What?The lesson today was Everything Google, and it was quite the week in class for me. I learned so much about some more amazing technology! One thing we learned about was Google Docs and how awesome it is to be able to basically have an online collaborative Word Document. It also offers the ability to make presentations, spreadsheets, forms, and other useful options. We were able to spend time in class exploring the Presentation part, which is very similar to Power Point, but in a simplified form. Another thing we went over was the Google Calendar. Talk about wonderful and easy organization! We then learned about iGoogle, which completely shocked and amazed me. There are so many tools on that, with the ability to have it all in the same convenient place! It's even a little overwhelming at all of the possibilities it offers. I will definitely need to play with it some more until I start feeling more on top of it all.
So What?
These resources add a whole new level of communication, collaboration, and organization- all of which can enable teachers to be more productive and successful than ever before in their class planning, research, organization, programs, and communication. With Google Docs, it is now possible to have an easy way to collaborate over long distances, and share information with others. It is the greatest collaboration tool I have seen. With iGoogle's convenient all-in-one-place features and tools, it is easier than ever to stay organized and informed. This means saving time and stress. It is so convenient and useful to have all of your personal information (even including bookmarks!) all saved online rather than limited to just one computer. You can access this page from any computer! What a time saver and a relief. I have included my Google Calendar on my iGoogle page. This calendar is so useful because it can organize your schedule and reminders in separate colors depending on the subject or area of your life. Having the option of the Calendar texting and emailing you reminders will help to never miss an appointment.
Now What?
I most definitely plan on utilizing Google Docs immediately, while I am still a student for convenient group work as well as individual work. I won't have to email my work to myself as I work on it in order to be able to use different computers; it's all online with this tool! I will also continue to use Google Docs as a teacher. I will be able to share information and work together easily with colleagues, and continue my growth and development through research and discovery using it. We can work on research and presentations that can forcus on better lessons, learning, class management, and anything else we may feel we want to improve upon. One thing I may consider implementing in my future classroom is the Calendar. I might like to have a specific calendar that is available for my students to check, which would contain what we discussed in class that day, assignment due dates, and test dates. Parents could help stay informed of how class is going through this method. One of my main goals in the classroom is clear communication, and this would be one more tool I could use to ensure that my students know what is going on and when they need to plan on turning things in to me. I plan on continuing getting familiar with and using iGoogle because it will make both my personal life and teaching life more organized and easy to access. By simplifying my life with this tool, I can devote more time, attention, and energy to other areas that will benefit my students and all those I associate with.
Video: Mr. Deuy Fractions
This video about fractions was entertaining and very different from any math lesson or introduction I have ever had during my time of being a student. It was a rap that explained in basic terms what fractions and division are. One thing I really loved about the clip was that it would definitely appeal to students who learn best through music and rythms. This is a tool that they could listen to and remember the basic process of this math lesson. On the video, it also shows the numbers and fraction/division process as he is rapping about it. This would be useful for those who learn best visually, and like seeing the process done. The benefits of videos like this are that it mixes things up for students and it can incorporate many different student learning styles into one simple lesson.
Video: Introducing Web 2.0
As the video put it, "Web 2.0 is a new set of tools that allows users to collaborate ideas through new mediums of expression." Some of the means of connection and communication that the clip mentioned and explained were Blogging, Wiki, Tagging, Podcast, and RSS (Rich Site Summary). Blogging is something you put on the web that others can read. I have a personal blog and have recently created two new blogs for school. I love blogging because it is so easy to stay informed and updated about what's going on with friends, family, and in this case, school and work. The clip went on to define Wiki which is a website that people (who are allowed to) can collaborate on. I don't have experience with this one yet, though it sounds similar to Google Docs (love that), but in the form of a website. I can't wait to learn more about it. Tagging is something I don't quite understand from just the video's definition alone. It is "a group of page definitions coded into a website that provides information to the search engine to describe content." The clip gave examples, but I'm not currently familiar with any of them. A Podcast is a way of sharing digital audio and video files through theInternet. MP3 Players or portable media devices are used for this. The last thing the clip mentioned was an RSS, or Rich Site Summary- which is a place that shows web content that interests you and that is constantly changing. One example of this is iGoogle.
This clip was beneficial to me, because I don't feel like an expert in new technology. I'm still learning and it was good for me to have the basics explained.
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