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Something I learned from this unit, that I had not considered before, is how we are responsible for teaching students how to cope with their mistakes made online. While I am familiar with talking to students who misuse their internet access, I never considered the larger consequences and distress this failure can cause students. We are responsible to teaching students to be resilient and to bounce back from these instances. We must help them grow as more productive and responsible members of the digital community.

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I learned all sorts of new resources through the Google for Education tools. These resources came in the form of helpful forums, Google for Education Help Forums, and designated experts, Certified Innovators and Trainers. As someone who is pretty comfortable with certain Google tools, it is refreshing to hear that there are other tools that I can still gain knowledge about and skills for using them with the help of specialized trainers and innovators to teach me new ways to integrate them into my specific classroom.

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Yes, it's a lot, but I'm familiar with some of it.  So... I think I've got this!

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Yes, it's a lot, but I'm familiar with some of it.  So... I think I've got this!

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(This is after reviewing the Table of Contents, before getting started on the work, post for 3/22.)

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A good reminder to start with the lesson goal in mind.  Don't simply think "I have to use some technology".  Decide on what technology after you know where you want to go.

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I'm really excited to get Google certified! It'll help me A LOT with classroom technology and will help me be a more professional and relatable teacher :)

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Finally feels like I recovered from the edTPA so I'm ready for the next task! I struggle with technology and really believe this will improve my abilities and confidence in the classroom.

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Unit 1: Get Ready to Use Technology in the Classroom

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Unit 1: Get Ready to Use Technology in the Classroom

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I learned that just because we have to use certain textbooks within our curriculum, does not mean we cannot augment them further to engage students and help them make connections to the real world. I liked the idea of having students make comparisons between textbook chapters and Wikipedia entries on the same topic to find what is missing from the textbook and/or Wikipedia. The students could even record their comparisons in a shared Google Doc to make it a collaborative experience! I am excited to learn about the many ways I can use technology to expand content, engage students and enhance my teaching practice.

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This unit showed me several ways to make connection with other educators to share ideas, get support, etc.

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In Unit 1 I learned of the multiple tools that google allows us as educators to use in the classroom and better ways to implement technology in the classroom.

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Unit 3: Have a (Mostly) Paperless Classroom

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Unit 3: Have a (Mostly) Paperless Classroom

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What great ways to collaborate on the same document without killing the printer! And, how great that a Google Form will save paper AND put the responses all in one place for you!

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I feel like this unit was a bit basic. As someone who regularly incorporates Google Fundamentals into their classroom, I feel very familiar with the technology discussed. I look forward to learning more in the future units. This one was a breeze! I am looking forward to challenging myself to learn more in later units.

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I was really inspired by this unit. While I am familiar with website creation via Google Sites, I never considered using one for my own classroom. I hope to take this step, especially considering the privacy settings afforded by Google. I think this will put be a step about "Remind!" and be a more efficient way for me to dispense information in a more creative and fun way. Additionally, while it might not be appropriate or necessarily the most helpful for my age group, I think Google Chat is a really cool tool to incorporate and facilitate discussions between students.

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If I'm being honest, technology is one of the things that I'm least comfortable with in the classroom, so I'm really excited to learn more and become Google certified. I've used Google Classroom in some of my college courses, and I like the layout, so I'm excited and ready to learn!

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In Unit 1, I appreciate how we're setting intentions and defining our purpose for technology. This unit demonstrates just some of the many uses for technology and how we can incorporate it into our classes.

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Unit 2: Expand Your Access to Help and Learning

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Unit 2: Expand Your Access to Help and Learning

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In Unit 2, I learned how valuable your teacher network can be. I like that Google offers multiple ways for teachers to connect, share ideas and problem-solve together. Through the Google for Education Directory, I was able to find a Google Certified Innovator located in a town near me. The county I am in recently began deploying Chromebooks into classrooms as part of its 1:1 technology implementation plan, so having this Google contact may be useful in the near future!

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Unit 3: Have a (Mostly) Paperless Classroom

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Unit 3: Have a (Mostly) Paperless Classroom

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Paperwork is my least favorite part of teaching, so I am thankful for digital tools, such as Google Drive, that make it easier for me to focus less on controlling classroom paper clutter and more time educating my students! I was familiar with most of the Google products and tasks within Unit 3, but Google Drawings was new to me. I like the idea of using Google Drawings to create a digital choice board. Here is a blog post I read that shows 20 different ways you can use Google Drawings in the classroom: https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/10-ways-to-use-google-drawings-in-the-classroom/

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In Unit 2 I learned how I can use Google to broaden my horizons and networking. There are a lot of awesome resources and people out there and Google provides a bunch of cool ways to connect and interact with them.

