30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers

Several years ago when I started making webinars, my first one was on creating Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings. This was before I had started the this blog, so I never really shared all of that information in an official blog post. Until now...

Graphic organizers are a great tool to share information, explain a concept, or illustrate a relationship using elements including images, shapes, text, colors, and connecting lines. They can be used in education with any age group or subject area.

There are many excellent tools for creating graphic organizers. Some are installable programs, while others are online. Some are free, while other cost money. Educators and students should be encouraged to try out many different tools to determine what works best for them and for specific situations.

However, one great choice for graphic organizers is Google Drawings. See below for directions on how to create graphic organizers with Google Drawings (including a help guide and a recorded webinar) as well as 30 free sample graphic organizers that you can copy, use, and modify as needed.

8 Ways to Supercharge Google Docs with Drawings

On the 8th day of Tech-Mas my true love gave to me… 8 Docs Drawings.

Note: This post is part of my "12 Days of Tech-Mas" series for 2017. You can see all of the posts for each day as they get released in the main post here: "12 Days of Tech-Mas 2017".

"You can't do that in Google Docs!"

If you have ever made that claim, then you know the frustration of loving all the awesome things you can do in Docs, but still bumping up against limitations.

Sometimes we can extend the capabilities of Docs by installing add-ons or extensions. However, there is another powerful tool that's been sitting right there in the Docs menu all this time, which can provide you with loads of extra features that you may not have realized you had.

That tool ... Google Drawings.

That's right. You can embed Google Drawings into your Doc right from the "Insert" menu. Being able to insert a live, editable Google Drawing inside your document can let you do lots of things you normally cannot do in Google Docs.

In this blog post we are going to take a look at eight things you can do with Drawings inside of Docs. These can be great to make your documents more interactive for students, to add multimedia, to create HyperDocs, for student projects, and much more.

See below for details, directions, and examples for each, as well as recorded video tutorials demonstrating how each works.

Language Arts Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings

Graphic organizers are a powerful tools for language arts. Students can use them to plan an essay, compare and contrast characters, detail the sequence of a story, explore the meanings of a word, and much more.

There are many tools for creating and using graphic organizers, but one great option is Google Drawings. Some benefits include:

• Loads of ways to add images, shapes, connectors, text, and more
• Easy to collaborate with partners or for a whole class brainstorming activity
• Final product can be shared as is, or can be exported in several formats
• It’s free!

Recently I created a new batch of graphic organizers in Drawings that are aimed at language arts. All of these are freely available for use. Just click the links below to get your own copy to use and edit however you need.

Googlink: Creating Interactive Posters with Google Drawings

Google Drawings is often overshadowed by the other Google Drive tools such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. However, it is an excellent tool for students and teacher to do many tasks including graphic organizers, teaching math, and desktop publishing (see here for examples of each).

One more educational use for Google Drawings is to create an interactive multimedia poster. This is very much like creating a Thinglink. Let’s call it a Googlink.

If you are not familiar with Thinglink, it is a powerful online tool that lets users annotate images with pop-up text, pictures, videos, weblinks, documents, and more. It can be a great way for students to demonstrate their learning. You can see many examples of Thinglinks here: www.thinglink.com/featured

Although Thinglink is an excellent tool, its free version does have some limitations. As an option, Google Drawings can be used very much like Thinglink, and might be the perfect alternative for you and your students.

See below for information on how to use Google Drawings in a similar way as Thinglink to create, edit, and share interactive multimedia posters, as well as a sample Googlink to test out.

Pattern Block Templates and Activities with Google Drawings

Pattern Blocks are popular math manipulatives that seem to have been around forever (at least they were around when I started teaching math 25 years ago.) The standard set includes:

• Yellow hexagons
• Red trapezoids
• Blue thick rhombi
• Tan thin rhombi
• Green triangles
• Orange squares

There are loads of fun learning activities that can be done with pattern blocks, including exploration of symmetry, fractions, tessellations, angles, and more. Pattern blocks can also be used outside of math for creativity, art, writing, and such.

As useful as pattern blocks are, the physical versions have a few drawbacks:

• They cost money to buy.
• You will always have a limited amount.
• They can get lost.

One alternative is to use digital pattern blocks. Although there is nothing quite like handling the plastic blocks in real life, students can still do loads of activities with the virtual version.

To help with this, I have created a free Google Drawings template with virtual pattern blocks. In addition to the blank template, I have also made several sample activities to show some ideas for how these could be used. See below to get more details and to get your own copies of all these resources.

