Thing 10

I am so very much into Google Docs to help organize district information. It ranks right up there with chocolate! I have been introducing our staff (and anyone who will put up with me) to the idea of working collaboratively on documents.

For example, we are using the CraftPlus Writing Program. We have ordered a number of Maupin House resources, but as of today, I’m not sure who has what and who needs specific instructional resources. Grade level teachers are now collaborating to document their progress in terms of resources and needs.

I have created a number of spreadsheets and made them available for different purposes; each one is developed for one person or many to edit and/or view. Examples are district textbook inventories, grade level instructional resources, all students with IEPs, test data for planning purposes. Imagine, no more binders on the shelf!

Confidentiality is a huge issue for me and everyone else with access to some of these documents. I like the settings available and the tracking features. The most significant advantage is that no one person is responsible for sharing up-to-date information, even though one person several may have editing access. On top of that, if anyone’s computer goes belly up, all of the information is backed up and safe and sound on Google Docs. The download feature is nice for occasional backups also.

If there is a downside, it would be that I have so many Google Docs, I have to make sure that what I own and what I open is all tucked away in folders. The "all item" list is becoming lengthy. I must look into organization details and recommendations. By the way, the Help area is wonderful!