Today we really dug deep into Google Sites and learned what it had to offer as website builders. As with everything Google, what a great site! Just like Doc Waters pointed out during class, this site offers almost everything needed to create a website, and all for free and in an understandable format! I was a college student during the mid-90's when having an online presence really came into being in the mainstream. I knew many people who paid monthly subscription fees to have their "domain name" for classroom sites and other small business needs. Of course, paying for a domain name still makes sense if your online presence needs to be maximized, but for the regular Joe who might be teaching a classroom or organizing a group on a smaller scale, Google Sites is an easy and free way to accomplish an accessible online presence. I am always impressed with how user-friendly everything Google seems to be. Once you understand the basic mechanics for using Google, you can produce and edit original material easily and intuitively.
I enjoyed building my classroom website and intend to continue using it long after I have left EDSC 3250. For me, it has already become a work in progress. It is a virtual file cabinet that is easy to add to and edit down, based on my future needs. With a few tweaks here and there, it will be a site that will be ready to go when I start my own classroom. Aside from some of the lesson plans I have created in other classes (which I will obviously be incorporating into my Google Docs files), I can't think of a better and more practical tool to leave UVU with. I really appreciate that we are learning strategies and truly building our "bag of tricks" in EDSC 3250 this semester. I feel like it is this type of realistic preparation that will really benefit me in the long run.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
31 January - Google Part 1
Ah, the fantastic world of Google! To begin, I am a big fan of Google. I have been using the Google Calendar and Google Docs (and, of course, Gmail) for quite some time now in my personal life, and I think they are phenomenal tools for the online world in which most of us reside. The best part about Google for me, though, is the cost. Free! It doesn't get better than that. For my current job as a librarian, I often begin my research in Google Scholar and Google Books to see what resources I can gather before I begin the treacherous journey through the "paid" databases. Often, the kind of information I am looking for cannot be found in a free environment, but I am typically able to locate "jumping-off points" in Google that make my searching elsewhere much more productive. I believe that if most students understand how to find those initial starting points using Google, they will have an easier time locating authentic sources in other places.
As I said earlier, I have been using Google Docs for about a year with a church group that I am a part of. It has made life so much easier to create documents, put them out there, edit them, and view them whenever is convenient. Today, while we were working in this application in class, I couldn't help but think how easy it would be to use this tool when I am part of a team or department at a school. The documents stay closed to the group, but everyone within the group is able to have the most current version of the document available at all times. It saves someone the effort of revising the document and sending out a new attachment, and members of the group always trying to figure out which attachment is the most current. What a great tool! I also think the calendaring feature in Google is a great link for a classroom web page. Like the calendar we utilize in SCED 3250, due dates and activities are clear and posted. I have been assisting a junior-high-aged neighbor of mine with his homework for the past few months. Thankfully, the History teacher has a calendar posted on her UEN website, making it much easier for me to keep my little friend on track. I will definitely be using this tool in my own classroom.
In my estimation, there is a reason that Google has become a familiar part of the world's vocabulary in the past 10 years (and not just as a noun, but also as a verb)...it's valuable!
As I said earlier, I have been using Google Docs for about a year with a church group that I am a part of. It has made life so much easier to create documents, put them out there, edit them, and view them whenever is convenient. Today, while we were working in this application in class, I couldn't help but think how easy it would be to use this tool when I am part of a team or department at a school. The documents stay closed to the group, but everyone within the group is able to have the most current version of the document available at all times. It saves someone the effort of revising the document and sending out a new attachment, and members of the group always trying to figure out which attachment is the most current. What a great tool! I also think the calendaring feature in Google is a great link for a classroom web page. Like the calendar we utilize in SCED 3250, due dates and activities are clear and posted. I have been assisting a junior-high-aged neighbor of mine with his homework for the past few months. Thankfully, the History teacher has a calendar posted on her UEN website, making it much easier for me to keep my little friend on track. I will definitely be using this tool in my own classroom.
