Hey admin, how many times have your teachers stated they didn’t know something or couldn’t find a resource? Better yet, what if there was one place to store resources?
You most likely already have this tool and teachers SHOULD be using it! That tool would be Google Classroom and you can use it as your HUB of information. Need to link resources by topic or subject? Check. List a PLC activity and see who has turned it in? Check. It can modified to fit your needs. Create a new HUB for each school year.
Recently, I created a professional development activity on introduction to assistive technology. I used a Google Form to create it. Teachers and support staff had to state what their knowledge was and watch videos of what AT was and ways to use it, and then, state how they could use it in the classroom. There was a separate section for teachers to explore resources on documenting AT in the IEP. I emailed it out on Tuesday and asked for completion by Friday. The results are all time-stamped, giving me a lowdown on who completed it on-time. It also complies all results into a Google Sheet (Excel, for all you Microsoft folks). I could have taken it a step further by including it in THE HUB Google Classroom. (Check out my example photo of THE HUB Google Classroom below!)
Teachers have precious time to devote to all the things they’re required to. As a teacher, I appreciate an email instead of a meeting where I’m usually zoned out to my to-do list anyways. I also appreciate anything digitally that I can take care of on my own time. Hence, THE HUB. If I want to explore resources, it’s available 24/7. If my principal assigned a book study to groups, I would love if they created an assignment on Google Classroom where my group members and I could work collaboratively on our project. We don’t have to always physically meet.
If we are exploring differentiation for students, shouldn’t we also do that professionally?
Work smarter, not harder.
My Conglomeration 