Daily Reminder Lists With Gmail's Tasks Feature

As a teacher, there are things I need reminders of on certain days of the week, every week.  Recess duty, printing certain weekly assignments, Johnny's pull out at 2:00, etc.  I could use Microsoft Outlook reminders, but I'm a Google Apps user, so I don't use Outlook anymore.  I could use the reminders on my smart phone or iPad, but I don't need it to make a sound, nor do I want to be checking my phone all the time in front of my students.  I don't need an audible reminder, I just need a list somewhere that doesn't get lost in the paperwork covered pile I call my desk.  What to do, you ask?  The Tasks feature in Gmail has a handy way to solve this problem.

If you are unfamiliar with the Tasks feature in Gmail, see my Keeping Track of Tasks with Google Apps post about how to set up and use the Tasks feature.

As I showed in that post, you can create multiple tasks lists.  So why not create one for each day?  By clicking on the little bulleted list icon in the bottom right hand corner of the tasks window, you will bring up a list.  You can choose "New list" to make your lists and then just click on the list name to switch to it.

Every morning when you boot up your computer and sign into your email, switch your Tasks list to the right day of the week.  So simple!

Thanks for stopping by TeachingTechNix!  I hope to have another handy tech tip for you soon. 

Remove the Extra Page After Tables in MS Word

You've spent an hour or more creating and perfecting your document.  It is beautiful, a work of art one might say. (Yes, you know who you are.  You get excited about your new word documents.  Don't worry, no judgement here!)  It is perfect, except for one thing - you can't get rid of that pesky extra page!  You have a beautifully crafted table at the bottom of your document and that sneaky extra page just won't go away even though you have deleted everything after the table - twice.  The cursor simply blinks at the top of the extra page, silently mocking you.  No fear, help is here!  One quick thing will solve it - every single time.  

Now you have your table at the bottom of your page, followed by the pesky extra page.  Make sure you have deleted everything after the table.

 

Make sure your cursor is at the top of the empty page and then change the font to size 1.  You'll need to be sure you are on the "Home" tab of the tool bar across the top.  Click in the font size box and change it to one.  The drop down menu won't have the option for 1, so you can just highlight the number already in the box and type the number 1.  

Once you type the 1, hit enter.  Ta da!  Empty page eliminated!  If you look closely you can see your tiny font size one cursor at the very bottom of the page.  

Another trick that I've seen work at times, is to change what is called the "text wrapping" setting for your table.  This changes how the text on the rest of the page interacts with your table.  To do this, click on your table so that the little cross with arrows icon shows up at the top left corner of the table.  

Then right click on it to bring up some menu options.

Choose "Table Properties".  

Look for the "Text wrapping" option.  It should be there on the first page, but if it isn't, make sure you are on the "Table" tab.  Change it to "Around" instead of none.  Click "OK".

That may fix it as well.  However, this can possibly mess up your beautifully crafted formatting on the rest of the page, depending on what is in your document.  It might not, but keep an eye out for other changes on your document if you decide to go this route instead of the font change.  

Thanks for stopping in at TeachingTechNix!  I hope your days of singing the "Extra-Page" blues are over.  Stop in again soon for some more handy tech tips.  

Keeping Track of Tasks with Google Apps

Most teachers have a to do list a mile long.  In my case, I used to have about 30 sticky notes scattered all across my desk with all the little things I need to remember to deal with.  Then when I got home and actually had 5 minutes to do something, that list did me no good scattered all over my desk at school.  Google has a cool feature that helped me with this very problem.  Tasks!

Accessing the "Tasks" Window

When you have your Gmail inbox in front of you, you will see the word "Mail" in red just under the colored Google logo in the top left corner of your browser window.  You'll notice that there is a small red triangle next to it pointing downward.  This indicates that there is a drop down of some sort.  If you click on the word "Mail", a menu will show.  It will give you three options - Mail, Contacts, and Tasks.

When you click on "Tasks", a little Tasks window will pop up in the bottom right hand corner of your browser window.

Adding a Task

You can click on the yellow bar next to the small square to type in your first task.  Once you finish typing, just hit enter to save the task.  It will automatically pop up a new little square so you can add the next task when you are ready.

Checking Off a Task

Once you complete a task, you can simply check the box to show that it is completed.  

Adding Another List

One cool feature is that you can have more than one list.  By default it will say "<Insert your name>'s List".  You can rename this list, and even create other lists, by clicking on the little button in the bottom right that looks like three bullet points.  

When you click on the "New list" option it will pop up a small window asking you to name your list.  I named mine Veteran's Day to show one reason why you may want a separate list.  Our school does a big Veteran's Day celebration for the community every year and there are many things to do to prepare.  I can use a separate task list to manage the tasks associated with this event.  

Once you hit ok after naming your list, the new list is opened.  To switch back and forth between lists, click the little button with the three bullets again and it will allow you to choose which list you would like to see.  

Clear Completed Tasks

If you click the "Actions" menu at the bottom of the window, you can do a number of things, one of which is to clear away the completed tasks.  

