Comet Tech

If the text on your page is too small or too big, you can easily adjust the size of your Chrome browser window by using the following shortcuts: To increase the size of the text, use "Ctrl + +"  To decrease the size of the text, use "Ctrl + -"  This will easily allow you to control the size of your text and allow you to use your Chromebook more comfortably. 

The screens on the Chromebooks can be small and difficult to see everything on. Sometimes, we zoom in and zoom out to be able to read different things on the screen. This week, I wanted to ensure that you could quickly get your screen back to the normal resolution. Simply use "Ctrl + Shift and )" to reset the screen to the normal resolution! It is that simple! 

Google Suite is always updating and changing things. This post is to help identify some of those changes. Jump Right to the Template G Suite has streamlined the process for opening a template! No longer do you need to go to the template gallery, now you can do it right from the G Suite page. Simply hit new and select the type of document that you want. Hover over the document type to allow you to open and then select the option to open it from the template. Check out the screenshot to see.  Insert Videos from Google Drive into Google Slides Google Slides would only support YouTube videos. Now, with a new update, Google Slides will support videos from your Google Drive. No longer do you have to upload a video to YouTube, but you can easily just keep videos on your Drive. 

This video, in which a young person attempts a ski long jump, is a fantastic reminder about trying new things. In the beginning, the young lady is apprehensive, scared, and nervous. In so much of what we do, the things we try, and how we handle these new situations, we feel the same way! Then, her nerve rises to a level where she pushes off, she soars through the air and stomps her landing. The exhilaration that she feels after this accomplishment is what we strive for in our teaching. Sometimes, to get there, we have to try new things. When we do, things seem much easier to try other new things.  This video is representative of the struggle and reward of trying new things in the classroom. While this young person didn't stumble or fall, we sometimes do. How we respond is essential to what we do next. But one thing is clear when we try new things and experience success, more new things become easier. Try them! 

This week's Chromebook keyboard shortcut is one that is helpful in multiple ways. For starters, you can quickly view your browsing history by using "Ctrl + H" on your keyboard. This will bring up the history of the sites that you have visited on your Chromebook. This is helpful if you remember coming across a resource but are struggling to find it again. You can browse your history and seek out the specific date that you visited the site. The other way that this week's shortcut is helpful is in our classrooms. We can quickly use the same shortcut to bring up our students' browsing history as well. This is one way to hold them accountable for the work that they are expected to do. If you have any questions, please let me know.

This post is inspired by one that Kasey Bell, of ShakeUpLearning.com , posted earlier this year. I thought it would be nice to do one for our school. Everything on this list I can help you with!  1). Podcasts in the Classroom - There are thousands of hours of free educational content being pushed out to various podcast that can inspire, motivate, and entertain both us, as educators, and our students. Some of my favorites include Planet Money, Undone, and Grammar Girl. I have a blog post with a list for you to check out here . 2). Flipped Lesson - A flipped lesson is when you provide students with the responsibility of learning some of the material outside of the classroom. For instance, think of recording a mini-lesson and assigning it as homework. Then, when the students come to class, they will have the opportunity to jump into the learning activities or discussion of the topic. This allows you to spend your time conversing, formatively assessing, and working with students o

This week's Chromebook keyboard shortcut helps you navigate the web. Using the "Alt + -->" or "Alt + <--" keys will navigate your browser forward or back. If you use the right arrow, you will move forward a page in your browsing history (that is, if you have already visited the page). If you use alt and the left arrow, you will go back a page. This shortcut is helpful for quick navigation between pages. It can also be used on student Chromebooks to check where they have been if you sense that they are off task.