Quick Ctrl of Chromebook Shortcuts

Chromebook Shortcuts

Can't find your bookmarks bar? Ctrl Shift B --and, POOF! They're back.

Want to bring up your files without going all the menu clicks? Alt Shift M ---and a separate file window will pop up where you can access your drive and your downloads!

Know that student is doing something on their chromebook but when you check all their tabs seem legit? 3 Finger Swipe Down on the mousepad and you have ALL their windows for view.

I wanted to share a few different shortcuts that might make your lives a little easier and faster! There are hundreds more available online, but I tried to give you the most frequently used or most helpful. Hopefully there is at least one new one that will help you out in a new way!

Working with Text

Ctrl A: Select all the text on the page

Ctrl C: Copy the selected text

Ctrl V: Paste the text

Ctrl X: Cut the selected text (It will automatically copy what you cut to your clipboard.)

Ctrl Z: UNDO

Ctrl B: Bold selected text

Ctrl U: Underline selected text

Ctrl I: Italicize selected text

Ctrl-Shift 8: Create bullet points on the fly

General Shortcuts

Ctrl F: A find box will pop up in top right corner, search a word and find in document or webpage

Ctrl P: Print the page

Ctrl R: Reload the page you are working with

Ctrl D: Mark the current page as a bookmark (favorite)

Ctrl L: Select the entire content in the web address bar

Alt-Shift M: Bring up your files window (can get downloaded or drive documents from here)

Ctrl T: Open a new tab in same window

Ctrl N: Open a new window

Ctrl +: Zoom In

Ctrl -: Zoom Out

Ctrl 0: Reset Zoom

Ctrl-Shift L: Locks your computer if you have to step away from it

Ctrl-Shift B: Add or remove the Bookmarks bar

Mousepad Controls:

3 Fingers Swipe Down: Bring up all the windows open on the computer

Swipe Right or Left: go forward or backward between web pages previously visited

Want a downloadable cheat sheet? Click here and ENJOY!

Create, don't just Project, with your SmartBoard!

Easy Smartboard Activity Creation

We have all had our Smartboards for a number of years, but I was guilty of pretty much using it as a way to take notes up on the board, circle different ideas, or have students mark over a website or document.  I really didn’t use the Smartboard a ton for everything of which it is truly capable.  So, here goes--how can I create my own Smartboard activity quickly, efficiently, and effectively?

1. Open up Smart Notebook on your desktop.
2. Add a couple pages because you can make more than one activity reviewing or reteaching the same skill and then save it for that skill or unit.

3. Click on the Gallery on the left side of the screen.  It looks like a picture frame.  

4. Then, click on ‘Lesson Toolkit.’

5. Then click on ‘Examples.’

6. Finally click on ‘Activities.’ To get them to show up, just click on the ‘Notebook Files and Pages’ in the blue bar.

7. Click on one and drag into onto your blank page.  You can also double click. I suggest with starting with ‘Category Sort Text.’

8. Click on ‘Edit’ in the upper left corner of the screen.

9. At this point, you can change the categories, create 3 columns, and mark your correct answers.  When you are finished, click ‘Okay.’

10. Then, save your Notebook.  File, save as. You can save the Smart Notebook directly into the file on your M drive for that unit or skill so you will always have it for reinforcing that skill or for the future.

11. If you want to make another one on a different page, just go to the next page and drag a new activity to it.  Click ‘edit’ and begin.  

For lower elementary, you might want to try any of the ‘Image’ premade activities.  Adding images to your activity is actually pretty quick and simple.  

1. Drag over ‘Category Sort-Image’ or any image activity.  Click on ‘Edit’ and change your categories just like before.
2. Now, click the ‘Maximize’ button (it actually will make it smaller if you are already maximized--it is the rectangle button in the top right.)
3. Pull up a second window for a google image search.  Also make sure that is not full screen, so you can still kind of see both screens at the same time.  (You could split screen if you want.)
4. Open your chosen image up, right click, save as.  It will download it onto your bottom downloads bar.

5. Find the image in the bottom downloads bar and drag it to the Smart Notebook.  Drop the image in the image box you want.  It will stay there once you drop it.

