Artifacts of Achievement...Google Style

This year, teachers at our high school have been encouraged to collect student artifacts in order to monitor progress and growth. In addition, it was our job to share student artifacts with parents when they visited for parent/teacher conferences. While good teachers knows their students well enough in order to have conversations with students' parents, the collection and possession of student artifacts makes any teacher more equipped to provide an accurate and honest portrayal of a student's progress.

Preparing for parent/teacher conferences can be stressful for teachers, as they want to make a good impression on the parents and provide meaningful feedback in order to help their students. If a teacher is completely booked with conferences, it is extremely difficult to sift through countless student artifacts in order to find credible work to share with all parents attending.

Luckily, using Google Apps for Education makes my life easier this year when it comes to collecting student artifacts. In fact, I am quite impressed to see how much work I actually collected from my students and stored in my Google Drive in such a short time.

In addition to using gClassFolders again this year, I am using a script called Doctopus in order to share individual assignments directly with students in their Assignment folders. If you are unfamiliar with gClassFolders, it is a free script that teachers can use to create and share class folders and individual assignment folders with students on the Google Drive. It creates a paperless environment for teachers and students, and it also creates a wonderful opportunity to save and archive student work.

gClasshub (the script that connects gClassFolders and Doctopus) makes this process one step easier for my students because it allows me the option to directly share templates and worksheets with students right into their Assignment folders. Last year, my students had to make a copy of templates or worksheets I shared with them and then drag them into their Assignment folders. Doctopus eliminates this extra step for the students and gives the teacher control to place assignments into folders and manage them in a spreadsheet. Due to these wonderful tools, I have over 10 folders (different assignments) of student work from the first two months of the school year. As reflect on the first few months and read through the folders, I am truly amazed at the growth I already see from my students. I am also impressed with the amount of work they have already accomplished and extremely eager to see what they achieve in the future.

In addition to their work on the Drive, other Google tools give me the opportunity to collect even more artifacts of achievement. My students currently use Blogger and Google + in order to share their writing and collaborate with one another. Both Blogger and Google + provide legitimate student artifacts and give the students an opportunity to collaborate and share the work with others. These are two more tools I can use in order to share what my students can produce. In my opinion, Blogger and Google + are special because they provide a different audience for the students; therefore, the work they produce is different than the work we normally see on the Drive.

These wonderful tools, used in Google, provide me with authentic and powerful artifacts for ALL students in my classes. Also, I can access these materials at a moment's notice. The features of Google allow me the wonderful opportunity to sit with parents and/or students and showcase the work they do on a daily basis. Sharing this work is no longer stressful to manage, as I have it all in one place: the wonderful world of Google. Instead, I appreciate the opportunity to monitor my students, through their artifacts, and watch them grow personally and academically.

Student Artifacts = Authentic Evidence of Learning

Google Glass

I am currently in Wisconsin Dells at the Google in Education Midwest Summit. I am enjoying meeting new people and learning more about the wonderful world of Google. 

One of the sessions today was led by a man that was selected and purchased $1500 Google Glasses. While I never plan to purchase a pair due to the cost, I am intrigued by the glasses and slightly amused due to the SNL parody. While it was interesting to learn how he has used Google Glass in the classroom, I still do not know how useful and necessary it is to use Google Glasses to improve productivity in the classroom. 

Regardless, he was nice enough to let people try on the Google Glasses and try them out. I must say that like the Google geek that I am, I tried them out and thought the glasses were pretty cool. I was able to see the little screen out of my right eye and asked it to take a picture. It happened in a matter of seconds. The glasses were a little uneven, and I wonder if I would get dizzy after wearing them for awhile. Needless to say, I am quite excited that I got to try them out. I don't think I will be purchasing Google Glasses anytime soon; however, I am proud to say I tried them out. 

Reboot...

Google Girl

Google has made an impact in many areas of my professional life. In addition to teaching high school English, I have stepped into a new role this year: instructional technology coordinator. This new role gives me the opportunity to work with other teachers and their students as they utilize instructional technology.  Due to my enthusiasm about Google Apps for Education, most teachers have come to me for help with Google. Since I am lucky enough to still teach three classes, I am able to share firsthand experiences with my colleagues about how I am using Google Apps in order to enhance my curriculum and engage my students. Due to my excitement and push for the use of Google Apps, I am now known as the Google Girl.

With the success of Google in my classroom during our second semester last year, I decided to start the new school year with a full week of Google implementation. Students were exposed to many of the features associated with Google Apps for Education: Gmail, the Drive, and Blogger. In addition, my students learned that our classroom would be a paperless classroom. All major assignments would be created, completed, submitted, and graded using the Google Drive. While they were apprehensive at first, my new sophomore and junior students have learned to appreciate the many features of Google, and they prefer to complete work on the cloud.

