Google Productivity Tips and Tricks for Educators and Otherwise

A few months ago I led a session on Increasing Personal Productivity at The Google for Education Southern Summit hosted by the Lovett School. I incorporated several principles from David Allen’s book called Getting Things Done1 and correlated his principles into the use of Gmail and Google Calendar. The idea was to help teachers and administrators increase their productivity using these free tools. In a world where we are bombarded by information, continually connected, faced with increasing demands and expectations, it is extremely difficult to accomplish the “stuff” on our plate each day. It is no wonder that a growing percentage of our students and adults suffer from anxiety due to the chaotic and hectic environments in which we are all immersed.
My friends and family will tell you that I frequently take on more than I should and I suppose that is a character flaw but, in my defense, I do enjoy my busy life. Admittedly, sometimes the stress that often accompanies my “bring it on” decisions is not very pleasant. I know that I am not alone. I think many of us have more to do in a day that can reasonably be accomplished. In an effort to get a better handle on the things on my plate, I picked up this book to help me prioritize and put some structure around my responsibilities. 
My favorite suggestion was the idea that we should only handle things one time. Allen says that as mail (or in my case email) arrives we should Delete It, Do it, Delegate it or Defer it. I decided to apply his suggestion to the (literally) thousands of emails in my in-box. So how does it work? When an email arrives, you can either Delete it, Do it if it takes less than two minutes, Delegate it if possible or Defer it to a later time. The items that I defer typically go to my calendar or a “To Do” folder that I have set up in my Gmail. This process actually works and it does truly help with my productivity. Some of the other things within Google that I recommend include the following: 
Use Labels, Folders and the Archive Button I love to use the Archive button to rid your Inbox of the plethora of email that many of us seem to accumulate. You can still search for your email and it is still under “All Mail.” I also started setting up labels and folders in my Gmail. As email arrives you can set up a label so that all email from a particular person or topic can be tagged with color coded (optional but cool) labels. When you create a label, Gmail automatically sets up a folder. When you Archive an email it can be quickly accessed from the folder as well. I assigned a red label to my boss so that when I get an email from him, I notice it right away. Using Labels and Folders is a great way to get control of your email.
Enable Labs to Increase Productivity In Gmail or Google Calendar, there is a gear looking button on the right of the screen. Click on that gear and then click on “Settings” to access the Labs tab. Labs may not be around forever but I have used several for a few years. You must enable Labs for them to become activated. A few of my favorite Gmail labs include Undo Send, Calendar Gadget and Canned Responses. In Google Calendar, some of my favorite labs include Year View, Jump to Date, Gentle Notifications and World Clock (this is nice if you work with people in different time-zones). 
Configure the Extra’s Under Settings I have set up Gmail Offline access by downloading the Gmail app. This allows me to respond to email when I do not have Internet access and then emails are sent when I am connected. Entering your location will enable you to see a weather icon on your calendar. You can set up several time-savers such as syncing your mobile phone, setting up and sharing a family calendar or even importing your favorite sports team or holiday calendar into your personal calendar. Managing your calendar will help free you to spend time on the things that are truly important to you, rather than having needless demands on your time dictate your life. 1Allen, David. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity. New York: Viking, 2001. Print. First published in Southern Distinction Magazine vol. 3.2

Changing It Up!

Although my initial degree was a B.S. in Chemistry, my first teaching job was an interim position in the area of mathematics. It was March and I was filling in at Burns High School in North Carolina for a teacher who was unable to complete the year.  I remember working long hours to prepare to teach Calculus, Geometry, Algebra II and General Math each day. I barely kept my head above water.  It was that first year, however, that I received feedback from one of the many required, formal classroom observations that would forever change the way I prepare to teach. 

Mr. Dalrymple slid into the back of the classroom as I started teaching a lesson on subtracting sums of money using decimals to the large group of students in my General Math class. I used the typical Madeline Hunter lesson plan format that I had been taught and modeled solving example problems.  Unfortunately, as I moved to the guided practice portion of the lesson I found that several of my students were not successful in solving the assigned problem.   So, I decided to complete an additional example problem from my teacher text book on the blackboard.  (Yes…my classroom resources in those days were chalk and erasers rather than keyboards and projectors.)  To my dismay, however, those same students were still unable to solve the problem successfully.

As Mr. Dalrymple left my class he said, “Connie, I appreciate your passion and I can clearly see that you care about your students and that they respect you but what makes you think that if you work the same type of problem the same way you will get a different result?” I thought about those words and repeated them over and over to myself as he walked away.  Actually, I thought about his words for several hours.   How could I teach my students how to solve problems in a different way so that they could truly understand? I decided to enlist my husband to video me at the grocery store buying chicken. I presented the pack of chicken to the cashier, she told me the amount, I gave her a $20 dollar bill and she gave me my change.  My husband videoed me as I smilingly counted the change for the camera.

