Waffle Bytes

You may begin seeing the option to update to the new Gmail!  It's been a lot of years since there has been much change to Gmail, and if you have dabbled in Inbox, you might recognize many of the features that are now incorporated into the Gmail update. When the ability to try out the new Gmail is available, it will appear as an option at the top of your settings options - Previous options New option added (As a GSuite for Ed district, we were able to turn it on last Thursday as an option - the same day I got the notice in the Alert from the Updates Blog ).  On Friday it showed up in my personal account.) If you opt to use the updated email, it will take a few seconds to reload then a "congrats" message appears - Then you set the view option you prefer - Prepare yourself for a different look an feel, plus several new features incorporated into your mail!  If you find you want to go back to the old mail, you have that option in the settings for now -...

The 2018 Global Day of Design will be May 4th!  Sign your classroom up now From AJ Juliani - This year the  Global Day of Design  will take place on  5/4/18 . We will be sharing students designing, building, making, and tinkering on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag  #GDD18! Use the Hashtag #GDD18 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Live stream if you can! *Note: If your school can't participate  on   5/4/18  pick a date that works for you and still use the hashtag to share out! Already we have over 75,000 students signed up to participate from 600+ schools, in over 14 countries and four different continents for the 2018 Global Day of Design. Go to the  GlobalDayOfDesign.com  and get access to 20+ FREE design challenges that you can use or tweak/modify. Enter your details into the form at the bottom of this post and receive a Design Challenge for FREE. You can also  fill out this Google Form ...

A menu change happened for me this morning in Google Slides (on just my work account, not on my personal account yet).  The addition of both turning on/off a ruler, and adding guides onto the slide to help with placement if you are varying from the pre-built theme layouts. Here is the menu change showing the additional options - RULER The ruler works as you would expect it to.  When you select it from the View menu, it displays a horizontal and vertical ruler at the top and left of the side - When you are moving an object on the slide, you will see blue lines marking the location of the ends and middle of the object on both toolbars - GUIDES When you select to view the guides, you see the midpoint guides on the slides -  Guides do have some more flexibility as you can add additional guides on the slide, and drag them to the location of your choice - There is also the option to "Edit guides" and enter them in a window, as well -

There are many uses for the HeritageQuest Online Library, a resource for primary sources.  And remember, all of the databases that are part of MeL are available to Michigan residents to use for FREE! From Michigan Electronic Library (MeL) - More than a simply a genealogical resource, HeritageQuest Online Library Edition (HQO) allows teachers, students, history aficionados, and those generally curious to find amazing primary source.  For example, did you know that… Kishtowag, otherwise known as Elizabeth Madosh, was from the Ojibwe (Ojibbeway) tribe recorded by the MacKinac Agency in 1922.  Nanny Dudley, complexion dark, lived on Caruther's Plantation in Georgia in 1870 when she opened her first bank account. Joseph St. John of Cooper Township had 1 horse, 2 milch cows, 4 working oxen, 9 other cattle, 6 sheep, and 6 swine all worth $200 in 1850 (that’s nearly $6000 in today’s world!). Elizabeth is recorded in the Indian Census Rolls.  These census recor...

You have the ability to comment on an object within a slide in Google Slides, rather than just a general comment attached the the whole slide.  This can be very useful, especially on a collaborative presentation, where tasks need to be assigned or you have a question specific to that object.  There are 3 ways you can add a comment to an object. For all methods, first select the object (by clicking on it).  Then use one of these methods to add the comment - 1. Click on the comment icon 2. Right click on the object and select Comment from the pop-up menu 3. Go to the Insert Menu and select Comment Any of these methods will tie the comment to the object - as long as the object is selected first . You can tell that it is connected to the object as when you either mouse-over or click on the comment the object is then outlined in yellow. If you want to add a general comment to the slide, make sure that nothing on the slide is selected before adding your com...

