Teacher Tech blog with Alice Keeler

Paperless Is Not a Pedagogy

Alice Keeler

3 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

3 essential keyboard shortcuts
3 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

3 essential keyboard shortcuts

3 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Assuming you already have Control C (copy) and Control V (Paste) down solid here are 3 you should be using on a regular basis. My goal is to try to use the mouse as little as possible. Increase your productivity and reduce your chance of carpal tunnel.

Control T – New Tab

Curious about something and want to Google it? Control T and start typing your search. No mouse needed. Want to create a spreadsheet? I know you do!! Control T and without touching the mouse type sheets.google.com/create. Boom, spreadsheet. Control T

Control W – Close the Tab

Teaching with digital documents we have a LOT of tabs to close. Control W makes the tab go away quickly. Control W

My resting position on the keyboard is on the control key with my thumb and the W key with my index finger. I will not be using the mouse to close my tabs. I’m always ready to close a tab.  

When evaluating student work I use the Drive20 Chrome extension to open up 20 student documents at once from Google Drive. After letting them load I go to the last tab and look at the students work. Control W then takes me to the next students work lickity split. I Control W my way back to the Google Drive tab where I will click the Drive20 Chrome extension again to open another 20 documents. (Note: You want to sort your Drive folder by “Last opened by me” sorted Z->A)

Control L – Highlights the URL

I need to highlight the URL all the time. No dragging my mouse up to the top of the screen and then clicking in the address bar (hoping I got the entire URL selected). Control L does the trick. You will then need to Control C copy if your objective is to share the link. If not just start typing. No need to hit the delete key. Control L and start typing the new webpage you wish to visit.
Control L

Snagit Key Stamps

If you’re wondering how I made the key images for this blog post, I use Snagit. I use Control N to make a new canvas and then use the Stamp option and choose stamps for keys. There are Mac and PC key stamps. Snagit made me ones for Chromebooks also (thank you!). Create key images in Snagit

Chrome keyboard shortcut

Chrome keyboard shortcut

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