Google Slides recently added a new feature that allows you to hide the "filmstrip" that appears on the left side of the screen. You can do it by going to View->Show filmstrip or clicking the "<" icon in the bottom left:
Why is this useful, you ask? Think about using a Google Slide as an interactive document where you ask students to drag items from the sides of the page into certain locations on the slide itself. Maybe something like this where students have to drag the relevant literary devices into the slide of a sample poem (click to get the template!):
Or you could keep students organized by putting their list of tasks on the side and asking them to move each task into different categories such as "in progress" or "complete" (click to get the template!):
To get a little more advanced, you can lock the background so students can't edit or move those pieces. To do that, design your slide and then go to File->Download->JPEG image. Erase the slide and then insert the newly downloaded image as your slide background:
