Friday January 8

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome back everyone!! I hope you had a chance to relax and recharge over the break. It is often difficult for people outside of the teaching profession to understand how truly necessary the break is. Doing what you do is demanding. There are a few things of interest in this week's blog so I hope you find something of use!

Professional Learning Opportunities

It has been great to be in all of the schools over the course of the past few months. I truly enjoy working with you and your students when I visit. Since September I have worked with teachers and students on blogging, website creation, Google Classroom setup, basic setup of Google Drive, and using Google Apps for Education to facilitate feedback, just to name a few. I am scheduled to be in all of the schools throughout the rest of the year. Watch your email for days and schedules of when I will be in your school. 

Many times, teachers say to me that they would like to work with me but are unsure of what to work on. My response to this would be to sit down together for a little while to discuss ways that I might be able to help. If you aren't sure how we can work together, just ask! I'm sure we can come up with something that will be beneficial to you and your students.

Still, sometimes having the opportunity to attend a predetermined workshop is best. As such, we have scheduled three workshops for all staff over the next few months. All workshops will take place from 4-6PM at the Grasslands Board Office. Please RSVP to sean.beaton@grasslands.ab.ca to attend. They are: 

1. February 4: Introduction to Google Apps for Education
2. February 25: Collaborative Learning with Google
3. April 19: Using Google Apps, Extensions and Add Ons. 

I am always open to other workshop ideas, so, if you have some suggestions, please let me know!

Some Resources

I came across these two websites over the last few days and they look like they may hold some promise. The first is a great list of Google Add Ons that are specifically geared to teachers. The second, is a resource to help create interactive, digital books, handouts, and presentations. This one uses both Google Slides and other software applications. Enjoy!

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2016/01/best-google-drive-addons-for-teachers.html

http://ditchthattextbook.com/2016/01/06/8-interactive-google-slides-activities-for-classroom-excitement/?utm_content=buffer4f021&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Friday October 23

Google Apps for Education

One of the things I consistently hear from the teachers I work with is: "there are so many apps and different components of Google. It's hard to keep up!" I absolutely agree! It seems every week, Google or their partners release something new that could be integrated into what we do with our students. Understanding their usage takes time. Working with me is one way to improve your overall understanding but there are other things you can do. Google actually has produced so very good professional development resources. One can be found here: http://learn.googleapps.com/. This web page has some excellent resources for many of the apps you use daily. Whether you need assistance organizing your email or scheduling appointments or would like to know more about using Google Docs, this website has resources to help. The lessons organized on the site are very straightforward and I have found them to be very informative. So, if you are looking for a little bit of extra help, check out the resources.

Education for All Success For Each

Next week we will all gather together for a District wide Professional Development day. Early next week, I will be sharing some resources for the day through our Google Drive. I have already created a shared space for all teachers in the division called Grasslands Teaching Resources. You can find the folder here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7M_9FojoI0LenJrM3poa0ZBam8. As we approach PD day, there will be questions to guide the work we do next week and space to put the work you complete on Friday. The focus for the day will be centred around long range planning with your students. Elementary, Junior High and High School teachers will have an opportunity to work collaboratively throughout the day.

Please look for emails from you reminding you of the collaborative space and the documents available to you.

Friday October 16

Thanks For Sharing! Now What?

Over the past few weeks, I'm sure many of you who use Google Drive with your students have received emails saying someone has invited you to collaborate or edit or view some kind of file or folder. Keeping track of all those documents can be rather time consuming, particularly if you are working with many students. Add to that the documents and files shared by administrators and your drive can quickly become a pile of virtual paper. So, how do we manage the document flow coming in to us?

When working with students, one thing I suggest is they create one folder and share it with their teachers. If they label the folder with their first and last name and the course name (EG: Sean Beaton Language Arts) it makes it much easier to identify who's folder it is. By sharing one folder and putting all of the work for the class into that folder, you will not continue to receive emails about sharing. Anything that is placed or created in that shared folder automatically retains the same sharing permissions as the folder. The students can tell you face to face or through email they have completed the assignment and it is in the folder, or you can check the folder yourself. This entire process is made even more straightforward when you use Google Classroom as all assignments are turned in through the assignment stream. You don't need to go looking for them. You will receive a notification that the assignment is completed in your email but you won't need to search in your "shared with me" section of your drive.

