Google Sites

Exploring Google Sites

This week I explored the ins and outs of creating a website using Google Sites. Click here for step-by-step directions on how-to create your own Google Site. This application seemed difficult at first glance. I have to admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed about making a website (sort of) from scratch. Thankfully, the Google Site was creating application was relatively simple and straightforward. Sites allows you to tailor your website to meet your needs. They even had a template for educational use, which I found extremely helpful when planning and creating my Google Site. You can customize the background, template, and fonts. One thing that I really liked about the Google Site was the variety of font choices. I have a secret obsession with fancy fonts and it kind of kills me that blogger doesn't have any more than 7 font choices. Another thing that I thought was totally awesome about Google Sites was the fact that I could easily and quickly insert any of my Google Docs, Forms, Calendars, Presentations, Albums, and more. This is definitely time saving! When it comes to blogging or websites, I need it to be easily malleable. Anything that is too complicated makes me not want to use it because I am a BUSY person! Sites helps you out because it allows you to have quick access to all things Google. I had my website up and running much quicker than I anticipated. Now I have created a very functional resource for my students and parents for my classroom.

Check out my Google Site here. 

*If you are interested in giving it a try and need some support, check out this introduction to Google Sites video.

*Here are 5 great articles about using Google Sites in the classroom.

• Teacher's Guide on the Use of Google Sites in the Classroom
• How to Expertly Organize Your Classroom With Google Sites
• Soaring to New Sites: Using Google Sites in Education (Google Slides Presentation)
• Using Google Sites as Student and Teacher Portfolios
• Google for Educators: The Best Features for Busy Teachers (highlights other awesome Google tools for educators in addition to Sites)

Hopefully this inspires you to try Google Sites for yourself. It is a great tool that is easy to use and can serve as a great resource in the classroom.

-Mrs. Adkins

Google Earth vs. Google Tour Builder

Google Earth vs. Google Tour Builder

I am sure that we have all used Google Earth at some point. It is a great way to see our wondrous planet at large and even the smallest details, like your own house. This tool is a fantastic and simple way to explore Earth without having to step foot outside the 4 walls of your home. This week I explored the amazing features of Google Earth has to offer. I also had the opportunity to learn a new tool called Google Tour Builder. Take a look below to learn a little bit more about these Google features:

Google Earth:

Click here to download the free Google Earth application. This application allows you to view images of Earth from far and near. There are filters in the navigation bar that allow you to tailor exactly what you will see. For example, I could click on "Ocean" and choose from a variety of different filters or locators (coral reefs, tracked animals, fisheries, and more). The options range from simple locations on Earth all the way to Conservation locations. Are you interested in using Google Earth in the classroom? Check out these 5 websites for ways to use it in your classroom:

• Google Earth in the Classroom
• 50 Exciting Ideas for the Classroom
• How Teachers are Using Google Earth in the Classroom
• Using Google Earth for Science
• Google Earth in the Classroom by PLB 

Check out this video below to learn more about using Google Earth.

Google Tour Builder:

Tour builder uses the features of Google Earth to allow you to create your own tour. Click here to go to Google Tour Builder. I suggest that you use a browser other than Chrome to create your tour. Why? Unfortunately, Chrome does not support 3-D features for your tour. I would suggest using Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer. Once you have signed in (with your Google account), create your tour. Choose your starting location and add as many locations to your tour as you would like! For each location you can add videos or photos (but not both). You can also include a description of your location. Tour builder allows you to customize the view at each location either "plan view" (like a birds eye view) or a more topographical view (3-D). You can create the 3-D view by selecting your location and zooming in. Once you have reached your desired zoom, hold down the "shift" button on your keyboard and use the keyboard arrows to change the view to see more topographical features. How cool is that!? When you have completed your tour you can share it with the world!

Click here for a link to a Google Tour that I created for my students!

Check out this video to learn more about using Google Tour Builder.

Which tool do you prefer: Google Earth or Google Tour Builder? Honestly, I enjoy both tools! They have wonderful applications for any classroom.

Happy Googling!

- Mrs. Adkins

Google Story Builder, YouTube, and More...

Exploring Google Story Builder, YouTube, and more...

I recently read an article by Alan November titled, "Banning School Containers." In this article, November talks about the benefits of utilizing technology in the classroom and he highlights the negatives when schools ban some of these tools. This week I worked with YouTube, Google Story Builder, and a few other Google tools. Why do I mention the article by Alan November? I mention it because in the past 5 weeks I have found out how absolutely wonderful Google is. I have learned how it can help me break through the boundaries and limitations my school district has created regarding technology. It allows me to make my classroom more engaging and relevant to my students. Take a look at some of the ways I have been able to use Google to engage my 21st century learners:

Google Story Builder:
Story Builder is a tool that allows the user to create an animated story or conversation. Click here to visit Google Story Builder. The basic features are quite simple to use and the process is very quick. Story creators can add music to set the mood and include multiple characters. One of the drawbacks of Story Builder is that it wouldn't work well for a longer conversation or story. It would take quite a bit of time for the story to play.
Story Builder could be used for students to create conversations between characters in a book, to write dialogue between two historical figures, or it could be used for students to summarize what they learned in a lesson (exit ticket).
Check out this video to see how students can use Google Story Builder in the classroom!

