On this, the first day of my professional blog, I am at home enjoying a lazy severe weather day with my family. A very lucky Friday the 13th, if you ask me. With the full moon, icy weather, and unlucky date, it could have been a crazy day with my fourth graders! Let's hope that the incoming storm won't be as bad as the experts are predicting.
I am a little over halfway through my master's program at Baker University, and right now I am taking a class called "Google Tools for Educators." I'm less than a week in, but already loving a lot of the tools that were right there all along, but I didn't know enough about. In these first few blog posts, I'm going to touch on a few.
Google Chrome: Seriously, WHY have I not been using this browser? I've had it on my computer, but almost exclusively used Firefox. Chrome is very user-friendly, and with the apps and extensions, I feel like I just received a brand new tech device. I'm enjoying searching the web store for more familiar and new apps. I love some of the great features of Chrome like the ability to sync up some of my already bookmarked sites from other browsers, quick access to my gmail, and the fact that all of my favorite apps are in one place, accessible from any device using my Google account. And, of course, there is the ability to download a theme that you love.
How cute is BB-8?
Google Apps and Extensions: Along with the fun themes, and the great LOOK of Chrome, what I find most awesome are the multitude of apps and extensions that you can download. How have I lived without these for so long? In the screenshot above, you can see the apps I have visible on my first page. I have a few more on the next page, as well. I'm just starting to learn about it, but TES Teach with Blendspace is going to be a go-to app for compiling my daily lessons for reading. Often, I have many windows open on my computer with a video, power point, SMART lesson, Kahoot, etc. This app puts them all together on one page, so I can just click on each section, and save it all as one lesson.
This is a lesson I started on pronouns with a video hook, a printable poster, my pronoun lesson file, and a few other resources. All in one place!
Another new app I will start using more often is Lucidpress. I have used Microsoft Publisher in the past for making class newsletters, fliers, invitations, etc. I was looking for something similar through Google because I like the way you can collaborate on Google Docs, Slides, and so forth. Lucidpress allows for collaboration, so my teammates and I can each add in what we are teaching in our own classes at the same time. I love time savers!
Extensions are different than apps, in that extensions just help within your apps. For instance, I used the Nimbus extension to take and annotate these screenshots. It's like the snip it tool that I have used for years, but even better! It makes snipping so easy. I can just snip a small section, the whole page, just what's showing on the screen, or even scroll and snip! I've already used it quite a few times, and it's only been a few days! Another extension I like is Tab Resize. I often have multiple windows open, and like to use the screen split feature. This takes it to a whole new level. I can split my screen vertically, horizontally, or in fourths!
This makes my multi-tasking heart happy!
Google+: I'll be honest here. I've known about Google+ for a very long time. Since it's beta version, actually. At the beginning, I thought it's purpose was most similar to Facebook. What I have learned in the past few days of perusing Google+, is that it has many purposes. One is to gather ideas through "Collections" from others who have posted on specific topics (think Pinterest). Another is to join discussion and sharing groups called "Communities" (think Facebook groups). A third is to make connections with people and add them to your "Circles". This part is similar to Facebook, in that you can share pictures, posts, etc, but you can choose which circles you share with. You can have a circle for family, for friends, for coworkers, for a weight loss group... Circles are also similar to Twitter, because you can follow people without them following you, and vice versa. Google+ has come a long way since it's start, so I'm going to give it another go.
I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far with Google. It's pretty fun to play around with it, but to be honest, I love playing with new toys! If you don't have Google Chrome installed on your computer, you can do it here.
Below is a video that our instructor shared with us, and it has great tips. Enjoy!
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