Goofy to not DRIVE with GOOGLE

Google Drive is the MOTOR for Google Apps For Education (GAFE). An understanding of Google Drive makes the implementation of GAFE tools very simple. This post is simply a communication of what the teachers that I have worked with have shared about using Drive and how it has impacted their ability to teach/learn, capacity to communicate and to save logistic time!

To make this post more easily readable I plan to use concept images and simple statements. If interested in "HOW-TO" please contact me and I will send those details your way as soon as possible.

TEACHER TIME is at a premium and only the teachers truly understand this fully. Google Drive will save you huge amounts of time:

Below is a concept diagram of how Google Drive saves you time as you COLLABORATE with your colleagues OR empower students to COLLABORATE with peers:

Below is a concept diagram of how Google Drive saves you time as you COMMUNICATE with those members within your learning community (students and home):

TIME is something we all hope to spend wisely. I truly believe any time invested in understanding Google Drive will pay HUGE DIVIDENDS in the savings of time organizing, creating, managing a course in the digital age to empower learners.... and ourselves.

For many of us we understand that the only thing constant in education is change. And we can choose to look at this constant change as an obstacle or an opportunity. Google Drive is an opportunity that makes hurdling obstacles later down the track easier to overcome.

DuFour Galore!

In 2008 I finished my 1st Masters degree and the during the exit defense of my portfolio I was questioned about the image below. The image was created by me as a visual reminder of a quote from Robert DuFour's "Failure is NOT an Option."

The sign reads: "Veterinarian & Taxidermist"
The slogan reads: "Either way; you get your pet back!"

Let that marinate..............................

........................................WOW!!!

I interpret the meaning of this sign to apply to education. Our kids are enrolled into our system of learning for over a decade and in the spring of their 12th year the family and our community gets those kids back as young adults. 

Question that motivates me is HOW and WHO am I returning to the world after they experience my learning experiences and environment for a year... Was I the veterinarian that healed and empowered them?!! Or was I the taxidermist that returned a shell that was hollow on the inside and ill prepared to succeed in our world? 

The learning experiences we provide MAKE A DIFFERENCE to the student. Not all assignments must fit into these standardized boxes for assessment. We can choose to expose and sharpen a skill that aligns with a standard in a relevant way. Rigor does not have to sacrificed at all. 

Students are social media natives. Most students are GAFE savvy. Many teachers are making the empowered choice to learn and implement GAFE tools. For this post I wanted to show a very simple example that I implemented after being inspired by my wife (English and Reading teacher at Naperville Central).

THE LESSON
The lesson was designed for my AP Environmental Science class. The objective was to communicate how the current economy must change in order to be more sustainable for future generations regarding materials (matter) and energy. My assessment was very straightforward:

• Critical Thinking: evidence the student connected the concepts from the book "Cradle 2 Cradle" to the objective
• Creativity: generation of an infomercial (informative commercial) that markets their plan for change
• Communication: evidence that the message of the student resonates with the viewer/reader
• Collaboration: infomercials shared via a published hyperlink so that all other students can view and comment. 

THE TOOL

Slides is a simple presentation tool. I asked students to use slides as their tool and after creating their slides to publish them to the web so that Google Slides would convert their presentation into a url that can be shared and viewed over social media and more! GET THEIR MESSAGE OUT:)

There are many other (and better tools for this) tools to create audiovisual messages but they tend to require a little bit of instructional time on how to use. My students know Slides so that is what we went with. Some kids wanted to add music to further engage the viewer... great idea!

So, we used YouTube to find the music that would play in the background of the published slide show. As you view the examples below be sure to:

1. click hyperlink to music 

2. open slide show and start it

3. open your mind and let the messages sink in

All student infomercials link

Students can share via a link in Twitter or Tumblr.... http://goo.gl/dGlgbt  

Or Students can embed their infomercial on their blog or website....

Publishing w/ Picktochart!

Creating effective ways to deliver information is an art form that requires critical thinking and communication skills. The critical piece is more abstract in that the delivery has to be accurate and engage the reader to inquire further or be rewarded with clarification. The creation part has to appeal to the masses and provoke them to consider reading more in order for the message/content to be delivered as intended.

Picktochart is a simple to use technology tool that empowers students to create visual information more easily and in a form that is trending with social media. Info-graphics simply organize content in a visual way and by doing so effectively info-graphics promote discussion about the content they represent.

I recently challenged students to work collaboratively to create an assessment question based on their field experience to the Quarry. Simultaneously, I asked the students staying in class to work collaboratively to create an info-graphic to visually display and anchor a presentation about an Environmental Case Study.

COLLABORATION requires a simple Google doc to be set up. As the teacher, I set up the Google doc and empowered every student to EDIT it as they experienced the field trip via their smart phones. The resulting document for the field trip is linked here. The remaining students stayed back in class and completed a comprehensive note document of the Chesapeake Bay Case Study which is located here.

After the data has been compiled and time has been used to discuss and interpret students must be challenged to create a way to deliver that information to empower others with the same knowledge. One of the students decided to use Picktochart and the artifact created looks appealing and accurate. Some other students used traditional methods (paper and pen). Both were completed in the same time frame and I will allow you to determine which is product is more impactful on student learning.


Picktochart Tool for Instruction....                          Conventional Tool for Instruction....

The key to using technology to enhance the learning experience is realizing that the tool itself will NOT TEACH NOR LEARN. The tool can promote the information to be discussed and conceptualized more readily and that can teach others and learn others on a fundamental level!!

Post PARCC!

This post is a genuine reflection of my time investing in the learning environments of my colleagues as their peer in the process of educating our students. There will not be much discussion of technology tools because I have realized in my short time in this position that this position is 95% about INSTRUCTION and 5% technology.

Before PARCC, the laptops were in rooms and teachers were using them to modify and enhance learning experiences. I walked into rooms and collaborated with staff to create lessons or simply "think tank" options. When the laptops left the rooms to be set up for PARCC and then used it became more challenging to promote digitally enhanced lessons with those devices so some teachers and I focused on BYOT lessons. The 21st century teacher is flexible! We learned a lot about the limitations and liberties of BYOT.... together.

After the PARCC was spring break! Many teachers offered up unique ways for students to share their connections on their breaks to the content and concepts of the classroom!!! That is so cool to witness and model using twitter, vine, snapchat and more.

This week, we all return and laptops are back and learning is rolling on again. Today I went into six rooms and realized the following as I watched my peers DO WORK... and a craft it truly is for certain.

• Good teachers are good learners
• Good teachers have the humility to accept that they need to learn daily
• Good teachers have the courage to take calculated risks in how they introduce a lesson, facilitate a lesson and resolving a lesson
• Good teachers are willing to fail so that they can learn
• Good teachers want to deliver their lessons in a way that students will engage and connect with the lesson

So what makes a good teacher a GREAT teacher? Personally, I believe if you are doing all the bullets of a good teacher daily you are a great teacher. This job is not easy but it is like I tell my athletes, "if it were easy, everyone would do it!" We are not everyone. We are the ones that every student needs. Keep on creating! Keep on collaborating! Keep on pushing! My job is to help you overcome hurdles along the instructional way. Please do not consider my time invested in your lesson a burden to me... I LOVE LEARNING with you. 

So far, I have been able to work 1 on 1 with nearly 15 teachers to develop something that they wanted to develop (lesson, website, etc). Spring Break was a wonderful break but I am ready to develop some more! Send your ideas, your concerns, your needs and lets DO WORK!