Sunday, September 29, 2019

Google Calendar (part 2) You Can Do

This time of year is incredibly busy for me. This year is proving to be even busier! The school year is well underway, my own girls are back in school, all 3 play soccer, the 8th grade DC trip I co-coordinate is really starting to amp up, AND on top of it all, I'll be heading to NYC in a couple days to continue on my Google Innovator path! 

I planned to get this out last week, but it didn't happen. I hope the wait was worth it.


Two weeks ago, I shared many things that I love and use in Google Calendar. I really cannot go a day without using my calendar. Today I want to focus on my main calendar. I have 2 - for the same purpose - but one is for home and one for school. I simply cannot go without them. They are my lifeline. They help keep me organized. They help keep me sane.

The major reason I rely heavily on these to calendars is because I can share them. (But in 2 very different ways.)

At home, our Family Calendar is not only on my phone, it's on my husband's phone, my oldest daughters' phone, and my younger girls iPod & iPad. (I created Google accounts with Family Link for them since they are both under 13.) Now, the 5 of us can stay "in sync". Soccer practices & games, doctor appointments, after-school activities, field trips, parties, events, etc. If it doesn't get on our shared calendar, I'll probably forget about it. Even my youngest daughter can easily open her calendar app and see what is coming up or happening.

How To ... Share Google Calendar

Once you are on Google Calendar (on your computer), look to the far left, under "My Calendars". Find the calendar you want to share. Hover over the name and look for the "world's skinniest snowman" to the right of the name. [For those of you unfamiliar with that term, it's the vertically stacked 3 dots ... I like "world's skinniest snowman" better.] Click on the snowman.

*** Bonus: this is also where you can change the color for the events on your calendar! *** 


Back to sharing ... select "Settings and Sharing". 


On the next screen, scroll down to "Share with specific people". And then "+ Add people".


Type their email addresses & then you will have 4 options for sharing. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!  You do not need to give everyone the ability to edit - this could be disastrous.



Select the option that fits the person the best. If you just need them to know when you are free or busy, "See only free/busy" is best. 
If they need to be able to see the event & the details about the event, "See all event details", is perfect. 
If you want them to be able to add events, but not add people, "Make changes to events", is perfect. 
And finally, if you want them to be able to add events AND manage who can add people, "Make changes and manage sharing", is the option you want.

Now, how about for school? Same concepts apply, only this time, I am part of a domain. We have shared calendars for our building (one restricted to JUST staff; one that is publicly available for parents & community members to see); shared calendars for teachers to sign up for our labs; and one for signing up for conferences room in order to have meetings. But all of us have our own calendar that comes with our Google account. This calendar - I call is "Sarah @ school" - is where I add any event that is connected with me at school. I put meetings, classroom appointments, conferences, etc., on here. I do this so I know where I'm already booked. Since 99% of the time I have my phone on me, I can easily reference my calendar as well as create events.

Recently, I've discovered an even more powerful reason to do this. I was working with a principal who wanted teachers to be able schedule appointments with him. Immediately I thought of the appointment slots available in GSuites. 

How To ... "Find a time" in Google Calendar
But instead, we stumbled on "Find a time". 💥 Mind. Blown!!! ðŸ’¥

As you are creating your event, add your guests, and their calendars will show up, too!!! Check out the screenshot below. I am in my school account, and I added 3 colleagues to this event I'm trying to create. Do you see all of them??? I can then literally find a time for the 4 of us to meet with as little conflict as possible! I mean seriously ... can it get better???





This is seriously such an awesome find! You can see that my red covers the whole day. (I'll be in NYC for the Google Innovator Academy!!!) I have shown this to several people and they all react the same ... a little weirded out, at first, and then they realize the convenience this can allow.  I helped a counselor in one building target a good time for her, the principal, school psychologist, and myself to get together. Likewise, if teachers want me to come into their classroom ... "Find a time" & send me an invite. Love it!

It does work outside of a domain, but you have to have been shared on someones calendar. For example, I began to create an event in my personal account, and I added my school account and Google Trainer account, and I could see all 3 calendars. I previously shared both of these calendars to my personal account. 


Finally, the final idea I'd like to share about Google Calendar is my new found dedication to using icons at the beginning of many of events I create. These help me quickly see what type of activities I have going on. Right now, I'm regularly using:


👩‍💻  classroom appointments
🤖  for a committee I am on in one building
👥  meetings
⚽  my daughter's soccer practices & games
💡 ↬ my #NYC19 Google Innovator dates


I hope I've shared a tip or two that can help you stay better organized or utilize Calendar a bit better. 


Google Calendar Wakelet collection
I've started using Wakelet to collect resources and I created one for Google Calendar. Check it out for help tips and other hacks for calendar. The link is below the image on the left. I'll keep adding to this as I find more ... so feel free to come back and check for more.





Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.


