Spreadsheets and more.....

Before I get into using spreadsheets I want to say I am really excited about using NetTrekker!!!  I have never used it before... actually I have never even heard of it until this week!  I have been playing around with it tonight and am really excited about it!  I hope it is something we can incorporate into our school next year.  The new feature for research ( igotta) that it offers looks amazing, but again it comes at a cost.... like most things.

Ok, on to spreadsheets.  I have used Excel before for numerous things, but to be honest haven't used it much recently besides for lists.  Now that our grade book is all online I haven't had much need for it.  I did truly enjoy playing around with writing formulas.  I thought Google Spreadsheets was easy to use and most of the features were the same as Excel.  I do think Excel is easier to use, but again I am sure that is just because I have used it for years.  Google Spreadsheets is still lacking some features that Excel contains, but maybe eventually it will get there.

As far as how I can use it in my classroom.  My students and I use our Senteos ofter and look at pie charts that their assessments produce.  It would be fun to have the kids do an assessment and learn how to create their own charts.  I can see numerous ways to use spreadsheets in Math and I think I could find ways to use it in social studies, but I am struggling with ways to incorporate it into reading...  Any ideas????

Using Word Processing and Internet Searches in the classroom

I am starting to feel confident in my ability to use online word processing programs especially GoogleDocs, but I still struggle with how I am going to use it in my 6th grade classroom.  Truthfully, I can think of numerous things we can use it for, but realistically feel like there are so many hoops I would have to jump through to get there.  I would have to get all of my students gmail accounts and access to Internet as well as much more.  I do think it would be a great way for students to collaborate together.  I also would like my students to use an online word processing program to be able to work on their papers/projects at school and then at home.  My students have student server folders, but they have a hard time saving to them correctly.  Using GoogleDocs could diminish that problem!

As far as or work this week with Internet searches.... this I am excited about!  I am guilty at not doing effective searches.  Now that I have learned more about how to search for something efficiently I plan on teaching my students these skills as well.  Hopefully, this will help students find what they are looking for without wasting time.  Well on to the next assignment.... it is beautiful out tonight.... with I had all of my homework done so I could spend time outside... I feel like I am a kid again :-)

New Class... CEDO 515

This week was overwhelming, but fun.  I enjoyed experimenting with the new graphics programs and presentation software, but also stressful!!  This time of year is crazy!!  We have 2.5 weeks left of school and between all of the work that goes with the end of the year, having a 1 year old, and all of this homework!!  I am already feeling stressed!!  I did enjoy playing around though!!  I just wish I had more time and energy to devote to it!

The presentation software that I used was glogster.  I truly enjoyed using this program and hope to use it in my classroom some day!!  It wasn't really a presentation software, but it was a nice alternative an something I can see my kids using as a visual aide. It reminded me of blabberize which I have used in my classroom before!  Here is my presentation if you want to check it out!!  I also took a look at a lot of the other presentation methods and was impressed with what was available, but I am still partial to power point.  I like the features of power point and I am comfortable with it, but it is about time I start exploring other options!! 

The graphics were fun to play with, but I am not sure how much I would use it in my curriculum!  I am sure my kids would enjoy playing with them, but I feel like it would be a lot of work to find ways to incorporate them into my classroom!

Overall, I am looking forward to playing around with stuff in this class!!  I just can't wait until I actually have the time to truly enjoy playing around with all of these new tools.... 2.5 weeks can't go by fast enough.  Time to get back to reading this weeks book assignment :-(