Google Chrome is a wonderful web browser that does a lot. While it is easy to use, Chrome’s power really lies in the extensions you can add to the browser. Extensions are simply plug-ins that expand Chrome’s capabilities. Today I’m going to share some of my favorite Chrome extensions in no particular order and what they can do. Not all of these are searchable in the Chrome web store, so I’ve attached links to each extension page.

For Productivity

Save to Keep and Save to Google Drive

Both of these extensions do exactly what they save. Save to Keep will create a new note in your Google Keep with the URL to the web site you’re on. You can then add more notes and ideas. IT’s useful for planning and gathering up resources without clogging up your bookmarks folder.

Save to Google Drive does the same thing but adds documents to your Google Drive. This is useful for links you click on that may be PDFs, Docs, or PowerPoint presentations. This extension also adds the same ability to your right click menus.

Tab Resize

I love this one, especially for grading. When I’m done grading assignments and have to put the grades into the grade book, I find I’m constantly switching back and forth between tabs, and it seems to take twice as long to do. I could split the tabs into two windows and resize them, or I can use Tab Resize. It splits and resizes two tabs to be side by side to make it easier and quicker to look between two tabs.

Screencastify

The Screencastify extension allows you to record videos of your desktop. It’s really useful for recording flipped lessons, explanations, announcements, basically anything you may need a video recording for. You can annotate the screen while you record as well as add a small webcam window to the recording.

iorad

In a similar vein to Screencastify, iorad create step-by-step tutorials for web pages. After you start the tutorial process, the extension takes screenshots of all your steps and adds text instructions. It’s all editable. Oh, and they also have a desktop version for any other tutorials you may want to make with any other program.

Wakelet

Wakelet is somewhat like Pinterest, where you can create collections and add websites. There’s a great community on Wakelet, especially for education. The Chrome extension allows you to quickly add websites to your collections.

The Great Suspender

If you’re like me, it doesn’t take longer to end up with 20-something tabs open on your Chrome browser. The Great Suspender will suspend any tabs that are open but haven’t been used within a set time limit. It’ll help your computer run a little smoother if you need the memory.

Extensity

If you don’t like having all of the extension icons on your browser, you can use Extensity to disable extensions that you aren’t using.

Last Pass

If you can’t seem to keep up with all of the different passwords that you have for the hundreds of accounts you set up for school, Last Pass is your answer. You create a single master password for the app, and the button with create passwords and keep them. You’ll only need to use the master password, and the extension will fill in password for you. Really helpful for sites that don’t directly link to your Google account.

For Class

Share to Classroom

Similar to the other Share to… extensions, Share to Classroom works with your Google Classroom classes. Share a web page as an assignment, announcement, or even push the web page directly to students. The page will pop up on the screen of any student who’s logged on.

Grammarly

Grammarly is a great resource for spelling and grammar checking. They now have a Chrome extension, so you don’t have to copy and paste text into their web site anymore. You can even integrate it into Google Docs. A must-have for students.

Crafty Text

If you’re trying to share a URL with students on a projector or something, Crafty Text will create a large-text version of of the URL for student to easily see.

Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle allows you to embed questions into videos. Students watch the videos and answer questions as they go. The extension adds videos directly to Edpuzzle. You can also add a button directly in Youtube.

InsertLearning

InsertLearning turns web pages into assignments. Students can annotate the text and answer questions you insert onto the page. Find an article, click the InsertLearning button, and you’re ready to go.

Kami

Kami lets you annotate PDFs. It works a lot like InsertLearning. You can use it in an inverse way as well, annotating a document and then sending it to students.

Nearpodize

If you already use Nearpod, then you may already know about this extension. The Nearpodize extension will take your Google Slides presentations and turn them into Nearpod presentations.

Pear Deck Power-up

Pear Deck is another presentation tool that allows students to log on and follow along with presentations on their phones or computers. The Pear Deck Power-up extension embeds all your video-type files in the presentation to ensure that it plays at full resolution.

Refine

The Refine extension takes any online article and removes all the distracting elements (ads, pictures, menus, etc.) and all you’re left with is the text. Student can use this to remove distracting elements to help them read. This is also helpful if you’re trying to copy and paste information into a document.

Slick Write

Slick Write is like Grammarly on steroids. If you’re typing in a Google Doc, this extension will put your text in the Slick Write site, which breaks down every aspect of writing you could possibly want. It’s incredibly advanced, but you can focus on certain aspects of writing if you want.

For Fun

Bitmoji

Bitmoji creates sticker of you that you can use. The extension allows you to easily copy and paste, or click and drag, stickers. It works in all Google apps as well.

Emoji Keyboard

The Emoji Keyboard gives you access to all the emojis. Click in a textbook, then click the extension button and find the emoji you want.

Giphy for Chrome

It’s the same as Bitmoji and the Emoji Keyboard. Giphy for Chrome connects you to the Giphy website so you can search for and insert gifs into documents.

Noisli

Noisli is a white noise app that allows you to play background noise to improve focus. You can save some of your favorite sounds on the web site and then use the extension to get quick access to them.

There you have it. My favorite Chrome extensions. There are so many out there. I would encourage you to explore and find others that work best for you. What are some of your favorite extensions? Comment below and let me know!