G(o the possibilities)ogle

Google it!

Google has now become both a noun and a verb in the English language. Doing a research project on blue wales? Searching for concert venues in your area? Looking for a place to grab a bite to eat or ways to get connected in your community? Well..GOOGLE IT!

There is no doubt Google has opened the doors for endless possibilities of knowledge and placed it all in palms of our hands! And it just keeps getting better!

Google has certainly earned it’s rightful place in the classroom, encompassing all of the needs for  textbooks, chalkboards, overheads, DVDS, notebooks, homework folders, word programs, and pretty much anything else you can think of as a tool for education, except for the teacher, of course! 

(However in some cases we find ourselves pondering if even the teacher really is necessary..)

Google offers so many options that are vital in the progress of education, it is impossible to talk about them all in one post! So Today I will focus on Google Docs.

Google Docs is a program EVERYONE should be completely comfortable using and utilizing to the fullest of it’s capabilities! It is a time saver, a space saver, an energy saver....and it can do everything those fancy, EXPENSIVE office programs can do (and better) for FREE!

To really get an understanding of Google Docs, just like anything else, you need HANDS ON experience! Go... TRY IT OUT! (create a GMail account and get started!) Click away, make documents, manage spreadsheets...make mistakes (that's why there is that ever so gracious undo button!)

So how do we USE IT in the CLASSROOM?!

In our 5th grad class here at Innovative Elementary we use google docs daily! Each student has a journal  saved in Mrs. Kirkland's documents. This takes the term “free write” to a whole new level! Students post links, videos, pictures, charts.... anything!!! There journals now include not just literacy practice, but web-research skills, technology skills, creativity, and so much more. It is as wonderful a tool as you can make it to be in your classroom.

We also submit all of our homework on google docs (we are tree loving paper savers!), both students and parents are highly encouraged (dare we say it...required) to have a GMail account so Mrs. Kirkland can monitor who is making what changes to a research project (for example). This works great in group assignments too! Mrs. Kirkland can truly evaluate just how much each student contributed, using Google’s shared document ability you can see which user does what to every document!