Adding Details to a Task

Something else you can do from this menu is edit the details of your task.  If you choose "Edit details" from the menu you will be able to add a due date, add notes, or even move this task to a different list.  You can get to the same add details screen by mousing over the task and clicking on the little black arrow that shows up on the right side of the task.

When you add a due date, the little date will appear under the task title on your list.

Changing the Order of Tasks

To change the order of a task, you could use the actions menu, but the easiest way is to mouse over the task and click on the little dotted area that appears at the left side of the task.  You will get a gripping glove icon when you mouse over that area.  Just click and drag that task into the position you want it to be in.  Note:  Due dates do not seem to affect the order of your tasks.  

Deleting a Task

To delete a task, you can simply check it off and then clear completed tasks, or you can select the task and click on the little trash can icon at the bottom of the window.  

Managing the Tasks Window

You can minimize the window within the gmail screen by clicking on the minus sign in the upper right corner of the Tasks window.  You can also pop the tasks window out so it becomes its own window instead of living inside your gmail window.  You can do this by clicking on the little arrow icon next to the minus sign.  You can also close the window by clicking on the X.  

If you do pop the window out, you can pop it back in by choosing the "Pop-in" option at the bottom right corner of your new tasks window.

I hope the task list will come in handy for you.  It sure has made a big difference for me.  

To read my post about using tasks to make daily reminder lists - click here.  

Thank you for stopping by TeachingTechNix!  Stop by soon for another handy tech tip.

Google Drive Organization Tips

Do you use Google Drive?  I know when I first started using it, my files were just all in the drive and I hadn't given much thought to organizing them.  Once I started using it often, it became necessary to be more organized.  Yes, Google Drive has an awesome search feature and you can find most any file with just a few keystrokes, but for my sanity I need some order.  I have three tips for you today:  creating folders, coloring the folders, and using those little stars in a handy way.

Creating Folders

Did you know you can create folders within your drive?  You can create them the same way you create everything else, by clicking on the red "New" button at the top left of the page.  Then choose "Folder".  This will create a folder in whatever location you happen to be in when you click the "New" button.  So if you want to create a folder within a folder, you just go into that folder and then hit the "New" button.

 

After you click "Folder", it will bring up a little window and prompt you to name your folder.  Type in whatever you want the name to be and click the blue "Create" button.

To add files or folders inside the folder, you can do a few things.  If you go into your folder, and then click "New", the new item will be stored in that folder.  To move an existing item or items into the new folder, select the item you wish to move by clicking on it once.  Then you have three options.  The easiest is to click on one of the items and drag it/them into the folder you created in the navigation bar on the left.  Note:  If your folders don't show in the navigation bar, click on the tiny gray arrow next to "My Drive" so that it is pointing down instead of to the right.  This will show the list of folders you have created within your drive.  If you have a folder inside a folder, you may have to click the tiny gray arrow next to other folders to see the folders within.

If you like things simple, that is all you need to know about moving files and folders.  If you like to know all your options - check out the rest of this section.  

Another option is to right click on your file and choose "Move to...".  It will pop up a window for you to choose which folder you want to move the file into.  (You may have to click the tiny gray arrows to expand your folders just like I explained above.)  Once you have selected the folder you want to move your file into, you can click the blue "Move" button at the bottom of the window.  You can also create a new folder from this window.  

             

The last way is to click on the file and then click the "three dots" button on the upper right hand corner of your screen.  Then choose "Move to...".  This will bring up the Move to window just like before.  

Folder Color

Another great organization tip is to change the color of your folders.  I tend to choose a color for each subject.  For example, all my Language Arts folders are orange, tech stuff is green, and Math is blue.  It just helps me find things faster.  You can use whatever classification you like.

To change the color of a folder, right click on the folder and mouse over the "Change color" option to get a list of colors.  Click on the color you want your folder to become.  Your folder will then change colors.  Fun!

  

Stars

Every file and folder in Drive can be starred.  This is supposed to be so you can select the "Starred" option in the navigation bar on the left and see all the files you have starred.  I don't have much use for this, so I use the star in a different way.  When I have a folder full of student projects, either to grade or to print, I use the star as a way to check off that I've graded and/or printed that file already.  To star a file, simply right click on the file and choose "Add star".  You can right click on an item that is starred and click "Remove star" if needed.  This has helped me not to have to filter through all of my printed documents to see which ones I still need to do, or search my desk for the sticky note I wrote the list on.

Well, I hope you found at least one of these tips to be helpful!  Check back soon for more handy tech tips.  Thanks for visiting TeachingTechNix!

Create a Group in Google Contacts

Have you ever needed to send frequent emails to the same group of people?  As a teacher, I need to do this often.  Emails need to be sent out to all the parents in my class quite frequently, and I used to type in every email address, every time.  I was using Microsoft Outlook and I knew I could create a contact group, but until my school went to gmail, I never took the time to figure out how.  Google makes this so simple!

The easiest way to get to Google Contacts is by clicking on the red word "Mail", located just under the colored Google logo in the top left corner of your browser.  When you do this, you will get three options - Mail, Contacts, and Tasks.  Clicking on "Contacts" will take you to your Google Contacts page.

