Image Swirl

Google Image Swirl is a new way to search for images and view the results. Click on an image you like, and it will show you similar matches so you can find the best one. It is still in the experimental stage, so you can't find everything on it, but it is fun to use!

http://goo.gl/

Do you have a long web address you are planning to put onto paper? There are many shorteners out there to make it easier for you and whoever you are sending the link to. One of those options is the Google URL Shortener. Copy and paste a long address into the box and Google will give a short address that points to the same spot. Besides making it easier for people to get to the web page, it also keeps track of how many times people use the shortened address. I recommend only using it if you are distributing the address on paper. If you are emailing, keep the address long so people can see where they are going.

Google Shared Spaces

In an earlier post I showed how you can set up a document where students can add and edit text together from different computers using Etherpad. What if you want them to do something more than text? Then Google Shared Spaces is your site! You can create a drawing pad, Sudoku game, diagram editor, and many other things. Here is a computer class version of Magnetic Poetry that I made. Once a shared space is created, you can create a link to it on your webpage or in the student shared folder.

Writing Comics

Third grade students are using the Professor Garfield Comics Lab to make their own comic strips. First they search for recent strips by creator Jim Davis and browse through them for ideas. After that the students use the Garfield characters in each panel and write what they say in speech bubbles. Lastly, the class walks around and reads each other's strips.

Google Custom Search

Last week I was lucky to go to the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) conference in Detroit. I learned many great things, but the one I end up using the most may be Google Custom Search. For class projects, I have always been nervous about doing an all out Google search. Instead I would put a list of links on a page or have a series of shortcuts for the students to follow. With Google Custom Search I won't have to do that. I can set up a search that will just look through the web sites I specify. Here is one I did for future 50 States projects. Students will still get practice searching, but the resources will be ones I pick.

Third Grade Internet

The Third Grade students just wrapped up a unit on using the Internet. The classes reviewed how to navigate with links, searches, and using the address bar. Students also completed activities involving Internet safety and evaluating web pages.

Third graders are invited to bring guests to Teach Your Parent Night on Tuesday, October 19, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in Miss Frank's room, where they can teach their guests all about the Internet.

Now Third grade classes are going to start a four week project. They are going to create slide shows about Michigan! This week they are gathering facts from the Internet using the search skills they learned and the web site Google.

What is RSS?

RSS is something that will save you time. Let's say you each day you wanted to know if this blog had a new post. You also may want to see any new posts from Mrs. Culver's Media Center blog, not to mention the Elementary News feed and the District News feed. With an RSS reader instead of checking all of these pages, you would just go to your reader.

I had first heard about RSS (Real Simple Syndication) at a conference a few years back. Basically, it checks blogs and web sites for new posts, gathers them up, and puts them all on one page for you to see. It sounded like a great idea, but I never got around to checking it out. I wasn't even sure where to start until I took a class this summer. The text we read recommended Google Reader.

Log into Google Reader if you have a Google account, or go ahead and create an account. You may want to add the page to your Favorites or Bookmarks list. Open another tab or window and go to a web site you want to keep track of. Select and copy the address (it usually starts with http). Back on the Google Reader page, click the Add a Subscription box, paste the address, and click the Add button. It works for all blogs and news feeds, and should work for most web sites. Have fun!

Google Calendar

Teachers, have you tried the calendar link at the top of your email webpage? I have tried to organize my life through a few calendars on different computers. The problem was I couldn't access them at home and at school. Since we switched to our Gmail based school email I have been using the calendar and actually sticking with it! I can check it on any computer that has an Internet connection, and it is only an additional click after checking my email.

You can set up different calendars within the calendar so there can be one color for school things, one for family, and another for personal. The task list has worked well for me and, well, kept me on task. There are buttons to change the view from day to week to month, and in Calendar setting you can change the Default view to what you prefer. You can even set a Custom view. Here I chose 4 weeks.

Try it if you get the chance before the craziness of school starts. I like to right click the Calendar link and have it open in another tab, that way my mail and calendar are accessible in the same window.