General – Page 67

December 30, 2017January 8, 2018 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Modern Learning, self reflection

The drive

Hands up if you’ve ever wondered what goes on in the minds of the drivers on the road around you?

Recent commutes to school and to shopping feel more like scenes out of a Mad Max movie, except with snow storms instead of sand storms. Vehicles speeding, tailgating, weaving, cutting one another off, and then there were some drivers who provided visual proof that not all birds have flown south this winter. However, none of this reflects anything close to the spirit of kindness and giving this season is supposed to celebrate.

Lately, a combination of work-life/Geo-political stress, an over-abundance of festivities/holiday cheeriness, and wintry weather have made people significantly more interesting. And by interesting, I mean disagreeable, distracted and sometimes dangerous. Being easily distracted myself, I started thinking about self-driving cars and how an autonomous vehicle would handle this time of year?¹

Then came a realization that our current cohort of elementary students could be among the first to have self-driving cars by the time they get their driver’s licences. Will this be a good thing or will a Neo-Luddite backlash prevent this particular advancement in technology from coming? What about education? Could classrooms become more autonomous too?

Why hasn’t all of this happened sooner when it could be better and safer for everyone? Are there Edu-Luddites at work trying to preserve exhausted and traditional systems? As education ploughs into this century, will it keep pace with a modern world that is changing at the speed of learning? Will broke down dogmas of teach, test, report, and repeat finally be traded-in, repaired, or left on the side of the road? Is this why NASCAR is so popular?

Getting somewhere

Speaking of NASCAR, I wondered whether everyone travelling at the same rate was a good idea. Did you know there is something called a restrictor-plate? Isn’t that what’s happening in our classrooms already? Students race through their learning based on birth years, circling the track over and over until all of their age appropriate laps are completed, and then they’re towed or driven off at the end of Grade 12.

But what if they need to stop along the way? Are there pit-stops/provisions in place to support students who do not fit the factory learning model or who prefer a different pace? I get that special and alternative education options are already available, but what if more students need them and they are not available? Think of a racer who needs tires and gas at a pit-stop, but only being able to choose one. It’s only a matter of time before frustration and failure become the outcomes.

In my next post I want to continue driving home this theme, but will shift gears to consider where we and our students are heading. Please read my companion piece The destination to continue the journey.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share and take time to comment.

1. Did you know that Tesla’s autonomous vehicles are logging over a million miles of data per day?

December 28, 2017 Michelle Fenn Challenging Topics, Classroom Management, Constant Learning, Equity, General, Inspiring Teachers, Mindfulness, Occasional Teachers, Occasional Teaching, Planning, Professional Judgement, self reflection, solidarity, Wellness

Occasional Teachers; Unsung Heroes

Unfortunately, I have had many health challenges this year that have necessitated having to take a significant amount of time off of work to recuperate. These absences have provided me time to reflect on my practice as a classroom teacher and about how important occasional teachers are in our practice. I had the pleasure of working in our local ETFO office as a released officer for 3 years alongside the incredible Marsha Jones, Occasional Teacher President extraordinaire. She taught me a lot about Occasional Teachers, the obstacles they face and the little things that I could do to make their days go easier. I thought I would share a few of my insights.

Occasional Teachers that come to our school like to return because of the friendly atmosphere. In the staff room, they are included in our “tea days”, people engage them in conversation and always ask how they can be of help. It sounds like a simple thing, but many of the Occasional Teachers that come to our school comment on our friendly staff. So the next time you see an Occasional Teacher in your school, smile and say hello and ask them how their day is going.

Do NOT ask an Occasional Teacher “who” they are for the day. What an insult! You can ask who they are in for, who they are helping out, who they are rescuing or replacing, but they are themselves each and every day they come to work. We should appreciate the fact that we have access to qualified teachers to replace us for the day so that we can take sick days when we need them or go to conferences for professional learning.

Speaking of insults, please try not to call Occasional Teachers “substitute” or “supply” teachers. We rely on these colleagues. “Occasional Teacher” is their job title. Be respectful of it; we rely on them.

Remember to have a few days of “emergency” plans in advance of your absence. It takes the edge of having to type up plans in between trips to the washroom when you have the flu. Leave them in a place that is easy for the Occasional Teacher to find. This makes your life easier too.