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This Unit was a review of a lot of stuff that I already knew. I use Google Drive and many of the other apps included in this unit regularly, so it wasn't really "new" information, but it's always good to review.

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I wasn't familiar with Google Sites and am most excited about creating one of these!  What a great place to celebrate and share student work/projects! I can also share important information about my class with parents, links for students, etc.  The possibilities of having a class website are endless!

I'm also curious to see how Priority Inbox will start organizing my emails based on my activities.

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Send Tom Hanks GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

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Discover & share this Computer GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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I learned about two very helpful apps in this unit. I had never really known about Google Tasks or Google Keep prior to this, although i have relied on Google Calendar's task function to do similar tasks. I think incorporating these tools into my teaching repetoire, I will become far more organized with the help of the cloud making my todo list accessible to myself and whoever else I choose to share it with. While this will not directly effect my students, as they will not gain handson experiences with this technology, my improved teaching performance as a result of being all the more prepared due to Google Tasks and Google Keep pushing me ahead of my deadlines.

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After going through both of these sections, I feel super confident. I feel as though I had already mastered a lot of the content they were teaching me. I regularly use forms, sheets, and docs. Honestly I regularly use a lot of Google products inside and outside of my classroom, and I plan on continuing to do so! I wish this had had some more information to teach me, but hopefully more is to come in future units!

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Units 9 & 10 - Advanced Search and yourplanyourplanet

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Units 9 & 10 - Advanced Search and yourplanyourplanet

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While I might not have just been introduced to Advanced Search, being reminded of its importance sure was helpful. Teaching students how to tailor their results will help them become more critical consumers of all types of media. One resource I had never heard of before was yourplanyourplanet. This website has quizzes, games, and helpful tips to promote more sustainable lifestyles. This is something huge that I hope to promote in my future classroom, so I am really looking forward to introducing my future students to this resource.

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Units 11 & 12 - Youtube and Online Collaboration

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Units 11 & 12 - Youtube and Online Collaboration

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These two units were a breeze! I think most of my generation is well versed in navigating YouTube and has experienced its applications within their K-12 classrooms. Additionally, Google's Fundamentals have been largely incorporated to support my classmates and I in completing collaborative projects. If their teacher did not mandate such tool usage, we sought it out independently. I think we all know the importance of aligning our materials with our learning goals, planning ahead, and setting expectations for our students, especially when something as unwieldy as the internet is a variable.

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This unit reminded me of the potential for cyberbullying on the internet. The annonymity of the internet supports bullies in verbally attacking others. This is something that I have been woefully ignorant of in my 1st grade classroom. While they are young and sweet, the potential to learn these unkind habbits or become a victim to them is real. I need to protect my students and teach them how to properly behave in the virtual realm.

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Unit 5: Organize Activities for Yourself & Others

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Unit 5: Organize Activities for Yourself & Others

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I was not familiar with Google Tasks or Google Keep.  I related to the example of the teacher wanting to declutter her desk but not get rid of any information.  I think I'll be looking deeper into Google Keep in an effort to do the same!

We have a shared Google Calendar at my school so I am very familiar with using this already.

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Back To School Star GIF by HelloFresh - Find & Share on GIPHY

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Discover & share this HelloFresh GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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In Unit 4, I learned how to utilize the various Gmail organization features, such as labels and markers. While I use Gmail often, I never took the time to master all the tricks Google has added to its email platform. Now, I realize how simple, yet beneficial these features will be to my email productivity!

I also never thought to use the translation tool to improve communication with ELL parents. This tool will allow me to quickly translate newsletters, field trip questions, etc. While the translation may not be perfect, my hope is that it will help me build positive home-school relationships with ELL families.

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Unit 5: Organize Activities for Yourself and Others

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Unit 5: Organize Activities for Yourself and Others

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In Unit 5, I learned how to utilize Google Calendar to organize my teacher life. I have always kept a paper planner for school, but a digital calendar, such as Google Calendar, seems to be most efficient. I like that it automatically creates events based on emails received and provides reminder notifications. Google Calendar also allows teachers to share their schedule with others to coordinate meetings, events, etc.

