Revisiting Google Add Ons ...

Google Add-Ons. There are a gazillion of them. (Ok, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but there are a WHOLE BUNCH of them out there.)

This week, I was introduced to about 25 different ones. I was rather amazed/impressed/surprised that of the 25, I knew about only 3 of them. All the "common" ones I used were not part of the list! I actually appreciated that, as I was able to learn about new ways to utilize Google and find a few that I think are usable in my classroom.

So, these are all new to me. I have not had a chance to try these out in my classroom, but I plan to. As you read my post, if you've tried these and have some helpful suggestions, please feel free to post a comment!

(1) MindMeister 

I often like to take class notes and reorganize information into a graphic organizer to help kids visualize how information is related. Word maps, flow charts, Venn digrams, and the like all serve this purpose. Sometimes, though, this is time consuming to use a Word doc chart template and re-type all the information into shapes.

MindMeister seems to be a teacher's dream. Take a bulleted list and turn it into a mind map with just a highlight and a click. 

Here's a video to introduce you to MindMeister:

(2) Gliffy
In the same light as MindMeister, Gliffy allows you to create a graphic organizer in a Word doc. I use graphic organizers as a way to differentiate learning, so I will try both of these in the classroom and report back later which was easier to use and/or more successfully implemented with my students.
In the meantime, here's a video to introduce you to Gliffy:



(3) Kaizen
My current professor leaves comments for assignments using voice recordings. It's a fun twist to reading comments, allows me to hear her voice (which is nice since this is an online class), and lets her leave me detailed comments without taking so much time to type all her thoughts. I'd like to be able to offer this same feedback to my students, especially in my Advanced Chemistry Research Class. Kaizen might be the tool for me to use!
Here's a video to introduce you to Kaizen:

So, three new add ons that I intend to try with my classes. Check back later for a more opinionated post once I try them out!