Young, Scrappy, and Hungry

"I am not throwing away my shot

Image from https://twitter.com/hamiltonmusical

I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot"

    Shot? Whose shot? What country?

    (groan) Don't you pay attention to anything? It's Hamilton! You know, Alexander Hamilton from the Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

    Wow, talk about someone with drive. Hamilton became the first Secretary of Treasury at age 34. Say, weren't you working on a drive?

    Yes, Google Drive.

    Similar to our government, there are a lot of pieces within Google Drive. To start with, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are Google's equivalent to Microsoft's Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. In fact, when you upload one of those documents, you can open it in your Google Drive and save it as the Google format and keep both versions (Word and Doc) in your Drive. One of the neatest aspects of Drive is the ability to share all those creations. Because there are several ways and several settings you can choose, I'll let the video tell you how.

    Wow! That was smashingly quick and informative! 

    Yes, he was. But, there's more.

    Two of the Google Documents/Programs in Drive don't really have a Microsoft equivalent--Drawings and Forms. Although Drawings is similar to Paint, you can do so much more including creating custom graphic organizers like the one I made here. Then, thanks to the magic of Google Drive's sharing technology, you can share it with each of your students without having to leave the comfort of your classroom to make copies (unless you prefer paper or are not 1:1).

    The other Document/Program is Google Forms. Imagine a multiple choice quiz or test. Now, give that test the ability to automatically collect the student names, force them to answer every question, and grade itself (after you tell it the answers). Add in the awesome Add-In called FormLimiter which gives you the additional power to tell it a certain day and time to stop accepting answers as well as a certain number to accept, and you've got a pretty powerful tool.







Make sure when you're limiting the number of replies that you make it one less than the number that you want because the program allows it to go one over.





    Man, it's so sad that Hamilton had such a short life. I bet he could have made an even bigger impact if he would have been around longer.

    I agree. However, not all shortened items are bad. For instance, shortening a URL is awesome.

    There are several ways to shorten URL's. First, you can use a FREE Chrome Extension called Goo.gl to shorten. It has both a website and an Extension in the Chrome Web store (although the Extension isn't the official one by Google it works the same and keeps track of your URL shortenings).

The other popular and FREE URL shortening program is TinyURL. With TinyURL, you can ask the program to shorten a URL for you, or you can create your own shortened one. For instance, if I link students to Hamilton's biography, it's a 59 character link that TinyURL shortens to 28 characters.


 Now, if you want to make it easier for students to understand and remember that link, you can customize it. The trick is to make it unique enough that no one else has thought of it or you can't use it. The first one I tried (HamiltonBio) had been used, so I went with Sec-Hamilton. Although it is longer than the original one TinyURL gave me, it is (hopefully) more memorable.

If you're still unsure how to use it, watch this video.

    

    Hamilton had eight kids? He sure was busy for dying so young.

    Yes, he was also a lawyer and ... Hey! (gasps) That's YOUR homework! Follow the link and read it, you turkey.

Join me on an Odyssey!

Image from: https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/the-odyssey

Say, did you hear about Telemachus?

       No.

Ya, he was an Odyssey.

       Uh-humm. I think you mean oddity.

But, Odyssey works so much better in the joke since that's what his dad, Odysseus, is on--an Odyssey. Get it???

       Ohhh! (rolls eyes)

    Well, since we're on that subject, let's take an Odyssey of our own and explore the new features we learned about this week--custom searches and Gmail tips.

    First off, I created a custom search engine specifically for my Freshmen to aid in their research of Ancient Greece. As we read The Odyssey, they research certain aspects of Ancient Greece and write a research paper as well as create an artifact that relates to that topic. In creating this custom search engine, I have specified exactly which websites they can search thus making their online search a hair safer and much easier for them to locate reliable sources.

    Here is the custom search engine.


In order to create this, sign in to your Google account and go to google.com/cse. This allows you to create a custom search engine. Once there, click "New search engine", then start adding the url's of the web pages you want the custom engine to search. Next, give it a name and click "Create".

    Now, what's the purpose of a search engine if you don't share it? So, you need to edit the search engine and click on "Public URL". Once that pulls up, copy and paste the link.

    Well, that's as easy as shepherd's pie! Get it? 'Cause Polyphemus tries to eat all of Odysseus' men but they tie themselves under the sheep and escape. Hehehe!