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This unit I learned more about Google chat and how to effectively use it to help students communicate. I don't know how often I would use it to "chat" with them, but I do think it's a great way to make it easy for them to communicate and it could be seen as "fun" for them. Ultimately, I feel like google provides a lot of cool ways to promote communication in the classroom.

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This unit taught me about the benefits of google calendar and how to effectively share that information with my students so everyone is on the same page. Teachers always have 100 things going on at once, so having a way to track and keep up with you schedule is hugely important and it's nice that google offers that.

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I would integrate technology by providing resources/sources that would help my students think like historians to answer a controversial question. This fits ISTE Standard 4a for students where they use a deliberate design process to solve problems. It also fits ISTE Standard 2.5.a for teachers where they use technology to create individualized learning experiences. For my inquiry, students would be analyzing primary and secondary sources (mostly digital because of technology) and using the sources to answer the compelling/controversial question with an assessment of their choice (essay, creative project, etc.). They might even use this to then solve or think of solutions to a real world problem. This fits the TIM with the authentic transformation standard because it's asking students to use technology for higher-order learning and solving real problems.

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I LOVE Google Meets! How would we ever have gotten through COVID without it? The best thing about this is that we now know we can still use Google Meets to meet with parents who can't make it to school, or with colleagues in different locations, etc. Having a shared document with an agenda and notes is also a wonderful way to save time and increase productivity and accountability!

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I had no idea you could create charts using the data collected in Google Sheets. I also like the idea of entering data directly into a form (like whether or not a student completed homework) rather than transferring it all in later - what a time (and paper) saver!

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Pie Crowdfunding GIF by Recrowd - Find & Share on GIPHY

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Discover & share this Recrowd GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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Unit 6 showed me how convenient Google Docs would be both during and after educational meetings. Google Docs is easy to use, collaborative and can be shared with others. Again, I can definitely see the value in utilizing digital tools vs. paper and pen. Also, since I am already using many other Google apps and tools at school, it makes sense to streamline my work process by trying Google Meet (instead of Zoom)!

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Unit 7 & 8: Bring Student Work Online & Measure, Understand, and Share Student Growth

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Unit 7 & 8: Bring Student Work Online & Measure, Understand, and Share Student Growth

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Most of Unit 7 and 8 was a review for me. I first began using Google Classroom when I was a virtual teacher in 2020. My favorite Google Classroom feature was that it allowed me to give feedback in real time. Commenting on my students’ work kept them engaged and motivated during independent online class time. Additionally, Google Forms and Sheets made it easy for me assess and track student learning.

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I feel really comfortable using Google Meet! I used this as an interventionist when we were virtual for COVID at the end of 2020, and we did Google Meet for Arctic Academy days during office hours at my first placement.

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I usually use Zoom for meetings in school, so this unit was very helpful in understanding how to effectively use Google Meets and how to implement that in the classroom with students or other teachers. It was cool to see how easy it was to add people, attachments and schedule information to the meetings. I'm glad I won't always have to rely on zoom anymore.

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After this lesson I feel very comfortable and perhaps even confident creating and using google classroom. Most of my experience thus far in my student teaching placements have been on Schoology, which is a very different platform, but has similar goals. It's nice to see how they compare and how I can use these resources to create a classroom more fitting to the technology we have nowadays.

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I feel really comfortable using Google Classroom to create assignments, have students submit assignments, and give feedback. My CT in my current placement doesn't use Google Classroom, but my first CT did and I ended up feeling very comfortable. If she used any of the other tools to collect data, I didn't see it, so I'm not as comfortable with the charts and sheets. I would want more practice with them.

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This unit was a bit complex, but really great in terms of opening my eyes to all that sheets and forms have to offer and how I can use them for grading and student data if my school doesn't have a schoology or google classroom option. It is a pretty complex system, but knowing how to navigate sheets will be very helpful in the long run.

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Units 9 & 10 Online Skills/Interactive Lessons

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Units 9 & 10 Online Skills/Interactive Lessons

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SO much helpful information in these lessons I didn't know about - many of the search modifiers, drag and drop a word to define, the Tools button, how to use filters, and so much more. I especially enjoyed the video where the teacher explained how she teaches her students digital literacy. These are certainly tools I will now be using and will teach to my future students! I also hadn't heard of Your Plan, Your Planet.

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I love how there's such an emphasis on connecting with other educators. I didn't realize there was such a community element with Google. I like knowing where to go when I'm lost, so I definitely appreciate this unit for that.

