Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs

http://www.google.com/educators/weeklyreader.html

Below is a cut/paste from the site...excellent information

"Revision is a critical piece of the writing process—and of your classroom curriculum. Now, Google Docs has partnered with Weekly Reader’s Writing for Teens magazine to help you teach it in a meaningful and practical way.

The sharing features of Google Docs enable you and your students to decide exactly who can access and edit documents. You’ll find that Google Docs helps promote group work and peer editing skills, and that it helps to fulfill the stated goal of The National Council of Teachers of English, which espouses writing as a process and encourages multiple revisions and peer editing.

On this page, you will find several reproducible PDF articles from Writing magazine filled with student-friendly tips and techniques for revision. You'll also find a teacher’s guide that provides you with ideas for how to use these materials with Google Docs to create innovative lesson plans about revision for your classroom.

Getting Started

1) Download a step-by-step tutorial [pdf] for Google Docs.
2) Learn about the comments and revision features of Google Docs [pdf].

3) Download, print, and share the following articles [pdf] with your students:

With a Little Help From My Friends: The Gifts of a Writing Buddy
Writing's Top 10 Tips for Revision
Collaborative Revision Checklist
Individual Revision Checklist
4) Download our Educators Guide: Teaching Revision with Google Docs

After reviewing our activity ideas and Google Docs tutorials, you may develop your own lesson plans and ideas. We want to hear from you! We invite you to share your curriculum ideas with the Google Educators community through our Google for Educators Discussion Group."

Higher Education Information Website

http://www.collegeatlas.org/


The above website (College Atlas) has some good information on higher education options and opportunities that can be used by yourself, or for your children. It gives useful information on types of schools, where to find loans, jump starting college planning etc. There are tabs for four year institutions, community colleges, international schools and even a listing of colleges by major. This is an excellent tool to help you through the sometimes confusing maze of information. Click on the address above to access the site.

Help a Good Program get the Funding it Needs!

Vote everyday until the end of May. Every VOTE counts! Just click on the VOTE bar under the message. You'll need to register the first time, and after just remember to click on VOTE daily. Let's make something good happen for our community.

Judith

Tech Education: Where's the Money?

If there is one thing that you can count on, it's that new technology costs money. Whether it's the new iPad (wonderful, but where's the FLASH!?) or a wireless anything, the issue for education is great, but about the cost...
Yes, schools at all levels and across the country are struggling to pay for instructors and programs, so tech funding often comes in as an also-ran in dwindling budgets. Instructors are told to 'use what you have'. Fortunately, there are many Websites and educational social networks that can come to the rescue.
Personally, I love the Internet. The new social network options for instruction are amazing. Obviously blogs and wikis and nings etc. can create new communities that focus in on the topics instructors want to share. Other sharing sites such as Google docs make communication across the district or across the world not only possible but easy. Sure, there are lessons to be taught to students regarding what they post and where they post. But these are the same concerns as schools have had to teach for years (as in Stranger Danger...)
But having the tools available is not the same as knowing they are available.
It's time for instructors to start using the share apps, both for classroom instruction and professional development. If everyone has to make do with limited funds, then share the tools that can make that happen. More importantly, bring the STUDENTS into the fold, and let them help design their own lessons. The end result is a win/win for everyone.

Here is a start...Classroom 2.0:
http://www.classroom20.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network