Weekly Tech Tips and News for October 27, 2017

With Halloween coming up next week, there are lots of treats included here. In addition to a couple of Halloween activities resources, there are several new features to try. Gmail now supports Add-ons to make your email more efficient. Google Classroom now has a mobile app with lots of great features to make classroom available from your phone or iPad. Turn any of your Google Slides presentations into an interactive activity with Pear Deck's new Add-on for Slides. Tour Builder in Google Earth is now much easier to use, and there are several resources for working with images. While these treats may not satisfy your sweet tooth, (Seriously, who hasn't already sampled their Halloween candy stash?) they will hopefully be great additions to your tech tool kit.

• Five Gmail Extensions to Increase Productivity
• How to use Google Classroom's Secret Productivity Tool:  The Mobile App
• New Features from Pear Deck
• Free Photos, Icons, Magic and More with Google Slides Add-ons
• 3 Ways to Find & Insert Copyright-Free Images
• Open Tour Builder in Google Earth with 1 Click
• Halloween Resources for Students of All Ages
• Play Kahoot! in Spooky Mode
• Search Safely on Pixabay

Five Gmail Extensions to Increase Productivity

Five Gmail Extensions to Increase Productivity, from Free Tech for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Wouldn't you love to be able to schedule an email  message to send at a certain time, or turn your inbox into a set of lists? Did you know you can add sticky notes to your messages, or use email templates? These enhancements and more are available by using extensions.

How to use Google Classroom's Secret Productivity Tool:  The Mobile App

How to use Google Classroom's Secret Productivity Tool:  The Mobile App, from Ditch that Textbook by Matt Miller
The Classroom mobile app is a huge time saver, and also has some features that the desktop version doesn't. How handy would it be to take care of those beginning of the year assignments from your phone or iPad? For the classes you teach there are also push notifications that you can personalize to get as much or as little info as you want. You can also write on student work with your finger instead of typing your feedback.

New Features from Pear Deck

Pear Deck has announced some new features that are a great enhancement to their interactive presentation program. First, they have created the Pear Deck Add-on for Google Slides, which lets you turn your Google Slide presentation into an interactive presentation. Here is a guide to get you started using the add-on. Also new in Pear Deck, is their new Vocabulary and Flashcard Factory.  You can create your own list. The definitions are powered by Merriam-Webster and also integrates with Quizlet. To use these, log in to your Pear Deck account, click the New button, and select Vocabulary List to get started.

Free Photos, Icons, Magic and More with Google Slides Add-ons

Free Photos, Icons, Magic and More with Google Slides Add-ons, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
If you remember that add-ons provide some of the bells and whistles that are missing from G Suite apps, you'll be excited to know that add-ons are now available for Slides. These add-ons will allow you to easily find icons and royalty-free photos for your presentation. You'll also be able to add filters and other editing tasks to images in Slides. Pear Deck is even in on the act by making your slides interactive. See what else you can do with Slides add-ons.

3 Ways to Find & Insert Copyright-Free Images

3 Ways to Find & Insert Copyright-Free Images, from Teaching Little Techies by Robin Limpert
I've mentioned before how important it is to respect the works of others. We should be teaching students this concept right from the beginning. Here are three ways to pass on this concept to our young students.

Open Tour Builder in Google Earth with 1 Click

Open Tour Builder in Google Earth with 1 Click, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
It just became easier to open your tours automatically in Google Earth. This can be used for ELA, social studies, science and more.

Halloween Resources for Students of All Ages

Halloween Resources for Students of All Ages, from Free Tech for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This post includes Halloween themed lesson plans, activities, science experiments, STEM activities and the history of Halloween.

Play Kahoot! in Spooky Mode

With Halloween right around the corner, Kahoot! is sharing out several Halloween themed quizzes to have fun with your students. You can try The Ancient Origins of Halloween, The History of Halloween in America, and Halloween Superstitions & Traditions, or you can always create your own.

Search Safely on Pixabay

Search Safely on Pixabay, from Free Tech for Teachers by Richard Byrne
Pixabay offers free videos and images that are free to use for education or commercial purposes, with a Creative Commons CCo license.