I'm looking for some teachers in Branch or Calhoun county (Michigan) that would like to participate in an end of the year challenge! Challenge Title:  Why We Celebrate Memorial Day Challenge/Problem to Solve :  Challenge your students to explore why we celebrate Memorial Day.   Type: Multimedia Challenge Challenge Parameters : Challenge is limited to 10 teams Students must create all elements for the challenge The student product must meet the following criteria: Utilize the green screen to support the project Be equivalent to a G or PG movie rating (for instance, in use of language and dress) Possible Ideas: Historical news cast about Memorial Day Reenactment of historical event related to Memorial Day Public Service Announcement related to Memorial Day Interview of vetern(s) - what Memorial Day means personally Opposing Viewpoints panel - should we celebrate Memorial Day Time Frame : approximately 4-5 weeks April 30: Deadline to sign up...

As your site gets larger (hopefully that means has lots of pages, not a scroll of a single page...), and you begin organizing your pages into levels you may want to quickly find a page.  This features is available! When looking at the Pages window, notice at the top there is a "Filter pages" option:  If you begin typing a word from the page you are looking for, the pages that match will begin displaying below: The easy way to find a page :-)

There is a new feature in Google Sites that is going to make a lot of people happy!  You can now add custom links into the navigation.  You want a link to your SIS?  You can do it at the top level now! Now, when looking at the Pages window, instead of a "New page" icon, there is a plus sign:  Hovering your mouse over that + will pop up (currently) two options to choose from, the "New page" icon and a new "New link" icon:  Selecting the "New link" icon, you will get a pop-up window where you can give the website you wish to link to a name and copy in the URL.  When linking, note that you can also select an existing page on your site (which will allow you to order the pages in the navigation menu differently, or even have a page linked in two places in the menu).  You also have the choice of whether it opens in a new tab, or over top of the website itself: You can then grab, drag and move the link as a main level or sub-level to any o...

From Christine Schneider, Mel Education Specialist - “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it” - Confucius MeL is here to help share the beauty of poetry this April!  As you prepare for National Poetry Month, consider using the following resources found in MeL databases: Britannica School ( Elementary ,  Middle ,  High ): Once again we had some resource packs pulled together for you and your students to use!  Please click into one of the levels of Britannica FIRST, and then click on one of the following resource packs: National Poetry Month-Elementary National Poetry Month-Secondary   eBooks : A general search for “poetry” within the main eBooks collection yields over 6,500 hits!  The following are some books that might be of specific interest (Remember to click on  eBooks FIRST, then any of the following links): Flower Fables  by Louisa May Alcott.  This is a collection of fairy tales and poetry that Alcott firs...

There is a new challenge being put on by Google, Girls Make Games and ESA Foundation called Change the Game. Submissions are due by May 16, 2018.  It's worth checking out! From the site - Are You Ready to Change The Game? Change The Game’s mission is to make mobile gaming truly for everyone by celebrating and empowering women as creators and players. We’re calling on the next generation of game-makers to share their mobile game design ideas and what they want to see for the future of gaming. We’ve joined forces with Girls Make Games and ESA Foundation to challenge teens to use their creativity and skills to develop a game idea, and to take their first step towards change. The top 5 finalists will win a VIP trip to an exclusive experience at E3 in Los Angeles. There, they can showcase their game ideas and join a celebration of women in gaming. The Grand Prize Winner will also receive a $10,000 college scholarship, a $15,000 technology contribution to their school, and...

Today I noticed an addition to my Insert Menu while on a Google Sheet.  I now have the additional option of inserting a checkbox! I often use checkmarks in cells, preferring them to an "x" as it is an obvious symbol. (If you didn't know, you can add them with using Option + V) However, the checkboxes are a vast improvement over that. Here is the menu change (Old to New) - To add a checkbox into a selected cell, go to the Insert Menu and  select Checkbox - (By the way - Kudos to Google for adding that little "NEW" box to items that have just been added.  Now I don't need to guess - is it something I just never saw before?  Or is it new?... and the NEW disappeared after I used the feature.) It certainly would be tedious to have to do that individually for every cell.  There are 2 ways to mass add the checkbox. 1. Highlight the cells, THEN do your insert 2. Use the fill feature to add it to adjacent cells What is cool about this second feat...

There are a variety of events coming up!  Click through this slidedeck to find one that meets your needs -