Activity #4: The Cloud…. for us Muggles

Confused by the term "Muggles"?

FIRST, if your confusion stems from never having heard that word before, then seriously, stop whatever you are doing and go pick up a Harry Potter book (no, the movie won't do).

IF, however, you are confused about how I plan to relate Muggles to the Cloud, just wait my friend, we will get there.

I remember the first time I ever heard someone mention the cloud. It was like a foreign language to me and I am certain the conversation went something like:

Other person: yeah, it's really awesome because I am able to store this information on the cloud
Me: …..

Now, talking about the cloud seems old hat. How quickly time and technology changes!

As far as cloud computing goes as a whole, I feel really good about it. I am annoyed at Google Docs because I think the formatting is cumbersome, and my life got a whole lot better when I learned that I could download more interesting templates for Google Slides than the 9 boring and typical ones they offer; but ultimately, I recognize the great amount of access and collaboration the Google Suite provides.

This past year, I was able to really utilize the collaborative features of Google Docs in my PLCs. I was in two different PLCs. In 6th Grade ELA, we had two new teachers. In 6th Grade Social Studies, I was new to the curriculum. The year basically involved creating multiple shared folders. In ELA, I would dump all of my documents from my computer into a shared folder and share it with the two new teachers. Then we would talk about the material, they could edit and change as they wish and others could add new documents into the folder. Social Studies was the same, except I was the one benefiting rather than uploading! :)

What I found was that things were incredibly easier when we just shared information in a place that saved the information. I mean, let's be honest, my Google folders are not nearly as neat as I would like them, but unless I develop some serious Harry Potter wizarding skills (Ex: "Accio document about Dakota War"), my desk doesn't compare to the key word search options and sharing capabilities. In addition, I love the fact that as a teacher who shared information with others, I didn't need to worry about printing off and copying packets of assignments I had given in the past with only a small fraction being used. Shared Google folders really saves time, paper, headaches, and allows for so much more collaboration.

One of the presentations that I created near the end of the year was for Minnesota's statehood day. We had a "birthday party" in my classroom to celebrate the day MN became a state and I used this presentation throughout the class period. I shared this presentation because I was able to use a downloaded template for Google Slides that I got from Slides Carnival. The process is easy and free.

I also shared with you an example of a folder that we used in Language Arts last year. I am sharing this folder because it has a combination of created documents as well as uploaded word documents. One final thing to mention about this shared folder is that some of the uploaded word documents are actually uploaded as PDFs. The reason for that is because sometimes Google Docs changes the formatting or doesn't accept a font, OR some of our PLC members created a document on a Mac and the formatting just doesn't transfer well anyway. Uploading a document as a PDF, while preventing editing, is still a nice option to maintain the use of Google collaboration without losing precious formatting! The shared folder can be accessed here.

Ultimately, I like the cloud. It's useful, it is fairly user friendly, and it helps me pass the time while I wait for my belated letter from Hogwarts! :)