In my estimation, there is a reason that Google has become a familiar part of the world's vocabulary in the past 10 years (and not just as a noun, but also as a verb)...it's valuable!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
17 January - Introduction
I have many educational heroes who have inspired me and led to this point in my academic life and my career life. There have been so many teachers who have given me time and attention and have taken an interest in me personally. I can think back through my school years and remember each teacher, some with intense gratitude and fondness, and others with only a passing remembrance. However, I have two educational heroes that stand out from the rest. These two are very close to my heart: my mother and grandmother. My grandmother was a depression-era woman who was smart and quick and probably 50 years ahead of her time. She progressed rapidly through school because of her intelligence and graduated from high school with the intention of becoming a nurse. However, that dream was stymied by her poor economic standing. She went to work as a secretary, and soon found herself with five children. Unfortunately, she was also twice-divorced, and found herself the soul support of those five children. As a secretary in a brokerage, she often told me stories of how she would solve complicated mathematical equations for brokers who were making three times her salary, as well as advise them on their sales and other business. She could have easily been a broker herself, if she hadn't been a divorced mother of five with only a high school education. She fiercely taught her children and grandchildren the importance of gaining an education. Three of her five children went on to obtain college educations. I have often thought about her and what a wonderful nurse she would have been.
My second hero is my mom. With the influence of my grandmother, she knew she wanted more in life than what a high school education could provide. She entered college knowing that she would become a teacher. By the time she was a junior in college, she was teaching in the department. Upon graduating with her Bachelor's degree in Business Education, the university offered her a permanent position in the department, provided she would continue her education. She did continue and enjoyed a wonderful teaching career at that same university. She instilled in her children a love of learning and a love of school. Three of her four children (one of which is me!) have now completed at least one degree (in most cases, several degrees) and my remaining sibling has finally realized the value of education and has returned to school.
Both of these women had a great impact on me, always encouraging me and pushing me to go a little further. At one point during my first undergraduate degree, I was struggling with the university, my courses, and life in general. My grandmother wrote me a letter (despite the fact that I spoke with her on the phone nearly daily) telling me that there was not anything I could not accomplish if I decided I was going to accomplish it. The gentle but firm way she phrased much of her letter was a strength to me then, and is still a strength to me now--even though she has been gone now nearly 13 years. I am grateful she decided to put pen to paper so that I would have a lasting memory of her lesson in determination! Mixed with the encouragement and support that I have always received--and continue to receive almost daily--from my mother, I always know that I have generations of strong women preceding me in my journey. I can become what I now know I want to become: a teacher. Despite the struggles financially and physically on this fourth trip back to college, I know I can finish and make my contribution to the field of education.
Education in America is always changing. With the rapid changes in technology, it is more important than ever that teachers have the knowledge to empower their students to succeed in the larger world. The classroom is the gateway to the universe. After being "in the world" and working in several different industries over the past 15 years, I know now that one of the best fields to be in is education. I look forward to taking the skills that I learn in this class into my future classroom. I know it will benefit my future students, and I know that it will also benefit me and future generations in my family.
My second hero is my mom. With the influence of my grandmother, she knew she wanted more in life than what a high school education could provide. She entered college knowing that she would become a teacher. By the time she was a junior in college, she was teaching in the department. Upon graduating with her Bachelor's degree in Business Education, the university offered her a permanent position in the department, provided she would continue her education. She did continue and enjoyed a wonderful teaching career at that same university. She instilled in her children a love of learning and a love of school. Three of her four children (one of which is me!) have now completed at least one degree (in most cases, several degrees) and my remaining sibling has finally realized the value of education and has returned to school.
Both of these women had a great impact on me, always encouraging me and pushing me to go a little further. At one point during my first undergraduate degree, I was struggling with the university, my courses, and life in general. My grandmother wrote me a letter (despite the fact that I spoke with her on the phone nearly daily) telling me that there was not anything I could not accomplish if I decided I was going to accomplish it. The gentle but firm way she phrased much of her letter was a strength to me then, and is still a strength to me now--even though she has been gone now nearly 13 years. I am grateful she decided to put pen to paper so that I would have a lasting memory of her lesson in determination! Mixed with the encouragement and support that I have always received--and continue to receive almost daily--from my mother, I always know that I have generations of strong women preceding me in my journey. I can become what I now know I want to become: a teacher. Despite the struggles financially and physically on this fourth trip back to college, I know I can finish and make my contribution to the field of education.
Education in America is always changing. With the rapid changes in technology, it is more important than ever that teachers have the knowledge to empower their students to succeed in the larger world. The classroom is the gateway to the universe. After being "in the world" and working in several different industries over the past 15 years, I know now that one of the best fields to be in is education. I look forward to taking the skills that I learn in this class into my future classroom. I know it will benefit my future students, and I know that it will also benefit me and future generations in my family.
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