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Saturday, January 11, 2014

Google Forms for PD

At the start of the school year, one of my goals was to incorporate more technology into professional development.  Our professional development has been much more active this year with less "sit-and-get." I am continually exploring possibilities to embed technology into teachers' school-based professional development.  It increases engagement and models technology use for teachers.  

One of my go-to tools this year is Google Forms.  (We just became a "Google district" earlier this school year, so each teacher has his/her own account.)  This tool is very intuitive and easy-to-use.  All the data is automatically compiled into a spreadsheet, making it simple to use the information to inform decisions.  Just a few minutes of exploring and I was up and running!  In case you're interested, here a quick tutorial from Jennie Magiera's blog, Teaching like it's 2999.


I think there are lots of possibilities here for my work as an instructional coach.  Right now, I see the uses falling into three categories -- pre-assessment, feedback, and simple organization.  My principal and I are using Google Forms to collect feedback from teachers following professional development opportunities, which informed future planning.  The data was much easier to reflect upon in spreadsheet form, rather than e-mails or half-sheets of paper spread out all over a table.  Likewise, another teacher and I used it before facilitating a professional development opportunity (about Google Drive...haha!) to survey teachers about their questions and needs and determine the direction for our time together.  Signing teachers up for study groups this year is quick and easy using Google Forms.  We just sent out a Google Form with the question "Name."  So easy, and I was so happy not to have my inbox filled with e-mails!  Plus I didn't have to worry about missing someone! 

How are you using Google Forms in professional development?

Annie

3 comments:

  1. OMG! That was the best 8:32 of my life. :) Can you imagine the possibilities?!? My brain is so happy right now. Can I make my own google site with my school account?

    I just started using Google Docs to share PLC information with our administrator. I could see this being a really effective way to share grade level work effectively. I'm also thinking about IDM work being shared effectively too.

    Google has made me so happy...Thanks for letting me process in the comments section of our blog! :)

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    1. I also used it in a whole-staff PD earlier this year. Teachers could enter their responses, and everyone could see it. This way we had a record of our thinking that teachers could come back to and we benefitted from the collective wisdom of the group.

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  2. WIth our school accounts, the Google universe is at our fingertips! The coaches created a Google site for Benchmark Literacy Resources. Definitely user-friendly! We're using Google Docs more for collaboration throughout the building, even simple things like leadership team notes.

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