Filtering by Color in Google Sheets

Sometimes when I’m working on a project in Google Sheets, I shade cells a certain color to visually organize them. I’ve always wished that there was a way to just see the green ones.  Or the red ones.  Or the yellow ones.  Sure, I could add some kind of indicator in a separate cell that I can filter by, but I wished that I could just do it by color.

Well, now I can! Recently, Google added the ability to filter and sort based on the cell color and the font color. Check out how it works with filtering in the EduGIF below! The step-by-step instructions are underneath the EduGIF.

This animated GIF shows the process by which cells in Google Sheets can be filtered by color. Step-by-step instructions are included in the blog post.
See the pausable version of this EduGIF here.

Before I share the step-by-step instructions, one last note. In the EduGIF, I did not share the process of sorting by color. When sorting by color, you’re selecting the color group (red, green, or white, in my GIF) that will come first. The other colors are then grouped after that. Within the color groups, the values will also be sorted in the default format (largest number to smallest number, in my data set). Continue reading Filtering by Color in Google Sheets

10 Tips for Supporting Students with Special Needs in #RemoteLearning

Over the last month or so, educators across most countries have been scrambling to figure out how to deliver content and assignments to students at home, how to connect with them via live video, and how to make sure they were safe and sound.  While we could certainly debate which of these are and are not important, as well as which ones are more or less important, I think that we could also certainly agree on one priority that’s missing from that list:

How can we support learners with special needs in remote learning?

While, certainly, some educators are doing great things to support these students, from my observations, this has taken a backseat to other elements of remote learning.  And these students NEED OUR HELP.

Unfortunately, I am not an expert in special education, accessibility features or assistive technology. I am, however, skilled at asking other people to share their expertise. 😃 So, in episode 40 of the Educational Duct Tape podcast and in the 4.8.20 #EduDuctTape Twitter Chat I asked educators one simple question:

How can we support learners with special needs in remote learning?

And they DELIVERED. I mean, the awesome suggestions and resources, all from a perspective of support rather than judgment, POURED in. And so, here they are.

Title Graphic for this blog post. Says "10 tips for supporting students with special needs in remote learning." Also says "10 edtech tips + dozens of tools"

I’ve curated their responses and organized them into 10 Tips for Supporting Students with Special Needs in Remote Learning. Here they are! Summarized, organized, curated, and, most importantly, shared with you.  I hope that you can use these to support the learners that you work with! Continue reading 10 Tips for Supporting Students with Special Needs in #RemoteLearning

#EduDuctTape Live Mini 011: David Allan – Chromebook Accessibility Features

In the 11th mini-episode, I’m sharing a discussion that I had with Special Education Consultant David Allan at the KySTE Conference in March. David shares some of the accessibility features available on Chromebooks. Also, I share a special announcement before the interview.

Image shows the Episode Title and a picture of Jake with episode guest David Allan

Show Notes available here.

Link to this Episode on YouTube!
Listen on YouTube!

 

 

 

 

 

#EduDuctTape Episode 41: Catlin Tucker!

Image Shows the episode title & a picture of the guest, Catlin Tucker

In the 19th regular episode of Season 2, I am sharing an episode with Catlin Tucker, author of Balance With Blended Learning, where we talk about how teachers can streamline feedback during class time so that they have less to do outside of class time. Catlin shares strategies from John Hattie and Mark Barnes as well as a handful of great tech tips to make feedback more efficient!

See the Show Notes Here

Link to this Episode on YouTube!
Listen on YouTube!

 

 

 

Check out some of Catlin’s mic-drop quotes from the episode below…

Continue reading #EduDuctTape Episode 41: Catlin Tucker!

Guest Post: Using Discord for Remote Learning

As educators, schools, and even professionals outside of education evaluated different options for synchronous video chats, a friend of mine was considering an option that I hadn’t heard anyone else mention. When Molly Klodor told me about her experience with using Discord for her Quiz Bowl team, I immediately asked her if she’d be interested in sharing it as a guest blog post. Here it is . . . Image Shows the title, author, and link for this blog post.

Picture of Molly Klodor, author of this article
Molly Klodor, M.Ed is an English Teacher and Quiz Bowl Coach at Streetsboro High School in Ohio.

My quiz bowl season was going so well. Both Varsity and JV were confidently buzzing in and having a blast, and my Varsity team was scheduled to go to Columbus for our state tournament at the beginning of March. We were so excited to cap off our excellent season!

Then came COVID-19. 

We let ourselves mope a bit at the cancellation of our tournament and the abrupt end to our season, but we needed to move on. I told my team we’d keep practicing, running trivia rounds through a Hangout or something. I said I’d figure something out. But my students, ever wiser than I, suggested I look into Discord.  Continue reading Guest Post: Using Discord for Remote Learning

#EduDuctTape Live Mini 010: Dan Stitzel

Today’s mini-episode was actually recorded back in early January before most people were aware of the coronavirus and well before the possibility of extended school closures came to those of us in the states. Ironically, I think that the strategies that Dan shared back in January could be incredibly useful in #RemoteLearning. If you are giving any feedback to students during remote learning, especially if it pertains to writing, please listen to this one!