If you generally have an active classroom that engages in centres, activities etc., then TRUST your Occasional Teacher and leave plans that include those lessons. Chances are your students know how this stuff runs and will let the Teacher know. It may mean giving up a bit of control; deal with it. If you leave all day seat work that you’ve photocopied or a movie that isn’t connected to anything that they are doing in the classroom, it will not be enjoyable for the students and likely your Occasional Teacher will have more behaviour issues. Consequently, you will not get the quality of work that you normally see from your students. Don’t have huge expectations. No matter how wonderful the Occasional Teacher may be, they are not you and the students know that. We also need to remember to trust the judgment of an Occasional Teacher. I’ve heard it and I’ve said it; “The ‘supply’ didn’t follow my day plan. I worked for hours on that detailed plan.” We don’t know what kind of a day that teacher had with our students. They may have experienced a lockdown, fire drill, class evacuation, pizza money, scholastic money, a student injury or even a skating field trip. (My sincere thanks to Occasional Teacher Rachel Johnston on that one!) We need to remember that they are qualified teachers and they have the right to exercise their professional judgment in order to keep the class calm and engaged. Let them do their job and thank them for it.

I write my day plans on my computer for myself each week. This makes writing a day plan for the Occasional Teacher much easier. I have all of my emergency information, how to deal with specific students, who to count on and the general rules and routines in a separate document to attach to daily plans. I always attach a class list. Try to keep your plans as close to the regular routine as possible. If I am going to be away for a meeting I will try to find out who will be replacing me for the day and I email them the plans in advance and ask if they have any questions. I include my cell phone number in case they can’t find a password or an item and few of them ever use it but if they do then I know that they care about my students and the plans that I have left for them.

Finally, show your gratitude. Some Occasional Teachers drive an hour to get to our school and in bad weather. Some are called at the very last minute, through traffic, to an unfamiliar school using GPS. Their mornings are often stressful before they even arrive on site. So when an Occasional Teacher has done a great job and your classroom is still standing when you go in the next day, write a quick email and say thank you. Occasional Teaching is often a thankless job but we can’t be sick without these wonderful people.

December 22, 2017December 22, 2017 Tammy Axt General

Dealing with a particularly challenging parent

There are so many steps that you can take to develop strong relationships with parents, such as staying in regular contact, contacting them at the first sign of trouble or inviting them to be a part of their child’s learning. For most parents, developing a trusting relationship with their child’s teacher can be achieved when they feel informed and are part of the decisions made about their child’s progress.

However, since we work with the public, we also teach the children of some parents who are impaired in their ability to work with others due to a variety of reasons. These reasons may include mental health concerns, addiction or emotional or physical abuse. Over the past ten years, I have interacted with parents who have been physically aggressive in parent teacher interviews, disparaging to their child in public settings and have been so intoxicated that we had to call the authorities to ensure that the child had a safe way to get to their home. These parents make up such a small part of the large group of amazing parents that I have worked with over the past ten years. These parents are also the ones that have caused me the most stress and challenges when trying to establish a positive relationship.

I feel like I have learned some things from my mistakes in the beginning of my teaching career when dealing with volatile parents.

Be transparent and document, document, document everything. At the first sign of trouble, start documenting all interactions in a parent log, in detail. If a volatile parent makes outlandish accusations or complaints, the easiest way to defuse the situation is to have proof to the contrary. E-mail or speak to your admin about the parent as soon as you suspect trouble, so that they are aware of a potential need for assistance.

You are not there to be abused. I tried desperately to deal with everything by myself earlier in my career. I wanted to show my principal that I could handle the tough situations. However, in the process, profanities were being shouted at me regularly and I was becoming quite fearful of going to work. No one should ever feel afraid to go to work. Do not try to deal with this alone.

Depersonalize. This is the hardest rule to follow for most teachers because teaching is so very personal. We spend countless hours worried about the well being of our students and planning the perfect modifications to ensure our students’ success, so looking at the situation analytically is tough. However, I can logically realize that I am not the reason that an adult has a substance abuse problem and I am not the reason that they have mental health challenges. I have not abused this person, fired them, divorced them, evicted them or stolen their money. All of these things can lead to a general aggression that sometimes is misguided and is wrongly directed at teachers. All of these things also have nothing to do with me.

Stay calm. When someone is yelling at you, it is very hard to stay calm, however, it is very important. You have an obligation to follow the professional standards outlined by the OCT. Also, if your student is there, it is imperative that they have an example of an adult interacting with respect and integrity. They only get this example if you stay calm, professional and respectful. Calmly call for assistance if there is a parent acting in a way that is volatile. Allow the administration to intervene and remove the parent.

