Time and time again I find myself amazed at all the wonderful features and tools Google has to offer. This week was no exception as I got to explore various ways to up my search game on Google. Did you know you can search Google by file type? Neither did I until fairly recently! If only I had known this sooner, I could have saved a lot of time searching.
Say you were looking for a PowerPoint presentation on the Water Cycle. You could just search for "water cycle" and spend forever looking for an actual PowerPoint, but no one has time for that! Instead, try typing the following into your Google Search: "water cycle filetype ppt".
Check out what I found right away! Be sure to try it out for yourself, it's a real time-saver!
Another great thing about searching on Google is that you can do number searches. Need to know where that mysterious area code is from? Just type it into your Google search bar. Waiting on a package to arrive? Instead of going trying to figure out if it's coming UPS, USPS, FedEx, etc., simply type your tracking number directly into a Google Search!
It's amazing how much time you can save when you know how to search effectively using Google! For more tips and tricks to optimize your Google Searches, check out this article from Lifehack!
It's been awhile since I last posted and since then I have had to opportunity to explore several different internet tools. The two I want to focus on for this post are Pinterest and Symbaloo. Pinterest has been around for awhile now, and I'd be hard pressed to find a single friend or coworker that doesn't use it for at least personal pinning. Despite it's prevalent use, I did discover new ways to efficiently use Pinterest this week!
Let me start by saying I absolutely love Pinterest! In fact, it's going to be a Pinterest Christmas in my family this year (every gift idea is handmade and was found on Pinterest!). I mostly use Pinterest for personal use, I'm a sucker for a good recipe, and a little for my classroom. Until this week, I had only 1 board related to teaching, which I cleverly called "Teaching Things." The problem with my board was that it was not effective. Sure, I would pin all kinds of great ideas I had run across, but it wasn't organized in a way to be useful to me. This week, however, I was shown a video that has completely changed my pinning practices! Instead of having just one board for all my teacher related pins, I have since created boards based off specific units I teach. It's still a work in progress, but already I have a much more useful resource that I can use in my classroom. Check out my slightly less cluttered boards and follow me on Pinterest! Below you can find the video that completely changed my pinning habits. Perhaps it will give you some ideas of your own!
The second resource I got to explore this week is a site called Symbaloo. Symbaloo is another tool that can be used to organize resources online. One feature of Symbaloo that I really liked is the ability to create an account using my existing Edmodo account. I'm all about simplicity, so the fewer log-ins I need to remember, the better! There is more to like about Symbaloo than just the ease of logging in, though. Symbaloo is a great way to organize resources for students. I could definitely see myself using Symbaloo in the classroom for a webquest. Instead of having students type in 5-10 different websites to locate information, I could direct them to Symbaloo. From Symbaloo, students would have access to the sites I want them to visit with a click of a mouse! Symbaloo also allows the user to create different tabs, or webmixes. This allows you to organize your sites even more. For example, I created a webmix for my Earth Science unit. This webmix contains sites that will guide my students toward an understanding of Plate Tectonics. You can check out my webmix by clicking here! Also, you can check out the video below for the ins and outs of using Symbaloo.
This week I had the opportunity to explore even more features Google Drive has to offer. The main focus was on Google Forms, which I have previously used. Even though I have used Google Forms in the past to survey students, I have never used it as a means to assess students. Then I discovered a couple things that have me eager to try Google Forms as an assessment tool in the future!
The first thing I discovered is that you can add videos directly into a Google Form! There are often times when I want students to analyze and respond to real-world examples, but pictures don't quite cut it. For example, we're currently studying volcanoes and I want my students to know and understand the difference between quiet and explosive eruptions. It's hard for students to deduce whether an eruption is quiet or explosive based solely on a picture, and sometimes it's difficult to get the description just right without giving away the answer. With Google Forms, I can insert a video for my students to watch and answer questions over. Click here to see a quiz I made on Google Forms that incorporates a video into the assessment. Feel free to actually take the quiz!
I have heard from other teachers that Google Forms was a great, paper-free way to assess student learning; however, I did not see how using Google Forms would be any less time consuming than grading by hand. Then I was introduced to Flubaroo and it's a real game-changer! Read below for more information on Flubaroo. Flubaroo is available as an add-on in Google Forms and makes grading super quick and easy! Flubaroo is great for grading true/false and multiple choice questions. It even allows you to grade certain questions by hand so teachers can still include essay/short answer questions to their quizzes. Not only does Flubaroo show individual scores, but it allows me to see how students are performing concept by concept. It even highlights questions that a majority of students are answering incorrectly. This can help me reflect on whether or not the question is poorly worded, or if I failed to adequately teach the concept to my students. Here is a screen shot of the scores from my assessment posted above so you can see some of the features.
