Google Takeout for the Win!

Google Takeout

Seniors, as we reach the end of our journey here at Royse City High School, we are obviously only thinking about graduation and what new adventures college will bring us. But, I your faithful and friendly Chrome Squad member is here to remind you about all of your google files you need to transfer before our high school accounts get suspended. All of your docs, slides, and accounts you made on your school account need to be transferred, so you can use them when you need them later. Here’s a brief summary and tutorial over Google Takeout. You can also check out our video made by our Video Team to get a visual tutorial over Google Takeout.

 

First go to:

Google Account Help

There we can see that we can take data from all of our G Suite apps. Things like your emails, calendar events, and photos. In a jiffy, Google Takeout can help you transfer this data and create a archive  to any other account on any other server.

 

Next, choose what data you want to transfer:

Go to: Download your data

There you will see all of the apps you use on a daily basis. Just select the ones you want to download the data from, and leave the ones you don’t need.

Click Next

There you can choose what File Type, Archive size, and Delivery Method you wish the delivery method to be transferred as. Then, your archive is set!! And it will send you an email when it will be ready to go. It also gives you a date of when the archive is still available.

 

Go back to:

Download your data

Now choose how your archive will be sent to you. You can choose whether you want the archived data sent to your email, drive, dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive depending on your personal preference. After this you’re done!! If you have any questions, there’s a common questions tab, or you can come swing by the Chrome Lounge and ask any of the Chromies!

 

In the rush of things, don’t forget about all of your data that you need for college. Google Takeout can be your best friend in transferring your data to a new server!!

Chromesquad’s Trip to TCEA

Chromesquad’s Trip to TCEA

Chromesquad’s Trip to TCEA

On February 8th, four members of the Chrome Squad drove down to Austin, Texas. It was a quick trip, but the experience was unforgettable. The presentation was called 1-1 with a Chrome Squad. We talked about our teams and how they function, core values and why they are important, and the summer training given by Mr. Holt.

What is the TCEA Convention & Exposition?

TCEA Convention empowers teachers and administrators all around to change the way they teach and learn in the classroom setting. TCEA provides +1,000 informative sessions and workshops that bring new ways to engage students, charge up your curriculum, and how to increase student productivity. This convention helps educators incorporate technology in their schools, classrooms, and libraries.

 

Our experience at TCEA

Personally, I had a blast! At our session, I was pretty nervous, but people genuinely just wanted to know how the Chromesquad functions and how we engage with teachers and students in the Chrome Lounge. Destiny, a member of our Store team, describes TCEA as this,”I enjoyed the opportunity to speak in front of people who were engaged and interested in knowing about the Chromesquad. The Vendor Hall was interesting because of the booths all relating to educational technology. Being surrounded by so much innovative products, we felt like kids in a candy store.”

What we learned

The community of people at the convention were so incredibly nice and inspiring. They challenged us to pursue careers in technology. Nearpod was so pumped to hear about students teaching educators about their program and how our Ninja Badge Team has a badge especially for them. They even asked us to collaborate on a blog with them! We met Mobi from Brainpop and were told Toby was on vacation. Overall, the trip was great! I’m excited to see what we learn from our trip to Google to Austin next week!

You Know What Makes Sense? Using Common Sense!

Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization that writes reviews on all types of media. From movies to videogames, Common Sense Media has a review that gives recommendations for all types of media that are specific to your student’s age. Along with an age restriction for the product, the review gives a detailed summary of the content, the plot, and key topics to talk to your kids about before using the specified media.

Their Goal

Common Sense Media’s goal is to empower Parents and Teachers to be a positive influence when it comes to growing media demographic. By providing unbiased opinions on widestream media, parents can take control and fully understand what students are taking in while they are on the internet. Common Sense Media understands that keeping up in the digital world can be difficult, and right now, a tool like this can be essential in understanding what your kids are taking in right as the new media is released.

Parent’s Concerns

The site has a section for key concerns that parents are going through. They have videos for parents of all ages, and advice for key media concerns any person could be going through.Topics such as: screen time, cyberbullying, and appropriate age limits are new gray areas that parents now have to deal with. Common Sense Media can be a huge relief to parents that have no idea where to start. Not only does the site address media, they point out other key topics parents need insight on. Drugs, body image, and life skills are also addressed in articles ready to help you, help your kids succeed.

Rating System

Common Sense Media’s Rating system is an unbiased rating of the media your child is taking in. Their guidelines help better understand what content isn’t only age-appropriate, but also developmentally appropriate for the student. Each rating is based on the fundamental development of the child’s age. How easy the game is, how violent the media is, and the learning value contribute to the rating of the media.

