Thing #21

The Google tools are great! Google Earth is an awesome tool that can be used for all kinds of social studies activties. You can find different locations and calculate the mileage between the two. You can also find different landmarks and make students feel like they are there!

Google SketchUp is pretty fun but will take some getting used to. I think younger students will have more difficulty with this. I enjoy trying to build things with it, but sometimes it takes several tries to get it right. I think this one takes a bit more talent to master. :-) I think there could be some great lessons in geometry here and also some architecture ideas for older kids.

The Google calendar is soooo convenient when sharing a calendar with others. We have shared calendars for staff development days within our office and also for PDC lab schedules so that we can work around things that are scheduled. I created a new calendar for this class and also created one for my husband and some local photographers that he works with so we can all share and schedule studio time without having to call back and forth whenever we're trying to book it. That way we can schedule time with someone wherever we are and not have to contact a customer back. This would be a great asset for campuses - grade level teams could schedule weekly planning meetings, principals could have a shared calendar for school events/meetings. There could also be a classroom calendar where assignments are posted and the calendar is shared with students and parents so everyone would know when and what assignments are due - great parent communication with the stroke of a key!