I am excited to report that more and more teachers have jumped on the Google train, and this has caused me to reflect on the past year and the progress our school has made.  

Last year, a small group of teachers from my school stumbled upon a Google script that has now taken our school by storm. gClassFolders is a public script that allows teachers to create and share a class edit and view folder with a group of students. In addition, this script creates individual assignment folders for each student in a class. The script will automatically share these folders with students so that teachers do not have to manually enter each student’s email address. This script gives teachers the opportunity to have a paperless classroom but also provides the organization and efficiency that all teachers need to survive.

Most teachers and students at my school were inexperienced with Google last year; consequently, only a small number of teachers incorporated the folders created and shared by the script into the classroom. Luckily, these teachers were excited about the possibilities the script offered and bragged about the script to their colleagues. In turn, I am proud to say that teachers in every department of our school are now using the Google Drive and have created folders to share with their students.

I realized the shift during one of our first computer lab work days. My sophomore students logged into their Google accounts and unlike last year, most of them knew the purpose of the Drive . Also, as I scanned the room, I noticed that students had multiple class folders (a few had 4 or 5) in their Drive, not just the folders I shared with them a day before. This is when I truly realized that a shift in instruction was happening at our high school.

The first month of school has passed by quicker than ever, but I cannot express how excited I am about our school’s progress with technology like Google. While I know technology, and incorporating it into the classroom, is time consuming and intimidating, it can be used to promote production, efficiency, collaboration, and eventually, student growth. More and more teachers are interested in what Google Apps for Education has to offer, and their interest has motivated me to continue experimenting with different aspects of Google in my classroom.

New year.

New students.

New curriculum.

New role.

New risks.

New challenges

New triumphs

New name...Google Girl

Click here to view my Google Resources folder.

Revamping the Classroom

As I approach the end of another school year, I have started to reminisce about the work accomplished  in my classroom. This week concludes my 5th year teaching, and this year has been significantly different. I am finally at the point where I am comfortable with the content and understand what is needed in order to practice proper classroom management. I teach each lesson with a purpose and have focused on the bigger picture: how do I improve student learning and engagement?

As they eagerly run out to embrace summer break, I feel confident that a majority of my students are equipped with the skills needed in order to gain success in the future. As I reflect on the year, I am most proud of the work my students accomplished and the improvements they made over the past 9 months. I am also proud of the risks I took this year with the integration of technology in my classroom. While frightening at first, these risks allowed me to gain new insight on how technology can improve classroom instruction and promote student success.

Starting off slow, I began using my iPad during lessons in order to improve presentations and engagement. I then asked my students to use their devices in order to get them more actively involved in the learning process. Initially, this was a challenge due to various obstacles presented when using technology in the classroom; however, I soon realized that integrating technology allowed me the opportunity to get all students involved in daily lessons and activities. I also realized that students were excited to use technology for learning and motivated in class when they were allowed to use devices.

As the year progressed, I continued to use technology that worked for my students. I also decided to start using the Google Drive in my classroom. One of my three sophomore English classes would become a paperless classroom, and all written assignments would be completed and submitted via Google Drive. This change was extremely scary because it forced me to rely on technology and rely on my students to use it properly. In addition, I now planned to grade online, submit feedback online, and archive student work online. It was a big change, and I was terrified it would turn into a hot mess. With the support of some wonderful colleagues, I took the plunge and, consequently, was extremely satisfied with the results. My classroom became more efficient and collaborative. Students made improvements in their writing, and they were able to see these improvements due to the Drive’s ability to archive student work. Although it was chaotic at times, I eventually moved my other two classes onto the drive and plan to use it in the future. This risk was worth all of the work, stress, and time. My classroom environment dramatically improved due to the advantages it provided:

1. Efficiency
2. Collaboration
3. Revision history for editing purposes
4. Automatic saving of documents
5. Instant access to work from any device with an Internet connection
6. Comment and chat features
7. Document sharing between students and teacher

Next, I experimented with Google +. I used Google + as a collaborative community for my students. Weekly, they were asked to respond to questions, comments, quotes, pictures, and other options on the community page. They could do it from any computer with an Internet connection or a smartphone. Instead of writing in our notebooks, we posted on Google + during group activities, film clips, and lessons. The writing I witnessed on Google + was the most analytically impressive writing I had seen all year. Through this online community, the students were asked to write to a new audience: their classmates and other teachers at the high school.  They took it seriously, and the end result was extremely satisfying. While they didn't know it at the time, they were writing and demonstrating higher level thinking.