Teaching to Students or handling your child’s media intake can be hard, but with Common Sense Media you have an aid helping you navigate through key concerns with a breeze.

Become a Presentation Pro with the New Slides Update

Google Slides has come out with a new update with new interesting features. This update incorporates Google Keep, Linked Slides, and a few other features users were itching to get on the site. With this new update the already user friendly Google Slides becomes even easier to use, and can help any presentation look sleek and professional.

 

Jot down in Keep, then bring them to Slides

For RCHS Students, Google Keep is already installed in our apps and can be found by clicking the search button, then clicking “all apps”. Google Keep is a fast and easy way to take note of group ideas and keep reminders of dates at your fingertips. But by using Google Slides’ drag-and-drop integration you can put these two great apps together! All you have to do is click “Tools”. Then, go to Google Keep, select notes from Keep, and drag them into the Slide you wish the note to be on. When you add a note from Keep into your presentation, Slides will add a title and description for you automatically.

 

Manual Updates are a thing of the past using Linked Slides

When using the same information for different presentations, copying and pasting onto different different projects can be a drag. With Linked Slides, in seconds you can copy information from one slide, paste on a different presentation, and then link them together, so they have the most up-to-date data.

 

Users asked Google Slides updated

  • Insert Diagrams, or ready-to-use visuals. This is very useful for when you need to share timelines with others in a group.
  • Select Grid view to view all your slides at once. This helps you easily rearrange or change formats of multiple slides.
  • Customize your presentations to different audiences with the Skip slide feature. You can now choose to skip select slides without completely deleting them when you present from your phone or laptop.

By using these new feature updates you can make your presentations in a flash but still keep the professional look Google Slides provides.

Get Crafty with Your Emails- Get Boomerang!

As a student, writing emails to teachers, counselors, and potential colleges can be stressful. You don’t know what to say and sometimes, a lot of the time, they don’t respond to you as fast as you would like to. If you know me, you know I love to get the information I need in a quick and easy way, and email is the fastest way to get that information for me. The time of day, the day it is, and just the person you’re sending the email to are contributing factors to the response time of your email. But never fear, Boomerang is here! Boomerang is the ultimate productivity tool for email. It helps you track emails, send them later, and even has an automated helper named Al that helps you improve the content that you are sending.

 

Downloading Boomerang

To download the Boomerang extension for gmail, go to the chrome web store. Once you’ve gotten to the chrome web store, type in the search bar “Boomerang”. Click on the first option under “Extension”. Click on the button “add to chrome” and you are ready to start using Boomerang! To get to Boomerang, open up your gmail. You’ll find The Boomerang extension under the search bar beside the more button. Downloading this extension is quick and easy, and the tools given by this app can surely improve your emailing productivity.

 

Schedule Emails to Send Later

With Boomerang Installed, we suddenly have a beautiful red button that allows us to pick any day and time to send your email. Before Boomerang, you only have one option: to send the email immediately after you write it, but with that setting our important emails get lost in the spam. Clicking the button that says, “Send Later” allows you to send an email automatically with no internet connection, Gmail will send the email automatically at the time you request to send it. When you click the button a screen of pre-set times such as: tomorrow morning, in  1 hour, or even a specific time you wish to set to send the email. When you click the send later button, the email will be sent at the time you requested.

 

How to Set Reminders

To set a reminder, you just have to click on a message, then click the Boomerang button. When you boomerang a message, it will take the selected message out of your inbox, then push it to the top of your inbox when you would wish to be reminded. When you push the button to set the reminder, again, a list of preset time will pop up. You can pick one of the preset times, or you can set a customizable time, that can be located under the preset times, to receive your reminder email whenever you wish! This feature is a bliss when a project or assignment is put off, Boomerang has your back!

 

Boomerang Respondable

Do you ever wish you could have your English teacher just follow you around to fix every little mistake to make any literary piece of your’s perfect? You probably have never thought about it. But Boomerang has this feature you will soon realize you cannot live without. Just as you are going to send an email down on the Boomerang bar, on the far right, Boomerang Respondable can tell you if your email is likely to get a response, if the subject length is adequate, the word length is enough or too much, If your question count is far too many or far too light, and if the reading level of the email is suitable for the subject of the email. The scales range from green to red help you edit your email to be the best it can be to get a high response back from the receiver. This is a key feature when sending emails to college admission counselors. Getting our emails read and getting an answer is the goal, but impressing them is the key, boomerang respondable is the tool to help us get there.

 

These Boomerang features and others can help you build better emails to send to peers, teachers and admissions. So get ready to be on time and proactive with your day-to-day emails! It really helps!