As the final bell rings, vacation mode begins! Some teachers set aside regular time to prepare for next year throughout the summer, while others wait until the final few weeks of the break. Whatever your style, you have time for less than 5 minutes of brushing up on skills that will make your school year even better.

1) How to share Google Forms to people outside of your organization

Google Forms can be a powerful tool for gathering student data, polling teachers, scheduling time with parents, etc. What many people don’t realize is that there are some settings you must adjust in order to share your Forms with parents or community members who do not have email addresses in your school’s domain. Inside a Google Form, select the settings tab along the top. In the settings, locate the “Responses” section. Ensure that the line “Restrict to users in _______ and its trusted organizations.” is turned off. Now, you can send and receive responses from anyone! Remember to check this setting if you are embedding your Google Form into a website or another public place to ensure that everyone has access. Want a visual walk through? Check out this OTIS Skills video.

2) How to schedule emails to send later

Never forget to send important emails again! With the scheduled send feature in Gmail, you can plan ahead and stay on top of all your emails to students, parents, and colleagues. Open up a new email, then add the subject, recipients, message, and any attachments. Next, instead of clicking send, select the downward facing carrot immediately adjacent to the word send and choose the “scheduled send” option. From there, you can choose the specific date and time. Once you have the specifics nailed down, click on the scheduled send button and you are all set! You can check on your scheduled emails by going to the “Scheduled” tab in the left side menu in your Gmail. Check out this OTIS Skills video to learn more: Schedule Send!

3) How to create a shared drive in Google Drive

Having folders is great for organizing content for teachers, grade teams, etc. Although, managing permissions and having multiple folders within your own drive can be a struggle. By creating a shared Team Drive, you can have a fresh drive view. It’s like having a brand new Drive that happens to be nestled within your account. Under the “My Drive” tab on the far left menu there is a “Shared Drive” tab. When you right click on “Shared Drive,” select “New shared drive.” Once you name your drive and click create, you can set up any folders in the same way you would in your own drive. When you’re in the drive, you can click on the downward facing carrot next to the drive name to manage members, adjust drive settings, email members, and more. Check out this OTIS Skills video to learn more: Creating a Team Drive in Google Drive.

Interested in more summer PD or quick edtech tips like these? Check out the OTIS site to watch live summer sessions, courses from our library, and even more skills videos.

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more articles on the Teq Talk blog.

We also offer virtual professional development, training, and remote learning support for educators with OTIS for educators. Explore the technology, tools, and strategies that can spark student success — no matter where teaching or learning are happening.