The secrets in Google Slides

Alice Keeler shared her 6 hidden features in Google Slides.  Please see the post here.  Number 3 (the Explore feature) might be helpful to your students.

Google Slides Follower

Kasey Bell shared this video to show how you can follow a collaborator in Google slides.    When you are following someone (who is in the slide deck at the same time), your screen will mirror their screen.  So when they change to another slide, so will you. 

Publish your own magazine!

Ever think of using Google Slides to have your students create a magazine?  Ernest Gonzales did and shared his ideas (as well as the Google template) in this blog post. Think of the options- this could be a travel publication or use it as a portfolio for your students!

Move those slides!

 

Here’s a newly added Google Slides Add On which will allow you to randomize your slide deck as well as roll some dice.  Special thanks to Kristen Boehm (EES) for her suggestion! My one-minute video here will walk you through the process.

Get a bigger screen in Google Slides

Google has recently introduced a new feature allowing you to eliminate the filmstrip (the thumbnails down the side) while in the edit view.  Now you can make those interactive slides easier for your students and full screen.  Please see the video here.

Templates for all

Matt Miller is the king of Google Slides templates.  Here is his latest post filled with a variety of social media options (I think the Amazon samples could be fun!).  Please see his blog post here.

Shortcuts in Google Slides

Alice Keeler shares her top 5 shortcuts for Google Slides.  Consider sharing one a week with your students and watch them become experts!

Maybe a Google Slide will work

In her blog post, Alice Keeler suggests using Slides (instead of Docs) for the ability to add multimedia sources. She will help you convert the slides to portrait view.

Becoming a Master

Slide Master that is!  This series of short videos from Sarah Kiefer will walk you through the basics. I included the introduction one above to get you started.

Slides, Drawings, or Jamboard?

Jen Hall recently presented at a Google Educator Group and shared this presentation on slides, drawings, or Jamboard.  As she says, it depends on the goal- what do you want students to do?  This blog post includes an informative video as well as an infographic to help you make your choice.

New Google Slides Presentation tools

 

There are some new presentation tools in Google slides- the large dark bar at the bottom of the screen is gone!  Please see the video here for a brief demonstration.

Changing the font in Google Slide Master

Kasey Bell (ShakeUpLearning) recently shared a quick video on how to easily change the font (type, color, size, etc) in the Master Google slide.  The changes will be applied to all slides.  Please see her video here.

Edit the Master slide

Ever want to make changes on all your slides?  Consider using editing the master slide. Please see Richard Byrne's blog post (Free Technology for Teachers) and his step-by-step video here.

Show me the answers (50 math problems)

Special thanks to Kayla Hughey (from the Facebook group Teachers Teaching With Tech) for this interactive slide deck.  Maybe a copy and decide which ones to assign to your students.  Click here to make a copy of Kayla’s work and let the math begin!

The New AutoFit function in Google Slides/Drawings

If you want to have your text automatically adjust to fit the size of the text box, this new Google feature is for you.  Here is a video from one of my fellow Google Trainers (Tom Larson).  It will explain how to set up preferences and what will happen on the slides.

Nine Quick Tips in Google Slides

Google Slides is quickly becoming my favorite because of the editing tools.  Sarah  Kiefer shares
her top 9 Google Slides tips here.

Google Slides and BINGO!

 Google Slides and BINGO!

After sharing Jamboard Bingo with a few folks, I got this email from Gail Komm (SMS 7th-grade science educator):

 Rose shared the JamBoard bingo idea with me. Since I have more than 20 students in my class, I created a bingo board on google slides, but same exact setup. I'm having the students create their own bingo boards. We watched a BrainPop video and I'm asking them questions from the video. The answers are the keywords they used for their boards. They are loving it!!! 

Special thanks to Gail for responding to my request to share her slides and directions.  She even created a Bingo board you could copy!  Open this file and make a copy- you will be on your way to your first game!

From a Class Roster to Slides

Alice Keeler created a Google sheet Add-On (you need to access it from the template in the post here) that will create a slide deck with a student name followed by a blank slide (a place for them to work and create).

This helped solve one of my student collaboration issues.  I want the class to work together but not on each other’s slides.  So rather than me typing in their names, this Add-On will automatically create the slide deck!  Not only will this work for whole-class activities ( I’m doing one on Wednesday where the students are going to add their images) but think how useful it could be for group projects?

(Follow up note- this did work well for the students- it was a little slow to load. Next time I will have them open first and allow time for instructions. I did have a few students try to edit a classmate's slide. This is a challenge in remote instruction. I don't think I would have had as many issues if I had been able to work around the class!)

Want to change your link color?

Here’s an easy suggestion from Kasey Bell (Shake up Learning) to change your link color in the Slide Master.

Shut the box (online) with Alice Keeler

I’m sure I have played this game in real life at my mother’s house.  You roll the dice, clear the board, and try to get the lowest score.

Now Alice Keeler has created a digital version that you could play with others online.  Please click here to view her video (don’t be alarmed by the length- she plays the game several times).