.gif)
Friday, October 24, 2014
Research Skills: Helping students find the most reliable results
I think I'd like to post a series of blog entries dedicated to helping teachers with strategies for teaching research skills (skills we often assume kids have when they walk into our classrooms). I am going to phone in the first entry of this series by embedding Google for Education's original Google Plus post. It's a great little visual reminder of a search technique. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Making it Matter
It's been almost 3 months since I started my new job. At first, I'll be very honest, it was a seemingly uphill battle. I found that I started shutting down when I met with resistance. I felt like I wouldn't be able to make a difference here. And for that, I am regretful. I wish I was not so quickly & easily dissuaded. Because I have made progress here. I am MAKING progress here.
Recently, middle school campuses in our district were tasked with delivering lessons meant specifically for preparing their 8th graders for college & career readiness. As part of their task, campus Directors of Instruction will teach twenty 45-minute lessons to every 8th grade student, educating them on the requirements for receiving endorsements, choosing the right courses and generally giving guidance to them before they are off on their high school journeys. This begged the question: how were they going to deliver this content to every student with limited facilitators and during advisory period?
The answer: Google Hangouts on Air.
I've spent the past two weeks meeting with admin on various campuses, showing them that we DO have Google for Education accounts, walking them through the steps for verifying their YouTube channels, creating their Google + profiles and finally, showing them how to host their first GHOAs. The results have been overwhelming. I'm receiving so many requests for meetings and help that I'm finding it difficult to keep up.
And it hit me today: What I'm doing matters. These administrators do very important jobs and they're asked to do "one more thing" each day. The fact that I can help simplify their lives just a little by providing them with a tool like Google Hangouts on Air means I'm helping them find perhaps 15 minutes more in their day to spend on things that mean the most to them.
While this isn't a perfect example and these admin are working out their sound issues, this is my PRIDE & JOY right now. Watch as this campus principal and her director of instruction teach their first College & Career Readiness lesson together. I'm #soexcited to be a part of this!
Recently, middle school campuses in our district were tasked with delivering lessons meant specifically for preparing their 8th graders for college & career readiness. As part of their task, campus Directors of Instruction will teach twenty 45-minute lessons to every 8th grade student, educating them on the requirements for receiving endorsements, choosing the right courses and generally giving guidance to them before they are off on their high school journeys. This begged the question: how were they going to deliver this content to every student with limited facilitators and during advisory period?
The answer: Google Hangouts on Air.
I've spent the past two weeks meeting with admin on various campuses, showing them that we DO have Google for Education accounts, walking them through the steps for verifying their YouTube channels, creating their Google + profiles and finally, showing them how to host their first GHOAs. The results have been overwhelming. I'm receiving so many requests for meetings and help that I'm finding it difficult to keep up.
And it hit me today: What I'm doing matters. These administrators do very important jobs and they're asked to do "one more thing" each day. The fact that I can help simplify their lives just a little by providing them with a tool like Google Hangouts on Air means I'm helping them find perhaps 15 minutes more in their day to spend on things that mean the most to them.
While this isn't a perfect example and these admin are working out their sound issues, this is my PRIDE & JOY right now. Watch as this campus principal and her director of instruction teach their first College & Career Readiness lesson together. I'm #soexcited to be a part of this!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)