Waffle Bytes

When working with our counselors on an online scholarship form, we wanted a single question to ask which scholarships the students were applying for but then in our data spreadsheet we wanted that information separately so that we could score the applications appropriately for each scholarship type.  Because we used a checkbox question on the form for students to select which scholarships they were applying for, in the results spreadsheet we ended up with what could be multiple answers separated by commas in a single cell.  I looked at several ways to separate this data out into individual cells, but in the end a short script used multiple times worked best. This ensured that there was consistency in how the data is displayed (using a split function did not do this as their first selection appeared in the first column, and not all of them selected the same scholarships). The script I created looked for a match in the cell, then applied a set value in another cell if the m...

From the Library of Michigan: "The Michigan Department of Education and the Library of Michigan are pleased to announce the 2017 Michigan Notable Books, 20 books celebrating Michigan people, places, and events. For more than 10 years the Library has been proud to sponsor this program, doing our part to help build a culture of reading here in Michigan."  Check out this year's selection here .  There are many books worth checking out!  If you want more, the site lists all the books selected each year from 1996 to this year. 

    Registration is now open for MI Moot 2017 - Transforming Classrooms.  This year's conference will be held August 1st and 2nd at Lansing Community College West.  Register today for this energizing and impactful event focused on best practices in blended learning!   Here is a preview of some of the sessions... -Must-have Online Classroom Resources: Pre-service to Experienced Teachers -Building an Authentic Online Learning Community -How to Flip! -The Open Source Learning Stack -Moodle and Quality Online Resources for Blended Classrooms -Access Denied!  Is your Blended Learning Course Accessible? -and more!   More information and the link to register can be found at http://mimoot.org .    MI Moot 2017: Transforming Classrooms Flyer   Thanks again!   MI Moot 2017 Co-Chairs Kay Hauck Anne Thorp Melinda Waffle

With so many schools looking to help prepare students for college tests, this is a timely resource from the Library of Michigan.  And, ytou don't need to purchase them, you get this as a Michigan resident! From Deb Biggs at MeL -  "Nobody would sit down to take an important test without at least some degree of preparation from studying the subject matter to actually practicing how to read the questions and answer within a set time limit.  Academic tests, professional licensing/certification, skill measurement, and high school equivalency, are all testing scenarios many people experience.  MeL database LearningExpress Library is available to all Michiganders and provides all these. Seven interactive learning centers provide resources beginning with Elementary School Grade 4 Mathematics and English Language Arts Skills Improvement, through standard college and graduate school tests, to adult learning and becoming a U.S. Citizen.  Three test mod...

Branding for Schools What is your school’s brand?  How do you convey it?  Who conveys it? These are of the few of the questions we will address in this session, which will be co-lead by Jerry Johnson, Assistant Superintendent for Legislation and Education Policy, and Melinda Waffle, Educational Technology Consultant.   Purposes of the day’s activities - Define branding & understand why it matters Begin a plan for management your brand to build vision & consistency Plan for creating credibility with transparent communication on multi modes This session is appropriate for superintendents, principals, teacher leaders, curriculum & technology personnel.   Date : March 30, 2017 Time : 8:30 - 12:30 (lunch provided) Where : Calhoun ISD (Marshall) Cost : FREE to REMC 12E educators       $10 for those outside REMC 12E The Morning’s Agenda Please register here . About the #CISDInspire Network The g...

I attended Lansing Community College's 2nd Annual Open Educational Resources Summit on Feb. 24th. As I was gathering resources from the summit to share in a blog, I had a bulletin from the Library of Michigan appear in my inbox with the following timely information.  These are all worth checking out! From Karren Reish of the Library of Michigan - "Lansing Community College's 2nd Annual Open Educational Resources Summit was Feb. 24th. Some of the content discussed is appropriate to the K-12 community. Thanks to Rita Kohrman from Grand Valley State University for the following information about sites discussed. ______________________________ ____ OER Commons : https://www.oercommons.org/ OER Commons is a dynamic digital library and network. Explore open education resources and join our network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement. A “hub” found in OER Commons: STEM Literacy : https://www.oercommons.org/ hubs/stem-literacy ...

There are more options in adding borders to your sheets, giving greater flexibility than before.  Now when you click on the border icon, there are two additional icons on the right side of the pop-up menu- The top one lets you set the color of your border - The bottom one lets you set a different border type (varying thickness, dotted and double) -

The MACUL Conference is only a week away! (This is the third in a series of 4 to help you get ready and excited about going to the conference. Tipsheet #1 contains information about hydration, food considerations and special happenings at the conference. Tipsheet #2 contains information about planning for your conference - the conference app, speakers, session information. Tipsheet #3 contains information about registration, getting help, networking, and wearing comfortable shoes!) Here are some other tidbits that might help you out as you arrive at the conference next week: COBO Layout : COBO is now basically a big “L” with sessions dispersed over 3 or 4 levels on both sides of the L; the left side of the L faces the river.   The renovations are pretty near to full completion.  The end hallway overlooks the river since it has been renovated. They have added escalators and a huge staircase which help with traffic flow.  Long time confe...

Another oft requested feature has made its way into Google sheets - rotating text.  You can now rotate text within a cell on the sheet, something that many have wanted in order to deal with longer headers that you still wanted to fully see without having a wide cell for data. To use this feature: Highlight the cell(s) for which you want to rotate the text There are two ways to access it - A. Go to the Format Menu, down to Text rotation - a sub-menu will appear where you can select the type of rotation you would like - B. Go to the Formatting Toolbar, and click on the sideways A to see the options pictorially represented - The text will be rotated as soon as you select it- Here is an image with each of the types of rotation you can select from: A. Normal B. Tilt Up C. Tilt Down D. Stack Vertically E. Rotate Up F. Rotate Down You can also select from a variety of angles if the preset ones do not need your needs -

This week I just found out about WKAR's Curious Crew TV shows .  If you teach science at the lower level - or have a kid that is curious - these shows are worth checking out.  From the site: "Inquisitive kids take a hands-on approach to investigating principles of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with award-winning educator Rob Stephenson." The show has several kids that test & learn about different science principals using household items.  In addition to the shows (which can be streamed on the site, or watched on live TV), there are "Curiosity Guides" that teachers (or even parents) can use to recreate or explore what is seen on the show further.   Check it out!

One popular request I often get from people that are looking at large sheets with lots of data is how to alternate the color of the rows to make it easier to read across and not lose your line.  Setting alternating colors is very easy with Google Sheets.  Simply - 1. Highlight the columns you want to assign alternating colors to 2. Go to the Format Menu and select Alternating colors... (towards the bottom of the menu) 3. Set your formatting -  A. Choose if you have a header and/or footer on your sheet - it will use darker highlights on those cells  B. Select the Formatting styles that are preset OR click on the + to create a custom style  C. Make any modifications you would like to the colors (Note: if you selected a preset style, as soon as you make a color change it will create a custom style) 6. Click Done If you want to remove alternating colors, go back to the Format Menu and select Alternating colors... and at the bottom of the ...