Alex Honnold, the first man to scale Yosemite’s 3,000-foot El Capitan wall without ropes, probably wouldn’t classify taking a Google Apps For Education at Fitchburg State University (GAFEFSU) class with Mary Marotta and Craig Sheil as a daring adventure. But I do. Granted, the second GAFEFSU class felt much easier than the first course. Nevertheless, the course still forced me to face my technological fears. After all to quote T.S. Eliot, “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”

Our district recently adopted Lucy Calkin’s reading and writing curriculum. The curriculum is incredible, but like any new endeavor, it presents challenges. One challenge is that the unit Reading the Weather, Reading the World doesn’t correspond to our fourth grade curriculum. So, our district literacy committee, of which I am a member, suggested we use Jason Chin’s Grand Canyon as a mentor text. That sounds like an easy fix, but of course there are no true, easy switches because two-thirds of the lessons require students to do research. So, I challenged myself to create seven hyperdocs during the course, instead of two, to enable our district’s fourth grade teachers to be able to access the curriculum in an effective manner.

When I signed up for the second GAFEFSU class, part of my conscience tried to dissuade me from enrolling. It said, “You know you’re going to have to do way more than create hyperdocs for this course,” and, “Your older son will be receiving all his college decisions during this period. Is this the right time?” and, “Are you sure you want to work this hard? You only need one more credit to reach the Masters plus 60 hours on the pay scale. Why are you taking a three credit course?” Thankfully I didn’t listen because otherwise I wouldn’t have learned how to create an interactive notebook.

An interactive notebook is a Google slide deck that students can use to take notes while a teacher presents. As an elementary school teacher, I rarely present information to students in a lecture format. But an interactive notebook can also be used as a visual teaching tool. Using Microsoft’s Snipping Tool I was able to create a slide deck titled: The Literary Essay.

Earlier this year during parent teacher conferences, a father bemoaned that he couldn’t help his daughter learn how to write essays because unlike math, there isn’t a formula for writing essays. I explained that there was and thanks to GAFEFSU, I now have a tool I can share with students and their families to help them learn the basic literary essay format.

Hyperdocs, interactive notebooks, and Microsoft’s Snipping Tool are only a few of the reasons this course inspired me. Nothing trumps spending time with Mary and Craig and other educators who are determined to embody the phrase “lifelong learners.” If you live anywhere near Fitchburg, Massachusetts, don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your teaching. Sign up for a GAFEFSU class today!