Sunday, September 15, 2019

Google Calendar (part 1) You Can Do

Google Calendar was probably the first Google App I was introduced to. At the time, I was firmly holding on to my paper agenda and was NOT looking to let it go. I clearly remember one meeting, where my principal, Chris, said he would be putting events onto the school Google Calendar. I remember feeling unsettled ... but not for long! 

Today I'm focusing on the Calendar App ↬ there's too much to share in one article, so I'll be back next week with more.

We know dates and times change. And when I realized how incredible it was that one person could enter ... and adjust ... dates/times for school functions and I didn't have to lift a finger??? ðŸ’¥WOW💥

Google Calendar has become a complete necessity for me. I do not go a day without consulting my calendar, creating events, looking up/adjusting an event, being reminded of an event via a notification, and so much more.

Why Use ... Google Calendar

Before we get into "how to" and specifics, how about a little "why"? We live in a world where we juggle so many different "hats" and having a tool that can help us stay organized is a blessing. Google Calendar is accessible on computers and mobile and it syncs so if you make changes in one place, it is reflected in other places. Calendars can be shared with others. They can either just view the calendar or you can allow them to manage it, too. The power of this comes into play when you are comfortable with Calendars.


How To ... Find Google Calendar

Let's start with the basics ↬ go to calendar.google.com ... each Google account comes with a calendar. You will notice 2 sections: "My Calendars" and "Other Calendars". 

"My Calendars" is where you find the calendars YOU create & can manage. 

"Other Calendars" is where you find calendars you have been given viewing access or that you've subscribed to.


How To ... Create a Google Calendar

Now that you are on the Google Calendar website (sorry - I've not seen a way to create a calendar via my phone), creating a new Calendar is SUPER easy! Next to "Other Calendars", click the plus sign, then choose "Create New Calendar". Give it a name, description, timezone, and ... bam! Done!


How To ... Subscribe to a Google Calendar




How Do I Use ... Google Calendar

It might also help if I provide some of the ways I use Google Calendar. I HEAVILY use Google Calendar. But I didn't start off that way. I started off simply using the shared calendar from my principal. I think I even just used it to write down the dates into my own planner ... until I got tired of crossing out & rewriting them!

Fast-forward, I use Calendar for work, school, my family, and pretty much anything else that has dates 😄. You might think I go over board ... it's ok. It works for me. That's all that matters. That it works for YOU. (I even have my calendar set up on my watch so I can see my calendar & receive reminders.)


Even more ...

I have it on both my personal and school calendars, I have them attached to my phone and I also have it syncing to my watch.


Google Calendar Wakelet collection
Now you might think, how can there possibly be more??? Well, there is and I can't hope to get it all in one blog. I've started using Wakelet to collect resources and I created one for Google Calendar. Check it out for help tips and other hacks for calendar. The link is below the image on the left. I'll keep adding to this as I find more ... so feel free to come back and check for more.



Next week, I'll be back with some other things you can do with Calendar.


Calendar CAN work for you! But don't worry, while I love Calendar and don't go a day without using it, I still have a small paper one, because there are times where I need to jot things down, track things, or keep paper notes handy. You have to find what works for you.


Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Lunch Box Notes You Can Do

This week, I have a "quick win". My mom was good at tucking notes into my lunch randomly. I've tried to be good at this for my girls, but I don't do it often enough. One reason is I usually think to do this in the morning - and that's not the ideal time to whip up something. 

After putting some thought into it, I came up with a Google Slide deck with 24 pre-made notes. (And no, they don't have to just be for lunchboxes!) I left some blank so you can handwrite your own. I also included some instructions if you are wanting to make your own! I'll be printing these out and using them for my own daughters for sure! I might even tuck them in colleagues mailboxes, too!

I've added it to "Templates for Teachers" website I maintain with a colleague of mine, Beth. We have shared out over 60 templates made with Google Apps that you are free to take and make your own. There are ones for teacher use as well as ones ready-to-use with students.

* * * BONUS * * *
2 weeks ago, I shared out the idea to include your students in creating the header for your Google Classrooms. Here is ANOTHER idea you can include your students in. This is great "real estate" for your students to express their creativity and learning. Since there are so many different devices out there - this would work for iPads and laptops as well - I'd recommend Googling your specific device's screen size to find the correct resolution. Then create a Google Drawing of that custom size.

I Googled the screen size for our chromebooks.


In the "File" menu, select "Page setup" then "Custom" and change the unit to pixels. Type in the screen size you found.

Once you have this "template," share it out through Google Classroom. You could design a challenge around a current learning topic or just allow students to demonstrate their creativity. [At the beginning of the year, this could be a great getting to know you activity!]

To insert it as the background, they just need to download it as a JPEG or PNG file. Do a double-finger tap on their current wallpaper, and "Set Wallpaper". Go to the downloads file and choose the downloaded image. You can do this as often as you'd like! 

Good luck! If you have your students create backgrounds, I'd love to see them! You can connect and contact with me in a lot of ways - just see my handles in the top right corner.

I enjoy seeing what students create!