Sunday 2 December 2018

G Gems 30: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„

It's December 2nd and this is the first chance I've had since half-term to sit a write anything on here.  The Autumn term, as always, is a long and busy one but Christmas is homing into view and it won't be long until the days start getting longer again!

I'm very fortunate to have just returned from Vienna, having led a Support Staff Bootcamp and the Vienna International School for @Appsevents.  It was my first time in Austria for 30 years and what a beautiful city Vienna is: clean, friendly and calm. Although I flew in late on the Thursday night and flew out again late Friday night, after a very intensive full day of training with the excellent staff at the International school, it was great to be able to fit an an hour or two at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Marksplatz. One 
of the school staff, Jeremy, offered to show me around and I was able to take in some sights, buy a couple of hand crafted gifts for the family and enjoy a warming mug of GlΓΌhwein in the fresh Vienna air (-4 degrees having left London at 13 degrees). 



I really enjoy the Support Staff Bootcamps for 2 reasons: The first is that I can guarantee within any group (this week there were 19) there will be a range of ability within G Suite but that everyone is a mini-expert at something.  It may be one tiny aspect of one of the G Suite products, but from tiny acorns..... The second reason is that quite often, schools adopt G Suite for Teaching and Learning purposes and the support staff kind of have it thrust upon them. This can be daunting and occasionally resented...but once we dive into what G Suite can do, everyone comes away with some positives and beginning to think about the possibilities. 

So I'd like to thank all the staff at Vienna International School for their positivity and hospitality during my visit. Well done to the 24 teaching staff who gained their Level 1 educator certification with @BogdanCopil who ran their 2 day bootcamp alongside and thanks again to @Appsevents for the opportunity and my schools for allowing me the time. 



Here are just a few tips and tricks you might like to try:

1.  Housing documents in multiple team drives

One of my favourite aspects of Drive is the ability to use the SHIFT + Z trick to add documents to multiple folders, meaning 1 version exists in many places but everyone has access to the same live version, no copies. 
Due to the nature of Team Drives, this isn't an obvious option, in fact, many think it's not possible - but it is! 



2. Qlearly - organise your tab windows for different purposes

This new kid on the block is a handy way to organise your tabs for different purposes - it comes with a template of ideas which you can edit as you see fit.  Have a board set up with sections for each class, or each role and save the commonly used sites for that purpose in each to open quickly and easily at the touch of a single button. 



3. Mac users - upgrade to Mojave

The latest version of ios for macs allows screen recording and screen shooting with annotation as standard using CMD + SHIFT + 5


And finally

My students current favourite thing in feedback...

Using Google Keep to provide animated GIF feedback in slides and docs.

Save your favourite GIFS to keep and in slides or docs, just pull those gifs into the docs to give students engaging feedback.
I've noticed increased improvement rates in student work as they're keen to see what the next GIF will be.









Tuesday 23 October 2018

G Gems 29: Half-term tricks and treats πŸŽƒπŸŽƒπŸŽƒ

Half-term tricks and treats πŸŽƒπŸŽƒπŸŽƒ

It's been a crazy half-term with back to back Open Evenings, parent consultations, running an ESS Bootcamp in Aberdeen with Appsevents and leading lots of staff CPD as we've started to roll out Lenovo E500 Flip Chromebooks to staff at my schools. 

I've got to say I love mine, it light, works as a tablet, has a garaged stylus that is very responsive and the key thing for me, I charge it every 3 days, not every 30 minutes like I did with my old laptop.

The ability to use apps like Squidnotes and Jamboard on my chromebook has been a godsend for me as a MFL specialist, eliminating the clunkiness of adding special characters when writing on screen. Now I just get on with it which keeps the pace high but also, I believe, develops students' comprehension skills as they have to read handwriting rather than typed fonts. 

As colleagues have come to me with questions, it's been great fun trying to find resolutions to issues and it's a work in progress at this stage.  We're still looking at the best way to use Smart Notebook on our chromebooks as many staff, especially in maths and science, have a large bank of lessons they want to keep using. 

Here are just a few tricks, treats and new features that I'm loving at the moment:

Tabcloud is a great little extension that enables you to build specific tab set up for different purposes.  I use it to create a tab cloud for each class. Each 'cloud' is customisable and when opened, will bring up all the tabs you're going to need at once in a new window. As you will see from the screenshot you can preload any number of sites including classrooms, drive, website etc. 