The same principles apply to sharing with colleagues. If you are working collaboratively with a group of teachers, create one single folder for the group. Share the folder with all your colleagues who need access and place all relevant documents in this folder. That way, people are not inundated with email and they do not need to look in their shared with me section. The one thing you may want to do with a shared folder is add it to your drive so you know where it is. To do this, right click on the name of the folder shared with you in the Shared with Me section of your drive. Then select "Move to Drive." You can then choose where to put the folder. 

If you are using Google Drive with your students, let me know how things are going. I really enjoy hearing feedback and knowing how things are working in your classrooms.

The Power of Language

Over the past few weeks, one of my projects has been to go through various programs of study in preparation for PD on October 30. What I found as I combed through the various curricula was a vast difference in language use. In some curriculum documents, the words General Outcome and Specific Outcome are used. In others it is Related Issue and Concept. Still others use different language. It took me a little while to come to an understanding as to why this was the case - each of the documents was written at a different time. For example the Social Studies 30-1 curriculum was released less than ten years ago whereas the English Language Arts Curriculum is much older. As a result, the terminology does not match. But, the essence of what the documents are trying to achieve is the same. 

Teachers are tasked with helping students move through large "chunks" of information. They can be called General Outcomes or Related issues but they are the same idea. These large chunks of information form the bulk of our units and the bulk of our summative assessments. This is the information we need to report back to parents. The smaller pieces that make up the whole are the things we do day to day in our classrooms - they are the concepts that we help our students understand while working to a larger goal. These smaller pieces are where our formative assessment takes place. We work with students in helping them understand this information and ensure we give them feedback regarding this understanding, all the while moving toward the end goal of the General Outcome. 

This past week, four schools came together to begin the process of collaboratively "unpacking" the curriculum. Over the next few weeks, all of us will get together to begin this process in an effort to continue the amazing work being done all over the district to promote success for each of our students. 

Friday October 9

Google Apps, Extensions and Add-ons

It seems everyday there are more bits and pieces that work with Google Apps for Education. Two areas where there seems to be constant development are with Google Apps and Extensions and Google Add-ons.

Google apps are direct links to web based programs. Adding apps gives you a bit more functionality such as linking directly to your Google Drive. An example of an App is Google Classroom. This is an application that links directly to your Google account an enables you to create a digital learning space for your students. Extensions are small pieces of software that link with the Chrome Browser to enable you to do some really interesting things very quickly. There are literally hundreds of apps and extensions to choose from. They can be found through the Google Webstore. We are in the process of adding apps and extensions to the Grasslands section of the Webstore. If you find ones that you think people would use let me know and I will ensure they are added.

Here is a link to a Google Slides presentation about some very useful Apps and Extensions. It was put together by Michelle Armstrong, a Google Certified Teacher and Trainer from Calgary: https://goo.gl/FIIToJ.

Add-ons are small pieces of software that connect directly to Google Docs and Google Sheets. They can be found by clicking on Add-ons in the toolbar in a Google Doc or in Google Sheets. You then select "Get Add-ons" to see what is available. One that is very popular among math teachers is gMath. This Add-on gives you the ability to include mathematical notation in a Google Doc. You can either type in your notation or you can use the microphone on your computer to speak the notation which you can then insert into your Google Doc. 

Take a look at Apps, Extensions, and Add-ons to see how you can increase the utility of Google Chrome and Google Apps for Education. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

A Gathering Place

Last week I created a space on my Google Drive for teachers to share lessons, units and examples of student work. One request I have heard from many teachers I've worked with are examples of strategies they can use in their classroom to promote student learning. I was very fortunate to attend a session in the summer with Barry Bennett a University of Toronto teacher educator and author of the Book Beyond Monet. This book provides teachers with hundreds of teaching strategies that are useful in all divisions. Barry gave us all a digital copy of this book and asked that we share it with whoever we felt could use it. As such, I've put it on the shared drive for all of you. I have also put on another of Barry's books called Classroom Management: A Thinking and Caring Approach. 

