Google Teacher Academy - first thoughts

Henry is down for his nap, so it's time to get some first thoughts down. There is a lot to think about! I want to preface this post by reminding readers that I believe that everyone should be using the best tools to support learning in their local context. This may mean Google, Microsoft, Apple or Bic ;-) Indeed, this image was used during the day and reminds us that we have to constantly dip into our learning toolbox - that even includes getting outside once in a while! This post goes on to describe how we can attempt to evaluate and prioritise the learning that took place.

Although the day was inspiring, engaging, motivating and enjoyable (and many other things) and Google tools can be very powerful in supporting learning. However, as a responsible educator I find that I do have to remind myself of the limitations. These limitations should be communicated to young people. For example, Google Squared draws upon Wikipedia and the News draws upon selected media sources. I'm not saying that we shouldn't use either of these tools, but just be aware of their limits! (I think both tools have excellent applications for learning)

Anyway, I want to move on to the positive! The biggest learning moment for me (apart from the fact that all Google employees talk very, very fast) came right at the start of the day when Mark Wagner shared Google's philosphy during the opening stages. I have embedded the presentation below, it can also be found here and I have taken out two slides in order to support my points.

Mark shared Google's company philosophy (full details can be found here).

He then went on to apply them to education:

I found this very powerful and reflective of my own philosophy of what education should be. It struck me that there is nothing particularly new or controversial there either. Some main implications for me include:

Including some 20% time into the next staff Inset and into lessons - at least on a trial basis.
Develop co-construction of some aspects of the curriculum with students and get them to run Inset sessions to all staff.
I know that most learning takes place outside of school, and certainly outside of our geography department, so I need to develop better ways in which to encourage and support learning away from school.
The 'Lead Learners' tag has an important role: no one presented themselves as an expert just some people with a story to tell about using Google tools. This is a shift away from the gatekeeper of knowledge that teachers often see themselves as - it's time to let go and become learners with our colleagues (I intend to include staff and young people by using that term) when it's appropriate. Imagine the fun that we could have!

Of course, a huge range of tools were presented to us, and there is a need to evaluate and play with these a little before sharing some of their potential uses. One tool that I have used for a few years now that has helped me to evaluate any new tools is the circle of unconfusiness. I shared how the circle may be used on the GTA Posterous blog.

And all of that in the first 20 minutes. You can imagine the fire hose of ideas that followed!

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options. Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet. Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco. I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option. The result? No egg on my face. As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life. It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon. They may die or be seriously injured. If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way. There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious. Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin. However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal. The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).

David Rogers

Search This Blog