Google Drawing – Infinitely Teaching

Fonts, Google Drawing, Google Sheets, Google Sites, Google Slides

Fun with Google Fonts

March 20, 2022 Mandi

I was presenting with GoldEDU on animated stickers when a participant asked about selecting new Google Fonts. I have posted about fonts before and included some Googley goodness but I thought an installment 2 might be in order.

Google has sooooo many fonts to choose from AND you can download them to use in Microsoft or other applications if you want to.

Select New Fonts

So how to find all these fonts you ask? When using a Google Doc, Slide, or Sheets, you can select the default font at the top. It’s usually Arial unless you have changed it (I’ll explain how later). The fonts selected by Google are at the bottom and your recently used fonts are second. What I’m interested in is MORE FONTS. Let’s click that.

This brings us a new screen with so many options. On the left you will see all available fonts. On the right are the fonts you have currently selected. You can click the x if you don’t want them on that main page anymore.

You can search for a font if you know a name, but I usually don’t. I like to search All fonts and then narrow it down to display or handwriting.

Once you find a font you like, click on it and it will add it to your font list on the right. When you are happy with your selections, click ok.

Set a new default

In Google Docs, you can set a new default font. Kasey Bell with Shake Up Learning has a great tutorial on how to do this.

In a Google Slide, you go to Theme Builder under the view menu. On the very top slide you can change the fonts to whatever you choose.

In Google Sheets follow these step:

Click on Format.
Click on Theme.
Click on Customize.
Select Font you want as standard.
Click on Done.

Do Fun Things

What can you do with these fun fonts? Make fun things!

Here is a slide I put together showing some fun font combinations using Word Art.

Here is another fun font tutorial in Google Slides or Drawing.

Insert – Word Art – and type the word you want.
Select the font you want and resize to fit.

I’m going to select a custom gradient. Click on the paint bucket tool and select gradient and then custom.

4. Now you have a custom gradient filled image.

5. Command or control D and duplicate this. We will change the fill color to white, the border color to white and the border size to 16.

6. Click format options in the top right of the tool bar and select drop shadow. I changed the transparency to 100%, the angle is 45, the distance is 13 and blur radius is 0. Play with it and see what you like.

7. Now right click and move the white background to the back and you have some fancy word art for your Google Slide. If you do this in Google Drawing you can download it as a PNG and use it with a transparent background in anything that takes images.

Have fun with your fonts while I enjoy my Spring Break!

Digital Escape Rooms, formative assessment, Game Based Learning, Google Drawing, Google Slides, Stop Motion

Magic Squares Puzzle

November 29, 2020 Mandi

I stumbled upon this post on Twitter this past week about an Escape Room puzzle idea. You know how much I LOVE making escape rooms so I thought I give it a try. WOW! What a cool idea.

His name is Jason Pullano and you should give him a follow on (my favorite social media) Twitter. I didn’t alter this in any way other than to change colors to match my theme. His template is FIRE (to quote my daughter) and his video is very helpful if you are not sure what to do.

This is the link to the template he shared on Twitter.

Here is the link to MY puzzle.

Yep, I hope you caught that message! 12 Days of Techmas is coming soon!!!!

If you use this, please tag us both. Let Jason know how you used it! It makes people happy to see that what they share is beneficial!

Fonts, Google Drawing, Google Slides

Fun with Fonts

October 24, 2020 Mandi

If you are at all like me then you LOVE fonts. On my mac I have downloaded WAAAAAY too many fonts. I even have an “unused” fonts folder I created for those fonts I want to keep but just don’t need very often.

My favorite GO TO font source to use with Keynote, PowerPoint, Word, etc. is dafont.com. You can download them for Mac or Windows machines. Double click to unzip the downloaded file (if it’s zipped). The instructions for each platform are below. You will need to restart you applications if they are open before you can see the new fonts.

Mac

Once the downloaded file is unzipped, double click on the file. FontBook will open. Click install.

Windows

I don’t have a windows machine, but here are the instructions I’ve found:

Open the Windows Control Panel.
Select Appearance and Personalization.
At the bottom, select Fonts. …
To add a font, simply drag the font file into the font window.