In the 10th mini-episode, I’m sharing a conversation with Technology Integration Coach Dan Stitzel about the success that he had as a middle school language arts teacher with using Screencastify to give students feedback during the writing process.

Graphic shows a picture of Dan Stitzel and the title of this podcast episode.

Show Notes available here.

Link to this Episode on YouTube!
Listen on YouTube!

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post: 10 Ways to Make Remote Learning Fun for Students

As a father, I know how losing that face-to-face connection with teachers and classmates is effecting kiddos. I also know how much my own children have enjoyed Google Meets, Zooms, Facebook Lives, and Flipgrids with their teachers and classmates. So, when I heard about some of the fun things that Laura Lavery has been doing for her students, I knew that I wanted to share them! Here’s a guest post from Laura . . . 

Picture of Laura Lavery, author of this post.
Laura is a Middle School Teacher in Tennessee who enjoys creating a classroom environment for her students that produces a high-level of student engagement through the implementation of technology.

1. Creating a special theme for Zoom sessions

This is a way to spark student interest and make remote learning fun for all. For example, I hosted a virtual vocabulary egg hunt on Zoom. I created a Google Drawing and imported eggs with Spanish vocabulary on them. While we were on Zoom, I projected the Google Drawing and students had to translate the eggs. 

Another successful Zoom session was our “Paw Party.” Students were encouraged to bring their furry friend and/or stuffed animal to Zoom. Everyone had a great time as it continued to build our online classroom community and have fun. The dogs and cats were literally all over the screens. I noticed a lot of smiles during this session in particular.An "Evite" for Laura's Virtual Vocabulary Egg Hunt.

I want to get all stakeholders involved during Remote Learning and having a special theme definitely sparks inquiry from your students! Continue reading Guest Post: 10 Ways to Make Remote Learning Fun for Students

#EduDuctTape Episode 40: Supporting Students with Special Needs in Remote Learning!

Graphic shows the 8 guests from this show along with their names and the title of the episode.

In the 18th full episode of Season 2, I share tips, ideas, and recommendations from multiple educators about supporting students with special needs during remote learning. We discuss different accessibility features and assistive technologies within Chromebooks, iPads, Google Chrome, Microsoft and more, as well as some best practices, accommodations, and modifications.

Thanks to my friends who shared: David Allan, Catherine Day, Hillary Goldthwait-Fowles, Angela Greene, Lauren Hawkins, Pam Hubler, Matt Meyer, Jennifer Pearson

See the Show Notes Here

Link to this Episode on YouTube!
Listen on YouTube!

 

 

 

Check out these quotable moments from this episode . . . 

Continue reading #EduDuctTape Episode 40: Supporting Students with Special Needs in Remote Learning!

16+ Formative Assessment Tools for #RemoteLearning!

Title Image for Post. Reads: 16+ Formative Assessment Tools for #RemoteLearning and includes the URL for the post.Wow. March 2020 has been quite a month. And buckle up, folks, because it looks like April is going to be more of the same.

For many educators, that means screencasts of lessons, assignments in learning management systems, and lots of time on Zoom or Google Meet.

But what about Formative Assessment? If we’re going to teach new content during these extended school closures caused by the coronavirus and COVID-19 (I’m not sure if we should, but that’s another post) then we need to know if students are comprehending that new content!

So, I put that question out to the Duct Tapers (listeners to my podcast, the Educational Duct Tape Podcast). I got a handful of answers, which I featured in Episode 39b of the podcast.

A week later, I reached out for even more ideas! On Wednesday 3.25.2020, I hosted a #EduDuctTape Twitter chat focused on this and 2 other #RemoteLearning concepts. So, based on the thoughts shared in the episode and the ideas shared in the Twitter chat, I’ve got a BUNCH to share with you! So let’s dig into it! Continue reading 16+ Formative Assessment Tools for #RemoteLearning!

Spice Up Remote Learning Formative Assessments with Customized Quizizz Memes!

If awesome features of Quizizz was a topic on Family Feud, I’m pretty confident that the memes would make it up onto the board.

But I’m definitely confident that your students would love it if they were working on a Quizizz set as part of their #RemoteLearning (or whatever you prefer to call it) and were surprised with the sight of their teacher in the memes. Their teacher! The same teacher that they’ve been missing for the last few weeks since they were last at school.  The very same teacher that they’re bummed to not get to see any time in April (and possibly longer). Whether they admit it or not, it’s a little extra touch that your students would really get a kick out of.

So, when Allison Curry suggested it in Episode 39B of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast, I fell in love with the idea. But the best part of this idea is how easy it is to pull this off! Check it out in the #EduGIF below (and the step-by-step instructions under the GIF).

This animated GIF shows the process for adding teacher-created memes in Quizizz.
A Pausable version of this #EduGIF is available at youtube.com/watch?v=DfJTiE4Zyec

 

Continue reading Spice Up Remote Learning Formative Assessments with Customized Quizizz Memes!