Preparation

Theme

When ever my team and I have hosted a boot camp, we typically have a theme. We’ve done space, travel, and adventure. When we branched out and created a Level 2 camp, we decided to stick with the theme for a few years in order to minimize the workload. Currently, our Level 1 theme is travel and our Level 2 theme is space. The theme is just another element of personalization and brings a level of importance and excitement to your boot camp.

Space Theme

Travel Theme

Marketing

Once you have decided what your theme is going to be, you will need to develop a series of graphics that correspond. Initially, you only need need an email header, but once you start planning and preparing you will want the following graphics;

Email Header
Form Header
Google Doc Header
Site Header
Site Logo
Site Favicon

Keep in mind that all of these graphics can be very similar to one another, you will just want to make sure they are the right dimensions for where you plan on putting it. If you are doing a Level 1 and Level 2 camp simultaneously, you will want to decide if you are doing the same theme or if you want to do something different.

To advertise, we created a really nice email and sent it to all of the teachers in our district. Additionally, we sent this same email with a short personal message expressing our hope that they would join us to a select number of teachers. When possible, a member of our team also tried to attend school faculty meetings to advertise the camp and to answer any questions the teachers may have had. This email was sent about once a week during the application window.

Boot Camp Email

Example Email

Application Process

Since there are limited spaces available, an application process is necessary. We have tried to keep the application simple, but still have enough information to make a decision. The application includes the following questions;

Email Address
Name
School Site
Grade/Department
What level they would like to participate in
Why do you want to participate in the Boot Camp?
How will your participation in the Boot Camp impact your school/department?
Do you want to be a Google Certified Educator?
Which Google tools do you use on a regular basis?

You will also want to consider how long you want your application window to be. I suggest 2-3 weeks. After the window has closed, you may want to have a committee review the applications to determine who meet the criteria for the camp.

Example Application

Room Setup

Furniture Arrangement

Depending on the amount of people you have coming, I would suggest you set your room up so that you’ll have teams of 4-6 people per table.

Table Tents

It's always a good idea to create a table tent that can set in the middle of each table. You can include information like WiFi login details, Boot Camp site URL, and team name.

Name Tags

For your own sake as the facilitator, you will want to create participant name badges. This allows you to call people by name and it's a great way for the teachers to get to know one another.

Example Name Tag

Decorations

One way to create an atmosphere of fun and excitement is to decorate. You can go simple and decorate using Google colors, or you can go all out and decorate according to your specific theme. Regardless of how you decide to decorate, it’s important that you do something. While it may seem unimportant, the physical environment really adds to your participants overall experience. Check out the pictures to see how my team and I have decorated in the past.

WiFi, Devices, & Power

One thing to account for is to make sure that you have a reliable WiFi connection. Given that the boot camp is focused on how to use G suite in the classroom, almost all of your activities will be web based and require the internet. You may want to reach out to the venue’s IT professionals to ensure that the current system can support all your participants' needs. If you are hosting it at a school district, be sure and account for those people who bring personal devices. For example, educators in my district can access the WiFi on a district provided device. This isn’t always the case for a personal device.

Just like WiFi, devices are a MUST. Be sure and include this key bit of information in the registration. Ideally, you would want your participants to bring their own devices as they will be more familiar with it. One thing you can also do is bring a few spare devices for participants to check out. When we host our camps, we typically bring an extra Chromebook cart and allow participants to use those devices if they weren’t able to bring their own.

In addition to devices and WiFi you will also want to make sure you have power strips or some way for your participants to plug their devices in to recharge them.

Sign-in Sheets and Signage

It’s important to have some way for your participants to sign-in. This is especially important if you plan to issue them relicensure hours or some type of credit. You can do this the traditional way and simply have a sign-in sheet where participants write their name and sign that they were present, or you could create a google form and have a few devices out for participants to quickly fill out the form when they check-in.

On the day of your event, you want to make sure that your participants know where they are going. I suggest that you have signs on all the major entrances and include signs that direct them to the actual room of the event.

Example Sign

Food & Swag

Another key element to any boot camp should be food. While we’ve never been able to provide lunch in the past, this is something I would highly encourage. When you think about educators taking time to attend your boot camp, you want to do as much as you can to honor their time. Since we have never charged admission for our teachers, we haven’t really had the funding to do so. If you are charging your participants, you’ll want to include this in the registration fee.

Even though my team and I have never been able to provide lunch, we’ve always provided snacks and water. Again, this is a small thing that really go a long way.

A boot camp is also not complete without providing swag for your participants. In the past we’ve done things like drawstring bags, canvas totes, journals, sunglasses, mouse pads, stickers, and water bottles. Whatever you choose your participants will be excited, because who doesn’t like free swag, am I right? You can purchase your swag from the Google merchandise store. Click the button below to check out what they currently offer.

Google Merchandise Store

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Google Sites

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