Google docs have been a useful tool for educators and collaborators world over. Its simple word processing and spreadsheet platform is familiar and easy to use, instantly saves your work, gives you access to your docs from any internet-capable device, and lets you collaborate simultaneously with contributors from the comfort of their own home. The latest feature rolled out by Google is the sidebar research tool that lets you search the internet on any topic / keyword about which you are writing. Simply select and right-click the words that you’d like to research and the search results will appear instantly on the right of your document without the need to go from tab to tab. It also has a built in linking ability and allows to instantly create footnotes should you like to cite a specific webpage. And for images, you can drag the image you’d like straight into your document. CTRL + ALT + R is another way to the research tool.
As many high school and college students are hard at work on their end of the year research papers, this nifty tool will offer an added convenience.
Teachers teach, teachers explain, teachers try to give over as much knowledge and as much material as possible.
In truth, a teacher is there only to hand the student keys that unlock the door to the treasure vault of knowledge; the rest is all up to the student.
Most students approach education in the same way they watch movies – sit back, relax and see it unfold. And when the lesson is over so is the student’s involvement in the subject matter. It is understandable in high school; it is tragic in college.
If there’s any learning trait that I wish for our students to acquire as they mature during these years of high school, it is that of learning independence – the ability to take the keys offered by the teachers, to enter the hall of knowledge and make it theirs.
This one is a giant “Duh” type of a study, but it often helps to state the obvious. A survey of many studies by the National Center for Family and Community Connection with Schools of SEDL reports a convincing link between student achievement and parent involvement.
When parents talk to their children about school, expect them to do well, help them plan
for college, and make sure that out-of-school activities are constructive, their children do
better in school. When schools engage families in ways that are linked to improving learning, students make greater gains. When schools build partnerships with families that respond
to their concerns and honor their contributions, they are successful in sustaining connections
that are aimed at improving student achievement. And when families and communities
organize to hold poorly performing schools accountable, studies suggest that school districts
make positive changes in policy, practice, and resources.
The studies point out an additional important factor: the increase in interaction should not just be between parents and students, but also between the school, the teachers and parents. The more we are all involved in the future development of our children, the stronger the signal that their future is truly important and the more we are aware of the many, fine but significant components that play a role in the growth.
Google docs have been a useful tool for educators and collaborators world over. Its simple word processing and spreadsheet platform is familiar and easy to use, instantly saves your work, gives you access to your docs from any internet-capable device, and lets you collaborate simultaneously with contributors from the comfort of their own home. The latest feature rolled out by Google is the sidebar research tool that lets you search the internet on any topic / keyword about which you are writing. Simply select and right-click the words that you’d like to research and the search results will appear instantly on the right of your document without the need to go from tab to tab. It also has a built in linking ability and allows to instantly create footnotes should you like to cite a specific webpage. And for images, you can drag the image you’d like straight into your document. CTRL + ALT + R is another way to the research tool.