I arrived early the next day to push a TV monitor into my classroom (I had to check it out from the media center) to show the 5 minute video of me buying a chicken at the grocery store to my students. I remember the giggles and snickers as they watched me smiling and counting.  Giggles and snickers turned in to achievement and mastery.  Perhaps it was the practical application, or the video media, or just the fact that I did not give up on them and demonstrated my belief in their ability to learn the material that made the difference.    Something did.  I’ve never forgotten it.

The idea that we must meet our students where they are and work on developing our kit of strategies, techniques and tools to reach them is critical. I started trying to think of different ways to engage and connect with my students which often meant using real world applications to which they could relate. My desire to find the best ways to reach students has led to technology integration, blended learning, project based learning, inquiry learning, brain-based learning and many other strategies and tools to improve overall lesson design and effectiveness. There is nothing more satisfying than when students finally “get it” and can confidently demonstrate understanding. Continually working on our craft is necessary for teaching effectiveness and student achievement.  That’s our job.  More than that, however, communicating to our students we truly care and believe that they can achieve is…well…potentially life changing.  Do the extra work.  Go the extra mile.  Change it up! 

Learning Centers…a.k.a The Station Approach

Educators are constantly working to create a positive atmosphere of learning that engages students and motivates them to want to learn. While attending a conference a few weeks ago I was reminded of an instructional methodology called “The Station Approach.” This approach has similarities to “centers” used frequently by elementary school teachers. I often used the station approach during my years as a high school chemistry/physics teacher. I first learned about this approach during a summer course at North Carolina State University about 18 years ago, so it has been around for quite some time. As a new teacher, I remember being surprised that my students actually performed much better on many topics on the state end-of-course test that did not involve lecturing on my part, but rather a self-discovery, exploratory teaching model that included stations. So how does it work?

In the station approach, students physically move or rotate to various areas in the classroom to actively participate in the instructional undertakings at each station. I always posted a rotation plan so that groups of students would know where to start, their role in the activity and how to progress. The average time per station varied but it was typically between 15 and 20 minutes    which worked well with the attention span of students. Sometimes I designed a couple of stations that were very similar when students needed further explanation of content or practice with skills. I would change the method of delivery to address different learning preferences. For example, a short video or screencast could be used in one station and an interactive simulation could be used in another to explain a similar content topic.

Students were also assigned a role for each station activity such as the experimenter, the scribe, the observer and the reader/leader.  Students would rotate roles allowing each to have opportunities to lead, communicate, execute and experiment. I found a maximum of four students in a group to be most effective in optimizing the hands-on, minds-on experience of each student.   

This approach works well in classroom with limited resources. For example, classrooms with a limited numbers of computers can set up a computer station when 1:1 is not an option. Years ago, in physics, I desperately wanted my students to be able to experiment with a frictionless surface so I built an air track out of PVC pipe and a vacuum cleaner.  I purchased a glider and a photo gate timer and presto!  I was able to design hands-on, student-centered, collaborative experiments for my students.

Admittedly, it does take significant planning and time to design the stations initially.  Like anything else, keep the elements that work and enhance or switch up the ones that are not as effective. Bottom line… the students enjoy the multifaceted experiences and that makes it all worth it.

Additional benefits include the opportunities for students to gain social skills, develop in areas of communication, task completion and persistence. Leadership skills, working as part of a team and learning to share responsibility are also positive by-products. 

Computational Thinking

As do many, our school offers enriching summer programs for our students which allow them the opportunity to explore areas of interest in a challenging yet informal, enjoyable format.  Our summer experiences offer knowledge expansion and skill development in areas ranging from athletics to fine arts to outdoor and environmental investigation. The summer camps that fall in my specific realm of responsibility are Computer Game Design and Mobile App Development. It was exciting to work with children of all ages as they developed apps pertaining to topics they are passionate about.  Our students developed mobile applications for such things as chess move tips, Mindcraft techniques, great camping sites, music and favorite fishing spots.  Students then proudly shared their creations.  To be honest, it was a highlight of my summer.

