Document Updates (Google Tip)

Now that students are fully in the swing of using Google Docs and sharing, collaborating, moving and shaking the world...easy for them, not so much for us...there is one important feature that Google Docs is lacking.  But an easy workaround makes it not so important.

In Google Spreadsheets, there is an option to receive/send email notifications of updates on any Google spreadsheet.  Docs does not have that feature.  To be honest, I am not sure why.  I find it to be an awesomely cool way to receive updates on Docs other than having to go to Google Drive and look at the last modified date or the revision history.

Easy Workaround:

• Students update their document in Google Docs
• Automatically saves.
• Make sure you, as the teacher/collaborator, are listed under their sharing permissions
• When they are ready to share their update, they go to File--Email Collaborators
• Type a short email message.  It is also possible to include the update in the email.
• All collaborators receive the notification and/or update via email.

This is a real quick and efficient way (and time-saver for you) to receive notifications of updates/changes/revisions.

Where Did the Smurfs Go?

My kids and I are pretty toon-savvy.  They watch a wide variety of shows on Cartoon Network, Nick, PBS and the myriad of other toon stations out there.

Regular Show is one of those guilty pleasures for me...although perhaps a little too "tweener" for my kids yet.  I think so many of today's cartoons are written so intelligently with subtle humor, contemporary insights and a great sense of where we, as a society, have come from.  They don't rely on the fall-down, push-off-a-cliff humor of cartoons from my youth (Yosemite Sam, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry).  

In fact, I refuse to let my kids watch cartoons with which I grew up.  Too violent.

One of my favorite episodes (which I caught yesterday again) is called "Butt Dial."  Below is a wee snippet.  I particularly love the "guardian council" for today's voicemails.  Entirely nerd humor.

Google Play (Google Tip of the Week)

We all know how cool the Apple App Store is by this point.  Easy to use, easy to search,...and for the most part, the good apps are either free or $0.99.

Google recently (last summer-ish) relaunched its app store in the form of Google Play.  With roughly 45% of smartphone users owning an android phone (iPhones are around 27%) and with android tablets making a dent in tablet market, Google finally decided to invest its considerable talents and resources in designing a user-friendly store.

Same apps, different format.  Nice experience.  Movies, books, music, apps and more.

I just recently bought my son a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7 inch) for his birthday.  He will be 9.  As much as I love my iPad and use it as my main means of media consumption, I bought the Samsung for my son for a number of reasons:

• Price...$179 vs $329 for the iPad mini...great deal for a tablet.
• Customization...Android devices are much less restricted by software and "whatever" Apple is selling.
• Expandable memory
• File formats...much easier to watch, read, enjoy multiple formats for books, videos and documents
• Apps...Google Play and the Apple Store have the same number of apps available
• Challenge...for my tech-savvy soon-to-be 9 year old, I love the challenge that android devices provides.  He might not excel at reading, but he overachieves in technology.

Check out the Google Play store. 

Lights! Camera! Stop. Action. Movies.

With the holiday season quickly upon us...starts right after Labor Day now...we have the opportunity to watch the classics of our generation.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and others.

What ever happened to the art of stop-action movies?

I think our modern-day desire for real-time action, high-def computer graphics and reliance on technology has made stop-action truly a lost art form.  Even my own kid's favorite, Bob the Builder, has gone computer-enhanced!

Stop-Action (SA) movies can be a wonderful (as in fun and educational), high level, creative (think top-level Bloom's Taxonomy) digital storytelling project within your classroom.  SA can be as easy or as challenging as you make it and be used in so many unique and interesting ways.

Movies can also be made using a variety of handy (and available) tools.

• iPads...iMotion HD is incredibly easy to use for all ages.  

• Document Cameras for 3D (like Rudoph) or 2D movies like Common Craft videos

• Digital cameras and photography

• Video Software for project editing, adding music and narration, timing...Windows Movie Maker, iMovie (computer or iPad version), Photostory,  Videolicious...

Awesome Stop-Action Movie Made By Students:

If you are currently making movies in class, I would LOVE to hear about it and share success stories.

What Students Won't Tell You (But Every Librarian Knows)

Vampires are extinct, staked out.  Wizards and sorcerers gone in a blink of wispy smoke.

Whew!  Back to reality.

But...

According to popular reading lists and surveys by School Library Journal and other reviews sources,  Zombacolypse and distopian futures are the "new black."  Thankfully, brooding, moody, hulky vampires are "been-there, done-that."

I am an addict to new young adult literature.  Over the last decade or so, young adult authors have moved from the staple classic formula for YA Lit (i.e. Hatchet, Walter Dean Myers, etc...) to an edgier, realistic, gritty world that speaks volumes to the tween and teen psyche.  

YA literature, in particular, pushes the envelope of societal and educational norms.  Just as technology is changing the way we operate on fundamental levels, YA lit is changing the way we communicate and how we view our contemporary world.  It is ripping off the "rose-colored" innocence of authors like Paulsen, George, Peck and other Newbery-award winning authors and replacing them with what I can only call "ripping the bandaid-off" authors--tough, straightforward, and graphic.

