a paragraph to always begin on a new page with the new “Add page break before” option in Google Docs. This is particularly useful if you want certain paragraph styles to always create a new page such as titles, subtitles, or headings. This also means that you can import and export Microsoft Word and other third-party documents that have “Page break before” applied to paragraphs and Docs will retain that formatting.
Starting December 1, 2021: owners and collaborators of classic Google sites will no longer be able to edit any remaining classic Google Sites in our domain. Starting January 1, 2022: classic Google Sites will no longer be viewable unless they are converted to new Google Sites. If you own a classic Google site in our domain and wish to have your content remain viewable after January 1st, at some point before the new year browse to https://sites.google.com/classicsitesmanager and initiate the conversion process.
In some cases we note there are some teacher sites that receive hundreds of views a month even though they haven’t been edited in a year or more, so will suggest you review your site’s stats before possibly deciding to skip converting it. For those with lots of page views on dated sites, if you decide to convert to permit continued visitor access, you may want to at least edit your site by adding links for visitors to follow to also access content you are now more involved in curating on Canvas or elsewhere.
On November 4 from 1:00-1:30 PM EST, Flipgrid Live will be hosting Amanda Gorman and Loren Long. Amanda Gorman will read from her new picture book Change Sings and discuss the ideas in it. The illustrator will also talk about his creation process. You can go here to sign up to watch with your class live or on-demand.
Check out the Flipgrid’s Discovery Library to find a number of topics to help your students prepare for the event. You can also see other upcoming events or access past events here: https://blog.flipgrid.com/upcomingflipgridliveevents. Many of the presenters help provide “windows and mirrors” for the students in our classrooms.
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About Flipgrid Live Events – Take your learners on an adventure with Flipgrid Live Events without ever leaving the comfort of your classroom, home, or wherever you learn! These free virtual field trips feature authors, scientists, humanitarians, and creators sharing their passions from all over the world, even from the bottom of the sea!
Over the weekend, you may have noticed a few updates to Canvas:
To keep up-to-date on upcoming Canvas updates or to view more information about these updates, visit this website: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Releases/tkb-p/canvas-release
Canva is a free online tool that educators can use that has an extensive library of images, templates, worksheets, presentations, etc. Recently they announced the ability to not only add video, but also the ability to edit videos and collaborate on videos. If you are interested in more information on Canva, and/or if you are interested in learning more about Canva, there will be an asynchronous course available to learn Canva on the PD day(November 2nd).
For a brief tutorial on the video editor, and its capabilities, we are including a video down below – see also our last blog post about Canva and how to access it HERE:
Take the quiz: How vulnerable are you to cyber threats?
Are you putting the district or yourself at risk without knowing it? This security assessment will help you identify whether your cyber knowledge is up to par – or if you could use a little refresher. Take the next five minutes to see where you stand.
Every month tweaks and changes occur in one or more of our Google apps. Here are two of this month’s.
Create meeting notes in Google Calendar. Available starting in late October, quickly start and share a meeting notes document for your Calendar events.
Add image watermarks in Google Docs. You can now add image watermarks directly into Google Docs.
STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ is the global online safety awareness campaign to help all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online. They have a large collection of posters, tip sheets, and videos that you can use to promote good online safety practices. They maintain a resource page with tip sheets to posters to videos and more, to help you stay safer and more secure online and better protect your personal information. All of these resources are free to use, download and share at home, at work and in the community. We have embedded two of the many videos they have below. Here’s also a link to one of their advice posters.
Free Lesson Plans
Google for Education’s Applied Digital Skills lesson library includes a couple of lesson plans that align with Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
October is Cybersecurity month. How can you facilitate student learning about this topic? BrainPOP has videos and accompanying lessons for grades 3-12. Teachers of younger learners can check out BrainPOP Jr for more appropriate videos and lessons. P-CCS has a K-12 subscription to BrainPOP products and they are accessible via Clever. Check out this lesson on information privacy.
The TextHelp PDF Reader has officially been reborn as OrbitNote!
Earlier this summer, the Texthelp PDF Reader was updated and became OrbitNote. This update included a new look & easier onboarding. P-CCS students & staff have access to all the PREMIUM features of OrbitNote detailed below.
If you’re not familiar with it yet, OrbitNote allows staff & students to transform and interact with PDFs and digital documents in a completely different way. It helps to create an accessible, dynamic and collaborative space that works for everyone.
You & your students can use OrbitNote to:
There is NO ACTION required for students or staff who were already using the PDF Reader; the new OrbitNote extension auto-updated. Students and staff may have to update permissions with the first use of the new tool.
Staff who have not used the Texthelp PDF Reader in the past will need to install the extension here.
For more information about using OrbitNote, including Canvas LMS integration, go to the RW4G@PCCS website: https://bit.ly/PCCS-OrbitNote
The new OrbitNote Quick Reference Guide is available here.
Videos: https://text.help/orbitvids
Technical Support: https://support.texthelp.com
You might also want to check out this video of OrbitNotes used in Canvas and/or a comprehensive overview of many of TextHelp’s features:
OrbitDoc (now OrbitNotes) used in Canvas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmEWuu-YxoY