​One thing I love about Google Slides is the ability to use images, shapes, hyperlinks and color to create dynamic presentations. With an idea, a little patience, and a lot of trial and error, you can elevate the creativity in projects and presentations to any level! A virtual showcase created in Google Slides is a great way for students to share what they have learned.

I was part of an interesting discussion recently concerning teacher's concerns over what they feel are limitations of Google applications on the iPad.  Teachers had stopped having students use Google Docs to type assignments because they thought it was not possible to to set up a paper using MLA style on an ​iPad. Instead they had created a cumbersome workaround which involved students typing documents, emailing them to their teacher, and teachers then printing out document after document for students.  Obviously this is more than inefficient!  Creating an MLA style heading is a simple process and hopefully for these teachers will quickly lead to less time and paper being wasted!

2.  In Drive click the Plus ​icon in the lower right corner.  Choose new Google Doc.

3. In the Google Doc, click the More icon in the upper right corner.  Tap the toggle to turn Print Layout ​mode on.  

4. In Docs, tap at the top of the document to reveal the Header.​  Tap the right align icon to move the cursor to the far right, and type your last name.

5. Tap the Number Pages icon to add the page number.  Each page will now include both your last name and page numbers in consecutive order.

6. The last step is to add the four-line, double-spaced heading to your first page.  This includes your name, professor's name, class information and the date.

That's it!  Each page will now have your last name and page number listed in the upper right corner of the paper.  The video below also explains the entire process.

     Google is awesome.  It is absolutely my go-to place for all things productivity and creativity.  And, I love sharing it with my students and teachers! When I hold a training on Google and they begin to grasp the potential of Google I feel such a sense of satisfaction.  
     I do have one complaint, however.  I don't always like to take the time to create training materials from scratch.  First, my schedule is tight and creating materials is time consuming!  Second, there is so already so much great material out there created by experts that it doesn't always make sense to create my own.  
     But here, too, is where the problem lies.  Most of the material I find is created for older students and adults.  I am a K-5 Instructional Coach and my primary teachers are ready to jump in to using GSuite for EDU with their kids.  And why shouldn't they?  Why do we wait until students are older to teach them how to use Google? Imagine if our youngest students learn its power when they are in the primary grades. By the time they reach middle and high school, they will be experts, meaning those teachers can move on to deeper and more creative instruction.
     My solution?  Google is Elementary.  Today I plan to start series of posts devoted to our primary teachers and our youngest students.  I know these kids can use Google at their age and I hope my teachers find it useful!

Nothing makes a slide presentation stand out better than an amazing image.  Here is how to use the Insert Image​ feature in Google Slides:

1.  Open a slide presentation that is in progress.
2.  On the toolbar, choose Insert>Image or use the Image Icon on your toolbar.

 3.  The insert image window will open.  Here you have the options to upload an image directly from your device, take a snapshot using your device camera, upload an image using a URL, search your Google photo albums, upload an image saved to your Google Drive, or search for an image from the Internet using Google.

4.  One advantage of using the last option, Search from within Google slides, is that images are pre-filtered for copyright.  If you were to open a new browser window and search the Internet for an image, Google would find all images that match your search, whether they have copyright protection or not.  However, by using Search from within the Google Insert Image Window, your search will return only images that are designated as free to use and share.  By searching from within the Google Slides App, the work of filtering by copyright license has been done for you!

5. There are additional filters available through the image window.  The first is the ability to search by ​Image Type.  Choose any type, or only a face, photo, clip art, or line drawing.  

7.  Once you find the perfect image, it't time to add it to your presentation.  Click on the image to choose it and hit Select to insert it into your slide.  A blue bounding box appears that allows you to resize the image.  Be sure to drag in or out only from the corners so that your image does not become distorted.

8.  Finally, when an image is clicked on and selected, specialized filters appear in the toolbar.  These filters allow you to complete actions such as adding and choosing a style for a picture borders, cropping and masking an image, adding color filters to change the appearance of an image or replacing an image completely.

​9. Masking an image allows you to change the shape of an image from plain square or rectangular.  Choose the down arrow next to the Cropping Tool and select a shape.  The outline of the picture changes to the shape you chose.  This feature really allows users to personalize the appearance of a slide.

10.  Image Options allows you to change the coloring and transparency of an image.  Recolor offers various hue choices including black & white.  You are also able to adjust the level of transparency, brightness and contrast.

With so many options to choose from, finding and adjusting an image to suite your Google Slides presentation is easy and fun!  

Please check back soon for a newly updated site and experience.  Thank you for your patience!
Michele Curcio