One click will brighten your whole day.

There is one app that I can't live without, one of the first I install when I get a new phone. This one app can instantly brighten your day and make you laugh all at the same time!

What is this magical app? Google Photos!

What is Google Photos?
Simply put, free storage and automatical organization for all your photos. Take a picture or video and it will automatically back up online. It is that simple.

To find your pictures, just search a date or thing and your pics will appear.

I opened my Google Photos and searched for cake. These are the first images that appeared. While it sometimes gets it wrong, see the Clementine's ice cream, in the upper left it is usually pretty accurate.

How to use Google Photos.
Your first step is to download and install it on your mobile device.
The following steps are how to edit your photos on a mobile device. Editing on your browser is nearly identical as your phone/iPad.

Open a picture you want to edit.

Click the little lines to start editing.

1. Click Auto. It will automatically make your image 78% better in one tiny click!

2. Click the lines to fine-tune your picture. See next picture.

Click the little downward facing arrow to upon up the tools.

Drag the sliders to adjust the effects.

If this was a shot with a blue sky I would have adjusted the Deep Blue at the very bottom. It makes a HUGE difference!

Cropping is one of the best tools to take your image from OK to great.

See! No kids! (I thought this was funny but for some reason, the kids didn't!)

1. Click done to save the crop.

2. Use this to streighten out the image if needed.

Click Save when you are finished.

You can also hold your finger on the image to see the difference between the edited image and the original.

Tricks to taking better images.
1. Do not zoom by pinching your screen, zoom with your feet. If you make your camera account a bit you can take much better images.

2. The Rule of Thirds
This short video will describe how to use the rule of thirds.
After watching, turn on the gridlines on your phone. This will help you use the lines to create better images.

3. Don't take pictures like my home, hold your phone so you can use the whole widescreen.

Like your ELMO but with an iPad (elementary classroom teachers)

I used AirServer to create the infinity mirror effect. We were in a meeting today and Dominic told us about this fantastic idea. As we discussed all things technology he explained one method of using the iPad as a portable ELMO. It was too cool not to share. Step 1 Make sure you have AirServer running on your laptop. 1. Click the Windows key on your keyboard or click the icon in the lower left of your screen. 2. Just start typing AirServer. 3. Click AirServer. Don't see it? Contact technology or your building tech person. Step 2 Connect your teacher iPad to your laptop. 1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Start by swiping in the bezel, the black plastic part surrounding the screen. 2. Click AirPlay Mirroring. 3. Click your name. Step 3 Open the camera app and instant portable ELMO! Anything you see in the camera's len will be broadcast to the big screen. I just used this method to take a picture of my notebook as a demonstration of how co

Who is emailing me? The Blue Man Group??? (Add an image to your Google account.)

WHY It is always nice to put a face with a name. Sometimes we need a tiny little reminder of what someone looks like because we don't see them very often. Follow these steps to add/change the image associated with your Google account. HOW Open your email. Click your image. It might just be a blue circle if you have not added something already. Click Change . Find an image you like. Your amazing new image will appear. From now on everyone can put a name to a face!

Annotate PDF? How might I do that?

So I have a PDF and I need to edit it. Here is one method that works pretty well for me. Open Word. Click File . 1. Click Open . 2. Click Browse . 3. Find the PDF you want to annotate. 4. Click Open . Click OK when you see this box. Bam! Your PDF now opens in Word. Note: you maybe have to click Enable Editing at the top of the screen. Finished editing and want to turn it back into a PDF? Click File . 1. Click Save As . 2. Click This PC . 3. Pick a location. I usually save things to my desktop. 4. Click Save as type - and choose PDF. 5. Click Save .

Learning in the Lou

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