Teachers were given a survey developed using SurveyMonkey in order to determine exactly which areas that our teachers felt the greatest need of help. The data was reviewed with the Media Specialist/Technology Facilitator and the Curriculum Coach. Based on the data, it was determined that the greatest interest lay in the area of assessments. Teachers felt as though they needed help in creating assessments for use in their Google Classrooms, both self-grading and assessment that are not self-grading. Many teachers also expressed an interest in assessments that would offer oral administration accommodations to their students. We decided that it would be beneficial to research extensions such as Read&Write for Google Chrome for use in oral administration of websites and assignments.
Other areas that were also of interest were how to have students join a Google Classroom, sharing folders with teachers and administration and using Google Cast in the classroom. Others in my district and at my school will be working on these tutorials in addition to myself.
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One of our special education teachers requested additional time after school in order to have help getting her students logged into their Chromebooks and review of adding bookmarks to their accounts. Due to the emotional state of some of her students, she did not feel that they would be able to handle the frustration that might occur if login errors were to occur. She was not confident in her own ability to give instruction to the students without more practice. In order to obtain that practice, I was able to walk her through logging in the Chromebooks and bookmarking websites for her most volatile or emotionally unstable students. After completing those, she stated that she felt confident enough to be able to instruct the others.
After several revisions, a survey was developed and posted to SurveyMonkey in order to determine the needs and interests for our teachers. SurveyMonkey was chosen for this survey due to the familiarity our staff has with using it as well as the ease of creation. The survey was created asking, "What types of tutorials do you feel that you would benefit from regarding Google Classroom?". Eight answer options were available as was an option to choose 'Other' and to leave individual feedback. Teachers were given one week to complete the survey. The results will be reviewed next week to determine which tutorials will be focused on first.
Teachers began to implement the use of Chromebooks in their classrooms during the week of September 18th. The delay was due to our concern of adequate bandwidth as we began to MAP test close to 800 students on August 28th and missing several days of school due to Hurricane Irma. Typically, the district’s PowerSchool operator would send a list of the students’ usernames and passwords. These are developed using a standard formula and do not change from year to year. Our school chose not to wait on the list but to use the formula in order to determine usernames and passwords for students new to our school and to use the previous year’s list for existing students. In years past, it was typically only students in grades 4 and 5 that used their individual logins rather than the school’s generic login so many students did not already know their individual logins and if they were correct. We found that the formula was not followed consistently with students that have hyphenated names or names containing apostrophes and that quite a few students had misspelled names.
Teachers that requested it were given help within their classrooms as they instructed their students in logging in for the first time by our media specialist while others chose to receive the list of usernames and passwords and to proceed on their own. As teachers encountered students that were unable to log in due to incorrect usernames and passwords, I was able to assist those teachers in determining the correct username to use. In speaking with other teachers within our district, I found that the students with hyphenated names or those containing apostrophes posed issues for them as well. In order to begin formulating a plan to deliver instruction to our teachers, the media specialist and I met to begin brainstorming ideas of where to begin. Our teacher population ranges from teachers in their first year to teachers that have returned from retirement to continue teaching. Based on feedback from teachers that attended an initial training overview which took place just prior to school beginning, teachers in grades two through five indicate the greatest desire to move towards a paperless classroom by utilizing Google Classroom. We determined that first and foremost, teachers would need help with student logins due to the fact that the majority of students were using the school's generic username and password rather than logging in using the students' individual logins. We determined that a survey would be developed and sent to teachers to help in determining their needs and interests.
During our hour long planning session, a tentative schedule for helping students begin using their district issued username and passwords were discussed as well as the use of Technology Thursdays to offer teachers individual or small group help with Google Classroom. Due to the busy schedules of many of our teachers with after-school clubs, teaching enrichment classes and tutoring, we realized that many of the sessions may have a low attendance so we decided to share the tutorials via a shared Google 'How To' folder and also to place the tutorials on our school network shared drive. We also determined it would be necessary to offer individual sessions as needed also. |
S. Thornell
This blog covers the instruction I was able to take part in as part of my Field Experience in Instructional Technology and beyond. Archives
December 2017
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