What?
This week we learned about Google Tools. I learned a lot in class about all of the awesome tools that are offered by Google. Two of the tools that we learned about are Google Calendars and Google Documents. We have been asked to work with our team to put together a Welcome Letter for the parents and the second grade students of our new school.
So What?
The calendar tool is something that will help me now as I am in school learning to be a teacher. It will help me to keep track of the classes, meetings and assignments due in my classes. More and more things are coming up that have due dates such as the Praxis test and applying to the Education Department that I can not miss. Also, I will use this tool as a mother to keep all of the activities that we have as a family and individually straight. I was amazed at the calendars that Doc Waters has. I see how important planning and having a calendar with everything penciled in (typed in) so that nothing is forgotten, especially if you're as busy as Doc Waters. I plan to use the Google Calendar in my future classroom for many purposes. The calendar is perfect for posting upcoming classroom events and assignments and allowing the students and parents to have access. I also plan to use the calendar to keep track of appointments that I have with parents and to keep track of meetings I have with my team as well as other school related meetings. Another way that I will use the calendar in my teaching is to plan by subject throughout the day so that the alarm will alert me when it's about time to finish up with the subject at hand and move on to the next subject. We discussed this in class and I love this idea because I won't have to be constantly watching the clock because the alarm will tell me when to finish up. I am very excited to start using this tool!
Another Google Tool that we learned about is Google Documents. I had no idea that there was a program that allowed you to do pretty much the same thing as Microsoft Word but had even more to offer. I didn't know that you could add contributors to a document and they could add to it. This is a perfect tool to use with my colleagues when doing newsletters, welcome letters like we are doing in class, and creating lesson plans as a second grade team. This way all of the team is able to contribute to what we are working on and we can work more effectively as a team because everyone can add their own input. Another thing that I love about Google Docs is that it has an option to translate the document into several other languages. I speak Spanish but it would certainly make it easier to have it translated by Google Docs and then I can correct any funny translations to make it sound better. This will save me a lot of time and will be very helpful for the parents who may not speak or understand English. There also may be other languages besides Spanish that I will need to use the translation option for. I can also download a document into a web page. This is ideal for a classroom web page so that the parents and students are aware of what is happening in the classroom. One thing that was mentioned in class was that this would also be a great way to work on creative writing because the students can start a story and other students can add to it by being added as contributors. I would have loved to do that as an elementary student. There are so many things that Google Docs can help me with so that I can have better communication with parents, students and my colleagues. I look forward to working with my team to create our Welcome Letters and to learn more about what Google Docs can do.
Now What?
Now what does this mean for my future students? Both Google Calendars and Google Docs will allow me to spend more time focusing on the subjects we are working on and being able to be creative. The calendaring will allow me to be less focused on the clock and more attentive to the students and what I am teaching them. I will be less stressed about missing something important because I will have reminder alarms on my computer and phone. Right now I rely on my planner but things sometimes still get overlooked if I don't check it often but this won't happen with the calendar which sends me reminder emails and reminder texts/alarms. The Google Docs will make the classroom more earth (environment) friendly because we can do homework and projects online and won't be wasting paper. I actually love paper and pens but I know that this is not the best thing for our environment because it causes a lot of waste and kills trees. This may mean that I will spend a little more time planning and entering information into my calendar and the class website but in the long run it will be well worth it and will make my life a lot easier. I like that the parents will have access to the information that we will be working on in class and the events that will be happening in the classroom.
The calendar will help me to become a better teacher because it will allow the parents to see when I can use their help in the class. My hope is that they will feel more involved because they will know exactly what will be happening in their child's class. I will welcome their comments and opinions and hope that there will be open communication between the parents, the students and I.
My goal is to use the Google Docs as a creative outlet for the children. They can work on projects together and don't even have to be in school to do so. I can have them work on the projects as part of their homework and the students can do it in the comfort of their own homes with parents help if needed. They also have the option to add pictures, drawings and tables to the documents using Google Docs. This will also help the students to be more technically savvy even though they probably know more than I do at this point. I will understand it well and be able to teach them to use it and be creative at the same time.
Google Docs will help me to become a better colleague because by using it, we, as a team, are able to add our input in many things such as second grade newsletters, team meetings such as brainstorming and writing lesson plans that will be used by the team just to mention a few. This also allows us as a team to work on these projects when we have our planning time which is different for each teacher. We are also able to work on it from where ever we are since it is accessible to us through Gmail. We don't have to physically be there in the same room to collaborate with our team. The Google Calendar will allow me to be more organized and be to all meetings on time and not forget any of them. I love the freedom that both of these programs will offer me as a teacher. They will allow me to be organized and on top of the things that I am working on. It will benefit me as the teacher as well as the students.
Video Reflection
The weekly video for this week was called "I Am What I Learn". The video starts out with President Obama speaking to the students of the country. He encouraged the students to be the best that they can be and to improve their surroundings. They have the power to make a great change for the better in their lives and in the lives around them. He tells them how education is the key to being the best person you can be!
The video is about Rene, a student, who loves making movies and videos. She is passionate about it and understands that it takes a lot of hard work and determination to become who she really wants to be. She has a very difficult family life but she isn't allowing the hardship to determine where she is going in life. She wants to get good grades and be the very best person that she can be! I was impressed with the maturity that she had. She is a strong person that knows what she wants and how to get it through positive, educational ways and will not allow anything to get in the way of her dreams and goals! I need to be as focused and determined to be my best just as Rene is doing. She is a great example of the kind of determination and passion in the right direction that we want all of our students to have.
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