June Tip for Google Forms

Google forms are great for getting feedback and information.  They are easy to set up and link to a web page.  One complaint I always hear is that once they set up their form and tweak it, the spreadsheet of responses doesn't look right.  When they look at their spreadsheet, the column headings don't line up with the order of their form questions.  Here is a simple trick that will make sure that those always line up.

Step One - Create your form

Step Two - Edit the form - tweak - adjust - move items - copy items - etc.

Step Three - Test the form and make sure you are getting the information you want

Step Five - Click on view responses - If you have made alot of changes as you were creating your form, chances are good that the column headings don't line up with the order of your form questions

SUPER SIMPLE FIX

• Go back to your form
• Click on Responses on the menu bar at the top
• Click on Change response destination

Now, when you click on view responses, the column headings in your spreadsheet will line up in the order of your form questions.  Do this when you are confident that you are finished with your form.  THEN, you are ready to publish your form link and start accepting responses.  I hope this helps you out.  As always, it's not what you know, but what you SHARE!

April and May Tech Tidbit

Many schools in Arkansas are transitioning to new ways to hosting their web pages.  Our district is transitioning to Google Sites.  Since we are a Google Apps for Education school district, it just makes sense to make the platform for our web pages to be a Google Site. Creating the template site and adding users to collaborate on site creation has been an interesting, evolving, and learning process.

One of the first things I discovered is that when you share a Google Site with other people, they really don't have access to all of the features. One of the biggest things that is missing is access to the site layout.  This is where users have the opportunity to add URLs to specific sites and or re-arrange the arrangement of drop down menus across the top or as a sidebar.

So, in true Susan Gilley fashion, once I learn something or document steps on how to do it, it's time to share it with others.  This link provides instructions on how you make use of the webmaster tools to add users and allow them to be owners with you on a created site which in turn allows them to be true shared partners on your website. Some of you may not desire that kind of access.  However, in my district, being the district web master, I wanted to be able to create their sites, help if needed, but allow them the freedom to be in control as well.  I hope you find these instructions helpful.

March's Tool of the Month

If I have one claim to fame, it is that I can type amazingly well.  I taught students to keyboard for over 15 years and meet several students today that say that these skills are serving them well. However, as we progress in technology and many students are teaching themeslves to type (keyboard), we are seeing less students with good skills.  They have already developed many bad hunt-and-peck habits that are hard to break because that method is adequate for their needs. They are resistant to change. Today's tool is another reason many of them feel touch keyboarding skills are not necessary.

Most students have a smart phone or a tablet. When they open notepad, or even a google doc in the docs app, the keyboard automatically appears. Immediately left of the space bar, is a microphone.  Many students, whose keyboarding skill is not up to par, can easily tap the microphone and start speaking what they would like to type (write). Try it out for yourself. I find that it works very well and understands a variety of voices. It even lets you add punctuation. Personally, I discovered that I can think and type easier than I can think and speak. Some people have shared with me that they are not composition typists at all. Thought composition skills are something we should focus on for our students. Good communication skills to compose, speak and present and/or type (key) may be one of the most important skills we can help children develop.

Since I have shared this tool with many people, several have asked about a microphone for chromebooks.  Good NEWS!  There is now an add-on with Google docs called speech recognition. To me, it doesn't understand and translate quite as well as the microphone on a tablet or phone, but still works very well. 

Try out both of these tools and share your results and thoughts in the comments. It's not what you know, it's what you SHARE!

Making a Difference One Light Bulb at a Time

In 1984 I began my teaching career.  I was finally getting to work at a job I had dreamed about since I was a child. I was terrified! I hoped and believed that I could share my knowledge with others in such a way that would make learning fun and valuable. Sometimes when you are teaching, you get to see those light bulbs go off for students when they get a concept. It provides some validation for you as an educator. If you don't receive that validation, you lay awake at night trying to think of ways to improve the instruction or information so that you can help students. No one really realizes how important those light bulb moments can be for educators. 

As I have progressed from classroom teacher to technology coordinator to assistant superintendent, I find that I still look for those light bulb moments.  I am constantly searching for a way to help others through sharing knowledge. One of the ways I do that is through delivering and providing professional development. As a presenter, you don't always know when you have succeeded in providing participants valuable information. Sometimes, you get to see the light bulbs go off (in a good way) during the presentation. Sometimes people come up to you after a presentation and share what a difference you made for them. Those are moments to cherish. Sometimes you see the light bulbs go off in a way that tells you that you immediately need to modify and adjust - you've lost them! As a career educator and instructional leader, I am always doing whatever I can to improve education for students. While I am not in the classroom, I hope that the professional development I provide and share still reaches students and improves instruction.

