Searching for information on the web can be tiresome and untrustworthy for the most part. Thankfully Google always has some tips and tricks on how to make searching much easier for the user. You can even put a + sign in front of a term that you want more of in your search and a - minus in front of a term you want less of. Check out the tutorials below to learn about more of these tips and tricks!
Another awesome search engine I learned about to help with searching the web for information is called Wolfram/Alpha. This website is a search engine that has compiled information from experts that can help anyone on any level of education or expertise search for knowledge. Check out the tutorial below to learn about Wolfram/Alpha and click here to check it out for yourself!
This week we explored the presence of social media in the classroom. What are the pros and cons of integrating social media into education? Some of the ideas I read about when integrating social media include updating parents on a Facebook group, having student discussions on Twitter, or using Skype to connect with classrooms in other countries! Although, there are definitely benefits to integrating technology there can be some downfalls. Social media can be used as a hateful tool kids take advantage of to get back at an enemy. There also needs to be a fine line between what administration can do when kids are outside of school. Is it fair to punish a student for putting profanity on their Twitter or Facebook status outside of school? Well, that has happened to some students! I guess you'll have to take the good with the bad in this situation! What do you think????
Pinterest is an amazing tool that educators can use! I have a serious obsession with Pinterest and I have used it as a tool that collects all kinds of different resources at my fingertips. I also follow the other teachers on my team, so that we can keep each other in the loop about what we have found on Pinterest. You can check out my account here! Make sure to follow me!
Click on the Pinterest button above to get to Pinterest and start pinning!
This week we played around with Google Drive. Google Drive is a fantastic feature Google has that provides the user with all different types of tools they can use to enhance any project, assignment, or meeting. The picture below shows the different options a person has to create something on Google Drive.
I played around with Google Forms this week and created a form to assess our unit 3 reading skills. You can take my form by clicking here! I also learned about an awesome website called Flubaroo. This website allows teachers to get their online assessments graded within a minute! It then can collect the results into a spreadsheet for you to utilize. If you're interested in checking out Flubaroo click here.
The videos below will help you navigate through Google Drive!
I also have other videos under Google Drive-ing You Crazy in a previous post!
We checked out some ways to organize all of the awesome things we find online this week. We discussed a couple of really great tools like Delicious and Diigo. Both have their advantages and are wonderful tools that will help you keep track of everything you find!
I actually made an account with Diigo, but not because I felt that it was the more superior choice. We just checked Diigo out as our organization tool! It was really easy to create an account and if you have a gmail account you can just sign in clicking the blue g button. You can also access a free educational account through here! You will just need to use your school email address. Once you sign up for your free educational account you can use tools like sticky notes, highlighting, and bookmarking when searching through all online sources! This awesome organizational tool will keep websites you like and allow you to check out other member websites, so you can partake in social bookmarking, which means you are sharing your resources with other users out there. The tutorial below will help you figure out Diigo. The tutorial below that talks about Delicious!
We also talked about Google Calendar, which I discussed in a previous post! Google Calendar allows you to keep track of all your schedules at work and outside of work by color coding and alerting you of appointments and meetings. Check out the video below or my previous posts to help you figure out Google Calendar!
Enjoy these organizational tools for gathering and collecting your online favorites!
This week we checked out this awesome website called Edmodo. Once I got on the website I was actually able to connect to TONS of other teachers I work with that I had no idea used this site. I guess I'm a little outdated : /. Edmodo is a website that allows you to connect with other teachers, parents, or students. If you teacher middle to high school it's a great tool to use for homework outside of the classroom, however since I teach first grade my main use for it would be to connect to other educators and share ideas.
On Edmodo you can join groups or create your own that have a specific purpose. For example, I created a group called First Grade Phonics. The purpose of my group was to have a place that primary teachers can go to get and share ideas for phonics. There are so many resources out there it can definitely be overwhelming, so hopefully my group provides some ideas and guidance for first grade teachers! If you want to join my group the code is 7ax9tv. The tutorial below will help you set up your Edmodo account.
Edmodo is a wonderful professional learning network! It reminded me a lot of Facebook, but it has a more focused purpose that can serve educators. I hope you check out Edmodo and join my group!
This week we learned about PLN's! PLN stands for Personal Learning Network and it is a place you can go to connect with others about educationally related discussions, articles, or opinions. Some of the PLN's I checked out are listed below and if you click on them they'll take you directly to it! You have to sign up with some PLN's and then the administrator will either approve or deny your request. In some of the PLN's I checked out it would show pictures of the other members and in each PLN they provide you with different articles, interest groups, or discussion boards. They provide educators with the opportunity to connect across the world with other educators, which is pretty awesome.
These three PLN's were all different and had their pluses and minuses to each. However, I will say The Edublogger had some awesome articles, Goodreads is a wonderful resource if you love reading, and Classroom 2.0 has some awesome interest groups and discussion boards!
This week we also learned more about using Twitter to connect with other educators. My username is hmduethman if you want to follow me! Twitter is a wonderful resource for educators to connect with other educators across the world. You can follow some educators and check out specific discussion boards. For instance, I typed in #edtech into the search box and it took me to a discussion that was surrounded around education and technology. Anyone that hashtagged edutech their tweet, article, or video was taken to the #edutech board. The video below lays out the purpose of Twitter in case you're interested in checking it out!
Google allows the user with the ability to build their own website......FOR FREE! WHoohoo! My school actually provides their teachers with a program to build a website for their classroom and it is required to have an updated website for our parents. I actually preferred Google Sites over the program that my school uses because it was much more user friendly!
I have to admit that the only truly annoying thing about Google Sites is that you cannot rotate pictures that you upload.......I know that's really strange but true! SO if you want to upload pictures make sure that they are ready to go before you upload them!
Check out the tutorial below for more information.
Click here if you want to check out my Google Site Fabulous First Grade!
