Google Docs Tricks for Teachers

1. Fonts

When you first used Google Docs, you may have been disappointed by the small number of available fonts. You may not realize that Google has added a lot more (a lot more) fonts to the available list: you just have to go get them. Click the Fonts button, scroll to the bottom, and click More Fonts.

2. Clear formatting

When you copy/paste text into a document, sometimes it brings its own font style and size, which looks mi-matched in your document. When this happens, highlight the text and choose Format > Clear formatting. This removes any hidden font "junk" and lets you start with clean text.

3. Strike-through

This one is genius brilliant complicated suprisingling useful. To create “strike-through” text like this, go to Format > Strike-through

4. Columns

You can make two- or three-column text by highlighting the text and choosing "Format > Columns."

5. Style Headings

In the toolbar next to the font selector, you may have been ignoring the button labeled "Normal text." This is the Styles button. If you've played with it before, you may have noticed that it seems to have buttons labeled Title, Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.

"That's cute," you thought. "It changes font size for me. But I already know how to do that, so meh, whatever."

What you didn't realize is that using this button opens up cool Google Doc features. By setting the appropriate headings, you now have the ability to:

• Change the font style of each single similar heading at once, with Heading > Update heading to match
• Auto-create a table of contents in Insert > Table of Contents
• View the document structure in View > Document Outline

6. Bordered Text Box

Have you ever wanted to create a text box with a border around it, to make it stand out? Here's a trick: Make a 1x1 table and put the text inside. Bam! Instant bordered box!

Students: remember that late work will be taken to my backyard and set on fire.

7. Floating Text Box

MS Word experts may miss the ability to make a text box that "floats" on the side of a page of text. I used to use this trick when I made a "matching" section on a test or quiz. There is a trick to doing this in a Google Doc: Go to Insert > Drawing. Make your drawing nothing but a text box and insert it into the doc. Done!

8. Version History

Revision history has been renamed to Version History. It's big new feature: you can give names to different versions a doc. For example, you might create a Course Outline doc that you edit every year. Instead of creating a separate copy every year, you just save new Named Versions called "Fall 2017," "Spring 2018," etc. Find this under File > Version History.

9. Personal Dictionary

Is there an unusual word that Google keeps incorrectly telling you is misspelled? Add it to your Personal Dictionary so it will stop pestering you! Find this in Tools > Personal Dictionary 

10. Automatic substitution

There are some words I just can't type properly. I seem to always mis-type expermient and holliston.k12.mau.s. To save me from myself, I've add them to my Automatic substitution list, so when I type the wrong version, is auto-corrects to the right one. Find this under Tools > Preferences > Automatic substitution

11. Keep Notepad

You can turn on a little version of Google Keep to sit on the right-hand edge of the document. This is handy when correcting student work:

• You can take little notes for yourself as you read student work, like "remind the class about how to punctuate periods and commas inside quotation marks."
• You make yourself a checklist of things to look for when you review the work, so it's handy right there on the screen.

12. Showing your doc on a projector

It's usually pretty hard to read Google Doc on a projector screen, because your screen is set up for editing, not presenting. The text is too small and there's a lot of wasted real estate on the display. Next time you need to present a Google Doc on a projector, please try these things:

• Hit F11 to go Full Screen. This hides the Windows borders. (F11 again will bring you back to normal).
• In the menu, choose View > Full Screen. This hides the Google menus and controls (ESC will bring you back to normal).
• Hit CTRL + (that is, CTRL and the "plus" key, next to "backspace" on your HP laptop) a few times to enlarge the document. (CTRL 0 will bring you back to normal).
  
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Try these tricks out and you'll be a Google Docs Jedi Master in no time!