Thing 4- Messing around with Google Apps for Education

Google Apps For Education

Google Apps are pretty darn cool.  These are great tools for collaboration, but more importantly, as long as you have internet access, you can have access to your documents!  I've "used" google docs before.  By this, I mean I've opened up a google doc and I've shared a google doc with someone.  But that's really the extent of it.  I've never really explored the different things you can do on it.  I've never used Google slides before.  After I imported a Powerpoint slide, I only noticed one small formatting issue.  Again, it would be great to always have access to these documents.

1. The first thing that really stood out to me was using the Google Calendar.  As I read the instructions on how to use the calendar, and the suggestion for keeping track of birthdays and important dates, I thought it could be a really useful tool for keeping track of birthdays on our team.  It's always nice as a teacher to know when your students have a birthday.  If each advisor input the birthdays of our kids, and shared the calendar with the team teachers, we would all know when our students had their special day.
2. Another aspect I thought could be useful with google apps was using the calendar to set reminders.  I am, unfortunately, a forgetful person.  If I don't write something down, I have a hard time remembering to do it.  I can now use the reminder aspect of the google calendar to put in important things I need to do at a certain time, such as a meeting.
3. Finally, I think I see something with technology I might be able to use in KW!  I am always trying to find ways to keep kids who are unable to physically participate in class actively engaged in learning.  I have this rough idea in my head that kids who are not physically participating for the day could use their iPads to create a google doc on the topic we are covering in class.  They could set up different sections for rules of the sport, muscles being used during different actions, or even a section for strategy.  I could see them writing a blog like this on our unit, then having other kids who are out as well, adding a comment to their blog or a comment to the google doc.  We could even open it up so kids from other KW classes can comment on their thoughts as well.  Definitely something I will keep in mind for the fall...

Post #3

I know this will be out of order, but this video has been stuck in my head, and I need it to end.

Just to be clear, I did not pick this video because I thought it was the most informative or entertaining.  In fact, I have no idea why I picked it.

Actual thing #1

I'm glad that I consider myself an life long learner.  One reason is that I am already learning new things, and I'm learning them through error!  I may have messed my blog up already, as I seemed to have titled the whole blog Thing #1.  More investigation is needed...

After reviewing 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners, I know there are going to be some easy things I'll understand quickly, and some other areas that will take some dedication on my end to make sure I accomplish.

The Challenging Habit

I think, hands down, the most challenging habit for me will be "Accepting Responsibility for my Own Learning."  Back in the day, I may not have given my all in every class I took.  I knew how to cut corners and didn't really take in everything I should have.  I knew what I could do to get by.  During this learning process, I am going to make sure I do what I can force myself to stay engaged and keep the end game in sight.  What I learn during this class can and will help improve my teaching!

The Easier Habit

I won't call it the easiest habit, as I am not a master in the area, but I think the habit I'll do best with is using technology to my advantage.  I think this is very similar to what I mentioned as a downfall earlier.  I know what tech can do and how it can make my life easier.  I want to be able to use the tech available to do just this!  

The Most Important Habit

The biggest thing that I want to take away will be to teach/mentor/help others.  I want to learn the information we will be covering.  I find it fascinating and interesting.  However, (and I'm almost afraid to admit this) I do not actually see myself using a lot of this information in my teaching.  I am not afraid to use tech in the classroom, nor do I see it as a problem.  My big issue is that I think kids can have too much technology thrown at them during the day.  I can see when it would be useful to use technology in a KW class, but I also want time where kids are tech free.  This is where I plan to use my teaching with my colleagues.  If I can find something that might be useful for one of my team teachers to use, I will want to be sure to talk with them and show them how they could use it for their class.

Finally, as I repeated typed the word "Habit," I kept thinking about this picture, so I had to find a way to throw it in here.