Spreadsheet & Survey fun... Fill it out!

So... apparently I'm suppose talk about what I learned today. We learned about spreadsheets and google docs. As teachers we can create spreadsheets to keep track of various teacher stuff like grades or reading progress. Spreadsheets can help us stay organized. As for surveys you can get parental input and advice on what they want their children to learn. It would also make it a lot easier to send out fliers that work with parent permission for different stuff.

I created this butt-kickin' survey, feel free to take at your own leisure. I'm so cool like that. :) Seriously... lol just kidding

Microsoft Word/Google Docs in Classrooms

Today we learned about collaborative writing. Here's an example:

This morning I got up early to practice on the ice rink with my team. We started off with warm-ups and our coach said that we’d be here for a good while. I wonder if we’ll be going over those couple lifts that are in our routines. My partner once dropped me and I hope that doesn’t happen again. I am still recovering from that fall, well mentally any way. If he drops me again, I will never forgive him. I’ve waited my whole life for this moment. I just wish I had found a new partner in time to train and compete in the Olympics. Oh well, I guess I can try to do great on my own without my partner. I get out on the ice and realize that all I can do is skate in circles because I’m used to getting carried around the ice, not skating. Luckily my partner makes the dramatic entrance as usual and is just in time. (SO TYPICAL!!! ALWAYS STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT!)

Through Microsoft Word and Google Docs, I can help my students write/type through the computer. With Microsoft Word, students can learn to type and create multimedia writings. Which is pretty cool. With Google Docs, they can all share and take part in each other's writing. I thought it was pretty cool. I wouldn't have to worry about wasting paper since it's all digital too. I like Microsoft Word, but for collaborative writing, I would use Google Docs. It seems a whole lot easier, but... in order for it to work, all of my students would have to have a gmail account and password. I don't know if I really want to mess with that; it might be more tedious than it's worth.

I'm not so sure that it would be a good idea to use with young children too. They aren't too knowledgeable with technology and multimedia software. For example: 2nd graders are just learning how to type. It's entirely new for them. If I were to do collaborative writing with my students at such a young age, I would do it out loud. I may start with pencil and paper, play a game where you pass your paper in circulation and then when it is all done, have them type it out on Microsoft Word. But using Google Docs at such a young age might be a bit out of their league. I probably wouldn't use Google Docs until 4th or 5th grade. They could use Google Docs as a way of writing papers and peer editing and Word for journal entries. It's an idea. Another possibility for Google Docs is to use it with the connection to parents. Have them write their thoughts about what they think about what is going on in their students' education with their name and date.

I'm not entirely sure if I will or how I will use Microsoft Word and Google Docs in my classroom, but it should be an interesting challenge to do so.

Copyright Laws

Copyright laws are a big deal that a lot of people don't take into consideration when they surf the web and use the various amounts of information from the websites. I thought this was a good emphasis to learn about because as teachers, we are going to be using various forms of information in our classrooms to help teach our students. One benefit for using info, research and multimedia content is Fair Use. With fair use, I can use the material to educate my students legally. There are limitations with fair use as well. Which is also important to take into consideration. We need to use the information that we gather responsibly as teachers. Set a standard for our students.

One thing I also wanted to note that I read on a website was that if you are in doubt about whether or not you need permission to use something--always ask permission. This is very beneficial to note as an individual. :)

YETC Learning

I learned a lot. I'm really excited to use the software that was showed to us today... spellingcity.com, zotero.org (sadly it only works firefox), storyline.net, stellarium.com and Xmind. Holy fetch! It was awesome! As we were exploring it, I got really curious about how they designed the programs and software--especially for Stellarium. With Stellarium you can find constellations and such about the stars using graphic telescopes, location and time reference. With Xmind, you can do concept maps very easily, which works great with demonstrating how things are connected. Zotero was pretty cool too. You can find information about different topics for lessons and organize it, reference it, quote it, etc. through Zotero--and then pull up all of your work again on any computer that has firefox. It just knows!

I never thought that there were so many options for educational technology. It boggles my mind. There's so many activities and references that you can use to better educate your students--the sky's the limit! I'm really excited to use the newly found software in my future classroom. I'm excited to explore all the different possibilities with these websites and software. The YETC tour today was awesome!