Convocation of Learning

New school years bring many emotions; anxiousness, excitement, apprehension and/or renewal. Regardless of your mix of feelings, parents are sending the best students they have and we need to be ready to meet them where they are and to grow them. In this newsletter, there are some tips, tricks, and tools to help you be ready to help all students!

I absolutely love to talk about anything education during the leadup to the 2018/19 school year. I can help rework or refine anything you've always wanted to try! Just CLICK HERE and let me know when and where you'd like to work! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Google Classroom is still awesome but has had a few updates. Please use the graphic above from Alice Keeler and the text below to play with the old and new features!

20 Steps to Get Started with the New Google Classroom

1. Create a new class.
   
2. Click on the Classwork tab.
   
3. Click on the Create button.
   
4. Create a topic called “Today.”
   
5. Click on the Create button and create a topic called “About/Resources.”
   
6. Click on the Create button and create a topic called “Unit 1”
   
7. Click on Create and create an assignment for your syllabus. Set it to be ungraded. Add your syllabus and assign.
   
8. Click on Create and create a question. Ask a question to get to know your students. Set the topic to “Today.”
   
9. Add any additional resources to the About/.Resources topic and activities to the Today topic.
   
10. Click on the Stream tab.
    
11. In the header is the option to change the theme or upload a picture. Try this template to add an image that points to Classwork.
    
12. Click on the settings cog at the top.
    
13. Click on the pencil to set a description for the class.
    
14. Locate the class code and click the tiny triangle next to it to display the code.
    
15. Ask students to go to classroom.google.com and click the plus icon in the upper right to enter the join code you are displaying.
    
16. Direct students to the Classwork tab to answer the question in the Today topic.
    
17. Ask students to review resources you’ve uploaded and to mark them as done.
    
18. Point out that when marked as done, the icon on the assignment stripe is grey.
    
19. Ask students to click on “View Your Work” at the top of Classwork to see the status of their assignments.
    
20. Click on the 3 dots on the assignments listed under the Today topic and choose edit. Change the topic from Today to Unit 1.
    

Collaborative learning teams are said to attain higher level thinking and preserve information for longer times than students working individually. Why is this so?

Groups tend to learn through “discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of other’s ideas.” Perhaps information that is discussed is retained in long-term memory. Research by Webb suggests that students who worked collaboratively on math computational problems earned significantly higher scores than those who worked alone. Plus, students who demonstrated lower levels of achievement improved when working in diverse groups.

CLICK HERE to find out more about building a collaborative learning structure in your classroom.

HS students or teachers need help with your Chromebook?

MS/EL students or teachers want help or an extra hand with tech?

USE THIS WEBSITE to check out tips and tricks or fill out our tech request form to get HS students to help you quickly! Customer service and helping everyone learn are our goals!

You can always find our site and form on the Maintenance and Tech Page on our Schoolcraft website.

Documentation of utilizing this newsletter or any of our coaching conversations can be evidence of Domain 4 "Professional Responsibilities" A, D, and E on your Danielson evaluation rubric!

Matt McCullough - Director of Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Email: mcculloughm@schoolcraftcs.org
Website: http://www.schoolcraftschools.org/
Location: 551 East Lyons Street, Schoolcraft, MI 49087, United States
Phone: 269-488-7250
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolcraftEagles1/
Twitter: @SCSEagles1