Adding a Theme to Your Google Account

Using Spell-Check in Gmail

Inserting a Photo from a Chromebook

How to Put a Google Doc into a Folder

Hour of Code Week

Calvin Christian School technology students will be participating in Hour of Code Week beginning Monday, December 8.

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.

Mr. Steenstra's technology students will use Khan Academy to learn how to code. The goal of Khan Academy is changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone for free. Their library of content covers math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics, and even reaches into the humanities with playlists on finance and history. And of course it also includes Computer Programming and Computer Science.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Hour of Code!


Credit: Most of the information above was copied from the hourofcode.com and www.khanacademy.org websites.

How to Search Google Using Your Microphone

How to Install Adblock for Chrome

How to Insert Unicode Symbols Using a Chromebook

Using Google Translate

Fun Google Tricks

Using Tabs in Chrome

How to Create Bookmarks and Bookmark Folders in Chrome

Using Shortcuts from the Chromebook Keyboard

How to use Caps Lock on a Chromebook

How to Install an App on a Chromebook

How to clear your Chrome search history

How to change your Gmail theme

How to change your background on a chromebook

Doodle 4 Google Drawings

Our Tech class just submitted drawings for Doodle 4 Google. Click the link below to take a look! I've also included a few examples below.

Student Work page of the Technology Class website

Spreadsheet Function: MODE

Mode is a statistical term that stands for the value that appears most often in a set of data. This video explains how to find the mode using the MODE function in a Google spreadsheet.

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Spreadsheet Function: TO_PURE_NUMBER

Watch this video to learn how to convert various types of formatted numbers into pure numbers in a Google Spreadsheet.

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Spreadsheet Function: DATE

This video describes one of the ways to put dates into a Google Spreadsheet.

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Spreadsheet Function: IMAGE

Watch this video to learn how to insert an image into a Google Spreadsheet.

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Spreadsheet Function: TO_DOLLARS

Do you need a function to format numbers as dollars in a spreadsheet? Watch this video to learn how.

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Spreadsheet Function: NOW

Does you spreadsheet need to use the current time and/or date? Find out how to look those up using the NOW function by watching this video tutorial.

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Spreadsheet Function: SPARKLINE

This video shows you how to use the Google Spreadsheet SPARKLINE function to quickly and easily create a graph of a data set.

Spreadsheet Function: BIN2DEC

This video not only teaches how to use the BIN2DEC function in Google Spreadsheets, it also include a short tutorial on the binary number system to help you understand why you might want to use that function.

Spreadsheet Function: TRANSPOSE

This video will teach you how to use the Google Spreadsheet TRANSPOSE function.

Spreadsheet Function: TO_PERCENT

This video will teach you how to use the TO_PERCENT function in Google Spreadsheets.

Spreadsheet Function: HYPERLINK

This video will teach you how to insert a hyperlink into a spreadsheet.

Spreadsheet Function: GOOGLEFINANCE

This is a great function for creating spreadsheets that automatically update themselves with financial information.

Spreadsheet Function: UNIQUE

This video describes Google Spreadsheet's UNIQUE function. It's a little quiet so you might want to turn your volume up.

Spreadsheet Function: HOUR

We're back! This is the first post in a series about Google Spreadsheet functions. For the next month or so we will be posting about 8 times per week. Each post will include a short video, between one and two minutes long, that explains how to use one of the functions in Google spreadsheets.

Google spreadsheets supports more than 300 functions that can be used to achieve all sorts of things. For a full list of the function, click here.

This video is about the HOUR function. Enjoy!

Student-Created Posters

Here are a few examples of the digital citizenship and Internet safety posters the tech class students created.

To see all of the posters, click this link!

Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety

We are currently studying digital citizenship and Internet safety in our tech class. At Calvin Christian School, we partner with the parents and the churches of our students to provide children from Christian families with an excellent education for a life of Christ-centered service. Here are some resources that line up well with what is being taught in class that parents can use to teach digital citizenship and Internet safety to their children at home.

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Here are some Family Tip Sheets from Common Sense Media that cover a wide range of Internet-related issues, including Internet safety and digital citizenship:

• Common Sense Media Family Tip Sheets

Here are some agreements you can print out and sign along with your children, asking them to agree to use the Internet appropriately:

• Common Sense Media Family Media Agreement

And finally, here is a blog posting from Google that is full of excellent advice for staying safe online, for both you and your children. Note that each box in the graphic is a link that you can click on to get more information on that peice of advice.

• Official Google Blog: How not to get tricked: Your favorite online safety tips

Just FYI, we will be taking short break from posting new TTnT blog entries as students prepare their next round of blog posts. You should be able to find at least one entry from every student in my tech class at this point, with the exception of a few students that accidentally included personal information in their videos.

In Christ,

Mr. Steenstra

History of Mario Bros 2

Everyone in our tech class has played a Mario Bros game at one time or another. Here's a little info about Mario Bros...

History of PAC-MAN

Have you ever heard of PAC-MAN? Probably! Watch this to learn more...

Social Networking

Watch this video to learn more about social networking...

Internet Filter

Sorry about the long delay between posts! Calvin Christian School has been testing out some new Internet filters, and they inadvertently blocked access to this blog! The original Internet filter is now back in operation so the blog will now resume...