All Things Google

*I tried to post my Google Document of this entry, but for some reason it said that my Blog preferences wouldn't allow it. So I just copied and pasted the entry.

Google Documents, Notebook and Calendar are several of the new and very useful tools that I have been shown through CEP 416. These tools are not only useful for my own personal daily life, but they will also become extremely useful in my future classroom.

• Google Calendar will have a very clear position in my future classroom. I will create a class calendar that contains assignment due dates and reminders for students. I will teach students (and parents) how to view this calendar as a way of remembering the various activities and projects that are a part of our class. Students will be able to check this calendar whenever they are confused about an assignment. Another important aspect of the calendar is that parents can look at it and not have to ask myself or their child about assignments. Besides the academic use of the calendar I would also like to post (perhaps on a separate calendar) extra-curricular activities that are happening at the school or in the community for students to participate in. I believe that maintaining an up-to date calendar is the best way to stay organized and on time. I plan on encouraging students to develop their ability of keeping a calendar up-to-date.

• Google Notebook will also be an encouraged tool for students to use in order to stay organized. Researching on the web can often be a bit overwhelming and I hope by the time I am teaching I have collecting enough useful tools for my students so that they will feel confident surfing the web for information. I often find myself losing particular websites or quotes online that I would like to use in papers or projects and I typically get a bit frustrated. I think Google Notebook will provide students with a way of storing useful information while they are researching. I think the important aspect of Notebook is that the user doesn't have to stop their searching in order to file or take-note-of important information, they can simply copy and past the information into Notebook. Their entry will then have the desired information and the source waiting for them to use after they have finished researching. If students are working on research papers I could also see Notebook be useful in the regards that I would ask for students to print off their Notebook entries and turn them in with the paper. These entries will help with connecting the written information with the source of the information. As the grader of these potential research papers I think it is important for students to develop their skills in citing their sources correctly and Notebook would help me to understand where they got their information.
• Google Documents will be another useful tool, especially when writing essays or research papers. Students will not have to worry about where to save their works-in-progress. They can simply store their papers in Google Documents. This tool could also be very helpful for teachers because students could include teachers as viewers or collaborators on their individual documents, allowing for the teachers to monitor their progress or edit while the student is between steps. Google Documents would provide students will clear ways and places of saving work that is in progress. Students would also be able to have their peers edit their papers online using the revisions tool. I can see this tool be very useful in every aspect of paper-writing.