Yesterday at school a teacher asked me if I could show her a tutorial for Google Apps. It was a very innocent, normal question asked to a Technology Coach at a school. A funny feeling came over me upon hearing this query. I had a whirlwind of emotions based on that single question. The emotional reaction is what prompted me to write this blog. My first reaction was I felt overwhelmed. How could I possibly show just one tutorial that would cover all of the possibilities with Google Apps? Secondly, I felt inadequate. Why had I not produced this tutorial already in my capacity as a Technology Coach and what had I been doing these past 2 years that this teacher asked this question?  And finally, I felt angry. Why can't that teacher just Google it?

All of those emotional reactions were unjustified and the teacher was merely asking for help. In my defense, it was late on Friday afternoon. Regardless, I decided I needed to analyze why I had such bizarre gut reactions to the question.

For me, the question asked by the teacher is analogous to a 15 year old teenager asking her parents for the manual on how to drive a car as a substitute for actually learning to drive in a car with her parents. Google Apps is far more than just a personal productivity software package, which is what MS Office has been for teacher for many years. Google Apps is different, and in my mind, it requires careful handling, and "on the road" learning when starting implementation in the classroom.

I'm certainly not saying a tutorial wouldn't be helpful. Not at all. But what is perhaps, unfortunate, is how many teachers still see the same static, individual document production that has been a part of our academic lives with the basic word processing software we've come to use daily.  I've know teachers convinced that student writing should be perfected on a specific date and that they will not need to see any of the writing beforehand. They have never witnessed the power of real time digital editing, monitoring, and guidance through the writing process using a Google doc. They haven't conceived of a document that lives, changes and improves over time.

Back to the car analogy. Everyone is aware that a 16 year old on the road, even after they have a license, is still not the highly tuned, careful driver they will become later. Familiarity with what is possible on the road leads to more acute awareness. And there lies the similarity to implementing a truly cloud based learning structure. It takes time, familiarity, and miles on the road. That second nature of knowing when to start breaking and at what speed and distance comes later; not in the beginning. Knowing how to handle applications in the Google Suite and when to use the features, is acquired knowledge as well.

I must now part with my original analogy in that, most teens have excellent models in their parents that have been driving them around since infancy. These adult drivers have modeled good driving technique (or so we hope) for 15 years. Teachers, however, have not really witnessed Google Apps in the classroom. They haven't even seen poor implementation. So when they get the urge to try it out, the only model they have is the familiar MS Office model, which is an individually owned software package used to create individual files to be distributed as finished products. And the fact that we have been attempting to create finished products for so many years is the absolute key difference.

A Google document is never truly finished. This is a whole new paradigm shift. There is no longer a set point in time but rather a continuum.  And isn't learning really just that? A continuum? An always changing, developing sequence? Sure teachers can require set points in time for assessment but they are not the way the brain works, just our imposed requirements on the system. In other words, we give final exams which are set points in time. This does not mean that students stop learning at that point. They are not a "finished product" just because they scored a passing score on a test. With the collaborative nature of the Googleverse, the learning continues, the documents evolve and the teacher weaves in and out of the system, seamlessly providing guidance and feedback during the learning process.

Now I turn back to the original topic of the teacher who just wants to learn a bit about Google Apps. I want to help but I think she needs to see just how amazing it is to drive down the highway first.  She needs to see students who are collaborating in real time and asking questions through comments. She needs to see students who are accessing their work on their phones, anywhere. She needs to see students who are sharing ideas with other students across the globe and instantly translating. She needs to see students designing together better models to help our world. She needs to see schools that have been using Google Apps for a decade and know the potential can change our education system into something that is real and meaningful for students. Those student will be in my school, in abundance, in just a few of years. They will be the skilled drivers of tomorrow. And they will take the teachers with them on the ride. I'll just be there on the side of the road, directing traffic.

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So my Google Teacher Academy friend was kind enough to ask my advice about his podcast. I am always willing to give advice which may be my fatal flaw. In the end, he decided that including segments in the podcast would liven it up and create more of a complete show. Therefore, I am now producing weekly news items for the Flipped Learning Network's Podcast.

It starts with the basic twitter feeds from the week. I filter and scan everything that has been tweeted in a week and go over as many of the interesting blog posts, ideas and web tools that relate as I can. Funny that I usually can find so much just using Twitter that is newsworthy but tweets are not my only sources. I also use the Google search features to limit the time frame and sort by news events. This usually produces the local news items that occur within a community. I have located several teacher features that cover the flip classroom as a new concept. Finally, I check Google plus for any good info about upcoming events. That seems to be the place to find webinars, conferences, and any workshops other than the flippedlearning.org.