Hot Topics:

Dystopian...a community or society that is undesirable, dyfunctional or frightening that often includes dehumanization, totalitarianism and an environmental disaster or cataclysm.  What's not to love.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Shipbreaker by Paolo Baciogalupi

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Zombies...the new supernatural creature of choice

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Pride Prejudice and Zombies

Steampunk...retro-futuristic society that involve a combination of steam-powered technology, magic, and 19th Century social norms.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Have fun checking these out...I certainly am!

3rd Down Conversions

My colleagues at CESA 6, even the Boss, knows of my intense dislike for paper.  I don't like receiving paper anything and prefer digital copies of notes, handouts, presentations.  I find it much easier to add notes of my own, keep track of calendar items and work remotely.  Being a remote employee, I also don't like having to carry packets of materials everywhere I go.  My thought is that I need to carry suitcases on vacations, not when I go to work.


Simple solution:  Get documents in PDF format and convert them to Google Docs

• Worksheets
• Forms
• Manuals
• Books
• Handouts
• Agendas

Google Drive makes it easy and relatively reliable (keeps its formatting) to convert PDFs to Google Documents.

1. Upload a pdf to Google Drive
2. Click the check box next to the PDF once it is uploaded
3. Click on "More"
4. Click on "Export to Google Docs"
5. Once the file is converted, you will have the original PDF and a Google Doc (square blue icon with 3 white lines).  You can edit the Google Doc version.

Possibilities:

• Adapt company or colleague's worksheets or forms to your classroom needs
• Convert a book or manual and add your own comments or highlight important sections
• Add links to other online resources within the text to make a structured "webquest"
• Convert it to an editable online assignment to share with your students...SAVE PAPER!
• Use your converted document to take notes during meetings from ANY device
• Others...

The beauty of this trick is that once in Google Drive, you have access ANYWHERE you go.

Google Commercial of the Day:

Wisdom for the Ages

Unfortunately, it's not mine.

I thought I would share some "wisdom" I gathered yesterday from some of my favorite people...a 4Ker, a 5Ker and a first grader.

5K/First Grader 1, Dad 0

My first grader had a friend over yesterday after an all day basketball tournament (their brothers play on the same team) and both of the boys were lying on the living room with their Nintendo DS' lined up and touching like the Samsung phones that can share playlists and videos by touching them together.  [The commercial with two girls and a mom sharing videos with their dad is a CLASSIC, btw.]

I asked what game the boys were playing.

"Download" the 5K friend responded.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's the game where we can play together," responded my son.

I laughed.  For all the work I do to help teachers find innovative and meaningful ways to use technology in their classrooms, in literacy, in assessment, these two boys reinforced the need for urgency.  They don't need to learn how, when, or why to use technology.  It just IS.

5Ker 2, Dad 0

My son's friend also played the XBox with my third grader and was beating him at Madden 13.  The third grader was frustrated to say the least.  The 5Ker's response to an outburst:

"Maybe we should quit, you are having some real anger management issues."

Just classic.  An important lesson that communication is still important no matter how long I like to look at Pinterest, Facebook or this blog!  It also demonstrates that we can still communicate effectively no matter how "digital" we become.

4Ker 3, Dad & Mom 0

My wife, after the day in a gym listening to coaches shouting, parents cheering (and a couple yelling worse things), and basketballs bouncing was complaining of a headache and achy body.

"I hope it's just a headache and not the flu" I responded.  I am extremely supportive, you know.

"I hope it's not worse," my wife says. [As a note, this is our family way of saying we don't have time to be sick.]

"Like melingitis?" Should be meningitis, I realize after I say it.  My ears are still ringing from 8 hours of  gym time.

My 5 year old says, "I love melingitis."  With a pause, we both look at him incredulously.

"What?"

With an entirely straight face, he says "like watermelon."  Melon-gitis.

Apparently, my wife now has watermelongitis.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday, deer hunting and Black Friday season!

They still make that? (Google Tip)

Remember Tab soda?

Called "Tab" for people who want to keep "tabs" on their weight. 

I still consider it odd how the mind works because I hear "Tab" and automatically think of the soda, popular in the 60s and 70s.  Truthfully, however, I was working on one of my favorite features of Chrome.

Along with Chrome's speed and security, the ability to customize your browsing experience with Chrome is super easy.  If you are anything like me (please tell me I am not abnormal), you open your email, a search tool (Google, please!), and other favorites on a pretty regular basis.  My daily tabs include email and calendar, for instance.

Chrome makes it easy to open the browser and have all your favorite/daily sites open automatically as a new tab.

Quick guide:

• Go into Settings (three lines icon on the right) and click on settings.  

• Under the Settings page, go to On Startup and fill in the circle next to "Open a specific page or set of pages"

• Add as many pages/websites as you like.