Keep Awake extension is a great extension for chromebooks when using in class or for presenting.  It does what it says on the tin, preventing your chromebook from going to sleep when in 🌞mode and allowing sleep in πŸŒ”mode. Get the extension here

Jamboard has come to web as well as devices now and the two make a great team. Projecting from a desktop on screen in class and then roaming the room with the Jamboard app on my chromebook, I can allow students to contribute and control what's on screen.  Great for redrafting, peer assessment and organisational thinking. Jamboard has some amazing features. 

Check out my video intro
 to Jamboard here 








CC - Closed Captions in Slides
is another terrific addition to Google Slides, enabling presenters to speak and have subtitles display almost immediately. Ok, so it's not 100% perfect yet but if you speak clearly it's pretty darn accurate. Great for presenting to groups who may have hearing difficulties and also for video recordings using Screencastify. This enable you to limit your slides to minimal information (as we all should) and then talk through the key points. 

Just go to present and click the CC button in the control bar that appears at the bottom.

Mentimeter.com is another great tool for gathering quick information. Post a poll or question, display a code and get your audience to vote from their devices.  You and they will see results appear in real time. Here's an example of what your audience would see. 






Saturday 22 September 2018

G Gems 28: What a difference a year makes! Let's head to Bootcamp.

So just a year ago I attended the Google for Education Back to School Summit in London which was being hosted by my good friend and former colleague/student Dean Stokes for Appsevents. This was my first visit to Google and quite an eye opener as we played around with Jamboards and sat on inflatable pink flamingos for a coffee and a chat. It was a very inspiring day and prompted me to get more involved. 

Within a month, a October half-term 2017 I set aside a day to complete my Certified Educator Level 1 exam and passed, so did Level 2 the following day. I passed again and was feeling really pleased with myself. 
Fast forward to January and I was asked to lead some Google training, not for teaching staff but for Educational Support Staff in my schools. As the unsung heroes and the glue that keeps schools together, I wanted to make sure I got the right notes and the team came away with something to actually use in their every day work lives. The feedback was positive: Mission Accomplished. 

In July I was asked to run some CPD for a local primary school with teachers and but for a few WiFi issues, that went well too. At the same time I was constantly chatting withy wife, who is a Finance Assistant in a secondary school, about her workload and balance. I've tried to get her using more G Suite but it's a but to be fair, when she gets home she wants to relax, not launch into training mode, even though we both know I can help: Work in progress.

At the end of July 2018 I completed my Certified Trainer application and was successful so set about planning my 12 sessions for the year. With day 1 of the Autumn term in the calendar already for LSAs I devised and ran a short digital escape room designed to raise their awareness of Google Forms and Classroom. That went well too so I offered to run a term long in house CPD pathway on G Suite for staff which begins next week. It begins next week as the original date has to be postponed following a text from Dean Stokes asking if I could make it to Scotland this weekend to help out with an Appsevents bootcamp for Support Staff. I got the nod from my bosses and booked my flights and hotel.
My first day delivering a bootcamp - Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen

Yesterday was that day as I delivered my first full day Support Staff Bootcamp at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen. What an amazing building to work in on my first visit north of the border!
After a hearty breakfast in the hotel, including haggis and tattie scones, Dean, Ben Rouse and I headed off to set up.

The group of 6 support staff I was working with were all in different roles and confessed to different levels of confidence and frustration but they were awesome and very positive throughout. (Always appreciated on your first one, so thanks folks!)

We had a packed day and it was awesome to see faces light up and "You mean, I can just do that...?" flying around the room.

As I explained to the group, my view is that support staff in schools using G Suite often get the tools thrust upon them because it's been brought in for teaching and learning. Often they are self taught and know what they know, which can be limited so it was great to dive deeper into Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slide, Sites and more with them. When the day finished everyone was really appreciative and full of ideas so I'm happy.

This massive part of the educational work force is often massively under appreciated and that's why I've created a Facebook group for Support Staff using G Suite.

If you have support staff in your school that would like to see hints, tips and share best practice, please invite them to join.

Also look out for #googleESS on social media 


Sharing is important but more importantly in this day and age, G Suite can change your world.
As I said to Ben and some of the group afterwards, I'm not selling anything except a better work-life balance. What's not to like? 

Thanks to Dean, Ben, Appsevents, everyone who took part in the day and also my schools for allowing me the time! 




