The Friday Tech Tip

Happy Friday! I have had several questions since our migration over from Outlook to Google Calendar on how to use Google Calendar. Here are some of my favorite things about Google Calendar. 1. Click on any empty space  to make an event - Click anywhere in the calendar to make the event. I usually click on the time when I want the event to happen and then Name the event Customize  the time of the event if I need to Add guests if I want it to appear on their Calendar or invite them to a meeting 2.  Change the view of the calendar -   You can change the view of the calendar to be a default look every time that you open up your calendar. It can show day, 4 day, week, month, year. You can also choose whether to show  a week day view or a view with weekends included.   3.  Google Hangout -  Anytime you create a new event you can choose to include a link for a Google Hangout. I think that this is a great featur...

Happy Friday! I hope that you all have had a great week.  This week I have been working on updating the Elbert County Instructional Technology Site .  You can easily access the site by going to Bit.ly/ecsdit Everything that could possibly be about technology in the district will be housed on this site.  This site has tutorials for our Google Suite of Education, Information about Performance Matters, and all materials from any Technology Training that is completed in the district.  Also, I am very excited about a new feature. The Digital Tools Page.  When you click on the Digital Tools Page there will be lots  of digital tools and resources. There will be everything from links to great Edtech Blogs to free resources for our students.  Each tool will have a picture, a brief description, and a link to that tool.  You can also filter these tools! Lets say that in your Professional Learning Team you all decide that you want your students to create so...

Happy Friday! It has been a great few days back here at work. On Friday I was fortunate enough to participate with the High School Faculty when they did a Google Hangout with John Spencer the author of the book Empower.    John said something that I hope to make my mantra this Semester. "Just pick one new thing to try this year in your classroom and get really good at it."  Many of you are already doing this! Wether it is trying Google Classroom in the secondary classes, or doing your Professional Learning Team in a Google+ community. For me, it is going to be reading and learning and teaching about Project Based Learning.  I have heard great things about  http://hacklearning.org  and I really want to check that out.     If you are not sure of something new to learn OR you have learned something new and you are really passionate and want to share it then consider joining me at EdCamp Georgia.   Edcamp Georgia is FREE Professional D...

Happy Friday! This week's Tech Tip is brief but I wanted to add in a few other things about Gmail and making it work best for you Use the Search Feature in Gmail - The top box is a search feature just like a Google search. You can search emails that you sent by typing to:  and the subject. You can search messages from specific users by typing in from: and then their user name or to: and then putting messages that you have sent to others Set a Vacation Response -  By going to Settings you can automatically set a response if you are out of the office. And finally - There is a great free program Called Boomerang for Gmail - Now you can schedule when you want Emails to send out. Have an important email but don't want to send it out till next Friday? Then Boomerang can schedule and send that out for you. Have a great weekend and a great holiday break. Take Care, Clint

Happy Friday, One of the reasons that I love December is the best of lists that come out.  I'm a big music guy so I always enjoy reading critics choice of the best albums of  2017. (Which,I guess I'm not cool anymore or I'm old because I didn't listen to any of them but I am trying out some of them now.)  Also, I love watching sports so I enjoy reliving t he best plays of 2017 .  I don't watch a ton of Television but when I do I make sure that it is something I will enjoy by checking out, you guessed it, the best TV shows of 2017 . So, with our big switch to Gmail on Monday I wanted to share with you the Clint Winter 10 best features of Gmail.  10. Customize the appearance of Gmail - Everyone's Gmail can look different!  You can choose a theme or upload your own pictures. You can now read your email while looking at a serene lake. It makes it that more peaceful.  9.  Archive your mail -  Gmail is Unlimited  you ca...

Happy Friday! A few weeks ago I asked the question, how do you learn?  For me, I learn from other professionals everyday through Social Media. What works best for me is Twitter. Others love using Pintrest, or Instagram, or Facebook. There are educators and scholars who use all types of Social Media to learn Professionally. If you decide to create a social media account I highly encourage you to create a "Professional" account that you use for Professional learning. The tool that I use the most is Twitter.  This would be seperate from a personal account that you may already have. Twitter is a great way to communicate with teachers from across the state and world.  Often there are real time education twitter chats that happen at a certain time during the week. For instance, a popular one here in Georgia is the #TechtalkGA twitter chat on Monday nights.  There is also a #SATCHAT #ELACHAT, and others. HERE is a link to all types of educational Twitter Chats ...

Happy Friday everyone! Last week Bruce Stuart and I were fortunate to be able to attend the GAETC Conference. This is a time where Tech Leaders  from across the state are able to come and learn about new technologies, and programs. I came across some tools that I thought would be beneficial to you. I learned a good bit about Google Chrome Extensions.  Extensions are like apps in the Google Chrome browser. As a tech department, we often push out extensions for testing, security, etc. . . You and your students can also go to the chrome store and browse extensions and install them yourself. Once installed they are there until you take them off.  I would like to showcase a couple of extensions that we have pushed out and and then a couple that you may want to check out and see if it is something that you want to use. If your students are using chromebooks then the district ones below will automatically show up. For you, on your teacher laptop, you just have to login to...