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.
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