Google Templates: Another Way to Use Google Apps in the Classroom

Templates

             Disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of Google Apps in the classroom for many reasons, but one is because it is an equalizer.  Everyone has access.  As a librarian, I'm all about equitable and awesome access for all.  However, I've run across a few problems that I just didn't have time to investigate, and one of those problems was the lack of templates.  My husband needed help writing his resume and where is my resume wizard?  And recently, one of my favorite teacher friends, Shelly Francies, had this incredible idea for a lesson, but it called for a newsletter template.  Argh! Where's my newsletter template!  In a time when we ask many of our students to work digitally and outside of our school environments, we cannot expect that they all have a particular software program at home.  There had to be an answer.  Enter Google Templates!  

              I've written before about the usefulness of the Google Add Ons that can be linked to Google Docs, and this is one of those.  Truth be told, I knew they were useful, but I spent little time exploring.  Who has the time?  Today, I took a quick dive into the apps that can be connected to Drive and found a wealth of potential for teachers and students.  I've attached the screen cast that I developed for that class that needs newsletters.  It shows you how to:

• Find the apps to connect to your Google Docs
• Quickly navigate through those apps, with a brief stop-over into the teacher and student section. (So much to explore here!  Maybe another time...)
• Search for specific apps and link it to your Docs
• Use the "research tool" to help create your product.  (Do you know about this yet?  You should!)

There are just so many applications and customizations to the Google Apps.  Mrs. Francies and I were remarking today on what a useful skill set this is for our students.. to know what tools are available to them (for free!), how to customize them, and then how to utilize them to create a product that best reflects their learning and ingenuity.  I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool.
**Note: the template app that I connected in this video is called Drive Template Gallery

A Visit with Beth Kephart

The following post is written by Beth Kephart, author of many books, but notably, for this visit, Going Over.  She was so kind to spend the day with us in recognition of "PA Forward Speak Up! Authors & Illustrators Speak Up for PA Libraries."  It was truly a great day here at WEST!  Our students eagerly learned about Ms. Kephart's writing, about the Berlin wall, about walls (both real and imaginary, both in the story and in their own worlds).  They wrote poetry, created graffiti, and shared.  Our book club met with her to discuss the book, the writing process, and their inspirations.  One student pulled up his own writing on his iphone to share with her.  I was so proud of our students, and so thrilled to be a part of one of those moments that reminds us why we do what we do, in both libraries and in education.  Thank you, Beth, and to the amazing people behind this day, for making this happen for our students! 

The Berlin Wall poetry and art of Downingtown West (incredible)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014

Yesterday, as part of the Speak Up for libraries program (of which I wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer here), I spent four consecutive periods with the very special students of Downingtown West and their beloved (for such good reason) librarian, Michelle Nass. We talked about the role of libraries in our lives, and the treasures we've found there. We learned some of the history of the Berlin Wall (history libraries helped me uncover) and reflected on the metaphorical and physical walls that still separate us. We listened to Ada and Stefan of my Berlin novel Going Over weigh the consequences of freedom, asked ourselves when, if ever, we'd take the risk to jump a wall, wrote poems, and made graffiti art.

After school during the book club hour, we talked about how books get made, what editors do, the difference between writing and publishing, and the writer friends I've come to love.

I was staggered by the receptivity, creativity, and generosity of these students. Their willingness to dig in deep, to answer hard questions, to write—and eagerly share—their work. I came home with a fat file of poems and art, wanting to share every sentiment and drawing here. Space is my limitation. I share a few poems below, a collage of art above, but please know this, Downingtown West: all of it was special, and so are you.

