Hosting My PD Session Blog Post 4

On Tuesday, April 3, I held my Google Classroom session with three participants.  One was a math teacher, one was an English teacher and the other our Business Technologies teacher.  It was a well rounded group to showcase how GC could be used in multiple disciplines.

My session started with getting the participants to join the class.  They had previously been emailed with the code as well as invited through GC.  We found that some of them had not received the invite from GC or could not join with our school email address.  I had set up the PD session under regular Google Classroom.  Our district has signed us up for G Suite for Education using our school email accounts.  We concluded that may have been the issue because when we used a different email account we no longer encountered that problem.

The first objective of the session was to  educate my participants on what GC could do. I had a welcome announcement for them to start.  Then we looked at the discussion question.  I pointed out that they could not see any other responses until they had made their own.  We discussed this was a good feature because the students had to commit to answering the question and not rely on what someone else may have posted.  As they worked on that I switched my screen on the monitor so they could see it from the teachers point of view.  The next thing I had them do was an assignment to list 5 ways they use technology in their classroom now.  I showed them again how it looks on the teachers screen.  They could see assignments not completed and then code to completed after they submitted their assignment.

The second objective was to have them create a GC page themselves.  At this point we turned our attention to the PPT.  We watched videos on how to do the different steps.  After the video was done playing I would walk them through the steps as they created their page. After creating their page they invited each other as participants.  They also added an opening announcement, a discussion question and an assignment.

As we closed I shared with them that I use CANVAS which is provided by our district.  I compared aspects of GC with CANVAS. 

Developing my Google Classroom PD Blog Post 3

I developed my  professional development session around the use of Google Classroom as an LMS.  My goal was to show other teachers how GC works as well as the benefits they and their students would have from using it.

After my research, I set up a GC class for my participants so I could deliver instruction to them.  I specifically chose how to use the different types of activities they could use.  I posted a discussion question, an assignment they had to answer and a welcome announcement.   I then created a PowerPoint to use in the PD session.  This PowerPoint included videos from the GC website and some of the tip sheets that Google provided for ease of use.

After completing the GC page and PPT presentation I was ready for the session.  I invited my participants to the GC page two ways.  I invited by emailing the class code and by sending a direct invitation through GC.  This allowed the participants to see both ways of adding students.

Researching Google Classroom Blog Post 2

As part of my reflection on the results of my survey I created a  PowerPoint that highlights the questions and results.  I found I really had to dig into the results further than just reading the graphs.  Primarily on the question of asking what applications they would like to learn.  The main graph that showed on the survey was very misleading as to how the teachers answered.  That default result was because of how I asked the question and allowed them to respond.  The question had them rate on a scale of 1-11.  1 being what was their first choice-11 being what they thought was least important. Survey Monkey just added the scores up so the "11" responses counted more than the "1" responses in the survey result.  That led to almost the opposite scoring of what I was looking for.  I had to go into the results of each questions separately and restore myself to get an accurate reading of teacher's responses. The other mistake I made on the survey was not having a place for the respondents to include their name.  Because of this I had no idea of who was interested in the PD sessions.  At a faculty meeting I addressed the whole group about the results and offered the PD session date and time. 

In an effort to learn the basics of Google Classroom, I watched a lot of videos.  Some that Google had put out themselves and others that had been posted by other users.  I found watching the videos first gave me a good insight into how it works.  I then looked on the Google Classroom site page and read many of the instructions, tips, and troubleshooting articles they provided.

