I've been teaching long enough now to have fallen behind the technology curve.
I remember, during my first education classes in the late 90's, laughing because the overhead projector was considered use of technology in the classroom. Now, I'm sure some of my practices are just as laughable, and possibly a less effective means of communication than that old box of lights and mirrors.
However, my school's adoption of a 1:1 iPad program, my promotion to chair of the department, and copy-editing work I do for a friend of mine at the non-profit Collaborative for Teaching and Learning, all are helping me discover the need to adjust my approach as a teacher and colleague.
I'm excited about incorporating techniques that I'm learning from my students, my colleagues, and reading about best practice and up-to-date findings about how students and teachers benefit from technology.
My first big leap (don't laugh) will be to use google docs and google forms during my next department meeting.
First, we'll all create a table that helps us compare similar courses taught by distinct teachers, sharing data about number and type of assessments and course averages. This will let us work towards consistencies between teachers and balance the difficulties of classes as students move between grades or across levels.
I will also poll the group to determine willingness to teach new classes as we have several teachers who are likely to retire over the next five years.
I will be posting next week about how smoothly this goes at Wednesday's meeting, as well as any other tech excitement that comes my way - building suspense to keep you coming back for more blog freshness.
I remember, during my first education classes in the late 90's, laughing because the overhead projector was considered use of technology in the classroom. Now, I'm sure some of my practices are just as laughable, and possibly a less effective means of communication than that old box of lights and mirrors.
However, my school's adoption of a 1:1 iPad program, my promotion to chair of the department, and copy-editing work I do for a friend of mine at the non-profit Collaborative for Teaching and Learning, all are helping me discover the need to adjust my approach as a teacher and colleague.
I'm excited about incorporating techniques that I'm learning from my students, my colleagues, and reading about best practice and up-to-date findings about how students and teachers benefit from technology.
My first big leap (don't laugh) will be to use google docs and google forms during my next department meeting.
First, we'll all create a table that helps us compare similar courses taught by distinct teachers, sharing data about number and type of assessments and course averages. This will let us work towards consistencies between teachers and balance the difficulties of classes as students move between grades or across levels.
I will also poll the group to determine willingness to teach new classes as we have several teachers who are likely to retire over the next five years.
I will be posting next week about how smoothly this goes at Wednesday's meeting, as well as any other tech excitement that comes my way - building suspense to keep you coming back for more blog freshness.
My school started using Google Doc's for team PLC time this year and the transition has been so much smoother than I imagined. We use it to break down our essential standards and to list our activities planned, assessments, and to enter assessment data by class. This weekly Google Doc has proven to be so helpful as we can all collaborate and have it readily available throughout the week as needed. We also share the Google Doc with our interventionists as they can easily take a look after an assessment and see which students need small group work and on which standard. I think it is so beneficial that you are going to use it to work through consistencies between teachers. I can't wait to hear how your department likes it and different ways that you find to use it! -Danielle Terry
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Danielle.
DeleteWould you be able / willing to share the template for that PLC document? I am finding several existing versions, but haven't found one that I wanted to adopt yet.
Either way,
I appreciate the feedback.
I think my school could benefit from using Google docs and Google forms. To share information, we email forms to each other but cannot see the contributions from others. The data sheets are not "living" documents which makes analysis difficult at times.
ReplyDeleteOur school still does most of the data processing on separate systems and databases that don’t communicate with one another. Similarly, we are paper-reliant for evaluations and assessments, data delivery and record keeping. It can be very frustrating! I’m hoping to start
DeleteI will say Google Docs and Forms will make your life a whole lot easier especially as department chair. I was resistant to enter the Google Technology world, but ever since I did I have saved a lot of time on what used to be tedious tasks. If you ever have any questions about Docs or Forms, you can message me on here or stop me on campus. Best of luck this week on getting that started.
ReplyDeleteHello, Joe!
DeleteThanks for commenting!
It has taken me a while to accept that, while I loved my teachers in the 80's and 90's, I can't try to teach there way. I also have resisted technology and am still skeptical first, but practicing some of these techniques does bring depth and convenience (at the same time) to my courses. Now I have to think even harder about how those teachers still challenged me to read, write, and think so much that I still love school.