Sunday 29 July 2018

Technology and Learning - Are we missing a key point?



Technology and Learning - Are we missing a key point?

Over the last few weeks I've seen countless articles and tweets discussing the issue of technology in the classroom. This is obviously something that I am very passionate about because we need to get it right, but my concern is that we might be focusing on the wrong things.

As a classroom teacher of 19 years and a senior leader for 10, I have seen huge change in classroom practice during that time. From my NQT year with lots of mistakes like writing names on the board, trying to keep my reward charts up to date and my first Ofsted inspection where the focus was clearly on making sure displays looked πŸ‘Œ, through those 19 years to the use of Google Classroom, laptops, collaborative learning and an ever changing educational landscape on a Brexit preoccupied UK.

Through all of this the key message is that surely, as educators, our role, indeed our mission, should be to develop young people who are better equipped than ourselves to lead the future of our world. All too often, in my opinion, there are calls to 'ban' mobile phones and technology in the classroom because they are a 'distraction'. In some cases, this 'ban' expands to school premises altogether.

Of course, when I was at school, there were no such distractions; no clandestine swapping of Panini stickers under the table, no constant drive to rub your feet on the maths room carpet and give your table partner a static shock, no time-wasting deciding which colour ink out of the 20 in your multi-barrelled pen you should use to underline the title and certainly no passing of hand written notes around the room to the frustration of the teacher. When little Charlie was caught passing notes around in English, did we ban pens and paper? No. We explained the consequences of inappropriate use.

We have a duty to prepare our young people for the world ahead of them, NOT the world we are comfortable with!! 

Mobile phones, tablets, VR headsets are all part and parcel of the world our young people operate within and technology is developing at such a rate that if we try to shield them from this, we are doing them a massive disservice. All too often, adults shy away from the technology because we don't understand (remember Nan asking a 6 year old to programme her first Betamax video recorder?) 

Related imageBanning mobile phones and technology from our classrooms does not teach our young people appropriate or responsible use. Surely we want young people to experiment with technology in a safe environment where, if something goes wrong, they have someone to turn to? That's much more likely in a classroom than at home in their bedroom. Allowing the appropriate use of technology in our classroom, when there is a genuine educational benefit, is a great opportunity to develop key skills that these young people will need to secure the jobs of the future; the ones we keep telling them don't exist yet. Teaching appropriate and responsible use will also address the concerns around online activity and mental health. We just need to better educate ourselves first. If you're a Mental Health First Aider in your school or even just someone who is conscious of the pressures and is happy to address them, then good on you!! We need more people like you.

So in my mind, as long as there is educational benefit, the use of mobile phones, tablets, laptops, VR etc in the classroom is not just exciting but also fundamental in developing the skills that these young people will need and one day, we'll be grateful to them for the amazing things they've invented/developed/improved that make our lives easier.

So where have we missed the point?

Modern classrooms are still designed on the whole for young people to be sat on a chair, at a desk, facing the front, looking at a big board/screen. With the arrival of laptops and tablets in classrooms on a more regular basis I feel that one of the biggest issues facing our young people in the future will physical effects of inadequate school classroom/furniture design. 

Image result for posture and young peopleAsk any osteopath and they will tell you that 'πŸ“±neck' is a growing problem amongst adults who work from home and spend a lot of time working on laptops. Those working in a work environment of course have their annual workspace audit to check chair condition, screen heights, working angles etc but those at home probably don't have the same luxury and just get on with it. Good posture is key to all round health, especially in later life, and let's face it, these young people are going to have much longer lives than us, probably with much longer working lives too! All the more reason to look after them now.


So what are we doing for our young people who are using these devices more and more, at a time when bones are still forming? At the moment, I would argue the answer is virtually nothing

There's a huge opportunity out there for designers to reinvent the modern classroom and furniture to safeguard our young people's physical health in the future whilst helping the world of education to move forward from what we have always done. 

These are just my views but I'd love to hear what others think. 


Wednesday 25 July 2018

G Gems 27: Optional extras πŸ‘¨‍🏫


Add bitmojis to your docs and emails with the bitmoji chrome extension. It's really simple.  



Personally, I love a bitmoji as it grabs attention quickly and also makes docs more interesting. The range of different images is great once you've customised your own bitmoji and a quick copy and paste will insert your chosen graphic into your docs.  The chrome extension also talks to your gmail and gives you a bitmoji icon in compose for you add an image if you want to.