I write a vague script because I want to be able to talk rather than read. Some of the articles or websites I base on personal experience. For example, when I discussed the app CoachesEye, I used for a full weekend at my son's sports events. I loaded it on my iPhone and tried various uses. Unfortunately, I don't have a class of students any longer to try out these tools on but based on previous years experience, I have a good eye for useful classroom tools.

Is this is a lasting gig? I highly doubt it.  Even the pundits on Flipped are trying to remove the term and merge it with just good teaching methodology that is already proven. I can't believe they will want a Good Teaching News segment anywhere. That is what we attempt to do at the local school every day. However, I am creating a large scale Flipped PD for my large school district and hope that the making of content there will be far reaching and a long term gig.

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Every August I start the year by training teachers on our antiquated grading software and maybe even more archaic grading system. It is the traditional weighted grading. Every category such as homework, tests, in class assignments and projects is assigned a percentage of the total grade. I start my spiel by asking, "What do you  believe is the most valuable work the students do?" This question is suppose to help them develop their own system of weighted grades. And now I am analyzing my own question.

Teachers will tend to weight tests, mostly summative, as the most valuable category. I've witnessed as high as 60% but mostly it hovers in the 40% range. If I change my question only slightly, the whole system is in dispute. "What do you believe is the most valuable learning tool for the student?" Yes, I'm focusing on learning. A summative test, as a learning tool? That just doesn't ring true to most educators. There are some students that do learn from the process of studying, taking a test and having it returned corrected, yet I would argue as we move toward standardized testing, fewer tests are returned in a timely enough manner to make this a learning event. In  fact, normally summative tests are only eyed by the teacher.

If the grading scale was weighted based on which learning tool or process actually was most effective, how would a teacher determine effectiveness? I just finished reading about a new venture by Kelly Tenkler called the Learning Genome. The vision is to personalize education by focusing on the student's  "learning preferences, multiple intelligence strengths, interests, passions, maturation." The project will tag every type of content and piece of curriculum whether it be an interactive, an article or video for educators to find and easily sort for their students. This sounds like a great match for the weighted grading system, but I think technology can do even more.

As children learn and show success at learning, either through interactive content, or yes, tests, the mode in which they learned best can be recorded. For example, if a student spends time on Khan Academy and does very well, learns topics quickly and demonstrates understanding, then based on the recorded data, a computer could provide similar learning experiences for that student. Conversely, whenever an activity was not successful for the student, a learning management system should be able to dump that type of activity and replace it with something more suitable for the child.

I realize what I'm advocating sounds all computerized at this point. It most certainly wouldn't be except for the ease in automation of it. In fact, what if we simply asked the child? How do you like to learn? The teacher would be the most valuable asset to a system in which learning preferences quantified by both teacher and student. And as for the weighted grading, it may even change through the year. In one unit of study, a project may have produced the best results while in another reading and answering questions may have been best. 

It all goes back to the original question that every teacher should be asking. What is the most valuable learning tool for each individual student? Once we get to this point, whether through a data collection system or mere insight from a very in tune teacher, we will have progressed to a more meaningful evaluation of a student's progress. 

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Even if you are not a tech savvy teacher, I can be certain that you have a list favorite websites you use as resources for your lessons. These may be local bookmarks in a browser or pinned, tagged, checked or bundled somewhere online. I applaud the effort to organize the massive amount of freely available information or advice. A well connected educator has developed a PLN (Personal Learning Network) in which not only are they gathering websites, but in fact sharing them with colleagues online. However, you may be missing the most important target audience: your students. Are you sharing with students as you make these valuable finds?

Curating is the process of gathering, reviewing and editing lists of online content for an audience. We do it for ourselves with our bookmarks but your students could benefit from your wise choices as well. With a bit a tweaking in the organization part, you could be providing lists to students based on topics, standards or even essential questions. If you move from local bookmarks, to online bookmarks, you’ve already made the move necessary to offer these bookmarks quickly and easily to students as you find them. Services such as Delicious, Diigo, mentormob and the newly popular Pinterest, make the sharing easy and the access for you, almost anywhere.  (For a quick list of BYOD resources, check out my Bit.ly bundle.) Providing a more direct list of educational and teacher approved web resources keeps students away from the unfettered wiki world. Not only that, those who do have the desire to learn more will have a teacher directed path.