If your administration is unsupportive, call your local union office. They will be able to help you in dealing with unsupportive principals and give you guidance about how to proceed.

Finally, try to have compassion. Again, this is very hard when you are fearful or getting little support from administration. However, everyone can agree that living with mental health issues is very difficult. At the end of the day, though, the person who needs the most compassion is your student. This stressful, volatile and aggressive adult is who your student goes home to every day.

December 22, 2017December 22, 2017 Tammy Axt Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, General

Modifying music for a student with special needs

I have been working with the amazing ERF Ms. B to develop a program for one of my students with autism who is in my mainstream grade four classroom. This student has so many talents and I feel that the program that we have developed for him is allowing him to show his talents to us and his peers. He is very limited verbally, so we have focused on playing the xylophone and recorder and using technology, which he is excelling at. The predictability of the routine has also supported him in his success.

The period is broken down into four parts for him.

Part One- Warm up

All of the students in grade four have been working on playing the recorder in November and December. At the beginning of every period, we sit together and do some simple warm ups with the notes B, A, G, E and D. My student with autism joins us for the warm up and, with assistance from Ms. B, plays at the same time as the rest of the class but not necessarily the same notes. This warm up is usually just a few minutes long.

Part Two- Independent Work/Peer Assessment/Creation Time

All of the students in the class are working on a variety of songs at their own level. At this point in the class, I am giving individual students feedback, pulling small groups for guided instruction and assessing the students’ ability to read and play a variety of pieces of music. Ms. B works with my student to play the same songs as the rest of the students. His music just looks a little different.

Each colour represents a bar on a xylophone and the black bars are for rests and extended notes. The little notes are for eighth notes so that he plays them more quickly. You can see below him working with Ms. B.

In addition to playing for Ms. B, we have also recently done peer listening assessments in my class. The students were required to play for five other students so that they could listen to feedback from others. You can see how I have modified the assignment from the recorder to the xylophone for this student.

Recorder

Xylophone

During this time, students are also required to write some of their own music. I have simply written out some blank squares and had this student colour in some choices and play it for me.

Part three- Rhythm Games

On my iPad, I have loaded some rhythm games for my student to play. The game below is Rhythm Cat, which many of my students really enjoy playing. Ms. B uses a timer so that there is a visual cue for the time allowed on the iPad. The rest of the class does some sharing during this time.

Part Four-Tidy up and celebration

This year I have made a celebration wall to acknowledge the achievements of my students. My students have signed the coloured paper that coordinates with the song they have successfully played. By playing the xylophone with colour coded bars, my amazing student has passed the first three songs and is working on the fourth, which is right on par with his classmates. He has signed his name happily and his classmates have cheered him on every step of the way!

December 14, 2017 Kelly.McLaughlin General

Music project

Hello all,

I thought I would share about the music project my students have been working on lately. They were asked to remix a holiday song in preparation for the holiday assembly. This post is mostly to share how incredible children are 🙂

My students had no boundaries for this project and here are some of the directions my students have taken this project:

creating their own song on garageband with holiday rap lyrics
using a music writing software called musescore to write a combination of four songs creating a holiday spin on all of them
creating their own beat on garageband and playing a pre-existing song to an incredible sped up tempo
using boomwhackers and bells to recreate holiday songs
using the drum kit to create a beat to little drummer boy while having a singer on top of that beat

It’s incredible to see how children can take something as simple as “remix and song” and find many ways to incorporate their own ideas and talents. I think that you can do this with any project and asking students to try to go above and beyond often inspires them to do more. This was a question my principal spoke to me about, asking students to self reflect on what inspires them to go above and beyond? Also, why do they select that option when given it rather than just always trying to go above and beyond. I invite others to try out this music task for any project really but keeping the expectation simple often invites students to go crazy with it! Obviously my rubric was detailed but the expectations were clear and had lots of room for imagination. I hope to post some of the final projects on this blog!

Happy Holidays everyone!

