Chromebook Check In at Leyden

Two hundred and eighty four days ago I was writing a post about how 1:1 With Chromebooks Becomes a Reality at Leyden.  Tomorrow, May 24, is the last day of the year for our students.  I still cannot believe this year is over.  Next to my first year of teaching back in 1995-1996, this was by far the most highly anticipated year in my career.  Having been the Director of Technology for Leyden High School District 212 for the past 12 years, I have orchestrated and been a part of many changes, but nothing even comes close to what we accomplished this year.  But we did it!  And we didn't just survive our first year with every one of our students having a Chromebook, we flourished!.  Everyone is responsible for our success:  the teachers, the students, the parents, the administrators, the Board of Education, the tech staff, the maintenance staff, and the entire Leyden community.  For links to numerous resources about our journey during the past year, check out this page.  We certainly attracted a lot of attention from other educators around the country and were happy to participate in numerous conversations, email exchanges, Google Hangouts, webinars, and we even hosted four official site visit days for over 240 educators from five different states.  We were the beneficiaries of lots of advice and guidance during our planning and research phases and enjoy paying it forward.  We have even organized a three day 1:1 Summer Symposium from July 31-August 2 , 2013 to share an in depth look at what we've done and how we've done it.  Shameless plug - we still have about 90 spots available.

Now, with one day left, of course it's time for one more "first" of the year.  Chromebook collection!  In our model, the district owns the Chromebooks and we issue them to each student much like we issue them text books or a locker to use for the year.  The students will turn in their devices, chargers, and cases and then get the exact same ones re-issued to them at the beginning of next year or during summer school.  The devices from the senior class will be assigned to our incoming Freshmen. Having started the transformation of how we approach teaching and learning by moving much of it to the Web, we knew that our students would need their devices all the way through their last final exam.  Many of them have actually needed their Chromebooks to take certain parts of their exams online.  Others have simply needed continued access to the digital resources and review materials that have accumulated in OpenClass, our learning management system, and their Google Drives throughout the year.  And so that leaves us with one day with one final exam and then the collection of almost 2,700 Chromebooks.  The good news is that our seniors turned in their devices last week, so we only need to collect about 3/4 of our entire 3,500 device fleet in one day.  Here is a quick outline of our Chromebook collection plan:

The Database
My outstanding team developed a comprehensive database system that ties in with our student management system to keep track of all Chromebooks, charges, and cases checked out and assigned to students.  It was also used to keep track of loaners that were checked out to students when they forgot their devices, didn't have them fully charged, or had their devices in for service.  Eventually, the database was also set up to check in the Chromebooks, record charges for certain damages, and email the students a receipt of their turned in equipment.

The Check In Form

A check in form was designed that includes student information, their assigned Chromebook and charger identification numbers, and an inspection check sheet.  

Senior Collection
During the last week of attendance for seniors, they were allowed to turn in their Chromebooks to our

student-run tech support class at any time.  On their last day of attendance we set up a mass collection location in each of our buildings (the library at East Leyden and the field house at West Leyden).  Those students that didn't turn in their equipment early waited in line after their last exam, had their equipment inspected, and then scanned into the system.


Underclass Collection
All students are expected to bring their equipment to their last final exam.  After the exam, their teachers will complete the physical inspection, fill out the check in form, and rubber band together the Chromebook in its case with the charger and check in form.  Later in the day, teams of support staff will visit every classroom and transport the boxes of equipment to a holding area in each building.  In the following days, other teams of support staff will scan in all of the equipment into the database system.

Storage

Our talented maintenance department built a series of "cubbies" to store the equipment.  Each cubbie has

been labeled with asset tag numbers to match those of the Chromebooks.  All of the Chromebooks, chargers, and cases will be stored in these cubbies for the summer.










Our remarkable assistant principals hammered out the majority of the logistics of our Chromebook check in plan and the senior collection went extremely well.  We are now hoping for similar results with the underclass tomorrow.  I'm confident we're ready.  We've met every other challenge that going 1:1 this year threw at us and found great successes time after time.

Stay tuned to my blog for more reflections and statistics about the digital evolution of Leyden Community High School District 212 this past year.

