PPS Instructional Technology

It's the end of yet another school year... So many happy moments! Our seniors are graduating. Our retirees, who have given us so much, are preparing to leave. Each person leaving Portage Public Schools is stepping into a new adventure. For many of you who will depart from our ranks, it will be important that you are able to take with you some, or all, of the products you have created. Most of these items live in the Google-sphere and you need to know how to pack 'em up and ship 'em out. So... today's post is about How to Take Your Files Stored in Google With You When You Leave . Quickly, let's mention your U Drive files. Simply grab a flash drive or log into your favorite cloud storage service and drag-n-drop or upload those files. Done. DISTRICT EMPLOYEES: Make sure you work with your supervisor to transfer ownership of any files critical to the success of your team. See how to transfer ownership in this article . With Google, there are three ways to t...

Google has been busy in the last month updating both Gmail and the look of Google Drive.  Many of you may have already noticed and explored the changes, but for those of you who would like the "cliff notes" on the updates, this tip is for you! Gmail The most significant of the changes have been happening with Gmail as Google rolls out a new look, and updated features.  The "new Gmail" is not on by default.  To switch to the new Gmail, click the gear in top right hand side and select "Try the new Portage Public Schools Mail".  This will switch you over to the new mail.  No worries if you don't like it once you are there, for now you can switch back to the "classic" style without issue. Now that you have switched over, you are probably wondering, what are some of the new features to check out?  Here is a rundown of some of my favorite new features that will help make your life a little bit easier. Take action on an email by simply ...

Over the summer Google Classroom greatly increased your options to customize notifications inside Google Classroom.  This is great since you may want to receive notifications when someone mentions you in a comment or post, but you don't want one when someone resubmits an assignment or a similar function.   Thankfully Matt Miller, from Ditch the Text Book, has just posted an excellent article on how to manage all those Google Classroom Notifications.  Check it out here:  How to manage Google Classroom like a boss with notifications . To learn more about setting up filters in Gmail, check out this blog post .

You would think that as a technology integration specialist, I would get a lot of challenging questions about how best to integrate technology in a meaningful way in the classroom, what are the best tech tools for specific purposes, and how to keep our kids safe when they are using technology.  And you would be correct.  Paul and I frequently get really great questions about all those things, but sometimes it's the little things that really get educators excited...like a handwritten signature on email. My auto Gmail signature contains an image file of my written signature (first name).  I feel like having the handwritten signature adds some personality and personalizes the email better than just a typed signature.  To the right is a sample of my Gmail signature.  It isn't anything over the top or special, but frequently when I am out in the buildings helping our staff, teachers will stop me and as how they can create their own signature.  Paul and I have...

What is Phishing? Phishing is the practice of sending emails, that look like they are from a reputable company or person, in order to get the recipient to reveal personal information like usernames, passwords, or credit card informations.  This is why you always here people caution against clicking on a link in an email if it "doesn't look right". How does the New Gmail Phishing Scheme Work? Recently, we learned about a new phishing scheme making the rounds.  This new one is very tricky because, unless you know what to look for, everything seems normal.  The way the new attack works, is the hackers will send you an email to your Gmail account.  That email will look like it is coming from someone you know (this person has probably had their account hacked using this same technique).  It may also include something that looks like an image of an attachment you recognize from the sender - for example, a google doc they would share with you.  When you click ...

For anyone who regularly uses Gmail, you probably get numerous attachments a week.  Some of these attachments are fine staying where they are in your Gmail, but others you want to save to your Google Drive so you can access them or manipulate them at a later time.  Thankfully, saving Gmail attachments to Google Drive is simple and can be accomplished in 3 quick steps. 1. Hover your mouse over the attachment in the email. You will see the download arrow and the Google Drive triangle appear. 2. Click the Save to Google Drive triangle. 3. Now you can move it to a folder you already have, or create a new folder.

The following video is another in a series of four that talks about how to use gmail. (We have sent you two already.) Gmail: Sending Email with Gmail Feel free to start this short 4 minute video at 2:08 seconds in and it discusses... Formatting Your Message Adding a signature Feel free to start it from the beginning to watch the whole thing. There are always little tricks to pick up.

Portage Public Schools has a subscription to the online training site Atomic Learning.  This site offers great online training opportunities for those of you who enjoy learning at your own pace.  Here are some of the recent training opportunitites related to Google.  Enjoy! Recent Training Releases Atomic Learning regularly updates our training offerings to keep you up-to-date on the latest and greatest educational technology. Recent additions to the training library include: Gmail Training (update) Google Calendar Training (update) Google Documents - Creating & Organizing Training (update) Google Documents - Editing & Formatting Training (update) Google Documents - Sharing & Collaborating Training Google Forms Training Google Presentations - Collaborating & Sharing Training Google Presentations - Creating & Editing Training (update) Google Spreadsheets - Basics Training (update) Google Spreadsheets - Chart & Formulas Trainin...

We received a number of replies from individuals who were very thankful for the last Gmail video we sent out. So we thought we would send you another! Gmail: Creating Filters with Gmail This short 3 minute video discusses... Automatic Message Filters Searching Gmail (Find anything) After watching the video, feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

Even though we have discussed archiving mail and labels in this blog post  and this one , some of you would like a more visual tutorial.  For those of you who would like more information about managing Gmail, please watch this short, 3 minute video. Gmail: Managing Email with Gmail This video discusses... Archiving Mail Labels (Folders) After watching the video, feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

As promised in my last post, here is how you can personalize your background even more by creating your own custom theme. Step 1: Click on the gear in the top right hand corner of your inbox. Step 2: Select Themes from the drop down menu. Step 3: Scroll down until you see "Custom Themes". Step 4: Choose Light or Dark Step 5: Select your image from one provided, or upload your own. Step 6: Click Select. All done.  Now you have a custom theme!

