Facebook Notifications

Many of us use a variety of social media outlets to collaborate, collect information and new ideas, and learn. One that I am using more and more is Facebook. There are several great groups to be a part of there. However, one thing that drives me batty is the ‘follow’ or ‘.’ in a thread. I understand why it’s done – to get the information when someone posts – but am still driven crazy by it.

Facebook allows you to ‘turn on notifications’ on a post without all the ‘follow’ in a thread. By turning on the notifications, you will receive all the comments without cluttering the thread with ‘follow’ or ‘.’. And it’s easy to do!

In a post, click on the three dots that appear in the right corner of the post. One of the options will be ‘turn on notifications’. That’s it!

FB Notification

Playlists in YouTube

I’m a huge fan of YouTube, but then again who isn’t? One of my favorite features is the ability to create Playlists. These are a collection of videos of your choice. For example, I have a playlist for grammar to help students who are struggling with various grammar issues.

In YouTube, on the left side is my menu. The second section shows my ‘Library’ (aka playlists). creating them is SUPER easy!

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When I find a video I like, I add it to (or create a new) playlist. The ‘Add to’ choice appears just below the video.

playlist 1

playlist 2

If you are creating a new playlist, you will have the option to have it ‘Public’ (open for anyone to find), ‘Unlisted’ (other can view if they have the link), or ‘Private’ (must be shared directly with others).

playlist 3

After you name your playlist, select ‘Create’. Viola! You now have started your playlist collection

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Google Docs – Speech Recognition

Have a student who has great ideas, but can’t get them written down? Google Docs has a great Add-On to help: Speech Recognition.

In a Google Doc, look for Add-Ons in the toolbar.

You will need to get the Add-On.

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Now it’s ready to use. In the toolbar in your document, Speech Recognition is ready to use.

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A sidebar will appear on the right side. Choose ‘Start’ and begin speaking.

When you finish speaking, press the ‘Stop’ and your text will appear in your document.

Search Your Google Drive

I have heard several comment that it is hard for them to find items in their Drive. What many are forgetting is that Drive has powerful search options.

In Google Drive there is a ‘Search Drive’ option at the top. You can type in key words such as the title or known keywords in the item you are looking for. I did a search for ‘puppy’. I know I don’t have anything named that, but I wanted to see which items had ‘puppy’ mentioned. This is what I got:

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None of the items are named ‘puppy’. So I wondered what ‘Rabbit’ had to do with puppy. So I went into the Spreadsheet, did a quick search (control + f on PC, or command + f on Mac) and this is what I found. Puppy is mentioned throughout the Spreadsheet.

I can also narrow my search by file type, opens with, or ownership. Choose the small arrow to the right on the Search Drive bar. So if I know the item I am looking for is in a Spreadsheet, I’d choose ‘opens with’ and select spreadsheet.

This should make searching for your items a bit easier. Happy Searching!

Bibme – Score Your Essay

I love when my students want to improve their work. One way in which they have been doing this is by using Bibme‘s Score your Essay option. In short, you paste in your essay and the program grades it on several points – for FREE! Not only does it score it, but tells you what you can do to make it better. The results appear quickly: And even though my essay scored a 5 of 5 in Organization, it still gave me a suggestion. Love that! And at the end, it gives you a final score. Is it perfect? No, but it is pretty great. And FREE, did I already mention that? Give it a try.