Special Edition: Student Access to Google Additional Services 2-11-2025

As previously communicated, there are some changes coming on February 28th at 3:00 regarding GCSD students and their access to some Google products.  None of this impacts staff access to any resource.  It may, however, impact how some instruction is delivered.  

This is NOT a Greece decision, and will affect all districts in New York state.

We've compiled the following FAQ to address concerns and help you be informed and prepared for this change.  Included in this FAQ is a response to every topic from the questions we received as a result of our email to all staff on this subject on February 3.

What services are NOT affected?  

The following Google Core Services will not be affected:  

• Google Drive

• Google Docs

• Google Slides

• Google Sheets

• Google Classroom

• Google Calendar

• Google Keep

• Google Meet

• Google Sites

 

Okay then, what tools are we talking about here?  

Students will no longer have access to these tools: 

• www.YouTube.com

• Google Translate*

• Google Photos

• Google Maps

• Google News

• Google Earth

• Google Groups

• Chrome Web Store

*Students will still be able to use most functionality in Google Translate.  See below.

Whoa, YouTube?  I use YouTube in my instruction regularly!  Does this mean I can't do that any more?

You can absolutely still use YouTube in your instruction.  In fact, the ways that you can use it are ways that we generally recommend anyways.  There are a variety of methods- many of which remove ads, are interactive, include assessments, and more. 

For a one-page reference for tools that will and won't work going forward, click HERE.  

For a self-paced Nearpod lesson designed for staff to learn about each of the available tools, click HERE. 

What about Google Translate?  

The oral language input of Google Translate is an important feature for English language learners who are not literate in their first language (typically our elementary aged newcomers, but it could be others). What oral language translation tool will be available for these students? 

Students can continue to use Google Translate via the app on their Chromebook, with most functionality, as shown HERE.  The website translate.google.com won't be accessible, but students can either use the app, or a site such as https://itranslate.com/translate

Students can still translate documents within Google Docs by choosing Tools -> Translate Document.  Websites can be translated in Chrome by going to the three dots in the upper right and choosing "Translate."  Or you can right-click anywhere on a webpage and select Translate to [Language].

You can also translate using Google Lens as shown HERE.

In short, the only change will be that students can't access translate.google.com directly.  The other translation functions will continue to work.  

What happened?

In December 2024, Superintendents were notified that Google’s Additional Services (see list below) are not covered under the contract of Google’s Core services, and therefore not compliant with NYS Ed Law 2d.  There is a directive from NYSED to disallow student use of Google Additional Services by March 1st, 2025.

Why did this happen?

Google has firmly resisted complying with the regulations of NYS Ed Law 2d in regards to their Additional Services.  This is separate from their Core Services, as described above, which are covered by NYS Ed Law 2d.  

What is EdLaw 2d?

NYS Ed Law 2d protects student data privacy by requiring schools and third-party vendors to follow strict security protocols. It ensures that vendors sign privacy agreements and gives parents the right to access their children's data.

I use Google Forms for test/quiz for American Sign Language.  I make the signing test questions and upload to YouTube then insert that video into the Google Forms question. Is this process for videos in Google Forms NOT going to work?  How will Google Forms quiz format allow signing videos for a visual language?

This will work as it currently does.

Many of my students use YouTube to listen to music while they are doing independent work. What alternatives will be available to them for this purpose?

Due to licensing issues and inappropriate content, most music streaming sites are blocked.  Pandora is not blocked.  

Will students who use district provided iPads for behavior plans and reinforcement be able to access the YouTube app?

As long as the students do not log into the iPads with their GCSD accounts, they will not be blocked.

Google Photos- does this mean their own images/videos taken with a Chromebook will not be accessible?

Students can still upload these photos to Google Drive or access them locally on the Chromebook.  This won't be an automatic sync, but can be done manually.  

Will this affect staff use? I have a few YouTube videos I show when presenting lessons, can I still access them?

There will be no change.  

How do I get additional support?

As always, please reach out to the ITT's if you would like additional assistance.

1-28-2025 Tuesday Tech Tips

     

In today's edition, read about:  a troubleshooting tip for our movie streaming service Swank a new "grade all" feature in Google Classroom an easy way to dip your toe into the MagicSchool pool with their Choice Board Generator easily generating QR codes in Chrome and more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 To create a QR code to link to a webpage in Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page, and choose "create QR code for this page."  You can then copy it, and include it in something like the "Quick Tip" in your Tuesday Tech Tips. Scan the QR code, or click HERE to access our help site. Always keep in mind that QR codes aren't for everybody.  If you're reading this on your phone, for example, that QR code may not help you.  So remember to always provide a direct link in addition to sharing a QR code, like we have in the caption above.

Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission. ___________________________

If you're having any technical issues with Swank, you will need to clear your cache in Chrome, and it should work fine from there. Directions on how to do that can be found HERE.

Swank is a movie streaming service for GCSD staff, which includes the ability to share links to movies with your students. Read more about it in a previous Tech Tip HERE.