Google Drawings Chess and Checkers for Students

Earlier this week I shared a post about Battlesheets, my Google Sheets version of the classic tabletop game Battleship. Building on that topic, I am sharing two more Google versions of classic games in this post. This time I have created online interactive versions of Chess and Checkers with Google Drawings.

As mentioned before, tabletop games, board games, card games, and such can have great educational value for students. One great way to learn more about the benefit of gaming in education is to listen to the podcast "Games in Schools and Libraries". The show is hosted by Donald Dennis who "works in the Georgetown County Library system where he is the Teen Technology and Games Librarian." Donald also helps host another favorite podcast "On Board Games" which covers tabletop gaming in general.

Although there are many modern games (which I love) Chess and Checkers are classics that are both accessible and educational for students. They both also happen to translate very well into digital format using Google Drawings. See below to get your own copies of my Chess and Checkers games, as well as some tips and tricks for playing them online.

11 Ways to Teach Math with Google Drawings

Google Drawings is one of my favorite parts of the Google Drive suite, even though it seems to often get overlooked. Perhaps that is because Google itself hides the Drawings link under the “More” menu in Drive rather than letting it sit at the grown up table with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

However, I think Drawings deserves much more attention especially in the classroom where it has so many educational uses. These include:

• Graphic organizers - see here
• Desktop publishing - see here 
• Interactive multimedia posters (Googlinks) - see here 

In addition to those ideas, one of my favorite uses for Google Drawings is teaching math. Drawings lends itself very well to mathematics with its shapes, rotations, tables, lines, and much more.

See below for 11 ideas for how to use Google Drawings to teach and learn math. In each case I have included a brief explanation of the idea, a Google Drawing template or example, and Common Core math standards addressed.

Google Tools and Activities for Art Education

Although there is no replacement for getting your hands dirty with finger paints, technology can offer many ways for students to be creative when making art. In addition to creativity, technology can also allow students to explore and learn about art in new and engaging ways.

There are so many awesome technology tools for art, including desktop programs, mobile apps, and interactive websites. Along with all of those, there are many tools from Google that can help with teaching, learning, exploring, and creating art.

In this blog post we will look at a wide range of Googley tools and activities for art. Many of these have shown up in one form or other on my blog in the past, but I thought it would be helpful to pull them all together in one place. As I come across more resources in the future, I will be sure to add them to this growing list.

See below for the activities, and as always, feel free to use and share however you like!

Awesome Android Apps for Chromebooks

A while back I shared a blog post on how to install, manage, and run Android apps on Chromebooks. That post focused on the administrative and management end of the process, and can be seen here: Using Android Apps on Chromebooks

In this post we are going to build on top of that. Now that we know how to install and manage Android apps on Chromebooks, the next question becomes, "What are the best Android apps to run on your Chromebook?"

Certainly there is no definitive list that everyone would agree on. However, there are a lot of excellent Android apps that would provide benefit to students on Chromebooks in a school setting. To make this list I considered the following:

• Android apps that are free
• Android apps that provide something educational or support learning, communication, creativity, and such
• Android apps that provide something more than their web-based versions (why install the Android version if the web version is already available in Chrome, works fine, and maybe even does more than the mobile version?)

With those points in mind, see below for a list of some of the best Android apps today that students can use for learning on their Chromebooks.

Create Your Own Story Cubes with Google Drawings

Story cubes have long been a popular item to give inspiration for writing. Typically they are regular cubes with a different picture or word on each face. Students can pick a few cubes and then roll them to randomly get elements for a story.

Although you can certainly buy these cubes, you can also make you own. Better yet, students can each make several story cubes and then you will have dozens and dozens to use from your class.

One easy way to make your own story cubes is to use Google Drawings with pictures, emojis, or text. See below to get copies of my Google Drawings Story Cube templates, along with detailed directions on how you and your students can make these.

4 Free eSignature Options for Google Docs

Google Docs is a wonderful tool, and new features are constantly being added. However one option that is still missing is an easy way to digitally sign and insert your signature into a Google Doc.

Now certainly there are some paid solutions for this, but many of them involve turning the Google Doc into a PDF, which may not be what you want, and of course they cost money.

To help with this I have brainstormed four ways that you can sign a Google Doc that are free and put the signature right into the document. These include:

✍️ Using handwriting fonts

📷 Inserting a signature image

✒️ Signing an embedded Google Drawing

⚙️ Using the "Simple Signature" add-on

See below for a tutorial video where I demonstrate each of these options, as well as detailed written directions.