Leyden's 1:1 Summer Symposium

If you've read some of my other posts (Blog Series about 1:1 with Chromebooks at Leyden, 1:1 with Chromebooks Becomes a Reality at Leyden, Teacher Dashboard - Another piece to our 1:1 puzzle, or any others) you have already read about how incredible and historic this school year has been for us in Leyden Community High School District 212 with all 3,500 students getting issued Chromebooks.  What I have yet to post is how happy we have been to share what we're doing with other educators.  We greatly appreciated all the help, advice, and guidance we received while we were researching and planning out our digital evolution into a 1:1 teaching and learning environment and have been more than willing to pay it forward.  By the end of the year, we will have hosted four official site visit days for 226 educators from 46 different schools/districts in 5 different states.  In addition, we have participated in dozens (could be pushing close to a hundred by now) of phone conversations, email exchanges, Google hangouts, webinars, face-to-face Q&A sessions, and other forms of communication.  We are now happy to announce that we have added yet another opportunity to share what we are doing with others in the form of a 3-day summer symposium from July 31 - August 2, 2013.  Some of the highlights include the following:

• An agenda divided into four tracks for different types of school/district stakeholders: Leading Track, Instruction Track, Technology Track, and Teacher Demonstrations.
• A special keynote address each day of the symposium.
• July 31 - Jaime Casap
• August 1 - Chris Lehmann
• August 2 - George Couros
• An opportunity to hear directly from Leyden teachers, students, and parents.
• A real bargain at only $200 per person.
• Social/networking events are currently being organized.
• Lots more!

Registration for those that pre-registered is currently taking place and will open up to the public on Monday, March 25.  If you're interested, please check out the Leyden 2013 1:1 Summer Symposium website to learn more and get registered.

Leyden High School District 212's

 2013 1:1 Summer Symposium

Creating a Working Rubric in a Google Spreadsheet

Last week one of our English teachers contacted me with an idea, actually a challenge.  He wanted to create a working rubric that he could use to evaluate his acting students and then email them with their results/feedback.  The more we talked through the challenge, them more we realized how this could be beneficial for lots of other uses, as well.  We discussed the possibility of using Google Forms, but that didn't quite meet his needs.  So, the solution I came up with involves creating a Google Spreadsheet and installing a free apps script.  Some of the skills/tools involved in this process include the following:

• Creating a Google Spreadsheet with multiple sheets
• Using data validation to create drop-down menus
• Using the VLOOKUP formula
• Installing and using a free mail merge apps script
• Hiding columns

While this may already sound like a daunting task, the investment of time to create the first spreadsheet will certainly pay off as it can easily be copied and tweaked for additional rubrics.  In addition, the added bonus of being able to collaborate on Google Spreadsheets allows multiple teachers to work together to build their working rubrics.

Below are the tutorials I put together to demonstrate this process.

Teacher Dashboard - Another piece to our 1:1 puzzle

We have had just an amazing and historic school year so far.  This is our first year being fully 1:1 with almost all of our 3,500 students having been issued Google Chromebooks.  Personally, I think we have far surpassed where I thought we'd be after a little over one semester in our new technology supercharged learning environment.  I have both witnessed and heard about some remarkable transformations of curriculum, lesson plans, the way we communicate, the way we collaborate, and more all because we've eliminated the "access" obstacle for our students.  Now, I know this has been a monumental undertaking for our teachers and most of them have compared this year to being a first year teacher again, but they have certainly risen to the challenge.

So far, there have been two primary tools (in addition to the Chromebooks) that have had the biggest impact on our year.  At the top of the list is Google Apps for Education (GAFE).  In my 18 years in the district, I have not seen any technology have more positive returns than the Google Apps suite.  In fact, 20 years from now, we may look back and say that adopting GAFE was one of the most important decisions ever made in this district.  Yep, even slightly ahead of choosing to go 1:1.  The second tool that has really changed the way we play the game of school at Leyden is OpenClass.  This is the free content/learning management system we're using for all classes.  We have chosen to set up one OpenClass course per prep (teaching assignment) for each teacher and their students are automatically loaded into the appropriate courses.  This system has provided a consistent framework for teachers to take their classes "to the Web" and design and develop digital curriculum and resources.  Our classes are no longer contained to the 48-minute periods in our school days.  Students have access to content, notes, resources, support, and anything and everything our teachers wish to include in their courses.  As an added bonus, we don't hear our students ask "What I'd miss yesterday?" anymore.  Beyond these two primary tools, most of our teachers have found numerous other Web tools and resources that they've been integrating into their classes.

