How to Download Google Drive Files in Multiple Formats

We all have probably heard a lot about Google Drive by now, but what if you are a Microsoft school?  Or what if you want to use a resource with less technology, or in a different format?  Are all these Google Drive resources useless to you?  NO!! In this post, I hope to detail how you can still use many of these resources.  

Google Forms

First of all, Google Forms are basically exclusive to Google.  You cannot directly use Google Forms in another format.  HOWEVER, they still work well on mobile devices, embedded, or with a simple link, as a way to quickly collect responses.  So don’t let that stop you or deter you from using Google Forms. They work well on almost any device. 

Google Docs or Slides

Most resources that you encounter will be in Google Docs or Slides format.   You can generally convert these to MS Word or PowerPoint in seconds.  You can also print to PDF, with one caveat. Obviously, if you have interactive features they will likely need some modification to work well on paper, but that may not be a big problem. It’s easy to add directions such as “draw arrows” or physically cut out the pieces.  

To make this change, use the steps in the following diagram: 

What are the various file formats? 

The two that will probably be the most useful and immediately recognizable are Microsoft Word and PDF.  However, there may be others in here that are useful to you as well.  I have found often people don’t know this menu is available. 

If you have further questions, additional comments, or examples of how you have used this, I would love to hear it!  Please leave a comment below, email me, or post in our Facebook group. 

I hope this makes some of the many Google Resources that are available even more useful and accessible to you and your students. 

Popular Q & A For Teaching Static Electricity

One of my most popular FREE resources is designed to teach about static electricity.  It is written for middle school but would be appropriate for upper elementary, or perhaps 9th grade.  

This middle school static lab is a lot of fun, and memorable for students. It includes an explanation, with diagrams, of static electricity, and then five stations of activities for students to explore static electricity. It also has summary questions for them to answer to process and assess their knowledge.

It used very basic household materials, so it would also be an activity that you students could do at home, if needed, or to show their families what they have been learning.  The materials needed (to do all five stations) are: soda cans, inflated balloons, packing peanuts in a plastic bag, small pieces of wool cloth, puffed wheat cereal, black plastic strips 

Here are some common questions and answers that I often receive.  

• Can you explain more about the materials?  What if I don’t have some of the materials? What can I use instead? 

Material	Possible Substitutions
Inflated balloons	Bubble wrap/bubble packing materials
Packing peanuts	Cut or break apart small pieces of a styrofoam cup or plate
Small pieces of wool cloth	Another cloth can be substituted.  Some types of cloth that work well would be something ‘furry’ or fuzzy, nylon, or even leather.
Puffed wheat cereal	Could use another similar cereal that is not too sweet and is in discrete pieces, such as cheerios.  Something puffed may work better simply because it is so light.  Puffed rice cereal would also be great. You can also use black pepper here as well.
Black plastic strips	You could also use a comb, small ruler, or another plastic strip.  If needed, you can substitute the balloon here as well.

What classroom management tips do you have for doing this lab with middle school students? 

I have done this lab as stations, but it is easily adapted.  I wrote a more lengthy post about how to run stations that may be helpful. 

Further Inspiration and direction

In case you are looking for more inspiration or an engagement video to get your students started, it can be very engaging to do something very simple, that ties it back to real life.  Static electricity causes lightning, so it would be eye-catching to have a picture of lightning up on the board and ask students for their ideas about what causes lightning at the start of class.  

There are also many readily available pictures of children with their hair standing on end, etc.  Again, this could easily be used to capture student attention and engage them before starting the activity.

In either of these cases, it would be ideal to return to that picture after the lesson and see if students could further explain the cause of that phenomenon. 

Extensions

If you are looking to extend this further, this is the perfect lab to practice experimental design. Students can choose one variable to test (such as the type of fabric, or the type of cereal) and determine how it affects the results that they see.  This could even be a chance to graph some data if you can collect quantitative data.   

If you want to try this activity in your class, with complete written directions and summary questions, check it out here.

How Teachers Can Support Students Studying At Home

(Pixabay CC0)

At the time of writing, many children are studying at home due to school closures instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many teachers are having to find new ways to support their students, and also their student's parents who have been encouraged to provide learning opportunities at home.

Of course, going beyond the pandemic situation, you might still find cause to support those pupils who have to study at home. There are instances when some children can't make it into school, for a variety of reasons, and there are reasons why schools might be closed too. We are thinking of the weather, for example, which can cause disruption for many.

When offering support then, you might want to consider the following suggestions.

Provide activities in a range of formats
You already know that children have a range of different learning styles, so try to vary the activities you send to them. Some children will benefit from recorded lessons that can be accessed online, whereas others might need to experience hands-on learning when under the tuition of their parents.

It's important to remember that children from low-income families might not have access to computers and smart devices, so paper-based activities should be provided when digital learning isn't possible. You will already have printables that can be used at home but click here for some literacy examples.

Thinking about your students then, consider their individual needs, and then try to match them when preparing activities for them to do at home.

Offer parents practical support
In a lot of cases, older children will need little support from their parents, other than the encouragement to actually buckle down and work. Younger children will need more support, so their parents will need to have some understanding of how to teach their youngsters effectively.

So, give parents clear guidance on what they need to do to support the needs of your students. Share activity ideas, give them instructions on how to deliver a lesson, and offer tips on time management. Remember that most parents won't have your expertise, so stay clear of jargon, simplify your instructions and share tips that can easily be adopted.

Be reachable too. While you don't want to inundated by calls from parents, you might still offer your services online. If your school has a Facebook group, make yourself available at certain times of the day, as you will then have the opportunity to support any parents who have questions or concerns about the lessons they are being asked to deliver.

Go live!
Skype and Zoom both offer group chat functions, so you will have the opportunity to connect with small groups of pupils at a time. Use these platforms to talk to your students, offer them encouragement and reassurance, and when its practical to do so, provide some level of teaching from behind your computer screen. This is also your opportunity to connect with parents, so encourage them too, and guide them if they need advice on any aspect of their children's learning.

Thanks for reading!