Mr. Merrit, our school technology coordinator, was also a resource in learning about Google Classroom.  He teaches Senior English and during the 1st nine weeks he began using GC to deliver his instruction in part.  By the 2nd nine weeks most of his instruction is delivered through GC.  He does have some days in which he delivers through lecture or reading literature, but assignments are posted in GC.  He has turned is traditional classroom into a classroom with a digital cafe atmosphere complete with comfy chairs, stand up tables, bar stools and counter top along one wall and even a coffee corner complete with a Kuerig that students can use if they bring in their own pods. There is bistro style lighting and kids may also sit on the floor if they prefer.  The students, who at first rebelled a bit against the new atmosphere, have grown to love it and are doing better work than when he was teaching "traditionally."  I have visited his classroom on many occasions.  I have also sat down with him and he has shown me how he has set up his Google Classroom pages.  He has spent a lot of hours setting up his curriculum in which he has many assignments on his GC pages and the students have choices into which ones they will complete.  They complete a contract with him at the beginning of the grading period.  The contract discusses the content standards they must meet and which assignments/activities will meet those standards.  Each content standard has numerous activities the students can choose from.  Some are daily grades and some are major/test grades.  He also gives them a calendar that shows when daily grades and major grades are due.  Students can work on assignments in any order they prefer as long as they have assignments submitted on or by the due dates.  This has been very helpful with the baseball and softball players especially as they loose many class days during the season for ballgames.  If a student works hard and completes assignments early they have free time in the class to play games, read books, etc.

After watching Mr. Merritt's class and having many of his students in my Chemistry of Foods class, I am very interested in trying to do something similar.  My COF class is all seniors and counts as their science credit for their senior year. My plans for the summer is to work on the COF class and get modules created and allow students to work on assignments at their own rate, similar to how Merritt is doing it.  I would also set aside dates for labs that would enhance what they are learning in their modules.

Technology Needs Assessment Blog Post 1

For my grad class INST 6914 I have been challenged to create a professional development course using technology.  One of the first requirements is to conduct a needs assessment so I can assess, analyze and tailor PD sessions to best fit the needs of the teachers in my school.

I conferenced with my school and system technology coordinators.  It was determined that the most recent needs assessment completed was not recent enough and it mostly contained questions dealing with technology accessibility rather than applications.   I also met with my principal to determine what would be the best way to approach with our faculty. It was determined that I would create a survey that Mr. Futral, principal, would promote in a faculty meeting and send out via email.  He was also willing to provide faculty meeting time, if needed, to introduce the professional development sessions and provide time on PD days if necessary.  It was also decided that our next PD days are in mid-April so that would probably be too late to start the sessions.

There were 16 responses to the survey.  We have about 30 faculty members so only half participated.  Honestly, that was a better percentage than I thought I would get.  Out of the 16 who participated only half are interested in participating in sessions.  The responses to what they wanted to learn was varied so I may not have but a handful participate.

I found the results interesting in some respects.  Our county pays for and offers CANVAS Learning Management System.  It automatically loads our rosters and schedules.  It will soon be linked to INOW our grading system so that when activities in CANVAS are graded it will automatically link to our gradebook in INOW resulting in a teacher not having to transfer grades manually.  No one who responded to the survey has used this LMS.  And the results showed that no one is really interested in learning how to use it.  I find that very sad that our system spends money on such a tool and not many are using it.  I actually use it quite often and have had great success with it.

What my results did show is that I have a few teachers interested in adding more technology use but their interests are varied.  Because of this I have decided to do a basic professional development on google classroom to show teachers how to use a LMS to deliver their instruction and then may make additional modules to overview and give basics on some of the applications available.  This will allow teachers to focus in on one application at a time and they can start with the what interests them the most.

Evernote

   Digital Porfolios archive students work without taking up notebooks or having to worry about the dog eating a student's homework!  This idea really excites me.  I teach a two year culinary program where students should be keeping evidence that showcases skills they have learned throughout the program.  These artifacts can be used for applications into culinary schools and scholarship opportunities.  But I have had problems in the past with students bringing back papers from the prior year.  During the summer they throw things away even after they have been told to hang on to these documents.  Well, Evernote to the rescue.  I will be using this to digital notebook to help my students organize their professional portfolios.  Below is a snapshot of how my students will be setting up their portfolios.

Gamification Delivery Systems

 For those of you who have been following my blog this semester you have seen a transformation in my ideas about gamification in the classroom.  I first started by thinking that games in the classroom were a waste of time.  As I have processed information throughout the semester I have become excited about trying some gamification in my class next year.  In fact, most of my summer will be taken up by getting this in place for school to start in the fall.  I could buy some already created simulation type games.  And I still may.  But my focus right now is to set up a system like what I have been doing for my grad class.  It's not so much a game to play, but a series of activities where points and badges are earned.  And to some extent, a competition between classmates.  I have become a bit envious of other students who have completed levels before I have and that has propelled me to keep working to achieve.  I hope that will be the case for my students when school starts in August. 

