Hello Everyone out there in cyberspace!

This week I learned all about how to make Google searches better.  We all know the trick about using "and," and "or," but there is so much more out there.

For instance, did you know that you could search for specific file types?  I don't know about you all but as a teacher I'm super excited!

Watch this video for the how to...

So, have you ever searched for something that had an article in it?  An example might be "The Beatles"  Normally, Google will ignore articles when doing searches.  A way you can force Google to use the article is by adding a + to the search.  So, you could search for +the Beatles

For more awesome shortcuts, check this out...

Did you know that Google also has lots of other functions besides searching?  Google can be used as a dictionary, a calculator, or even a news feed.  Check out these links to see how to type things in.

Dictionary: http://tinyurl.com/definegoogle  Calculator: http://tinyurl.com/ovdjncn  

News:  http://tinyurl.com/q6udwpd

I've got one more great Google trick for you.  You can search documents by reading level!  I don't know about you all but I know my kiddos could really use this feature.  Check out this video for the how to...

I hope you all enjoyed the Google tips and tricks.  I look forward to sharing some more teaching tips and tricks as I discover them.

Happy Searching!

Social Media and Organization

Hello to all the lovely people in cyberspace,

I want to start this week with a discussion on social media and education.  We talked in a prior post about using social media, and how prevalent it is in education, but this is about the dos and don'ts.

Did you know that your next possible employer might be facebook-stalking you?  Kind of scary to think about right?  According to an article on TNW news,(http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/04/18/survey-37-of-your-prospective-employers-are-looking-you-up-on-facebook/) 37% of employers are looking you up before they hire you.  As interesting or scary as that thought is, what is worse is that people (educators) are being fired for venting on social media sites.  (http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2010/08/teacher-fired-over-facebook-comments.html) 

So, what do you think?  Personally, I believe that it is our professional responsibility to monitor ourselves and what we post online.  Society has decided that if we are teachers we are always teachers.  What I mean is that no matter where you are at any time you are a teacher.  As was said by Aunt May (hope you're picking up my Spiderman reference), "with great power comes great responsibility."  Whether we may like it or not, we have a great power in educating our youth.  We help become productive (or not productive) members of society.  It's our responsibility to be that person all the time.  All that being said, doesn't society know we're human?  We have to have some way to vent all of the issues that we deal with on a day to day basis.  This next blog that I'll share with you poses the question, "why don't we deal with the bigger issue of our students' behavior?"  (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/116354739.html)

So, the next question is should be we (educators) be able to befriend our students on these same social media sites?  I know that many districts (my own included) prohibit such actions.  However, I also know of many teachers that use it to make connections with their students.  Have you noticed that every year we come back there are more things we must do in the classroom?  When do we have time to make those important personal connections?  I'm not saying that there aren't people out there that won't take advantage of our young students.  I think we should have an edu-facebook that allows our administrators to monitor our online interactions with them.

All in all, do you what you think is right but keep yourself safe and be aware that people are watching you.

Ok, now that I've ranted, let me tell you about what I learned this week.  This week we talked about Pintrist, and Symbaloo.

I'm sure you already know all about pintrist, this is a great site that can help you find resources for creating things as well as lesson ideas.  If you are less inclined like myself, here is a great video that tells you how to...

The next thing we discussed is Symbaloo.  This is a cool site where you can publish what is called a webmix.  A webmix is a page that has lots of sites organized on it.  It kind of makes me think of diigo (talked about in a previous post), except it's a lot more visual.

I love how you can organize and move the tiles around so easily.  What we as educators can do with this is set up a page of resources for our students.  The picture above is actually a forensic science resource page.  My students will be able to go to my Symbaloo and use these resources.  Another great thing about it is that it's uber easy to use.  Just go to symbaloo.com to create a page.

Alright everyone, have a great week and I'll see you next time!

Hello People out there in Cyberspace,

Have you ever got to a point in the academic year where you just wanted to pull out your hair because there just wasn't enough time to do it all?  Well, have I got the stuff for you.

This week's blog is all about the tools that can save you time!

The first tool I'd like to share is the Google calendar.  This is just another one of the wonderful apps that is produced by Google, that you get for free with your account.  The google calendar is super easy to use and the great thing about it is that you can create lots of different calendars.  For example, you could have one for each class you teach, one for your team or school meetings, and a personal calendar to keep it all in line.  With google calendar you can easily copy events to different calendars, and adjust the dates of events.  One thing that I didn't find so awesome about the calendar is that it's hard to color code the days, which really wouldn't matter unless you are block scheduled like me.