For example, my sophomore students used Google + as we read and watched The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Each week, I posted a variety of questions on our Google + community page, and the students were asked to respond to two questions. During our first week with the text, I posed the following question and image (from Discovery Education) on Google + based on accusations made in Salem:

Week 1 Question:

Analyze the attached map of Salem, Massachusetts. What does the map suggest about the accused and accusers during the witch trials? What does this suggest about human nature?

This was one of the most popular questions I posed on Google + over a three week period. Here is one student’s response to the question:

“Based on the map, the accused seem to be farther from the village and other Puritans, implying the ownership of more land. Also, assuming that the markings on the right symbolize the forest, the villagers who lived more “inland” believed they were farther from the temptation of Satan. It is very interesting because the map shows clusters of people who were the accusers were the ones who lived closer to each other. This shows that many people must have heard the gossip of someone being a Witch and followed along, because who would believe one person who is innocent, rather than a group of vengeance seeking gossipers? It shows how even today, we follow a type of “pack-hunting” if you will, a follower-the-leader ordeal to go with mob mentality than to stop and think if the information is correct or not. This very much shows how in history, in the present, and in the Crucible, people will follow a small spark and start a wildfire with it, purely by word of mouth and because they think if others can do it, why can’t they?”  

The result – thoughtful, analytic, effective, and original responses. As evidenced, my students rose to the challenge, and I am extremely proud of their online contributions.

So, as I reflect on the year, I have learned the following:

1. Technology cannot take the place of instruction; instead, it should be used to enhance instruction and promote engagement.
2. Our students are living in a media-driven society. Instead of frowning on technology in the classroom, allow them them to use it in a postive way.
3. Teachers should not become overwhelmed by the ridiculous amount of programs, applications, activities, and devices. Instead, teachers should experiment with a few different options and only use what works for their instruction and group of students. Again, technology cannot replace good teaching. With this, teachers should embrace technology that can compliment their classroom environment.
4. Teachers need to be well versed in the technology they plan to use in their classroom. If teachers want something to be successful, they need to learn how to use it on their own first. While it takes time, it will make all the difference when teachers introduce it to the class.
5. In order for students to use technology properly and effectively, some classroom time must be spent training them on how to use the technology. Taking a class period here or there to teach them how to use something will make teachers’ lives easier in the long run. Do not just assume the students know how to use the technology and will pick it up quickly. Like anything else, they need to be trained. Patience is key.

As stated earlier, this school year has been significantly different than previous years. While my focus will always be on my students, I realized that technology can help me attain the bigger picture: how do I improve student learning and engagement?

While the risks I took in my classroom with technology made me step outside of my comfort zone, I strongly believe that student engagement was the highest I have witnessed in my career. I also saw a new level of student improvement and growth through the different avenues of instruction and learning. While my students still needed me to be the main method of instruction, the integration of technology provided different ways for all of my students to get involved, motivated, and invested.

Classroom teacher revamped…

Beating the Odds

I recently attended a fundraiser at a racetrack, and it was my first time watching a live horse race. As I sat in the crowd, I was intrigued by the jockey’s approach in each race. One race, in particular, required the horses to circle one full lap around the track. At the start of the race, the fans all rose to their feet in order to cheer on their favorite horse; however, I kept a close watch on the horse that started off the slowest from the starting line. He was the horse I was cheering for, as I always love when the underdog wins.

As the horses approached the first turn, this particular horse was multiple strides behind the pack. As the jockey and horse rounded the first corner, they inched closer to the next opponent. By the time they were halfway around the track, they had passed up three other horses. I felt a glimmer of hope for this horse as he continued to pass more and more opponents. Around the next corner, the horse and jockey were in the top three, trailing the two horses that had been in the lead since the beginning of the race. As they flew closer and closer to the finish line, the horse and jockey passed up the horse in second and caught up to the leading horse and jockey. As they approached the finish line, the horse and jockey, who took the slow and steady approach, were triumphant.The crowd was shocked as the underdog beat the odds and won the race.

The slow and steady approach taken by the jockey and horse allowed them to conserve energy, assess the situation, and gradually improve as they continued around the track. At their own pace, the horse and jockey attained success. As with the racetrack, it is important to emphasize the slow and steady approach in our classrooms.  Teachers tend to push through lessons quickly in order to get through all aspects of a jam-packed curriculum. In addition, our students are constantly looking for quick ways to complete activities and homework. While it is important to be efficient, are teaching and learning as effective if teachers and students continuously race towards the finish line without taking a breath for air? Is the process as memorable if we race through the motions?