Write about what risks are worth taking, and freedom is, I prompted. This is what happened:

What is life 
but a bundle of risks
a handful of desires.
We get thrown in the mix
of temptations and hopes
but in order to obtain
the things that we want
we must go through pain.
— Mike Lodge

Freedom isn't free.
Yes, that's the irony.
We hear its cry.
We hear its call.
Yet here we are
at an ancient wall.
A wall we cannot live without.
A wall that fills us up with doubt.
And some of us will take a risk.
Some of us will die to have it all.
That freedom filled with irony.
For that I would fall.
— Micky

Freedom
It's not impossible,
but it's not clear.
It's what lies in the future that is feared.

But what's life without freedom?
A life of being caged?
The only thing that gives us freedom
is change.
— August Walker

Not much is worth risking my life for.
Family, friends, love, freedom come to mind.
Would you risk everything now for a chance at freedom?
If everything could be lost, would you try?
One moment you're there, the next you're gone.
Never to see your loved ones again.
Is it really worth it, for a chance at freedom?
— Samantha Goss

Can you go against the stream?
Fight the system?
Make your own path?
It will be hard.
Blood. Loss. Isolation.
You are a soldier with no army.
You are a lone soul looking for a place
to call home.
Stay strong.
— Megan

To rebel against the evils which control
our very lives.
In hopes to prevail against the wings of Freedom
and its vibes.
These days our right to think different is
challenged by all.
Yet without the help of others our ideas
will surely fall.

What is worth my life?
What is worth my death?
What will hold me back?
What will set me free?
Love
Freedom
Freedom
Love
That is all I need.
— Emily Gibbs

Many, many thanks to Michelle Nass for organizing this day. Thanks to the students. Thanks to the librarians who do what they do and keep their doors open for us. And thank you to Jennifer Yasick, with whom I began this beautiful day.

7 REASONS TO USE GOOGLE DOCS FOR RESEARCH

Reblog from my post at: http://dtowntechchat.wordpress.com/2014/09/

There are so many awesome places to find breakdowns and infographics that help us improve our use of technology and help nudge our students towards more effective and efficient research.  While scrolling through my Pinterest page, I came across this great blog by Michael Fricano on four reasons why you should consider using Google Docs with your students in your research, and thought it might be useful especially in light of our school’s new Google accounts.  It is well worth the short time to scan over it or read it, in my opinion.

In short, did you know that:

1)      In Docs, under “tools” there is a “research” tab that will open a research sidebar that allows students to search and filter by scholar, images, etc.  They can cite directly from here in APA or MLA format, hyperlink their discussion, pull images directly over, etc.  It is a really powerful tool that will allow the students to be more metacognitive as they work (yes, I used metacognitive… I feel like I’m writing a grad paper).

2)      Under “add-ons” there are LOTS of great, helpful add-ons for writing, math, charting, etc.  The blogger and I both recommend that the students use the highlighting add-on right away.  It allows them to highlight and then gather the highlighted text in a separate doc as they are working on a larger research project, which allows them to think through and organize their work more effectively.

3)      The comment tool—have the students share their docs with you rather than handing in various drafts.  Use the comment tool to help them edit their work.  They can use the comment tool to annotate their notes to show their thinking and come back to it later.

4)      Sharing—the students can share documents with you or their group mates and edit simultaneously, or even use the “chat” function to talk about their work as they do it if they are editing in real-time in separate locations.

5)      Revision History—tracks every change a student makes and time stamps it.  Want to check when a student did the work or how many revisions he/she made?  Here you go.

6)      Connections—their Google Docs will connect with their EasyBib accounts (don’t know about these?  Ask me!) and Schoology so that they will soon be able to submit documents directly from their Google accounts.

7.) Saving—finally, Google Docs save as you go.  For those of you who might have Internet issues or if your students sometimes struggle with the flash drive that doesn’t work or got lost, or if you have students who do not have Word at home and come in with that strange file that you need to figure out how to convert, this feature solves those problems.

Google Docs for research is another great way to collaborate with your school librarian in doing research!  Talk to your school librarian—I know that I would love to work with you and our students on this if you’re interested in adding this collaborative and engaging angle to your students’ research projects.