Get it Done Faster/Lisa Mata's EduWin

Whenever I'm working in Google Drive, there are a few actions I do over and over again. Luckily, there are a few shortcuts that I have learned over the years that help make me more efficient. While I love shortcuts, there are a lot of them. So many, that I can't possibly remember them all. But over the years, I have a few that I have come to make so much a part of my work flow, that they come automatically. I thought I'd share of few of them with you. And once you are comfortable with them, you can share them with your students.

You'll start most shortcuts by first, highlighting the text you would like to perform the task on. When pasting, place your cursor where you would like the pasted text or image to appear.

Action	On your Mac	On your Chromebook
Copy	command + c	ctrl + c
Paste	command + v	ctrl + v
Select All	command + a	ctrl + a
Undo	command + z	ctrl + z
Print	command + p	ctrl + p
Find on a Page	command + f	ctrl + f
Cut Link	command + x command + k	ctrl + x ctrl + k

Many of these actions can also be accessed by right clicking. To right click, on a Mac, hold down the control key and  the mouse/mouse pad. To right click on a Chromebook, press the alt key and click the mouse.

A full list of Keyboard shortcuts can be found in the drop down menu under Help.

This Week's EduWin

Formative assessment can take many forms. In Lisa Mata's class, one of the tools she uses is Kahoot! a game-based response system that can be accessed from the web. Lisa is a Tech 1, with a full set of Chromebooks. I have also seen Kahoot used with just a few devices and shared in groups, with students taking turns responding.

Kahoot! awards points based on the correct answer and the speed with which the answer was entered. The leading scorers are shown at the end of each question, and the player gets personalized feedback informing them of their standing.

In some classes, students may not want their scores to be public. That is why Lisa allows students to make up a user name when they sign into her Kahoot!. This way, individual students are able to remain anonymous while playing but still get their personal feedback.

Lisa recently used Kahoot! to review the unit on California regions that students had just finished. It can be found at http://goo.gl/TC1z3W  (only available if you are signed in). 

Here's one I made just for fun. You should be able to take it for a test drive in single player mode. You will, however, need to open up two screens, one that will show you teacher /presenter mode, and the other for student/participant mode.

Kahoot! is free. It is simple to create a quiz, and you can add pictures and video to the questions. Students quickly sign in using a "game pin," no sign ups or accounts are needed. The data you receive can help you tailor your lessons to target those areas your students need more instruction in. 

Be warned, this is not a quiet class activity. The excitement Kahoot! generates will convince you the students are engaged and having fun, while reinforcing content.

Watch this video tutorial to learn about how to set up Kahoot! to use in your class.

If you or one of your colleagues are doing something in your class that uses edtech tools, please let me know. I'd love to share it with other teachers.