Hi, friends! I've been jumping at the opportunity to embed animations wherever I can! I recently saw a post by Ben Moore (Twitter: @trainingwithbm) on how to animate your email signature using WeVideo. You can check out his amazing and very thorough tutorial here. I wondered if this type of creation could be achieved by using the platforms that I love. I experimented a bit and used Buncee with Giphy Capture, Slides with Tall Tweets, and Canva. I was able to create gifs using these methods AND was able to embed them as gifs into my email signatures on Outlook and Gmail! If you are like me and also want to add a little sparkle to your email signatures, check out my video tutorial below! 

I'm so excited to share this post with you all today! I did a bit of experimenting today and wanted to share how you can create your very own animated banners using Buncee & Giphy capture. The tutorial goes over Google Classroom & Wakelet banners, however I'm sure the possibilities for other projects are endless! Check out the video tutorial I created below or check it out on my YouTube channel! If you happen to create your own, please tag me on Twitter or Instagram @cuethelibrarian. I'd love to see your creations!

I've officially transferred some of my video tutorials to my YouTube channel! Please visit and subscribe by clicking on the banner above. I recently became a Google for Education Certified Trainer, so this is where I'll be posting some Q's GSuite Tips videos. I'm excited to finally join this platform! Below are some of the videos I have on my channel and I hope you can visit the page and subscribe. Check it out!

If it's one thing I've enjoyed about working from home, it's the real-world application of all the digital tools I have learned to use from workshops and courses. My favorite finds though are the ones I stumble upon whenever I scour the Internet for productivity tips. Many of us are working from home and the key to anything during this time, especially if we have kids, is to make sure we're using our time efficiently. I made a collection of screencasts for my students highlighting various apps that I knew they'd need access to during their distance learning. Based on a survey I sent out, more than 60% of my students are working solely with a cellular device therefore, I needed to make sure my screencasts provided that additional support. I had to think of a way to mirror my iPhone to my MacBook so I could create a Screencastify videos displaying how to access GSuite/Office apps both on a desktop and phone. I didn't want to purchase any form of 3rd party application to install a screen mirroring program, so I began my search for the easiest way to achieve this. I found something that is completely free and super easy. Using Quicktime and your iPhone USB! Please note that this method is for Apple devices. I am not sure how it works for Windows, but I can always post an update the screencast once I figure that out. 
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Okay, so that's done. I don't know about anyone else, but once we started working from home I needed to do some major file management on my laptop. I made a customized desktop background on Canva and customized my folder icons. I made a tutorial on how to do this for your Macbook if you'd also like to check that out. 

I hope you can find some use out of these tips and as always, I want to make sure you have something to literally "take away" from this post! I don't want to leave you empty handed! Below is a link to some PNG files for your desktop icons and a customized desktop background for April.  Wishing you all the best during distance learning and stay safe! ILC You Online! - Q.