Google for Education

If the screengrab functionality does not seem to be working on a Chromebook, check to make sure the “Treat top-row keys as function keys” option is switched OFF. You can also toggle this functionality by holding down the Search key, but it’s probably easier to check in the settings under Device and Keyboard.

Google Calendar is an often overlooked feature of Google Apps for Education (GAFE). Don’t overlook Google Calendar; it’s real and it’s fabulous. Google Calendars can be private, shared, and public. Keep a private calendar for yourself, share another calendar with write privs to collaborate with a group, keep another public calendar for public events, and pull them all together when you view them in your calendar view. Too many events? Overwhelmed? Click off the view on the calendars not currently of interest. Want to pull in someone else’s public or shared calendar to your view? Click a link and add it as an “other” calendar. Need a month view? Click “Month.” Need to concentrate on individual events? Click “Agenda.” Taking a look at the Google District calendar shows many of the advantages. The District Google calendar embedded into the District website and into Aspen is really several Google calendars pulled together into one view. Notice that every school has their own calendar, so when they add an event, it automatically shows up on this consolidate public calendar. Have private events? Keep them on a private calendar so only you (or your team) sees the private events. Above is what an embedded calendar looks like… as in when you view it on a website. Here is what Google calendar looks like from your Google calendar interface, which is available when you have logged into your district Google account. Some practical applications of Google Calendar Want to keep a calendar of important teacher deadlines and events? Create a new calendar called “Teacher Events,” make it public, embed it into a website, or simply share the link to it with your staff, who can then add it to their Google calendar. Any events you add, modify, delete, etc., will then be updated on the shared instances for anyone adding the public calendar to their view of Google calendar. Want to work with a small team? Make a new calendar and share it with write privs with all team members. Don’t make it public, so that only the invited participants can see it. Want other ideas? See Using Google Calendar for Appointment Slots.

Google Cast for Education is a free Chrome app that allows teachers and students to share their screens wirelessly from anywhere in the classroom. The app runs on the teacher’s computer, which is connected to the projector; students use Google Cast, which integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom, allowing the teacher to set student permissions and remain in full control at all times. Maximize Conference Time: The teacher can easily see a common problem that the students are facing during independent work. One of the students can cast his screen, and the entire class can instantly look at the problem and work together to solve it. Or let’s say your students are hard at work during Writer’s Workshop. As you conference with individual students, you notice that a few are struggling to add meaningful dialogue to their work. Invite a student who has mastered this skill to project his screen to the class and use the opportunity to analyze his craft. During an informational writing unit, some students are struggling to find key facts on their topic. Invite students to share their screens and facilitate a discussion. “That’s a great piece of evidence! Can you cast your screen to show your classmates where they might find that type of fact?” You can also use this opportunity to cast your screen and walk your students through a brief reteaching lesson on finding credible sources online. Turn a Projector Screen Into an Interactive Whiteboard: Present your lesson to a projector or Smart Board from your device. This allows for more control over the presentation and gives you the chance to face your students. If you cast from a tablet or touchscreen laptop, you can use its features during your presentation, thus turning even a simple projector screen into an interactive whiteboard.

Want to set up an easy work environment in Google Chrome that will function at home, at school, and at any location with an internet connection? Log into Chrome/Google with your District username. Put all of your documents in Google Drive (or just create them in Drive to being with) for easy, universal access. Bookmark: http://www.chelseaschools.com/launch for a quick launcher to the most popular web-based CPS applications: Aspen, Email, Google Apps for Education, etc. Important Note: Be sure to LOG OUT of your Google (and any other) account when you are done using a shared computer. It’s also a good practice to NEVER have a shared computer remember your browser credentials for you. Note about spinning ball: Having trouble accessing Google Drive or other Google services with the Chrome Browser while logged into the school network? Spinning circle instead of loading Drive? Try using the local (generic student account) account on the computer and simply logging into Chrome with your CPS Google credentials, rather than logging into the network with your cps account. You can also try opening up a New Incognito Window from the browser file menu and logging into http://www.chelseaschools.com/g in the incognito window if you need to be logged in with your school network account. Google’s Chrome browser offers significant advantages when working with Google services like Drive, Classroom, etc., as it allows functionality like “dragging and dropping files,” and “uploading entire folders” to Drive. It also updates itself and its Flash plugin, so you should run into less issues with Flash-driven sites requiring the latest Flash plugin.

As of the 2019-2020 school year, there is a new system for handling student passwords. Previously, students set their own passwords for Aspen and Google, and they had static trivial passwords for AD, the desktop computer login. Moving forward, the tech department will be generating “good” passwords in Aspen, and then applying those passwords to AD and Google. The goal here is to reduce the amount of classroom time lost to password resets and other password confusion, while still affording the students privacy. Students should have the same password automatically set for Aspen, Google (Drive, Chromebooks, Classroom, etc.), and for desktop computer logins within the district. Most other district applications will allow students to use their Google login as a pass through login for access, so if they’re logged into Google, they’ll typically be allowed to pass across to any application allowing Google credentials. Please let the Tech Department know if you have any questions about this new procedure. 

You can set up appointments on your calendar that people can reserve. For instance, professors can have their students reserve time during office hours each week. Please also see Getting the Most out of Google Calendar for more tips on setting up and leveraging Google Calendar. Set up & share appointment slots Create appointment slots Using your school account on a computer, open Google Calendar. Make sure that you’re in Week view or any Day view. Click anywhere in the calendar. In the event box that pops up, click Appointment slots. Enter the details, including a title, and pick the calendar where you want the event to show up. To add more information, like a location or a description, click Edit details. Add others to the appointment To add others to the appointment, click the Add Guests field. Note: Don’t invite people who want to reserve an individual appointment slot. Anyone that you add here will be invited to every appointment throughout the block of time, and will also get an email each time someone reserves an appointment. Invite others to book appointments After you’ve set up appointment slots, you can invite people to book time. To invite people to book appointments, don’t invite them to the appointment slot. Instead, get a link to send them for your appointment slots page: Open Google Calendar. Click the appointment slots event to open it. Copy and paste the calendar’s appointment page link found at the top of event. Send this link to people who want to book an appointment. Note: People need to use Google Calendar to make a reservation. They need to use their CPS Google accounts. How appointment blocks show on your calendar Your appointment block will show as a single event on your calendar and the calendars of anyone you invite. You can see that the appointment block is different from other events by the grid symbol in the upper left corner. Make an appointment Visit the link for the appointment page. You may get this in an email, or in a calendar that’s been shared with you. Find and click the link for the appointment page. On the appointment page, click an available appointment button > Save. If you later want to cancel the appointment, delete or decline the appointment event from your calendar. Then others can book the appointment. Please also see Getting the Most out of Google Calendar for more tips on setting up and leveraging Google Calendar.