I recently attended a faculty meeting and it was a rare pleasure to be among a small group of teachers with the principal leading the discussion points.  We are usually an informal group of 100 in an auditorium where I can only hear every other word.  Teachers were in departmental groups and for this reason, our meeting started off small and personal.  During this time, our principal and library media coordinator gave a mini lesson on Gaggle.  I attended a workshop last spring on Gaggle in the classroom and set up an account.  I had already learned the basic essentials of using this platform but was particularly interested at this meeting about using it "for real" in my classroom this time.

     As the librarian demonstrated the primary uses of Gaggle using the SMARTboard and a staff member's actual account, we saw firsthand how important a web based resource center is for students in every class.  Instead of just listening this time, I decided to actively plan how to understand the uses of Gaggle and implement them as an organizational resource for all of my classes and as a "homebase" for homework assignments, quiz and test dates.  

    I spent a few hours that night exploring the site and building my own excitement for the possibilities of helping so many students, so I was truly looking forward to the next school day.   When I arrived the next morning, I took a brief survey of which students had already created an account and or used Gaggle for retrieving documents, submitting assignments, or email.  In each class, nearly every student indicated familiarity with Gaggle.  I shared my enthusiasm for joining in on what other teachers have been using for the past year or more to help students use web based tools for learning.  

     The ironic part of this "epiphany" is that I am quite used to using web platforms for learning, as most of my college and graduate school assignments were submitted online.  Frequent discussions with other classmates and the professsors were other mainstream learning experiences I had.  I hadn't made the connection of my previous learning to the students I currently teach mostly because I let the numbers (too many of this, too few/little of that) hinder my belief that this could work for my students.  I am not sure at this time if my effort to use Gaggle will make a positive impact on the learning of my students.  I expect that certain students will find this a great tool that he or she is already using and enjoying in another class, and for others, they won't bother to check Gaggle, or do the homework in the first place!

    For now, I have created a folder for my high level class to access a book we are reading and have posted upcoming assessments dates on the I recently attended a faculty meeting and it was a rare pleasure to be among a small group of teachers with the principal leading the discussion points.  We are usually an informal group of 100 in an auditorium where I can only hear every other word.  Teachers were in departmental groups and for this reason, our meeting started off small and personal.  During this time, our principal and library media coordinator gave a mini lesson on Gaggle.  I attended  workshop last spring on how to use Gaggle in the classroom and set up an account.  I had learned the basic essentials of using this platform and was particularly interested at this meeting about using it "for real" in my classroom.

     As the librarian demonstrated the primary uses of Gaggle using the SMARTboard and a staff member's actual account, we saw firsthand how important a web based resource center is for students in every class.  Instead of just listening this time, I decided to actively plan how to understand the uses of Gaggle and implement them as an organizational resource for all of my classes and as a "homebase" for homework assignments, quiz and test dates.  

    I spent a few hours that night exploring the site and building my own excitement for the possibilities of helping so many students, that I was truly looking forward to the next school day.   When I arrived the next morning, I took a brief survey of which students had already created an account and or used Gaggle for retrieving documents, submitting assignments, or email.  In each class, nearly every student indiacted familiarity with Gaggle.  I shared my enthusiasm for joining in on what other teachers have been using for the past year or more to help students use web based tools for learning.  

     The ironic part of this "epipany" is that I am quite used to using web platforms for learning, as most of my college and graduate school assignments were submittied online.  Frequent discussions with other classmates and the professsors were other mainstream learning experiences I had.  I hadn't made the connection of my previous learning to the students I currently teach mostly because I let the numbers (too many of this, too few/little of that) hinder my belief that this could work for my students.  I am notsure at this time if my effort to use Gaggle will make a positive impact on the learning of my students.  I ecpect that certain students will find this a great tool that he or she is already using and enjoying in another class, and for others, they won't bother to check Gaggle, or do the homework in the first place!

   More later!