December 8, 2016

Session Leader: Ed Campos Jr. @edcampOSjr

Collaborative Session Notes

Workshop Slide Deck

GOOGLE SEARCH

Ed provided some great tips on how to search effectively. He shared the resource, A Google A Day, which is a fun tool to challenge students to improve their search skills and access information quickly. He recommended it for middle and high school students. I will have to preview the search prompts that come up over the winter break to see if this resource is appropriate for my fourth grade students.

Another resources he shared, which I plan on teaching my students about, are the punctuation tips for Google searches.

Google Search Punctuation

These tips and tricks will help my students navigate the vast amount of information they have available to them at their fingertips to find specific, credible resources for what they are seeking.

Because I teach elementary students, I am always concerned about students coming across inappropriate content as they are researching. The tool, Custom Search Engine is a way to create a custom search engine which will allow students to search for information, and the results will only come from website that I have deemed appropriate for their age group. This would be a great grade level project to undertake. With the help of my colleagues, we could curate a set of appropriate resources for social studies and science content that is appropriate for our students and will provide them with the information they are looking for. I began creating a search engine with sites that are kids safe and would cover many of the research topics that I want my fourth graders to explore. Here is the link to the search engine I created: FOURTH GRADE CUSTOM SEARCH ENGINE

The images below show how easy it is to add a URL to your custom search engine. I am also showing the results that I got when I searched for Martin Luther King Jr. in the custom search engine as opposed to the regular Google search engine.

I love the idea of using a custom search engine to allow my students the opportunity to learn how to search without the risk of coming across inappropriate content. On the other hand, I think it is important for teachers to consider their own biases and make sure they do extensive research to include the most well-rounded and accurate information. If we are limiting our students to a particular set of websites, we are in a way censoring them, and limiting their access to knowledge. As with all our lesson planning, this is a responsibility we need to be very aware of.

Learn how to create your own Custom Google Search Engine by following the directions on THIS BLOG

GOOGLE CALENDAR

I have been a Google user for quite some time with my personal email, calendar, contacts, and notes. I was thrilled when my district acquired a Google domain about two years. The challenge is that many teachers in the district haven't embraced it, or they are still unaware that we even have a Google domain and accounts for all the students. My hope is to continue promoting the benefits of the Google Suite among my fellow teachers to get more of them on board. My goal for next school year is to work with my principal and office manager to get more of our faculty and staff information posted online. Staff meetings, training, field trips, IEP and SST meetings, emergency drills, and facility use checkouts could all be on a Google calendar where participants can view attached documents such as agendas and links to collaborative notes documents. Staff members will also be able to set reminders for upcoming meetings and school events. Right now, my principal writes her daily schedule on a white board posted on her office door, which means that teachers have to walk across campus to see if she is available or when a good time to talk to her would be. It would be AMAZING if her daily schedule was visible to staff members, especially when we are scheduling parent / teacher conferences, and we want to invite her to attend. It will take time and effort to get the whole staff on board, but I think the payoff will be huge.

I plan on embedding a Google calendar on my class website where I can post assignments, tests, projects, and reminders for my students. I love the fact that assignments posted in Google classroom will automatically appear on Google calendars. May of my students' parents don't access their child's classroom, but I know they would appreciate seeing the assignment due dates on a calendar.

GOOGLE +

I am new to Google +, but I can already see the benefits of using it to connect with other teachers and educational leaders. Before joining the IEC, the only Google + community I was involved in was the Seesaw Ambassador group. After Thursday night's workshop, I am now a member of several more communities. Ed shared some of his favorites and gave us time to explore and find other topics that interested us.

I found groups for Google Classroom, Mystery Skype, Global Read-Aloud, and Breakout EDU.

Similar to my comments about Google Calendar, my goal is to get my whole staff on board with using Google +. If my school site had a private Google + community, we would be able to share what we are doing in the classroom on a day to day basis, online resources, and articles on best practices and trends in education. It would also be a place to access information such as our duty roster, links to shared photo albums, minutes from staff meetings, and notices from the office. Currently, my principal shares information and schedules with us by using print outs, memos placed in our mail boxes, and a monthly "nuts, and bolts" staff meeting. Papers are easy to lose and difficult to update once they are printed and distributed. The only professional sharing that happens at my school is an occasional article that is printed out and left on the staff room table. I hope my colleagues will quickly see the benefits of sharing in an online community. It will streamline communication, and promote sharing among staff members. More time will be available at our staff meeting for meaningful professional development as opposed to wasting time on logistics that can easily be shared digitally.

GOOGLE HANGOUTS

Before the workshop, I had never tried Google Hangouts. It was refreshing to see how easy it was to join a hangout as well as set up a hangout and invite participants. The only reason I haven't done a mystery Skype or a mystery hangout before is because I have been nervous about the technology used to make the connections. Having the experience in the workshop makes me feel so much more comfortable with trying this in front of my students. I have already schedule a Google Hangout with one of the Jr. high teachers at the middle school down the street from me. My fourth graders will be able to see the media center at the middle school and hear from the sixth graders what they are learning about and working on. I can't wait!

Google instructions about creating a hangout HERE

Overall I felt the workshop was very beneficial. It was all about streamlining workflow and learning how to work smarter. My students will benefit from learning how to search effectively and communicate with classroom around the world using Google Hangouts.