 Just an easy way to have all your tools open separate Tabs when you start up. 

Wicked Website for Writers

A most excellent middle school ELA teacher and colleague (Thanks Stacie) showed me an awesome website for writers of all ages...Paper Rater.

Paper Rater will analyze your text, whether it's an essay, short story, narrative, letter or other, for grammar and spelling.  Just copy and paste the text into the appropriate box.

Paper Rater goes beyond normal grammar checkers (Word, Google...), however, and analysis your text by grade level looking for appropriate vocabulary, word (and verb) usage, sentence length and gives useful suggestions.

The real peach for Paper Rater is the Plagiarism Detection.  Paste works cited into the appropriate box and the website will analyze your text for inappropriate uses of other people's work.  For students, this is a real easy way to curb (and learn) how to use research appropriately.  For teacher, this is an easy way to check for plagiarism.


Quick tutorial:

Take Your Browser EVERYWHERE (Google Tip)

Google Chrome has quickly become the Internet browser of choice.

[I am biased and I am more than happy to admit that.]

There are multiple reasons for Chrome's rapid success...security, ease of use, speed, quick access to Google Docs and Mail, etc.  Nothing beats Chrome's universal ability to sync to any device and be entirely user-friendly on any device.

As an example, I can add bookmarks in my Chrome browser on my work computer...currently a Dell Laptop, soon to be a MacBook.  These bookmarks sync automatically to my Chromebook, Chrome app on my iPad, my son's laptop at home, my Android phone and my wife's iPhone, also running Chrome.

But why do I want to do that?

For me, as a mobile professional, I generally take different devices to different events.  For school...a laptop; for conferences...an iPad, maybe a Chromebook; at home...my home laptop or my iPad; at basketball tournaments...yes, even there...my Razr Maxx phone.

We are truly 24-7 professionals, having links and information readily available is important and timely.

An Excellent Step-by-Step Tutorial

Boomerang (Google Tip)

If you are anything like me...and I am so sorry if you are...work is really a 24/7 experience.  Great ideas come to me once my kids are in bed sleeping peacefully, dishes are put away, lunches made for the next day,  sports gear stowed and my body (and mind) has time to wind down.

The ballpark is 11pm.

Now...as much as I love to share my brilliant and well-conceived ideas (you're reading this blog, right?), I am not a believer in making everyone 24/7 workers.  Truth be told, people who send emails at midnight or 3am or even 5am about work should really seek therapy...or at least seek a wonderful new trick I found.

Boomerang.

Boomerang is a Google extension that allows you to schedule an email to be sent at a later date and time.  For instance, when I am inspired in the middle of the night with yet another awe-inspiring lesson or idea, I can quickly compose an email, BUT use Boomerang to send it at an appropriate time...say 8am.  If it's a weekend, send it on Monday morning.

This way my wonderful idea is saved and sent but I don't appear to be work-psychotic.  While saved, I can always go back, edit and add to my email.

The Boomerang extension adds a button to your Google Mail composition screen and a folder to your list (left side of screen).

Just a quick tutorial:

Let's Chill and Hangout! (Google Tip)

As a mobile employee--being in 5 different school districts as well as having an office not located at a central location, I learned quickly the value of mobile technologies for communication beyond the simple phone call. One of my favorites is Google Hangouts.

Hangouts is part of Google+, Google Apps and allows for videoconferencing/chatting with up to 10 different people for FREE.  Hangouts opens up a new world of face-to-face contact with groups of people/collaborators.  Think Skype (limited to person to person contact) on steroids.

Additionally, since most school districts are moving to Google Apps in one form or another (including student accounts), Hangouts is included with the package, browser-based--no software downloads necessary, and runs on virtually any browser or platform.  There's even a Chrome app/extension for it!  IPad/IPhone users are also able to "hangout" and Google is putting more effort into their iOS apps even as we speak.

Professionally, I use Hangouts to collaborate and coordinate with my colleagues.  I am not a phone person and prefer email (or blogs!) and face-to-face conversations.  Hangouts suits me needs expertly...FREE, no software needed, multi-platform.  There is also a "share" feature with Hangouts that allows for quick sharing of documents, YouTube videos, links, screen shots, etc...for collaborative efforts.

Two Examples for Personal Experience

1.  I had a grant meeting scheduled for one afternoon.  In the morning, I need to be in-district and after school I was running a seminar in the same district.  The meeting was taking place over Distance Education equipment across the state.  Instead of driving from the district I was in, to my office, then back to my district...about 2.5 hours of driving, I used a Hangout with my tech "buddy", aimed a laptop at the DE TV, adjusted the microphone to the laptop speakers (at the office) and was able to view and converse with everyone else.  I used my Chromebook in district. 

2.  We regularly chat via Hangouts while working on Google docs and sites.  This is really the best of all worlds when it comes to working in a mobile environment.

What Can I Do With Hangouts In School?

The options are limited to your imagination...and I work with a large sampling of creative teachers.