Add emojis to document names, folder names or bookmarks


Are you often left wondering if you've chosen the right emoji?
Check out https://emojitranslate.com/ where you can enter text and have it translated into an appropriate emoji. Then just copy and paste anywhere you like.  Add it to a document name, folder name or bookmark to customise your files. 

Are you using a team drive?
A colleague recently wanted his department team drive to contain a link to a resource website that was pulling together files from various different places. He wasn't keen on having everyone add the website to their bookmarks as he wanted his team drive to be a "one stop shop" for everything.

We came up with a simple solution using Google Drawings. We created a simple image, included the link as a hyperlink and then save the image as a pdf in the team drive for everyone to access. Now all they have to do is click on the link.

Here's an example that works a bit like your own version of symbaloo: Department weblinks

Tuesday 24 July 2018

G Gems 26: Back in the habit

Back in the habit (finally!)

Greetings all,

After a lengthy absence I'm back in the game at last. Since February I've been chocker block dealing with GCSE options, an Ofsted inspection, GDPR, curriculum, timetables and in my spare time I've completed my Google Certified Trainer programme. All this has taken me away from blogging for obvious of reasons.

The CET came as a result of a year of training (having completed my Level 1 and Level 2 Educator exams in October 2017) and supporting others both in my school and in other schools that we have contacts with. I could not have been more exited to be approved and got straight on to setting up my training domain. It was there the excitement was cut short! Let's just say that setting up your domain and getting verified isn't the easiest process. Somehow, I managed to lock myself out of my previous gmail account which allowed my access to blogger, my website and all my files. If I tried to access my new domain it just kept saying it has sent a verification email to the address that I didn't yet have access to. Let's just say there were toys everywhere and an empty pram!

But thanks the the CET group and some Youtube videos from @LouisShanafelt I am finally able to get started and I've got my access back. It all came down to a bit of editing of the CNAME host code that is not mentioned in the instructions. Thanks Louis!!.

So now I'm back and my domain is live and I'm spending the first few days of my summer holidays working on a couple of projects:

Teaching & Learning Dashboards

Example Dashboard using dummy data
Using google forms for lesson observations is a really easy way to a) collate information in one place b) secure that information under GDPR and c) evaluate all the information you've gathered. So at my schools I've been updating the T&L Dashboards to show triangulation. Let's be clear, I didn't create the original, I've been updating the existing due to changes to our processes but it's been good fun and it's great to see what you can do.  Essentially, we use Explore in google sheets to create charts from the data collected during observations including how well staff are meeting the Teacher Standards, book looks, student voice, assessment, behaviour for learning, planning and more. All this pulls into sheets and then we use formulas to create a 1 page A3 visual summary.

Initially this would have taken hours to set up but with Explore it's now much easier and you don't have to be a formula expert to pull it off.


Staff Training: Escape Rooms
I've now been asked to run some staff training in September for our Learning Support Assistants to show them how they can use G Suite to engage disaffected learners. I've only got an hour and I hate CPD when you are talked at so I've decided to make it as practical as possible. I'm designing a 30 minute online Escape Room using Google Forms and Drawings. If you've never tried this it's easy to set up: Just create your google form and have separate sections for each question. Use response validation to ensure an exact answer and then "continue to next section" on completion of a question.  I plan to share the form with the team captain using Google Classroom's differentiation option while the rest of the group have access to the clues. They'll get the first clue on the stream and then when the captain submits a correct answer I will share the next clue with them. If they get stuck I'll post further clues on the classroom stream. They'll only have 30 minutes to solve the clues and escape, but all the clues are curriculum based so that they can see how G Suite could be used in different areas. Then I'll be taking them through how it was all set up.

Here's an example of a clue.  Can you work out the answer? 

I'm looking for a 4 figure numerical code.





Tuesday 8 May 2018

G Gems 24: Sliding into your inbox - more awesome updates for Slides

Insert slides into docs
Did you know you can now insert a slide deck into a google doc? Well you can, great for programmes, staff handbooks etc as you can select a slide to insert and choose whether it remains linked to the presentation or not. Not only is this handy, it's also a lot more visually appealing than an ugly hyperlink.


Rulers and guides in slides 
add as many guides as you like in 'view'
I've been waiting for this for what seems like an age but it's finally here. Just go to view in the menu and select ruler or guides to get those all important measurements and guidelines that help line everything up beautifully. You can add any number of guides and move them around to suit your needs too. 


