Excellent Gmail Tips for Teachers

August 14, 2014
Gmail has several hidden features that are just wonderful. Knowing these features will definitely enhance your emailing experience and ultimately increase your productivity. In today's post I am sharing with you one of these hidden features: using operators in Gmail advanced search.

Just like Google search, Gmail advanced search also supports the use of operators to conduct quick and targeted searches. Search operators are " query words or symbols that perform special actions in Gmail search.These operators allow you to  find what you're looking for quickly and accurately.They can also be used to set up filters so you can organize your inbox automatically.

Below is a snapshot of a part of the graphic featuring the most useful operators. Click Here to access the original full version of this graphic.

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5 Time-saving Gmail Tips for Teachers

June 21, 2014
I spent the whole day today catching up with the piles of emails I have in my inbox and I still did not reach inbox zero. However, while working on my Gmail, it dawned on me to share with you some useful tips I am using on my Gmail and which can make your emailing experience way better.These tips are features provided by Gmail team. All of features can be accessed from the setting button on the top right side :

1- Undo sent messages
If you have hit the "send" button too soon or by mistake then the "undo Send" feature allows you to stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button. You can set a cancellation period from 5 to 30 seconds.
Here is how to activate "Undo Send". Click on settings, then on Labs and tick the "enable" box in front of "Undo Send"

To set a time limit for your cancellation message. Click on settings again and then on " general" then select the the timing you want as is shown in the screenshot below.

2- Image display in emails
Gmail automatically shows you the images in your messages. If you have a slow Internet connection or limited mobile data, you may want to change your setting so that Gmail asks you before showing images. This is how to do it.

Click on settings, then "general" then select one of the options in front of "images".

3- Change the font of the text of your email
Gmail provides you a variety of text styles to apply to your emails. To change or select the text style you want: click on "General" tab and select a stye from the "default txt style". Here is how to do it.

Click on "general" then scroll down to "default text style" and customize the text style.

4- Create contacts for auto-complete
This feature when enabled adds any new person you send a message to to your Other Contact list. Next time you want to send in an email to that person, just type in the first letter of his/her name and Gmail will auto-complete the full email address. Here is how to do it

Click on " settings" then on "general" and scroll down to " create contacts for auto-complete" as shown below.

5- Add a signature to your emails
If you want to give a professional look to your emails, you probably need to add a snippet of text at the end of your email stating who you are, your blog or website, your social media profiles…etc.

Click on " settings" then on "general" and scroll down to "signature" and add your text

6- Send automated replies when you are on off computer
If you go on vacation for a few days and you know you would not have ay Internet access to check your emails and answer them, the " Vacation Responder" is a great feature to use. Activating this feature allows you to type in a few lines that will be automatically sent to whoever emails you. You can set this auto-response system to work only on a particular period of time. Here is how to do it.

Click on " settings" then on "general" and scroll down to "Vacation responder".

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6 Gmail Tips Every Teacher Should Know about

May 12, 2014
In today's post, I am sharing with you six important tips you definitely need to be using with your Gmail. These tips will increase your productivity and save you so much time . For more tips and tutorials on how to use Gmail, I recommend that you check Gmail Help Forum.

1- Sort emails into folders
Gmail allows you to sort and save your emails into folders using the label functionality. For instance I created a folder labelled " Amazon books" where I aggregate confirmation emails I receive every time I buy a book on Amazon. The folders you create are displayed in the left column of your Gmail window. Here is how you can create folders:

First check the emails you want to put in the folder, click on the icon as shown in step 2 below then select " create new", give your folder a name and there you go.

2-  Mark Emails 
Use stars to easily mark certain messages as important or to indicate that you need to reply to them later. Stars appear to the left of the sender’s name in your inbox and only you can see if you’ve starred a message.
To star a message just click on   star icon next to the sender's name.

3- Inbox Tabs and Category labels
Your messages are classified into categories such as Promotions, Social and Updates. You can choose to use categories as inbox tabs, and as labels. These categories make it easy to focus on messages that are important to you and read messages of the same type all at once. Gmail lets you customize the ones you want to see displayed in your inbox by simply clicking on the + icon to the right of your tabs Use the checkboxes to show or hide each tab.  Click Save. 

4- Attachments in emails
When you receive an email with attachments, you’ll see thumbnails of the attachments at the bottom of your message. Click the attachment thumbnail to instantly view the attachment or see more options like print and share. Move your mouse over the attachment thumbnail and use the buttons to quickly Download or Save to Drive (depending on the type of attachment).

If you see icons in the corner directly above the attachments, that means you can download, save, or share all of the attachments at once.

5- Use the search box
It can be difficult to browse through hundreds of old emails just to find the one you need. So try searching Gmail instead. The search box is at the top of your Gmail screen. Simply type the word you're looking for in the search box and click the magnifying icon. For example, if you're looking for a message with the word "shopping", type in the word shopping.

If you're having trouble finding the result you want, you can refine your search by clicking the arrow in the search box, and entering your search in the appropriate fields (or use  advanced operators).

6- Undo Sent messages
This is a great functionality that offers Gmail users the possibility to undo their messages within a limited period of time ( 10 seconds since you hit send button). To activate this service Click on 
the gear icon on the righthand side, and then select Settings. Go to Labs, scroll down to Undo Send and choose  "enable."

When this service is activated you will be able to see a yellow bar at the top of your Gmail each time you send an email.The message in this bar reads "Your message has been sent," and will offer you the option to "undo" or "view message." If you choose "undo," your message turns back into a draft.

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