Gain: 5/11 Drawing

Learning to Use Draw

1.  There is not a function in Microsoft Office that is dedicated only to drawing, but the drawing functions in Microsoft Word were similar enough to Google Drawing that there was really no difficulty in the actual drawing process.  Google Drawing is easy to use and just like the other Google Apps, it is totally set up for collaboration.  However, there were a couple of problems I faced when making my drawing, which can be seen at this link... https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1A_EzwLgwFGQlR7tSg5VxmspFR5-8Ergh6_f8tE6OtTQ/edit

The first problem was faced when I tried to insert an image straight off of Google images.  It appears that the images feature available in Google Drawing are not updated.  They are at least a few years behind.  I know this because I created a little celebratory poster for the Ohio State Buckeyes.  I typed "Ohio State Football National Championship," and it produced images from the 2007 national championship, not the one that was played on December 13th of this year.  It also produced images of former players that have not played for years.  This is not a major problem of course, but it meant I just could not really utilize that function and indicates that the search system across the Google Apps might not be as handy as I thought it was.

I faced the second problem when I began to have internet connection problems in my apartment.  My work had to come completely to a halt.  This is probably the major problem with all of the apps but this was the first time I experienced it in one of our exercises.  If I had been working on Microsoft Office, I could have continued working.  I probably wouldn't have even known that there was an internet problem.  So the cloud saving system is very flexible and mobile, but at the same time, it makes your work fragile in a way.

Other than those two difficulties, I thought the learning experience was very easy and so long as there is an internet connection, the Drawing app is very good and superior to the Microsoft Office drawing functions.

2.  For the lesson plan portion of this exercise, I chose the middle school Tangram plan.  This provides a few great resources.  It provides a video on the Tangram myth, a set of shapes made in Google Draw, a step by step process for executing this in the classroom, and a list of the Common Core Standards that are addressed in this lesson.

This plan would require the students to put shapes together to create objects that appear in the story.  It appears that some of the major goals of this lesson are to give the students a chance to work with Google Drawing and learn how to manipulate the shapes.  They learn how to flip them and move them around and eventually transfer them into a Google Slide.

This is a great lesson plan that promotes collaboration, careful listening, and use of technology.  It is a very clever way for the students to learn in an interactive and fun environment.

3.  The chapter on Drawing in the Graham book describes three common core standards that are met with Google Drawing.  Honestly some of these seem like kind of a stretch.  For example, I am not sure exactly how drawing relates to the Anchor Standard 1 for Reading.  To me this means that the standards may be a little more flexible than it would seem.  This makes meeting those standards with my future lesson plans a little less intimidating.

The second and third standards are more related to the drawing app.  The first one says "Draw geometric shapes with given conditions."  It is easy to see how the teacher can meet this statement with ease using the Drawing app.  The second standard says, "Interpret information presented visually, orally or quantitatively and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears."  In this case, the statement can be met when the teacher uses the Drawing app to present the information as a chart or graph.

My favorite application of Drawing found in the book is the idea that Graham gives to use the Drawing app as an assessment tool.  Student would be given the task of creating a flowchart or poster that presents information that they are then graded on.