INITIAL SET UP for English 7A/8A/MCLR do the following:

• Choose the link on mrsconnollysclass main page for Dropbox (should take you to Dropbox Basic)
• Choose Sign Up for FREE
• DO NOT use your school email address for signing in/up – Use your own email – You can create an extra gmail for free at gmail.com (or another email that you know how to access)
• DO NOT “Sign up with Google” – Instead choose “Create an account”
• Create a password that will be easy to remember (if you want, use the same one you use for school)
• If it brings up a whole selection of “plans” don’t choose any of them – just click the blue Dropbox icon at the top left to use your basic account. (or try the back arrow or scroll to the bottom of this page and choose Dropbox Basic)
• Extra tips to get it right
  • Choose to use Dropbox as an individual (NOT as a team)
  • When asked, you do NOT need more than 2GB of space
  • Just go with Dropbox Basic (for FREE) – NOT Business or Personal (costs money $$)
  • You can download to your device but I recommend skipping this step and just use Dropbox online (unless it won’t let you)
  • There is also an app for your phone (not all features work the same in the app – just a heads up)

CREATE & SHARE FOLDERS

• Click on the File View (left side of screen – says ALL FILES) you get folder creation options on the right
• Choose +Create (top center next to Upload)
• Choose NEW SHARED FOLDER (folder w/ a person icon)
• The 1st time you do this, it will ask to verify your email – click SEND EMAIL – and then check your email for the one from Dropbox.com – follow directions there to verify and return to Dropbox (you may have to go back 2 steps to start this part again).
• Click NEXT to create and share a folder
• Name the “Firstname’s Submissions” (your name not literally Firstname’s- duh. example: Jolene’s submissions)
• Type Mrs. C’s email in the “to” line – jennifer.connolly@gcsd9.net
  • Tip: Copy and paste email to make sure you get it right. Any misspelling or tiny errors will make it NOT work.
• Click SHARE
• If you’ve just set up an account or never shared a folder before, it will make you verify your email. Go to your email, find the one sent from Dropbox (it could go to spam/junk) and click the verify button to prove you are you.
• BEFORE you create a second folder:  click “all files” on the left or “Dropbox” at the top center to go back to home files (otherwise you might create your second folder inside the first – they need to be separate)
• Repeat the above steps to create a second shared folder named “Firstname’s Drafts” (example:  Jolene’s Drafts) – the second time, you shouldn’t have to type in my email; it should pull up Mrs.  Connolly for you (If you don’t get this option, it is likely there’s a typo in the email address & I won’t have received your 1st folder either.)
• WHEN complete, you should have 2 folders in your file view – 1 for drafts & 1 for submissions

HOW IT WORKS

• Once I accept, I can see items you place in our shared folder and I can place items in the folder for YOU. (Each of our shared folders will have two stick people on it when they is successfully shared).
• You will create/upload work in progress to your DRAFTS folder (we will use these for WRITE CLUB groups)
• Once work is ready to submit (by deadline) you will move it to you SUBMISSIONS folder
• Later in the semester, we will add & share an additional folder for PORTFOLIO
• You can create additional folders for yourself – just don’t share them with me

WORKING IN DROPBOX/UPLOADING TO DROPBOX/MOVING FILES

• To Create files, choose CREATE NEW FILE
• From the drop-down menu be sure to choose DOCUMENT
• And then choose MSWord (the first time, you’ll need to give MSOffice permission)
• Be sure to use WORD – NOT DBox Paper or GDocs (these are also options)
• If you type your own MSWord docs, you can Upload by choosing UPLOAD on the menu on the right
  • Creating or Uploading the files INSIDE your Drafts folder will make them automatically there
  • If they aren’t INSIDE the shared folder, I can’t see them (neither can your group)
• In WORD name your document by clicking “document – saved to Dropbox” in the center of the blue bar
• Add the Document name where indicated (otherwise you’ll have a bunch of documents named document)
• Choose “Save and return to Dropbox” to get back to your File View
  • Tip:  You can still rename your doc after returning to Dropbox.  Just click the three dots (dropdown menu) to the right of your doc and choose rename.
• To MOVE files to your SUBMISSIONS folder (before deadline) use the same dropdown menu

IMPORTANT:  Papers in this course will need to be MSWord documents.  Dropbox gives you the capability of working in Word online for FREE even if you don’t have Word.  Access to MS365 is available to college students for free.  Once you have a SWIC ID# and an estorm account, you might want to check into it.

CONVERTING GOOGLE DOCS TO MSWORD DOCS

• Open your Google Doc
• Choose DOWNLOAD AS
• Choose Word Document (note that it won’t always hold all your formatting or fonts)
• Use the UPLOAD function in Dropbox to re-find your doc and upload it to the appropriate folder

Sidenote:  If you use a Mac and type in pages, figure out how to convert it.  Or get MSWord for your Mac.  Rarely will college instructors accept docs written in pages.