With all this said, there were two reoccurring concerns throughout our first semester that were shared by both teachers and students.  First, there seemed to be a lot of different ways to manage documents at play.  From an administrative perspective, we allowed our teachers to try out a number of different options without scripting or mandating any one method.  Some teachers like this and others don't, but it's the path we chose to follow and we've learned a great deal about what we should and should not be doing.  Second, very few of our teachers were versed in the methods of managing a "lab" class.  With every student having a device in front of them, most of our teachers are continually working to learn how to manage such an environment.  For example, just knowing how and when to ask their students to have lids up or lids down is a simple but new classroom management technique that our teachers have needed to add to their toolkit.

Starting with the first day of second semester on January 8, 2013, we rolled out a new application in hopes of helping our teachers both manage their students' documents better and manage their classroom environment better.  That tool is Teacher Dashboard by Hapara.  In a recent survey of our teachers, we've learned that the majority of them are using these new tools and find them extremely beneficial.

• 80% of our teachers reported that they use Teacher Dashboard.
• 56% of our teachers reported that they use the Smart Copy tool to push out and share documents with their students.
• 65% of our teachers reported that they use Teacher Dashboard to manage and view their students' documents.
• 12% of our teachers reported that they use Teacher Dashboard to manage and view their student's blog posts and comments.
• 73% of our teachers reported that they use the Chromebook remote control/management tools.
• Comments included:
• "Love the Teacher Dashboard!"
• "Please keep Teacher Dashboard around.  It is the best thing since sliced bread.  I don't ever want to live without it."
• "Teacher Dashboard has been a great addition this semester!"
• "The dashboard has saved so much time and made using docs so much more manageable."

Overall, Teacher Dashboard has been well received by our teachers and I'd expect the usage to increase as the semester rolls on.  This has certainly been a key piece to our new 1:1 puzzle.

Below is a slide deck that was used to help introduce our teachers to Teacher Dashboard and may help you get a better understanding of what it has to offer.

SORRY - SlideRocket was bought by another company and no longer has educational accounts.  The presentation below is no longer available.  I'll try to convert it to another format.

InfuseLearning - A nice student response system

With every student having a Google Chromebook in our district, I have heard that many of our teachers have become fans of using Socrative to get instant feedback during their classes.  I just learned about another similar product that also incorporates the use of images and drawings, text and audio translations, and the ability to push out links to all connected students.  Check out InfuseLearning.

Add Images to Your Google Forms

Until adding images directly into Google Forms becomes available, check out the great solution put together by James Eichmiller.  It's really easy to use.  You can find the step-by-step instructions at

http://tech-in-school.blogspot.com/2012/12/google-forms-with-images.html

Here is the URL of the spreadsheet you'll need a copy of: http://goo.gl/mWWbl

I put together the video below to demonstrate the process.

Complete List: 15 Ways to Be a Smarter Teacher

I really enjoyed reading the 15 Ways to Be a Smarter Teacher series posted by Ian Jukes on the Committed Sardine blog.  Here's the list he put together.  Click on each one to read more.

1. Smart Teachers Understand That It’s About Them Not About Us.
2. Smart Teachers Study Their Students.
3. Students Take Risks When Teachers Create Safe Environments.
4. Smart Teachers Exude Passion As Well As Purpose.
5. Students Learn When Teachers Show Them How Much They Need to Learn.
6. Smart Teachers Keep It Clear Even When They Can’t Keep It Simple.
7. Smart Teachers Practice Vulnerability Without Sacrificing Credibility.
8. Smart Teachers Teach From the Heart.
9. Smart Teachers Repeat the Important Parts.
10. Smart Teachers Ask Good Questions.
11. Smart Teachers Don’t Just Pass Out Information.
12. Smart Teachers Stop Talking and Start Listening.
13. Smart Teachers Let Their Students Teach Each Other.
14. Smart Teachers Avoid Using the Same Approach For Everyone.
15. Smart Teachers Never Stop Teaching.