1.  Use a Hangout to connect with students in other parts of the U.S. or world.  Global communications and connections are important.  Hangouts gives an entire new level to "pen pals."

2.  Collaborate with local schools on Science, Social Studies, Math or English projects.  For example, communities surrounding marsh areas can take water samples, air quality data, etc...and share with students in other surrounding communities.  They can compare data, make inferences and possible develop community-based plans to help the environment.

Google with Chat and Sharing

3.  Connect with experts.  If authors can't come to your school (i.e. location or funding), contact the authors via Hangouts.  Most authors, for examples, are more than willing to chat this way.  The same holds true to local business people.  Free, easy connections.

4.  Readers Theater

5.  Student-led conferences (not like parent-teacher) in which students from all over can lend expertise, interest and passion to discussions.

6.  As a teacher, the day before a big test, I would be tempted to offer virtual "office hours".  Connect with students via Hangouts to discuss problems, issues, etc...

7.  Take a class offered somewhere else.  Fancy software is not really needed any more.

8.  So many others.

If you want to test it out, let me know.

FB Post I Like

This is just a Facebook post I like from my absolutely favorite author...

That's why I stick with Chrome.

Cool Google Trick (Tip of the Week)

Google is "big brother"...I understand this to be true.

BUT, at least they can poke fun at themselves...nerd humor.

1.  Search for anagram and check the "Did You Mean" results.  (Image Below)

2.  Search for "find Chuck Norris" and click I'm Feeling Lucky (Image Below)

3.  Search for "Google Gravity" and click I'm Feeling Lucky...this one you just have to do!

"Create"-ivity

The more I become immersed in technology...as if I wasn't already...the more I am understanding the importance and depth of the ability to "create".  I am latching on to this magical word as my mantra when working with classes, teachers and my own children.

It's easy to consume and regurgitate...information, rote skills, memorized facts...but it is not necessarily easy to "create" from what we learn or know.  I am not an artist or painter like my dad is (and he's gifted), but I can create some pretty wonderful things with a computer, an iPad, my Razr Maxx phone and some simple software.  

During my CESA 6 coordinator's meeting yesterday, the "boss" shared this video by DeWitt Jones with us.

Powerful.  Powerful concepts for educators.  Powerful ideas for students.  Powerful motivation for everyone, involving simple skills and ideas:

Fall in love with the world

Bring out your passions

Use your creativity everday to make your life extraordinary

How can we be creative everyday?  How can we encourage our students to be creative everyday?

• Use iPads or iPhones with iMovie and create a video log/documentary of the year
• Blog...my "creative" outlet
• Create digital photostories
• Use ePortfolios in class instead of assignments
• Use what you love, your passion in the classroom
• Let your students design the day's agenda
• Find time, even short periods, to encourage students to follow their interests

Sir Ken Robinson speaks to me in this video and I am curious what you have to say about it.

And then we release them to...what?

Being a librarian by heart, a techno-nut by choice and an information specialist by profession, I look critically at every library I enter.  Can't help it, part of the DNA.  Here's my story... (Law and Order theme song, please)

After "working" this summer for the first time in a long time..."working" meaning attending conferences, giving presentations, networking and all sorts of other things I have not ever been able to do before...I truly appreciate the hard work and effort that you all have put into your own knowledge and practice.  Times, they are a-changing fast, and we need to keep up.  Be proud of yourself.  Pat yourself on the back.  Pat a co-worker on the back in the most non-threatening, non-harassment, anti-bullying, celebratory manner you can.

We work hard to prepare our students for future educational endeavors, the workplace and successful life experiences in a time of rapidly changing...everything.  Huge responsibility in a world of no perfect answers.

Last week, while working in my office at UW-Oshkosh I decided to peruse the stacks at the library looking to see how universities are adapting to the changing needs of our students and society.  The Polk Library, if you haven't been, really is a nice university library.  Doesn't compare to UW-Madison libraries, but not much does.  (Go Badgers!)



My trip through the stacks began in the education section as a teaching profession is wont to do.  (Yes, I just used the word "wont".)  Here's what I found.  The Spurs to Creative Teaching.  Inspired for more creative approaches to my practice, I picked it up.

Being an avid admirer of the work of Ken Robinson, the first chapter starts out promising:

I quickly checked the copyright date and headed back to Chapter 1.  Several pages in, I returned to the copyright...1964.  What?  1964!  I slammed the book back onto the shelf in disgust.  The poor, studying UW students looked at me shushing my tirade like old school marms.  You have got to be kidding me...1964.

I felt let down, like when you eat anise candy thinking it's a rootbeer barrel.  There were more of the same all up and down the shelves.  Mumbling some 3-letter text-pletives and dejected, I returned to the CMC.

To be honest, the Polk is steadily remaking itself by changing how it operates in a digital world...robust wireless, awesome cafe style study areas, coffee IN the library, BYOD, and more digital librarians.  I still find this unacceptable, however.  From speaking with professors and attending classes, it seems to be characteristic of universities, however.

