Tool 4

This tool showed up at the perfect time because it allowed me to work on my user knowledge of google apps.  Recently, our school took part in a training on google apps in preparation for the new computers our campus will receive.  Now that every student will have their own google account, it has become increasingly important for us to be extremely knowledgable about the ins and outs of the applications.

After reading about Google Docs I decided to make my first document useful to my Language Arts curriculum.  We've recently been studying the three types of connections in our LA classroom so I typed up a fill in the blank excercise to encourage my students to go deeper with their individual connections.
Three Types of Connections

I loved how easy it was to share my document with my LA teammate, Kendall.  She was able to look at it quickly and make any changes she thought we needed and I could see it immediately.  In addition this handout would be perfect to share with kids on their individual Google Accounts.  This way they could access it easily anytime they needed to refer to it.  I can't wait to try it in the classroom!

Going right along with Google Docs is Google Reader.  It's so cool that all five of my followed blogs are right up on one page!  I can easily see updated posts from each one without having to toggle between several different screens.  In the classroom, I've planned to introduce blogging as a forum for book club discussions.  This will make it extremely easy for me to monitor each each blog from one screen.  What a timesaver!