You might think this post is all about me.  That is totally not my intention.  It is to remind us all to share with others! I am so thrilled to see people who have been in one of my presentations now listed as conference presenters. This post is also a reminder to each of us to share with those that have been light producers in our lives.  It's never too late to let someone know that they made a difference in your life and to continue trying to make a difference in the lives of others.

It's not what you know..................but what you SHARE! My shared resources can be found at my website, through my delicious bookmarks, or by following me on twitter.

Simple Screenshots with February's Tools of the Month

How many times have you needed a picture of something on your screen.  You know about the printscreen (prtscr) key.  However, that gives you everything on your screen and so you are stuck trying to crop the picture. You finally give up and think, they don't really need a picture of what I'm talking about.

Good news awaits! A hidden jewel in Windows 7 and carried over to Windows 8 is the snipping tool.  To find the tool, click on start and start typing in the search box that appears right above start and start typing in snipping.  You will see the tool appear at the top of the search box. Click on the tool.  When it opens, it automatically appears with the crosshairs to start your screen selection to snip. Once you have drawn your selected screen and lift your mouse button, you have the option to save your selection, highlight parts of the selection and then save, or just select to copy the selection and paste it in a new location.  Your saving options are as HTML, PNG, GIF, or JPEG. Check it out yourself and see how amazingly simple it is to get the perfect screenshot!

Since February is a short month, I'll give you a second tool as well. It is called the step recorder.  It is another hidden gem included within Windows 7.  Click on start, type in "step" in the search box above start and click on "Record Steps to Reproduce a Problem". Click to record and then go through the steps of something you are trying to explain or as it suggests to demonstrate what happens when you are having issues and you want to share with someone the screens that appear.  I see both options as being incredibly helpful.  The results of step recorder include an itemized step-by-step listing of the steps you took (great for giving someone instructions on how to do something) and/or it also gives you those step-by-steps AND includes screenshots along the way!  How cool is that? How many times have you created step-by-steps for people on your own and took all those screen shots yourself.  This tool does it all for you. What an amazing timesaver!

Organizing your Thoughts with January's Tool of the Month

One of the features I have started to use recently with Google Docs is the Table of Contents.  When you create a google document, most people will have headings as they organize their thoughts and content.

Sample Table of Contents

To create a table of contents

• Create your headings
• Highlight the heading and then choose Title 1 heading from the toolbar
• Once you have highlighted all of your headings, return to the top of the document
• Click on Insert - Table of Contents and a table of contents appears at the top of your document

The best news is that you can continue editing and adding to your document and selecting content to be a heading throughout the document. You can even add subheadings, by selecting text and giving it the Title 2 or Title 3 font selection.

When you are ready to refresh the table of contents with your changes, simply return to the top of the document.  To the right of the current table of contents a swirl will appear when you hover on the right hand side that you can click on and refresh your document.

Applicable Uses in Education

I believe there are many applicable uses in education.  Here are some possible ideas and options I foresee as great uses for the Table of Contents feature:

• administrator meetings
• student journals from August through May
• collaboration at conferences for combined notes
• student group projects

Please share your ideas and usage in the comments.

Find of the Month

Actually, this is the find of last month which I discovered at the Schools Withouth Walls Conference, but I'm still trying to get better with my blogging.  Once you purchase the product, the apps that work with it are FREE. You guys know how I love FREE! The Osmo product comes with a small mirror that you clip to the top part of your iPad (yes, it works on the mini as well) and a stand.  This mirrored clip covers the camera eye so that the camera now projects out to the desktop area in front of your iPad which is tilted in the stand. Also included in the package are the tools you need to work with the Tangram app and Words app.  Both of these apps are free in the iTunes store.  The last free app that works with the Osmo stand and camera mirro is the Newton app.  To make this app work, you will need a blank sheet of paper. Osmo has created an excellent video that better describes how their product works.  Check it out!

Currently, if you don't have to have your order until after Christmas, you can save $15 per device.  This takes the regular price of $79.99 down to $64.99.  For school districts, the following discounts apply:

• Receive 1 Free Osmo with every purchase of 5 Osmo (up to 5 free Osmos)
• Receive 10% off 50+ bulk orders
• Free Shipping for all school orders