While these fonts on my computer are AMAZING, my usual place of creation is in Google. These downloaded fonts are not available in Google but fear not, here are some tips and websites to make your fonts GREAT.

TextGiraffe has predesigned fonts. Select one you like and download. You can also just drag it to your Google Slide or Google Doc that’s open.

Magic Rainbow Unicorn is a Google Slides extension. You can click the add-ons tab at the top, search for it, and install. Click on the add-ons button again and launch the add-on. You can select the colors and if you want just the text or to highlight. Magic Rainbow Unicorns will change your fonts to rainbow.

Extensis Fonts add on doesn’t “ADD” fonts to the Google Font collection but it does made selecting a font easier. Go to add-ons and search for extensis fonts. Install the add-on. Click on the add-on button again and the font panel will open. Select the text you want to change and then select the font.

You can also make creative titles inside Google Slides, Docs, and Drawing. Here are a few using Word Art. Click through the slide to see the different examples.

I hope you also have a love of fonts and found some new ideas in this post.

Bitmoji, Google Drawing

Create Custom Items in Google Drawing

May 14, 2020May 15, 2020 Mandi

Let me set the stage: You are creating a custom Bitmoji classroom scene (Tutorial here) or digital escape room scene and you find the PERFECT image, but SAD, it’s not free to use. What do you do? Well, you don’t illegally use it. PLEASE DON’T DO THAT! Instead, you make your own in Google Drawing.

Here is an image I found that is clearly not free because it has a watermark. But I really like the way this desk is situated and I want one like it.

Open Drawing and Paste in Clipart

In a new Google Drawing file, paste in the not free to use clipart. Don’t worry, we will delete it later.

Use Shape Tools to Create Image

Delete, Shrink Canvas, Save

Now that your image is complete, delete the clipart.

Select all by using command (or control) A or click and drag your cursor from top left top bottom right. Move your image to the upper left corner.

Drag the handle in the bottom right corner and shrink your canvas to fit your image.

Now you can go to file and download as a .png to keep the background transparent or .jpg if you want the background to be white. If you plan to use this image in your custom scene then you want a transparent background.

Here are a few images I have drawn using Google Drawing. You can use the polyline tool or the curve tool, both under the line tool menu and make custom shapes.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Have fun and please share if you create your own custom images.

Google Drawing, technology, Tutorial

Google Drawing Tutorial

May 11, 2020 Mandi

I LOVE GOOGLE DRAWING!!! If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know how much I use Drawing or Drawing features in slides. That’s right, Google Slides uses many of the same features as Google Drawing. WIN!

Google Drawing will download as a transparent .PNG image. It’s vector based, so if you make a large image it will scale without much degradation of the image. I once create panels for a tri-fold display board, printed them and glued them to the board. The images were crisp and looked professional.

This is a little tutorial to help you get started with Google Drawing.

Come back soon and we do something FUN with Google Drawing and Google Slides.

BreakoutEDU, Google Drawing, Google Sites, Google Slides

Create a digital Breakout

December 18, 2018November 4, 2021 Mandi

I love Breakout games and watching students interact with each other to solve problems. What I don’t like about physical breakout games is students missing out on some of the puzzles. The collaboration is great, but when using it as a review, not all students experience the same things. Digital breakouts can be done in groups of 2 or individually and allow the students to experience all of the puzzles.

I created a tutorial for digital breakouts a few years ago, but with the changes to Google sites, the process is sooooo much easier now.

Here is an image that outlines the basic steps.

Digital Breakout Infographic

I try to write my prompts and story ahead of time. This saves me time when I’m putting everything in a Google Site. For the Christmas Breakout I recently wrote, my story line was kind of lame 😦 but it went along with the 12 days of Techmas I created for my school.

Screen Shot 2018-12-18 at 2.32.28 PM

2 and 3. I create my clues in Google Drawing or Google Slides, and I use outside sources like jigsawplanet.com and Snotes. The more creative you are the more fun your breakout will be. I was provided a document from Charles (I wish I knew your last name) at the EdTech Team Summit in Topeka. His crowd-sourced document is loaded with great ideas for digital breakouts.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Er-YHzLAzezTBliy6OUB9Wq5TqyR15sqx2wKsKbCCME/edit?usp=sharing

This first image of the gnome I uploaded into jigsaw planet and created a puzzle, and the second one has a clue hidden in the music notes. You can also overlay transparent images on a Google Drawing so it makes an area clickable. See the animation below.