I took my quiz a couple times, providing some wrong answers, just to see how Flubaroo worked. I have to say, I'm quite happy!!
I highly recommend using Google Forms and Flubaroo for your next assessment. Check out the video below for step-by-step instructions!
This week I had the chance to compare two learning management systems: Edmodo and Schoology. Both have great features that can help organize grades, lesson plans and assignments all in one convenient location. Through my exploration, I found both sites very user friendly; however, I do feel that Edmodo stands out as being a better fit for me.
While Edmodo and Schoology both have many great and easy to use features, these are the two that sold me on Edmodo.
Look/Feel of Facebook- While I didn't notice this, a classmate pointed out that Edmodo has a very similar layout to the ever popular Facebook. I'd be shocked if one of my students had never seen or been on Facebook, either on their own account or on a friends. For this reason, I feel Edmodo may be an easier site for my students to use.
Snapshot- Even though I teach Science, I am still responsible for helping my students master Common Core Standards, or, as they're called in Kansas, the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards. Snapshot on Edmodo allows me to assess my effectiveness quickly and easily! Snapshot has ready made questions pertaining to specific standards in ELA and Math that are ready to use and assign to students. Check out the video below for more information.
This week I had a chance to explore various Personal Learning Networks. I found some really great resources, and also realized not everything technology related is for me! Through my investigations this week, I was introduced to an AMAZING resource that can be used for more than just a personal learning network: Diigo.
A Diigo account is completely free, although you are able to upgrade to a premium account if you choose. I'm a fairly frugal girl, so I chose not to explore anything related to a premium account and stuck with the free one. My exploration of this site couldn't have come at a more fitting time in my life! I was not able to bring my work computer home this weekend, so I did not have access to my wonderfully organized list of favorites and bookmarks located on my computer. Lesson planning felt like I was reinventing the wheel! If only I had known about Diigo sooner, I could have avoid one serious headache.
Diigo is a site that allows you to keep all your favorites from the world wide web in one simple to access location. Gone are the days of being able to access your favorites only from a single computer! Beyond proving you a place to organize your favorite sites, Diigo also allows you to search for what others are using. The world around us is changing so much that it can be difficult to keep up-to-date with the best that education has to offer. Through Diigo, I was able to search for my specific teaching wants and needs. I was provided a list of sites to explore, the majority of which I had never even heard of!
For more information about Diigo, check out the video below!
This week I began my final classes needed for completing my Masters! I look forward to all the new learning that will take place over the next seven week. This week, I got to focus on educational blogs that can guide me as I continue to pursue meaningful ways to integrate technology in my classroom. While I love a good blog just as much as the next teacher, keeping up-to-date on blog posts can be incredibly time consuming. This week, however, I was introduced to Feedly, which is a great way to keep up with all my favorite blogs in one simple location! Not only does Feedly allow me to keep up with all my favorite blogs, it is incredibly able to use! An account is free and you have several different options for signing up for an account, including using an existing google account. For more information on how to use Feedly, check out the video below!
This week I had the opportunity to pull together everything I have learned so far in my Google Tools for Educators class. I must say it has been a whirlwind of new learning! I've discovered several new and unique ways to integrate technology into my classroom. Google Earth and Google Story Builder were definitely my favorites along the way!
In the end, I was able to create a Google Sites that can be used to keep parents and students up-to-date regarding the team I coach at school: Stucky Academic League. I did have some struggles along the way, but overall Google Sites has been an extremely useful tool! The Google Site I created for my Academic League team is viewable only with whom I have shared the link. Because the site will eventually contain pictures of the team throughout our season, I have chosen to NOT share the link on this blog. I have, however, included a video tutorial below on how you can create your own Google Site!
This week I had a chance to explore different features that YouTube has to offer, as well as, Picasa. I'm definitely excited to incorporate some of these into my classroom!
I frequently use YouTube to locate videos that I can use in my classroom, but I have been completely missing out on YouTube Education! It can be a struggle to find a student-friendly video on YouTube given the sheer number of videos available. Time is a very precious resource for most educators, so wading through thousands of videos is not always an option. YouTube Education allows you to search for educational videos only, which can be a huge time saver! Click here to check out YouTube Education.
