Tuesday, June 20, 2017
GoogleDrive has changed my life
Google has changed my life, and it has greatly shaped my teaching practice. I am now able to comfortably teach from my 3 different classroom locations flawlessly. I no longer have to carry around flash drives or email myself large PowerPoint files and wait for what seemed like hours from them to download onto the laptop I was using that day. GoogleDrive allows me the convenience of “grab and go” without compromising quality. In this blog post, I will explain ways that GoogleDrive has helped me organize my teaching practice & my own personal life.
Before we get started, you need to have a google account set-up. Ask your tech person for your school google account- they will have the log-in & password for you. Using your school account will give you way more storage than using your personal account! If your school is not set up yet, you will have to create a personal google account in the meantime.
Access my full detailed instructions on how to do so here!
Access my full detailed instructions on how to do so here!
Creating Color Coded Albums.
I may sound a little OCD, but I have everything labeled and color coded to make finding specific items that much easier. I love how simple this truly is and how much control you have over your content. You can easily drag and drop items into folders and then color code the folders.
Creating New Folders:
Just like on your Mac or PC, you can create folders to store documents, photos and videos. These folders are generally kept in "My Documents" on your computer, but in with Google, they are stored in your cloud called, "GoogleDrive". You can create however many folders you like, name them, share them and color code them. What I love most about this feature is that it really helps me to stay organized on the go.
To Create A Folder:
- Log-in to your google account and then go to: drive.google.comdrive.google.com
- Click on the blue button in the left hand corner called, “New”
- Select Folder
- Name the Folder
To Color Code a Folder:
- Once you have a folder created, you can now right click on that folder
- Select “Change Color”
- Pick a color
Sharing Just Got A Whole Lot Easier
Did you know you can create something in Google and then share them with co-workers while maintaining specific permissions? For instance, say I created a solid presentation on the solar system, but I do NOT want anyone else to edit or change it. I can allow them permissions to “View Only” so that they can use my presentation in their classroom while I get the peace of mind that it will stay unchanged.
To Share One Item:
- Open the item
- Go to the upper right hand corner and click on the blue button named, “Share”
- A pop-up screen should appear. Type in their email address associated with their Google Account
- Select the appropriate permission (explained below)
- Click Share
Before hitting “share”, click on the pencil icon to set the permissions. This is what each permission means:
- Can Edit - the people you share the item with can edit anything and everything on the item. You will be able to see their changes and their changes will stay on your document.
- Can Comment- This will allow them to only make comments on the shared item. They can make suggestions or give feedback, but cannot make actual edits on the item.
- Can View- all the person can do is view the items. This is perfect for times when you create a presentation that you want another teacher to use, but want to make sure they do not edit or change it.
To Share an Entire Folder: - Right click on the folder and select "Share"
- A Pop-Up Window will Appear. Type in the person's email associated with their Google Account
- Decide what permissions you want them to be able to use with the content in the folder by clicking on the icon to the right of their name
- Click Share
Unlimited Storage Space for Educator Accounts- Seriously!
Yes, this is true! If you have an account from your school and it is considered an "educator's" account, you now have an unlimited storage plan! Score! If you do not have an educator account, you get 15 GB free with a personal Google account. After that, you will have to upgrade to a monthly plan that starts at $1.99 a month for 100 GB. This is why it is essential to ask your school's tech person ASAP for access to your educator account! |
| Google Storage Plans for PERSONAL accounts |
DO NOT use your personal Google Account for School Items!
Using your Personal Google Account to store school items is not a good idea.
Google items that use this storage include:
You only get 15 GB of free storage with a personal account. After that, you would have to upgrade to about $1.99 a month to get 100 GB of GoogleDrive storage. You are taking up your limited space when you could easily use your school Google Account that has over 10 times the amount of space! And here is a great tip, add items to your school google account and then share them to your personal account. Bingo! Free space!
- A personal Google Account has limited storage for free, but it is only 15 GB
- An educator account has unlimited storage!
Google items that use this storage include:
- GoogleDrive items (except those made with Google Apps for Education, ie: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, etc)
- Gmail messages & attachments (sent or received)
- GooglePhotos (if you downsize the photos in GooglePhoto settings from original to high quality, you get unlimited storage. If you keep the photos with the default settings of "original" quality, you do NOT get unlimited storage. Read more here).
You only get 15 GB of free storage with a personal account. After that, you would have to upgrade to about $1.99 a month to get 100 GB of GoogleDrive storage. You are taking up your limited space when you could easily use your school Google Account that has over 10 times the amount of space! And here is a great tip, add items to your school google account and then share them to your personal account. Bingo! Free space!
