Getting to Know Google Docs had its ease and challenges. It was simple typing the document, inserting a link, and a table. However, when a picture was inserted, the text spacing was changed. When the redo button was clicked, the picture disappeared and I wasn’t able to retrieve it. With a little more work in creating documents using Google Docs, I think it would be beneficial to use with activities that require collaboration. The activity I created was a Getting To Know You activity table in which the students will input information about themselves. The information gathered will then be used to compare, contrast, and categorize student groups. For example, we could compare and/or categorize the number of students born in a certain month, the number of students who live in a particular town, the number of family members, etc. Teachers may also add information to the chart. This will help students learn about the interests of their teachers.
The second grade classes will be collaborating on our Fairy Tales’ unit. Google Docs can be used to input the favorite fairy tales of each student. The information gathered can be used as part of the Fairy Tales’ election process we have planned. Another Google Docs collaborative effort for the second grade classes would be to record the results of science experiments using the scientific method. Also, the Google Docs spreadsheet can be used to track the math assessment scores for my students. These scores are sent to the principal after each unit assessment. Google Docs would be a means to share the assessment scores with the principal.
