Another educational blog that intrigued me was Jeff Utecht's "The Thinking Stick". Jeff has twelve years of experience in education and is currently the High School Technology and Learning Coordinator at the International School Bangkok.  His blog, http://www.jeffutecht.com/ truly proves his mandate: looking for ways to improve education for students through technology.

What impressed me first were his blogs on teaching how to do a search for content on the web. I had seen presentations on this topic before but was impressed by the simplicity of Jeff's teaching and how he had lessons tailored to each of the grade ranges. (Second grade, 3td to 5th grade, 6th to 8th, and 9th to 12th). 
To show how practical his blog posting is, check out http://www.thethinkingstick.com/kindergarten-2nd-grade-search-lesson/ and see how he has a section on how to set up the lesson (even with hints for the teacher), a section on how to "prime the pump" where he gives suggestions to gauge the level of understanding, and then guides the class through their first search.  As part of the lesson he outlines the importance even of teaching the critical skill of identifying the ads on the webpage. And, if that wasn't enough, he allows you to download the full lesson for a very practical application!

Reading through other postings, including "Why you should be playing with Google+ now": http://www.thethinkingstick.com/why-you-should-be-playing-with-google-now/  and

"The Classroom Newspaper Google Docs Style": http://www.thethinkingstick.com/the-classroom-newspaper-google-docs-style/, I was finally drawn in to investigate the options under Google More..and even more.  I can't believe there were so many forms, excell spreadsheets, and documents that I could format and save in my Google drive.  Since I had been encouraged by this blog to play with Google +, when I came across a website: "Ten Great Free Google Forms Every Teacher Should Be Using":  http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/07/10-great-free-google-forms-every.html, I was excited to investigate and apply the specific ideas. 

 

I will certainly be back to Jeff Utech's blog very regularly so that I too can improve my use of technology in the classroom.