More Google Classroom Stuff

A week has passed since our first training session. By now everyone should have had an opportunity to explore Google Classroom. I would encourage everyone to create a class, if you have not done so, just to get a feel for the teacher side of the application.

As a student in the Faculty Google Development class, I would encourage everyone to finish the two assignments. The first is to submit the worksheet answering the questions about the first training session and giving directions for the sessions to come. The second is to take the quiz that is included in the classroom assignment. Both of these give you as the teacher the opportunity to experience what your students will see next year. Your comments and suggestions will help us all use Google Classroom better.

Just a few notes on creating an assignment in Google Classroom. Look at the screenshot below:

In Yellow is the assignment title. Everyone of the documents your students hand in will contain this title name and their name.

In Green is the directions for the assignment. Be as specific as possible. Are they to read an attached document, view a video, explore a website, etc.? Are they to fill out the attached worksheet? Are they to create a new document or new sheet, or new presentation? Are they to add a file from their drives?

In Blue it states that every student will get a copy. Because this is the assignment edit mode (I clicked on the three dots in the assignment box), this lets me know that I gave every student their own copy to write on and hand in. (No more losing of worksheets!)

One clarification on assignments for students. See the screenshot below:

When a student is given an assignment and they open it up, if there is no document attached to the assignment, then the student is given two options: one to add a document of their own choosing - or to create a new document, or sheet, or presentation. When the red circled button is chosen, the document is automatically created with the assignment name and the student name appended to the document title. It is also immediately put in the right assignment folder. This would be preferred to adding a student's own document from their files.

One last encouragement for this week is to read the blog links in the right column of this blog.
Take a look especially at the three newest: 5 Potential Mistakes in Google Classroom, Grading with Zero or One, and 15 More things to do with Google Classroom.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM LINKS

• Google Slide Presentation
• Use of Google Classroom
• Classroom Help Center
• Classroom Intro Video
• 5 Potential Mistakes in Google Classroom
• Grading With Zero or One
• 15 More Things to do with Google Classroom
• 20 Things to do with Classroom
• 5 Problems Classroom Solves Now
• Create a Shared Folder

Next week I will share some of the suggestions of topics to cover in our next training session - Oct 20.

Faculty Training Meeting 1

A majority of the faculty gathered in room 134 for the first of monthly training meetings in preparation for the 1-1 Chromebook initiative. With Chromebooks in hand, the training began.

First topic was a review of Chromebook basics. The highlight of this portion was the discovery of the Chromebook keyboard shortcuts:  Ctrl + Alt + ?.  Using Ctrl +  and Ctrl -  to Zoom in and Zoom out on the screen is also useful.

A video review can be found here:  http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/08/everything-teachers-need-to-know-about.html#.VBSD_fLmpEd.blogger

The second portion was the review of Google Drive. The review covered all the icons and the menu items. Discussion was held on importing and translating MS Word documents into Docs. Sometimes formatting becomes an issue. This is especially true when translating an outline from MS Word to Docs. The reminder was given that using the search bar to find documents is a tool that can be used often.  The tip was given that a pdf document can be opened with Google Docs and thereby become editable text. This is handy when scanning a document on the copy machine and emailing it to yourself, or just when you find an pdf on the web. Finding details about documents can also be a help. Information on changes and when they were made and by whom can be useful in a classroom setting.

The third portion of the training was a review of Google Docs. Again the icons and menu items were explained. The difference between Making a Copy and Renaming a document was explained. Renaming does not create a new document with a new name. Only Making a copy creates a new document - the copy may then be renamed. Revision History does allow one to go back to previous versions of any document and restore them. Although there is a spell checker, some of the auto correct has some idiosyncrasies. (eg. lower case i  will not correct to upper case I)

The final session of the training was the introduction of Google Classroom. This is a document manager for teachers to use with their students. In order for the faculty to get a feel for the student side of the application, all are to join the Faculty Google Development Class. Go to classroom.google.com. From here click on the plus sign in the upper right corner next to your login name. Join a Class. The Class code is wv4ban. Short assignments and readings will be given to the faculty to help them learn about ways to incorporate Chromebooks in their classroom next year. Short assignments will be given to give the faculty a taste of the student classroom experience. A second task for the faculty is to click the plus sign next to their login in the upper right corner and create a class. If possible once or twice a semester, teachers should try using classroom with their students. In this way the faculty will experience the teacher side of classroom.

