Top Ten Google Tips For Teachers

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Top Ten Google Tips For Teachers

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Jungle Love

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Graduation Video

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Delicious

Is it the End or only the Beginning?

I have had learned so much just by doing these 23 things that were asked of me. I want to continue on and do the total 43 just so I can learn more about technology of the future and the paths that technology is going down. My goal is to get on here at least once per week and find something new to share with my students. What a wonderful teaching resource I have in front of me. 

Thing #13 - Zoho

    I am typing this document in Zoho! This is very similar to Google Docs. I think that these are great for middle school age students and up. This is a great collaborative tool.

Thing #23 - Creative Commons

This was the example I found on the Blog:

*Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006).

These 23 Things was the offspring from the original 43 Things.

Creative commons will help me in the classroom be able to mix up or tweak works for my students that would be custom made to fit their needs.

Thing #21 - Animoto

Rollin Video

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Thing #22 - Podcast

Conversations with Apollo - Jack King

The podcast are very easy to listen to. I thought that Podcastdirectory.com was easy to use. I can see myself creating these for my students!

Thing #20 - You Tube

I have put many You Tube links in my Blog. I thought that I would add something for my students to enjoy - Classroom Rules from Teacher Tube!
Enjoy!

Thing #19 - Social Networks

I am a currently member of Facebook. I can see where social networking is going to be the new technology that people will be moving towards.


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Thing #17 - Delicious, Furl, & Ma-gnolia

While I was working in Delicious I thought of many uses for this. Whenever you get on a computer that is not your own you have all of your bookmarks available to you. Students could all network together and do a scavenger hunt bookmarking certain links. What a useful tool to share bookmarks with everyone.

Thing #18 - Facebook & MySpace

I have had a Facebook account for a few years now. I do not chat that much on there, but I do enjoy reading my friends thoughts and comments. I did find my maid-of-honor on there. We both got married and she moved away. It had been 16 years since I had spoken with her.

I have never had a MySpace. I always felt that it was more for younger people and I did not like the fact that adults could log on there and pose as a child or that a child could pose as an adult.

Thing #16 - Organized with Web 2.0

I have iGoogle as my homepage and love being able to get to everything I need on one page. The Web 2.0 tools all link together, which make getting around the web more user friendly. 

Thing #15 - Wikis

The Apsu Sandbox Wikis site is a lot of fun. There are many wikis sites that can be created for students to look and play in. I can see that a class project could be done on a wikis site with ease. This site was easy to move around in and I feel that my middle school students could work on here with success.

Thing #14 - Bubbl.us & Gliffy

Both of these are free to use. Many students have trouble with concept maps and both of these tools help in that area.

Gliffy has many resources for teachers. Teachers can create seating charts, room rearranging charts, flowcharts, and concept maps. The first thing that came to mind was teaching transparencies and viewings for the LCD projector.

Bubbl.us is great for concept maps and flow charts too, but I was more impressed with Gliffy and it seemed to fit my needs better and have more options.

Thing #12 - Google

Google has been more than a search engine to me for approximately a year now. It is more like a communication Hub for me. I think that if the word "more" were to be clicked more often then more people would be aware of how all of theses features could be linked together. I enjoy having one password and one common access point to Youtube, Facebook, Reader, and all of the other features that Google offers.

As a teacher I have signed up for Google Wave which is a new program that is geared for schools and companies. This has all of the features in one program to organize and help communicate a group of people.

Thing #11 - Finding Good Feeds

I used the look up in the Google Reader and found many great feeds. I tried every different way to look up feeds and had success.

I did look up Edublog Awards and wanted to see the best of the best of 2009. These all have wonderful information available to everyone.  

Thing #10 - RSS Feeds

I chose to join the Google Reader. The account was very easy to set up. It let you search for your favorite sites to read and link them. The fact that it lets you know when it is updated rather than you having to check each individual site for updates is time saving. Time is one thing that educators do not want to waste.

Thing #9 - Generators

Mrs. Vaughn's Flowers! They all grow at their own rate and bloom in their own time just like Mrs. Vaughn's students!

I used the ImageChef to create this. This was very simple with easy to follow steps. You can type in your own text and it will show up in the picture.

These images can be used to help students remember information that you are teaching. Picture/Word association is very powerful.  

Thing #8 - Puzzle with Flickr Photo

This is a wonderful tool! I could see this used with all kinds of pictures in Science and Math! This was so easy to use. I used Big Huge Labs to create this.

Thing #7 Flickr

Mother and I, originally uploaded by vaughnsvariables.

This is a picture of Mother and I December 18, 2009 just before we graduated with our Masters together.

APSU 23 Things

Thing #6 - YouTube

I have attached several videos at the bottom of my blog that you can view.

I love attaching YouTube videos to my blog. My students love watching them. They pay attention to them and they are current and up to date videos.

YouTube videos are not hard to link, but it did take me a few minutes to figure out the very first time that I did it. Schools can use this as a wonderful learning tool.

Thing #5 - School 2.0

School 2.0 is getting every child on board with current technology. This means that children will know how to use and manipulate technology to their advantage.

This means that schools will need to incorporate technology in every classroom, but not only used by the teacher but also the students. This means that students should all be issued notebooks with wireless internet capabilities and held accountable for what they accessing.

Thing #4 - Importance of Commenting

When a comment is left on another blog a union is made between the blog author and the commenter about something they are both interested in.

I think that commenting is good to make a person, whoever is reading the post, think outside of their box. The blog author makes the rules on whether they respond to the commenter or just lets them discuss on their own.

Thing #3: Blog uses in the classroom

I can see how this blog can be used in many ways in the classroom. This can be used a communication tool to parents and students. Assignments, games, and announcements can be uploaded for viewing. YouTube videos can be loaded for students as well.

The uses of the blog are limitless in the classroom. The EduBlog link has many more ideas as well!

Thing #2 - Blog and Avatar Experience

I did not have any problems creating the blog or the Avatar.

I created the Avatar to look like me. Most of the time I wear a skirt to work, my favorite color is green and my hair is light brown usually worn in a clip.

I set the Avatar with my general mood. I am usually smiling greeting students as they enter the classroom.

Thing #1 - Lifelong Learner

As a lifelong learner one of the easier things for me is that I have always had confidence in myself and in my thoughts. I believe that is part of my nature along with how my mother raised me. On of the things that I personally struggle with is taking time that is guilt free playing. I should not feel that way because I have three children and two of them are under the age of seven. I have taken time with them here of late with the snow showers, but I did set a time limit so that I could play semi-guilt free.

I did not have any trouble setting up my blog. Blogger is very user friendly and simplistic to understand and use.

I would like to learn more about different ways that teachers use blogs with their students.