GoogleDocs

GoogleDocs is a wonderful program that has so much to offer anyone who is interested in sharing documents, calendars, lesson plans, etc. It is a well rounded program that has so much to offer that I cannot possibly even describe them all; however, I will touch on the points that I think would be most important to an educator.

*Calendar - your entire school is able to share one calendar to post any information that is needed. For instance, if you pass around a calendar at a staff meeting or have to email the secretary dates you want to go on the calendar that is sent home you can do that all with GoogleDocs. You simply open up the calendar, add the information you need to, and then save it. You event is now saved and ready to be printed. Second, if you have a computer lab that is shared by the school you can have a set calendar in which you reserve your spot. This makes it simple and easy to see who has it when and then you are able to reserve your own spot that week or even for future dates. The calendar offers many wonderful options such as color coding, holidays, and even designing it to fit your needs.
* Lesson Plans - If you are one who prefers to use the computer to type your lesson plans out then GoogleDocs is the place for you. GoogleDocs offers many different templates to choose from, I spent over 30 minutes trying to decide which one I wanted to use this year. Once you have your template you are able to make any changes you want to it. The nice bonus is that you can share this with your principal and they can have easy access to it instead of having to print it off and placing it in their mailbox (if that is what you have to do like myself.)
*Quizzes - Another exciting feature that you can use with your students is to create quizzes that they can take at home. It is relatively easy to set-up. Once students have taken the quiz you are able to score them all at once with a simple set-up. You can then see how they did and which ones were wrong. (I personally can't wait to try this feature with my students.)
*Document Sharing - Probably one of the main features of this program is sharing documents with one another. The nice feature about this is that if you have a piece of work that you are making changes with a group you can do this at your own time and make your changes then. You do not have to be all together making the changes at the same time as everyone has access to this document.

GoogleDocs has many other wonderful great features, but I find these four to be the ones I would probably use the most. GoogleDocs is a nice program that is relatively easy to use and filled with lots of great features. The nicest part is that you can share this with many different people who also have Google accounts.

Phixr

Today I tried out the application Phixr which is a site to help you enhance a personnel photo that you shot with a digital camera or phone. I found this site to be very easy to use as you instantly could upload any photo that you had saved to your computer, did not try directly from the camera or phone. Once I uploaded the photo I tried out several of the features that could help fix your photo. I first cropped the photo. I really liked how you did not have to draw the box, but instead it was already provided for you. Once I cropped the picture to where I wanted it I quickly saved it. Next I made some touch ups to the coloring of my picture. As it was a very sunny day, not always the best for pictures, I adjusted the coloring a bit (you really have to play with this to get the full affect.) Once the coloring was adjusted I the played with the overlay affects a bit. I added an overlay to make it slightly fancier. The application provides you with many different overlay options to play around with. My only complaint with this part is that you couldn't adjust the overlay it just had a set size; however, when adding a border it does allow you to adjust the size. This application will also allow you to add wording, combine two pictures into one, and many other great features.
If your classroom involves using pictures for projects then I would highly recommend you using it with your students that are in grades 5th on up. My students create a memory book this year, and the features of this program are simple for the students to understand and really can add some great touch-ups to the pictures they have taken. Also, if you work on yearbook, this would be a great tool to help you fix pictures that you might not have chosen to use before hand.
Here is the picture I worked on.
Before:

After:

Website

Last year I created a website for my junior high class. This website is where students can go and see what they have for homework, look up information for field trips, and any other important information regarding my classroom. On my homepage you will see the calendar I use for the year along with the different pages students can access. My sixth grade page shows a few of their assignments.

My classroom website

Concept Map

Concept maps are not new to me as they are something that I use often in my classroom to help students narrow down their topics for writing; however, when I do use concept maps they actually draw them out themselves. When I create a protype for my students I always use the whiteboard, but with a site like bubbl.us I can now use my computer to show them how to use it as well as have them create one in class. The concept map I have chosen to use is a writing topic I always use the first week of school. Either on the 2nd or 3rd day of class I have the students write a one page paper about what they did this summer. This concept helps with two things: one I can see where their writing level is, and second it lets the students share an exciting thing that happened to them this summer. My concept map would help me to decide which topic to write about if I am having a hard time thinking of what I did, deciding which is my favorite, and/or recalling the details of the event.