YouTube:
YouTube is an amazing website that has a lot of educational applications. Unfortunately, YouTube is not always accessible by students and in some cases teachers. School districts have a wide range of limitations for YouTube use. The negative in this is that YouTube has an extremely vast collection of videos that can be used for teachers and students in the classroom. My school district denies access to middle and elementary level students. High school students have limited access to YouTube. Teachers have no restrictions for using YouTube. This seems fairly reasonable; however, only giving teachers access means that my lessons involving YouTube would need to be teacher driven, rather than student driven. To get around these limitations, I fell back on the amazing features of Google to help me out!

Check out this Google Doc that I created so you can see step-by-step directions for uploading educational videos to your Google Drive. The directions also show you how you can give your students access to these videos by using Google URL shortener to create QR codes for your videos!

Other Google tools:
This week I had the opportunity to check out a few other Google tools and review them. Check out my reviews below!

Google+ Hangouts

I LOVE Google Hangouts because it has far less glitches than I have experienced with Skype. Google also allows you to video chat with multiple people. As you talk to them, the person who is talking or was the last person talking is in the forefront. You can easily start, join, and exit a hangout. This tool can be accessed on a computer, tablet, or cellphone. It is free, which is fantastic. I can chat with people, send images, links, gifs, stickers, and more. This feature is almost like texting! Students could use this to collaborate with peers on a project if they were finding difficulties meeting at school. This would also be a cool tool for foreign language classes. Students could chat with students in foreign countries and practice their language skills. Students could also use the chat feature to communicate with one another. Check it out here!

Google Translate

I think this tool is great to use for a quick translation. Perhaps translating 1 or 2 words, or even a simple sentence would be the best use for this feature. Plus, it is great that there are so many different languages that you can choose from! One drawback is that it isn’t always precise. It doesn’t really conjugate verbs and use correct sentence structure. Students could use this to look up words in a text or article that are not of English origin. They could use it in a foreign language class as a quick reference. In the past, I have used Google Translate to better communicate with a student who spoke Farsi. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped tremendously! Check it out here!

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a great way for you to search for articles that have been deemed as “scholarly.” The database draws from academic journals, universities, and other websites. Most of these articles are full-text so you can have access to the entire document. The search database is quick and typically yields a large variety of relevant articles. Unfortunately, not every article that shows up in your search is scholarly! You must be cautious! This would be a great, free database for students to use to help them with research. I know that students at my school have used Google Scholar in their English/Reading classes. This feature can be utilized by any subject/content for a means of researching! It could also be used to help students learn to identify quality sources for collecting research and information. Check it out here!

Google Body (Zygote)

I thought that this tool seemed pretty cool! However, in order to access more content you have to pay a monthly fee. I liked the ease of use that it appears to have with allowing you to see the different “layers” of the human body. I wish that you could see more of the individual organs with the free version. Also, the free version is NOT free of advertisements. This tool would be a great for my science students to explore human anatomy. There are quiz tools for student practice. Students can also annotate while they are working with the human body. This would be a great tool to help my students study anatomy and see how all organs and organ systems work together to make the entire human body function. Check it out here!

As always, I hope you found this helpful and insightful! Google ROCKS!
-Mrs. Adkins

Google Photos, Calendar, and Keep

Exploring Google Photos, Calendar, and Keep

This week I dove deeper into Google Photos, Calendar, and Keep. I have been a long time user of all 3 of these Google features and I have been quite familiar with them. Each feature has the ability to be accessed on multiple devices and shared with others. If you have never tried any of them you should definitely do so; here's why!

Google Photos:

This Google tool is probably my most valued tool. I can't even begin to tell you how many pictures I take of my daughter with my cellphone. I used to get error messages on my phone saying that I was "running low on storage space" and I would have to remove data in order to store more pictures. Google Photos totally saved me! I synced my cellphone with my Google account and the rest is history! Now I have the ability to automatically upload my cellphone pictures to my Google Photos. I changed the setting so it deletes the photo from my cellphone - essentially creating an endless amount of photo storage space! Once the pictures are uploaded, Google automatically organizes them by date. You can create albums by selecting certain photos. This tool would be great for educators to use because albums can be shared. Here is an album I created for my Student Council trip to Children's Mercy South Hospital. I could easily share this calendar with other staff members from my school or even the students! Check out this video to learn more about Google Photos and everything it has to offer. Click here to go to Google Photos.