Instead, it may be beneficial at times to take the slow and steady approach towards teaching and learning in order to get the best results. Why should we force ourselves or our students to be the leaders of the pack? Instead, teachers should take the most impacting approach in order to provide a productive classroom environment; students should take the most beneficial approach in order to master the material and grow as learners.

Everyone doesn't run at the same pace; however, once teachers and students cross the finish line, they have beat the odds.

Breaking Free

Analyze, summarize, research, explain, connect, support….All words that I use tirelessly in my classroom when teaching writing to a group of high school students. As I enter the last month of the school year, it is clear that my students know how to organize their writing in order to support an argument. I taught them how to do this, and I reviewed it over and over again. What is interesting to me is that while they can format and organize their writing effectively, they struggle to complete writing tasks that lack specific and direct instructions for their thoughts. In short, my students struggle to find their own voice – through writing – simply because the rules of writing have been drilled into their head year after year.

Of course, students do need to be taught how to organize their thoughts, focus their ideas, include evidence, make connections, and draw conclusions in writing; however, when should teachers take a step back and allow students to find their own voice, through written expression?

Students become emotionally charged from literature, class discussions, school issues, and worldly events. Teachers do allow them to share these emotions during class discussions and activities, but if we continuously teach and force them to analyze, summarize, research, explain, connect, and support while writing, how can we expect them to demonstrate their own thoughts and conclusions through written expression? How can we expect them to truly improve their writing skills? If we always feed our students a criteria for writing and do not let them share their writing with others, we are limiting their potential and restricting their voice.

Why not let the students write about what they want from time to time? Why not let the students organize their writing and share their thoughts with the world? Yes, I need to teach my students how to write; however, after instruction, I need to lift the restrictions and allow my students to set their own writing parameters.

If we want our students to invest in the subject matter and grow as writers, why not set them free?

My View from the Cloud

The world of education has vastly changed over the past five years, and it has been refreshing to see the new possibilities for instruction and learning. As an English teacher, I know firsthand that in order to be a successful teacher, it is essential to be organized and diligent about student work submissions and feedback. Grading essays and other written assignments is one of the most time consuming parts of the job, and in order to stay sane, it is essential that teachers develop a system in which to collect, grade, and allow reflection on written assignments. This system may change from year to year, but without organization and management, it is quite easy for teachers to drown in the paper load and waste valuable class time collecting, organizing, and redistributing student work.

Frustrated with the process and time spent collecting completed assignments, grading student work, and passing back this work, I have been open to different options in order to make this process more efficient and beneficial to the students. This year, I was introduced to the wonderful world of Google and the endless opportunities it presents teachers and students. As I absorbed more and more about the Google Drive and its numerous applications, I developed an interest in studying how the features of Google can promote productivity, collaboration, and reflection in a classroom. This interest turned into an application of Google in my classroom, and I have been more than satisfied with the results.

Day after day, I bring home essays and other examples of student work in order to grade and provide meaningful feedback. While this is part of my job, it becomes tedious, and at times, there are road bumps along the way. Over the past five years, I have heard every excuse in the book regarding why an assignment is not completed on time or in my students’ hands at the beginning of the period. In addition, it is obvious that students need well-defined expectations for assignments; the clearer and more consistent the expectations, the better quality work a teacher will receive from his or her students. Another important factor that needs to be assessed when it comes to student work is the process the students take in order to complete the work. If a teacher can help students during the process, it will benefit the students and hopefully provide them with a chance to actually learn how to improve their work instead of just being told what was wrong with it after they have finished. Our job is to promote student growth within our classrooms, and if students are not given the opportunity to learn how to improve during the process, we are not truly helping them mature as learners and individuals.

I started using the Google Drive when our district gave all teachers an account and drive to use for our schoolwork. While I did not initially consider the benefits of using it in the classroom, I learned it was a great tool for collaboration with my co-workers. I believe that individuals learn best when working with others, and Google made this a reality. From here, I decided to implement Google in one of English classes.

In addition to all teachers receiving a Google account, all students in our district received a Gmail account and access to their own Google Drive. As I contemplated and researched how to use this effectively for student submission of written work and online writing folders, I quickly became energized by the plan implemented for my English class to go “off the grid.” No more printing, saving, written feedback, or shuffling of papers; this class’s work was submitted online, graded online, and viewed online. It is my belief that if all writing assignments for students are in one place, all on the same program, it will make submission, grading, and feedback consistent and less time consuming.  While I was apprehensive to move from traditional hard copies, handwritten comments and feedback, and manilla writing folders,  I decided to take the leap into the cloud, and I have been extremely satisfied with the results.

