I just returned from a wonderful experience at my first conference of 2012. The CLS Technology and RTI Conference in Monterey was just a relatively short trip for me up the coast. I got to check in with many familiar faces from my edtec family as well as attend some wonderful sessions including using Google Forms, mobile devices, and video in the classroom.
It was a whirlwind 48 hours that included two excellent keynotes, one by Will Richardson and a second by Doug Fisher. I also enjoyed presenting a session on using the backchannel in the classroom. I’ve posted my outline and slideshow here. I’m already looking forward to seeing my friends again next month at the California League of Middle Schools Conference in Sacramento.
Adding events to a Google Calendar is easy. However, just adding one more step can turn your simple addition into a full-featured invitation with attachments and with the ability of setting multiple reminders.
The video below demonstrates how to add details to your events that may help you take control of your busy schedule.
Quick Tips
Repeat . . .
Set your event to repeat as often as necessary. Great for regularly scheduled events.
Where
An advanced feature that incorporates Google Maps. Enter the location name and Maps will attempt to find the exact location and provide directions and contact information.
Calendar
Add your event to any one of your calendars.
Description
A very handy feature if this event is to be shared with others. You can enter as much descriptive information as you wish here – agenda, check list, task list, etc.
Attachment
Attach any document that you’ve created. Add any Google Doc, or upload any file. These attachments will be shared with anyone you invite to the event.
Reminders
Send yourself multiple reminders. Email reminders go to your GAFE email address, SMS messages will be sent to the mobile phone you specify in your “Calendar settings,” and pop-ups will appear on top of your computer desktop at the specified time.
Quick add is a terrific feature of Google Calendar that lets you add events using common language. Adding events, even complicated ones, can be done using this feature found near the upper left corner of your calendar page.
Type in as few, or as many details about the event that you would like. It can be something as simple as Dinner with friends 6 pm Saturday or Pick-up son at practice tomorrow and Calendar will create an event for you with the details you supply. Give it a try, or watch the video for more tips, including how to automatically invite people to your event.
I love Google Earth. It is indispensable in my classroom. I use it almost daily as a history teacher and my students are always fully engaged when assigned GE as part of a project. However, it has a hungry processor and network appetite and can bog down my old classroom computers like no other software we use. We’ve reach the update limit on GE in my room and, although it is still a wonderful tool, I’ve found myself more often using its online cousin, Google Maps. And now there is another reason to love Maps.
Maps just received a recent update that is a wonderful addition for middle school earth science students. You can now view weather forecasts from around the world. Combine this with the previously available cloud layer and you have a terrific weather station. Throw in a projector and an electronic white board, or better yet, a green screen, and students can now provide a weekly weather report for your school. Click on your city for the week’s forecast. An embedded link here takes you to data supplier weather.com where you can find even more detailed information.
Google Maps includes many features previously available only in Google Earth, but without the steep processing demands. I’ll continue to use Earth at home to record my lessons, but I’m enjoying watching the evolution of Maps into an online powerhouse.
Creating a new calendar is a great way to get information out to coworkers and parents. Google Calendar allows you to create and share multiple, special-purpose calenders with individuals or groups.
Calendars can be used to make parent conference appointments, schedule lab time, post important classroom dates such as celebrations, assignments, and reminders for students and parents, and to track important tasks.
1. To create a calendar, login to your GAFE account and select Calendar in the upper left corner.
2. On the calendar page, locate the section labeled MY CALENDARS.
3. Click the drop-down arrow to the right and select CREATE NEW CALENDAR.
4. Enter as many details as you like on the next screen.
5. To share with a specific person, or a group of people, enter their name and/or email address.
Calendars may be shared with people outside your organization, however, if you would like to grant editing privileges, they will need a gmail account. If you would like to share with anyone that does not have a gmail account, you should consider making the calendar public and provide them with the link to it.
6. Grant permissions to each person or group.
Make changes and managesharing grants this person near total control over the calendar. They may invite others and set permissions.
Make changes to events allows users to add and modify events.
See all events grants view only access. They will be able to see events, but may not add or modify.
See only free/busy shares no details of the event, only that you are either busy or available. This would be appropriate for making your parent conference schedule public.
7. Create Calendar.
Your new calendar will appear in your list of My Calendars and in the Other Calendar list of the people you shared the calendar with.
Adding a coworker’s calendar in Google Apps for Education (GAFE) is a simple process that can greatly enhance the sharing of information within a domain. Since each account in your organization has a calendar associated with it, sharing calendars can be a powerful collaborative experience.
1. From your GAFE Calendar page, find your calendar section in the left column.
2. Beneath this section is a section labeled Other Calendars.
3. In the box, type in the name of the coworker, or the name of the calendar that you are searching for.
4. When you see the calendar you want, click it. You are now subscribed to that calendar.
NOTE: You will be able to view and/or edit the calendars in this section, only if the calendar owners have given you permission to do so.
I just finished reading a terrific blog post by Richard Byrne on using Google Books in the classroom. Although I’ve known about Google Books for a bit, I’ve never taken a deeper look as I’ve just assumed that the books are at a more difficult reading level than my 6th graders could handle. I was wrong. Richard’s detailed description and navigation help provided me with a better insight for applying this resource in the classroom. Following his tips, I was quickly able to find numerous books that matched my search criteria of “Ancient Egypt.” Although many of the books returned in response to my query were for more advanced readers, I quickly discovered several that I feel my students would relish reading.
There are many ways to narrow your search, but readability level is not one of them. Instead, I searched for number of pages. I examined several books in the 30-200 page range and found most of them to be wonderful resources. You can download each book to read offline on a computer, mobile device, or ebook reader. What I found to be even more helpful is the ability to embed the book on a website or blog.
Tracking my classroom library check outs has always been a pain. Now I can place relevant, themed-based books within my digital classroom or blog assignment and have students respond within the context of the post. Google Books will let you keep your selections organized on a “bookshelf” that you can make public, or keep private.
I just purchased Reeder, a new RSS reader that grabs your Google Reader feeds and displays them beautifully. It is similar to several iPad apps out there, but this is for my desktop. I actually can’t wait to start the … Continue reading →
I want to thank Pam for sending me a link to a terrific post about 3D gaming and education. As many of you know, I have a big interest in bringing gaming into the classroom. I’ve used games like SimCity in the past and, more currently, Machinarium to immerse my students in a realm that is so familiar to them while delivering the standards.
Here is an opportunity for teachers to design and build quest-based curriculum that your students can play online at any time. This project has been developed by Edtec faculty at Boise State over several months. Enroll this summer for their teacher camp where you will learn how to use the online tools to develop your own quest-based learning activities.
John Miller