Google Stock Photos

One of the things that has, in the past, made Google Docs a little more of a challenge to use, has been the lack of a clipart feature. We have become so dependent upon clipart that it is difficult to reconcile the fact that we must go out on the web and find our own images for insertion into our documents.

Enter Google Stock Photo! Now, if you open a document and choose to insert an image, one of your choices is to choose an image from Google Stock Photo. In the image above, I searched for the term "baby" (I guess I have babies on the brain!) and found lots of cute results.

No longer are you completely dependent upon finding your own imagery for your site, blog, or document! Knowing Google, this repository will only continue to grow. Being web based, and not a static software package, Google could update the photos in this at any time.

I love the possibilities this affords!

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Flubaroo!!!!

Need another reason to get excited about using Google Docs? Look no further than Flubaroo! Flubaroo is a plugin that allows you to automatically grade forms submitted in Google!

Watch a 3 minute demo of what Flubaroo can do...

Ready to try it for yourself?
Start by going to http://www.flubaroo.com/flubaroo-user-guide . There you will find a step-by-step guide to creating your own self-graded quiz!

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No More Flash Drives!

Do you constantly have kids who forgot a flash drive? Do you hate the sound of sobbing when your students find out all the library's flash drives have already been checked out? Did you know...that Google Docs can act as a flash drive?!?!?! It's true! Every one of your kids has a flash drive on hand, online, and it will hold 1Gig of stuff. That is roughly 4 times as much as they can fit on their H drive!

To use this function, they need to open their Google Docs accounts and click Upload under the FISD logo. Then they choose the file they need to carry home with them (any type file can be uploaded!!!) and they should choose to not let Google Docs convert the file into the corresponding Google file type.

When they get home, they can open their Google Docs, and download the file to their home computer. Of course, if it is a Microsoft Word file and they don't have Microsoft Word at home, there may be an issue. in that case, tehy should just convert the file to the Google format, which will then be editable at home. They can always export the file back to a Word Doc when they return to school the next day.

This works for teachers too- you might give it a shot! I personally hate to hear teachers crying when they can't find a flash drive...

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Free Google Webinars

Free Google Apps Webinars   

Connect with Google's Education team, their partners, and other  educational institutions using Apps in these free live and recorded webinars. TCEA's Monica Martinez will be conducting the "Teaching History with Google Sites" webinar on Oct. 12 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. CST. In this webinar, participants will learn how to use the calendar, form, charts, maps, gadgets, and more to create a collaborative interactive classroom environment while making history come to life. Many other topics are also available in the webinars. 

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/webinars.html

Here is just a taste of what is offered!

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"The Goog" Organization Tip#1

I have been uploading a million documents to "The Goog" and sharing with you guys. You may have noticed that your list of documents is huge now and it is getting difficult to find anything. Here is a tip that will save your life!

First of all, if you choose "Owned by Me" from the menu on the left of your Google Docs list, then only the documents you created yourself will show up. That can be VERY helpful. 

Second, for documents that have been shared with you in folders (like the whole mess that I shared in the Technology folder) you can do the following:

• Check all the little boxes next to documents that are showing up in home, and that ALSO appear in a folder
• Look over at the right hand side. When you have selected documents, you will see an option appear that says "Don't Show in Home"
• Select that option and all of those docs will henceforth appear only in their folder!

This little tidbit can help you use your collections to their fullest potential. Happy Googling!

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Great Googly Moogly!

It’s been a Googly kind of day at Pioneer!

JUST TODAY…

·         We had kids come in before school who were using library computers to access use Google Docs accounts

·        

      NJHS students voted for officers this morning using a Google form. They accesses the form using shortcuts I set up on the iPod Touches for them, or by scanning a QR code (created by Mrs. Snyder) with their own device.

·         Student Council Elections are taking place through advisory in 6^th grade and during lunch for 7^th and 8^th. This voting is also done using a Google form, but we are using desktops and laptops to get kids to the form.

·         In Theater, Bucher used Google Docs to share some sound files with students, and now the kids can access those from school or home as they work on writing their musicals! Kids are also collaborating on their musicals, so they are writing them in Google Docs. They can both write on the same document at the same time, and not only that… the kids shared with Bucher too so he can see what they are doing as they are doing it! So cool!

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