Tool #4 post:

1. Create at least one document in Google Docs and share it with a few others on your campus or within your department. It could a team member, a department colleague, or another teacher with whom you plan a collaboration. Ask that person to comment or chat and real-time edit the document with you.
2. Create one form in Google Docs and send it via email to at least two other people and ask them to respond.
3. Briefly discuss how you can use the tools in Google Apps with your team or department. How can you incorporate Google Apps as a tool in your classroom? Which tools are you excited about using with students?


1. I have created a couple of documents and am waiting for responses to this document. I have used google docs with students, but was not aware that they could have me make edits to their work. I also did not realize that all drafts of their documents are saved as they are corrected. I will need to see how this works as I receive edits back on my documents.
2. I have some issues using google docs with printing. Sometimes the documents will not print properly. If anyone has any tips for avoiding this, I would love to hear them. I have problem solved by having students e-mail me their documents in rich format, so that we could print them from a computer that was aligned to the printer. Again, if anyone has any tips, I am all ears. Does anyone use it regularly in their classrooms. I would love to know, so that throughout the year, I can contact you with my questions and we can problem solve together. IA m willing to be a resource for you as well.
3. Google docs will be great for sharing presentations with teammates. We can each add our page rather than having one person create the whole thing. It could be a great a time saver. I hope we remember to use this in the fall and save our documents here. How much space do we get?
I am excited to use the google docs more with my students and provide edited copies to them. Most kids have a hard time editing their work and this will be a helpful tool.
4. I just had some live editing with Lisa and Sally C. Google docs is a really great way to work on a document with someone who is in another room or another computer. You can live chat about a document and watch someone edit while working on a piece with them. WOW! What a fantastic tool. Love it!

This is the video I spoke about earlier.  Let's see if it works.  It is a great addition to the Constitution chapter in American History.

For your Tool #3 Assignment:

1. The video above is supposed to be a link to Youtube for "I'm Just a Bill" that I have used before in my classroom.  I was trying to embed it into the blog.  I was not able to make it a hotlink.  I will try again in a new post.  
2. I had some trouble with teachertube and school tube.  I did not find it to be very user friendly.  I do not anticipate using them very much. 
3. Instead,  I will go directly to Discovery Education for support for history and language arts.  I found several language arts links that I will be able to use in teaching my language arts curriculum.  I will be teaching mini lessons about grammar and punctuation and there are some videos I will embed into my lessons.  I think linking some to my Edmodo page make sense, too.  This is a short clip about punctuation. http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=BA5CE060-A4EA-4839-AF15-DDD1F4B95AE1&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
4. I went to PBS.org and discovered that there are several videos that I could use to support the reading that we do in history and tie it in to LA with the novels we are reading.  I could get really individualized and download various support links for different novels that students are reading.  The hardest part about reading historical fiction is having enough background knowledge to follow the story and notice what pieces are of historical significance. I find that most of the time the kids ignoret he history and just read the plot.  They would notice and learn more if they had a but of the history.  I can't teach it all, especailly when students are reading various novels.    This will be a great tool to support what the students are reading. THis particular link is about the depression and riding the rails.  It reminds me a bit of Bud, Not Buddy, but I found that Cynthia DeFelice has a  novel called Nowhere to Call Home that directly relates to this video.  I discovered a great site called bookgirl.tripod.com that lists several novels/book based on genre and historical period in time.  I will be using that site again. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rails/player/
5. No. 3- I was not aware of the re-purpose and add value part of the copyright law.  That video was helpful for me to understand how to re-use pictures and make them useful for others in a different way.  
6. I created a Dropbox account and added some documents into it.  I also added it my phone. It will be useful for times when the SBISD server is not available.  I can access my documents easily from there.  I am not sure how I will use it with the class. I will see how my colleagues use and copy the ideas that I like.  

Tool #2

1. I visited several blogs and added several links to my blog as you can see in the bottom right corner of this page. I commented on The Innovative Teacher about BYO- Bring your Own Technology. To summarize the article was discussing the benefits of students bringing their own technology to school and the infrastructure needed for it to happen successfully. This year, I experimented with this since we figured out how to access the network and I found it to be very useful. The kids felt more in control of the technology and were more apt to problem solve since it was their own technology. Read the article if you are interested. It was pretty interesting. Let me know what you think.

In addition, I will be following on Google Reader the sites that I added to my blog. I decided that if I found them useful, others might also want to know what I am reading on my own.

2. I have decided at least so far, that the blog might be something I want to use for professional purposes. I will see where 11 Tools leads me with this blog, but at this point, I do not think the kids will want to follow it. When I looked at other teacher blogs from other schools, most of them were set up for the purpose of talking to other educators and professionals. It would not necessarily appeal to children the way I am headed right now. I will stick to Edmodo for the children right now.

What stood out from the commenting advice was that we need to invite people to comment on our site and leave specific guidelines about commenting. I have yet to do that, but I plan to add that to my site. Many people just read what others are saying and do not comment. Since I have had a blog and use Edmodo with my class, I have noticed that I get the most feedback when I pose a question after my opinion like, "What do you think about...?".

I had no problem sharing my thoughts publicly, which should not surprise those who know me if you are reading my blog. I form opinions and am not afraid to voice them. I can see, though, how a blog would give people a voice who do not like comment in front of their peers. I see it in the classroom when I pose a question on Edmodo. Students who I do not hear from in whole class discussion are able to voice their opinions very clearly and sometimes very strongly through written communication. Through writing on a blog, complete thoughts can be written without interruption of thought from others. That is one difference that I can see from sharing successes/ challenges with other teammates. However, when communicating face to face, there is immediate feedback, which is often needed when discussing a problem. I understand why so many communities set up live chats to create that immediate feedback from peers.

3. A site I will visit often is www.readwriteinspire.blogspot.com . It is a blog inspired by Katie Wood Ray. Justt this week Gary Paulsen posted some writing tips. It is full of thoughtful writing ideas and reflective comments from other teachers. You can access it from my blog at the LIVING link. Check it out and tell me what you think. ( I just invited you to post if you didn't catch that.)