Check mark now in slides
I'm a huge fan of checkmark, especially since it became customisable, allowing you to create your own categories, (I turned mine into target language for MFL in docs), but hearing it's now available in slides too is very welcome news and another great step in reducing teacher marking workload. Having tried it out, it seems it might still be a bit 'buggy' as it will insert a comment box but not automate the comment currently (unless that's just me).

Group shapes in Slides 
If you use Slides to create images, flowcharts or diagrams, the ability to group all objects together as one is a life saver. Watch a quick how to below:




Thursday 3 May 2018

G Suite Gem 23: Sheets Levels Up!!

Check boxes in sheets
No more fiddling around trying to insert special characters or Ys and Ns



Use the new insert check box function in sheets.


Translate in sheets: 
So I can't believe I've only just found out about this! As a MFL teacher by trade, this is very exciting, not because I want my pupils to rely on google translate, but because it gets them excited about finding out new words!


Open up a sheet, chuck in the formula and watch the magic happen.

Tuesday 27 March 2018

G Suite Gems 22: lettuce have a look at some little gems


Lettuce have a look at some little gems 






One Tab

If you're one of those people who ends up leaving all your windows open, One Tab extension might be right up your street.

One Tab gathers and lists your open tabs
Just one click will pile all your open tabs into a drop down list on the left of your screen. 

Pick from the list or click restore at any point to put them all back.




Extensity

This is one for those of us with lots of extensions on our toolbars.

Add Extensity to chrome and you will be able to quickly put all your extensions into a drop down and toggle them on/off as required. Really handy when you're short of space and it enables you to select just the tools likely for the job in hand. 






Turn off the lights


Turn off the lights allows you to dim to black with Youtube videos. This does what it says, it dims all the surrounding content allowing you to focus on the video content without going full screen. I showed this to my Year 11 students and they liked the idea of dimming out distracting cat videos...well some did!

And finally...

Try the Momentum extension to help you refocus during a busy day and take care of yourself. Handy for to do lists, inspirational quotes, relaxing images and welcome reminders about what you want to achieve every time you open a new tab

Tuesday 20 March 2018

G Suite Gems 21: Spring at last?


We've hopefully seen the last of any Beasts from the East, but as the new shoots of Spring begin to show, now's a great time to change your way of thinking and doing.

Slow it down with Youtube

click here to watch the video
For MFL teachers, YouTube can provide us with a wealth of 
authentic materials including news videos, films and TV shows such as the legendary telenovelas. 

Use the settings > speed controls on any video to slow down the speed of speech and help your students manage their listening. This allows for complete differentiation as each student can play at the speed of their choice. 


New Google Sites - add your custom favicon
New google sites now gives you the option to upload your own favicon to sit it bookmark bars. 




It's easy to do, in edit mode, just click on the 3 dots (traffic lights) and select add/edit favicon and away you go. 




Are you GDPR ready?  
with May 25 fast approaching, I'm sure many of us are busy ensuring our systems and processes will be compliant with the new regulations.

These new regulations, the first in 20 years, will help us safeguard our personal data and that of others. In many cases, some changes to working practices will be needed which may either be greeted with excitement or worry.

Here are some of my tips for helping staff and students prepare not just for GDPR, but also for life in the cloud moving forward:

DO operate a clear desk policy
DO share documents wherever possible via Google Drive
DO store documents wherever possible on Google Drive
DO ensure that permissions are correctly set on any documents stored and shared via Google Drive.
DO ensure that all devices are password protected, and where applicable use 2-step authentication
DO log out of your computer/laptop/device every time you leave it unattended
DO ensure that all hard copies of personal data are stored securely, double locked and accessed only by authorised individuals and subsequently destroyed correctly.

DO NOT use USBs/Pen drives to transfer personal or sensitive data.
DO NOT download/store data on desktops or personal devices or remove it from the premises.
DO NOT download files and documents from unverified or untrusted sources.
DO NOT post personal or sensitive data in work spaces
DO NOT print personal or sensitive data when you can share via Google Drive

DO NOT save passwords - select NEVER if prompted.

The ICO also has a variety of resources available to act a reminders for people about correct practice. The key moving forward is to build data protection by design into your planning, prior to establishing any new process.

And finally...
a reminder that we don't have to be design experts - use the Explore function to create engaging slide designs in Slides without any fuss.