Side note: I recently became a customer for Google Fiber (Internet & TV service) - by connecting my Google account to my Fiber account I received a TERABYTE of storage! Now I definitely don't have to worry about running out of storage space for all of my videos and pictures. 

Google Calendar:

Tired of using the outdated spiral-bound planner? Google Calendar is your avenue into the 21st century (click here to go to Google Calendar). The calendar tool has many different features that allow you to stay organized and keep track of everything! Here are some of the cool features Google Calendar has to offer:

• Create multiple calendars for different groups/activities/classrooms
• Share your calendars with certain people or groups
• Sync with other devices through your Google log-in
• Access events and make changes while offline (will not sync until back online)
• Create recurring events with start and end dates
• Set reminders for events or activities
• Embed your calendar onto your website (great idea for educators)
• Check out this article for more tips for using Google Calendar for educators.

Take a look at this calendar I created for my school district's important events/dates!

Google Keep:

Keep is a great tool to help you stay organized (click here to go to Keep). It can be accessed through your Google Drive and it is also an app that you can download on your cellphone or tablet. Like most other Google tools, this one syncs to all devices and it allows you to share your notes, lists, and reminders with others. If you are a "checklist" person, this is the tool for you! My favorite way I like to use Keep is for creating grocery lists and to-do lists. I can share these lists with my husband so he can pick up items from the store if I don't have time. He can also access the to-do list and check items off as he finishes. That way we can BOTH see what is done and what still needs attention. To "Keep" my lists sorted I color code them (pink = work notes; blue = grocery lists; and green = to-do lists). There are so many neat features to Google Keep. Check out the video below for a tutorial!

As always, I hope you find these tips helpful and inspiring. Google has so many fantastic features that can all be applied to the classroom. Stay tuned for next week. Until then: Keep Calm and Google On!

-Mrs. Adkins

Google Drive & Google Forms

Google Drive & Google Forms

Google Drive has easily become one of the most user-friendly tools for educators to use. What is so great about it? It has transformed over the years to allow educators to create folders, share, edit, collaborate, communicate, and assess student work! Are you new to Google Drive and Google Forms? Take a look below to learn more about these valuable tools!

Google Drive:

Documents, spreadsheets, drawings, and more! Google Drive offers a one-stop shop for nearly anything you would need to do. Whether it is creating a graphic organizer for your classroom (check out Google Drawings here) or creating a template for an essay (check out Google Docs here), Google Drive offers a platform for collaborating with students online! Our students are becoming ever-dependent on technology. Many of them would be considered "digital natives." Google Drive creates an environment that is easy for these students to connect with. Drive offers many apps and it allows you to control who sees your work and who can edit the work. Don't be afraid - there is a lot that Google offers, but it is important to know that each application is user-friendly. There are a multitude of videos and articles that walk you through the steps of using each application. Check out this article to find ways to use Google Drive in the classroom.

Google Forms:

Google Forms is a quick and easy way to assess students, survey parents, or even sign up for an activity! Having used other survey-type websites, Google Forms is the easiest one I have used. The feature that I enjoy most is the fact that the responses are logged in a spreadsheet! Being a user of Edmodo, which is great - don't get me wrong, I do believe that Google Forms trumps the Edmodo quiz. I have encountered multiple issues with Edmodo quizzes and have yet to encounter an issue with Forms. I think forms is much easier for students to use, read, and submit answers. Try out a sample quiz that I created using Google Forms here! Want to know more basics about Forms? Watch the video below:

Google Forms doesn't stop there; it offers a variety of different add-ons. One of my favorite add-ons is Flubaroo. Flubaroo is an add-on that grades my Forms and creates a spreadsheet with the data. It breaks the assessment down by question, which allows me to see the percentage of students who answered each question correctly. As an educator, this makes data collection and formative assessments much more effective and it takes half the time! Flubaroo also highlights the names of students who score below a certain percentage, which would help me identify students who may need additional support. Flubaroo isn't the only Forms add-on available. Check out the article here to see some great add-ons for educators! Want to know more about Flubaroo? Follow the link here to see how wonderful this tool is.

Google is great! Google is good! Let us thank Google for these tools!

