Inserting a Text Box in a Google Doc....Kind Of

One of the biggest complaints that I have gotten about Google Docs since we started using it years ago is it's inability to insert a text box.  And although there are a few work-arounds....I don't like any of them.  I think the mindset is quite backwards.  Rather than trying to find ways to get the job done in Docs, just use a product that already has the ability to insert a text box.  Google Slides and Google Docs, if set up correctly, work better than a Doc.....and dare I say it.....maybe better than Microsoft Word.  If you are using Google Classroom, you can assign the Slide or Drawing file to each student, who can then complete and turn in their digital file.  No more.....I lost my handout, I left it in my locker.....or my favorite, it was done, but my mom threw it away.  Slides and Drawing are great tools, let's starting giving them the attention that they deserve.

Looking for the video outlining out to set up Slides and Drawings to act more like a Doc with the ability to insert a Text Box....look no further.  Click here to watch the tutorial.

Using Templates in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms

Using a pre-designed template in any of the four Google products are an underutilized feature.  For teachers and students, it provides a great starting point rather than having to start from scratch.  This can be extremely helpful for those that have a writer or designer block.  Get the shell of the project started and just focus on content.  For years, the template gallery was old, clunky and hard to find.  No wonder it was never used....nobody even knew it existed.  But since the update that was pushed out on September 2015, there really wasn't much of a push to explore the gallery or submit your own templates to the gallery.  This would be a great feature for school districts to use if they wanted consistency and uniformity among professional documents.  You can access the template gallery two ways.  In Drive, click on New --> choose your product (templates are available for docs, sheets, slides and forms) and click on the arrow to the right.  You will get a menu that says Blank document or  From a template (see image below).  Secondly, you can go the the homepage for any of the Google tools.

• Documents - https://docs.google.com/document
• Slides - https://docs.google.com/presentation
• Sheets - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets
• Forms - https://docs.google.com/forms

I hope you found this post helpful and you find a template that helps to save you some design time in the future.  If you have any comments or questions, leave them in the comments section below.