Aim to Be Awesome, Not Perfect

In my role as an Instructional Technology Specialist, I try to provide professional development and helpful hints in a variety of ways. One way I reach my staff is a weekly Tech Treats newsletter. This method can take a while.  At first, very few people read it, partly because it was buried in a principal's weekly memo. But it is catching on - especially as teachers learned they could bookmark it like a website and refer back to it as needed. It isn't at 100% - I don't think it ever will be - but it is enough that I will keep doing it. Want to make one for your staff?  Here are my tips: It's a Google Slide, because  It's easy to format  I add the newest slide at the beginning  It's easy for teachers to search to find previous pages It can be bookmarked  Put "need to know" stuff in there, especially action items with deadlines Include information for a variety of technology comfort levels Include new fun things - for Thanksgiving and C...

I get asked a lot about any tips or tricks that I use to be productive in my role as an Instructional Technology Specialist. I made a list and tried to group them... but it was hard to categorize some - so those are the ones I included. I use tons of keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+Z (the undo shortcut) are some of my favorites, as is Ctrl+Shift+V (paste without formatting). My favorite is probably Ctrl+Shift+T, because I am constantly closing a tab and then realizing I need it again - and this opens it right back up! I have two extensions that I love and use all the time: Anyone can view by Alice Keeler  - makes my life so easy with the one-click change of sharing settings; and  Keep  - this is where I store all my to do lists and my 'for later' stuff My Favorites Bar - no (or very little) words Like it?  Here are instructions on how to do it. If you are in a GSuite school, learn how to use the c...