   This assignment for this blog was to compare different gamification systems.  What type of features do they have?  How much do they cost?   I choose to compare Reezly (what we are using for our grad class), CANVAS (the LMS my school system provides), and Schoology (suggested by another grad class I have taken). 

   Reezly is a 3D game simulation platform.  The quests are teacher designed and students can earn badges and points as they level up through the activities.  Activities can be anything from readings, to blog posts to creating presentations.  Because it is all teacher created it can be used for any content area.  Students work through at their own pace and new activities can be accessed as quests are completed.  There different features that can be accessed.  The basic edition is free.  More features and number of students can be added for a price.

   CANVAS is a learning management system that can be used for many different tasks for teachers and students.  Teachers can create "cards" for each class that will allow for assignments, announcements, tests, etc.  It can be used for delivering content in a more traditional sense or in a gamification mode.  CANVAS provides access to badges and other applications work with CANVAS to add badges.  It is free to teachers and students who are in a district that has a contract with Instructure, the provider of CANVAS.  Pricing for that was not available.  

   Schoology is also a learning management system like CANVAS except that it does not require a school system to purchase a contract.  It is designed to easily accommodate gamification into its use. Its base applications are free, but additional applications that would mainly be used by administration may be purchased.

   All three systems are teacher and student friendly.  All would be good choices for teachers wanting to implement gamification into their classes.  I am choosing to work with CANVAS.  Mainly because my district already has access to it.  I know from limited experience with it that I can have assessments directly added into the lessons and the program will grade the activity itself.  It also is synced with our grading system so my rosters will be automatically uploaded.  This will make much of my administrative duties with it easier that starting from scratch.  

Diversity, Cultural Understanding and Global Awareness

   I must admit when I first read the instructions for this post I was a bit confused due to the lack of specific instructions or supplemental material.  The instructions seemed somewhat vague.  So, I decided to research a bit.  I came across a paper written by Dr. James Hollenbeck and Darina Hollenbeck titled Using Technology to Bridge the Cultures Together in the Multicultural Classroom.  This article gave me some thoughts to reflect on.

   One point they made is that technology is the one thing we all have in common.  It doesn't matter what culture, socio-economic background, learning style, or political affiliation we are.  Technology is the new "melting pot."  Almost everyone has some sort of technology accessibility and our students know how to use it.  As teachers, we can capitalize on that.  Students who may not excel in the traditional pen and paper education can excel using technology. This fosters self-esteem in our students.  Technology can promote creativity and imagination that may not be present in traditional methods.  It can also help those who need help with spelling and grammar.  For ESL students, it can be a way of effectively communicating with other students as well as teachers.  The rise of technology has made the world on big classroom. For all students, technology is a way of understanding cultural differences by creating opportunities to see other ways of life.  In fact, with options such as Skype, students can collaborate with others from all around the world as well as those in the classroom.  

   For my classroom, I would like to add Skype to talk with other culinary students and chefs.  A fellow culinary instructor and I have talked about having our students work together on a project to improve cafeteria lunches.  There has been much said about school lunches in recent years.  The cafeterias are under very strict regulations about what they can and can't do.  But they do not have a lot of time or money to search out recipes that will meet the standards and still be palatable for most students.  The aforementioned teacher and I have discussed having our culinary students work together to come up with ideas, test out recipes and present to our local Child Nutrition Program Directors and eventually the state CNP Director.  For this collaboration to take place, Skype would be a great tool.  Our schools are about 2 hours away from each other so one on one contact for the students is not available.  

   For communication with parents I use Remind.  This application allows me to send out messages to students and parents about assignments, upcoming tests or whatever announcement I need to make.  It works basically like text messaging but recipients do not have my personal phone number.  I have different group numbers for each class, club, and sport that I lead.  My parents seem to like it as well.