In the right column of this blog are five links to help you review all the features of Classroom. Please review them and learn what you can do and then try it. As mentioned at the training, all the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, will have a good working knowledge of Classroom by the end of the year. They will be ready to use it effectively next year. As faculty members we also must be just as ready to use it.

Next meeting - October 20.

Visit to LLHS

I had the opportunity to visit LLHS and Ted Klug to see how the first month of their 1-1 Chromebook initiative was working out. It was good to see a school with students and Chromebooks in reality and not just on paper.

Ted indicated that things were going well.Everyone was getting use to the idea and implementing the use of Chromebooks at different levels. English and history departments were going full implementation while math was lagging behind. Matt Doering was the model for history and government class. He was the pilot teacher for last year, and is now in full implementation mode. I was able to visit his classroom and see him teach,using all the skills and techniques he has learned. He words of wisdom were to only tackle one prep at a time as one transitioned into Chromebooks.

Lakeside does use Moodle and Hapara. We are researching both of those for need at LPS. The strong argument for Moodle as a classroom management system was that it was used by both MLC and WLC for course management. Using Moodle at the classroom level would help prepare the students for that college transition. Most of the faculty preparation for the 1-1 initiative dealt with Moodle - a full workshop taught by Jim Grundwald from MLC last June. We will experiment with Google Classroom and see how it meets our needs first.

The faculty was trained and has received short 2-3 min video recaps  to help them along the way. These were produced by Ted and deal mostly with Moodle. The faculty departments are also working together to discover the best way to proceed in each subject area.

Lakeside is down to one computer lab of about 20 computers. Each one has two monitors. the lad is used for high-end computing tasks, such as: video-editing, document publishing, and computer programming. The library still has a few computers, but there are not being used now. The study hall has tables with power outlets and extra power supplies. Students do work quietly with ear-buds when they listen to online content.

Ted has 10 loaner Chromebooks on hand. The first loan is free, each additional is $2/ day until the sixth loaner and then it is $10/day. Replacing the screen costs the students $70. (Plus the loaner fee). The screens can be replaced in about 5 minutes by the trained computer essentials class of about 8 students. They do the work and the logging of the repair during their regularly scheduled period. In the first four weeks - seven screens have been replaced. Ted keeps ten screens of each model on hand.

Their implementation model was to have the seniors use the Chromebooks that were in the pilot classrooms from last year. They will be able to purchase them for aound $180 at the end of the year. Juniors will be able to purchase their new Chromebooks for $80 at the end of their senior year. Both Sophomores and Freshmen will be able to purchase theirs for $1 at the end of their senior year. Each class will pay a yearly technology fee of $150/year. Every two years the model of Chromebook would be re-evaluated since they have a life expectancy of five years.  As far as cases fr the Chromebooks, the students were to buy their own, or purchase one from the suggested offerings that Lakeside would order.

I will go back to Lakeside later in the year and do a little more observation of classes. I also want to visit Shoreland to get a feel for their implementation.

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The Beginning

Chromebooks have been in the hands of the faculty for almost a month now. Is everyone becoming familiar with them?

That first session covered a multitude of topics - to some it seems like a tidal wave of information. Now is the time to do a more scheduled plan of instruction and training. I have blocked out a plan of training for the year. These monthly meetings will provide guidance, tips and helps for the faculty as they begin planning for the implementation of 1:1 computing in their classrooms.

I will be visiting Lakeside and Shoreland to watch and receive first-hand information on their first year of implementation. The specifics of our first year of implementation I hope to be ready to unveil in February 2015. This should allow time for parents, teachers and school to prepare for the first year of implementation.

A goal of this blog is to keep you informed of the progress of the implementation process. It is also to provide the faculty and staff with resources for designing their courses for 1:1 computing. The resources will come in the form of contacts, websites, blogs, and articles I have deemed worthwhile for our faculty. Some will be discipline specific, others will have overall use.

Comments and suggestions are solicited and desired. I need to know what questions you have to gear the training for your needs. The training will have to be differentiated to meet the varied needs of our faculty. We will work together to be better trained for teaching the students of the 21st century.

This blog and a link to my Educational Technology Website will be a resource for you to use and reference.

My goal is to blog bi-weekly, if not weekly. Take note of the date for the first faculty training - Sep 22 - 7 pm.  See you then.