Once the students complete the forms, the data enters into a spreadsheet...all gathered in one place. Very nice. Very organized.
As for spreadsheets...here's my latest use of those: just this week, I uploaded two Excel spreadsheets containing yearbook info and shared them with a peer is helping me with the bookkeeping of raising, thus far, over $24,000 to pay for this historical collection that we call a yearbook.
Thank you, Ms. Nina, and thank you, Google, for de-stressing my life so much!
An invaluable tool, Google consistently decreases stress within my classroom as my students now realize the power of the tool.
For my classes, I have utilized Google Docs and Google Presentation:
Groups share documents with each other, writing one essay as a group.
The whole class contributes to a Google Presentation as each adds his/her assigned vocabulary for all to view.
Until this post, though, I had never embedded a Presentation. I like!
Hopefully, others within our PLN will add to this Presentation. How will we know? Right now the Presentation consists of two slides. Check the number below the box...
This represents why I appreciate being a part of this group. I just learned/self-taught myself something that will enhance my classes and, hopefully, assist my students. Yes, I like!
Twitter is a very powerful tool...if one has the time. Often I Twitter for just a few minutes, always accessing interesting links.
For example tonight, I clicked this link Think Before You Speak, posted by author Jodi Picoult and immediately began contemplating how I might use this sight when we journey through my next unit on anti-bullying.
As a result of Twitter, our 21 CLC group "met" author Suzie Boss via Skype due to our initial contact through Twitter last summer when I posted about our group and she responded. Cool! (I blogged here on my personal blog Treasure Chest of Thoughts about that experience.)
My Twitter account equates to a very reliable PLN, but to have that, I only "friend" those who will enhance the professional growth I experience there. I currently follow 171 people, most of whom are directly involved in education, technology, writing, hobbies. Please feel free to browse those I follow and add them to your list.
Not until you develop your list will you truly appreciate the value of this PLN that we call Twitter. Enjoy!
ACTELA (Arkansas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts)
Since Nings will no longer be free, teachers may not utilize this tool as much. Since I appreciate those that I follow, I would be glad to be financially supportive of their hard work, for I glean, borrow, use much from the great minds that visit these sites.
What are your favorite Nings? Know of one that I should visit/join? Please share!
Delicious is a social-bookmarking tool, one we use with our students, (one that, although I use it....shhhhhhh....I actually prefer Diigo). With that said, now let me jump-even-more-on-board and encourage your use of this tech tool (or your using such a tool...some prefer Digg...and others!).
REASONS I LIKE Delicious:
My Network: I enjoy checking in on my network to see who is tagging what. Yes, this a great way to quickly access the the very latest of what my professional peers are reading. Cool.
Tags: By tagging my sources, I am, basically, in "old-fashion" terms, placing my links into a folder. Once I click on a tag, then on one page, are displayed all the links on that particular topic. Please click here to access my tags for Web 2.0 Tools.
Delicious remains a tool for encouraging students (and teachers alike) to be more organized, while serving as a place for links for papers, projects, and personal interests.
Hungry for ways to be more organized with all the vast amounts of online information? Then Delicious is the snack for you. Enjoy!
Year two begins with a new focus...on project-based learning. Always a proponent of projects, I am now embracing this new focus with even more enthusiasm...and apprehension.
Enthusiasm for the student engagement that I know this endeavor will bring.
Apprehension for the lack of understanding of the big picture.
Enthusiasm for the confidence that having completed one year in a 1:1 classroom. will bring to this new focus.
Apprehension as I modify my definition of project.
Enthusiasm for how little I will actually have to teach to ensure they learn. Cool, uh?
I blogged on this topic earlier here, here, here, here, here, and here on my first personal blog Treasure Chest of Thoughts, yet I have only begun to touch the tip of the this glorious ice burg.
For Thing 11, I would like to share the following:
Cafe 16 Library: this consists of a form that I created in Google Forms, which feeds information into a Google spreadsheet that has helped me keep with who has what checked out of my classroom library.
First, let me thank Mrs. Ballardfor her recommending PhotoPeach. On a couple of occasions I had spent some time looking at possible slideshow sites but never took the time to find and upload the photos I needed to create a slideshow I could use, for if I am going to spend the time creating one, it should be one that I can utilize in the near feature.
Based on Mrs. Ballard's review, I, too, chose PhotoPeach and quickly uploaded pictures, inserted photos, captions, and music, and then reviewed my show...in a matter of just minutes. This I like!
For my topic, I chose a preview of topics for a research paper each of my English 11 classes is going to write after Spring Break as background for our reading The Great Gatsby. Each student will be responsible for researching and writing one Roman numeral of this research paper; then, upon our merging all their documents into one Google document, the class, as a whole, via Etherpad, will write the introduction/conclusion
Now for embedding my show. Let me first, apologize for the picture quality. We have Hughes Internet at home, which happily shuts us down if we go over our daily download allocation. Thus, when I have the time at school, I will re-upload this pictures at a much higher quality.
The Rip Roarin' '20's Research Time! on PhotoPeach
You may also view this slideshow here where you may preview an awesome FlickrPhotostream of the 1920's via print material...as in magazine covers. Coolness!
While I still prefer PowerPoint (shhh...), this FlickrPhotostream was a great find. This must be what an antique junkie feels like upon discovering a rare piece. Surfing for Web 2.0 is much like that. So many of the tools are not for me, holds little value, but then I come across something that I can use within my classroom with a passion.
What "rare" Web 2.0 tools have you found? What ones work for you?
I have had a Flickr account for some time but have not utilized it as I should. Oh, yes...oh, time, where art thou?
For Writer's Notebook topics, I might use these photos...Unfortunately, at this time, I cannot determine how to post these pics here! Here are my links, though:
Snow Cap (photo by Ivly): Discuss the pun intended and create one using the word cap or another word of choice.
King of the Mountain (photo by em'n'm): What is personified in this photo? To speak directly to this king would be an example of an apostrophe. Create an apostrophe with using the punctuation mark called the apostrophe!
What theme do you see being repeated in these three photos?
Or at the time, I did NOT have the time to think through the process. Yes, oh, time, where art thou?
Thanks to Thing 8...maybe, just maybe...yes! I now have a Creative Commons "plugin" on my class wiki (or what I refer to as my online filing cabinet: Mrs. Gillmore's Info Page). Please check it out...click on previous link...and scroll down...
Now to stretch even a little more...
I viewed two sites (all great ones for English teachers, in particular) and could find no Creative Commons link/button...hummm...
Then I searched Creative Commons for "grammar" and found this site Guide to Grammar and Writing (to obtain this link I had to "copy shortcut" as there was no link to the site on the page...other than this: http://search.creativecommons.org/# ... or at least one that I could quickly find. Please share if you have the answer to this dilemma!).
