Google slides are one of my favorite resources to create for teachers. Even before the pandemic, our school was one-to-one device. So, the last two years that I was in the classroom, I wanted to provide digital resources for my children to engage in learning.
When you are first getting started, tech can be overwhelming and sometimes intimidating. Here are a few tips that will get you started when creating Google Slides.
1. Creating Google Slides
Just get in there and start playing around. It is a lot like PowerPoint and Keynote. So, if you are familiar with one of those programs, then you will easily adjust to using Google Slides.
In fact, I typically create all of my games on Powerpoint. Then upload them as background images on Google Slides.
2. My Favorite Add-Ons For Google Slides
Turn your Slides into formative assessments and add interactive questions to your presentations. You are instantly able to see who is understanding what is presented. You can even add audio instructions to your Google Slides. Pear Deck is great for bell ringers, checks for understanding, exit tickets, and more.
Are you creating digital task cards? Slide Randomizer is a fun tool to shuffle the slides.
This is one of my favorite websites and I am excited they have an Add-on to add photos to your Google Slides. Choose from a large online library of high-resolution photos and easily add them.
This screen recording tool is a great way to film your Google Slides. You can use your voice and add captions to easily give instructions on how to use the Google Slide. This is also great for when a student has missed the day that you give instructions.
There are several tools to use. The main tool I use is the import tool. I typically create my slides in PowerPoint then save them as a png file. I then upload them as a background into Google Slides. this tool allows me to do all of them in just one click.
3. Sharing Your Google Slides With Other Teachers
Click “Share” in the upper right corner. It will give you a link to copy. The link that is generated is a link that will allow other teachers to edit your slides. If you don’t want them to edit, you will need to change the link to force a copy. To do this you will need to change from the word edit (delete the word edit and any letters/number behind it.), then add the word copy. This will force a copy to their drive.
4. Using Google Slides In Whole Group Instruction
I used this a lot when playing a game in the whole group. Pop up the google Slide on your Whiteboard and change it to preview mode.
Just like when you change the code to make a force copy, you will need to change the code to make it a preview. Change the word edit and the letters/numbers to the word preview.
5. Google Slides Issues
One of the biggest complaints that I hear is that students keep moving or deleting pieces. There are two ways to fix this issue.
Create the slide in PowerPoint or Keynote and save it as an image. Then save that image to the background. The second way to prevent students from moving or deleting objects is to add a text box over all things that you don’t to make moveable. They are less likely to delete things with an invisible text box over them.
Conclusion
After getting over the learning curve of creating Google Slides, it is actually fun. The students like playing the games and you are able to differentiate easily. Here are a few of my Google Slides Resources.
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