When I look back to the first day of class, I was so nervous.  I had no idea how to create documents, forms, spreadsheets or presentations in Google. I  didn't know how to use You Tube and had never made a video before and the thought of creating a blog or website was mind blowing.  I never thought it would be possible to learn so much in such a short amount of time.

First of all, Matt and Tony were amazing teachers and so incredibly helpful.  Any question I had they were right there and I never felt uncomfortable asking them questions. They were always very approachable and were able to take me step-by-step to solve any questions I had.

The class was set up perfect for me.  Step-by-step videos to watch and watch again if I didn't catch something, lots of small group instruction and one-on-one when needed.  After taking this class, I feel confidant that I could teach most of the Google tools to my colleagues and any that I didn't have the answer to, could channel them in the right direction to a person who could help them.


 I look forward to using Google Forms and Flubaroo for assessments, spreadsheet and gadgets for spelling, developing a web site and math blogs with my teaching partner.  I am now comfortable creating Google docs, presentations, and navigating around different sites. I also made a connection with Tess Bashaw from City School.  We are planning on having our classes do many activities using Google Maps and Google Earth together.  We are hoping the students love it as much as we will.   
    
My next step will be to work on my personal learning network.  I just joined twitter and am following some teachers in my district.  I am looking forward to using Skype to interact with other schools both in and out of the United States.  I honestly cannot believe the transition I have taken over the summer from not knowing many aspects of Google Tools to feeling an overwhelming success with Google Tools.

Flubaroo

Are you looking for an easier way to grade?

I am working on making forms using Google docs and Flubaroo to make up assessments and make grading easier.  In case you are not familiar with Flubaroo, it will transform your grading from lots of paperwork to easy to read tables and graphs showing student performance.  Students can get instant feedback from their assessment with an e-mailing option.  If this interests you as much as it interested me, check out the site and let me know what you think. Just click on this link:
flubaroo

Tools I will use in the Classroom

I plan on using Google forms to make assessments for the students.  Luckily we have access to computers so my students can do their tests on the computers.  I have researched Flubaroo and will use that as a tool to help score the tests, set up graphs, e-mail students on how they did on their assessment and send the information to our administrators as evidence of learning.

I am going to set up a math blog where students can talk about what they have learned, what they are still having difficulty with, and I can comment and help anyone who is struggling.

Students will also use spreadsheets to graph data during our math unit on data and representation.

Course Participation

Blogs I have responded to:

http://googletoolsforschools.blogspot.com/2012/07/think-about-it-seven-1-for-student.html#comment-form

http://googletoolsforschools.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-does-it-mean-to-be-literate-in.html

http://googletoolsforschools.blogspot.com/2012/06/aspiring-bloggers.html

http://googletoolsforschools.blogspot.com/2012/06/think-about-it-motivation-and-learning.html

http://googletoolsforschools.blogspot.com/2012/06/aspiring-bloggers.html

Heather's Reflections

I am loving learning about how to make a blog!

Today I learned about flubaroo and how to use google docs to make tests and assessments.  I loved working on blogging and updating my blog.  I am more comfortable using docs, presentations and spreadsheets with sharing.