Tips for Organizing Your Google Drive

Utilization of Google Apps for Education has changed the way we collaborate and communicate with students and colleagues. Another great benefit of using your Google Drive is unlimited free cloud storage. While this fuels collaboration power, it can be a hindrance when it comes to organization. Below are some simple time saving tips to help you organize your Google Drive and use it more efficiently.

Tips and Tricks

1. Color Code your Folders

For many people, simply color coding folders, makes items easier to find. To change the color of your folder, right click on it and select a new color.

2. Star Important Items

You can also add stars to highlight important items. Again, right click on the file or folder and select "Add Star". When you are working in "My Drive" select "Starred" and only your starred items will appear. Consider adding stars to items that you are currently working on. This will make them easily accessible.

3. Utilize the Search Feature

Items in your shared drive are organized in order by the date they were received. This can make it tricky to find older items that were shared with you. The search feature is a great option for finding what you need quickly. Use the drop down filter to narrow your results further.

4. Cleaning up your Shared Drive

When you become an active collaborator in your Google Drive, your shared drive can become very crowded and overwhelming. If you have items shared with you that you no longer need or use, consider removing them. Only the owner has the ability to permanently delete a file, therefore, removing it from your shared drive will have no impact on the original file. The only exception would be if the creator of the file gave you ownership rights. In which case, you will receive a warning message to alert you before you delete the file.

For more information, watch the screen cast below to guide you through the organization process.

Need tech support? Contact the Jeffco Ed Tech Team

2016 Jeffco Share Fair

On Saturday, January 23rd educators and members of the Jeffco community gathered at Arvada West High School to attend the annual Jeffco Tech Share Fair. It was a wonderful day full of learning, sharing, growth and fun!

The day included a message from Jeffco's Superintendent, Dan McMinimee, as well as a keynote speech by Chris Moore and Nate Ubowski, both Google Certified Educators.

Following the opening festivities, four short break-out sessions provided professional development for educators and gave teachers and students the opportunity to showcase the use of technology in their teaching and learning. Many Jeffco educators and students presented at the Share Fair. Amy Clink, 1st/2nd Grade Teacher at Molholm Elementary, presented with one of her students to showcase how they are implementing 1:1 iPad use in the elementary classroom. Additionally, Bill Heldman, Computer Science and Video Gaming Instructor at Warren Tech, along with several of his students, presented how they have built a supercomputer using small expensive Raspberry PI devices. Both of these sessions, along with several others, assisted educators in thinking differently about how students can use technology to create, innovate, and increase meaningful learning.

Educators also participated in a tech slam during lunch to provide attendees with quick and easy tech tips for instant use in the classroom or other educational settings. Additionally, Arvada West students sold pizza during lunch to raise money to support Make-A-Wish Colorado and their mission to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

The day came to a close with a raffle which provided six lucky winners with registrations to ISTE this June (a $434 value) and another set of lucky winners won Google Cardboard devices to use in their classrooms. Attendees left the Jeffco Tech Share Fair feeling inspired and empowered to use technology to engage students in their classrooms at a new and deeper level.

Special thanks to Jeffco Tech Share Fair Coordinators: Leah Lindblom, Technology Coordinator at Arvada West High School, and John Braselton, former Jeffco Student and Custodial Assistant at Ralston Valley.

Need Ed Tech Support? Follow this link to contact us!

Keynote Speaker

Superintendent, Dan McMinimee

Ed Tech Director, Mary Beth Bazzanella

ISTE and Google Cardboard winners

Computer Science for All: Jeffco Students Prepare through Hour of Code

Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking through Coding: A Showcase of Learning Across Jeffco

A Newly Released White House Initiative

The white house released a new initiative for computer science in January.  The initiative, known as "CS (computer science) for All" is designed to empower all students, from kindergarten through high school, to learn computer science and develop the skills they need to thrive in a digital economy. With the rapid shift of technology in our economy, educators and business leaders are recognizing that computer science is a now a basic skill for students to be able to persevere in the work place.

Hour of Code

Last year more than 600,000 high-paying tech jobs went unfilled in the US, due to lack of college graduates with a degree in computer science.  Hour of Code is a grassroots movement that provides students an introduction to computer science, showing that anyone can learn the basics.





Computer science provides students opportunities to be active critical thinkers and creators in real world applications- not just consumers of technology.

Through Hour of Code, Jeffco students focused on problem-solving, stamina, logic, collaboration, cooperation and perseverance.

From Jeffco Teachers...

"We focused on how working through struggles and succeeding is the sweetest kind of success." 
-Andi Johnson, Fairmount DTL

"We were invited on a HOC chat, please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O1cKfH8Vck"

- David Williams, West Jefferson Middle School

"Failing and trying again- perseverance!"  

- Angie Wagner, Devinny DTL

"This was like a tidal wave of excitement.  As soon as a few kids were introduced, they shared it with their friends and siblings...there will be no stopping them."
- Lisa Polacsek, Fremont DTL

Need Ed Tech Support? Follow this link to contact us!