Google Custom Search Engine

In my Physical Education class I teach a lot of different health concepts (hygiene, nutrition, bones, muscles, etc.).  My 4th grade students also participate in an 8-session health and wellness program sponsored by our local hospital that focuses on nutrition, fitness and smoking.  I created a Custom Search Engine that would help my students and parents do additional searches for any nutrition and health topics that they wanted further information about.  The great thing about creating a custom search engine is that you get to choose the websites that the search results come from so that you can narrow down the search to the site(s) that you know will be relevant and, in my case, kid friendly.  If you want, you can give my search engine a try down below.

Google Search Tips

This week I got to explore many of the awesome search features that Google has to offer.  There are so many tools that can help you find information quickly and easily (i.e. weather, sports scores, dictionary, movie showtimes, etc).  For a brief overview of these, click on the video below:

The two search tips that really caught my eye were:  1.) Searching by Reading Level and 2.) Filetype Searching.  Both are great if you are looking for something specific for either yourself or your students.  

Searching By Reading Level   

When conducting a search (any topic), you can go into your settings and choose the reading level you want results for (basic, intermediate, advanced).  So, for example, if you chose Intermediate as your reading level, only that level of results will show up.  This is great for your students who struggle with reading fluency or comprehension because they can actually find material they can use and understand.  Your advanced students could also have access to more challenging reading material.  In addition, at the top of your search results screen, you can see a reading level box showing you what category of reading material you are currently looking at.  You can then click on and change your search material from intermediate to advanced, or down to basic if needed, instead of having to go back into your settings area.  The bar also shows you the percentage of results in a particular reading level.  An example of what the reading level box looks like is posted below:  

To watch a video on how to "Search by Reading Level," click HERE

Filetype Searching   

If you are looking for a specific file type (i.e. a PowerPoint presentation) when conducting a search, you will really like this feature.  Simply type in your search topic, add a space, and then filetype:(abbreviation of the type of file you wish to search for).  Make sure you don't have a space between filetype, colon and the abbreviation.  An example would look like this:  five food groups filetype:ppt.   If I used that example, my search results would only render PowerPoint presentations on the five food groups.  From there, I can view or download any of the PowerPoint selections from the search results.  This is a great time saver if you know exactly what kind of file you want, or you need to find something specific to help you supplement or guide a lesson idea.  Below is a list of some of the abbreviations of file types, as well as a picture of my search results for the example above: 

To watch a video on how to perform a "Filetype Search," click HERE 

Want more Google Search Tips?  Click HERE

Google Chrome Browser

If you are accustomed to using a different browser (i.e. Firefox or Safari) and don't know anything about Google Chrome, it's a little intimidating at first.  However, once you get used to it, I think you will enjoy all the great features that it has to offer.  I will share some (not all) of those features throughout this post to help give you a brief overview.  First, I would recommend watching a few videos (like the one below) after installation to help you navigate and set up the browser the way you want it.  Once you get your settings completed the navigation process is very fast and easy.  Your Omnibar (aka- the address bar) performs multiple tasks, which is a great feature.  You can type in a known web page (without using www), use it as a calculator, or you can use it to perform a search by typing in a subject matter.  You can also change the search engine that you use in the "Settings" section, which is nice if you are not finding the search results that you want from your current search engine.  If you have multiple tabs and would like for two of them to be open at once, you can drag one out to create a new window so that both tabs can be viewed at the same time.  This makes it a lot easier and faster to view both windows rather than having to click back and forth between tabs.

A huge advantage of Chrome is that it syncs to all your devices (through your google account) so that you can access your information when working with multiple machines (i.e. tablet, desktop, etc.).  Another advantage that I really like is that I can find all my apps or extensions in one place and open them without ever being asked to update anything (i.e. flash player) because they are already embedded in Chrome itself.  They are always updated automatically by Chrome and ready to use when I open them.  Also, most of the apps that I use are free so I don't have to spend any extra money to have access to them.  If you're like me, I love anything that has FREE attached to it!  The last advantage that I will share with you is the ability to open a new window in Incognito Mode.  While in incognito mode, you can use all the same browser features but your history will not be recorded so there will be no internet trail.  Basically you will be under the radar in "stealth" mode.  I recommend downloading Chrome if you want to take advantage of all the wonderful amenities this browser has to offer.

If you would like to download Google Chrome, click here: Download Google Chrome

If you would like some tips on how to use Google Chrome more effectively, watch the video below (it's lengthy but the information is well worth it - a Mac version is also available on YouTube):