Thursday, October 31, 2013

Reflections


Well, today is the last day of the 31 Day Challenge. It is a bittersweet day. I hope you have learned something this month. I have learned so much. In fact this month’s posts will become next month’s Tech Tips mail outs for the teachers in my district. I have also learned that Google is a lot more than just a search engine or cloud-based storage. Google actually has an entire educational side. I can’t wait to share all that I have learned with my teachers, in bite-size and manageable chunks.

I probably learned the most about myself. I won’t lie to you; there were days I didn’t feel like writing. I am sure you can go through the list and pick out which days those were.  October was a crazy month at my house: my oldest son in Driver’s Ed and the other son in band during football season. We had two parades this month on top of Homecoming Week. Did I mention that they both had big projects for school and they are both in the Christmas Play at Church, and, yes, rehearsals started in October? So, October was a challenging month just to survive much less write. I promise none of that was whining or complaining – I just want those of you who read this and also blog but didn’t think you would have the time or energy to write for 31 days that if I can do it ANYONE can do it.

I really liked the idea of writing about one topic for a specific length of time. It really helped with the age old question of “what will I write about today?”  All I had to do was pick an application and write about it. I think the best part of this entire challenge is that I did write EVERY DAY for 31 days – even if it was just a sentence or two.

There is always a down side though. I did a lot of things during the month of October that I would have loved to share with you all but it wasn’t directly related to Google so I couldn’t post it. (I am sure I could have but then that would have been overload for my readers.)

Now back to the positive. I have a lot of material that I can work into future blogs. I am even thinking of organizing my writing for the blog as topical. Then I can refer to my October adventures as “case studies”. That sounds so much more academic than a “hey, guess what I did today” post. Stay tuned for more Google news, though. I am sure there will be much more to write about.

If I had been really clever, I would have made this 31 Lessons Learned but I didn’t – you’re welcome. J

See you soon J (Yes, I am thinking about taking the weekend off.)

--- IT Girl

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Penultimate Post

A visual wrap-up and perhaps an foreshadowing of an upcoming topic.


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Google Search 2.0

Let’s talk a little bit more about Google Search. As soon as Google became a verb, web searching became as common place as sock changing. In fact, as the mom of teenage boys, I would argue that web searching is much more common than changing socks.  Today we will be talking about Google Search Education.
Web searching can be a powerful tool in the hands of a student. Let’s follow that metaphor. Would you give your 4th grade students a circular saw and just tell them to cut something? Of course you wouldn’t. So Google is no different, or at least it shouldn’t be. The materials on this site can help you and your students become skilled searchers – no matter where you are in your searching experience.
Lesson Plans & Activities –Here you will find a series of lessons that will help you teach your students to create meaningful searches. Lessons are based on levels of search expertise – Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.
Power Searching – Self-paced teacher trainings.
A Google a Day Challenges – A Google a Day Challenge helps students put their search skills to the test, and to get your classroom engaged and excited about using technology to discover the world around them. Challenges include searches relating to Culture, Geography, History and Science.
Live Trainings – archived webinars for your viewing pleasure.
 

Monday, October 28, 2013

Google Forms Rubric




Today has been a long day. I am trying to get today's blog in under the deadline and of course when pressed for time writer's block rears it's ugly head - so, my dear readers you get a video today. The good news is that in just under 4 minutes you can learn how to create a rubric.

Sunday Funny



I've nevere heard of Curve Fragrance but these were too cute to keep to myself. So thank you Curve. 

Saturday, October 26, 2013

More Google

Guess what I found today. That's write the official Google blog. You can get a Google Tip of the Day long after October and my 31 Days of Google is over. Here's the link www.googleblog.blogspot.com
I will certainly be bookmarking it. 

See you tomorrow. 


Friday, October 25, 2013

Happy Internet Satety Month!!

October is Internet Safety month along with Bullying Prevention Month. I have been trying to figure out how to work those topics into 31 Days of Google. So imagine my joy when I stumbled across this treasure: Google' Good to Know Guide - A Guide to Staying Safe and Secure Online. The page has links to valuable information for any and everyone concerned with Internet Safety. But, my teacher heart skipped a beat when I saw a link titled: Google Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum. Oh my goodness!!! Lesson plans and activities for teaching my students about being a good online citizen. There are three PDF files that you can download and print to use in your classroom. The lessons are standards based and include key vocabulary, hands on activities, optional activities and assessment.

Class 1: Become an Online Sleuth
Class 2: Manage Your Digital Footprint
Class 3: Identify Tricks and Scams Online

I am tickled pink to find and share this information.

Happy Internet Safety Month!!!

--- IT Girl

PS - Tina, this is for you :)