In addition to my duties as science teacher extraordinaire (????) I teach a section of Technology Enrichment each day. My qualifications for this task? I like computers, dabble in technology on a regular basis, and am able to convey my knowledge to the students in such a way that they understand and can practice it.
My latest idea, to introduce the kids to Google Docs, had me a little scared at first. The first time I tried it, many of the kids were unable to create a Google account. One of the reasons why is that they had no idea what their school email address was, even though they check it regularly. But I couldn't figure out why so many kids kept getting a circular verification, and were unable to see or contribute to the document that I had created and sent to each of them.
After further reflection, I thought maybe I had invited too many people to contribute to the same document, so I split up the class and invited them in three groups. I also made a little "advertisement" with some of the perks of Google Docs included in the document that I shared, so the kids knew what they were doing. It worked much better - and many of the more advanced students created new docs and sent them to their classmates, leaving me out!
The next day, during Science class, we went to the computer lab to start doing research for a disease project. Some of the kids from Technology are also in Science, and they created Google Docs for the project - trying to keep track of websites, starting an outline...so they could work on it at home as well. SUCH as great application!
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2 comments:
That is great! I hope that when the 8th grade students start a project with me it will also carry over.
It is great to read about how you were able to improve the Google Docs experience . . . and how some students immediately saw an application in a different situation.
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