Getting Organized with Google

 Teachers end of the year to-do lists can feel long, and while cleaning up is cathartic and important, it often feels overwhelming.

Thankfully, Google has added some tools that can make your digital clean-up easier.

Two tips teachers have shared as being game-changers involve Google Drive and documents.

1. Use advanced search to quickly find (and then organize) files.

The quick tip video from Google teacher guru Kasey Bell quickly shows how to use the Google search chips to quickly find that file you are looking for, even if you never put them into folders.

This is also a great way to find files "Shared with Me" that you need to add to your drive and organize into folders for easy use in the classroom. For more on this, check out the TLI Educational Technology page.

2. Use named versions to eliminate document overload.

Teacher Tech master Alice Keehler shares that naming versions of documents using version history is a great end-of-year clean-up strategy and a great habit to use all year long!

Many teachers "Make a Copy" of a document when they update it for 2021 or 2022, thinking they may someday want to revert back to the version from 2019. However, this leads to many nearly redundant files in your Drive...and confusion when trying to find "the right" version of the document!

Instead, when you go to update a document for the new year (or close out this year), go to "File," select "Version History" and name your version. This could be with the year, or even a longer descriptive title that indicates the changes made. 

Then, if you make changes and in a couple months or years want to revert back, you can simply "Restore" the desired version. 

This also helps with those users of hyperdocs, as the links in your document won't change. Additionally, Google Classroom teachers who want to "Reuse" assignments from year-to-year can avoid having to change up attachments, making the process even easier.