Google+Workshop

All the Google training from Google Eighth Floor Fan Page [] Google Workshop for Educators Welcome to the Eighth Floor workshop on using Google tools. We have found Google to be quite education friendly, both for the teacher and the student. As we work through several of the tools today and discuss uses, consider how you might use these tools both for your own professional development, as well as how you could use them with your students. The possibilities are endless!

**Objectives**
 * 1) Take a look at several of the more popular, and we feel more useful, tools available.
 * 2) Discuss classroom and teacher uses.
 * 3) Make sure Scott and Lee Anne are having fun all day
 * 4) Team exploration of tools and practical applications
 * 5) Presentations - and they better be good. (See objective #3)

** Google it! ** media type="custom" key="6432829" **Google Search Strategies** []

Let Me Google that for You - [] What do you love? Google Search Tips for Students Google Search Tips Poster Inside Google Search Google Realtime Search Google Search Tips & Tricks Google Fight Google Search Stories media type="custom" key="6775241" []

**Google Custom Search Engine** >> || || >>> []
 * With Google Custom Search, you can harness the power of Google to create a customized search experience for your own website. ||
 * Include one or more websites, or specific webpages
 * Host the search box and results on your own website
 * Customize the look and feel of the results to match your site

** Google Earth/Maps ** lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, [|3D buildings], from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others.
 * [|Google Earth Free]**
 * [|Google Earth Community]
 * [|Explore, Search and Discover]

**Google Communication** [|What Does Google + Mean for Education] Google + for Educators

**Google Calendar** media type="custom" key="6429695" media type="custom" key="27392494"
 * YouTube **

**Google Reader** media type="custom" key="6432943"

** iGoogl e** What is iGoogle?

iGoogle is a customizable homepage iGoogle lets you create a personalized homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. Here are some things you can do with gadgets: > media type="custom" key="6433029" [|Mini Product Tour] [|Create an Account] [|How to Edit Your iGoogle Page] Social Gadgets for iGoogle [|Setting up iGoogle Help Page] [|Setting iGoogle as my Permanent Homepage] - do this on YOUR computer (be respectful of others') [|More iGoogle Tutorials]
 * View your latest Gmail messages
 * Read headlines from Google News and other top news sources
 * Check out weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
 * Store bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
 * Design your own gadget.

**WHAT ELSE MIGHT YOU DO?** Add feeds from blogs You can add any blog that publishes a feed to your iGoogle homepage. The feed looks like any other iGoogle gadget and lets you get automatic updates from the site without leaving your iGoogle page. To add a blog's feed to your homepage, follow these steps:


 * 1) Go to the iGoogle directory by clicking **Add stuff**on the upper right corner of your iGoogle page.
 * 2) Click **Add feed or gadget**on the left.
 * 3) Enter the address of the blog and click **Add**. If there's a feed associated with the site, it'll be detected automatically.
 * 4) Click **Back to iGoogle home** on the upper left corner of the page to see your updated iGoogle page.

Share a tab with a friend
Think you've made [|the perfect tab]? You can send it to others.

If you check the 'Send my settings for these gadgets' box, the gadgets will appear to your friend much as they appear to you. But sharing works a little differently for every gadget, so be careful when sharing tabs or gadgets that include personal info.
 * 1) Click the tab you want to share.
 * 2) Click the down arrow next to the name.
 * 3) Click **Share this tab**.
 * 4) Check the boxes for the gadgets you'd like to send, enter your friend's email address, and write a message.

Why would I want an iGoogle Homepage? h[|ttp://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/show?id=649749%3ABlogPost%3A120044&commentId=649749%3AComment%3A374659]

**Wouldn't you like to be a GOOGLE too?** Here is the workshop part of the course. Now is your opportunity to collaborate, learn, and share.


 * Choose one or more tools from the Google Options Page []
 * Spend a little time with your team learning about these tools - how do they work, why are they useful, who will use them most, how can they work together, how can they save you time, etc.
 * Create a practical application for these tools. How could we use them with students or for our professional development or personally or what?
 * Present your "findings" to the class. Help us become familiar with the tool(s) you explored and help us see a practical application.


 * You might also like to check out** [|****Google for Educators****]**. You will find some seriously cool resources here.**

[] [] -- All the options

**Tutorials, Lesson Ideas, Tools, and Google Stuff That's Cool** You might also like to look at this tutorial - [] Google Learning Almanac - [] 100 Ways Google Can Make You a Better Educator - [] Google Tutorials: [] Google for Educators - Resources for using Google in school Google apps for Education - Lesson Plans YouTube for Teachers/Education

**How do YOU Google?** Take our survey using Google Forms. Google Survey

Random Ideas for Using Google

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 * **DOCS**
 * Collaborate on lesson plans
 * Staff Meeting Notes
 * Shared lesson repository
 * Improve the writing process
 * See the entire history of a document
 * Share with parents
 * Share with classmates
 * Reading Response Journals
 * Translate letters to ELL parents
 * Track student homework on a speadsheet
 * Collect, share, anaylize, graph data from a science experiment in a spreadsheet
 * Flash card center - a gaget. || **FORMS**
 * Formative/Summative Assessments
 * Survey students or parents interests
 * Teacher or student observations/evaluations
 * Online reading record
 * Tracking discipline referrals
 * Collect information from parents
 * Spelling tests
 * Collect Science Data || **CALENDAR**
 * Keep several types of calendars
 * Share different calendars
 * Share calendar with students/parents
 * Schedule meetings
 * Schedule shared resources - rooms, labs, librarians ||  ||
 * **GMAIL**
 * Labs - features in beta form
 * Penpals
 * Penpals from another country
 * message translater for ELL parents
 * "undo sent" || **TALK**
 * Instant message with other teachers or cohorts
 * Video chat
 * Guest lecturers
 * Invite grandparents for storytime
 * Hold office hours - even on snow days! || **SITES**
 * Class or student website
 * Embed calendars
 * Embed docs
 * Embed forms or spreadsheets
 * Student ePortfolios
 * Teacher digital resumes/portfolios
 * Student projects or reports
 * Curriculum sharing - school/district wide ||  ||