Google

Google Maps Challenge

by Katherine Ramsey

• What did you create, and why? 

        I created a lesson on Google Maps. Students will learn how to find information using Google Maps. My students generally have a difficult time with estimating distances, so that will be the focus of the lesson. 

https://docs.google.com/a/edmonds.wednet.edu/document/d/13QcbhXDRSxynRlfYXbdJDRaGpD8fPDAWQIzutdsv5mA/edit?usp=sharing

• What went well for you?

       Everything went well in this challenge. The tutorials were easy to follow. 

• What was challenging?

        Nothing was challenging on this one. It was even easy to figure out what I would need to teach my students on how to use Google Maps.

• What did you enjoy? 

        I enjoyed using Google Maps to see that they had updated the Street View of my house finally. We painted five or six years ago and they had still shown the old color until very recently. I'm looking forward to teaching the lesson this fall as my students will groan when they realize I'm using Pittsburgh information. I love the Steelers vs. Seahawks discussions that we have in my class.

• What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families? 

         I can see using Google Maps for estimating distances as a warm up exercise at times to make sure that we get good at the skills needed to find places and estimate distances.

Challenge: Chromebook Apps and Extensions

What did you create, and why?

I downloaded a few extensions for use in my work and work with students. I chose Dualless and Add Blocker Plus because I think they will help me as I work and also help when I present information to students.

What went well for you?

I love how ABS gives me peace of mind while using my laptop with groups. I never know what might pop up, especially when showing kids how to search. It was easy to download and started working right away. I also tried Dualless which was really cool. I wish I had had this while I was working on my Master’s! There are times when I would really like to see more than one webpage at a time (I am an admitted tab-aholic).

What was challenging?

Nothing! It was easy to find, download, and start using both of these tools. I highly recommend both of these tools.

What did you enjoy?

I enjoyed playing with the different ways you can split screens using Dualless. It really optimizes what you can see, and with endless options for splitting there is a view for every project. Using ABP is just plain enjoyable, who doesn’t want to hack away at bothersome adds that come up while you surf the web?!

What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families?

These two things will help me as a teacher while I look for lesson ideas, research, and surf the web by streamlining what I see. I will most definitely share these with teaching partners because they will improve anyone’s internet quality of life. These will also help with using my laptop to present information to my students. ABP will help with unexpected adds that pop up while I teach web searches. Dualless will help with lessons I teach on evaluating web sources. I won’t have to flip back and forth between screens to compare. I am very excited to use these!

Challenge: Google Forms

What did you create, and why?

I created a Google form for my parents to fill out at the beginning of the year so that I can find out more information about the best way to contact them, helpful information about their child and family, and ways we can help them with homework. I created this to help collect information from parents at the Welcome Back Dinner.

What went well for you?

I love how simple and easy it is to create a form. It’s streamlined and easy to navigate. It was fun to play with the different response types, it helped me to think of more questions to add. Well done Google!

What was challenging?

Nothing! The only thing I wondered was if responders could check all boxes that applied to them, but I found out they could after I finished the form and tried it out.

What did you enjoy?

I enjoyed finding out how the different response types worked, it helped me think of more questions to add to the form.

What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families?

I envision having a computer available for parents to come by and fill out the form as they meet with us during the Welcome Back Dinner or Curriculum Night. My hope is that this can get us more responses that traditional paper/pencil surveys that we send home.

Google Calendar Challenge

What did I create? Why?
I wanted to create a classroom calendar that I can use to communicate information with families in my classroom. I wanted to have one space that I can share District, school, and classroom specific information with families. I plan to post this to my classroom webpage as well as sharing it with families.
What went well? Challenging?

I found the process of creating a calendar pretty easy and I especially liked how I could color code events to keep things visually organized. Trying to make this calendar now was a bit challenging as I did not intend to use it with my 4th grade students as much as communicating with families. This meant that I had limited events to add other than district dates, as the school's events are not yet determined. I will plan to add school and classroom events as they become available throughout the year.
Ideas?

One of the things that I am thinking about trying to add is family community events, so that families could have opportunities to do free/inexpensive things together as a family. 

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=edmonds.wednet.edu_le98obadl6kqseckflq7d2mt7g%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Vancouver

Challenge: Blogs in the Classroom

What did you create and why?

I created a blog for Learning Support at my school. I created this as a place for parents of students in Learning Support to be able to look at our newsletters, find important information, and see work their student has completed in Learning Support. 

What went well for you?

Creating the blog and posting to it was relatively easy and quick. It was also easy to add a picture to the text and make it look nice.

What was challenging?

I didn't run into any issues or struggles as of yet but I haven't delved that deeply into the ins and outs of blogging, just the basics. I'm sure something will pop up to frustrate me sometime. :)

What did you enjoy?

I enjoyed customizing the blog and being able to invite my colleagues to publish to it as well. I think it's more user friendly than our classroom Swift page to add to.

What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families?

I would like to see if this blog gets more traffic than we normally get from parents of our students. I am going to create a link on our Swift page for students and parents to use. I would like to be able to post student work as well as the newsletter we send out with important information about Learning Support. This might be easier for some parents to access than their child's backpack. :)

Chromebook Basics

Chromebook Basics Challenge

by Katherine Ramsey

• What did you create, and why? 

         I didn't create anything for this challenge. I ready articles and took a quiz. I scored 81.25% on the quiz which is a passing score, but just barely.

• What went well for you?

       The lessons were easy to follow and seemed to flow together well. 

• What was challenging?

        There wasn't anything particularly challenging about this one. I should have paid a little better attention to some of the information provided in order to get a better score on the quiz.

• What did you enjoy? 

         I enjoyed learning how to help students with their Chromebooks. I didn't realize their "CapsLock" button was a magnifying glass. I do now.

• What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families? 

         This information may be useful when 7th graders start in the fall with little experience with Chromebooks.

Google

Google Keep Challenge

by Katherine Ramsey

• What did you create, and why? 

         I created a Google Keep note and shared it with Christa Polzin. I couldn't figure out how to share it to the blog. This could be a great way for students to manage their homework reminders. It could also be a great tool for students to work on ideas together.

• What went well for you?

        It was fairly easy to create the note, change the color, make it into a list, and share it with someone.

• What was challenging?

        I wanted to insert an image from the internet but that didn't seem to be a capability. Also, I couldn't figure out how to share it to the blog.

• What did you enjoy? 

         I enjoyed learning about a new way to keep track of things.

• What ideas do you have for using this tool with your students, grade level, staff or to communicate with families? 

         I could use this with students to have them create notes with questions they may come up with when doing their homework - they could help each other. I could also use this as an area for them to store reminders for themselves. It might have an application for collaborating with other teachers or with parents.