December 1, 2017December 1, 2017 Michelle Fenn Challenging Topics, Classroom Management, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Diverse Learning Needs, General, Mindfulness, Professional Judgement, Resilience, self reflection

The Conundrum of Parent Communication

4 years ago I discovered the app Seesaw which is a digital portfolio for students but way more. Recently it also added a direct parent communication piece which I absolutely love and I can also post announcements all at once to parents or just to a few by the click of a button. The best thing about the app for me is that the students can upload their own work and comment on it and I can provide feedback. I approve everything before it goes on the site. Parents LOVE it. For me, it does everything that I need a communication app to do. So what’s the issue?

3 years ago our school board got a contract with Edsby. I understand that as a school board it is accessible in many ways for all teachers. There is system information that is on the site that can be accessed from anywhere. There is a platform for staff room chat and places to post things on calendar etc., However I do not find that it is friendly for teachers nor students to use. The mobile app is glitchy and I get frustrated at the stream of conversations that don’t seem to match up. I have been told by our administration that we have to use it to communicate with parents. All but two of my parents have signed up for Seesaw (internet access issues) and only a quarter have signed up for Edsby. I don’t know why exactly, but I can only assume that they don’t find it as friendly to use. I do paper copies for major announcements to ensure that everyone gets those in one way or another. I use Edsby to comply to my school board’s request and I’m doubling my work in the meantime.

When I first began teaching it was a big deal to have a “monthly” newsletter and calendar of events go home to parents. Principals wanted to see copies and approve them before they went home. Now we are in constant communication with parents and we are being told exactly what platform we are supposed to be using in order to do it. There is a huge workload issue in parent communication and it creeps up on us daily. With an increase in high needs students that deal with behavioural or mental health issues teachers are expected to communicate on a daily basis in a communication book with their families. While I understand the need for documentation for myself and for the parents, the expectation is overwhelming. I am fortunate this year that I have my preparation time at the end of the day and I can take the time to communicate with parents. However, I don’t get to use my prep time for lesson preparation. I don’t know what the answer is here. I’m going to continue to use my professional judgement about how I communicate with parents however, hopefully this post will begin a discussion about communication overload. I’m open for suggestions on how others are able to manage!

December 1, 2017 Michelle Fenn Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Challenging Topics, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Equity, General, Inspiring Students, Integration, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Making a Difference Through Education, Mentorship, Social Justice, Students as Teachers

Kindness and Gratitude

My hope in asking for a junior division assignment was that the students would be more independent however, I also knew that in exchange, I would be likely dealing with the issues of the tumultuous “tween” years. My expectations for this group were particularly high because I had taught nearly half of them for two years in grades 1 and 2 and I felt as though I knew them pretty well. Unfortunately, we have been having social issues in our classroom and the students are having difficulty treating each other with kindness. I wasn’t prepared to have to “teach” kindness and gratitude at this age. After 20 years in the primary grades, I suppose I assumed they would already know how to be kind. Let me be clear. They are not horrible kids and having raised two kids through the “tweenage” years I know the behaviour is driven by hormones etc., Kindness becomes more complicated in the junior grades as the social constructs change and being popular and fitting in becomes that much more important. What I’m trying to get across to the students is that kindness is actually more powerful than being mean but they aren’t yet all buying into it…yet. I’m not giving up.

We started by reading the book “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio together as a class. After every few pages there was so much to unpack in discussion with the students about empathy, “precepts” for living and loyalty in friendship. In discussions, the students were easily able to empathize the injustices suffered by Auggie and were angered by the actions of the antagonist, Julian. We also went to see the movie in order to compare the stories and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were thoughtful in their assessment of the themes and the major differences. In reality, however, they were having a hard time putting all of this knowledge into practice with one another.

I needed to dig a little deeper and do some research and I happened upon a great website connected to the book; #choosekind is a campaign attached to Palacio’s book and it started us on a journey of kindness. We’ve also been using lesson plans from the Random Acts of Kindness website and have begun daily gratitude journals. We started restorative circles using our talking stick using Restorative Circle prompts. We have created our rules and agreement for our circle. It has been a slow start because we are starting with topics that are allowing students to relate to one another and are not value or character based sensitive topics yet as we work to build trust in the circle. Our first couple of prompts were, “What are 3 things that you cannot live without?” and “Who is your hero?” Not everyone is able to come up with something right away and sometimes we have to circle back, but it is a beginning.

