There Is Power In The Avery Label Add-on In Google Docs!

It's almost time for the annual migration of teachers back to the clean hallways of their schools. If you are like me, you make plans to be more organized in some way at the beginning of each year.  One great tool for organizing the room and saving time later in the year is the use of Avery Labels. Google Apps does a great deal for creating and sharing data and it is also the secret to making Avery Labels even more powerful.

The video below walks through the process of using a Google Sheet to hold student information and using that sheet with Google Docs to create the labels.  This is a free tool and you can use it over throughout the year.

bit.ly/aisdaverylabel

Teachers will quickly see the utility of the Avery Label Add-on for Google Docs.  Make labels for desks, wearable name tags, class lists, Science Fair poster labels, the last-minute field trip name tags and more! 

Students also have access to this same tool. Students could create math facts in a spreadsheet and print out their own flash cards or create study cards for projects.

How do you use labels in your classroom to better organize the learning environment? Please share below in the comments.

Google Maps and Google Sheets Make Interactive Maps

Trevor Beck published a great video that shows how students can use a Google Sheet of data and import it into Google Maps to make an interactive map.  The video is pretty easy to understand and follow!

How can teachers use this?  

• In a world history class, combine economic data with geographic tags on the map for easier comparison between locations.
• Use the Layers to provide hideable data. Have one layer for German troop movement and another for Allied troop movement.  Spreadsheet data could provide dates of military action and casualty statistics. 
• Historical data regarding climate change could be collected in a spreadsheet which could be imported into the map. Layers could provide points for specific decades.
• Record biographical information for people important in Texas history.  Import the data into a Google map that shows where these people lived in Texas.
• Similar to Google LitTrips, connect fictional events in a historical fiction story to their real geographic locations.  Edit the tags to include student-made art that illustrates the events.

What are some other ways that you could combine spreadsheets and Google Maps in your classroom? Please share in the comments below!