Google Tools...

I found this activity in class to be very useful and very helpful. I never new that more than one person could work on a docuement at the same time. Google Docs are very useful because we can store so much information and edit them at anytime. I love that I can invite other people and they can edit my information as well. I think that these type of applications are good tools to use in classrooms with older students. I would definitely use these tools in future assignments in the classroom. It is a great way to tell if everyone in the group is contributing effort and not just one person.

Concept Mapping

Google Groups

I found this assignment to be very insightful and useful. I think that having to look up the five pages that cover what we are learning in class is very helpful to my understanding of technology. I now know different applications that can be used when I am creating a discussion form. I know how to link something to a web page, insert images, and use my Google account. I did not really encounter any problems when creating my postings. The only real issue I had was trying to find information that I thought was important or useful for this class. Some things that are found on the Internet are just useless pages and sites that people create to voice their own opinions. So, it did take me a good bit of reading to find pages that I thought were interesting.

Google Documents is probably my favorite application that our accounts have. I like know that I can use it as a storage unit for all of my useful documents. I am even using it for information and images that have nothing to do with this class. I think that if more people knew how to properly use accounts such as Google, they would use them instead of regular emails. I believe that if you are working with older children as in high school and college, that Google Groups would be useful. This could be used to create groups for your different sections on each class. Each class can have their own group and can complete discussions on what they learned throughout each lesson. If I were to teach older students I would definitely use this tool. I plan on teaching Pre-K through 1st grade. I could use Google Groups to post announcements and notices to parents. I could also give brief descriptions on what their children are learning each week. I am not too sure on how I will utilize this application yet, but I am sure I will figure something out in the future.


I am sorry this is a little late! I thought that the Google Groups reflection was supposed to be posted on our group page.

Web Tools...

I must say that last Monday was a bit stressful for me during the class. I think I got a little behind during the web tools section when we were creating the rubrics. I really did like using those three websites that we learned about. The test maker site was my favorite. I loved all of the different ways it allows you to change up the test itself. My least favorite was creating the rubrics. I found that their examples were a bit wordy and I had to edit half of them myself. Therefor, I think that I would much rather create my own rubrics. TrackStar was very interesting. I had a to remember how to do it all again once I got home to create my own track. I think that it is a very good way to share educational websites with fellow educators, parents, and students. During this assignment i found several websites that I fell in love with. Most of them have great ideas, activites, and teaching techniques that I will definitely use in my classroom. I also like that most of the websites I found had free printables. There were lesson plans, activites, and assessments. FREE educational material is something that all teachers need as some point in their career. We tend to run out of ideas, so we have to borrow other people's to get the light bulb turned back on in our heads.

Please view my artifacts: Rubric, Test, Online Bookmark