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The school I'm currently teaching at uses Schoology, and I absolutely love the reduced paperwork. I love how easy it is to grade while I'm chilling out on my couch at home. I don't have to worry about staring at a giant stack of paper, which just makes it easier for me to grade. Students can't say that I lost their assignments, and I don't have to worry about trying to decipher some of these kids' handwriting as much. Of course there will always be students who prefer paper, but I love that having a mostly paperless classroom is possible. It makes me so much happier to not have a bunch of paper to grade. This unit was music to my ears.

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First, I'm going to stop creating video lists in a Google Doc (yes, I do this), and simply create Youtube playlists.
I also LOVE how you can look at the version history of shared projects to keep track of changes and keep everyone accountable.

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One of my biggest struggles this semester has been communicating with students, parents, admin, etc. It's like no one is ever on the same page, so I really appreciate all the communication features that we learned about in this unit. Communication has been a constant battle all semester, so I think all these tools are super cool. Not all of our students' guardians are on Schoology and/or Livegrades, so it's really tough to be able to contact everyone. I've dealt with trying to get ahold of parents when the phone number on file is disconnected, so having updated contact info and opportunities would be so helpful.

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Especially as we approach the end of the year, I feel like every day I get asked to add one more thing to my calendar. I'm always so worried that I'll forget something between trips, testing, meetings, etc., so I really liked learning about my options for keeping track of my calendar with Google. I didn't realize that Google Calendar could be so easy to work with.

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Unit 13: Promote Digital Citizenship & Positive Online Behavior

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Unit 13: Promote Digital Citizenship & Positive Online Behavior

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Teaching these things is so important at EVERY grade and it should be taught & discussed every year at every level. I love the Be Internet Awesome curriculum and pledge, and I love even more the idea of student panels. Definitely including this information in my future classes, no matter what the grade level.

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This unit struck a nerve with me. My school has the most ineffective, unorganized dumpster fires called "meetings." It's so frustrating to give up my planning time to sit in pointless meeting. We have daily team planning, which is just basically all the 8th grade teachers sitting in a classroom eating lunch for an entire period. I'm constantly thinking about how much other stuff I could get done in that time. Our PD days are even worse. I love how Google has more effective ways to conduct meetings. It just seems so seamless and organized.

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Ok so now I'm getting excited but also a little concerned because it seems a little too easy.... I've never used Google classroom aside from being on the student side in a couple college classes. I love how easy it seems and how flexible Google Classroom is. Plus, I love how having everything online helps prevent the problem of students saying that they turned something in and I just lost it. (This still happens online with Schoology which is kind of wild that they think that would still work as an excuse.) I love how easy it is to give feedback.

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I didn't realize how easy it is to keep track of data using Google, so I think that's super exciting. I've struggled with keeping track of data and what standards I've been covering, so I love how flexible and easy it seems to put in data.

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I love that Google emphasizes learning how to find reliable sources!! As a social studies teacher, this is SO important to me. I'll definitely be using this in my classroom and can see it as such a great learning experience for my students because they might not (probably won't!) have those skills!

I also love Google Earth :) I think teaching geography would be really fun, so using Google Earth and Your Plan, Your Planet would be fabulous, interactive ways to teach my students about the world and different places/cultures, and their impact on the planet!

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I learned some great new ways to search and to effectively find the best information to share with my students and how to teach them to search on their own. I think this was a very helpful unit in terms of the resources and tools that google provides to find the best information and search for it most effectively.

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I use google slides for most of my presentations, so part of this unit was stuff that I already knew, but the cool ways to use google earth in the classroom and to create projects was super helpful and I think will be a very fun resource to use in the classroom going forward.

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I use Youtube videos quite often in the classroom, and usually just share links on schoology as a resource for the students to have access to, but this unit was really good about organizing videos for the classroom and for long term planning. It also provided a lot of awesome ways to share videos and to make sure each student has equal access to the information.

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I use google docs for almost everything, including when students turn in notes and assignments in my classroom, so this unit provided me mostly with information I was already familiar with, but it's still helpful to see the collaboration that google docs allows your students to have.

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Unit 9 & 10: Teach Students Online Skills & Build Interactive Lessons

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Unit 9 & 10: Teach Students Online Skills & Build Interactive Lessons

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Unit 9 reminded me of the many research skills, such as advanced search and assessing reliable information, that I could be passing on to my students.