6. Continue to find, save, and drop images into the Smart Notebook until you have the number you want/need for that activity.  

TRY THIS: It doesn’t always work, but sometimes you can just drag the image directly from your Google Image search into the image box in Smart Notebook without having to save anything!

7. Save and you are ready to go!

There are TON of premade activity options ready for you to customize.  So easy, so effective!

Collaborate with Google Slides!

Shared Google Slides: A Class-wide Collaboration

Created by Allison Schalk, Digital Learning Coach, Lanesville Community Schools

Two years ago when Lanesville became a GAFE schools, I was lucky enough to have a class set of chromebooks parked in my classroom.  When I went to a conference for introducing GAFE to your school and classroom, Matt Miller, author of Ditch That Textbook, shared a shared Google Slides class project that instantly stuck.  Since we’ve gone 1-1, I have used and shared the collaborative Google Slides more times than I can count.  The opportunities are endless so try it once and see for yourself!

1. Create a Google Slides.
2. On the title slide, put an explanation of what you would like each student to accomplish on their slide.

3. Create one slide for each student in the class. I like to go ahead and label the title of each slide with each student’s name so they know which slide is theirs as they begin.  If you skip this step to save time, you will end up with kids accidentally writing on another student’s slide.  

4. Click the blue ‘Share’ button on the top right of your screen.  Select ‘Share with all people at your school with the link.’ You can share with anyone that has the link.  That is fine, too; it just allows people to see it without being logged into a school account.  

5. Then, copy the shareable link. Control C is a quick and easy way to copy it!

6. Take that link and paste it (Control V) into your Learning Management System (for Lanesville that is Google Classroom) in the announcements for your class.

7. Each student will work on their particular slide for whatever the topic.  You can have them sign up ahead of time so you don’t have repeats.

8. Once each student has finished, you can pull the Google Slides up on your Smartboard or projector to have each student share their info quickly.  

What I Love About This?

• In a single class period, your students can learn about 25-30 examples a particular topic instead of just the one they researched.
• It is QUICK and EASY! No changing out presentations and having to deal with transition time.
• This format can work for a million different types of lessons.

So, I like the idea, but what lesson will work for me?

Language Arts:

• Tragic Heroes background information before reading Romeo and Juliet
• Background research before a large research project to explore topics (We did college information one time during March Madness.)
• Grammar skills: Students create sentences with errors.  A second slide contains the sentence with the errors/corrections shown.  Use it for DOL.
• Each person shares a children’s book that shares a universal theme and justifies that theme.
• Choice story but sharing same skills: beginning, middle, and end, themes, characterization, etc.

Science:

• Exploring the Periodic Table and individual elements
• Exploring the parts and systems of the body
• A real life example of a scientific principle or law

Social Studies:

• Exploration of countries/states/cities in a particular geographical region
• Local historical sites and their significance
• Examples of limited and unlimited governments in history and around the world

Math:

• Real life examples of when a certain mathematical concept might be used
• Student-created word problems with a second slide with the solution to be used for warm-ups

Overall, if there is some type of content to be researched, you can allow your students to quickly research any topic and share out to the full class within a single class period or two depending on the depth of the research you are looking for.

I have also used this as a way for students to share links to videos.  For example, my students made MoveNotes in which they had to analyze a significant quote in a story.  They each shared the the link to their MoveNote in this shared Google Slides so students to have access to each others’ and I could easily view and provide feedback.

So try out a shared Google Slides and see the class truly collaborating and sharing their expertise with each other!

Not 1:1? Try Plickers

Plickers How-To

We are 1-1 tablets in grade K-2, but our tablets were not ready to roll out the first day of school, and I knew that some of the teachers really wanted to get started.  While I know this doesn't function the same as 1-1 tablets, Plickers provides the opportunity to engage students in a fun, interactive activity to record answers and get to know them.  Today, I am actually heading into a 1st grade classroom to just do a 'get to know you' type activity with the Plickers.  It's quick and easy, so give it a try!

Step 1: Download ‘Plickers’ onto your tablet.  It is free.

Step 2: Go to Plickers.com and create an account.  

