Google Tip of the Week #3

This week's tip is from the Calendar tool.  Creating multiple calendars can be very helpful for organization for teachers and students...both inside and outside the classroom.  For example, teachers can create a calendar for each class or extra-curricular activity to keep you and your students organized.

If you are logged into your Mail, you will see all the Google tools available in the black bar across the top:

Simply click on the "Calendar" option to open your calendar in a new tab.  To add a new calendars in addition to the main one, click on the little drop down arrow by "My Calendars" in the left margin.  In the drop down menu, select "Create new calendar."

You can then enter the name of your calendar.  I would suggest something simple...like your class title or activity name (ex. FBLA, One-Act Play, etc.).  You can give a description if you so choose, but it is not required.  You can also select the Share settings.  You can have your calendar as "Public" as you would like...but be aware of what information you might be sharing with the world if you select the most open setting.

When you are finished, scroll down to the bottom and click "Create Calendar":

You should now see your new calendar in the "My Calendars" list in the left margin (Note...it might take a few seconds for your calendar to appear...so this is one of those times to be patient and not worry...it should save and appear there in a matter of seconds--which is crazy that seconds to load is now becoming slow...)

Once you have the calendars added, you can start adding events.  You can then select to which of your calendars you would like to add the new event:

After adding a few events to the various calendars you have, they are color-coded on your calendar:

This can help you stay organized for your various classes and activities as well as help your students stay organized as well.  If you share it with students, they can see the class or activity information on their Google calendar in addition to their own calendar events they have added. You can even embed your calendar in your website to share the information there as well.

Google Tip of the Week #2

Here is video about starring messages in Google Mail...a great way to organize your inbox!

This video is available on my newly created YouTube Channel!  You can subscribe to my channel to receive notifications each time I upload a new video.  It is definitely still a work-in-progress, so keep that in mind!  :)

Google Tip of the Week #1

As we as a district roll out our Google Apps for Education tools, I thought it might be relevant to share a Google Tip of the week.  There are so many tips and tricks that can be used with GAFE that it is nearly impossible to highlight them all in a professional development training session...hence, their inclusion on my blog!  My current plan is to highlight a tip/trick each week...sometimes the tip will be in blog post form...sometimes in video form--whatever works best for that particular week!  The tip/trick will be short in nature--I promise no more than one paragraph or a one minute video!!

So...without further ado...Google Tip of the Week #1 comes from the Mail feature...

If you use other email clients, your email is organized by message.  Google, on the other hand, is set up to be organized by conversation instead.  That means that when you (or someone else) replies to an email message, all of the messages regarding that same subject line are grouped together.  While that is a very handy feature, you are able to switch back to the "old way" of organizing by message if you would like.  Once you are logged into your Google mail, look for the settings icon in the upper right corner...click on the gear and then select "Settings":

Your settings page should load to the "General" tab...scroll down until you find the "Conversations" option:

Turning off the conversation view returns your email to separating emails individually while turning it on has emails with the same topic (same subject line and same reply string) grouped together.

Hope this helps you to personalize your Google Mail experience!