Category: Shortcut Keys

Keyboard Shortcut for Providing Comments in Google Doc

Last week, I attended a math workshop put on by Alice Keeler. One of her talking points is all about being efficient and using keyboard shortcuts to save time. We as educators only have a certain amount of time in the day to get work done. Let’s take back some of that time with using keyboard shortcuts. One way that this can be done is when we provide valuable feedback to our students through a Google Document with the commenting feature.

Keyboard Shortcuts:
Most people know the shortcuts when it comes to copying and pasting text. Many also know the shortcuts for opening a new tab. You might be asking yourself, “Self…how do I find out what keyboard shortcuts are available while using Google Documents?” Have no fear! Google has provided a keyboard shortcut page, which can be found under the Help Menu.


*NOTE: The keyboard shortcuts that you see in the gif file above are for mac users as I recorded this on my mac computer.

Assessing/Providing Feedback on Google Doc
Assessing/providing feedback on a Google Document can take sometime, especially when you first start to venture in this direction. I have heard many say that it takes longer to grade online compared to the ‘traditional way’ with pen and paper. However, there are a couple of keyboard shortcuts that can help save you time.

STEPS:

  • Place cursor where you want to add a comment
  • Use the following shortcut keys depending on the device that you have so that the commenting window will open on the right side of the Google Document:

Mac user: Command, Option, M
Chromebook User: Control, Alt, M

  • Provide your feedback
  • When completed with the comment, use the shortcut keys Control, M so that the commenting window will close

Close Current Tab

When you have finished providing feedback on the Google Document, don’t hit the x on the tab in Chrome. Instead, use the following keyboard shortcut:

Mac user: Command, W
Chromebook User: Control, W

This will automatically close the current tab you are on.

I know that this seems basic, but you might be surprised at how efficient you become with providing feedback the more and more you get used to the keyboard shortcuts. Don’t believe me…ask Jess Doyle as I know she has been using keyboard shortcuts for a couple of years now.

And that is my spiel…

Using Shortcuts with Screencastify

Screencastify has been a ‘go to’ tool for our school, especially since it works so nicely with chromebooks. For those of you who have not used Screencastify, I highly recommend that you check it out.

There are many uses of the tool:

  • Create a screencast demonstrating a task
  • Create a screencast highlighting information
  • Record conversation between people
  • Record an audio recording (by using the camera feature but blocking the camera so that it only records a black screen and picks up audio only)
  • Film scenes for a project
What I am most excited about is the fact that you can create your own shortcuts when using Screencastify. Sometimes, I do find it a bit clunky trying to start and stop the screencast without seeing the curser go off the screen. This can help with that. You can create (or use the existing) shortcuts for

Starting Screencastify
Pause/Resume Recording
Start/Stop Recording
Change Recording to Current Tab

Watch the gif below to see how easy this is.

For those of you who have never used Screencastify, or you want a resource for your students, scroll through the Google Slideshow below.

As always, if you have any questions about how you or your students can use this tool in your classroom, you know where to find me.

And that’s my spiel…

Math Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Docs

Math teachers know that typing math notation in Google Docs takes a bit of work. Rachel Fairhurst, a middle school math teacher in the Bedford School District, created a Google Doc with a list of shortcuts for her students so that they can type math expressions efficiently and correctly without having to spend the time to find what they are looking for in the equation tool bar. A sample of shortcuts can be seen in the image below. To view the full list of shortcuts that Rachel felt were important for her students click on this Google Doc link.

The trick to getting started in a Google Doc is to open the equation editor in the Google Document under the insert window. There is even a shortcut to inserting an equation without the need of moving the curser to the insert window.

Chromebook Shortcut: Alt + I + E (Alt + I will open the Insert window. E then opens the Equation editor)

Mac Shortcut: Ctrl + Option + I + E (Ctrl + Option + I will open the Insert window. E then opens the Equation editor)

Demonstration of Using the Shortcuts

For example: If I am looking to typing the following equation in a proper math notation in a Google Doc

y=3(pi)x+5/8

I would type the following:
y=3\pi(space bar key)x+\frac(space bar key)5(tab key)8

For a better demonstration, watch this short view.

Big Thanks to Rachel for sharing this great resource for students!

Finding Key Words

We all are in situations from time to time where we are either reading a multi-page Google Document or article on a website and all you want to do is find a particular part. Sometimes skimming takes longer than it would have taken if you just read the article to begin with.

The trick you ask? By using shortcut keys, you can have a search window pop up to locate the word or words that you are looking for.

Shortcut Keys

Mac Users: 

  • command key and f key

Chromebook Users:

  • control key and f key


No matter if you are on the web browsing a website or in a Google Product, a similar window will show up (in the image above) for you to type in the key word you are looking for. In my particular example, the key word Wellness showed up 11 times in this particular Google Sheet. With the help of the arrows next to the key word, you are able to quickly jump through the page to locate the exact thing you are trying to find.