2018-12-18_15-03-39

You can add more images for visual appeal or as fake clues. You also want your background and titles to be fun. I created some fun graphics in my TrianglesOnly.com breakout.

4. You will use a Google Form to create your locks. I sometimes embed a countdown timer from youtube. BreakoutEDU has a great one that is free to use. Screen Shot 2018-10-27 at 10.49.18 PM

You can also use images of locks to visually represent what lock they are looking for. You want to click the 3 dots in the bottom right corner and select response validation. Set the lock code to what you want. Remember, they are case sensitive so tell your audience how to type it. Screen Shot 2018-12-18 at 2.46.05 PM

5. Now we will put it all together. I use Google Sites (sites.google.com) and house everything there. You can pull directly from your Google Drive to embed your Google Drawings (with transparent links), Google Forms, and any images you have stored in your drive. Word of caution, if you plan to use multiple pages (which I sometimes do) have participants open the Google Form in a new tab so they don’t lose the combinations they have already entered when they click on a new link in the site. If you are not familiar with Google Sites, Matt Miller has a walk-through on Ditch That Textbook that will help.

Here is a link to a Christmas Breakout I made to follow-up our 12 Days of Techmas.

And another Breakout for Geometry called TrianglesOnly.com

Hopefully you will find creating Digital Breakouts as fun as I do. I know my students love them.

Bitmoji, custom headers, Google Classroom, Google Drawing

Custom Google Classroom Headers

December 4, 2018 Mandi

I love to customize my Google Classroom banners. I mean, the ones provided by Google are super cute, but if you can add a Bitmoji then it’s better I say. I also sometimes include some icons for the content area. I create my own to avoid copyright issues, but noun project is another great resource to use.

Header example

Google Classroom Header.png

You will create these in Google Drawing. Google Drawing is located in your Drive under more Screen Shot 2018-12-04 at 9.55.37 PM or in your Google waffle.

Now we want to go to page set-up under file, select custom, change inches to pixels and create an 800 x 200 pixel canvas. 2018-12-04_21-58-27

Now the fun can begin. If you right click (or control click) on the canvas it will allow you to change the background of the canvas. I like to use the gradient feature so the middle is a little lighter.

2018-12-04_22-05-53

I’ve you know ANYTHING about me, you know I like to use the Bitmoji extension. You can learn about how to use the extension in this blog post. Now remember, you don’t want to put words in the middle of you banner because Google Classroom will put the class label in the middle. You also want to leave a little room on the outside edges so it fits your browser configuration.

2018-12-04_22-11-38

I added the words Happy Holidays too. Word Art is another fun tool to use if you want to play around with it.

2018-12-04_22-11-38-1

Now you are ready to download your creation. I like .png, but you can also use .jpg

2018-12-04_22-22-20

Now that you have your image in your downloads folder or whatever location you send your downloads. Now let’s put this into Google Classroom. Click on the upload photo link in the bottom right corner. Select or drag your image in. TAH DAH, you have a new custom header.

2018-12-04_22-28-47 You can see my previous custom header and the new holiday header I just created. Notice the color does get a little darker when you upload. You might also play around with the location of your images. I move mine more towards the top than centered so it looks centered once inside of Classroom.

Now, let’s take this a step further. How about you let students create custom headers and each week you display a new one? Evan Mosier is having one of his classes do this and he has shared a site will the headers created by his students. They are free for anyone to use.

If you make one of your own, let me know @MandiTolenEDU on Twitter. If you use a banner from one of Evan’s students, give them a shout-out on Twitter.