-Mrs. Adkins

Google Tips: Searching & Gmail

TIPS for searching and using Gmail

Google never ceases to amaze me. I have been a Google user for at least 5 years and Google is always changing - adding new tools, updating its look, and staying a step ahead of everything else. Despite the continual transformation of Google, it is never difficult to use! This week I learned so much about refining my Google searching experience and keeping my Gmail account organized. Below are some tips and tricks I learned:

Tips for Searching with Google

 #1: Translate 

- Google makes translating a word or phrase SO simple. All you have to do is go to Google Translate here. Choose the language of origin for the word/phrase (or let it auto detect the language), then choose the language you want it to be translated into, hit enter and BOOM! That's it! Obviously, it won't be perfect. If you are in a pinch, this will definitely suffice!

 #2: Calculate 

- Have a tough math problem you need solved? Don't have a calculator handy? Have no fear, Google Calculator is here! Insert your problem and hit the "=" sign and that's it!

 #3: Research with Google Books 

- Have you ever needed to find a good book for research or just to read? Well Google Books is an excellent and easy tool to use when searching for the perfect piece of literature. Go to Google books here and type in a topic of your choice. If I searched "World War II" it would bring up a list of books related to this topic. I could select a book of interest and actually preview parts of the book. If I were researching I could use small excerpts from the text and easily create a citation. I can add books to my library that I might want to purchase. I could also share a shelf in my library with students - that way they could see a specific list of suggested reading material on a given topic!   

Check out this tutorial on using Google Books in Education

 #4: You can use Google Custom Search to create your own search database! 

If you are going to have your students do some research in your class create your own search database for them to work with. This is such an amazing tool because it alleviates the problem of students using Wiki's, personal blogs, untrusted .com's and more. Instead of just having them type their topic into the Google search bar, you can actually embed your customized search onto your teacher blog/website! When they type in a topic, they should bring up the website that you added to your custom search. How cool is that?!

Check out my custom search on Genetics!

If you would like more information on how to create your own custom search go here. 

Tips for upgrading your Gmail experience 

 #1: Gmail Tabs 
Get your Gmail emails organized NOW! I can tell you that I am not someone who filters through my emails multiple times a day. This can be troublesome because now I have a TON of emails that are clogging up my inbox and it is very difficult to find a specific email that I want to read. My Gmail experience was totally changed when I realized that it has a feature called "tabs" which automatically sorts your emails into different categories such as: social groups, promotions, your primary email, and forums. If I am out shopping and I want to find that email from BeautyBrands that had the 20% off coupon, all I have to do is click the "promotions" tab and I can see all of the emails I receive with promotions. It makes it so much quicker and easier to find what I'm looking for! Follow the link here to find out more about enabling Gmail Tabs. 

 #2: Preview your Emails 
I have been used to my Outlook setup for work and the ability to preview my emails while still viewing a list of emails in my inbox. When I started my Gmail account it didn't have quite the same look. This week I learned how to enable the "preview" feature on my Gmail! It is quite simple and it makes my email viewing experience much easier (for me that is). To add this feature to your Gmail, check out the instructions below (courtesy of About Tech.com):

1. Click the "Settings" gear in Gmail.

2. Select "Settings" from the menu that appears.

3. Go to the "Labs" category.

4. Type "preview pane" under Search for a lab:

5. Make sure "Enable" is selected under "Preview Pane."

6. Click "Save Changes."

Hopefully these tips and tricks help you streamline your Google searching and Gmail experiences. They have certainly done that for me! Stay tuned for more amazing information about Google!

Mrs. Adkins

Google Chrome

What's so cool about Chrome?

After many years of using the Internet, I have tried nearly all the different web browsers. From the likes of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and of course Google Chrome. There are a variety of options for digital citizens to browse the web. You may find yourself asking: what makes Google Chrome superior to its companions? What's all the hype about Chrome? Should I just bite the bullet and download it?

To make your decision a bit easier, here are some of the benefits that I have found from being a "Chrome crony."

Simplified surfing

- Searching the web is SO much easier with Chrome. The browser offers many different search filters to help you get the search results that you want. Search filters include: web, images, videos, apps, news, books, shopping, flights, and more. Google Scholar is an excellent tool that refines your search to academic articles, journals, and websites. 

Easily Customizable

- If you don't have a Google account, make one. Click here to sign up for Google. Once you've done this you will be able to customize your Chrome experience! I have my Chrome browser open up with tabs that I frequently visit (like my school's online gradebook and school district website). I also love to pin bookmarks to the Chrome browser so that I can easily access other websites that I view on a regular basis. Since I have a Google account, my browser shows me notifications for emails, messages, and more. 

One Stop Shop

- If you have a Google account, Chrome is the only way to go. Stop using Internet Explorer and Firefox. Why not open one application and see everything? Email, videos, documents, messages, pictures: Chrome has it all! I can open my Chrome and see everything I need and access great applications (Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, etc.) 

Convinced? Click here to download the Google Chrome browser on your desktop!

Check out the video below for more benefits of using Google Chrome!

Happy surfing!

Mrs. Adkins