In Unit 10, I learned about an interactive Google site called “Your Plan, Your Planet,” which teaches students about sustainability. Each section of of this online tool (food, water, energy and stuff) can be linked to our curriculum standards. In fact, Science Buddies created a few lessons that are NGSS-aligned for teachers to use in their classrooms. I plan to use this resource with my future students! :-)

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Unit 11 & 12: Captivate Your Class with Video & Facilitate Group Work

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Unit 11 & 12: Captivate Your Class with Video & Facilitate Group Work

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Before completing Unit 11, I had never created a YouTube playlist. I have now started creating a personal playlist and plan to create more playlists to organize my educational videos as well. I also like the idea of allowing students to create their own playlists to showcase their knowledge of a particular topic! Most of Unit 12 was a review, but I do like the idea of students using Google Keep to share their favorite book recommendations with each other!

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Unit 13: Promote Digital Citizenship and Positive Online Behavior

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Unit 13: Promote Digital Citizenship and Positive Online Behavior

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Unit 13 was a nice review of all the important things we must teach our students about internet safety. One resource I have not used to teach digital literacy is, “Be Internet Awesome.” This online game curriculum seems like a great tool for students to play and revisit throughout the school year!

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I love the idea of using YouTube to differentiate instruction. I love using videos to help students understand a concept (I feel like there are times that videos do a better job explaining something than I can!), and being able to share different videos and different amounts of videos with different students/groups is amazing!! I really want to create playlists for my students!

Group work is so important in classrooms! I've seen how handy Google Docs can be in working on something together and providing feedback to students. I really want to try these collaboration tools in my classroom someday!

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This lesson is very important because we as teachers have to know how to protect our students and help them protect themselves in an ever increasing digital world. I feel like this was a very important wrap up unit.

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I love the "search smart" concept. I've noticed that my students really struggle with research. If they don't like the first website they find, they want to give up. I feel better having more tools to help them become better researchers.

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Your Plan, Your Planet sounds so cool! I had never heard of it before, but I love how it's incorporating real world info. Sometimes students have a hard time understanding how big the world is and how their actions affect the planet. As an English teacher, I've used Google Earth to show students settings of different stories we've read and that helps them connect to the story.

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I had no idea that the Google for Education experts were a thing! They seem like the perfect resource to reach out to and utilize if I have any questions about using Google tools when I'm starting my own classroom! Definitely storing that information away to have in my toolbox for later.

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Everything about this unit stands out to me. I've gotten experience this semester with student teaching using both (mostly) paperless and paper-heavy methods of teaching, and paper-heavy was overwhelming! I never remembered to make copies when I was in my paper-heavy placement, keeping track of all of the assignments was so stressful (I could never remember if I had received and kept track of every single assignment that students would ask me about--basically stuff got misplaced), and it made me so grateful I had seen what having a mostly paperless classroom can do to help organization and general stress (and made me realize how much of a learning experience the paper-heavy placement was!). 1000% using these tools to have a mostly paperless classroom!!! There's a reason why Google does it this way.

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I love that YouTube is being embraced rather than demonized. Some of the older teachers I work with looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned that I was planning on showing a YouTube video in my class. While of course there is some bad stuff on YouTube (as there is on pretty much any website), I've found some really amazing videos on YouTube. It's such a vast expanse of knowledge, and I love that I can incorporate that in my class.

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I was pretty familiar with Gmail being the way that teachers communicate with students because I have a Mon County Schools Gmail from when I worked as an interventionist and it transferred over to my student teaching. I would see the messages that students would sent to me and my CT, and it was an easy way to be able to connect to Google Classroom and communicate.

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I really like the idea of using Google Calendar for helping myself stay organized. I had used it with my husband briefly, but using it for my classroom might make more sense! Students can easily check the calendar to see what's due when.

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Internet safety is so important! Students running into something they shouldn't while they're on their Chromebooks in my classroom is one of my biggest teaching fears!!! I'm really glad we can learn about how to keep our students safe online. These are skills that possibly no one else has ever or will ever teach them!

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I love how easy it is to collaborate in Google. I grew up on Word (and I still like Word), but it's so much easier to collaborate in Google. I love the accountability it provides as well as how it makes it so easy to work together on a document.

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I love the emphasis on resiliency. While as much as we would like to wrap our kids up in bubble wrap, that's sadly not possible. We can't pretend that our kids are never going to run into anything bad, so it's important to teach them how to handle it when it does. We owe it to our students to equip them with the knowledge and tools to stay safe online while also making sure they know what to do if they encounter something dangerous.