Have you tried Google?

This week I was introduced to the amazing features of Google Forms and Google Drawings. While I have been using Google Drive for many years, I have never explored the other features offered. Since I teach 1st grade and many of my students can't read independently, I don't use digital forms with my students, however, it would be so helpful to use with parents. For an assignment I used Google Forms to create a digital questionnaire for parents or guardians of incoming students. Prior to this class, I would have been afraid to attempt something along these lines, but it was SO easy and user-friendly. I anticipate using Google Forms in the future for many things. Here is a tutorial I found on Youtube that will teach you the basics of Google Forms.

During this week of The Connected Educator we also utilized Google Drawings. I had never even heard of Google Drawings, so I tried to keep it simple. In my 1st grade class, we use many graphic organizers, especially when teaching story elements. My Google Drawings allowed for my students to record the Characters, Setting, Problem and Solution. I know that I barely scratched the surface of this great program. Here is a blog post from Ditch That Text Book about how great Google Drawings is and how to implement it in your teaching. 

One the blog front, I found this great post from The Nerdy Teacher about shifting to a project based learning model. I know that when my district proposed switching to a more PBL approach, I was overwhelmed to say the least. It was hard to give up what I thought was control. Check out the Project Pals site where you can find free lesson plans and resources.