    Ya, I get it. (groans)

    In case you need more help or prefer a video, here's one by Richard Byrne. 

    Say, have you ever sent an email and wished you could have un-sent it?

    

    Well, sure I have!

    Boy, have I got a Gmail tip for you!

    In one of their best moves, Gmail has made it possible to un-send a message. Simply go into the settings of your Gmail account, find the "Undo Send", click the box, and adjust the time for 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds to recall a sent message. 

    Hmmmm, can you help me un-send this message to Antinous? I messaged him letting him know Penelope was accepting suitors, but then I heard Odysseus was on his way back.

    Ya, I can't help with that. You have to set this up before you send the message.

    Well, do you know of any ships sailing out soon? No? Guess I'll go try my hand at shepherding.

There's a new Chrome in town.

Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome

    Move over, Jeeves! There's a better browser in town! 

    Seriously, if you haven't tried Google's Chrome browser, you're missing out. 

    It took me longer to open a new tab and type the search than it took Google Chrome to send me the results of my search. (Someone find Jeeves a chair to sit in, please.)

    But, that's not all. One of my favorite sections of the browser is Google Scholar. This is a specialized section of Google's search engine specifically for locating academic articles for research. If you don't have access to another scholarly database, this one will find your sources. 😉

    Another one of my favorite parts of Chrome is the ability to open as many tabs as I need. As an English teacher instructing three different grade levels, there are times I have 6 or more tabs open per class. Admittedly, the more I open, the slower my laptop operates; however, that's where another great feature steps in -- Google Extensions.

    Extensions allow Chrome users to quickly and easily access programs they decide are fabulous. To get to the Extensions (and Apps if you're on a Chromebook), go to the Chrome Web Store. Extensions can be shortcuts or mini-versions to larger, web-based, programs. Or they can be their own stand-alone program. (Hey, get Jeeves a towel to wipe that nervous sweat off his face.)

    The first extension I use is OneTab. This extension allows me to funnel all of my open tabs into one tab with links to those tabs (hehehe, the program's icon is a funnel). And, viola, running back at full speed since I freed up all that memory. If I need that tab open again, all I do is click on the link and it opens right back up. 

   The next Extension also benefits my teacher super-powers--being able to see the grades I've assigned in Google Classroom while trying to input them in the gradebook. Tab-resize allows me to split my screen into two or more different tabs. So, I can have Classroom open in one tab and the gradebook open in the other and not have to switch back and forth between the two all the while trying to remember the name of the last student I put in. 😵

   
   Look at that! 4 ways to view tabs! (Can someone bring Jeeves a glass of cool, fresh water? He's looking a little peaked.)

    The final Extension I'm going to share with you is the one I've been using to annotate all my screenshots, Nimbus Screenshot. Nimbus's built-in editor has allowed me to add pointed lines, circle numbers, and type words. In addition, you can capture different parts of the webpage, like the whole screen, the scrolled screen, or just a section that you select. Then, it has multiple ways to save and share the screenshot--as an image, in your Google Drive, on your clipboard, or even print it. 

    The final topic for this week is Google+. Like all of Google's tools, it's linked to your FREE Google account (which includes a FREE email account). This is Google's version of a social network and includes Collections, Communities, and Connections. Collections are pieces you or someone else puts together that are full of links and data that you think belongs together. You can follow someone else's Collection, but you cannot add to it and vice versa if someone follows your Collection. Also, you can have more than one Collection. Communities are groups of people that gather online to discuss a certain topic of that group. For instance, teaching, photography, and sewing (my three favorite searches). Each one of these has many Communities you can choose to belong to (or leave when it gets crazy on Saturday Slinky Sewing night). Lastly, the Connections in Google+ are people you are interested in that you choose to follow. Just a word of advice, pick your Connections carefully because if you're unsure of Betty Bloopers on your staff, you're probably not going to like what she shares on Google+. 

Here's a quick Google+ tutorial from YouTuber Yeah Likes.

    In the end, it's up to you to choose the web browser that fits you the best. But, you can't go wrong with Chrome. 💗

    Say, can someone help me get Jeeves out the door? He seems to have slipped off the chair when I mentioned Betty Bloopers.


*****NOTE: I am aware that Jeeves was not a web browser but a search engine; however, his name fit better than Explorer.*****