Step 3: Click on ‘Classes’ and enter your class.  If you plan on using for subjects, it might be easier to make the classes by subject area.  While you will enter kids more than once, the way the questions are housed and sorted would be easier down the road.

Step 4: Enter in your students.  You can assign them to a number so they are always that number.  This allows you to see the person’s name when they answer and a graph of the questions that particular student missed. Names with answers DO NOT display on the main monitor while you play unless you select that option.

Step 5: Click on ‘Library’ and start to add questions.  This where separating your classes by subject will help you organize because you can put questions in only one class to organize.  You select the questions you want for that Plickers from the set--less to go through if organized by subject.  

If there is a right answer, you will select it here.  If there is no correct answer, select every answer as correct.

Step 6: Save the question.  Add another question at the top of the screen.  

Step 7: To assign a question to a class for that day, you will click on ‘Add to Plan’ and select the class.

Launch on your tablet or phone.  

Step 8: Open your class.  Launch the questions.  

Step 9: Once you have the question pulled up, click the camera icon.  Scan the room as each kid holds up their card.  You will see the kid’s name and his/her answer pop up on the screen when it works.  As the answers come in, your desktop/chromebook will look like the screen below.

Step 10: The tab for graph will allow you to see a graph of the answers.  This will change as answers come in.  

**Students can also change their answers, so if they want to change, you just have to scan by their card again and it will switch the answer and adjust the graph.

Step 11: You will click back, click on the new question, and repeat.  

If certain cards are assigned to certain students, you will be able to see their overall responses at the end as well.  

You can put question in on the fly on your tablet as well.  Just give a one word description of the question and post it up.  You also don’t have to assign students to numbers; you can just pass out the cards and go.

Created by Allison Schalk, Digital Learning Coach, Lanesville Schools

Get Some Rhythm in Your Room: Flocab

A Quick Intro to Flocabulary

Created by Allison Schalk, Digital Learning Coach, Lanesville Schools

I started using Flocabulary 10 years ago when the SAT vocabulary book had first hit the market.  I still rock the 10 year old black tshirt with orange print and 'Shakespeare is Hip Hop' on the back.  By the way, I would love a new Flocab tshirt.  Having taught in 3 very different types of schools, my students have always loved Flocab.  Even better for me, they remember it.

Truly, think about it.  How many first pages of books can you recite?  Now, how many sets of song lyrics do you know by heart?  It's just easier.  This is how our students' minds work, too.

Now that Flocab has been expanded to different subject areas and grades with so many attached resources, I am sharing it with my corporation for them to hop on board.  Last year, we had an account for all of the middle and high students for English.  We are now trying a full corporation trial run, and you can try it, too.

By the way, I am totally not a part of the Flocab team AT ALL; I just have seen my students write with these words, read current events, and talk about it outside of the classroom.  Years later, my students stop in to rap with the newest group because they still remember it.  That's powerful.

What is Flocab?

Flocabulary is an interactive, multi-disciplinary source of fun songs, raps, and videos to teach and explore a ton of different subject areas.  The content is there; it is just set to music to make it easy for the kids to remember.  It also provides lots of different resources inside the raps to learn more about the topic!

Songs and Videos:

All subject areas and all grades are available.  The raps are separated by grade level and basic skills for you to be able to see what would be of most use to you.

For example, if I click on ‘Science,’ it will separate the raps and songs based on the grade level at which that skill is traditionally taught.  So, I clicked on ‘Elementary’ and these options appeared.

What is available to use for each rap?

While some of the specific activities available vary by the rap, most of the basic ones are available for all raps.

These features include Video, Quick Review, Interactive Lyrics, Fill-in-the-Blank,Quiz, Lesson Plans, and Printable Activities.  

Can students submit quizzes digitally to me?

Yes! If we select Flocabulary, we can give students individual accounts and their comprehension check will send directly to you.  You can even see which questions they missed compared with the rest of your class.

Try the Week in Rap

Every Friday a new rap is made to talk about the current events of the past week.  When you click on the ‘Interactive Lyrics’ Tab, each current event contains a little nonfiction piece explaining the event with more resources to learn more.