Have you looked at a friends Gmail inbox and seen a nice/interesting background image?  Do you want to get away from the boring white background of GMail and spruce up your screen?  Let's face it, a lot of us spend way more time looking at our inbox screen than we would like.  Shouldn't what we are looking at appeal to us?  Well the good news is that it is very easy to change the background theme of your inbox. Here is how... Step 1: Click on the settings gear in the top right corner of your Gmail inbox. Step 2: Select Themes from the drop down menu. Step 3: Choose the Theme that fits your style, or create your own custom theme (more on that later). All Done!  No saving required.  When you select your theme it will automatically change.

Do you want an easy way to create shortcuts for your Google Apps (Gmail, Blogger, Docs, etc.)?  It is as easy as a couple clicks. Step 1: Right-click on a Chrome application from your new tab screen: Step 2: Select Create shortcuts... Step 3:  Choose Desktop, Pin to Taskbar, or both.  Click Create. Here is what your choices would look like New desktop icon: ...or taskbar icon:

There are a couple ways to check your spelling in Google mail. Spell Check in the Chrome Browser The first is the simplest.  If you are in Google Chrome, their is an automatic spell check in the browser. If you spell something incorrectly, it will be underlined in red. You would then just right click on the misspelled word and select the correct spelling. Spell Check in GMail You can also spell check in the compose window. Click on the triangle by the trash can in the bottom right corner. Select "Check spelling" The misspelled words will be highlighted. Click on the misspelled word and select the correct spelling.

I frequently get asked.... In Outlook I used to be able to sort by the "from" to find a message by a particular person.  How do I do that in Gmail? Bad News: You can't sort by the from in Google Mail Good News: You CAN search by the from in Google Mail.  Here is how... Step 1: While in your inbox, click on the triangle in search bar at the top of the screen. Step 2: In the From box, type the email address for the person you are searching for. Step 3: Click the Blue magnifying class. Step 4: You will now see all your emails that particular person sent you. Note: You can also search by To, Subject, Has the Words, and Doesn't Have. Happy Searching!

Chrome allows web services to ask if you’d like to use them to open certain links. While most links generally take you to another page, some links can open programs and perform other actions. For example, mailto: links can open your email program. In order to make email links open in Gmail instead of Outlook, you will need to do the following.   When you open Gmail in Chrome, a protocol handler icon  appears in the omnibox/webaddress line next to the star bookmarks icon.  Click it to show the following options: If you'd like to allow Gmail to open all email links, select the Use Gmail radio button. When you click a hyperlinked email address on a page, Gmail's compose window will open. Select No to keep how your computer opens email links the same way as before (ex: Outlook). Choose Ignore to prevent the request from appearing again when you visit Gmail. You will want to select the first option. Then select Done. Now your email links should open in GMail inst...

When your "folders" transferred over from Outlook, they all were labeled with "inbox/..." because all your folders were in your inbox in Outlook. Many of you have asked how to rename your labels/folders so they no longer say "inbox" on them. Well here you go... To rename your label, hover over your label you want to change.  A little down pointing triangle will appear next to the label. Click on that.  Select Edit.  Rename your label.  Click Save.

If you make changes to your contacts that you want to undo, you can restore your full contacts list to an earlier saved version. This allows you to undo changes like: Recovering contacts that have been accidentally deleted Restoring contacts after an unsuccessful sync Undoing a recent import Undoing a recent merge To restore your contacts to a previous version Follow these steps: Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts. From the More actions drop-down menu, choose Restore contacts. Choose the time you'd like to revert your contacts list to (e.g. 10 minutes ago, one hour ago, one week ago, etc). We suggest that you also make a note of the time that you restore your contacts, in case you'd like to return to where you started. Click Restore. You'll see a confirmation at the top of the screen when the rollback is complete.

Have you wondered lately how to format the emails you are composing?  How about attaching a document to your email?  In Outlook, the formatting options were at the top.  In Google Mail, the formatting and attaching options are located at the bottom of the compose window. Let's start with formatting... To begin, open a new message, or reply to a message. To open the formatting tool box, click on the "A" next to the send button in the bottom left corner. Here you will find many useful tools, like: Fonts (there are 11 fonts to choose from) Text size (small, normal, large, or huge) Font color and highlighting/background color Alignment (left, center or right) Numbering and Bulleting Increase or Decrease indent And my personal favorite = Tx which removes formatting from text you have copied. Next up, attaching items to your emails... Also in the Send bar line you will see a paper clip and a plus sign.  Hovering over the plus sign will open up several ...

In my previous post I explained the differences between Outlook Folders and Google Mail Labels.  I also explained how to add a label to an email. In this post, we will go over how to create new labels. Here's how to create a label that you can add to any of your messages: Method 1: On the left side of the page, click More at the bottom of your labels list. (If you don't see "More," grab the gray dividing line with your cursor and drag it down to show more labels.) Click Create new label. Type the name of your new label and click Create. Method 2:  You can also create a new label for a message in your Inbox by selecting the box next to the message, clicking the Label button above your message list, and then clicking Create new. If you are unsure if you have that label already, you can type the name of the label in the search box at the top of the menu.  If the label is not already created, it will give you the option to create new. Ha...