Thing #20 Post:
Google docs is a tool that should make me more productive in my job, save time, and improve the quality of our curriculum and teacher training.
I often need input from a large group of teachers and the form used in google docs lets me send a link with questions and then the spreadsheet records all the responses in one place. Before that, I had to make an email folder titled "teacher responses" and tally the results manually from my email! I am planning a contest to see which teachers are able to interpret their student expectations in the way the state assesses them. I am making forms that ask questions. The teacher answers will be recorded on the spreadsheet and graded with a formula. I'm crossing my fingers that this is received with a spirit of purposeful fun, rather than another job added to their chore list.
I will be working with science content specialists from all the high schools this year, and to reduce the number of physical meetings, I hope to use google docs to create and refine our plans to unify the campuses in science matters. We hope to improve all campuses using the ideas and experience of all six!
Often teachers will send me a powerpoint or document they have created and want my input. It would be so much simpler to view it together and discuss changes that need to be made. The two problems that come up most often are content accuracy and copyright. Having a google doc on our science wiki would allow teachers access to these copyright rules when they need to refresh their memory.
I worked with my boss on this quiz for students taking the Apex Biology Credit Recoup class this past spring.