What's New in Google - November 2017

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

Below is the recorded video from our November 2017 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 21 new Google updates and 42 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 November 2017 meeting:

Using Google AutoDraw for Sketchnotes, Infographics, Drawings, and More

A while back, Google launched a fun tool called "Quick Draw" where you drew pictures on your computer or device, and Google's AI tried to guess what you were drawing.

Well it turns out that wasn't just a game, but was a way for Google to test out and improve the ability of its artificial intelligence to interpret doodles. One of the first applications of this has now been released in the form of AutoDraw.

AutoDraw is a very simple and easy to use drawing tool, with most of the normal features such as drawing, filling colors, resizing, adding text, and more. However, there is one big twist. AutoDraw includes Google's artificial intelligence to help you draw by taking your squiggles and doodles, and offering to replace them with professional images.

Can't draw a dog? If you can sort of doodle a poodle, AutoDraw will try to recognize what you drew and let you replace your questionable canine with a cute clipart version.

See below for more details about AutoDraw and how it works, as well as ideas for how teachers and students could use this tool for creating and learning.

What's New in Google - September 2017

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

Below is the recorded video from our September 2017 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the last month. This includes 28 new Google updates and 32 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 September 2017 meeting:

What's New in Google - January 2019

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from January 2019, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our January 2019 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 27 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 2019 meeting:

Hipster Google - Google Tools You Probably Never Heard Of

Google is well know for certain tools and services - Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Maps, Chrome, and such. These are all powerful and useful tools that are transforming teaching and learning in schools around the world.

However, in addition to those tools, Google has also created a wide range of services, apps, extensions, features, and other tools that are not as well known. Even though these tools may not be as popular or as widely known, they are still very useful in school settings.

These are the "Hipster Google" tools.

In our culture, one of the defining characteristics of the hipster movement is to appreciate things that are not mainstream, to use services that are not well known, or to embrace something before it becomes popular among the masses. With that thought in mind, I have collected a list of tools from Google that the average person may not know about yet.

Of course with any such list, there will be some tools that you do know, but hopefully you will pick up a few new ideas and resources from the bunch. And of course simply by sharing this blog post I am potentially making these tools more well known.

Below you will find my 1-hour recorded webinar covering each of the tools, as well as the session slideshow, and a write-up for each tool with a description and related links. So, jump on them now while it is still cool to say you used these before they were popular!

4 Ways to Play Videos in Google Docs

Google Docs lets you add lots of different content including text, links, images, emojis, tables, charts, and more. However, one thing we all wish we could add is videos.

Having multimedia content in a Google Doc would be a powerful and engaging way to share information, provide learning content, supercharge a report, liven up a newsletter, create a HyperDoc and more.

Unfortunately this blog post is not to announce that this feature has suddenly been released, although I hope someday that will happen and make this post obsolete. However, in the meantime there are some clever workarounds for including video content with a Google Doc.

In this blog post we will take a look at four different options, starting with the most basic and working our way up to the most advanced. See below for directions and examples for each of these four workarounds for adding video to a Google Doc.

Making Posters with Google Drawings

As mentioned in earlier blog posts, Google has loads of awesome tools, but one thing that seems to be missing is a dedicated desktop publishing app to create brochures, newsletters, flyers, and greeting cards. (There are, of course, great third party tools, such as Lucidpress.)

However if you are willing to get a little creative, Google Drawings can serve as a good option for some desktop publishing needs. Google Drawings is a very flexible program, allowing you to add text boxes, wordart, images, shapes, and more, to any part of the Drawing, and at any angle, much like a desktop publishing program would.

One such project you can achieve with Google Drawings is creating a poster.

To try this out, I recently used Google Drawings to make a chemistry-themed poster that could be displayed in a Science classroom. See below for some tips and tricks on how to use Drawings to make a poster, as well as download links to get your own copy of the Chemistry poster for your classroom or your science-teaching colleagues.

What's New in Google - October 2019

Catch up on everything new in G Suite for Education from October 2019, and see great ideas and resources!

Below is the recorded video from our October 2019 Google User Meeting, along with the meeting agenda and all the awesome resources and G Suite updates from the summer months. This includes 33 new Google updates and 27 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 October 2019 meeting:

The 12 Days of Chrome-mas 2022

With the holiday season here, I am excited to share some of my favorite tips and tricks for the Chrome web browser!

I will be doing this in a series of blog posts throughout the month of December that I am calling "The 12 Days of Chrome-Mas".

Each blog post will provide a tip or trick or lesser known feature or helpful idea related to Google's Chrome web browser.

See below for options on how to access each entry for "The 12 Days of Chrome-Mas".