Two on Tuesdays : More Website Ideas

I'm sneaking this in just before I have to rename my Two on Tuesdays to, I don't know, Website Wednesdays???  Here are a few more ideas, building on my videos from last week, of ways to maximize the effectiveness of your webpages while minimizing the time you spend keeping it updated.

1. Here is a short video showing how to share documents with students and parents in four different ways (handing them to students in class is not one of them): email, Remind, your website, and your announcements blog.

https://youtu.be/K3lirP4DtPw

Sharing Documents w/ the World - YouTube Watch now...

2. Are you sending out weekly emails that automatically publish to your website AND using the Remind App to send texts to keep your students and their families informed?  If you are, here is a way to combine them both together to really get your information out there. If you are not, be sure to check out my videos from last week to learn how to use these great communication tools. 

https://youtu.be/vs6qDx_shZ8

Combining Weekly Emails with Remind - YouTube Watch now...

Contact your ITRT if you need help with any of this!

Sharing in Google Drive

With the roll-out of our new LCPS website, most of our teachers have created new Google websites! And with this new Google knowledge has come the challenge of learning how to share Google 'stuff' like Google Pages and Google Docs. In fact, the #1 challenge our teachers are faced with seems to be understanding exactly how 'sharing' works in Google. There are some great resources available through a simple Google search, such as: Google's How To Share page in their help section and the GCFLearnFree.org's Google Docs & Drive Sharing & Collaborating. My favorite help pages usually include info-graphics with links like this one from ShakeUpLearning, The Magic Button: Share.

Dropbox

I thought it was time to showcase Dropbox to our readers as not only a MEGA tool but also a Teaching/Learning Tool. I call Dropbox a MEGA tool for a number of reasons:

• 250MB storage with many ways to earn more FREE storage (see below for an extra 500MB).
• Platform Friendly ...no matter what device you use (PC/Mac/Android/Apple/iPhone/iPad/Droid/Blackberry).
• Syncs at all times on all devices!

Extra Handouts
Think about a place online for your class that is just for extra copies of handouts for students that lose their paper copy or are absent on the day you hand it out. By sharing the folder with your students they can access it anytime. And since most students all have cell phones now...they could also now access your study guide handouts on their phone to review for today's test!
Homework
Shared folders can also be used as homework drops too for students. Forget receiving 30+ emails for one class assignment. Have your students 'drop' it in the class project folder and be done! Dropbox will time stamp it so you will know exactly when each assignment was submitted.
Presentations
And finally, use Dropbox as a place for students or for yourself to load PowerPoint files or other large presentation files that won't fit as an attachment or on a flash-drive  If everyone loads their files into the same project folder then class presentations will breeze by without each student having to login/logout of their own accounts. 

Contact your ITRT if you'd like help getting started using Dropbox. We'd be happy to help you! Use this link to get an EXTRA 500MB of STORAGE when you install Dropbox on your desktop.