___________________________

Click the image for a brief video showing how to use this new feature

Introducing the ability to ‘grade all’ in Google Classroom

You may remember that last year, Google added a "missing" grade state to Gradebook (details HERE). To further improve upon grading options for teachers and give them the ability to perform bulk grading, they just introduced "grade all".

With this new feature, teachers can quickly and efficiently grade all students' work on the Gradebook page by selecting "grade all". They can also choose to override existing grades and automatically return them to students after grading.

Not only does this update save time by eliminating the need to enter each student’s grade one-by-one, but it also provides a solution to grading assignments based on completion rather than accuracy (such as exit tickets, due nows, classwork, etc.) where the grade is binary (‘0’ or ‘100’).

Read all the details HERE.

___________________________

For a "light lift" intro to MagicSchool, we recommend trying out the Choice Board Generator. Check out the image above, also linked HERE, for directions and specifics.

With minimal input from you, MagicSchool can help you generate a Choice Board for your students!

___________________________

For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please click HERE to book an appointment with your building's ITT.

'

12-10-2024 Tuesday Tech Tips

    

In today's edition, read all about how to personalize the icons and colors of your sections in IC, a fun and powerful AI tool from Google called NotebookLM, important changes to how Guardians receive Google Classroom summary invitations, and more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 Is your Gmail inbox cluttered with more junk than relevant messages?  How do you locate all these messages to unsubscribe without going through every email in your account?   Speed up the process by going to Gmail and typing unsubscribe in the search bar at the top. A list of every message containing the word “unsubscribe” will appear. You can then go through these emails and click the unsubscribe link.

Personalize the icon and color for each of your classes in Infinite Campus by changing them from the default. For example, if you teach Earth Science and color-code your classes, you can have red, orange, and green Earth icons next to their respective classes. Just click the gear icon next to each of your classes, and personalize them today!

Thanks to Colleen Thorndike from ODY for sharing this awesome tip! Do you have a tip or idea for the Tuesday Tech Tips? Or a request for a topic or question you'd like to know more about? Please let us know! You can email us at joseph.lombardo@greececsd.org with your submission.

___________________________

There's a new AI tool from Google that we're very excited about: Notebook LM  

You can upload PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, Google Docs, or Google Slides, and NotebookLM will summarize them and make interesting connections between topics, all powered by Gemini 1.5’s multimodal understanding capabilities.  NotebookLM's main purpose is to make a very specifically trained AI based on content you feed it. You can then ask it specific questions, it can make study guides, FAQ's, briefing docs, etc.  It even has a "Discussion" output that will create a podcast based on the information you supply. 

For example, let's say that you didn't have a chance to read the most recent Tech Tips.  Using NotebookLM, we turned them into a podcast that you can listen to any time HERE.  What better way to spend your time on your drive home from work today than listening to a Tuesday Tech Tips podcast?!  All it took was providing the link to the Tips in NotebookLM, and it created a podcast for us, which (like any output from any AI source), we could edit as needed.  

NotebookLM is available to GCSD staff (not students) HERE.  Give it a try!  It does not use your personal data, including your source uploads, queries, and the responses from the model for training.

___________________________

On December 9th, we made two important changes to how Guardians receive Google Classroom summary invitations. Previously, guardians received a one-time invitation when their child reached third grade or they first joined the district. If they did not accept this invitation, they needed to ask a teacher to remove and re-add them to Google Classroom to receive summaries. We updated this process so that, beginning in third grade, parents and guardians who have not signed up for Google Classroom Summaries will receive automatic invitations three times a year: in the first week of September, January, and March. To ensure that only parents and guardians with a legal right to receive this information have access, only those listed as Guardians in Infinite Campus will be included in Google Classroom. Any individuals who should not have access were removed on December 9th. If parents or guardians contact a teacher for access, please refer them to the main office in their building to file the necessary paperwork. After December 9th, teachers in Google Classroom will no longer have the ability or any responsibility for adding guardians. If you have any questions, please reach out to Brad Malone, Executive Director of Technology.

___________________________

Thanks to everyone who submitted a response to our Form letting us know what you think of the new Form rating scale question type. (Very meta, as the kids say.)

We like and appreciate all of you so much, we decided that everyone who submitted a response wins great prizes! They were just sent via interoffice courier, please be on the lookout for those soon.

________________________________

For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please click HERE to book an appointment with your building's ITT.

'

11-28-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

In today's Tuesday Tech Tips, read all about getting insights into student performance with an exciting new Google Classroom feature, keeping up to date on all the happenings in GCSD right on your own Google Calendar, a reminder concerning toner cartridges, & more! ➡️ ➡️➡️

💡 Quick Tip 💡 We've all done it- clicked "sent" on an email, and twenty seconds later realized you'd like to change it. With Gmail, you can choose an amount of time to cancel the sending- up to 30 seconds! On your computer, go to Gmail. In the top right, click the Settings gear and then See all settings. Next to "Undo Send," select a Send cancellation period of 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. At the bottom, click Save changes   Now, after you send a message, you have an opportunity to retract it.  After sending, in the bottom left, you'll see "Message sent" and the option to "Undo."  Click "Undo."