Both of these resources can be found here: https://goo.gl/V3SA9b. Please feel free to download the two resources and add any that you think would be helpful to your colleagues!

Education for All Success for Each

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a High School Redesign symposium. I am always amazed to hear about the great things that are being done around the province. One item that came up during the day that applies to all grades is the idea of planning for learning.

In the session I attended, teachers from Lethbridge talked about the process they went through to ensure everything they did in the classroom was related back to concepts and outcomes in the program of studies. They told us about the collaborative work they did during PD sessions to mine through the curriculum. They also spoke about the need to link their planning with the needs of their students. They had very powerful stories of success from both teachers and students who spoke about flexibility, mastery learning and consistent feedback. One piece of advice they had for all of us in the room was to ensure not to "grade" everything the students did but to provide lots of descriptive feedback to the students. In addition, they spoke about ensuring their lessons, planning and assessment was continually linked to curricular outcomes.

Ultimately, their message was to be mindful of preparing and assessing students. By doing so, they said they were able to promote individualized success. Students who needed some extra supports in their learning received them. Students who were ready for a larger challenge were given that opportunity.

Having visited so many classrooms throughout the division it is so great to see so many teachers finding success with students in a similar way to what was described by these teachers from Lethbridge.

Friday, October 2

Google Tips - Optical Character Recognition, Read&Write

One of the really powerful tools in our Google Drive is something called Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This capability enables users to turn PDFs into editable Google Docs. In many cases, you wouldn't need to edit the PDF. However, if you had a student who needed some support with reading, this could be an interesting way to make information accessible to them. When you combine Google Drive OCR with Read&Write for Google, you have a powerful accessibility tool. For example, let's say you have a student in one of your classes who struggles with reading. You can scan a PDF copy of the text you want them to read, open it as a Google Doc, and then have them use Read&Write for Google (which all of our students now have access to) to ensure the student can access the information. Watch the clip below to see what I mean (Read&Write for Google sounds much better in person).

A Gathering Place Part 2

As I wrote last week, many of you requested that we develop a space for curating and housing examples of lesson plans, assignments, activities, and student work. I suggested we use this blog as a way to store these items. However, it was suggested to me that we utilize Google Drive to achieve this outcome. I agree and think that would be a much better way to store these pieces of information. As such, I have created a shared space for us all: https://goo.gl/956AKC. This link will bring you to a folder titled "Grasslands Teaching and Learning." In this folder, there are subfolders for K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. In each of those folders, I have created "Lesson Plan, Activities" and "Examples of Student Work" folders. 

The material you share here does not need to include technology or Google Apps for Education; that is not the purpose. The purpose is to provide a space where you can share resources with your colleagues. The resources could be lessons that you like, assignments that you thought went well, or activities that you would like to share. You can share hard copies of lessons or videos of you working with your students on the lessons. For the student work section, you can share pieces of student work that you and your students are very proud of. One thing to note, however, if you do plan on sharing student work, be sure that you have their permission to do so prior to posting in in the folder. In addition, it is a good idea to remove the student's name from the work. I always appreciated seeing examples of my colleagues' lessons and the work our students were doing. 

I hope this space is helpful and that we begin to create a repository of all the amazing things that are going on in the district. I have the privilege of travelling to schools and working with so many teachers and students. I get to see the really great things you are all doing. It would be awesome if you would share that with all of your colleagues! 

Education for All Success for Each - Multiple Means of Representation

In looking at the idea of success for each of our students, I thought it would be beneficial to write a little bit about multiple means of representation. This is an idea that really keys in on finding ways for all of our students to demonstrate their understanding of topics we cover in class. As we move more and more toward outcomes based assessment, this is a powerful way to ensure we know where are students are in mastering outcomes. 

Multiple means of representation simply refers to the idea that we provide our students with different ways to demonstrate their understanding of the topics we cover in our classrooms. They could do so through posters, creation of websites, videos, verbally or through written text. When I taught full time, I always had specific tasks that were non-negotiable - students had to complete them the way they were outlined. This was specifically important for my Social Studies 30-1 students and their written work as it was required of them on their Diploma Exam. However, for many of my other assigned tasks, I gave students the choice of how they wanted to complete them. Of course, this did mean I needed to do a bit more work in creating rubrics. But, once I had the rubrics for a specific outcome, it didn't really matter how the students demonstrated their understanding because they were graded using a rubric for the outcome not for a specific task. 

