Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Keeping it Simple

Last week our school had an amazingly positive experience.  Every week I provide professional development to our staff regarding the integration of technology into the classroom.  My main goal of the lesson was to demonstrate the collaborative features of Google Presentations.  I got way more than I bargained for.  Here is how.

I began the presentation and then created one slide with the assignment.  The assignment was simple.  Log into your Google Apps account with the link provided and answer the following question.  “What was a great moment for you in your teaching career?”  Now, I’ll admit I intentionally asked this type of question because I wanted teachers to spend some time using the software.  The answers were absolutely inspiring.

As this project continued to develop several teachers were accessing the presentation at the same time.  It was apparent that word had gotten around.  You could tell teachers were reading what others had entered into the presentation – mostly because Google Presentations shows a color for the location of mouse pointer for everyone in the presentation.  It was such a great feeling to know that we were talking about positive professional experiences.

In the days following several teachers came up and personally thanked me.  They kept telling me how much the assignment helped them regain perspective and how it was so nice to learn about one another.  Others would tell me, “I needed that.”  No doubt the professional development came to be a great boost for staff morale.  This experience could not have been simpler to develop and hopefully will be an opportunity for someone else soon.  

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