Showcase: Google Docs and Calendar

Google Docs
I only recently started working with Google Docs, and the more familiar I become with it, the more possibilities I begin to see about its application in teaching. When I first started with it, I only used it to view documents... but with a little bit of playing around, I have discovered many other uses for the application. I really like that the application is unique in its ability for collaboration. This feature can be soooo useful in classroom! Neil talked about using Google Docs as a peer editing devise which I think is a great idea! Moreover, as seen during our showcase, it can be used to create a collaborative presentation to introduce a topic, a open canvas for sharing ideas, or even a way to generate discussion among the class.
I'd have to say that my favorite thing about it though, is that it allows me to collaborate with my peers. The teaching profession and especially the MT program allows for many different opportunities to work with colleagues. Not only does this tool save time, it is so much more efficient than email when it comes to putting together a powerpoints / handouts / reference lists, etc. I think this might be a very valuable tool to show students when assigning group work. Now students can conveniently add and edit their peer's work without having to physically meet up outside of the classroom. This might just be the solution to overcoming the excuse of "We didn't have time to get together as a group."
I find myself often using Google Docs as a storage devise as well. I have uploaded PDF's , homework assignments, handouts... everything that I would like to have online access to. The advantage of using Google Docs for saving major files to is that it is easily accessible from any computer with internet, and that in order to view the file, I don't have to download it to the hard drive. This is especially helpful when dealing with sensitive files on public computers. Also, it eliminates the need for flash drives, etc.

Drawbacks to Google Docs
I found it quite difficult to get everyone in the class to sign up for Google docs and then getting everyone invited into the collaboration process. Although I realize that this is a one time process, it is still something that needs to be considered when deciding to embark on the use of Docs.
Also, you might have noticed, copying and pasting in Docs is not as simple as a mouse click. It is not equipped with click-copy / click-paste abilities, so one has to use keyboard commands (crtl+ c / ctrl + v. Although this is not a huge problem, it is still something that takes a little bit of time to get used to.

Google Calendar
One of the teachers at my field placement showed me how she used Google Calendar in her classroom. She had one calendar for every class she taught, and updated all of them on a daily basis. She added information regarding what they did in class as well as the homework that was assigned. Some teachers prefer to use a "Homework Blog" for this, but I find it quite tedious to navigate blogs looking for information for a specific date. Calendar is a great way to make these blogs more user friendly. I was so excited when I learned that the calendars were embeddable! It eliminates the step of having to invite everyone to view your calendar... which means it opens up the accessibility for all parents and students. I also like the fact that once the calendar is embedded, students can navigate through it to view what happened last week/month/year.
Teaching requires a LOT of organization! I think that Calendar, although a small tool, can really help in maintaining sanity in the classroom!

I think Google has come up with wonderful applications, and when used correctly (or shall I say creatively) these tools can greatly benefit our profession. It is just about finding the right program and applying it to your individual classroom needs.
I am so happy that I explored the topic of Docs and Calendar, and think that I will most likely use it in my everyday teaching life.

Becoming Tech-Savy

I was so inspired by Neil's presentation on Friday!
I could not believe the quality of work he was able to achieve with the students! I loved how he used technology as a tool and not just an add-on in the classroom. I really liked the idea of the Pod Casts for assessment, and think it could be quite valuable in my math classroom. One of the general outcomes for the curriculum is being able to "communicate mathematically". I can just imagine using this as a tool to assess student understanding of certain concepts. It will also be interesting to see how students reason through problems. It will be really beneficial to be able to pinpoint where students are struggling in their thought processes, and then focus my teaching on problem areas. Using podcasts will be so much faster than doing the oral assessment via interview.

I'm also quite intrigued by Google Docs. (Hence the topic for my showcase) I started using google this summer as a "more permanent email address" and have become quite comfortable with the basic operations. I didn't really explore GoogleDocs until this last weekend, and I must say that I am quite impressed with the sophistication and ease of use of the program. I think it would be a great tool to use in my teaching!

I'm learning all about these cool technology things that we can incorporate into the classroom, and although I am getting quite excited about using all that the internet has to offer, I still feel slightly skeptical about the ease of use in the classroom. A collaborative website is only as valuable as the members who join in. What if students are just not interested in reviewing course-related websites? What if they are unfamiliar with technology in math? What if I try to bring in technology, and it totally fails? What then?

There are a lot of things I would like to include in my practice. And although I am totally inspired and ready to start teaching, I need to limit myself to slowly incorporate all these great ideas as opposed to overwhelming myself and my students with an overkill of technology.

Introduction

What do you know and like to do with technology?

I enjoy using technology quite a bit. My favorite thing about it is probably using it as a tool of keeping in touch with friends and family.
I use the Internet quite a bit for research whether it be personal or school related. There is a lot of information out there, and its very interesting to see what everyone else has come up with. I used search engines a lot during my undergrad, whether it was for looking up definitions of terms, examples, and even for further exploration of key concepts.

What do you want to learn about inquiry and ICT?

I want to learn how to use technology effectively in the classroom. Specifically in accordance with the mathematics curriculum. I know there are many wonderful calculator programs out there, but resources and often scarce, and not all school have access to them. I am looking to learn about alternate methods for incorporating technology into the classroom. Whether it be via Smartboard, Wikis, Blogs, Graphing programs, etc. I think mathematics is one of the more difficult subject areas to incorporate technology... which is surprising since just about all technology uses mathematics in some form.
I am also quite intrigued by what inquiry looks like in math. Especially in higher levels, where most of the concepts are quite abstract. There is this huge push for inquiry all across the curriculum, but up until this point, most of the inquiry I have experienced and seen has been for the humanities side of the program of studies. I'm quite confused as to what inquiry looks like in math, and would love to take a deeper look at it, and find ways to incorporate it into my everyday classroom practice.

What questions do you have about inquiry, technology and culture.

Even though we have been talking about inquiry all throughout this MT program, the concept of inquiry still seems a little fuzzy for me at times. My main concern is how to gauge understanding and how much is actually being learned by the students within such an inquiry based environment. In this program, there is no need to assign grades, but in the classroom, grades are extremely important to some kids. How can we assess inquiry? I think that is probably one of my biggest concerns.