Give your impressions of the Google suite of applications and how you would use any of them. What is your comfort level thus far in this course? Any requests about what we need to teach in the next few days?
I am brainstorming the possible uses for some of the applications, for example, Google Maps would be great for projects that discover sites or cities in Hispanic countries. The blog and other collaborate suggestions sound very workable, provided that our school district will allow the use of the Google applications. I am understanding the material so much better this year, however, I am very aware of the time factor it requires to complete the work in the syllabus. I am not always successful in my first attempts for technology, and become a bit panicky when the deadlines are looming. I am looking for activities that can be incorporated into the Spanish classroom for assessments or projects - things that are practical and useful in the target language.
They are wonderful! I had no idea there were so many different things to use on Google. I especially like the tools like Diigo and the Name Picker for use in teaching. The map tool and calendar are useful tools for everyone. The Voki could be used to give instructions to students, entertain children, introduce ourselves, etc. My comfort level is in the medium range. I am trying many new things that I have never heard of before, so it takes me longer to get the idea than those who are more familiar with the applications. I would like to know more about the voice thread and primary access story sites.
My first impression about the Google suite of applications is WOW!! If you can't find it there, you don't need it. I do wish that I came up with most of them though. Wouldn't that be nice? The Docs application will be very handy since I do much of my preparation at home at night. That way I don't have to constantly be lugging my books and other materials back and forth. The forms part of it would also be useful when it comes to class surveys. It would be quick and easy feedback on how things are going, etc. My comfort level in this class is very high. I am very much at ease when it comes to computers and technology. Your explanations about the applications have been so easy to follow that learning these is a breeze. I also learn best when I can just get into the programs and start playing around. I can't think of anything right now that I absolutely need you to cover. I feel that you are covering the topics that I didn't know all that much about. Keep up the great work.
There are so many Google suites available. It was enjoyable to play around on the different sites. Google Docs would be a great tool to collaborate with some of my fellow teachers on the subjects that we teach together. The Google calendar would be a very resourceful tool to keep track of the day-to-day activities that I have to do both at home and at school.
My comfort level is on the lower side. I feel that I need to review the things we went over and practice them in order to feel more comfortable with them. Having handouts of some of the steps that we did to accomplish what we did today would be a helpful resource to go back and review with. I did appreciate the step by step instructions that were put on our class blog.
I am panicking about completing the materials needed for the three credits. I hope that I will be able to accomplish all of this before Friday afternoon.
I am having a great time....I like a challenge and sometimes that happens when I am trying to remember how to embed, create, post, comment, or whatever we are doing at the moment!!
I am sending some of what we learned today to other people on the Internet so I hope to get some feedback on this before tomorrow morning.
Anything regarding digital camera work would be great. I use Smilebox.com which is a free software program and I have been able to create several slideshows with pictures and sounds and send them to my friends and family. Within minutes of taking pictures, I can download them to Smilebox.com and get immediate comments from my e-mail contacts.
I am overwhelmed by the number of applications in Google. I could probably spend the whole year using a lot of these with students, and also teach them to teachers to use in their classes. A lot of the programs naturally encourage creativity and could be used to teach concepts in a more fun and unique way, with a presentation style that students will not forget.
I'm getting more comfortable getting from one thing to another and embedding objects, just because of the repetition. There are many detailed directions that I still need to learn.
A lot of these applications have been geared toward ages 13+. I teach students from ages 3 to 14. Are there applications to use with younger students?
I am absolutely amazed at all of the Google applications. I had no idea there were so many. One thing that I think is perfect for students in school is Google Docs. Just knowing that students can access their work from any computer is invaluable. I've used similar word documents that weren't the same format as Microsoft Word, and so it can be difficult to open one word document under a different format. Google Docs completely eliminates that problem. Docs is compatible with Word. I don't know that much about computers, so a class like this could be very daunting. What makes me very comfortable in this class is the pace. We're not rushing through everything at lightning speed. If we did, I'd be completely overwhelmed. The pace is allowing me understand without having to skip over any important information. I don't have any requests at this time.
There is one thing that I am excited to try this year and that is to use google doc to share house information before a meeting.Each of us would have a google account including our curriculum principal. Being the House Chairman, I would start by listing items of agenda and the order in which we would discuss those items. I would ask each house member to add comments, questions, agenda items as they think of them. In this way, we would have a lot of the thought process done prior to the meetings and our supervisor would also be kept abreast of our topics and join our meeting if desired. We will be having several meetings a week and each one will be loaded with information and topics of conversation. I think this use of google doc would save us time and let people ponder issues prior to the meeting.
