You Tube 101: Private Sharing Tutorial by The NINJA

Okay, I'm sort of starting to have a Ninja theme to my posting.  This is my second ninja post in three weeks!

So the other day in class, some of my students produced a music video called "Down to the Sound":  it's all about the Geological History of Long Island Sound (glaciers, moraines, kettle lakes, etc.).  They choreographed, shot, edited, wrote the lyrics to and SANG to the tune of Jay Sean's Down.  These amazing students gave me a copy of their chef d'oeuvre  ('masterpiece' in french) and I wanted to share it with other teachers in my school, but it was too large to fit through the filters on my network email so I needed to upload it to the web.

However, for those of you who read my post on COPPA there are privacy issues--my students are young.  So, I shared the item privately.

Instead of putting together my own tutorial, watch this one: It's WAAAAAAAAAAY funnier than I could ever be and it stars a Ninja!  This tutorial is so funny, I laughed out loud:  belly laugh, head thrown back, losing-my-breath, laughing.




These are the lyrics to the song my students wrote, but I'm not going to post a link to the video because it's PRIVATE, duh!

You Tube 101: Private Sharing Tutorial by The NINJA

Google Docs Science Fair: Chapter One--Setting up your class documents

I did promise to give you lots of ideas for science fair projects.  My use of Google Docs for my students projects (along with ScienceBuddies) has REVOLUTIONIZED my science notebook grading (I do it all at home) and made it much easier for my students to work in groups equitably.  I say equitably, because everyone can stick their kids into groups, but it is much harder to ensure equity when it comes to grading a group project.

My students are working in groups voluntarily, which means some of my kids have gone solo.

All of my students are keeping a Science Fair Project Journal on Google Docs--digital science notebooks!

Some of the many advantages of using digital journals:

• students can use it independently of one another and at any time, regardless of their busy personal and family schedules. 
• It also is an extremely green option--no paper needed
• it can't be lost, which would be a disaster in a long-term project like this.

Click here for a document from ScienceBuddies that has the essentials for any science notebook.  (PDF)This is the basis for the Google Journal that I set up for my students.

Click here for a template for a Google Docs Journal Document that uses the same Table of Contents section headers as the PDF above.

Steps to use this Google Doc Template with your students:

1. Have all of your students who are 13 and older create Google Docs Accounts.
2. Save a copy of the above document to your Google Docs account. Click File>Make a Copy
3. Change the name of the document when the popup box shows to a name of your choice.  This will be your working template.  Leave it blank in case you need more copies in the future.
4. Make ANOTHER COPY.  Change the name again to something personalized for your students.  I used this naming protocol:  Google Journal--Janie & Max.
5. In the open copy of Janie & Max's journal, click Share>See who has access
6. Click the Advanced Permissions tab and uncheck both boxes--this is to prevent students from sharing the document with unauthorized users.
7. Click the Invite People tab and add Janie and Max's email addresses (the ones that are associated with their Google Docs accounts).  My students are required to use their district email accounts.
8. Add a message to your students in the box (or don't--I don't unless I have specific instructions for the students).
9. Click send.  An invitation to the document will be sent to those email addresses.  You DO NOT need to send these invitation emails for the document to be shared with your students.  As soon as you add their email addresses to the invitation box, the documents will show up in their Google Documents "All Items" list.
10. They are all set to go!  

***These posts assume a basic knowledge of Google Docs.  If you do not yet have an account and/or do not know how to use Google Docs, please refer to this earlier post.

Google Docs Science Fair: Chapter One--Setting up your class documents

COPPA cramping your GoogleDocs style?

Hmmm...even though I loved the Pi-day logo design for Google, the Docs have been giving me headaches lately instead of curing them (pun very much intended!). Most recently, due to compliance with COPPA Google Docs has been asking a birthdate question in order to create an account--the cutoff age is 13. I refuse to ask my students to lie about their age online--that is a WHOLE BIG CAN OF WORMS that I just don't want them to open for their own safety.

So anyone that didn't actually do that homework assignment that I gave them in September to create an account and wasn't already 13 as of three weeks ago was very sad. I did find a temporary solution to the problem, and believe me, this solution has its own issues, but it worked in a pinch and allowed my kids to collaborate online with classmates without having an account.

Here's whatcha do (teacher instructions):

1. create the document that you want the kids to work on. Include names, instructions and whatever else you want them to start with, like a topic. You could even keep it a "secret mission" until they open it, adding some excitement.

2. Save it, using a name that your students will easily recognize.

3. click "share" in the upper right corner of the document. Click see who has access>invite people and type the email addresses of the students who have google accounts into the box. Make sure the "to edit" button is clicked.

4.click the people with access tab at the top of the window. click change next to "sign in is required to view this item" and select "let people edit without signing in". click save and close.

5. Click share>get the link to share> Allow anyone with the link to view (no sign-in required)

Also allow them to edit

6. Copy the URL provided... and use this link for all students who do not have a google account. *****Please note: their edits will have an identifier as "guest".

COPPA cramping your GoogleDocs style?