All aboard...

The GAFE train is running smoothly through the middle school unlike the MBTA these days throughout the Boston area due to the incredible amounts of snow. Poor Boston!

Photo Credit: Boston Globe - Matthew Lee

The GAFE train image displayed above was tweeted out by Sylvia Duckworth.  As our district technology fellow and I were brainstorming how to roll out Google Apps for Education we came across this image, which inspired our direction and vision.  We wanted to test drive this train prior to implementing school-wide professional development to ensure it was the right trip for us.  We took a road trip to another Rhode Island middle school that uses Google Classroom and Apps for Education.   Originally, the thinking was to provide break out sessions for the first four stops on the GAFE train. After visiting Cole MS we learned so much more about Drive that we needed to dedicate one entire professional development to it and differentiate it based on the various knowledge levels in the building.  Stops 101, 102, and 103 were developed, which all focused on Drive for beginners to native users.  Check out the three stop descriptions on the Google form, http://goo.gl/forms/KlngBGrw7c, which was sent out for teachers to sign up for one of the stops.

It was critical that the vision of GAFE be communicated so that it encouraged teacher autonomy, aligned with moonshot thinking, and made teaching and learning more efficient and effective.  Google For Work’s video did just that so it was presented before the train stop sessions.  Check it out here:

All aboard!  Teachers and Teacher Assistants exited the GAFE train at their stops. Throughout the various sessions teachers were navigating through the most basic functions of Drive with the support of a tutorial video used in Stop 101 to thinking about ideas on how to incorporate it into their lessons at Stop 102.  Stop 102 teachers were asked, how do you imagine Google Apps for Education? Responses ranged from, “peer revision opportunities, real time feedback during writing sessions to multiple students at the same time, revising and creating assessments, and surveys/ formative assessment.”  These are just some of the few opportunities we explored, which is probably less than one percent of what GAFE can offer to the classroom experience. 

I am looking forward to where the GAFE train brings us in March and hopefully the MBTA will be back to 100% business by then and flowers will be popping out of the ground!  I can dream…

Social Media: The New Professional Development

During the infancy stages of Twitter no one would have ever guessed that it, along with other social media platforms, would become the New Professional Development.  It truly is the way to go for anyone to personalize his or her own learning. 

This professional development had two purposes: 1. To show teachers how social media can influence their professional lives and 2. To show teachers how it can influence their students learning. 

Side note: Before planning the session I wanted to model the use of new technology for teachers.  I decided to use Keynote presentation.  Not only did I model the use of this application for Macs, but I also, unintentionally, became an example of bombing a presentation just after I showed a spoof on presentations by growinleaders.com (see below).   If anything, I got there attention and they realized learning comes out of struggle, especially if you are using technology.

Back to the New Professional Development: I was able to walk teachers through a slideshare called, Ten Reasons Why Teachers UseTwitter by Mike Paul, Teacher, EdTech Consultant, and CEO of PikeMallTech.com.  I actually found this resource while participating in an #edchat.  It was an opportunity for me to show teachers how to use it to gain resources and information pertinent to their work.  Next, I shared some of my tweets with experts in the field as a way to show how Twitter can build and strengthen networks.  It gives any teacher the ability to engage in real discussions with real experts in any field from technology to social studies to assessment.  Twitter is give and take.  It allows you to take resources but you should also share what you do so you are helping others.   

 

Finally, if Twitter can enhance the work of a teacher then it can do the same for students.  Students can tap into experts as they research, create partnerships with organizations, meet other students with similar interests, and follow colleges that may be of interest to them.  These are just some of the few ways it can make their educational experience stronger. 

Overall, the audience of teachers seemed excited and scared.  Teachers were excited to see a new possibility with Twitter.  Teachers were scared because it was a world they were not too sure they were ready for but they knew it is something they need to do so they can be relevant.  Students need their teachers to be relevant, to be on the same page as them when it comes to technology use. 

A piece of good advice for beginners and gaining comfort with social media such as Twitter from our principal is to try following a field based on a hobby you enjoy.  Taste it first with something fun then take it to another level and begin personalizing your growth. 

Check out some of the learning on twitter by going to #cmscharged.