Share to Google Classroom

If you are using Google Chrome on a District computer, some of you might have noticed the little green Google Classroom icon in the upper right corner of your browsers and in the browsers of our student computers.

Clicking this icon allows you to push a website out to all of the students enrolled in your Google Classroom. Once students are logged into Google Chrome (this happens when they log into the browser when they first open it up), all that you need to do is navigate to the site that you want to share with the class, click the button, chose the class, and click Push. A new browser window will then pop open on all of the student computers and automatically navigate to that site.

It works like a charm (sometimes). In my experience, using this feature with Chromebooks is great. Using it with laptops seems spotty. 

Fair Use

Is it OK to put that picture on your class website? Are you legally allowed to use a specific photo in your PowerPoint presentation? Check out the link below to a good explanation of fair use in education.

Fair use summary: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/

Fair use in presentations: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/academic-and-educational-permissions/proposed-fair-use-guidelines/

Add Extensions to Google Chrome

Extensions add functionality to Google Chrome and to Google Drive apps such as Docs and Forms. To add extensions to Chrome, simply click on the three lines in the upper right corner of Chrome, click More tools - Extensions. You will then see a list of your installed extensions. Scroll to the bottom and click Get more extensions to see what is available to add. See the video below for more information.



Here are some of my favorite extensions. Just click the +Add to Chrome button to install.

Readability: Clicking on the Readability button will clean up web pages to create a clean view. This is great for articles you find online.

Distraction Free: This cleans up YouTube, eliminating ads, suggested videos, and other clutter.

AdBlock: Blocks ads from webpages and YouTube

1-Click Timer: Add a pop-up timer to Chrome

Extended Desktop

Extended Desktop allows you to use your projector as a second monitor. Watch the video below for more information.

Using Laptops in the Classroom

Having set procedures will help to streamline the distribution, use and collection of laptops, Chromebooks or iPads in the classroom. Below you will find a short video demonstrating how I use them in my classroom as well as a document with some tips to help get started.