Google Calendar Spam

Is Your Calendar Lying to You?

If you see an event on your Google Calendar that you don't recognize, don't assume you’re just losing your memory, it could very well be spam.

Recently, hackers have turned to "Calendar Phishing" to bypass Gmail's spam filters. Because Google Calendar and Gmail operate as separate services, a malicious invite can often land on your schedule even if the original email was flagged as spam.

Whatever you do, don't engage with suspicious events. Your goal is to remove the entry safely and prevent future occurrences. To do this, you must report the event as spam rather than simply declining it.

What to do:

• Do Not Interact! If you see an unfamiliar or suspicious event, do not click "Accept," "Maybe," or "Decline," as this confirms your email is active to the sender and this is exactly what they want!
• Click once on the suspicious event in your calendar. Click the three vertical dots (options) in the top right corner of the event pop-up and select "Report as spam". This deletes the entry from your calendar (you may need to scroll to the bottom of the "Copy to" list). 

How to keep from happening in the future:

• To prevent future spam, click the Gear Icon (Settings) at the top right of your calendar and select Settings.
• On the left-hand sidebar, go to General > Event settings.
• Find the "Add invitations to my calendar" dropdown menu and select "Only if the sender is known". 

Note: You can choose a more restrictive setting, "When I respond to the invitation in email", but be careful with this setting. If you miss or don’t receive the email, the meeting won't appear on your calendar.

Mark Up PDFs Directly in Chrome

The Chrome PDF Viewer now includes built-in annotation tools. You can highlight text and add notes to any PDF document directly within the browser window.

How to Get Started

• Open any PDF in your Chrome browser (either by clicking a link or dragging a file into a tab).
• Click the Pencil Icon located in the top-right toolbar to activate the editing tools.
• Select your tool: Choose between the Highlight tool to mark text or the Draw tool to add freehand notes or signatures.
  
  
  
  
  
• Save: Click the Save to Drive or Download icon and choose either "With your changes" or "Without your changes".
  
  

While the markup tools are not built directly into the Google Drive preview screen, you can access them by opening the PDF in a dedicated Chrome tab. 

• Open your PDF within Google Drive.
• Click the "Print" icon in the top right corner. This will open the PDF in a new Chrome tab and you will have the annotation tools available.

Tip: If you are using a touchscreen device or a stylus, Chrome automatically detects pressure sensitivity, allowing you to vary the thickness of your digital ink just like a real pen.

Double Your View: Chrome’s New Split View Feature

Thank you Mark E. for suggesting this tip!

Chrome now allows you to view two tabs side-by-side within a single window, eliminating the need to resize separate windows or toggle back and forth between sites.

How to Get Started

• Open the two tabs you want to view simultaneously.
• Right-click on the tab you want to move to the side.
• Select Split View from the dropdown menu.
• Choose the second tab from the list of open pages to fill the other half of your screen.
• Click and drag the central divider to adjust the width of each pane.

OR

• Click and hold the tab you want to move.
• Drag the tab down toward the center of the browser window.
• Look for the transparent gray overlay that appears on either the left or right side of the screen.
• Release the tab once it is inside the gray zone to lock it into split view.

When you are done with the side-by-side view, simply click the X on the divider or drag one tab out of the window to return to a full-screen view.

Tip: You can quickly swap the positions of your two screens by clicking and dragging the top header of either split tab to the opposite side.

Question: Can you use split screen when presenting a Google Slideshow? Yes! This short video explains how.

Turn Your Video Projects into GIF Animations with Google Vids or Canva

Teachers are often looking for the quickest way to show, not just tell. You can now download your Google Vids or Canva video projects as animated GIF files, making it easier to share short, looping visual aids that play automatically in Google Slides, Sites, and Classroom!

How to Get Started with Google Vids

• Open your video project. 
• Go to the top menu and click File > Download.
• Select GIF animation (.gif) from the dropdown menu.
• Your browser will generate and download the looping file to your computer.
  
  
  

Google Tips: 

• Since GIFs don’t include sound, use the Styled Captions feature in the sidebar to add animated text to your video before you export. This ensures your "silent" GIF still clearly communicates the lesson.
• You can create a GIF from your Google Slide presentation.
• Open your slideshow
• Click file > Convert to video
• Your presentation will open in Google Vids and you can download it as a GIF from there.

How to Get Started with Canva

If you prefer using Canva’s library of elements and templates, the process is just as fast.

• Open your project (either video or presentation).
• Click the Share button in the top right corner.
• Select Download and change the File type to GIF.
• Choose the specific pages you want to include and click Download.
  
  
  
  
  

Fun Tip

Add a custom animated header in Google Classroom.

You can now upload custom GIF files (created in Google Vids or Canva) directly into the Google Classroom banner area. These files will loop automatically for anyone visiting your "Stream" page.

How to Get Started

• Open your class in Google Classroom and click Customize in the bottom right corner of the header image.
• Select Upload photo from the menu that appears.
• Drag and drop your GIF file from your computer into the upload window, or click Select a photo from your computer to find it.