I actually felt a little more comfortable today at class. That may be because I had a lot more personal attention during class so I didn't ever get too far behind. My partner next to me (Kathy) was very helpful today as well. I think the pace was a little slower and that helped me. I am a slow processor and also need lots of repetition to learn something new. It is my hope that I can somewhat master two or three new things and take those back to school with me. One thing I do want to learn is how to download pictures off my digital camera. My friend Laura, who gave me the camera, would be very impressed if I learned to do this!
Wow! I'm trying not to be blown away by the scope and magnitude of the resources and their possible applications. My goal during the next few weeks is to choose and use a few while they are still fresh. The bookmarking applications of diigo will help me build a valuable collection of classroom resources. Voki is a clever,colorful, and entertaining way to present information to middle school students. Embedding both a calendar and map onto our activities website will be extremely helpful to parents of my Cross Country team members and keep my phone from ringing during classes. Embedding a form or questionaire on a classroom blog can serve as a quick way of sampling the level of understanding after a lesson.
A wise old sage once said, You can't possibly absorb every new tidbit of information all at once." To make things manageable, add a few new ideas to your teacher tool box each year, and before you know it, you'll be amazing yourself!
I never knew I could use the Google maps feature for a virtual field trip. With shrinking district budgets, this might be one way to solve the problem of lack of funding for student travel.
I have used Delicious before, but I like the options in Diigo for searching sending and creating friendship groups, especially when creating new units or for tweaking those we already have.
The docs feature has multiple uses for pre-learning and post learning exercises. I like the feature of being able to create a graph from the findings, but DUH, I didn't phrase the questions today correctly!
At this point, I am not sure exactly how to use Voki, but perhaps it could be used for brief book talks when students want to introduce others to what they've read. It would also be great for the fantasy unit I teach. Students could create a character of their own and then write a story about it. Voki could introduce itself before the rest of the story is shared.
Google apps - It was so fun to actually "play" with the Google apps we used today. Driving home, I was thinking about the dangers such as a school districts limiting use of gmail because it can't be monitored and the whole stalker thing w/Google Maps. Having students interact with these would provide natural teachable moments about internet safety awareness.
I just looked over the list of Gapps (!) and look forward to playing with others. I guess Sketchup was used last year at school, so now I want to explore that! Do you know it?
Voki idea: Use your avatar to introduce yourself/welcome kids on the first day. You could also have the message in Spanish to make ELLs feel included. Then have the kids introduce themselves that way. Also, since you can enter words phonetically, everyone would have a shot at success. (Beware of alcohol reference on home page?) {click on my name to the right for a Voki info. page}
Still in Language Arts mode - when Chris told us about GoogleBooks, I wondered if you could copy/paste text into Wordle - didn't work ... BUT, one could grab a poem (or whatever) from the Internet, Wordle it, and then use the Wordle to talk about figurative language, adjectives, etc. {click on my name to the right and see link for fun Wordle puzzle!)
Since I don't know what my curric. is next year (for tech), I'd love to use everything we've done in the last two days! I bet every step meets standards somewhere!
In general, love the Google suite apps. And plan on sharing them with teachers at school, especially use of Google docs which I want to use when our school’s computer resource person and I collaborate on various docs, such as our school’s AUP. And, just this week, I was e-mailing docs to a teaching team that I was planning with—a resource list from me and a “scope & sequence” doc from one of the teachers that we could use Google docs to share and edit. I think I’m going to have my iGoogle page as my home page on the computer on my desk at work. Having so much info at my fingertips is too alluring—I’ll probably be playing with it all the time. Google calendar, like some of the other apps, needs daily attention. Do I focus on the Google calendar or on my paper calendar? Time and memory issues. I will continue to use blogger, especially now that I know I can add gadgets and embed Web sites. I’m still thinking of creating a wiki with blog links. Having time during the school year to fully explore and use these apps is a difficulty. I am comfortable with the pace and content amount so far in this class, as long as I don’t get waylaid with the sites and apps that are particularly appealing to me(Diigo). Instructors are always graciously helpful.