The students we send out into the world are tech-savvy, high-end brokers of information and technology.  The post-secondary education they receive needs to reflect their future needs as workers and professionals...doctors, lawyers, business people...TEACHERS.  Leaders.  

Here's for the "trickle up" theory.  Keep up the great work.

The F&P of Searching (Tip)

I generally take searching online for granted.

• Keyword "strings"... the old-school Boolean
• Google makes life pretty easy on spelling, Boolean operators (+,-), etc...
• Results are fast and ranked reliably

The one consideration I overlook much of the time is reading level.  The question I need to ask myself when working with students on research or searching behavior is "can you read this?"  Are the results, as awesome as I think they might be, understandable to a second grader, fourth grader, even a high school student?

As an example, I search for "evaporation".  The first site listed as a result is the first one listed under almost every search...Wikipedia.

Just skimming the test, I can grasp the idea...my fourth grader (way above average reader, btw) is stifled.

There are certainly some good search engines for kids (listed below), but we can still use my favorite tool...Google...to modify the results with some extra clicks.

Using the advanced search tool, I can limit the results by reading level (basic, intermediate, advanced) and find sites that are much more suitable to the level of my students.  In the case of "evaporation", the first site listed using the "basic reading level" is Chem4Kids.

Amazing difference.

DIY Searching

1. Enter your search term in Google
2. On the results page, click on the "cog" on the right side of the screen.
3. Select "Advanced Search".
4. There are LOTS of options on the advanced search screen.  For reading level, scroll down to "Reading Level" and select what looks appropriate for your students.  Since this is not straight Fountas and Pinnell levels, you might have to experiment.

Search Engines for Kids

• KidRex is a Google search tool for kids.
• YahooKids
• KidsClick, by Kent State University School of Library and Information Science
• Boolify is a fun, visual way to teach Boolean searching to kids.

A HUGE thanks to Marsha Primeau at Oakfield Elementary for this tip.

Googlize Your Newsletter (Tip of the Week)

Funny thing happened on the way to school this morning.  I received an email update from my children's school.

Since they haven't emailed me before, I thought the worst might have happened...school bus accident, fire...something that would involve me rushing to get my kids.

It was the school newsletter.  I read it on my phone.  Thank you!

Using Blogger and about 15 minutes to set up your very own blog, it is possible to create a whole new dynamic for your personal, classroom newsletter that can include pictures/slideshows, videos, attachments, notes and other thoughts.

Blogger is a Google product included with your school district (or personal) Google account.  You can find it along the black bar on top of your Google mail under "More" and then "Even More".

WWIB...Why Would I Blog?

• Posting (adding an entry) takes only as long as it takes you to write the post.
• It's an awesome and timely way to share assignments, send homework reminders, attach worksheets or forms, etc... Here's a sample.
• You can Post multiple times, as events happen...you don't need to do a once a month blog, printed out and put in a students take-home folder.
• Immediate connection with parents through email or RSS feeds (I get feeds sent to my iPad for reading)...MY FAVORITE
• Think of the multimedia power of field trips, school events, etc...when you can add slideshows, actual videos and real-time results.
• If you're adventurous, you can blog on-site.
• Blogging gives you more control than other social media (i.e. Facebook)
• Save trees
• Professionally cathartic

Teacher Blogs

Ms. Cassidy

Science Fix

Cool Cat Teacher Blog

More

Musings on an Autumn Day

Welcome to Fall! Or Autumn! Or Harvest! Or whatever we choose to call it.  With so many names, how could it not be your favorite time of the year?

My lovely wife, bless her heart, tells me that I am not the most positive person at times...I like to say I am "particular", but po-tay-toes/po-tah-toes.

Oddly enough, Autumn is the time of year to which I actually look forward and I thought I would share some of that joy.


Harvest

Robert Frost has always been one of my favorite poets (along with Whitman, Browning and William Carlos Williams).  He speaks to the seasons like no other writer:

GATHERING LEAVES

 

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?

Every school year starts the same...we try to put together all the good ideas, memories, things that didn't work so well last year, new initiatives...all the "leaves"...into a our practices for this year.  This summer seemed particularly overwhelming.  Frost's poem really reflects the whimsical, unending, hysteria of organizing our professional lives as educators..."the mountains I raise/elude my embrace."

Every Leaf is Gold

Jim Bishop speaks to our "leaf piles" much better:

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”  

Look back over your spring and summer in which I know all of you worked...at school, at home, at conferences and workshops...you have collected more gold, more value than you may yet realize.   These nuggets of wisdom, knowledge or skills pay dividends in the months to come.   

Now that we are one month in to the year, the kids have settled down and we are starting to "hunker" down to the long road ahead, please don't forget the importance of our fall harvest:

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.”  

Finally, I think this piece of Autumnal wisdom might be the most important for working with kids in schools, sports or at home.

