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Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Mind-blown Moments from CUERockstar MB

Last week I attended my first CUE Rockstar event, and I loved every minute of it! It's always fun to spend time with like-minded people, bounce ideas off of each other, and try new things as a team. 

The highlights of this particular conference were in the details for me. It was the little things that blew my mind! Here is my list of biggest mind-blowing moments from my time at CUE Rockstar, Manhattan Beach: 

Force copy a shared Google document
Dan Bennett (@dabennett7) showed us how to change the word /edit at end of a share URL to the word /copy before giving out the URL. This will force the recipient to make a copy of the document coming their way. For those using Google Classroom, this may not mean much to you as far as sharing docs to your students, but I'm seeing major possibilities for future PDs! And does it work with the Google URL shortener? Sure does! Just change the link ending before shortening your link. 

Try it!

Updated share link:

Ctrl+shift+T/Command+shift+T
Are you kidding me with this one?? Accidentally close a tab in Chrome? Hit this magic combination of keys to reopen the last tab closed. Want to reopen the last two tabs closed? Click this combo twice.  And on and on... This little trick could have saved me so much heart ache in the past...Amazing! Thanks Lisa Nowakowski (@nowatechie)!

"Magic Button" in Google Sheets
@dabennett7's term for the little button in the top, left corner of your GSheet that highlights an entire sheet when clicked. You mean I don't have to click and drag to highlight the whole area? Yes, you can click Ctrl or Command + A to select all data, but this little guy will select the entire sheet. So nice for formatting purposes!

"Choice Eliminator" add-on for Google Forms
Last year I used GForms to create sign up sheets for class parties and events. I could embed the Form right into my class website (created on Google Sites) and all parents had to do was click a button to let me know that they could volunteer in class or donate butter for our baking project. It was great! Except... every time that someone signed up for something, I would go in and delete the item so that I didn't get repeat sign-ups. According to Jason Seliskar (@JasonSeliskar) I needed the "Choice Eliminator" add-on that automatically deletes choices from a Form once they have been selected by a user. Um, yes, it would appear so and I am so happy to have it now!

Notifications on GForms
Why did no one tell me about this before?? Luckily @JasonSeliskar was nice enough to do so! Want to know when someone fills out a Form? Turn on email notifications by going in to the spreadsheet attached to your Form (or click on "View Responses" from within the Form), clicking on "Tools", then "Notification Rules." Again, such a simple little thing that I knew nothing about and that is now going to be a lifesaver for me.

Google Public Data Directory
Adina Sullivan (@adinasullivan) introduced me to this fantastic resource! Need some real-world data to work with? Here it is! I'm already imagining the math/social studies/science possibilities...

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