Google Communities in the Classroom
Google+ Communities are groups created on specific subjects used to engage users who have an interest in that subject. I had the opportunity to join the Google+ Community, Education. The Education community has almost 200,000 members and is open to the public. It is a communication hub for teachers, students, and parents. I found the Education community to be very resourceful for educators. I found that other educators were sharing posts and resources that other teachers could find helpful. For example, someone shared an article, "3 Ways Culture Affects Learning and How to Use Them." This article urges teachers to build relationships with students, give students choices, and give students voices. This article was very informative to a future educator and I plan on doing all three of those to help my students. Another example of a helpful resource shared on the Google+ Community for Education was the article, "Don't Forget the Fundamentals of Classroom Instruction and Discipline." This article urges teachers to great their students at the door, create a seating plan, use a warm up activity, and plan their transitions. These suggestions help build a better educational environment.
Google+ Communities could be very helpful within a classroom. A great idea on how to use a Google+ Community in the classroom would be to create a community for your class. This would allow students to build and be included within a community. As a teacher I would have my students post at least once a week on the Google+ Community for a participation grade. Students could possibly post something that they found online that they made a connection with our lesson for that week. They could also post if they were confused on a subject to get help from a classmate. There are so many ways for Google+ Communities to be used within the classroom. |