Un-Google Tip of the Week

A Google Form is an incredibly powerful tool for collecting and organizing data.  Through the simple act of creating an online form, you can gather data into a spreadsheet, then apply formulas and other data analysis tools to process and manipulate your results.  Great uses of Google forms include:

• Surveys
• Entry/Exit tickets
• Quizzes or "refreshers"
• Planning and event scheduling
• Homework guided study
• Others?

There are so many ideas currently floating out there, other educators and tech sites have begun compiling lists.  I would certainly hate to steal their thunder or re-invent the wheel.

HOWEVER...

Google Forms do not include the option for attaching or uploading a file as part of a response.  Why would I want to do this?

Imagine for a minute, you have a beautifully crafted test in which you want to collect an essay or a sample of student writing.  With Google Forms, the student essay will be forced into one cell on a spreadsheet sans formatting, nuances of the English language, rhythm and meter.   Probably not the best option.

I found another online form maker (you mean...it's not Google?) called JotForm.  JotForm is amazingly easy to use and customize your forms with more options than Google Forms and a clean, professional look.  The free account allows for 10MB of collected data or 100 user responses.  It uses similar types of questions as Google forms (text, checkbox, etc...)

The cool things about JotForm, however, are the upgraded survey tools (slider bar, spinner, thumbs up/down, grading form), captcha/password and other security measures and the ability to upload files as part of the survey.  The uploaded files can be synced to your dropbox account for easy access from any device and to maximize your storage space.  Pretty slick really.

Why would I want to do this:

• Collecting writing samples are part of an example...remember the old "blue books" from college?
• Collecting writing samples for scholarships...the form will collect the major data and the file upload collects the writing sample.  From Dropbox, you can share the samples with other scholarship reviewers.
• Homework assignments with multiple types of question formats.
• Others?

JotForms are able to be embedded on Google Sites and most other types of websites as well.  I am currently in the review stage for JotForm...I'll let you know how it goes...positive so far.

I always try to remember the motto:  "One device (or website), multiple uses."

Crowd-sourcing Your Classroom (Google Tip #3)

"Crowd-sourcing" as it is becoming defined is really a means to increase interactivity and participation by all participants.  It is the idea that the "crowd" (i.e. audience, students, etc...) have meaningful contributions to add to the discussion while the discussion is going on.

At conferences I have been attending lately, Twitter has been the back channel of choice for making comments, asking questions, or sharing information.  Normally, adding the hashtag (#wemta2012, for example) for the event aggregates all the relevant comments.  

For your classroom, however, where Twitter is generally not available to students, I highly recommend trying Google Moderator.

President Obama used Moderator for Open Questions and Answers

As an instructor, you set up a series of questions from the general to the specific and your students are able to make comments and ask questions in real-time...even during class-time.  The normal question I get from teachers is "Isn't this distracting?"  

Well...no.

What do you do when you get lost during a lesson, miss a key piece of information...You ask your neighbor.  This is more distracting because it involves more than just you, as well as drawing the ire of the presenter or teacher.  With the opportunity to "post" your question to Moderator DURING the lesson, it allows other students or the instructor to go over the question immediately without disturbance.

The other awesome benefit of Moderator is that it allows participants to "vote" on other people's questions. Unlike Survivor, the most voted-for questions go to the top (American Idol, right?).  This helps prioritize Q&A sessions, information that needs to be reviewed or concepts misunderstood.

Possible Uses:

• Back channel during instructional times/lectures
• Questions for clarification after reading, either in class or at home.  Literature circles, whole-class readings, readings for further information...this is an excellent chance for students to post follow-up details and questions as well as prioritize.
• Use a Flipped Classroom model and have students generate questions from their reading/instructional lessons (e.g. Khan videos, etc...).  This will drive your agenda for the following day.
• So many others...

Here is a sample to check out PLUS the responses.

Google Moderator is also iPad friendly...as are all Google Products.

The Coffee Klatsch or How to Feed My Addictions

Everyone who knows me will understand it when I say I am addicted to two things...reading and coffee.

Coffee

I view my Starbuck Decaf Grande Americano as the saving grace of my morning.  (Yes, decaf as part of my Detox-GetIntoShape-GetALife endeavors)  To say "addiction" is a bit of an understatement, but let me  rationalize for a minute.  The morning coffee represents so much more than just a hot, "makes-me-feel-lovely" beverage to get the day going.

The true benefit is the Coffee Klatsch experience.  What is a better time of the day to have a conversation with a colleague/peer than over a coffee?

I am a big believer in "destress" time, or designated time to reconnect and enjoy each other's company as well as discuss "work" in more informal settings.  This same holds true for students.

I even have a list of conversation starters for these informal times:

1. The classic...How was your weekend?
2. The roller coaster...How bout them Packers?
3. The literary...Did you read (insert title)?  [Word of warning...Fifty Shades of Grey]
4. The most important...How much do you love your library media specialist?
5. The brown-noser...What are we getting the principal for Bosses Day?  OR,  Isn't Mr. Pendleton your favorite teacher?