Providing our students with multiple ways to demonstrate their understanding ensures we get a true sense of where our students are at and whether we need to provide them with support with the outcomes. 

Thursday, September 24

Google Tips

Have you ever written an email and pressed send before you were actually ready to send it? Or, maybe you wished you could reword a few lines. With Gmail, that ability now exists. Earlier in September, Google introduced an undo feature to their email. When set up, you have 30 seconds to undo the sending of an email. It isn't a lot of time but it does give you the ability to "unsend" your email. To set this feature up in your email, follow the directions in the video below. 

A Gathering Place

At the end of the 2014/2015 school year, I asked for some feedback from all Grasslands teachers. One item that came up many times was the desire to have a space where we could collect examples of lessons and student work. People said to me they would really like to see what their colleagues were doing in their classrooms. There are a number of ways we could to this. However, to me, the easiest way is to use this blog as a gathering place for lessons, activities, assessments, or student work that you would like to share with your colleagues in the district. As such, I am putting out a request for anything you would like to share. I am not looking only for lessons which utilize technology in the classroom. Rather, I would like to share what you are proud of. If you have something you would like to share with your colleagues, whether it is a lesson or a piece of student work, please email me and we can discuss the best way to showcase what you have. 

Education for All Success for Each

During our Welcome Back PD session, Superintendent David Steele used the phrase above to plot out the goals of Grasslands. The phrase exemplifies the values of Grasslands Public Schools. These include being a welcoming and safe environment for all of our students and ensuring that each one of them is successful in their learning journey. Success will not look the same for every student, and, as teachers, we need to be aware of this and ensure we have the appropriate tools to make this happen. Over the course of the year, I will try to use this blog to point to different tools, resources, and practices we can utilize to achieve the idea of education for all and success for each. 

One such tool we have access to is the Google Drive. This is a powerful resource to utilize with our students, due to the ease with which we can share, collaborate and provide feedback. One way you can use your Google Drive to promote student success, is to ensure all your students have access to your class notes. You can create a folder on your drive where your students can access the notes for your lesson. In this way, if the students miss something in the lesson or if they were away, they have the ability to catch up. In addition, it provides them with a resource to prepare study notes. By universally providing access to this resource, we can potentially increase the learning outcomes for all of our students.

If you would like help setting this up on your Google Drive, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to help!

Voice Typing

Speech to Text

Last year, and already this year, I have received many requests from teachers looking for a speech to text tool to assist some of their students. There are definitely many products on the market which provide this tool. Some are very expensive and somewhat unweildy and some are free but do not work well. It would seem, that Google has come up with a solution they call Voice Typing. 

Voice Typing is a free tool that is incorporated into Google Docs and is available to anyone. To access voice typing, open a Google Doc, click on Tools in the Toolbar Menu and then select Voice Typing. When you are ready, click on the microphone to speak. Like most speech to text software, Google Voice Typing recognizes editing commands like "new line," "period," "comma," and "new paragraph." From what I have seen, it is very good. However, like most speech to text software it may have some difficulty picking up a voice in a loud room or distinguishing what the speaker is saying, particularly if they have an accent. Therefore, the students using Voice Typing will need to read their work to ensure it actually says what they want it to say. 

Some Words of Caution

The strength of Google Voice Typing and other speech to text software actually comes in the ability of the student to complete pre writing activities. I always said to my students that if you couldn't speak an essay/paragraph/thesis statement, there is no way you could write one. However, in order to be able to speak an essay, or write an essay, students must complete some prewriting work, whether that is an outline, or a writing web. Without the background work, I believe it would be difficult for students to use this tool. 

One thing I was thinking about as well, is how this could be utilized with our ELL families. Google Voice Typing recognizes 40 different languages. Combined with Google Translate, itwould be very powerful if used during parent-teacher interviews with parents who have difficulty expressing themselves in English.

I hope your week was awesome! Have a great weekend!

All the best,

Sean