Skip to main content

Tag: organization

clipart image of people

Email Everyone with Group Labels

nancy
clipart image of people

In Google Classroom, it’s easy to email all the students and/or guardians at once if you have a single class, but if you are a teacher with multiple Classrooms who wants to contact more than one class, it’s doesn’t seem so simple.

Actually it is, if you create labels using Google Contacts. It looks like a lot of steps, but you only have to do them once.

Step 1: Get email addresses from Classroom

  1. Go to the People tab.
  2. Click box at the top of the Students section to select all students in your class.
  3. Select all, then choose Email. You will not actually email them.
  4. Click one one of the emails in the bcc area, then use Control (PC) or Command (Mac) + A to select all the addresses. Copy them, and delete the message.
Click to email all students
Message created with all addresses

Step 2: Create list in Contacts 

  1. Select Contacts from the waffle or go to contacts.google.com.
  2. Select Create Contact.
  3. Select Create Multiple Contacts.
  4. Create a Label Name (how you will identify the group).
  5. Paste the email addresses you copied earlier.
  6. Click Create.
  7. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to create additional groups or add more students to your existing groups.
Create multiple contacts
Screenshot of adding addresses, creating a new label, and creating the group

Now you are ready to email the group(s) from Gmail.

  1. Click Compose.
  2. Click bcc (so people don’t see each other’s emails).
  3. Start typing the name of the group (label name).
  4. When it pops up, click it to add all group members.
  5. Delete addresses or add more groups as needed.
Screenshot of the group label appearing in Gmail
Typing the beginning of the label causes it to appear. Clicking on it will add all group members to your email.

You can also create group labels for other groups, such as committee members, school teams, and more. Just copy and paste the email addresses into a label, and you are all set.

Google Calendar Appointment Slots

nancy

Tired of managing multiple email requests or transferring student conference times from a Google Doc? You can create appointment slots in Google Calendar and let your students sign up for the time they want to meet with you. The appointments will appear directly on your calendar. How easy is that?

  1. Open Google Calendar in Week view or Day view and click an empty time slot. 
  2. In the event box that pops up, click Appointment slots. 
  3. Add a title and choose a date and time. 
  4. Select how long each appointment will be.
  5. (Optional) If you want to have the appointments on a different calendar, click the calendar name (often your name) to select the one you want.
  6. (Optional) Select More options to set up a repeating event or add a description. Pro tip: Use the description area to ask students to tell you what they want to discuss so you can be prepared.
Appointment slot creation link
Completed appointment block with indication of where to click to choose a different calendar or add more options

When you are finished, click Save. 

Your appointment block shows as a single event on your calendar, with a grid symbol  in the top-left corner.

Appointment slot block on Google Calendar
The grid icon in the upper left corner tells you this is a block of appointment slots.

Now you are ready to let students make appointments.

  1. Click on the appointment block in your calendar. 
  2. Copy and paste the appointment page link and send it to your students. Do not add students directly to the appointment slots on your calendar. This will add them to all appointment slots. Instead, direct them to the appointment page or add them yourself from that page.
  3. Students click on the link and create an appointment that you will see on your calendar and they will see on theirs. They will need to be logged into their Google account to make an appointment.
  4. As appointments are booked, they’ll appear as regular events overlapping the appointment block. They will have the same title as the appointment block title, but with the student’s name in parentheses at the end.
Link to copy for students and example of a filled appointment slot
Screenshot of Google Keep notes

Keep on Keeping with Keep!

nancy
Screenshot of Google Keep notes

Google Keep is a great way to get organized and stay that way. It’s a core GSuite service, but not many people know about it and all that it can do. I recently presented on Keep at the Spring CUE conference.

During that presentation, I promised a blog post with some image headers that people could use and/or edit. This is that post.

I have made several Google Slides that you can download as images and use as headers in Keep. To use the images in the slides as is, open the slide deck, go to the slide you want, and select File > Download as > png. You will get an image you can upload to your Keep note, where it will appear at the top. Use the color palette on your Keep note if you want the colors to match. Use File > Make a copy if you want to edit and personalize my Slides. Enjoy!