Watch here to find out how


Saturday 17 March 2018

G Suite Gems 20: getting better and better



In a week where I've seen people yet again encouraging people to move away from Google because of "security" alongside the standard "I've been trying for ages but I just can't get on with google" my sense of humour has had a real test! 

Dispel the myths and read for yourself here Google For Education and GDPR and here Privacy & Security 

So with that cleared up, let's embrace the world of G Suite and see what's new:

Slides - users with portable IOS devices will now find they have a draw option when presenting a slide deck on screen. This means you (or your students) can now write directly on a slide to annotate, comment or highlight key areas. This could be a real game changer for many in the classroom, especially maths, science and MFL teachers where you can now free write symbols, equations and special characters without needing to insert. 

New Google Sites - a welcome update: users of new google sites can now upload their own favicon (that's the little guy who appears in a browser tab or in your bookmark bar). This can help your site visitors more easily recognise your site, and help you build your brand.

Upload a favicon 

Google Docs Menu update - one of the things I love about G Suite is how things are constantly changing and that's down to the feedback submitted AND the fact that Google actually listen to it

I'm loving the update to Docs menu that has separated out text and highlight into their own boxes. I've lost count of the number of times I've highlighted when I meant to change font colour or vice versa but no more! 

Google Drive searching - searching in Drive is so simple but I know many people still spend ages scrolling through trying to find a file rather than heading straight to it. The update to drive to allow you to see the 4 most recent files as Quick Access was an excellent addition and now comes another: 


The “Shared with Me” section shows the files that have been shared with you by another owner (searching by owner is a great way to find docs by the way) but the lovely people at Google are going to start organising this section for you so you may also see people listed, along with files they’ve shared with you. Simply click on a document to quickly open it. 

Check out google's blogspot here
And finally... it's now less that a week to the @Appsevents Google Summit in Wembley. I'll be heading along for day 3 and looking forward to catching up with friends but I'm also really pleased to see support staff bootcamps running on the Friday. In my opinion, a school's support staff are key to getting the whole organisation to embrace collaboration through GforE. When these unsung heroes understand how they can work more efficiently within their own teams and beyond,  and champion this, the rest of the staff will have to get on board. 

If you're a member of school support staff, get along to one of these bootcamps and save yourselves a whole heap of work in the long run.



Friday 9 March 2018

G Suite Gems 19: 5 STAR FEATURES


5 STAR FEATURES

Web paint - a great extension for marking up websites, screenshots etc from @TomEMullaney

Really easy to use and lots of options available.








Screencastify - use this popular extension for creating your own dubbed or translated videos or news reports. Use existing videos, mute the audio and re-record over the top. Great fun for creative writing, media and modern languages - make your own voiceovers today. 

Googlinks with drawing
Here's a link to a googlink I made on the recent snow days in the UK - this one is a walkthrough for those new to Google Docs features. Google Docs Googlink

Music Lab - Musical Art
Check out this Musiclab creation and then try your own. This great feature is really fun to use - create your own music or musical art in seconds

Checkmark - this great extension got it's anticipated upgrade and now you can customise the comment bank. Great for MFL and schools with bilingual students.





Random Student Generator for Google Classroom - let this great little extension select students at random from your selected Google Classroom at the touch of a button.


Wednesday 28 February 2018

G Suite Gems 18: Don't Do It Yourself (with videos)

Don't Do It Yourself!

1. Explore for great slide design
 If you don't like the designs offered to you as standard in Slides, use the Explore option to create some more for you



2. Creating easy organisational charts in Google Sheets 

Avoid spending ages fiddling around with layouts and updating when staff or structures change.


3. Add an automatic table of contents in Google Docs
It's like actual magic!



 4. Fake sites for evaluating with students
Check out these great AND CURRENT sites for teaching students about evaluating web sources - originally shared by Eric Curts   Fake sites - hours saved searching for or even creating suitable resources. I particularly like this one, sounds very dangerous!


5. Make the students think
I love this kind of approach to thinking and they make great starters or points for discussion around learning. Here's an example, I can't remember where I came across this but show this to your students and see what THEY can tell YOU about what it is telling us. Enjoy!
what patterns can you see? It's a great way to represent familiar material in unfamiliar ways to boost independent thinking.


I've recently set up a Youtube Channel
I'm always open to feedback and suggestions so please feel free to drop me a message.