Thing #12

The Google trend.....

I am absolutely OBSESSED with Google. I am pretty sure I use it for just about anything. I have used Google Scholar in my path to obtaining my Master's degree and it has supplied me with a bunch of usable peer reviewed article to use in my research. this is a VERY useful tool that Googe has created.

Google Calendar is another very useful tool that helps me to stay organized. The cool thing about it is, if you have a Windows 8 computer like me, anything you put into that calendar and set it up with alerts, will automatically sinc to your Google account, that sends you reminder and alert emails, as well as sync to your email on your smart phone if you have that set up as well. This tool has saved me more times than I would like to admit, haha. And just like I had said in Google calendar, the alerts are amazing and can be set up across multiple technology devices.

Google Translate is a great, but not as important tool if you don't need it all the time. It is however, user friendly and can help you translate any language you need, from that language to English or English into that  specific language. 

Google trends kind of scares me in that they can find everything that was ever searched for through Google and statistically show what was searched for the most. I suppose it can be important in learning what kids are most interested in these days to try and form a connection by using what they like in their lessons. 

Google Books is one link that I would love to use in class with my students. They can use it to look up books they would like to read, are reading and have read. When creating text sets, this can prove to be very useful in providing pictures and information on books. When students use this tool, it can also help show them what types of literature falls into each category.

Google Plus Photo...... I am a Google + member and let me tell you, I have yet to be on Google + since the day I joined. I am not a fan of Google+. Reason #1: I don't like how public it is. Reason #2: I don't like how anyone can add you to their list and view your profile. I have had quite a few questionable characters add me and look at my profile. I promptly blocked them, but I dislike that I had to wait for them to search me to block them, instead of being able to block something like that from happening from the start. With that being said, I am 100% against putting any personal photos on my profile, and I will certainly not allow any students to create a profile and upload their photos on there. This is the only tool I am completely against using. 

Here's a link to my profile. Unfortunately it's empty because I am not sure how to make it unviewable by strangers or not so Google can use them for anything. 

Google+ Profile