You can also get to Google Contacts by typing google.contacts.com into your web browser.  If you are logged into a Google account already, you can click what is referred to by many as the rubik's cube.  This is the little icon with 9 boxes in the upper right hand corner of your window.

Clicking on the rubik's cube will bring up a list of the major Google apps.  

When you click on one of the apps, it should open in a new tab.  If Contacts is not shown in that list, once you use Google Contacts, it should start showing up.  Contacts has always shown for me in the Google Chrome browser, which I highly recommend using as your default browser, but I tried it in Safari and Contacts didn't show until I went to it once by typing in the web address. 

Once you get to the Google Contacts page, you can add new individual contacts by clicking on the red New Contact button, or you can go down toward the bottom of the list and click on New Group, to create a group, which is what I'm going to show you today.  

When you click on New Group, you will be prompted to name your group.

Type in the name and then hit "OK".  I try to name it something quick and easy to type in, so when I want to email them, I can type it in quickly.  I've shown it here with a room number.  

Once you click ok, your new group will appear under My Contacts in the menu down the left side of the page.  

Click on the name of your group to manage it.  If this is the first time you have used Google Contacts and you don't have any individual contacts, your screen isn't going to change much when you click on the name of your group, but you will see that the name of your group is now red.  That means that you are on the right page.  The text on the white part of the screen will say, "There are no contacts in this group."  Click on the little image of the person with a + near the top to add contacts.  

Once you click the add contacts button, you will get a little window.   Type the email addresses of the people you want in your group.  You can do this one at a time, or all at once, just separate with commas if you do more than one at a time.  When you are done typing in the addresses, click "Add".

After you click add, your contacts will appear as a list.  Sometimes the first and last name will populate automatically, sometimes they won't.  It depends on if you have emailed that person before, if you copy and pasted the email address from an email where the person who sent it to you had that information included, etc.  

If the first and last name didn't come up, and you'd like to add it in, you can easily do this by clicking on that contact.  It will open up the information page for that person.  

You can click on "Add name" and type the person's name in the box and hit enter.  Then you can click on the little back arrow right above the contact picture, or on your group name in red to the left to return to your group's main page.  You will see that the name has now been filled in for that contact.

Now, when you go to write an email, simply type the title of your group into the "To" box of your new message and it will automatically pop up your group as an option.  This is the easiest way to email your group.  

You can also click on the word "To" and it will bring up a contacts menu.  

Now, you will see your contacts listed here, but this is not your group.  When you add members to a group, it adds them in as individual contacts under My Contacts as well.  If you have many contacts, they will all appear in this first list.  You only see my group members there because I haven't added any other contacts to this Google account.  To get only your group, you want to click on the "My Contacts" button at the top.  This will bring a drop down menu and all your groups will show.  You can then click on your group name to bring up the group members.  

Once you bring up the group list, you can select them all by clicking on "Select all", or, if you don't want to include all of them, you can just check the box next to the ones you do want to include.  Then click the blue "Select" button at the bottom to add them to your email.  

Now you can easily email a whole group of people by typing in the name of the group, or selecting the group from your contacts list.  This is a huge time saver for me and I hope it will be for you, too! 

*Those of you who use Google Groups - I added a contact group for all my students in Google Contacts.  This even works for students who don't have gmail enabled on their Google Accounts.  Then when I went to create a Google Group for my students - I just typed in the name of my contact group to quickly add all of the students in that group to my Google Group.  If you are interested in learning about Google Groups, see my Google Groups 101 post.   

Thank you for stopping by TeachingTechNix!  Check back soon for more helpful tech tips.  

Grammar Mini Lesson Using Google Groups

I have a quick post for you today about using Google Groups for grammar mini lessons.  If you aren't sure how to set up a Google Group, see my Google Groups 101 post to learn how.

We have finished all our required grammar lessons for the year and have recently started a systematic review of each part of speech.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to use Google Groups for a discussion board, and it has worked really well!  I set up a post asking the students to write a complete sentence using a certain part of speech.  All the students logged in and posted their responses.  We did this as a whole group, however it can easily be used as a station or to do list type activity.  After the students posted, we looked at everyone's sentences and discussed the elements.  If they didn't quite get it right, we talked about how we could help that person make it better.  Here are a few shots of one of the topics.  

We have three third grade classes, so I set up a different post for each class.

I edited out the student names for privacy protection, but you would normally see the name of the person who posted in the blank space between the star and the sentence they posted.

The kids really enjoy this.  They love seeing their names up on the screen and enjoy reading what their classmates posted.  It gives many examples of whatever part of speech you are working on and allows students to help one another when mistakes are made.  Both my partner teachers and I all thought it was a great lesson.  We plan to keep using discussion groups for grammar mini lessons as we continue our review.

Another idea is to use discussion groups for spelling rules.  Students can post "long a" words or "short i" words, etc.  There are so many ways to use this for language study.

I hope this gave you an idea of how you could use Google Groups in your classroom.  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of, or how you are already using Google Groups in your classroom.  Thanks for stopping by TeachingTechNix!