But don’t stop with just links, videos and games are engaging resources to help students learn a concept from another point of view, review for a test, or delve deeper to satisfy curiosity. Youtube.com/education  provides hundreds of quality lessons by teachers. If you can’t find what you are looking for there, try Hippocampus, Sophia, Vimeo, or some more specific subject content such as Spanish is Your Amigo  or  Mathtrain.tv.  Remember it’s not just for the students. When parents want to help their child, the first place they look is at the list of resources provided by the teacher.

Now back to that collaborative piece. Teachers can curate together. Pinterest makes this simple by allowing you to add collaborators to a board. That is the efficiency we want in our work. Not only is a great resource vetted by your colleague but instantly shared with your students as well.

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As part of my training, I devoted a little time to a less technical training and more application of technology. The presentation below is actually a set a screen shots from a Smart Notebook file. You will not see the interactivity, however please read the show notes to understand the presentation. There is a link to a Google Doc as well that outlines all the details of each slide.

Link to the "How Did She Do That" document explaining the Smart Notebook.

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It has been some time since I've even written in this blog. Hopefully my reasons will be clear near the end. Most of my entries are about ways to integrate technology in teaching. However, this entry is my final reflection, 6 months after attending the Google Teacher Academy in Seattle Washington.

I was overwhelmed when I received the acceptance email to attend the academy. (I jumped out of my seat at ISTE) I spent little time contemplating what I would learn, who I would meet, who I'd become or who I might influence. Now that I have watched my fellow graduates, I see the impact that Google Certified Teachers have on the world. They are inspirational, motivational, and some of the best presenters in education (you were fantastic Adam Bellow at VSTE). Other GCT's such as Kyle Pace, Alice Keeler, Jen Roberts, Karen McMillan and Troy Cochrum are the pioneers that teachers look to for advice and direction. I am awed at the content they produce and the "think out of the box" attitude that pervades everything a GCT does.

I really did start with great intentions for my small part of the world as well. I blogged, tweeted, G plussed and bookmarked hundreds of cool tools, sites and ideas for teaching. My idea for a cross platform app database was big (probably too big for one person) but I designed it anyway.

I began the school year very hyped about using these delivery methods for the best new ideas direct from the Google Academy to my teachers. Yet, what I found was that teachers in my district are not nearly as connected as this fast moving train of EdTech. Some had never heard of blogs, many were afraid of Twitter, and video's posted on YouTube just did not hold a candle to a Word document with instructions. Much of my job (I am a Tech Specialist in my school) turned into data entry and pushing information in the closed environment of Blackboard or through individual emails. The tools felt archaic, clumsy, and not connected to what I knew was the real world. So I became disappointed. If I tweeted, the only people receiving the message where the experts in the field. If I blog, my thoughts about 21st Century Learning or my dislike of the standardized testing model was like preachin to the choir. How could I affect the model of teaching right there in front of me?

As much as I love technology, I also love talking. So I started to talk. I spoke to teachers about Google, how kids learn, why 2011 is different than 2001. How to look at a standard, shrug your shoulders (thanks Patrick Green), and give the kids the opportunity to design the learning. I talked with the principal about cost of hardware, what is doable now vs what we can plan for in the future. I reexamined my idea of training and created short, to the point sessions (demo slams perhaps?) And yes, we all encouraged experimentation.

My first real victory was with the district itself. Fairfax County Schools was planning on rolling out Google Apps for Education in November. I pushed to have our school start in October and was granted my wish. I trained the students how to log on and find the apps that our district was allowing this year. Not as many as I had wished for, but enough to really get started. I began training teachers at the same time Google was changing their look, their labs and some of the functionality. Seemed I would show them a feature one day and it would be gone the next. Connectivity was an issue too, but I held firm that Google was the best venue for kids.

It is 6 months later, so what has changed at my school? More than I realized before I started this reflection. My principal agreed to 128 new netbooks that are cranking out Google Docs creations every day in 7th grade. We have all administrators and counselors working on iPads and examining how to integrate them with students and our infrastructure. We have a Twitter presence, a training channel on YouTube for technology, a new more modern website that uses RSS feeds and the whole school is promoting Bring Your Own Devices for the students. There are 2 Math teachers creating videos to flip their classes and I even have an English department using Today's Meet as a backchannel in class.

I may not have thousands of followers yet and really haven't even updated the template on this blog, but I have had an impact in my little world, where 60 teachers are changing what they do everyday with students. I could not have done that without the Google Teacher Academy support. They are the heroes. If you are looking for anyone to follow, check out some of the names I've mentioned or just look for the hash tag #GCT. I also wish the best of luck to the next group that gets that acceptance email. The inspiration will stick with you throughout your career. Thanks to all.

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