Mobile app development is becoming an essential part of our curriculum across all grade levels for a number of reasons. First, as digital natives, the daily use of a variety of mobile apps is familiar territory for our students. They have a fundamental understanding of the wide range of possibilities mobile apps provide.  Further, the discipline of brainstorming, ideation and mind mapping is an essential part of the app development process.  Carefully visualizing and planning the app’s function forces high level critical thinking.  Our students use Crescerance’s Mad Learn interface because its templates cater to younger, first-experience students but also allows older, tech-savvy students to develop more graphic and image rich, sophisticated mobile applications.  Students can also create, edit and embed their own code as they gain proficiency. MIT’s App Inventor is another example that is also gaining popularity.

I find that many girls are interested in creating apps because of the necessary design elements which must be incorporated throughout the development process. The task serves as a great entry experience which encourages females particularly.  The “cool” factor seems to mobilize our male students most.  Both are encouraged by their sense of accomplishment.  More and more, I think that it is important to embed experiences throughout our curriculum that provide opportunities for students to create and express themselves and their interests with technologies.

There is also a shift in education toward project based learning. “In project-based learning, students gain important knowledge, skills, and dispositions by investigating open ended questions to ’make meaning ‘that they transmit in purposeful ways.” (Krass & Boss, 2013) Setting goals, managing a timeline, brainstorming solutions, collaborating, revising and presenting to a pubic audience is a great way to reinforce executive function skills. Creating an innovative project using technology to demonstrate learning is an enjoyable, engaging way for students to develop and practice the use of computational thinking skills.

Programs that help students build coding skills abound.  Examples include Scratch, Hyperscore, Alice, Turtle Art, Game Maker and WeDo Robotics. Additionally, popular apps such as Tynker, Cargo-Bot, Lightbot, Bridge Building and Hopscotch further enable children to learn to think, problem solve and  develop passions, interests and abilities through exposure.  Additionally, researchers predict that employment opportunities in professions involving coding and programming are extremely promising.  Exposing our children early to the precepts of computational thinking serves them well and most importantly, it is fun!

This article appeared in Southern Distinction magazine. Volume 2:5 2014

Blended Learning

Educators are constantly working on their craft. In our field, new ideas, strategies and best practices are consistently developed and shared in an effort to continually improve the teaching and learning process. One of the instructional strategies at the forefront of the educational conversation today is blended learning. Blended learning combines online learning with traditional classroom instruction. Most often, this means teachers will share content such as small, targeted segments of videos or screencasts online for students to access when, where and how they desire. Class time can then be spent working through student questions rather than sitting through classroom lectures. Students are able to take control and personalize their learning.

Time and targeted professional development is required in order for teachers to feel comfortable with this model. In my experience, the biggest hurdle teachers must overcome is simply the lack of confidence to get started. Newton told us that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. It takes effort to overcome inertia. Support and encouragement for teachers who are reluctant to try new things or to take a risk is critical. 

Blended learning can benefit the child who needs more time to review the day’s lesson. She can access the content as many times as necessary. Accelerated students can quickly move through the lesson and then go beyond to explore and consider new questions and further applications. Blended learning promotes classroom differentiation (individualized learning) – another powerful teaching strategy.

Blended learning is often more engaging than traditional lecture.  The online platform allows teachers to embed pictures, videos and resources which make the instruction more interesting. Online discussions and the use of online tools to engage in conversation with teachers and other students build community and interaction that is difficult to have in traditional classrooms. Shy, quiet students now engage more actively.

Time and money (not to mention the environment!) are also saved since assignments, notes, articles and resources can be posted to the online platform. The need to print is reduced or eliminated.

This model is helpful for the student athlete or thespian that often misses part of the school day because of away games, performances or competitions. The student who has a doctor’s appointment or an illness is also able to catch up when he begins to feel better. Teachers who have mastered this model of instruction are well equipped to teach electronically when their school is closed unexpectedly.  Say goodbye to snow days as we have known them. At the same time, say goodbye to make-up days.

I believe that the greatest benefits involve the students and their ability to optimally focus and learn at school. Students deal with issues on a daily basis and it is impossible to learn when they are experiencing anxiety, have had little sleep or are consumed by something that happened in the hallway or even at home before they came to school. The ability to learn without typical adolescent distractions is a significant benefit of blended classrooms. Blended learning strategies enable the teacher to meet students where they are and offer multi-faceted, rigorous learning experiences that continually foster a passion for learning.   

Learning Differences - Overcoming Obstacles

I recently served on an SAIS school accreditation team for a school that serves children with Dyslexia. During the process, we met with students from various grade levels. To one student, we asked the question, “What do you like most about your school?” A beautiful, articulate, fourth grade girl eloquently responded “I used to feel dumb until I starting attending this school. All of the kids here are just like me. Dyslexia,” she explained, “is a gift not an illness.” Wow. 

Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. , author of Different Learners: Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Your Child’s Learning Problems says that “A child born today in the US has a 30 percent chance of being diagnosed with some type of learning problem. “ Clearly, that’s a high number. 

I often wonder why there seems to be such an increase in the number of children with learning problems. Could it be a result of food additives, excessive media bombardment, over-scheduling or other environmental exposures? We don’t know but we do know that the list of childhood disorders continues to grow. Children must deal with ADD, ADHD, anxiety disorders, autism, Asperger’s syndrome, executive function issues and more. Many children have multiple issues.  For many children, the issues create tremendous challenges, frustrations and feelings of inadequacy. Many of these children are bright and gifted but because their brains are wired differently, learning in certain ways is difficult.

Thanks to advances in brain science, we are learning more and more about instructional strategies, routines and techniques that can help our children actually rewire and grow the needed dendrite-neuron connections in their brains.  Further, we are learning more and more about how to teach students regardless of their learning differences.    

Of course, parents should intentionally manage environmental influences such as diet, sleep, exercise, sensory stimuli and opportunities for play. Students with suspected learning challenges need more.  Bottom line, you are your child’s advocate. Tactically, begin with your pediatrician. Often, concerns are unfounded but if you discover your child does have a learning difference then the sooner you can start helping, the better. Research and create an action plan with trusted professionals.

More important is that the learning challenged student understands that he is a person of worth and value.  Being among one in three students with a learning difference can hardly be regarded “abnormal.”  In his book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell statistically supports that things popularly regarded as disadvantages are often, in fact, advantages and vice versa.  (An extraordinarily high number of the most successful innovators and entrepreneurs in recent decades are dyslexic for example.)  People who must work diligently to overcome learning obstacles and barriers quite often benefit from the struggle in significant, impactful ways. 

Everyone has obstacles and barriers.  What may initially seem as an insurmountable hurdle can turn out to be an advantage that results in empathy, sensitivity and compassion that can make the world a better place.

Thus, she says, “Dyslexia is a gift, not an illness.”  Again…wow.

This article appeared in Southern Distinction magazine. Volume 2:3 2014

Understanding Project Based Learning

In February, I traveled to Concord, North Carolina to the Cannon School and led a Project Based Learning workshop for the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS). I absolutely love helping teachers gain an understanding of the possibilities of updating current instructional practices to motivate children to want to learn.  

I like the definition of Project Based Learning (PBL) by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss. They state, “In project-based learning, students gain important knowledge, skills, and dispositions by investigating open-ended questions to “make meaning” that they transmit in purposeful ways.”  (Krauss & Boss, 2013)

This instructional strategy is not new to educators.  The well-respected education and social reformer John Dewey suggested that treating students as receptacles of knowledge left true intellectual engagement to chance.  In 1916, in Democracy and Education, he said, “Education is not an affair of ‘telling’ and being told, but an active and constructive process.” University medical faculty started using Problem Based Learning in the 1950s as they questioned the effectiveness of massive memorization of science facts via lectures followed by exhausting clinicals. This approach that challenges students to learn through engagement in a real world problem continues in medical schools today and was the forerunner of today’s Project Based Learning.

Buck’s Institute at www.bie.org provides a wonderful framework to get us started with this type of lesson design. PBL starts with significant content and key concepts in academic disciplines.  Students are challenged to solve an open-ended, driving question and in order to do so they must use higher-order thinking and problem solving skills to create something new. They also must collaborate and communicate with others to work as a team. In-depth inquiry is an important component.  Students research, read, write and expresses themselves in a variety of ways. Since PBL begins with a meaningful, relevant question to solve it provides context and a reason to learn. Students will have opportunities to express themselves in their own voice and make responsible choices as part of the experience. A student learns to give and receive feedback through ongoing revision and reflection opportunities and present their created products or solution to a public audience which increases the students’ motivation and adds authenticity.

An example of PBL question might be, “how can we, as structural engineers, design and test bridge models for a walkway over Lakeview creek?” Traditionally, a teacher might lecture and then quiz students on the three types of primary bridges and the basic principles of engineering for each type in a science class.

Successful adults have learned to manage themselves, set goals, direct their time and make decisions. When students have opportunities to experience PBL they can also learn to develop the executive function skills needed in today’s world. I believe that children must have the opportunity to make decisions in order to learn to make decisions.  In addition, to stimulate the curiosity of children and to engage them as thinkers and learners can become a foundation for the development of creative innovators.

Krauss, Jane, and Suzie Boss. Thinking through project-based learning: guiding deeper inquiry. Thousand Oaks, Calif. : London: Corwin ; SAGE [distributor], 2013. Print.