Justification:

With recent initiatives for teachers to begin integrating google apps into their classrooms along
with new standards such as the NGSS which encourage inquiry based learning experiences
that integrate technology, this workshop will aim to show teachers how to use the google
classroom platform as a tool for creating inquiry based investigations for students of varying skill
levels. We aim to shift from “cookbook” style labs to true inquiry experiments.

Administrators would like to see this done in at a science department meeting first, followed by
modified versions for other departments based on its success.

Agenda:
(Department Meeting Setting)
1.) Teachers will work with content partners and will open their google classroom home
pages and join the test google classroom page I have created as students. This enable
teachers to see what they can create from the students perspective.
2.) I will model the process for which I do inquiry based physics labs with my students. This
will cover some important features of the google classroom platform such as:
a.) Creating an assignment
b.) Attaching documents with different sharing privileges such as “view only” and
“make a copy for each student”
c.) Using google sheets for data collection and real time graph creation
d.) How google classroom organizes google drive
e.) How to grade assignments and leave feedback.
3.) There will be a screencast created and shared with the participating teachers, showing
many of these features and how they are used.
4.) Teachers will then work with their content partners in order to design an inquiry based
project or experiment using this framework.

School Mission Relevance:

Pelham School district has a strategic plan in place that is built on 4 pillars, one of which is 21st
century learning.

“Systematically integrate the principles and content of 21st century learning into academic and
co-curricular programs to prepare all students to meet current and future challenges”

Planned Outcomes:
This professional development workshop will introduce teachers to the google classroom
platform and demonstrate it’s capabilities while also providing a forum for teachers already
using the platform to share ideas within their content areas. Teachers should leave this
workshop with the necessary skills to create an online learning environment for their students.
Methods of Formative/Summative Assessment:
Lab reports are generally used as a form of summative assessment for certain concepts or
ideas. This workshop will focus on “upgrading” cookbook style lab reports and turning them into
technology infused inquiry based labs. This means that formative assessment can occur at any
stage of the experiment depending on how the lab is scaffolded. This can be submission of
certain pieces of the lab report via google classroom or simply the observation of a lab group in
action.

It is not the goal of this PD to introduce new methods of assessment, but to simply introduce the
teachers to ways to use google classroom to perform those same types of assessments with the
added benefits of increased organization and student feedback/communication.

Sample Artifacts:
Each teacher and/or team will be creating an inquiry based lab using the google classroom
platform.

Materials:
Each teacher will need a computer with internet access. It will be beneficial to have a
smartboard in order to demonstrate and display google classroom for the teachers who have
not yet used it, but a regular projector would suffice

Workshop evaluation instrument:

A google form will be distributed asking for feedback as well as questions that were left
unanswered. If there are any FAQ i will address them via screencasts for the group at a later
date.

Evidence of improved teaching and learning:

This is not the kind of change or PD that will result in higher scores on standardized tests for our
students. We hope to collect data on student lab skill growth over the course of the next couple
years. This will be done by creating a rubric for lab reports that will be used department wide
(This is beyond the scope of this PD, but is another departmental initiative). This should allow us
to look at data of student lab skills as they progress from 9th grade Living Environment to 11th
grade physics.Over the course of three years we will be able to see how these changes are
affecting student performance.

In the short term, we can simply look at student engagement as we shift to this new lab
dynamic. Looking at lab completion rates is one way of doing this.