Friday 25 July 2014

Me as a techie student 2014 - Sharing V - 25/07

Today's lesson: Google Drive

From scratch! You can always go back to an original version of a Google Doc:

save image

Did you know there are Google Add-ons? Similar to Google extensions but they are meant to help you in a Google Doc. My favourite ones:
EasyBib Bibliography Creator: to cite sources.
Lucidchart Diagrams: to create charts.
Kaizena Shortcut: nice to give feedback.


You can create Google Forms and you'll automatically receive the answers (processed by Google, really tidy) 

Would you like to watch a tutorial? Here it is.

This is mine:

Easy to create, awesome to use and nice to share.

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Poem writing as pronunciation practice


During my practice period to become a teacher, I had the possibility of working with an awesome class who was eager to do whatever I suggested.

So, I took advantage of that and proposed that we wrote poems. Of course, it was guided writing but they were willing enough to record themselves reading their own productions.

I've created a list with their recordings... Want to peep? HERE it is.

 

Thursday 17 July 2014

Me as a techie student 2014 - Sharing IV - 04/07

Our class today started with some review about Gmail that I'd like to share with you. We were supposed to decide if these statements are TRUE or FALSE. Would you like to try it? (Answers below.) If not sure, just 'ask' Google.
  1. You can view recipients' contact information from the message you are writing.
  2. You can choose to give priority to some messages
  3. You cannot embed emoticons but you can embed pictures
  4. You need to save your "drafts" by clicking on "send later"
  5. Docs from your Drive can be attached directly
  6. Web addresses and email addresses can be inserted by clicking on the same icon
  7. You can add "labels" to your messages to organize them
  8. You can customize your Gmail from any browser
  9. There's a "priority box" to help you find most important messages
  10. Previous emails can be sent as attachments
  11. You can send photos taken by any device via Gmail
(1) T – (2) T – (3) F – (4) F – (5) T – (6) T – (7) T – (8) T – (9) T – (10) T [HELP] – (11) T

Then, we plunged in today's class: 

First: Gmail (or part of it)
Google Labs.
- Is there sth more awesome than being able to unsend e-mails? YES, it can be done!! Of course, thanks to Google and Gmail. How? Follow this link.

- You can even custom your keyboard shortcuts!!!

- Why don't you use the calendar gadget in your Gmail account?

Gmail offline:
Poor Internet service? Write what you need -before forgetting or leaving- and as soon as you have service again, Gmail will send your e-mail. More Info

Second: Movenote.
Remember my problem with giving online feedback? New solution (besides YouTube videos and google Docs) Make a presentation and record your voice (even include your image) for anyone to listen and watch: https://www.movenote.com/
I've created mine. The idea was to give a simple explanation of how to create a Google Doc for my Online Elementary students, here it is.

Third: Words Fight
Make students work with a data base in a more modern way: http://www.googlefight.com/# or  http://www.googlebattle.com/


Fourth: Thing Link

Combine pictures, videos, text and whatever you find on the web with this amazing tool! I've created mine thinking in my forthcoming classes.


Lots of things to do, aren't there? 

Me as a techie student 2014 - Sharing III - 27/06

Today, we've seen how to improve our Google Searches.Many new things to learn and bare in mind!

We learnt how to describe what you see after you've done your search. Of course, you first get the title and right after it, the URL but what I didn't know was that the description of the site is called the Snippet or Abstract.

Then, we plunged into Google Searches. Clearly, we should read about it before doing. And so we did:  you can either call them Hacks or Tricks, the thing is that Google rocks. I've chosen my favourite ones: 
  • Set Timer: extremely helpful to use in the classroom.
  • Wild Card: a simple * can aid your memory when you don't remember one specific word.
  • Similar to: with the help of a tilde ~ (Alt + 126)  you can find a search similar to the words you've just googled. You can even use a - (minus sign) to avoid certain words in your search.
Some others that I've found useful:

  • Control + F: have you read something but you can't remember where it is? Find that key word in your mind with this combination, it works whichever site you are.
  • Ask Almighty Google to define something for you, and it will simply do it!
  • Why don't you just search by filetype? E.g.:  .ppt.
  • "" help us search for a complete chunk.
  • Not enough? Just click on the gear wheel and define your advanced search. save image
But I'm more visual, so searching by image is essential for me (of utmost importance for preparing teaching material)

  • Go to Google Search - Images and click on the small camera icon. Now, just drag & drop a picture to find visually similar images.
  • You can even use filters. In Search Tools, you'll find "Filters." E.g.: Black & White.
Well, that's it for today, quite a lot, isn't it?