Google Classroom

Back in 2012, I went to a Google Summit in Columbus, Ohio. When I arrived at the convention center I had never heard of Google Apps.  I drove home that night a believer. I used all things Google whenever possible and tried my best to convince my school to take the plunge into GAFE. It took a painstaking year till the decision was made to go...Microsoft.

I'll admit I was disappointed, but once the decision was made I strove to be the best OneDrive user the school would ever have.  I attended (and even presented at) a Microsoft Symposium and put a lot of time into training my computer students on how to best use Office 365 products. If you were a reader of my old blog, you may remember how I experimented with various Office products to find the best fit for certain aspects of school.  (If you are an Office 365 user, please do yourself a favor and learn everything there is to learn about OneNote Class Notebook and use it religiously in your classroom. You won't be sorry!)

When I started interviewing for Kentucky public schools, I knew that this Office 365 background would be super helpful for me.  You see, all Kentucky public schools are Microsoft schools -- so I thought.  I was surprised when in my first Boone County interview to hear them mention Google Classroom.  In fact, I was so surprised I didn't even think about it till after the interview was over.  I did ask about it in my second interview (for another position).  Apparently, Boone County made the decision to go with Google even though Microsoft was available to them.  By my third interview (for yet another position), I made sure I had more Google knowledge under my belt.

Great for Boone County!  Better for me.  I'm back where I want to be.

So that leads me to today.  I'm coming from an iPad/Office 365 background and sitting in a Chromebook/GAFE school.  My job is blended learning, which means I need to help my colleagues navigate the Google waters as they figure out how to infuse digital learning into their instruction.  Good stuff, but I have a lot to learn.

Back in 2012, when I threw myself wholeheartedly into Google Apps, Classroom didn't exist. While I feel proficient in the basic apps (Docs, Slides, Sheets), I have no idea how to proceed with Classroom.  It's taking a lot of reading, piggybacking off other teachers' classes, and observation.  It's going to be a wild ride, but I'm looking forward to the end product -- what things will look like come May when we know what we're doing around here.

I'd love for you to read about the adventures as I blog about them and please... give me whatever ideas you happen to think of yourself.  For instance:

• Who is a GAFEr I should follow on Twitter?
• Whose Classroom blog should I be reading faithfully?
• What is the best book on the subject? 

Thanks for reading along!