Reading

I certainly don't want to seem to be complaining overly, but we (myself included) consistently complain about students (or my own children) not reading enough.  But the real question for me as I travel from district to district and talk with parents is do we really encourage reading and allow enough time in our busy schedules for leisure reading as an activity?  Do we allow enough informal time during the school day to read for enjoyment?

I am more guilty than most.  Of my four boys, only the youngest reads enough and only because he hangs out with Grandma in the morning.  Our nights are filled with football and basketball practices, our weekends with football games and basketball tournaments.  I can foresee, and know through experience, that students hit middle school and fostering reading becomes even more challenging.

Here's my suggestion...Let's turn our school libraries into coffee houses, combining two of the greatest leisure activities.  Funny thing is there are schools actually doing just that.  I do have my reasons other than great coffee, however:

• Time to reconnect...either with a book or with friends in a safe environment.  School doesn't need to be a cinder-block wall classroom painted mint green.
• It's all about the atmosphere.  Create an atmosphere and an "experience" and people will want to come back.
• The library will function as more than just a place to hold books or research.  Offer live music, poetry readings or performance art and see how popular the library will become.
• Information is not confined in books like it used to be.  Libraries have much less need for physical materials and much more need for free wireless, access to ebooks and online services.  We can do this.
• The library as the hub of the school...make it interesting!

I have seen far too many "dead" libraries in my travels recently.  My profession is changing, education is changing, technology is changing...libraries (and how we as media specialists and teachers) MUST change.

Google Wassailing (Tip of the Week)

I received a text from a friend the other day...or rather my wife received a text and I read it on her iphone (avoid giving your unlock code to nosy spouses)...that Shopko had Christmas trees up already.  I can only assume the texter meant the artificial ones inside the store.

I did the classic double take.  Christmas trees?  (add classic texter language here)

Gets me in the mood for wassailing, however.  Wassailing is an age old custom of caroling.  One of the first uses for wassailing was called apple wassailing, or singing to your apple trees so they would grow more fruit...talking to your plants.  I thought I would Google wassail for you in this post...sing to Google to make your knowledge grow. 

Tip of the Week


One of my favorite Google tools is the calendar...as you can tell from my last tip.  If you create an event on one of your calendars using the "Edit Event" entry method.

On the right side of the screen, there is

Add: Guests

You can enter email address of anyone you would like to invite to your event/meeting.  They will receive a notification in their inbox and be able to reply Yes/No/Maybe.  When you click on the event on your calendar, you will be able to view the attendees (yes, no, or maybe).

This is an easy and efficient way to organize events and meetings (e.g. IEPs, staff meetings, etc...) without sending the traditional all-school email or paper notice (did I just say "paper"?).

Google Tip of the Week

This year, I am starting a new section of the blog with a Google tip for this week.  Some are old hat, but favorites, some are efficient time-savers, and some are just plain cool.  Today's is a bit of all three.

Adding Weather to your Google calendar:

1. Open your calendar and click on "Settings"...if you are unfamiliar with settings, it is the "cog" on the right side of the screen.
2. This will take you to the general calendar settings.
3. Scroll down and enter your location in the appropriate box.
4. Select Fahrenheit next to "Show Weather Based On My Location"
5. Click Save at the bottom.

The weather icon will appear above your agenda for the day.  Click on it to get more information or click on your city to get the entire Google Weather package!

After a long hiatus...

I have to apologize for the long blogging "hiatus".  Having spent the last month pouring over common core standards, ITLS standards, professional development workshops, I was overloaded with information and ideas.  

Which brings me to my point today.  I was recently working with a group of children (not students since school was not in session!) looking for information on a variety of topics online.  They used high quality keywords to get some excellent search results using Google.  As I scanned the first several results pages I thought the results were excellent...

Unfortunately the kids didn't.  I am sure you know why.

My epiphany that day, which I should have had earlier in my career, is that the same problem exists today that existed when computers/Internet first became fashionable in schools--our new generation of "Digital Natives" as Marc Prensky calls them, can use the tools to find and display information, but still have trouble evaluating the information.  Compounded with information OVERLOAD, this is a serious problem.

Our children and students are digital natives without question.  They can pick up and use virtually any device intuitively, figure out how apps work and even WHY and WHEN to use certain apps, work collaboratively with their peers in ways that I could not have even imagined when I was in school (Google docs, Skype, etc...), and present/demonstrate their skills using such a variety of technology tools (think iMovie).  But as "digital immigrants" (Prensky again), we have a distinct advantage garnered from the days of having to use actual books for research, having to go to multiple libraries to find these books, and having to scan or read the acquired books--we can decipher important from non-essential information.

Now I am not calling for a return to book research...those of you who know me well would LOL if I said that.  What I am calling for is a more dedicated effort, across the scope of our school, to provide more opportunities for problem-solving and inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning in which the teacher is facilitator and "guidance" counselor and in which the "problems" take time to evaluate and solve.