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| An example of How I Organize my Photos |
Label & Organize from Day 1
Just like ALL the paper, folders and books in your classroom, you know that if you do not label and organize them from day one, they tend to get sloppy, lost and cause a panic of deep searching when you really need them! Do yourself a favor and organize your Drive the day you start. Do something simple first like create folders for each subject, then if you really want to, you can create subfolders within these folders.For instance: Science would be a main folder and within that you might have, Earth Science, Life Science and so forth. You can even get SUPER organized and within Life Science have Week 1: Life Cycles. What I LOVE about this is that you can copy an paste links to specific items for those lessons. The possibilities are endless! Think about it, YouTube Videos, past Scholastic News articles, Teacher Pay Teacher handouts, screenshots, digital masters of homework/classwork handouts, presentations, past students’ work for examples, art projects from Pinterest, you name it- you can add it!
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| I put all of my Google Apps on my iPhone in a separate folder called "Google" |
Download Google Drive and GooglePhoto on your phone
Want to make life even easier on the go? Download the GoogleDrive app on your smartphone! I can’t tell you how many times I have used this- it is wonderful! I can look at any document, photo, slideshow and other items on my phone within seconds. The other thing I think is useful about this is that I can upload a photo from my phone to the GoogleDrive app and it will appear on my computer’s GoogleDrive within seconds! No more downloading and uploading thru emails, I can seamlessly share and upload while I pick up my students from lunch.
I hope this blog encourages you to start using GoogleDrive to enhance your teaching practice and perhaps help you to organize your own life. If you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to comment below or email me directly. I would be more than happy to help you!
Kari Payan
Google Certified Educator Level 2
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Glad google drive is helping you in your profession. I have it but I don't utilize it much. Thanks sir the informative information, I am not that tech savvy to handle ��
ReplyDeleteIt is actually very simple to use! It reminds me of how you would organize folders on a desktop. You create and move items however you like. Best thing- it is free! <3
DeleteI need to make more use of Google services. Google drive would be useful for me with homeschooling and website files.
ReplyDeleteYes, it would be VERY helpful! Especially if you need to share items with other teachers. Best of luck!
DeleteI admit I don't take advantage of a lot of the services Google offers espcially Google Drive because I just haven't take the time to learn them. This was very helpful. I will be using it more.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many wonderful features that you would love!
DeleteI have used Google Drive, but I didn't realize there were so many useful features! I especially love the color coding of the folders. It's so much easier recognizing things by a glance with colors. And I recently discovered Google Photos, and I absolutely LOVE the app! It automatically backs up the pictures on my phone, and that's so useful!
ReplyDeleteGooglePhotos has saved me from having to buy a new phone due to storage limits! Make sure that you go into the settings and change the photos to "High Quality" rather than the default "Original Quality". If you do that, you will get unlimited storage space! <3
DeleteI love all these tips for Google Drive. I always use it and I didn't know that there were so many great features. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteXOXO //SINCERELY OPHELIA | NYC Petite Fashion Blogger
Absolutely! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThis is great! I knew some of these things, but learned a few more tips! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is beautiful! and I love google drive so much! I use it at work and have over 20gb of files already added up.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thank you for the compliment <3 Yes, it sure adds up fast! Make sure to delete any unneeded gmail attachments- that might help. Also, Google Apps do not take up storage space (ie: docs, sheets, slides, etc)
DeleteSounds perfect! I would love to have a go at using this.
ReplyDeletei love google drive!!!! i use it for business so I can access my files anywhere I am even fro my phone.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I'm not a teacher, but I'm an avid Google and Android fan and use Google Drive and Google Docs for almost all my storage now! I still prefer Evernote to Google Keep though...
ReplyDeleteEvernote is great as well, but ever since discovering all of Googles Apps for Education, I love being able to store them all together and love the integration aspect. Thanks for stopping by and reading!
DeleteThis is a really informative article on how to use Google Drive! I don't like to use it too much because I don't like all of my stuff being online. But it has helped wonders at work. Thanks for writing this!
ReplyDeleteI understand. Luckily, you can pick & choose what you put out there! Best of luck!
DeleteGoogle Drive is something I never really paid much attention at all. This post has reminded me of the need to use it out more often.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear this post helped you. I think you would really enjoy GoogleDrive :)
DeleteI have nominated you for the bloggers recognition award for your post, I use google drive a lot and and it is great to hear that it has help change your life. Please take a look at the nomination at http://thesimplemum.com/home/bloggers-recognition-award
ReplyDeleteWow! This looks amazing! I'm personally a Dropbox user but will definitely look into this for files. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic tool! Google has so many things to offer! I didnt even know about this one!
ReplyDeletexoxo Christie
http://icanstyleu.com/blog/
I love google drive for organizing my teaching resources and my personal files. It's continually accessible and easy to navigate! Thanks for the informative post!
ReplyDeleteI love google drive!! It's def a life saver!
ReplyDeleteThis is super informative. I have Google Drive, but haven't utilized it very much. With this new information, I will definitely be using it more! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteUgh I so need to get more into google drive as it would make my life so much easier! Thanks for the outline.. sigh I'll put it on my to do list lol
ReplyDeleteI love Google drive. I use to store all the books and notes I make on them that I use while writing my reviews. And Google has made it easier, because now we can export the bookmarks / notes we make on the Play books into drive easily.
ReplyDeleteGayathri @ Musings Over Nothing