Check out this video for more info on Google Calendar

Another great tool that was designed just for teachers is planbook.com.  With this tool you can also create calendars but it's more geared toward making lesson plans.  You can set up the schedule to match your own; as well as create lessons, and move them between classes and days.  The drawback to this great site is that it costs money.  You can start with a free membership; then the year long is something low like $12.  There is also a deal that if you get lots of other teachers in your building to use it, there are group discounts.

Back on the google wagon... Another fun app of google drive is the Google Drawings.  I crated a flyer with it but it could be used for anything.  An idea I had was to have my students draw a crime scene with it (forensic science teacher, remember).  The tools are fairly easy to use but just like paint in on your computer, it's still limited.  My favorite drawing app will be Microsoft Publisher (until Google comes out with something better).

Two more fun tools and we're done for the week.  I stumbled across a great random name generator as well as a stopwatch app.  The random name generator is super duper easy; you just paste your names in from a word or spreadsheet and go.  http://tinyurl.com/3vvnqco
The stopwatch app is awesome too because it includes a countdown timer.  I use this all the time and show my students the countdown to help them with time management. http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Well Ladies and Gents... Thats all folks!

See you next week

Hello Everyone out there in cyberspace!  I've got some exciting things to tell you this week.  This week we discussed Google Drive (formerly Google Docs).  I was very excited to learn how to use this tech because I've had soooo many colleagues try to get me to use it.  Today we are going to discuss some of the features of the drive as well as features of the apps themselves.

First things first; if you are anything like me you've created like twelve different gmail accounts; you've got two for the play store, and two for work, and my two for personal use.  You need to pick one!  Once you figure out the google drive in one you can decide how you'll separate everything out.  Here is a vid that will introduce you to the world of google drive, its a little long but it does the job.

 

Ok, now that you are all excited about the storage capabilities and what types of documents are available let me tell you some positives and negatives about three of the types of documents. 

 

Google Docs... This word processor works much like Microsoft Word.  You can change the font sizes, styles, and colors.  You can also change formatting of the paper.  Although, this can get a little sticky.  I wasn't able to figure out how to format the indentations exactly the way I wanted them.  In Word you can double indent something and it'll automatically do what you want; this processor isn't so get with the automatic stuff. 

 

There is a huge benefit to using the Google document though, research.  This is the best tool I've seen for writing a research paper.  You can format your paper and do research all at the same time!  In the tools section in the menu bar there is an option called research.  It'll pull up a sidebar that connects you to, wait for it... Google of course.  Not only can you browse while you are writing, but you can add citations (footnotes) for any source (including picture sources) that you want to use.  As I was finishing writing the paper I was writing I needed to put together a work cited page and guess what... there is an add on for that too.  You will have to search Easybib under the add on menu but it's great.  You can also choose the format you want to use (MLA, or APA).  I will be getting my students to use this with every research paper they write.  Here is another video that will help you with research.

 

 

Besides the awesomeness that is the word processor, the Google Drive also has a Microsoft like Power Point, as well as Excel.

 

The google slide generator is good but has limited capabilities.  This would be an easy way for you to share and work with a group to create a simple presentation.  Again, if you are used to the multitude of capabilities that Microsoft gives then you may be a little let down but it'll get the job done.

 

Last but not least, goolge sheets functions very similarly to Excel.  With this program you have access to most of the same features as Microsoft, like formulas, multiple sheets, and chart making.  Another great plus to this program is that you can work with a group and edit the same document.  You, the owner, can even protect certain cells from other's tampering.  As a teacher you could for example assign students to create graphs using certain data.  If you protect the data then they can use it and manipulate it but not destroy the beginning material.

 

One more great thing about google drive that I have to share is the forms option.  You can create surveys, and quizzes with different question types so easily.  Another awesome feature of the forms app is that you can have the data converted straight into a spreadsheet.  As educators we are pushed and pushed to "USE THE DATA,"  this gives us a way to easily do that.

 

I know I'm a bit wordy today but I have one last bit of awesomeness to share with you, tinyurl.com.  This is a website that allows you to change those massive urls that we use into smaller, more manageable urls.  In my classroom, it seems like every time I use the laptops students have the biggest issue just typing in the address.  Not only can you make it smaller (and more easily typed), but you can also customize the address.  You can request that the address be something significant to your students' purpose on the site.

 

I hope that you are as jazzed about Google Drive and tinyurls as I am!

 

Happy Hunting and I'll see you next week!