Goggle the Search Engine

I have been using Google for a very long time and understood a little bit of how it gathers information. I already knew how it worked how it gathered its information. I also use many of its features, like Picasa, Google Docs, Gmail, Video Chat, and will be trying Multichat. What I always found overwhelming about Goggle was the scope of the information and how long it took me to find validated sources. Then I found it difficult to teach my students or have them switch to other search engines. In the end I still found it to still the easiest and most efficient. What I learned, the power of the semicolon, the dash, and the quotations when doing searches. Makes a lot of sense to add those in if I want to narrow down items, leave out words, or keep it to specific organization. I feel like I need to print out or share with my students to Google Crib Sheet. What I would like to do since "Research" is the first step in the Design Cycle Model is to take time with my students to teach them Google Search fully. Next  year I will create a better lesson plan on research and have the students practice using various Google Techniques to narrow their search. This year got bogged down before teaching researching, but next year I will make improvements. I will begin this year when students return on how to Google Search properly.

Practice, practice, practice

If you don't keep practicing all what you learn then you will forget how to do simple things.

Evernote

I have been playing around with Evernote since I was introduced to it first last June and again in September during faculty training days. I have used it to make grocery lists, to take notes in meetings on students, for advisory notes, and so on; however, when I was traveling I have found that unless I have wifi somewhere, I cannot bring it up. But, now that I have taken the time to syn all of my electronic devices that shouldn't be an issue. I cannot get used to the fact that I am all mac'd out now with an iPhone, Macbook and iPad. At time I forget that I can sync one to the other, especially through Evernote. What is nice is that I don't have to have pages or word on my phone in order to see my notes or review my notes from other sources. Extremely nice feature. I have explored some of the other offerings on Evernote Trunk and I like the SnapCal. I think I will down load that and give it a try. I am finding that my calendars on all of my devices are not sync smoothly with iCloud. I believe it is because I keep moving between several different wifi servers. I will try that and then explore other options. I am also considering that 10th grades should then move into Evernote. I cannot see my current 9th graders using it. They struggle with DropBox.com and they struggle with other apps. We shall see.

Wiki's

We used Wiki's as our first digital homework posting pages, created by Sara K-M. I really enjoyed making the page my own and had a great time adding animations and various other cartoons. I also add wonderful pictures and opportunities for students to earn extra credit. I made my page interesting so students would be more motivated to keep going there in order to get homework as well as extra credit. I keep forgetting about using wiki's. Perhaps that is what I will use for teachers to check out MacBooks from the cart. I will have to give it a try.

Diigo

When I first started using Diigo, I had a tiny bit of trouble but once I add it to my Google Chrome the little symbol showed up and it was easy. I see a site that I like, I click the symbol, bookmark it and add tags. I do like the tag part. It keeps all of my sources organized which is very important when teaching several science classes. I am now using it more than bookmarks. So I ask, is there an app for diigo also so I can add to my list from my iPad?

Reflection on RSS

I finally got around to catching up on my 14 things. The RSS is great. I have quite a few professional subscriptions to various websites and this will make it easier to keep everything in one place. I frequently get updates via e-mail which tends to bog down my mailboxes or since I don't have time at that moment to read them I often delete them which defeats the purpose. Now I can put them in m reader and get back to them when ever I want. Life is good!