Teachers gear up for switch to Google

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 9/1/15

With just one day left of summer vacation, Warwick’s public school students can expect to use more technology this year with the district’s switch to Google and the expanded use of chromebooks. …

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Teachers gear up for switch to Google

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With just one day left of summer vacation, Warwick’s public school students can expect to use more technology this year with the district’s switch to Google and the expanded use of chromebooks. To help not only the students, but also themselves through this technological transition, all of the teachers in the Warwick School Department attended a mandated professional development day this Monday.

Previously, Warwick was using First Class as their emailing system, but in switching to Google, teachers will have a plethora of new organizational and planning tools at their disposal in addition to email.

Many teachers and several schools have already been acquainted with Google, using it in their individual classrooms, but there are still those who are completely new to the system.

Due to the wide range of capabilities throughout the district, Dr. Anne Siesel, assistant director of curriculum, said each school hosted their own professional development programs to fit the needs of that school.

Topics included the basics for beginners, how to develop websites through Google and how to use Google Classroom, which allows teachers to create and organize assignments for students. The three one-hour training sessions at each school let teachers choose which topics they wanted or needed to become more proficient in using Google.

“Because each school is at a different point, we knew a one size fits all training wouldn’t work,” she said. “Instead, schools came up with their own topics to cater to their teachers and base their discussions on the level of the school.”

The professional development was all done within the district with teachers who had worked with Google before acting as the trainers for the rest in their own schools.

“We had teachers who all stepped up to the plate last year and took the initiative to get training in this,” Siesel said.

She said that those teachers have already begun pushing blended learning and Google initiatives in their own classrooms and will now help to do so school-wide by helping others become more adept at using the Google system.

One of those teachers is Dawn Manchester, who teaches 6th grade at Lippitt Elementary. On Monday she hosted a class on accessing and using digital formative assessment tools.

She said, “I think teachers are more receptive to their fellow teachers on days like today, rather than someone from an outside agency.”

Manchester said people have to realize there will be “glitches” and if the district really wants this switch to be successful, they are going to have to provide support either in the form of more professional development or the availability for technology integration consultants.

Siesel said, “We know there is a learning curve, not just for each individual teacher and school, but for the whole district. Those ahead of the curve are going to be essential in moving the schools forward as much as they can.”

“If they are going to put all their eggs in the Google basket, the administration is going to have to support their teachers on their level,” Manchester said.

As teachers are becoming more familiar with the system, they are sharing their knowledge and really helping to push the district forward, according to Siesel.

Because many of the teachers at Lippitt had introduced some forms of blended learning and Google systems into their classrooms, there was a lot of collaboration between teachers on Monday.

Jennifer Soscia, a 5th grade teacher, said she did a little blended learning last year and has been working all summer long on new ways to bring more into her classroom.

Despite having been familiar with Google and blended learning, she was excited to attend the professional development.

“This has been a way for me and other teachers to take things up a notch. It’s been a way to practice and improve before the first day of school,” Soscia said. “I can share what I know with my colleagues; it’s a way to share and collaborate in a brand new way.”

She said that the Google training taught by her fellow teachers was the most helpful professional development she has attended.

“I think teachers are feeling supported and empowered by this switch,” Siesel said.

Despite the degree of familiarity a teacher may or may not have, by the end of the day everyone was expected to be able to log into his or her Google account and navigate Google Drive and Gmail.

In addition to switching to Google, the Warwick School Department is also moving forward with the secondary school math adaptation, in which both students and teachers will be using chromebooks to access free online textbooks that coincide with Common Core standards. Math teachers attended their own professional development on Monday outside of their schools to understand how they will have to adapt their curriculums and how to integrate the technology into their classrooms.

Because the district is not one-to-one with chromebooks, it cannot fully implement blended learning throughout every school like they are trying to do in their secondary math courses.

Siesel said that by switching to Google and having their teachers become used to the system now, when blended learning is implemented district-wide the transition will be “smoother.”

“Teachers need to feel comfortable first before putting technology in the hands of students,” she said.

“For students, this is going to be a fantastic move forward,” Manchester said.

Despite the leap forward for students, there is some concern among a small portion of teachers.

As much of a supporter as Manchester is for this switch and blended learning initiatives, she wonders if the professional development benefited all teachers.

Lippitt’s topics of discussion were for some more advanced programs and she wonders if the district should have had a “triage class” available for those who needed to learn the basics while still providing new material for those who had worked with Google before.

Although she hadn’t experienced it herself, Manchester said she had heard some teachers weren’t overly participatory in the professional development day and weren’t happy to be attending mandatory training so close to when the teachers’ contract would be up.

“This sort of progression has been happening in pockets around the district,” Manchester said. “Those who aren’t completely on board just haven’t seen all the benefits yet.”

Comments

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  • MadInWarwick

    About time, can we cut the $1M in Microsoft charges now?

    Thursday, September 3, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Sorry, no can do. The Schools signed a long term contract with Microsoft and it will be years before that expense is gone. Kind of like the severance packages given to unworthy superintendents and administrators.

    Thursday, September 3, 2015 Report this