RealWorldMath Community: Begoogled

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 14: Artwork of th...

Just returned from the Google Teacher Academy in Sydney and I am completely begoogled. They say you only use 10% of your brain; I'd say the same thing about my use of Google. I thought I had a good handle on most of Google's tools, but I found I hadn't come close.

There really isn't any big secret. It's all there in front of you whenever you use any Google application: Docs, Calendar, Gmail, Sites, Groups, etc. etc. Just pick your way through any one of these carefully and follow the links on the periphery. What you'll find is that the application you have grown accustomed to can do so much more. One common theme that you shouldn't overlook is the connectedness of all of the tools. You can embed a calendar in a doc and get a gmail notification if an event is added. I guess I'd say that I had all the dots laid out before me and connected in a way I hadn't seen before. It's a lot of dots.

As far as Real World Math is concerned, let's just say that I filled a notebook with ideas on the plane ride home. If you liked the recent Crop Circles' lesson, I started working on a part 2 that evolved into a part 3. Part 3 I think could be the best activity I've produced for the site yet. I'm anxious to put these new ideas out there for you.

Sydney was a fantastic city to visit; of course, it didn't hurt that the weather was perfect. The Academy lasted 1 1/2 days and was led by a great team of presenters. The participants came from around Australia, New Zealand, and surprisingly quite a few from the States. If you're interested in attending one of these events, my best advice for you is to set a Google Alert for "next Google Teacher Academy". You'll get Gmail notifications whenever similar results are posted on the Internet. These aren't planned too far in advance and so you have to stay on your toes. You might want to check this page also from time to time. I'll send out a tweet if I hear of one.

Side notes:

If you haven't noticed RWM is now on Twitter. I'd have to say I'm not a huge fan of it yet, but I joined so that I can notify you whenever new material is posted on my site or blog.