Google Classroom
Google has been developing a learning management system that allows teachers to create, distribute, and grade student assignments within Google Drive called Google Classroom. Like most Google products, it is constantly being improved upon and updated as users (like us!) provide feedback.
We are looking for a small number of volunteers who are interested in piloting the use of Google Classroom, in grades 6, 7, and 8 (team or off team).
Please let us know if you are interested before the winter break as we are hoping to begin piloting Google Classroom when we come back in January. We will, of course, provide you with support and training in using this system as well as help you however you might need in implementing it in your classroom.
Here's a link with more information about Classroom: https://www.google.com/edu/products/productivity-tools/classroom/
Lunch and Learns
After winter break, we will be offering group training sessions (discussions, demo lessons, or share outs) on a variety of technology related topics during lunch periods. These sessions will be open to all teachers, so keep an eye out for the dates and topics which will be posted soon.
We will continue to be available for team and/or department meetings as well as one-to-one sessions. Don't hesitate to reach out to us with any of your ideas.
General Survey
Thank you to everyone who filled out the general survey. If you haven't filled out the survey yet, please do. This information will help shape future district, building, and department level professional development:
Have a great weekend!
~Allan and Melissa
I feel I just learned Hapara, why do we need to change in the middle of the year? I understand Google Classroom does not have an Interact feature. I use this almost daily.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
ReplyDeleteGreat question.
Classroom is a pretty new product for Google, and it wasn't really ready for use or to be fully supported by our WWP staff at the start of the school year. We've been hearing good things about it recently, so we wanted to test it out for ourselves and see how it is coming along. Currently, only 5th and 6th grade teachers have Hapara, so this could potentially be a learning management system for other grade levels to use. There is no pressure to try it out, but many teachers have already expressed an interest in using it in their classrooms so we wanted to make this new development known to everyone. We are hoping that teachers familiar with Hapara who try it out will be able to compare the two different services.