I am brainstorming the possible uses for some of the applications, for example, Google Maps would be great for projects that discover sites or cities in Hispanic countries. The blog and other collaborate suggestions sound very workable, provided that our school district will allow the use of the Google applications. I am understanding the material so much better this year, however, I am very aware of the time factor it requires to complete the work in the syllabus. I am not always successful in my first attempts for technology, and become a bit panicky when the deadlines are looming. I am looking for activities that can be incorporated into the Spanish classroom for assessments or projects - things that are practical and useful in the target language.
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful! I had no idea there were so many different things to use on Google. I especially like the tools like Diigo and the Name Picker for use in teaching. The map tool and calendar are useful tools for everyone. The Voki could be used to give instructions to students, entertain children, introduce ourselves, etc. My comfort level is in the medium range. I am trying many new things that I have never heard of before, so it takes me longer to get the idea than those who are more familiar with the applications. I would like to know more about the voice thread and primary access story sites.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression about the Google suite of applications is WOW!! If you can't find it there, you don't need it. I do wish that I came up with most of them though. Wouldn't that be nice? The Docs application will be very handy since I do much of my preparation at home at night. That way I don't have to constantly be lugging my books and other materials back and forth. The forms part of it would also be useful when it comes to class surveys. It would be quick and easy feedback on how things are going, etc.
ReplyDeleteMy comfort level in this class is very high. I am very much at ease when it comes to computers and technology. Your explanations about the applications have been so easy to follow that learning these is a breeze. I also learn best when I can just get into the programs and start playing around. I can't think of anything right now that I absolutely need you to cover. I feel that you are covering the topics that I didn't know all that much about. Keep up the great work.
There are so many Google suites available. It was enjoyable to play around on the different sites. Google Docs would be a great tool to collaborate with some of my fellow teachers on the subjects that we teach together. The Google calendar would be a very resourceful tool to keep track of the day-to-day activities that I have to do both at home and at school.
ReplyDeleteMy comfort level is on the lower side. I feel that I need to review the things we went over and practice them in order to feel more comfortable with them. Having handouts of some of the steps that we did to accomplish what we did today would be a helpful resource to go back and review with. I did appreciate the step by step instructions that were put on our class blog.
I am panicking about completing the materials needed for the three credits. I hope that I will be able to accomplish all of this before Friday afternoon.
I am having a great time....I like a challenge and sometimes that happens when I am trying to remember how to embed, create, post, comment, or whatever we are doing at the moment!!
ReplyDeleteI am sending some of what we learned today to other people on the Internet so I hope to get some feedback on this before tomorrow morning.
Anything regarding digital camera work would be great. I use Smilebox.com which is a free software program and I have been able to create several slideshows with pictures and sounds and send them to my friends and family. Within minutes of taking pictures, I can download them to Smilebox.com and get immediate comments from my e-mail contacts.
Keep up the great work!!
I am overwhelmed by the number of applications in Google. I could probably spend the whole year using a lot of these with students, and also teach them to teachers to use in their classes. A lot of the programs naturally encourage creativity and could be used to teach concepts in a more fun and unique way, with a presentation style that students will not forget.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting more comfortable getting from one thing to another and embedding objects, just because of the repetition. There are many detailed directions that I still need to learn.
A lot of these applications have been geared toward ages 13+. I teach students from ages 3 to 14. Are there applications to use with younger students?
I am absolutely amazed at all of the Google applications. I had no idea there were so many. One thing that I think is perfect for students in school is Google Docs. Just knowing that students can access their work from any computer is invaluable. I've used similar word documents that weren't the same format as Microsoft Word, and so it can be difficult to open one word document under a different format. Google Docs completely eliminates that problem. Docs is compatible with Word. I don't know that much about computers, so a class like this could be very daunting. What makes me very comfortable in this class is the pace. We're not rushing through everything at lightning speed. If we did, I'd be completely overwhelmed. The pace is allowing me understand without having to skip over any important information. I don't have any requests at this time.
ReplyDeleteThere is one thing that I am excited to try this year and that is to use google doc to share house information before a meeting.Each of us would have a google account including our curriculum principal. Being the House Chairman, I would start by listing items of agenda and the order in which we would discuss those items. I would ask each house member to add comments, questions, agenda items as they think of them. In this way, we would have a lot of the thought process done prior to the meetings and our supervisor would also be kept abreast of our topics and join our meeting if desired. We will be having several meetings a week and each one will be loaded with information and topics of conversation. I think this use of google doc would save us time and let people ponder issues prior to the meeting.
