The End is Near...

Tomorrow will be June 1st, and educators everywhere can't help but find themselves thinking of the finish line as we sprint (or limp, depending on how your year has been going) down the last leg of this school year.

While this is a time for looking back, saying goodbye to our graduating seniors and students moving on to the next grade level, it can be a great time to look ahead and lay the foundation for next year's plans.

Here are a few brief suggestions for stepping up your tech game for next year:

1) Prepare an Internet survey for your incoming students. How many of them have access from home? How many will you need to help find alternative means of accessing your online curriculum and participating in your paper-free classroom?

2) Fine-tune that grading policy. If you find yourself disliking the practice Jason Christiansen described in his recent AP Stat blog post of giving students points at the beginning of the year, then "slowly and methodically remove them for each successive mistake a student makes," perhaps you're ready to flip your approach to grading. Rewrite your grading policy to focus less on the grading and more on the learning. A good place to start is this blog entry. Also, be sure to check out http://sbg.wikispaces.com.

3) Google Your World. Try the Google applications for yourself, and prepare to start the year by having your students create accounts so they can collaborate on and easily submit files (projects, presentations, spreadsheets, surveys, forms, essays, reports, etc.) to you. Here is a link to our professional development session on getting started with Google applications.

4) Exit polling. Ask your students what they liked best, what worked best for their own learning this year, what made them most excited about your class, and what they would have you improve or change for next year. I am not sure why I am always surprised by the insights provided by the people who spent the whole year working in my class, but it ALWAYS guides me about what to keep and what to change.

Stay cool & enjoy those last weeks of school!