Write Right with Google Tools

Writing is a skill that crosses all subject areas and all grade levels. No matter what you teach, it is critical for your students to be able to express their ideas clearly when writing.

There are a multitude of ways for students to improve their writing, including many technology tools that come from Google or that work with G Suite. With these technology tools, the writing process can be improved at all stages from planning to writing to self editing to peer editing to assessment to revising to publishing.

Over the years I have done many blog posts on tech tools for the various stages of the writing process. To make it more convenient, I have pulled together all of those different resources into this one post. See below for an overview of Google tools that can be used to help students and teachers through the writing process.

For each portion of the writing process I have listed some key resources and ideas, but have also linked to my earlier blog posts for each. Be sure to click the links for the related blog posts in each section to get all of the directions, examples, and resources for each.

My OETC 2018 Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC 2018) in Columbus this February 13th through 15th.

I always look forward to this opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at OETC 2018, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

9 Awesome Add-ons to Supercharge Google Slides

Google Slides is already a powerful tool for student creation and collaboration. You can see a wide range of educational uses in my Google Slides resource document (bit.ly/curts-slides).

As awesome as Google Slides is, you can make it even awesomer with the use of Add-ons!

Just like Docs, Sheets, and Forms, you can install Add-ons for Google Slides. Add-ons are third-party tools that provide you with extra features and functions that are not normally available in Slides.

In this blog post we will take a look at how to find, install, and manage Add-ons, as well as nine of my favorite Add-ons for Google Slides that can be valuable for students and educators.

What's New in Google - January 2018

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from January 2018, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our January 2018 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 22 new Google updates and 25 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the January 2018 meeting:

My 2018 FETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2018) in Orlando, Florida this January 23rd through 26th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at FETC 2018, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

21 New Free Interactive Pear Deck Templates for Google Slides

Last month I shared a blog post about the new Pear Deck add-on for Google Slides (as part of my "12 Days of Tech-Mas" series of posts).

The add-on is a simple, but fantastic, way to take your existing (or new) Google Slideshows and make them interactive. You can add multiple choice, text entry, numeric entry, drawing, and draggable activities to each slide. When the presentation runs, the interactive slideshow displays on each student's device, so the students can actively participate and you can collect their responses.

As awesome as that is … it just got better!

The Pear Deck add-on just got a major update that includes a fresh look with an easy-to-use sidebar, and (best of all) 21 new pre-made high-quality interactive templates. With a few clicks you can add these to your slideshow, edit them if needed, and engage your students more than ever.

See below for all of the details on each of the 21 new templates. Plus you can win a year of premium Pear Deck access by filling out the raffle form at the very bottom of this post!

What's New in Google - December 2017

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from December 2017, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our December 2017 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 23 new Google updates and 28 Google resources for your class.

The monthly meetings are hosted by the Google Educator Group of Ohio, but are open to anyone from any location. The purpose of these meetings is to:

• Connect Google-using educators
• Share the latest Google Apps news and features
• Provide tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to’s
• Share best practices of how Google Apps is being used within schools
• Ask questions and get answers

The video from the meeting is recorded and available for later viewing for those who cannot attend or connect live. See below to view the recorded video, agenda, and all the resources from the December 2017 meeting: