It's All My Business...

Wait...Where is the black bar??

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 15:50:00 +0000

While we have only had a few training sessions involving Google, there was one consistent thing: the black bar! You could log into any Google tool and find this same black bar across the top. It looked a little something like this...

I loved the black bar because it was always there and consistent among the Google tools. Then...it happened. I logged into my Google account and saw this...

What is wrong with this picture??? NO BLACK BAR! :(

However...never fear! The black bar has been replaced with an "Apps Launcher" button. If you open a Google tool and do not see the black bar across the top, look in the UPPER RIGHT corner for this button :

When you click on the Apps button, you should see many of the most used Google tools appear

If you do not see the Google tool you want, click on the "More" option at the bottom to get additional tools!

I have noticed that some applications still include the black bar, and some are updated to the App Launcher button--so you might still see that old, reliable black bar...but no need to panic if you do not--just look for the grid-looking App Launcher button in the upper right corner to find all of your favorite Google tools!

Google Tip of the Week #3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:58:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:22:00 +0000

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!

Debit Card Fees

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:48:00 +0000

The Personal Finance class is just starting the Checking & Banking unit. It is quite timely with all the recent news articles about Bank of America's decision to charge their checking account customers a $5/month debit card fee. What has not received as much press is the fact that Bank of America is not the only bank to charge such a fee. For example, Wells Fargo is considering a $3 fee.

It is critical to know the fees that accompany all aspects of your checking and savings account. Even though it has been a discussion item in this unit/chapter for many semesters, it will receive extra attention this semester. It is not the $5 fee that is the terrible part--it's not knowing where you money is going. Unfortunately, I think the concept of "free checking" might become something we include when talking about "the good 'ole days" with our grandchildren. However, with a little bit of time and research, it can still be found today. And even if you choose a checking or savings account with usage fees, you should at least know why you are paying those amounts! Just another reason for regularly checking your bank statements! :)

Computer/Software Training

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:38:00 +0000

Even though I consider myself to be an "above-average" computer/software user, I am always learning new tricks to using software. As I explore and investigate software tutorials for the computer classes, I usually find at least one new trick with each tutorial. I have discovered two tutorials that taught me more than one new trick...the first is the one that the Software Applications classes went through this year.

http://inpics.net
This particular tutorial shows you "in pictures" how to do various tasks in various versions of the Microsoft Office suite of programs.

A second tutorial that I discovered this week was published by the Goodwill Community Foundation (I have yet to decide if this is the "Goodwill" or something sort of like it...). It has free lessons on a variety of topics, one of which being computers.
Free Computer Training at GCFLearnFree.org

I have included the link that will take you directly to the computer portion of their site...you can back up and take a look at the other lessons. There is a wide variety--from math and reading to personal finance and money! (Here is the link to see all their topics...http://www.gcflearnfree.org/topics.) While I am not sure if they all have the feature, the ones I have tried even included video tutorials to actually show the lesson!

**One note...these software tutorials are geared for a Windows-based version of the Office products...I'm sure there are others out there to show Office for Mac and other Mac tools...Apple has great video tutorials showing their iLife and iWork products!

Budgeting & Baking Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:37:00 +0000

As part of an article reflection assignment, a student located a great budgeting article. It compared budgeting to baking cookies. The analogy was great in effectively describing the balance between the "non-negotiable" items (like flour in a cookie recipe) and the "nice to have but not necessary" items (like chocolate chips). The article author also encouraged the addition of a little "sprinkles" in a budget. Yes, it is important to pay all your fixed expenses...the non-negotiables like your housing payment and any loan payments. However, you should also plan ahead for at least a little bit of enjoyment in a budget. No one would want to make and stick to a budget that was all pits and no cherries! The trick is to get a good balance of fixed and flexible expenses and to plan spending for the actual income you have coming in...not beyond that.

Here is the article link...it's a great read!
Budgeting is like baking cookies

Budgeting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:37:00 +0000

The Personal Finance class just finished the chapter on budgeting. This topic is can be critical to a student's future financial success. Living within your means is something that definitely takes self control...I will be the first to admit that is much easier said than done!

One thing we discussed in class is the option of creating a family budget. I highly encouraged them to go home and use the class topic as a discussion starter. Maybe you want to save for a family vacation...everyone in the family might be much more supportive of eliminating the "dinner out three times a week" routine if they had all agreed to save that money for the desired vacation.

Attempting...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:36:00 +0000

Here is my official, professional attempt at blogging. It is my intent to share content-specific information. I plan on sharing topics related to class discussion as well as great websites and resources I find...I hope you will find this to be useful as well as informative. I welcome any comments and/or questions!!!