Printing Prettier Webpages

Webpages are generally full of junk which is even more painfully obvious when you want to print them. This week we're spring cleaning with PrintFriendly, an extremely useful Chrome extension that scrubs a webpage and leaves you with a much tidier printed or PDF version. This handy tool can be used by both you and your students!

Install PrintFriendly:
- Use this link to get the extension on the Chrome Web Store or Google ‘PrintFriendly’

Use PrintFriendly:
- Click the Extensions menu (the puzzle piece) at the right of the web address bar
- Select PrintFriendly
- On the pop-up menu, select ‘PrintFriendly Page’

The Deep Cleaning Process:
Initial Sweep: PrintFriendly will take a first pass at creating a 'printer-friendly' version of the page by trashing obvious ads, pop-ups, sidebars, and navigation menus.

Spot Cleaning: To toss additional items, such as unnecessary images or text, simply click on them to send them to the dumpster.
Polishing: Style, Edit, and Highlight tools let you further detail your document... shrink/enlarge text and images or highlight key passages.
Shiny and New - Once you are happy with your beautified document, print or save as a PDF using the menu at the top.

Pro Tip: An undo option is available to restore inadvertently trashed items. And if you really overdo the scouring, you can simply close the doc and restart.

Gmail Inbox Management

This week, we have a couple more spring cleaning tools, this time for your Gmail. Remember that all tech tips can be found on the Blog. Have a great week!

Snooze Emails
If you receive an email you don't want buried in your inbox but can't respond to immediately, try the Snooze feature.
1. Hover over the email and click on the Clock icon to snooze.
2. Select a date and time for the message to return to your inbox as New.
Note: Snoozed emails can be accessed from the 'Snoozed' folder. To unsnooze, click on the Clock icon again.

Manage Gmail Subscriptions
We all get waaaayyy too many emails, but dealing with each sender's 'Unsubscribe' function individually is inconvenient. Gmail has a tool to help with this:
1. In the left nav of Gmail, go to More > 'Manage subscriptions'.
2. Click 'Unsubscribe' next to any sender to automatically send all emails from them to Spam.
Note: To retrieve emails from these senders, go to your Spam folder, search for the sender, and Unblock them.

Declutter Your Browser with Tab Groups

If your Chrome browser needs a little spring cleaning, Tab Groups may be your solution! Think of Tab Groups as a collection of bookmarks that all open and close with a single click. The feature lets you keep more tabs open and also makes them much easier to navigate by allowing more available space to see remaining tabs.

Potential Tab Group Use Cases:

• Class Period or Subject: You always open the same slides and lesson materials for 'Period 1' or 'English 1'.
• Daily Tools: You have a core set of tools you use daily, such as Classroom and PowerSchool, that you want to show and hide quickly.
• Project Work: You're building a new lesson and have several links cluttering your screen. You need them out of the way, but want to easily open them all later.
• Meeting Prep: You have a meeting immediately following your next class and will need multiple links open, but you know you'll be rushing so you would like to open everything early.

To Get Started:

1. Create: Right-click any open tab and select 'Add tab to new group'.
2. Customize: Type a name for the group and pick a color.
3. Add/Remove Tabs: Click and drag tabs in or out of the group's colored outline OR right click a tab to and add/remove.
4. Expand/Collapse: Click the group's name to show or hide all the tabs inside it -- this is where the magic happens!
5. Save for Later: Right click a group and select 'Close Group' to remove the browser tab and save it for later use.
6. Reopen Closed Tab Groups: Tab Groups are pinned to the left side of your Bookmarks Bar and also listed under the 4 Square Tab Group dropdown menu in the same location**. If your Bookmarks Bar is getting too full, right click any Tab Groups to 'unpin' them. If you do not enable the Bookmarks Bar feature**, you can access Tab Groups from the 3 dots menu in the upper right corner of Chrome.

**To enable Tab Groups in your Bookmarks Bar, go to the 3 dots menu in the upper right corner of Chrome, select Settings --> Appearance --> enable 'Show tab groups in bookmarks bar'.

Note: Closing a Tab Removes It From the Group:
1. If you close ('X') a tab, it removes it from the group. If you immediately realize you inadvertently closed a tab, use Shift +Ctrl+T to reopen the last tab (you can use this shortcut multiple times in a row).
2. If you close ('X') all tabs in a Tab Group, you will be warned the Tab Group will be deleted.

Reading a QR Code on a Computer

Happy April!

Another QR code tip for something you may have experienced...

You’re looking at the announcements on your computer and see something you'd like to tell your students about. To get more information, you must scan a QR code. Do you scan your computer with your phone only to then have the information on your phone instead of your computer? Do you give up in frustration? No need! There is an easy solution...

1. Click the URL and select 'Ask Google about this page'
2. Use the Google lens selector tool to select the QR code
3. A side panel will open, and the URL will appear
4. Click the URL—voilà!

And, if you're in charge of communications that include QR codes that will be read by someone on a computer, consider adding a clickable link in addition to the QR code. Or, make the QR code clickable by right clicking on it and selecting 'Add link'.

Gemini Mobile

This week's tech tip highlights the Google Gemini mobile app. It is a powerful tool that offers all the functionality of the desktop version along with several unique mobile features.

A key highlight is the camera integration and voice. I used this feature a ton on my last few vacations.  You can take a photo of an object—such as a landmark, plant, or piece of architecture—and engage in a back-and-forth conversation to learn more about it. Way better than just a Google search.  It is also useful for generating interior design ideas, styling outfits, planning landscaping, or creating recipes based on a photo of your pantry. Gemini has some great ideas!  Additionally, the voice feature allows for quick, hands-free inquiries while you are on the move.

To get started, sign in with your school account to access all paid features and save your history.

Download the App:

- Android: Google Play Store 

- iOS: Apple App Store

I have attached a few documents below with how-to guides and additional ideas for using the app.

iOS Doc

Android Doc

Schedule Emails to Send

How to schedule an email in Gmail:

- Click the down arrow next to the "Send" button.
- Select "Schedule send" and choose your desired time.
- To view, edit, or delete a scheduled message, look for the Scheduled tab in the left-hand pane.



A quick tip: If you send an email to all-staff, you will not automatically receive a copy in your inbox. To confirm it was sent, you can include yourself in the "To," "Cc," or "Bcc" line.

Scheduling emails is a great way to manage your time and ensure messages are delivered exactly when needed. Here is a doc with several ideas on how to utilize this feature, courtesy of Gemini.

Create New Google Files Fast with Shortcuts

If you typically open a new tab, navigate to Google Drive, and wait for it to load just to create a new file, there is a much faster way.

Google offers shortcuts that allow you to create new items directly from your browser's address bar. I have been using these for a few weeks, and they significantly speed up the process.

To try it yourself, simply type these into your browser:

- New Google Doc: doc.new
- New Google Slides: slides.new
- New Google Sheets: sheets.new
- New Calendar Event: cal.new