The New Gmail: 3 Helpful Tips for a Better Inbox

If you're anything like me, you've already seen the new Avengers movie. How insane was that scene where [REDACTED] [REDACTED] like [REDACTED] the [REDACTED] with a [REDACTED] of his [REDACTED]?! 

Oh, man.

If you're anything like me, you're also excited by the improvements Google makes to its suite of educational tools, right? Let's talk about that first--then geek out over movies later.

Gmail Gets a Makeover

Google released its first big update to Gmail in over five years last week. You can turn it on today and try it out by clicking on the gear icon and selecting "Try the new Gmail." 

But what does the new Gmail do differently?

You can instantly see any Drive attachments on your emails

Whenever you get a Drive attachment, you'll see them under the preview text of the email. You can click on it to be taken directly to the document!

You can snooze emails until you're ready to respond

Click the clock on the right to set a reminder time (I'm personally a fan of responding Someday) and it will appear again at the top of your inbox when you wish!

You can access your Calendar, Keep, and Tasks right from Gmail

Click on any of those icons and you'll be able to check your daily schedule and add an appointment, jot a quick note to yourself, or check something off of your to-do list--all without opening a new tab!

If you're as excited as I am about new email layouts, give it a try! If you're unsure, book some time with your DLS to go over the features in person and make sure you're confident with all the changes.

Google Slides Templates + Student Gmail Groups + New Google Forms

Templates for Beautiful Google Slides Presentations

Creating a visually appealing Google Slides presentation can take quite awhile if you're starting from scratch. Now you don't have to. Slides Carnival is a website that has templates complete with background images, layouts, fonts, and re-sizable icons. The best part is that they are all free!

I've added all of their templates to this Google Drive folder for you to easily access. After opening the one that you would like to use just click "File" and then "Make a copy" to start crafting your own stunning presentation.

Here is their latest template for Halloween 2015. 

Student Gmail Groups Synced from Skyward

Groups of student email addresses are now automatically generated for every class that is in Skyward.  No more creating email lists for your students in each class.  These can be used to send emails to classes, to enroll students in you Google Classroom classes or push Android and Chrome apps to student accounts.

Here are the steps to finding those addresses (if you prefer a video see below):

1. Go to groups.google.com

2. Click the "My Groups" button

3. Click the "isd624.org" link (under the Red Create New Group button, last one on the right)

4. Open the Group for the class you are looking for

5. Click the "about" link on the right side

6. You will see the address for that group.

100 second video shows all the steps.  https://goo.gl/xTs2zc

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Pushing Android Apps

Pushing Chrome Apps

The New Google Forms

Have you seen the new Google Forms? They just made a few changes including a more simplified design, new themes, and a faster way to view the summary of responses.

Get started with the new version of Forms

You can learn more about the new features here.