Saving some time using Autocrat Add On for Google Drive

I am in the middle of emailing individualized reports to approximately 300 teachers. Yeah, a huge endeavor.

We are using the Ed Tech Challenge website as a framework for our educational technology professional development at our district. It is a highly personalized course that provides training on relevant topics such as collaborating with students, providing information to students, using Open Educational Resources in your classroom, forming your own PLN, and more.

The personalization is achieved through teachers taking a self-reflective survey. The results are then merged with a report that explains their strengths. Using the Autocrat Add-On in Google Drive, one can have the resulting merged reports directly emailed to the person (very cool).

However, in order to provide context for the teacher, it is best to either meet in person or send an email with recommendations on where to start. That's where the tricky part comes.

My novel-length email is pretty important. But it's a pain to retype it for 300 teachers. I am also customizing the email based on their scores.  Google Mail Canned Replies to the rescue!

Check out this tutorial to learn how to enable the Canned Responses Lab in Google Settings!  

Nothing Truer Has Been Said...

Energized and breathless, I am catching up from last week's Bucks Lehigh Edusummit at Southern Lehigh High School. It was a great two day affair where local educational leaders gathered to discuss teaching and learning with an educational technology flair. If you look up the hashtag, #bles14, you'll find some gems to take back to your school this year.

Although the first day of the conference had some pretty good sessions and presentations, I was more pleased with the opportunity to connect with fellow educators and leaders I have befriended over the last several years. To be honest, that's what happens when members of your PLN attend a conference...you are more interested in connecting with them than attending the conference activities! An additional bonus was seeing some fellow Bethlehem educators attend #bles14 this year!

The keynote presentations at this Edusummit were particularly thought provoking. In fact, they distilled a few concepts that have been rolling around in my head this past year as I have eased back into working with teachers at Bethlehem ASD.  

The first keynote was Ted Hasselbring's talk about how kids learn. Since his research has been instrumental in the development of the Read180 and System 44 computer intervention programs,  he has a lot of data to back up his claims. His talk infused the science of learning with tips on how to "do it right" in the classroom. I gleaned some basics including the 7+- 2 rule and chunking of information. But the takeaway for me from his keynote was:

Realtime corrective feedback has a profound effect on learning.

How are we as educators giving students feedback? Are we losing this opportunity to make learning activities MEANINGFUL because we can't get it together on HOW we want to give students feedback? This is where many teachers who use educational tools in their classroom get themselves in a tizzy. They want to use the tool of the week to give some type of feedback to kids. But it isn't the same thing twice and more like a shot in the dark. In addition, we often stick with the same level and type of feedback instead of digging deeper into what will provide meaningful experiences.  We need to choose corrective feedback tools that do the most for our kids and develop them as we start to understand how the instrument works and it is affecting performance. In addition, we need to coordinate on said tools as a learning community so we can learn from each other on how to effectively use them. 

Now, if that wasn't enough, the Dean Shareski's keynote on the second day totally blew my mind. Check out my blog next week to see why!

I did it! I'm a Google Educator!

I am now Google for Education Qualified - Chromebooks. Considering I have been using Google Apps for about a year now, this was a natural next step. It definitely helped that I have had experience setting up our Google Apps domain.

See proof of my Google Educator Certification Status here.

Find out more about becoming a Google Educator here.

Next stop: Google Trainer.

One of the most powerful PD tools around today!

One of the most important movements in education I see (outside of using tech to encourage higher order thinking skills with students) is using Twitter or other social media to create your own Personal Learning Network (PLN). No longer are you confined to the "In service day" mentality of growing as an educator. You can learn anytime, anywhere with ANYONE who is using the service you are. So, if you want to learn from Alan November (@globalearner), Will Richardson (@willrich45) or others, just Follow them on Twitter.

I have personally experienced the power of forming a PLN using Twitter. It will transform the way you view PD. However, I want to point out that Twitter is also a powerful tool for students to connect with teachers and experts!

If you haven't started using Twitter -- do not fret. You can lurk on Twitter to get the hang of it before starting to add to the conversation. When you do start contributing you will be amazed at the results!

Here is a great article about using Twitter for PD:
http://www.edutopia.org/twitter-professional-development-technology-microblogging

Some how-tos and some Twitter Chats related to education:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/twitter-expanding-pln

You can get started by following Dr. Roy (@BASDSUPT) at Jack Silva (@basdjacksilva) to learn about district news.

• Liberty High School Twitter -@LibertyHigh
• Freedom High School Guidance Twitter - @FHSGuidance

I recently found an application called Tweetdeck to help me see the tweets of my favorite people a little easier. It is available to install in the Chrome Web Browser or as a standalone application. More information is located here.

Using Twitter with Your Students?

Using social media with your students keeps us stay connected to what matters to our students. It is especially important that we quantify how we are using different tools not only to justify WHY we are using it, but HOW. Our stakeholders certainly want to know, but when students understand the value of a single tool, that prepares them to evaluate how to use future technology to their advantage.

Check out this rubric for evaluating student usage of Twitter for instructional assignments.

https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/Twitter_Rubric.html