Google Apps

When I was in highschool, we had to do a lot of group projects in history. They were long projects, and we were usually placed in groups of four. Google docs would have made everything much easier, because we would have been able to see what eachother was writing. We would have been able to write the paper together without actually being together. Since we didn't have something like google apps, we had to continually email eachother back and forth attempting to make everything sound correct and flow well.
Google apps would work well in the classroom, because the teacher can set up a calender with the entire class. Then the calender would show when certain items are due. This would make it so that none of the students could ever come into the class and say that they didn't know that something was due. Google apps is also a great way for the students to discuss different books or subjects out of class. The students can set up blogs and debate and discuss different topics.
The first lesson plan that I found has to do with teaching the students how to read and discuss a historical novel. The lesson plan has the students reading this novel and then using google docs to write questions about the novel. The questions are then separated by chapter. They then can be discussed in class if the teacher would like. The students also learn how to blog, so that they can discuss the chapters amongst themselves. Google maps is incoporated because the students have to find out where the places in the novel really are. Finally, google docs is used in order for the students to write a different ending to the novel.
I believe this is a great lesson plan. I believe this because it allows to students to take responsibility into their own hands. They discuss many parts of the book on their own and also come up with many of the questions that are used to discuss it.
The second lesson plan that I found was to be used to teach science to 4-6 graders. The lesson is basically learning about how to effectively use surveys. The students first need to formulate a question that they would like to be effectively answered. The students then need to find out what age, group they are going to be directing their survey towards. The students then create the survey and distribute it. Once this is done the students collect the data and calculate the results. They can use google apps to put the information into a spread sheet that everyone can see.
This is a good lesson plan because it allows the students to conduct a study on something they would like to know. It makes them find out the information for themselves instead of having the teacher just tell them what the answer is. It gives them the opportunity to go out and collect data and find out if their prediction was right or wrong.