I also had the opportunity to explore TubeSnack, a site that allows you to create custom playlists. I found it to be very easy to use. It allows you to search for videos using key words or phrases just like you would on YouTube. You can also use the url from a YouTube video to find the video on TubeSnack. A plus to using TubeSnack is that you don't need to create a separate account; you can log in using an existing Google account. Check out my TubeSnack playlist here! You can also click here for more information. The only down fall I encountered while using TubeSnack is that you have to pay for a premium membership in order to download your playlist.
This week I also had a chance to explore Picasa. I vaguely remember using Picasa in the past, but didn't stick with it. It has some really great features that includes the ability to make photo collages, as well as, picture slide-shows. Picasa can also be set to sync to your Google Photos. One feature I did not like, however, is the automatic scan feature. Upon downloading, Picasa scanned and uploaded all of my pictures files present on my computer. You do still have control over which albums automatically sync with Google Photos; however, if you accidentally saved a picture file to the wrong folder on your computer, it could be automatically uploaded. I wasn't really a fan of this, because I like to be slightly more selective in what I do and do not share. Even though, I'm not completely sold on Picasa, I do think it's worth checking out! Check out the video below for more information.
This week I wanted to share a couple Google Tools I found useful/engaging. The first tool is ZygoteBody, formerly known as Google Body. ZygoteBody allows the user to explore the human body and its various systems. ZygoteBody includes both a male and female model that can be manipulated and moved to better explore. ZygoteBody is free; however, there are certain features that are only available with a premium membership. Premium memberships can be purchased for $4 per month, or at a discounted rate of $38 per year. Check out the video below for more information!
Another Google Tool I was able to explore this week is Google Story Builder. Google Story Builder is a fun new way to tell a story! It looks just like typing on a word processor. It allows you to easily add new characters and even music to your story. Google Story Builder can be a fun and engaging classroom tool for summarizing and story telling. Check out the video below for more information, or click here to view my Google Story and get started on your own!
Internet searches provide users with a wealth of knowledge at their finger tips. Search engines can be powerful research tools, but they can also be overwhelming for students who are not yet able to discern valuable information from junk. Custom search engines provide teachers the ability to limit where their students can look for information. Custom search engines also allow for a more focused and safe approach to student research. Click here for more information about creating your own custom search engine!
Because Science changes so quickly, I have found it necessary to supplement my curriculum with internet sources. To help refine student searches, I have created a custom search engine to help guide my students to school appropriate and educational sites. Check it out below!
I don't know about you, but my inbox can go from empty to absurd in a matter of minutes! I receive hundreds of emails a day from a variety of senders and I do not have time to spend sifting through them all. I needed a solution and I believe I have found it! That solution is a combination of using plus addressing with my existing email address and applying filters.
I recently discovered I can alter my existing gmail account to customize it for various purposes. For example, instead of using my original gmail account, I can use mygmail+education@gmail.com to sign up for educational sites! The emails I receive from the sites I sign up for using this email will still find their way to my original gmail account. You can view the video below for more information on using plus addressing with your existing gmail account to create unlimited email addresses.
Using plus addressing is only part of the organized inbox solution. The second part involves setting up filters to organize your incoming mail. Going back to my previous example of using mygmail+education to sign up for educational sites, I can set up a filter to recognize this specific email address. By applying filters, I can organize my inbox into easy to find and access categories. View the video below for more information on how to set up filters in your inbox!
My journey in internet browsing began long ago with the use of Internet Explorer. At the time, it was a great little browser, but my browsing needs quickly outgrew its capabilities. I then moved on to FireFox only to find it wasn't quite what I was looking for in a browser. It could get the job done sure, but I was looking for something more. I found that something when I found Google Chrome. From the beginning, I was in love with Chrome. I loved that my home screen contains links to my most visited sites making browsing faster and more convenient. I appreciate the ability to access several sites/apps with a single account. While some may be a little freaked out (Big Brother is watching!) over how connected things are with Google Chrome, I find it incredibly useful. I can start a project at work, go home and pick up right where I left off. My colleagues and I can easily share and edit resources without the hassle of emailing and saving after every change to the document.
If you're ready to take the plunge into simplified browsing, I encourage you to try Google Chrome! Clickhere for more information and instructions for setting up Google Chrome on your computer.
