Assign HW and make it un-lose-able with Google Apps

I like to use Google Apps to assign HW and make students' materials accessible to them anywhere. Here are my short videos on how to do so.

Course Director

We recently decided to go with Course Director at our school, the deciding factor being its integration with Google Apps.  See my page of basic instructional videos on how to get started in Course Director.

Why teachers love technology

Why? Because technology serves teachers and students well and facilitates teaching and learning.

Technology enables students to

(a) access the curriculum anytime and anywhere

(b) ask each other for help, and help each other, anytime and anywhere

(b) take responsibility for their own learning

(c) learn at their own pace

(d) demonstrate their understanding

(e) create and save a portfolio

(f) learn to use the internet safely, appropriately and efficiently

and enables teachers to

(a) focus on teaching - rather than administrative tasks

(b) save time reteaching material

(c) expect more initiative and problem-solving from students

(d) feel less pressure to be the “sage on the stage”

(e) save time grading

(f) save time answering students’ and parents’ questions about student progress

Having the following items online and accessible to students will save you time and energy down the road. Yes, it does take work up front.

a) Syllabus- students should know how much those tests, assignments and projects are worth

b) Assignment calendar - even a general, what-chapter-we're-on-this-week one

c) Grades - the more students know, the more they can take ownership of their progress

d)Assignments - so they can't forget them in their locker

e)Textbook or digital resources that explain the concepts, so students have access to answers to their questions

f) Novels / other books - through Kindle and other Ereader apps, students can get an at-home copy

g)Discussion group page - where your students can answer each others' questions

h) Contact information - so they can reach you outside of class

Spanish dictionary

A tutorial on the excellent site www.wordreference.com 

Note: If you cannot access the "forums" section from school, you can ask your administrator to allow access.

Spanish keyboard: accents, tildes, punctuation

Tutorials I created on how to type in Spanish in different operating systems:

How to type in Spanish on a Chromebook:

How to type in Spanish on a Mac:

How to type in Spanish in Windows Vista:

How well 7 Learning Management Systems integrate with Google Apps

I recently looked into the way that several LMS (CourseDir, Engrade, OpenClass, Moodle, Schoology and Edmodo) integrated with Google Apps.  CourseDir, being a Google Product, won handily.  There wasn't a clear second place winner, with Engrade, OpenClass, and Schoology competing for that spot.  Moodle and Edmodo fared the worst (again, integration with Google Apps being the most important consideration).