Taylor ISD DuckLink # 73
empowering student success and school improvement
October 19, 2017
a publication of the Taylor ISD Technology Department
Wow! The first nine weeks of school has flown by hasn't it? I hope you have had a great beginning of the school year. Below you will find resources that may be helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like one-on-one or group training on any of these items. I would be happy to assist. Also be sure to make any suggestions for future publications. Most of what I share is based on questions I receive from you.
JP
District and Campus Website Design Update
As I've shared in past DuckLinks, we are making plans to update the look of our district and campus websites. If you are an employee that updates pages that procedure will not change much. Most of the changes are cosmetic and we will reorganize a few things in the process. We do not have an official date of switching to the new look but most likely it will be over the Christmas break.
Meet the New Google Calendar
In the coming weeks everyone will switch over to the new and improved Google Calendar. Here are some of the nice new features you should check out.
https://youtu.be/hFj7OW2GWEI
Enter the Code-a-thon
Get your students excited about coding with this fun contest from Learning.com on November 13-17. You'll be entered to win 20 Chromebooks for your school. You already have access to Easycode in Learning.com. All 1st-8th grade students can participate in this contest.
Yeah! Google Slides Now Has Add-ons
You can now take advantage of some great add-ons for Google Slides. Simply follow these procedures to get started.
- Go to slides.google.com.
- Create a new slideshow.
- Click the Add-ons menu.
- Click get add-ons.
- Select an add-on such as Pear Deck.
- Click the button labeled Free.
- Give permission.
- Click Add-ons and select the add-on you want to use.
Import Grades into Google Classroom from Google Forms
If you are a regular user of Google Classroom and Google Forms for quizzes you don't want to miss this new feature. Watch this video to learn more.
https://youtu.be/85jze0o4L9M
Subscribe to the IT Blog!
Visit the Instructional Technology blog. I hope to post a few tech tips per week. You can get a feed of the post via Google+ or visit the blog and sign up via email.
Help Desk Contact
Eduphoria Help Desk- http://eduphoria.taylorisd.org/
Phone: 512-365-5015 or x1900
Be sure to visit the Taylor ISD Technology site for more information.
Contact Information
JP Hale
Director of Instructional Technology
Taylor ISD
Email: jphale@taylorisd.org
Website: http://www.taylorisd.org
Location: 3101 North Main Street, Taylor, TX
Phone: 512-365-5015
Twitter: @haleedtech