We also wanted to do something as a class that was more global and would make an impact on people whom we didn’t even know. In Peterborough, we have a store called Under One Sun. They are part of a larger organization that supplies crafts from artisans in Haiti, “Restoring Dignity Through Artistry”. We decided to participate in a Christmas ornament fundraiser which helps to create jobs and sustain families in Haiti. Some of the money goes to the artisans for healthcare, childcare, education and materials and some of the money comes back to the school. Our class of 22 students alone sold more than $1000.00 worth of ornaments. This fundraiser makes a difference in our community and for families living in Haiti and broadens our student’s awareness of global issues of poverty. In addition, we are going to learn how to make paper bead jewelry ourselves as gifts for our own families.

As we move into the holiday season, December is a great month to think about giving, gratitude and kindness. We are going to be working with the Senior Centre down the street, hanging our art work, singing songs to entertain and presenting a dramatic re-telling of “A Promise is a Promise” written by Robert Munsch. We have created a kindness calendar which includes random acts of kindness for each day that do not cost money. Hopefully, day by day, discussion by discussion the students will come to realize the power of kindness.

November 30, 2017December 1, 2017 Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Modern Learning

Learning to swim

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eviltomthai/5129962638 CC By 2.0

I remember laughing when our teacher taught us that fish swim in schools. You know how kindergarten students think, right? Naturally, I wondered which classroom at my school held the aquarium? Would dolphins be there too? Then came the cruelest lesson of all; dolphins are not fish. Why was I even there?

All these years later, I understand that we were the fish in that educational ocean. We were taught to swim in a school at school zigging back and forth as if in a constantly choreographed current. Sit here, read this, write this, stand here, go there, eat, play, run, think, solve this, and repeat.

We were learning to swim in our little school to survive life. Zagging in and out of the doors and halls from class to class like small fish between coral reefs and vegetation.

We swam for all of our might and soon discovered 2 things; the current kept getting stronger, and that danger was always lurking in the water. Without learning to swim, we were at risk of being singled out, devoured, or even worse, drowning. Yup, fish can drown…kinda.

The reality that fish can drown(suffocate) makes me think that even when students seem like they are swimming along fine, they could still be at risk. How we teach our learners to swim and navigate the waters comes with equal parts skill, frustration, and grace too (thanks to the Tragically Hip). So are we teaching our students to swim for their lives, or are we over fishing them to death with rote lessons, busy work, and too many assessments?

When Giovanni Caboto, aka John Cabot, and his crew discovered the rich stocks of cod fish off of the Grand Banks he told the King of England that there would be enough fish to feed the kingdom until the end of time.

Little did he know that within a 500 hundred years, the Grand Banks would become over fished and the cod population was nearly decimated. The lessons learned over the past two hundred years in education are caught in a similar net.

Our students are over tested. The system has cast the same catch-all nets for too long. They feel too much stress, and they see the world of their future as a total mess. The oceans they’re inheriting are clogged with the debris left behind by their predecessors. Remember, these are the same people who gave us standardized testing, drill and kill Math, regurgitated learning, and grammar police state nightmares in both official languages.

Ironically now, there is also a figurative and literal garbage patch to clean up thanks to current education systems and its ancestors. What was once a thriving home full of opportunities and diversity is now a murky, polluted, and estranged place. Insert image of bleached coral here.

What I fear the most is that our students’ reasons for learning are disappearing like the cod on the Grand Banks. Without an intervention, the desire to learn that is coded into our youth faces extinction too. Can we revive this generation of learners by teaching them to swim, by cleaning their waters, and providing the safe habitat for them to thrive?

November 30, 2017November 30, 2017 Arianna Lambert Constant Learning, Equity, General, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Professional Learning and Growth

The Workshop Presenter’s Palette

In my last post, I blogged about attending and presenting at workshops. And well…perhaps I should have waited a few weeks before sharing about that topic. Hindsight is always 20-20 and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with you on this topic once again.

That being said, I must admit that I am coming off of a high that I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing enough of as of late. This past Monday and Tuesday, I had the privilege of participating in ETFO’s The Workshop Presenter’s Palette. I walked in not knowing quite what to expect but prepared to work on something and in all honesty, quickly realized that I was really working on myself. I’ve said it before, I love sharing the work that I get to do with amazing students and this session was really for me to be able to improve on something that I already enjoy doing.

Screenshot 2017-11-30 at 7.10.16 PM Much thanks to the “Terrific ETFO Trio” – Ruth Dawson, Joanne Myers, and Jane Bennett. Not only was it inspiring to watch these 3 women share strategies – with intentionality – but I also felt as though they gave to us on every level. From remembering our names to making sure there were yummy treats, they hosted us so well and reminded me of the importance of making my audience feel as though they matter every time that I present. I walked away wishing that I had more time to sit down and learn from them. Thank you!

