7 things you can do this summer to get ready for our 1:1 rollout

Summer is a great time to spend learning something new.  To get ready for next year's 1:1 Forward Learning rollout, here are 7 things that you can do!

1. Give your other computers the summer off.

Give your MacBook and other devices the summer off and pull out your Acer whenever you need a computer. The more you use it, the more comfortable you will be with it when you are working with your students.

2. Take the Acer tour.

This laptop tour was created by some 6th grade teachers at LCMS so their students could get familiar with the new device. It is a great way for you to get to know the Acer and a tool for next year with your class!

Acer Tour

3. Check out the apps that are loaded on the Acer. Pick one to use with your class.

Click here for a list of loaded apps. Click on any of the apps on the list to learn more about them. Find one that you are interested in and open it up on the Acer to play around with it.

Go to Activities in the top left corner. Type the name of the app you want into the search bar, select the app, and explore.  

4. Upload your files and folders to Google Drive.

You will want to have your files in Google Drive to make the most of the 1:1 environment. Here's how to get them there.

Upload files

There are two ways to upload files to Google Drive:

Drag-and-drop files. Using the latest version of Chrome you can drag-and-drop files directly from your computer into Google Drive. You can even drag-and-drop files directly into folders or sub-folders.
Upload files using Google Drive. Follow the steps below to select files to upload to Google Drive.

1. Open drive.google.com.
2. On the left, click New and select Upload Files... from the drop-down menu.
   Don't see New? You may be using the old version of Drive. Try clicking the upload icon and select Files... from the menu.
3. Select the file you'd like to upload. To select multiple files, press Shift or Ctrl(PC)/Command(Mac) and click all the files to upload.
4. You’ll see a box that shows the progress of your file upload. Click on the file name to open the file or close the box by clicking the X in the upper right corner.

5. Organize your Google Drive.

If you are already a Google Drive user, chances are you are overwhelmed trying to find files that you have created. Now is the time to create folders and use color coding to keep track of your files.

How to create folders for your documents

In Google Docs, folders can be used to organize your documents. However unlike the normal idea of folders, you can put a document into multiple folders at once in Google Docs. To create a folder, do the following:

First go to your main Google Drive screen and select where you wish to create the folder. If it will be a top level folder, simply click on My Drive on the left side of the Drive screen. Or if it will be a sub-folder, first drill down through your folders until you have opened the one where the new folder will go. Click New, then Folder. Finally type in a name for your new folder.

How to name documents and folders

One thing that can help you get organized is to use a common naming scheme for files and folders. The name should tie the item to a time (year), a class (perhaps period), who created it (your name), and what it is (a certain paper, projector, or turn-in folder).

Here are some helpful recommendations for you to use. For documents and folders, include in the name:

• the current school year (four digits such as 2014 for school year 2014-2015)
• your class period (two digits such as 03 for 3rd period)
• the name of the document or folder

Here is a great post on a fast way to organize your Google Drive: 4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Create a Perfectly Organized Google Drive

6. Take a look at what Google Classroom can do. Set it up for next year!

You can read more about Classroom here or here. Best practices (updated weekly) are posted in this folder.

Already a Google Classroom Guru? Check out Alice Keeler's post on 3 Thing's to Wrap up Google Classroom for Summer!

7. Still need more Google? We've got you covered!

LVUSD Resources

Visit our Google Apps Learning and Teaching with Google Apps sites to learn how to use and teach with Google Apps.

21 Day Google Challenge 

Thanks to Paul Barrett for posting the 21 Days of Google Docs and Drive Challenge to his blog! Pick and choose the topics you want to know more about. Paul's blog

Google Educator Curriculum

If you are really inspired, you can take a look at the Google Educator curriculum. There are several online modules to choose from. Going through the modules will give you plenty of Google skills and they are free to access. For a small charge ($15 each last year; no price yet for this year), you can take an exam for the module. If you take and pass five of the exams, you will earn a Google Educator certificate. The exams are not currently available, but they are scheduled to return at the end of June, 2015.

Have you hit a snag? Have a question? Reach out for help!

Your LVUSD Media Specialists are available to give you a hand when you need it. You can contact Karen Lagola or Nancy Minicozzi to get one on one assistance.

You may also want to visit these blogs. They are full of great Google resources:
Alice Keeler: alicekeeler.com
Lisa Nowakowski: nowatechie.com