Accidentally closed a browser tab (again?!)

Just press ctrl-shift-t to open the last tab you closed! Repeat as needed.

_______________________________________________________________

Chromebook Update Problem

(and solution!)

Last week we started seeing some Chromebooks locking up with an error screen that says "Let's Guide You Through the Recovery Process", "Something has gone wrong", or something similarly ominous. Please refer to this guide to fix this problem on your own.

_______________________________________________________________

New Google Classroom feature!

With Google Classroom Analytics, teachers now have direct visibility into student performance and engagement in the classroom, including if assignments are being completed and how grades are trending for the classes they teach, providing them with a centralized snapshot of how each student in their class is trending.

For example, if a teacher sees that a student has low assignment completion this month, they can drill down to the list of missing assignments and follow up to see how to best support this student. Click the animated GIF below to learn about Classroom analytics as a teacher.

___________________________________________

Stay 'n Sync with GCSD's Bustling Schedule

Add GCSD Calendars to your district Google calendar with ease.

Whether you're keen on districtwide happenings, building-specific events like exciting ice cream socials or parent nights, or you need to track the letter rotation days through the Secondary Rotation Calendar, we've got you covered. Stay ahead by noting board meeting dates, recesses, conference days, grading window dates, and essential testing schedules—all at your fingertips.

Click HERE to get started. We recommend doing this on a Chromebook or Windows device- not a mobile device like a phone. Simply select your preferred building from the dropdown menu and never miss a beat in the GCSD calendar of events! Detailed directions can be found at the bottom of that page.

___________________________________________

Replacement Toner Installation

When a shipment of new/replacement toner cartridges for printers or copiers arrives at your location, we kindly request all departments to please ensure that the cartridges are promptly installed into the printers and/or copiers. Even if the unit may not appear ready for installing the new toner, it is okay to install the toner since it has reached a level that was deemed ready to be replaced.

This proactive measure will help maintain uninterrupted workflow and ensure that all printing and copying tasks can be efficiently carried out without any delays. Please do not store toner for your printer or copier.

Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated- Thank you!

________________________________

Looking for PL Hours? Be sure to check out the ITT’s page for Recommended PL HERE. You’ll find upcoming webinar and session opportunities, as well as on-going opportunities for digital tool certifications and self-paced learning. These offerings are updated frequently so bookmark the site and check back often!

For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please click HERE to book an appointment with your building's ITT.

9-12-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

Welcome to a new year of Tuesday Tech Tips!  You can read this week's Tech Tips by clicking HERE, or through the Canva newsletter embedded below.  

You can advance to the next page or go back to the previous one by using the arrow keys on your keyboard, or by clicking on the page.

Blue Creative Welcome Back To School Newsletter by Joseph Lombardo

2-14-2023 Tuesday Tech Tips

  

In our Valentine's Day Tech Alerts, we hope you ❤️love❤️  learning more about Nearpod, our schools' live morning shows, Google Classroom originality reports, and more!   ➡️➡️

Tuesday's Tip:  Do you know you can insert GIF's into Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, etc.?     If you want to learn how, then this ⬇️ is for you!

________________________________________________________________

Nearpod News

Check out these great updates to Nearpod! We especially love the updated Lesson Preview experience, and the new Math Manipulatives for students.

As a reminder, ALL Greece teachers have a premium Nearpod account- simply sign in with Google. Check here for more info.

Plus, Nearpod is hosting "Camp Engage," a free virtual PL opportunity from Feb 23-26! Save your seat at bit.ly/3Rw1rp9

(Yeah, no one at Nearpod asked us when our February Recess is.)

________________________________________________________________

Good Morning, Greece Central!

Many of our schools are broadcasting daily morning announcements on YouTube. If you're not a school-based employee, we urge you to please consider making it part of your morning routine to tune in to this incredible, funny, imaginative, informative student-led work from one of these schools.

The live morning shows can be found daily at these links:

• Arcadia High 7:20
• Brookside      9:15
• Craig Hill    8:40
• Longridge 9:15
• Olympia    7:15
• Pine Brook   9:00
• Autumn Lane Posted each morning

Additionally, past shows can be seen here for ARHS, AL, BS, CH, LR, OLY, and PB.

We're in the process of getting even more schools up and running. Don't see your school on here? Connect with your ITT to learn more about this and for help getting started.

___________________________________________________________

Have You Tried Originality Reports in Google Classroom?

You and your students can use originality reports to check work for originality and authenticity of assignments handed in through Classroom. When you run a report, it compares a student’s Google Docs or Slides file against webpages and books on the internet, as well as assignments submitted by other students in GCSD. The report links to detected sources and flags uncited text.

Learn more about originality reports with this brief video and help page, courtesy of the experts at Google.  

________________________________________________________________

We asked Chat-GPT...

For assistance with these topics, or anything else related to instructional technology, please check in with your friendly neighborhood ITT.