This is THE 21st Century skill.

The Princess & The Wart

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess desired across the land because of her perfection, grace and excellent hygiene.  Her name was Princess Google.

[I know that Google is a princess--beautiful, fun, easy to connect with, entirely frustrating bordering on diva level, and sometimes impassable....but back to the story]

Many the young (and sometimes old) admirer would chase the princess when she came to town.  Crowds lined the street merely to gaze upon the wonderful Princess Google.  I, myself, have carried tales of her loveliness to the corners of the realm and, in some small and large ways, fallen for her charms.

But she was hiding a secret, the blemish that only the most wise across the land has seen...she had a wart, a wart so heinous that should it become common knowledge her beauty would be lessened.  Princess Google is a control freak of "big brother" levels.

Should you dare to cross the Princess' "terms of service", she will disable you in all possible haste.  Beware.

I had believed that Princess Google beyond the fickleness of her evil stepmother Apple or the wicked witch of the east Microsoft, but alas...I was foolish.  This pumpkin driver has returned to his life as a rodent...

On a technical note...I was trying to embed a Prezi into my Google site.  I would recommend not trying this.  Once the mechanics of the APPEAL process goes through, I will update...

Updated 8/12...my site was just "up" and running again...no email or explanation.  Still digging.

The Lazy Days of Summer

For a teacher?  Yeah, right.

While my hopes is that summer is relaxing, refreshing and rejuvenating, I understand the fundamental nature of teaching (and LMS) as a profession...summer is a time to catch up on all the things you didn't have time for during the year, training, training and more training, and career enrichment activities.

Here are a couple of "easy" tech-suggestions that you can do while actually "lazing" around the pool this summer that will make your life easier.

1.  Set up a Box account.  Box is an online file storage site that allows you to upload files, store them safely online and share them with others.  Box also has iOS and Android apps for all types of devices as well as a Google Chrome app.  The beauty of Box is that files are easily viewable on all of your devices.  You will start with 5GB of storage space (similar to Google Drive), but over the course of the year, they offer 50GB of storage frequently.  50GB is a ton of space.

• Family Photos
• Home Videos
• Important Documents

2.  Read a techie blog or website regularly.  Those of you who know me well know I read Mashable everyday, but there are lots of others:

• Mashable
• FreeTech4Teachers
• CNN Technology
• MacAppStorm
• So many others...

3.  Start blogging yourself!  Trust me it's fun (I am hoping for you), therapeutic (at least for me) and  informational.  You have so much knowledge to share...share it. 

4.  Spend 10 minutes a day looking through apps for your iPad/iPhone or Android device.  Even if you don't find any, you will at least know what you don't like.  Call it "internal" review.

AND...enjoy the summer, hot weather and all.

A Slap of Reality

Absolutely the best graduation speech I have heard...

What do you think?

Did I Just Say That?

I am going to say something controversial, apocalyptic and it might upset people.

I don't like iPhones.

(I am waiting for lightning to strike or a fissure to open beneath my desk, hang on...)

I said it.  I don't like iPhones.  I appreciate everything that Apple, iPhones and Steve Jobs has done for computational design and the tech market, but I still don't like iPhones.

My colleagues, when I tell them of this dislike, say "but you're an Apple guy."  Right.  I love the iPad and I am trying to get a MacBook by hook or by crook, but still don't like the iPhone.  I am not trying to dissuade you from purchasing one or enjoying the one you might have, because they are really nice devices.  My wife has a 4 (pre-Siri) and it works nicely.  The mockup of the iPhone 5 looks slick as well.  So what's my deal?

Meet my new best friend

The Droid Razr Maxx (enter O Fortuna from Carmina Barana or the Exorcist, I guess).  Please play while reading the next part...impressive.

Yes, the MAXX. 

The "WOW" of the Maxx:

• Reception is the best I have ever heard...specially considering my office is in the basement (read that no windows) of the Polk Library.
• Droid operating system is incredible...Google developed...Upgrade to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system (end of June) will make this so much sweeter.
• Battery life is longer than I know.  I have used it for two whole days as a "heavy" user trial and got down to 30%.  I haven't been under that yet.
• Super AMOLed OLED screen...greater colors, faster (not choppy) playbacks and no backlight required which uses less power.  This is HD viewing...on a phone.
• Camera and video camera are awesome.
• Expandable memory through microSD card
• More, so very much more...

I am slowly approaching the point where I use my phone for computing more than my iPad. 

As a note, stay away from the Droid Razr.  Dealers will try to sell you one, but with so many high resolution graphics, 4G access, etc...the battery life of a normal user is about 4 hours.  They will also include a battery backup, but seriously, do you want to make calls with this plugged to your phone? 

I have seen it done.

If you love your iPhone...awesome.  The point with all of this Razr-love I have going on is to test out other, even non-Apple, products occasionally.  You will be surprised what you find.