How to Unsend an Email in Google Mail

Have you pressed the send button on the email, but want to take it back? Have you looked helplessly at our computer as you watch your mail go off into cyberspace? For this week's Tech Tip, we're going to discover how to "unsend" an email. The video link below teaches you how to set your Google Gmail so that you can undo sending an email for up to 30 seconds. Just click the link below to get started. Have a great day!

Google Quick Tips-Unsend an Email from Scott Sousa on Vimeo.

Crestwood Technology Learning Menu

For this week's tech. tip, I'd like to introduce the Crestwood Technology Menu. This is a way for me to meet your individual and/or team needs more effectively than having a generic class before or after school. Just like a restaurant, you can order what you'd like. You can also order unlimited appetizers, main dishes and treats too! They are calorie free so they won't destroy your diet. Please don't "dine and dash".

You may also want to check the menu to see if you'd like to try out a new entree. Maybe something that will help you stretch your abilities a little? Maybe something in your class that technology can help you do more efficiently, or in a way you never possibly imagined?

Finally, if you don't see what you're looking for on the menu,you can have our chef prepare your own customized dish. Just me know what you'd like to learn about and we'll go from there.

Just an FYI, the menu is currently under development right now, so keep checking back for future additions. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to support technology! Have a great day!

Let's Geddit Formative Assessment Tool

To compliment the tech. tip for last week, I'd like to introduce Let's Geddit. This tool makes formative assessment quick and easy for teachers that have Chromebooks in their classrooms.

The teacher simply sets up a class and has the students join by entering a code. Once the students have joined the class, the teacher can use this tool for 3 basic functions:

• Students can ask for help by clicking a hand in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Teachers see a virtual line on their computers so they know who to help first, second, etc. Students don't have to keep their hand raised and can continue working while they are waiting for help.
• The teacher can get a "Status of the Class" Students can enter their comfort level with the material being covered. Students can also enter any messages or questions they'd like to send the teacher. The teacher will be able to sort students by comfort level and respond to questions through their own interface.
• The teacher can ask questions of the students. There are a wide variety of response types available from multiple choice, to short answer, to true/false. Teachers can quickly determine which students are getting it and which students are not. 

If you'd like to give this resource a try, or see it in action, please don't hestitate to contact me. Here are a few links to explore if you're a self-directed learner:

• How to get started with Let's Geddit
• Video on how to set up Let's Geddit

Simple Formative Assessment Tool: Your Cell Phone Camera

Would you like to instantly gather data about how your students are doing on a particular subject? Do you want to find a method where students won't have to open their Chromebooks, or don't have Chromebooks? I've got just the tool for you!

Plickers is a new app/website that allows you to instantly collect data about how your students are doing. Simply give a multiple choice question, have the students orient their cards to their desired answer and have them show them to you. Use your phone, tablet, etc. to take a picture of the class holding up their cards and viola, you will now have instant results. You'll be able to not only see how the class did as a whole, but individual student answers as well.

The set-up for Plickers is quick and easy (around 30 minutes). If you are interested in using this tool, I'd love to help! Just let me know if you're interested and I can help you get started. If you're more of a self directed kind of person, just click on one of the links below. Have a great day!

http://youtu.be/zye3fyKl65c
https://www.plickers.com/help

The most amazing email tool I've ever seen!

What does your email inbox look like? Is it clear or cluttered with messages? Do you keep messages in your inbox until you can take action on them? Do you wish you could make the messages go away and reappear at a more convenient time?

For this week, I'd like to introduce a new App called Mailbox. As a user of this app for the past week, I am amazed at how easy it's made checking and organizing email. It is saving me tons of time each week! The app allows you to efficiently organize your emails, and even "snooze" them for later. You can clear out your inbox in a matter of seconds and join the "Inbox Zero" movement! The app will make the message reappear at a time of your choosing (3 hours later, the next day, the next week, the next month, etc.).

To get the app, go to www.mailboxapp.com, or type "Mailbox" in your app store's search box. It's available for both Android and Apple devices too! Here is a short video that explains a little bit more about what the app is about.

Mailbox App Commercial

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than happy to help you get things set up and give you a quick tutorial on how to use it. Have a great day!

Model Writing with Your Students Without a Keyboard!

Do you model the process of writing in front of your students? Do you use a document camera, or maybe type out the text on a computer connected to a projector? Are you looking for a way to make this process more efficient? These were many questions that I have had through the years as I have modeled writing in front of students. I just found a new way to model writing with just my voice!

Today my class and I were working on improving the kinds of introductions we are using on our pieces. As part of this process, students have a menu of introductions to choose from, which they adapt to meet the needs of the piece they are writing. I always start by modeling this process on a piece that I'm writing for my class. To do this, I've been typing the text into a Google doc and sharing it with students so they can look at my example any time they'd like. The problem is my computer is situated in a location where it's difficult to see the projected image. In addition, I am hidden behind my desk in the corner of the room while I'm typing. This isn't the ideal teaching situation.

I was trying to find a better way to do this. I had the idea to use my iPad (you could use a phone too, but it wouldn't be ideal) to help me enter the text into my Google doc. My iPad has Siri, so all I have to do is speak what I want to type and Siri will do the rest! The students are actually amazed to see me say something and then have it appear on the screen in front of the room. To be honest with you, I was a little impressed too! Now I am able to walk around the room and interact with the students as I model my writing instead of sitting in front of a document camera or behind a desk.

Setting It All Up
These directions will work for an IOS device with Siri installed such as an iPhone 4s, 5, 5c, or 5s, or an iPad mini or iPad 3.

1. Install the Google Drive app on to your device. Log in to your school Google account using your email address and your active directory password. 
2. Create a blank document where you'd like to model writing. You may want to share this document with your students.
3. Open the Google doc on a computer connected to a projector. You should be showing your blank Google doc on the screen. 
4. Open the Google doc on your mobile device. Go into editing mode by tapping the screen where you want to start entering the text. Click the Siri microphone at the bottom of the screen next to the space bar. Speak the words you want to turn into text with the iPad in your hand. It helps to say one sentence at a time. It also helps to say "period" at the end of the sentence so the computer will enter a period and you'll be ready to speak the next sentence. You may have to touch the microphone to stop recording. Once you do this, the text may take a few seconds to update in both locaitons.

I haven't found a way to do this with a device without Siri, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. It looks like the days of the keyboard may be numbered. What a fun and efficient way to model a writing piece! Have fun!

How to Get Your Classroom Ready to Use Google Drive

This year, our district opened up Google Drive for our elementary students. As you may know, the use of Google applications allows for the easy creation, storage, and sharing of documents. Questions like, "How will my students turn their work in?" and "How can I share documents with the students?" come to mind. Of course, having a classroom of 5th graders setting up various folders with a variety of sharing permissions can be a real headache. I found a great tool, called gClass Folders, that helps to cut back the amount of time it takes to get your classroom set up in order to effectively use Google Drive.

Below is a video that demonstrates how to set up your classroom to use Google Drive. It creates a number of folders in your own Google Drive, so you own any work that is in them. One folder is set to be a view only folder, a great place to share documents and examples for students to sift through. Another folder is set to edit. In this folder, students would be able to collaborate on documents together because they would all have editing privileges. And finally there is a "Dropbox" folder. Within this folder each student has a folder that only they can modify. This is where they turn their work in electronically.