Google Docs & MLA Format Are Like Peas and Carrots

Hi all!

Since we have gone 1:1 with Chromebooks, and embraced Google Apps, we are providing learning opportunities for both staff and students.

The following two videos address how to format your papers, using Google Docs, in the MLA format. It is different than working in another word processing application, so we felt it would be a teachable moment for all.

Setting Up Your Paper

Page Numbers In The Outline

I hope these videos help you out!

Have a happy day!

What Are We Doing 1:1 After Three Weeks?

It's Friday!

We, here at Kearney High School, are just completing our third week of 1:1 with Chromebooks. I have been in some classrooms and have seen the awesome things happening for myself and I have also polled the staff on what they are doing.

Based on their answers, I categorized the usage and here is the list so far:

Chromebook Uses

Communication

• Class Websites (Google Sites, School Fusion)
• Learning Management Systems (Moodle, Schoology,  School Fusion)
• Gmail (Large increase since 1:1)

Collaboration

• Padlet
• Google Docs Projects
• Discussion Boards

Creativity

• Theatre Project utilizing YouTube and Google Docs to summarize each chapter and how it relates to a given play.

Critical Thinking

• Google Search (Having it “at the ready”)
• Real time data analysis in science classes

Engagement

• Graphic Organizers (Google Drawing)
• Guided Notes (Template Gallery/Make a Copy)
• Shared Slide Decks

Instructional Input

• Online Textbooks
• Khan Academy
• Desmos graphing program
• GeoGebra
• MusicTheory.net

Formative Assessment

• Socrative
• Infuse Learning
• Padlet (Parking Lot)
• Exit Tickets (Google Forms)

Assessment

• Google Forms with Flubaroo script
• Moodle
• Infuse Learning/Socrative
• Voicethread

This is a great start! We only asked our teachers to consider the Substitution level of the SAMR Model for technology integration and so many of them have cleared that hurdle by a mile! I can't wait to see where we go from here!

Have a happy day!

We Have Gone 1:1!

What a good week!

Kearney High School, in Kearney, Nebraska, started its venture as a 1:1 school this week. Before the holiday break, we handed out Chromebooks to our 1500 students and this past Tuesday is where the rubber-met-the-road, so to speak. It was a very cool week!

Starting Tuesday, we were going to be able to see if our network was going to hold, and it did! We had put so much work and preparation into our wireless network, yet due to a checkered past, many were still skeptical. It worked like a champ!

As I walked around the school, I saw teachers using Padlet for collaboration, shared Google Presentations for guided note-taking, Google Sites and Moodle as learning management systems, Google Forms for exit tickets and workflow management, Socrative and Infuse Learning for formative assessment...IT WAS SO COOL!

What was even more special were the reactions from teachers.

• The teacher who is slow and reluctant to implement new things is now so excited about comment-only grading using the comment feature of Google Docs.
• The math teacher who was not in favor of 1:1 has "flipped 180°" because of how he saw the increased engagement of his lower-achieving students. Now he wants to know how he can use Google Forms for assessment.
• The science teacher who was so excited to see the power of Infuse Learning as a method of formative assessment.
• The other science teacher of 30+ years who is using Moodle and Google Drive with her students. She is very nervous, but I can see she is proud of herself as well.

As an instructional coach, it is exciting to see teachers take steps to rock the boat a bit. They are trying new things, they are using new tools, and it is helping to create a new culture of learning. 

We know that a device, in and of itself, will do NOTHING to increase student learning. What does make a difference is how the teacher uses that device in the classroom. I think we are on our way!

It was a good week!

Have a happy day!