Now you’re probably wondering what was so magical. Well, here are a few tips that I picked up over the 2 days. Now I can’t go giving away all of their amazing secrets, you’ll have to stay tuned and try to get in on the fun next year.

The Environment Makes A Huge Difference

We were in a large room with great acoustics so it was clear to hear the presenters. Everything was already set up for us and it was inviting because it made me feel as though they were welcoming me not just a group of people. If you know who your audience is and have time to prepare for them in advance, do it! Make it obvious that you have thought of them in planning your session.

Not sure who will be joining your session? Not to worry. Play some music. I learned that the number of beats matters. Aim for 120 beats per minute. It’s uplifting and raises the energy in the room. Consider playing a game to get started. We started with a Meet Three activity where we were asked to meet 3 new people and were given prompts for each new person we met. Each prompt was timed and eased participants from a place that was familiar to them – what they plan on doing over the holiday – to the deeper purpose of the workshop – what made a workshop memorable.

When I say that there was intentionality behind every part of the workshop, there really was. Down to the variety of tools to get the attention of participants such as clappers and other noise makers. I felt heard, never screamed over but gently brought back to the larger conversation. Small things that made a huge difference in the learning space.

Help A Friend!

Ever been in a session where people were offering feedback on something you were creating? Have you ever gotten the feeling of being overwhelmed by capturing all of the amazing feedback? Well, I think I was just given the solution. We were asked to get into Mentor Groups where we shared our workshop ideas and were given the opportunity to get feedback and answers to some of the questions we may still have about our work. Rather than frantically trying to write down the wealth of information shared, the person to the right of the presenter took notes while the presenter was able to actually engage in active listening. Sound simple? It really is and believe it or not, I never thought of it. I think this is a strategy that I will take back to the classroom and use with students in peer feedback sessions.

Equity

Language matters and the idea of intention vs. impact was made so clear to me. No matter my intentions, the impact of my words is what participants and those around me actually feel. Adam Peer was our presenter for this portion of the day and he addressed the importance of being conscious of the images that are shown in our sessions. Do they show the diversity that exists in terms of abilities, skin colour, religion, age, family, and genders? Still saying girls and boys or ladies and gentlemen? Consider using children, everyone or using the person’s name instead.

I feel as though I’ve just touched the surface of all that was incredible about this 2-day session but at the same time given away a few tips that you may chose to take back to your classrooms or even workshops. I’m refreshed and excited to implement my learning into my sessions and classroom. Remember to stay tuned to ETFO’s Upcoming Events to sign up for amazing PD that is sure to change your life.

November 29, 2017 Tammy Axt General, Technology in school

Learning something new! Uses for Google Classroom in the music room

I am not a very technologically-oriented person by nature. To give you an idea, my partner had to talk me into getting a cell phone a couple of years ago as I couldn’t imagine life without my land line. However, this year, a couple of teachers from another school presented the idea of using Google Classroom to enhance their music program. I really wanted to try it out, so I assembled a group of five students who helped me get Google Classroom going in my music room. The whole process was so invigorating and exciting. I found myself excited to come in every morning and see what videos the students had sent me the night before. It really pumped me up throughout this past month.

To start using Google Classroom from a planning time teacher’s perspective is very easy if your board is connected to Google programs. I created a class for each one of the classrooms that I teach by going to the plus sign at the top of the page.

Next, I clicked on each class and began to add students.

To add students to the classroom, simply go to the student section and either invite them by typing in their names or by giving them the class code to join.

Once all of your classes are set up, add assignments to the classroom by clicking on the small plus sign in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

I am using Google Classroom in my program for two purposes right now. It is being used to allow students to take videos of their learning at home, and for students to be able to access the music that we are using in extracurricular activities.

For the first purpose, students take videos at home and upload the video to their Google Drive. They then click on the assignment that I have created and upload the file. Finally, they hit submit to send their video to me. I open up the video and I can listen to the student playing their music.

It has been a great tool for my students who are still working towards playing in front of other people. It also has been fantastic for students to receive feedback between classes.

For my choir and recorder clubs, it has been a tool for them to access the music that we are singing at home.

I find the program very user-friendly and I appreciate the tracking of student progress. It is a little electronic portfolio for each and every student I teach.