Google Level 2 Boot Camp

Let me start by saying my school district is great! I work in a fabulous school district that offers so many great opportunities for professional development. One of those great opportunities that I was able to participate in was the Google Level 2 Boot Camp sponsored by Eduscape.

This Boot Camp is a two day training from Eduscape that allowed educators to have an in person walk through with the exam materials to help them prepare attendees for the Google Level 2 Educator Certification exam. 

My school district offered to provide the location and host this great event, inviting teachers in the region to attend for a fee. My district allowed me to attend for free. Our technology department graciously paid for me to attend this training so I can be a Level 2 certified educator. 

I have shared in a previous post about earning the Level 1 certification and how I went through the process on my own. You can find that post here. 

My goals for this Boot Camp are: 

1. Keep my students in mind as I learn how to use various tools in different ways. How can I take these tools back to my classroom and use them to enhance student learning? How can these tools benefit student learning and student mastery of concepts? 

2. Think of ways to bring this information back to teachers on my campus. Is there a tool that I went through during this Boot Camp that could benefit a teacher I know? Will something from this boot camp assist a teacher with something they're working on? 

By the end of this training I hope to provide more information and a reflection the process with getting my Level 2 certification. 

Google Classroom from a Librarian's Perspective

Google is everywhere! Really, it's everywhere. It's very commonly used as a verb now. "Just Google it." "Let me Google that." It's a popular tool in our every day life now.

Google has even found AMAZING ways to work their way into our everyday academic life in schools as well.

When I first started teaching 10 years ago I never would have imagined the type of technology I would have access to as a teacher, let alone a librarian. In my first classroom, the only form of technology I had was one computer that was shared with another class. I had a chalkboard to write on and no overhead projector. I also had to share the room with another class. We divided the class with cabinets.

I was only in that classroom for a semester because I graduated mid year from college. After that first semester I got the position at the school I am still currently teaching at. The first classroom I had here was a huge step up. Not only was it MY room, and only my room, but I had a dry erase board to start. I even had my own computer and a Promethean Board. It was great!

Over the years things have developed more and more. Now, our school is 1 to 1 with Chromebooks. I'm no longer just a classroom teacher, but I'm the librarian.

With our 1 to 1 initiative came Google.

We all learned how to use Google Drive, Docs, Forms, etc within our first year and slowly started infusing them into our lesson plans. Then came Google Classroom.

Google Classroom is a fantastic LMS (Learning Management System) and by far one of the easiest to use. There are others out there, but Google Classroom seems to be the one on everyone's mind.

As a teacher/librarian Google Classroom has been very beneficial for me to reach my students at anytime of the day in or out of the library.

I've set up a Google Classroom for each grade level on my campus (6-8) and at the beginning of the year I give them the code they need to join the class. I usually post a welcome activity and/or message on Classroom so the first thing they see is something fun and positive. I also post important information about the library and how it functions on a daily basis.

Since my schedule is so hectic I don't get to see classes for library time much this year. So, Google Classroom has become the outlet I need to communicate with our students when I can't see them in the library. Here are some other ways I use Google Classroom as a librarian...

1. Post a document about new books that have just been added to circulation in the library. On that document is the title, author, lexile level, reading counts quiz information (Scholastic version of AR), and any other information about the book such as a quick snip or summary.

2. Poll questions about new books to order. I like getting input from students as I'm creating a new order of books. I want to know what they want to read. I'm continuously trying to draw interest and to keep students coming back.

3. Reviews on books that I have read or other students have read. This is a great tool to get students interested, get them excited about a book.

4. Quick little book related activities for the students to work on (Use Google Drawing to design their own bookmark; Use Google Slides or Drawings to create an advertisement for their favorite book)

5. Reminders about checked out books, deadlines, etc.

There are so many ways for Google Classroom to be beneficial to a librarian. I know there are more ways out there and I'm still discovering them. Utilize Google Classroom almost as if it was your website for your students to use. It's a great communication tool for you as a librarian to reach your number one stake holders, your students.

If you use Google Classroom as a librarian, how else have you used it? Please share in the comments below.

Net Force Practice

Our second semester has been super busy! Not only is the library hopping with books being checked in and out, but my science classes are rocking their way through the content to prepare for state testing in May. 

We kicked off the second semester with Forces and Motion. It's a big topic! We worked a lot on forces, understanding new vocabulary, working with new units of measurement, demonstrating a bunch of pushes and pulls, and looking at net force. 

As we were going through net force some students would get a little mixed up with whether they needed to add or subtract and which direction the object was moving. So, to give them some extra help I created a set of task cards with net force practice problems. I knew the only way to really get better at figuring out net force was for them to work through more practice problems. 

I created the Net Force Problems Task Card Set for students to get the extra practice they needed to understand how to calculate net force. I created 40 task cards with various net force problems. I even added in a blank sheet of task cards for teachers and/or students to create their own net force problems. There is also an answer sheet and answer key provided. 

Students can work on these during various parts of a lesson or even on different days. They could use these in the following ways.

1. A bell ringer: Assign just two or three cards as practice and have the student record their answer on their answer sheet. The teacher could score them and give feedback before they complete others.

2. Early Finisher Work: You have a student that finishes early? You have a few minutes of down time before a transition? Have them work a few problems for early finishers work.

3. Stations: I've done stations with my middle school students and they love it. This could be a very easy little station for them to work on their net force calculation practice.

4. Quick Assessment: Give students a variety of the task cards and use it as a quick assessment.


Task cards are great resources to use in many different ways. These net force task cards are simple to infuse in various ways in your classroom or lesson. 

If you're interested in using these task cards in your classroom, you can get them by clicking the picture below to access the product in my TpT store. 

New Year, New Goals

Happy New Year!

Wow! I can't believe it's 2017. I feel like I just graduated college and began my teaching career. By the end of this year it will be 10 years since I graduated. Time flies when you're having fun! I know like many teachers, I've had my ups and downs in these past years, but I'm really looking forward to so many more.

Whenever a new year begins everyone has new energy, new goals, and new resolutions to start their year off on the right foot. I'm one of those people. It's like the first day of school all over again. I'm thinking of ways to welcome the students back, lesson plan ideas, strategies, ways for me to stay organized, etc. This year is no different.

I have a lot on my plate as 2017 starts. Not only am I a librarian for my middle school, but I teach four classes. I'm now taking on a 5th class during this second semester. I'm really excited about it and look forward to getting to see another group of kids every day. I've taken the plunge into Teachers Pay Teachers, very slowly though. I think my toes are just a little wet right now. I'm still actively working on our school's STEM program, bringing in resources, building our Makerspace, and more. There's even more on top of all that, but I enjoy it!

My goals for 2017...
1. Get organized and STAY organized.
2. Blog more, share more! (I don't post enough.)
3. Create my own class interventions for students that need the extra push.
4. Continue to learn (always a goal, no matter what).
5. Continue to always put my students needs first.

Those are just a few of my goals for 2017. There's always more on my list and that list will grow through the year.

Education is a passion and that passion is something I enjoy living every day.

What are your educator goals for 2017? Feel free to share in the comments below.