#mathsnaps, Bitmoji, Desmos, Google Drawing, parabolas

Fly Swatters, Parabolas, & MathSnaps

February 18, 2018February 18, 2018 Mandi

Key features of parabolas are important to understand the why behind quadratic graphs. It seems intuitive, and it is provided an image, but often the situation is represented as a graph with only words to guide students. My students can graph them but seem to struggle with where things are on the graph. We approached quadratics much differently this year, using only Desmos and graphing calculators to graph. We started with an idea from a colleague at another high school in my district. She uses fly swatters on day one to review key features of a parabola. This is not in the context of a situation but a good place to start. Student LOVED this activity.

This is played relay style (picture was taken on pajama day for homecoming, hence the jammies) and students run up and smack the parabola on the key feature selected.

Fly Swatter Key Features

link to slidedeck

I also gave an exit ticket in Desmos activity builder to see where we still needed to remediate. I really liked this one because it was open-ended. They moved the parabola around to meet each requirement.

Screen Shot 2018-02-13 at 12.32.11 PM

I’ve included the link to the Desmos activity if you would like to use it as well.

Lastly, we worked with real situations. I gave them an Angry Birds picture and had them label, with their elbow partner, initial height, maximum height, time to max height, and time to the ground. It went pretty well and they got everything but initial height, which led to great discussions.

Our last activity was giving them a situation with an equation, they graphed it in Desmos and used their graph to make #mathsnaps. Bitmoji has updated so it wasn’t as easy to use since the beginning of the year (sad face). Students must now create an account on their app (iOS or Android) then link that to the Chrome extension. For students who didn’t have access to the app, I provided a link to clipart and emojis they could use. Here are a few of the math snaps I received this year.

This is without feedback so some of the information isn’t correct. We’ll be conferencing about it soon.

$Bitmoji math$

$_- Math Snap$

We learn from mistakes and some of mine will have some learning opportunities. YES!

Bitmoji, Google Drawing, Google Keep

Custom Bitmoji Feedback

October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 Mandi

I love Bitmojis. I love to show people how easy Bitmoji is to use in Google apps with the Bitmoji Chrome extension. I love to make these Bitmojis custom with your school logo or Google or Ditch That Textbook on the shirt. Here are a few I’ve created and use often.

Algebra 1 CHS Bitmoji (1)

The second one is my Algebra 1 team. We shared a Google Drawing and each dropped in our Bitmojis. We used this for back-to-school documents.

Bitmoji NTI

This one we made as a header for Google Classroom. This was our technology group that presented at our New Teacher Institute this year. We each had our school shirt on. LOVE IT!

Before I get sidetracked by all the fun things we can do with custom Bitmojis, this is really about creating custom FEEDBACK Bitmojis for your students.

Before you begin, you will need to download the Bitmoji Chrome Extension. If you haven’t created your Bitmoji, stop, do it now, RIGHT NOW! You are missing out on soooo much fun!

Bitmoji created? Ok, resume the blog post.

This first video is a short tutorial on how to create a custom Bitmoji in Google Drawing. This can be used in ANYTHING, not just Google Keep. I use these in Google Slides and on Twitter all the time.

This alone should make your day. But if you want the awesomeness to continue, place these images in Google Keep for quick feedback in Google Docs. The next video will show you how to do this.

Please share your custom Bitmojis with me on Twitter (@TTmomTT). Here’s a Twitter tip, download your custom Bitmoji as a .jpg so the background turns white. Most of the time you want a transparent background but Twitter will turn that transparent background black and make it more difficult to see.

Hope to see your custom Bitmoji around the Twittersphere.

Geometry, Google Drawing, Google Slides, Trig

Measuring height with Trig

March 14, 2017 Mandi

I started to share this project with someone the other day and realized I had never written a blog post for it. We have used this project for quite some time and I love the digital aspect having students label their image and explain their process. We have the students make the clinometers but we give them little guidance as far as the project goes. We want them to problem solve and figure it out. We simply tell them to go measure something bigger than they are. I also limit their travel to school grounds (I did have a student go to the nearby gas station once. You have to be specific!!) I had a group of students last year that forgot their tape measure so they measured in shoe length (yes, I had a one-shoed student outside) and then converted that to inches when they came inside. I love the thought process behind their solution!

Not only does this give purpose to the study of trig, it also gets students outside and working together. It also helps students understand angle of elevation a little better with concrete examples.