Google Tools in the

ClassroomBrandi Hamnett

Final Presentation

Google Docs

Google Document

• I needed to create a unit plan with a classmate

• My family obligations made it difficult for me to meet outside of class time

• By creating a google document my partner and I were able to work on and edit the document in real time

Google Form

• Every year I send out a student information form

• I need to flip through 30+ handwritten pages any time I need to use the information

• By creating a form I can now easily access and analyze the information in a spreadsheet

Google Doc Template – Central Archive Document

• I wanted to create a template for students to summarize books read with their group

• I edited a google template to create my template

• I added a Table of Contents to make finding / grading current entries easier

Google Doc – Collaborative Work

• I created a unit template for my partner and I to use as we completed our work

• I saved my work to word before sharing the document because I didn’t yet know I could revert to previous versions and wanted to be sure my work wasn’t “messed up” or “lost”

• I later accidently deleted the document (while learning to create/delete folders) and thank goodness had the backup copy

• Luckily, my teammate had made very few changes to the document!

• Lesson learned – NEVER say yes I want to delete permanently

Form – Organized

Information

Template – Central Archive Document

Google Earth

• I chose this tool because I teach social studies for the entire fourth grade – I made placemarks for my US Geography lesson

• Our textbook is titled “Regions of the United States” – Google Earth will enrich every chapter!

Google Calendar

• Although I already had been using Google calendar with my son and husband, I learned about new features – invitations and private verses public sharing options

Google Groups - joining

Love the Google tools education group – so helpful for someone just learning to integrate this into my classroom. Most essential tip – for form tests make the first question the student’s name.

Google Groups - creating

• I plan to also use google groups once school begins to give the same permissions to a group of people for some of my google docs

• For example: I created a google group for my grade level partners/PLC team to use for collaboration

• For example: I think it would be useful to make a classroom parent group for sharing information

Google ReaderI love to research, but often spend a ton of time finding all these great resources and then forget about them soon after – by using the chicklets/RSS links Google Reader will import and remember for me!

Reflection

• I have to say that Google Docs is my favorite tool – probably because it is so similar to Office - I already feel comfortable and see a ton of possibility

• Google Reader and Groups are definitely new ideas for me – being part of my very first attempts at social networking. I have so much more to explore and am looking forward to becoming more involved

• I already love my personal Google calendar. I see a possibility for creating one for school to keep parents and students up to date on assignments and even curriculum topics being covered in class throughout the year.

• Google Earth is definitely an amazing tool for social studies – I just love that such a vast array of visuals are at my fingertips and FREE