In addition, my students piloting the Google Drive for work submission have raved about the features of Google in the classroom:

• No need to save the documents due to the automatic saving feature
• All previous work can be accessed with Revision History
• Accessible on any computer, tablet, or smartphone with an internet connection
• No need to print out essays as they can be automatically shared with the teacher
• No more stress with word processor compatibility
• No more deciphering a teacher’s handwriting – all comments are typed onto the document and viewed directly in the students Drive.
• Valuable teacher feedback during the writing process
• No more wasted time in class collecting and redistributing papers

My students were excited to try something different, and like me, they were impressed with the endless possibilities that Google provides. In addition, improvements in student writing increased because Google allowed me to be an active member of their writing process. As they worked on a writing assignment in their drive, I was able to view their work, provide feedback, and help them improve DURING the writing process. While they were doing the work, I was coaching them along the way. The enthusiasm of my students and the success of going “off the grid” have made this process, and the features of Google, important to my classroom environment and teaching style.

After a few months of using the Google Drive with one of my three sophomore classes, it is clear that the Google Drive promotes productivity and student development in a classroom. No more wasted time collecting, organizing, and redistributing student work; instead, valuable class time can be spent inspiring students and teaching them how to learn.

My next task….moving all of my students into the cloud.

Shifting to Inspire

Finding motivation to make it through the school day can be difficult for most students. In high school, I was no exception. Different teachers, assignments, and activities inspired me at times, but they were few and far between. While I went through the motions and maintained good grades, I never truly felt inspired to put forth the extra effort to improve my skills or take ownership of my learning. I typically sat in the back of a classroom, constantly listening to my teachers lecture about various topics, and then completed the mandatory worksheets, assessments, or activities. I struggled to find a passion or interest in what was being taught due the fact that my job was to listen, not to get involved.

I did, however, have a passion for athletics. As a student athlete, I was exposed to a way of life that taught me how to be committed, responsible, a leader, and a team player. Instead of standing on the sidelines like I did in the classroom, I worked tirelessly to improve and develop the skills needed to gain success. Luckily, my coaches always inspired me to be a better person and player.  I always wanted to be successful, and when I wasn’t, they motivated me through instruction, drills, and pep talks to work harder and put forth extra effort in order to gain that success.  I was in control. While it wasn’t easy, I never gave up because I was inspired to be the best I could be. I was an active member of the team, and the coaches put responsibility and the development of the team in our hands. Instead of constantly lecturing the team about how to compete, the coaches gave us instruction and then pushed us to work individually and with our teammates to find passion and meaning behind our actions.  This was the inspiration I needed as a student in order to do more than just go through the motions. I desperately needed that same spark in the classroom to be a better student and motivated learner.

Inspiration. What truly inspires me? What truly inspires our students? What shifts must be made by teachers in a world full of unmotivated learners?

I need someone continuously motivating me to get better. Motivating me to improve my skills. Motivating me to take risks. Inspiring me to always work toward success. Inspiring me to discover where I belong.  Allowing me to take ownership of my abilities. Allowing me to get actively involved. In the classroom, I didn’t only need a teacher; I needed a coach.

Coaches inspire athletes to enhance their skills and to want more for themselves. How can this inspiration and drive for success carry over into the classroom? A shift is needed.

As a high school teacher, I remember the inspiration I craved as a student and the inspiration I received as an athlete. It is not only my job to “teach” students how to read, write, think, and dream, but it is also my job to “coach” them along the way.  Teachers cannot only relay information and hope their students want to hear it; instead, we must teach students how to learn and act as a coach for their learning. There are numerous opportunities for teachers to take the lead as a coach in their classrooms. It is common knowledge that today’s students need to be highly engaged, and typically, this level engagement is produced during hands-on activities. With  advancements in technology, teachers can use a variety of resources in order to promote higher level thinking and engagement within the walls of a classroom. Instead of constantly standing in front of the room and presenting information to a group of students, teachers can now let their students get involved and take responsibility for their own learning. A shift in teaching methods and delivery must occur in order to properly educate our students for the future. Isn’t that what coaches do? Coaches get their teams ready; they motivate, improve skills, evoke passion, allow active involvement, and provide mental preparation  for upcoming events. During these events, coaches then take a step back and let the team take control over their success. Similarly to athletes, students need to be ready for their next big event – the real world.

Teachers are coaches, and the more we inspire our students, work to meet their needs, and allow them to take ownership of their learning, the more motivated students will be to take what they learn to the next level.