ReplyDeleteI actually felt a little more comfortable today at class. That may be because I had a lot more personal attention during class so I didn't ever get too far behind. My partner next to me (Kathy) was very helpful today as well. I think the pace was a little slower and that helped me. I am a slow processor and also need lots of repetition to learn something new. It is my hope that I can somewhat master two or three new things and take those back to school with me. One thing I do want to learn is how to download pictures off my digital camera. My friend Laura, who gave me the camera, would be very impressed if I learned to do this!
Wow! I'm trying not to be blown away by the scope and magnitude of the resources and their possible applications. My goal during the next few weeks is to choose and use a few while they are still fresh. The bookmarking applications of diigo will help me build a valuable collection of classroom resources. Voki is a clever,colorful, and entertaining way to present information to middle school students. Embedding both a calendar and map onto our activities website will be extremely helpful to parents of my Cross Country team members and keep my phone from ringing during classes. Embedding a form or questionaire on a classroom blog can serve as a quick way of sampling the level of understanding after a lesson.
ReplyDeleteA wise old sage once said, You can't possibly absorb every new tidbit of information all at once." To make things manageable, add a few new ideas to your teacher tool box each year, and before you know it, you'll be amazing yourself!
ReplyDeleteI never knew I could use the Google maps feature for a virtual field trip. With shrinking district budgets, this might be one way to solve the problem of lack of funding for student travel.
I have used Delicious before, but I like the options in Diigo for searching sending and creating friendship groups, especially when creating new units or for tweaking those we already have.
The docs feature has multiple uses for pre-learning and post learning exercises. I like the feature of being able to create a graph from the findings, but DUH, I didn't phrase the questions today correctly!
At this point, I am not sure exactly how to use Voki, but perhaps it could be used for brief book talks when students want to introduce others to what they've read. It would also be great for the fantasy unit I teach. Students could create a character of their own and then write a story about it. Voki could introduce itself before the rest of the story is shared.
Google apps - It was so fun to actually "play" with the Google apps we used today. Driving home, I was thinking about the dangers such as a school districts limiting use of gmail because it can't be monitored and the whole stalker thing w/Google Maps. Having students interact with these would provide natural teachable moments about internet safety awareness.
ReplyDeleteI just looked over the list of Gapps (!) and look forward to playing with others. I guess Sketchup was used last year at school, so now I want to explore that! Do you know it?
Voki idea: Use your avatar to introduce yourself/welcome kids on the first day. You could also have the message in Spanish to make ELLs feel included. Then have the kids introduce themselves that way. Also, since you can enter words phonetically, everyone would have a shot at success. (Beware of alcohol reference on home page?) {click on my name to the right for a Voki info. page}
Still in Language Arts mode - when Chris told us about GoogleBooks, I wondered if you could copy/paste text into Wordle - didn't work ... BUT, one could grab a poem (or whatever) from the Internet, Wordle it, and then use the Wordle to talk about figurative language, adjectives, etc. {click on my name to the right and see link for fun Wordle puzzle!)
Since I don't know what my curric. is next year (for tech), I'd love to use everything we've done in the last two days! I bet every step meets standards somewhere!
Comfort level - AOK!
In general, love the Google suite apps. And plan on sharing them with teachers at school, especially use of Google docs which I want to use when our school’s computer resource person and I collaborate on various docs, such as our school’s AUP. And, just this week, I was e-mailing docs to a teaching team that I was planning with—a resource list from me and a “scope & sequence” doc from one of the teachers that we could use Google docs to share and edit. I think I’m going to have my iGoogle page as my home page on the computer on my desk at work. Having so much info at my fingertips is too alluring—I’ll probably be playing with it all the time. Google calendar, like some of the other apps, needs daily attention. Do I focus on the Google calendar or on my paper calendar? Time and memory issues. I will continue to use blogger, especially now that I know I can add gadgets and embed Web sites. I’m still thinking of creating a wiki with blog links. Having time during the school year to fully explore and use these apps is a difficulty.
ReplyDeleteI am comfortable with the pace and content amount so far in this class, as long as I don’t get waylaid with the sites and apps that are particularly appealing to me(Diigo). Instructors are always graciously helpful.