GOING GOOGLE... How Long Does it Take to Change A Culture?

As many of you know, our district went Google two years ago.  It was a monumental leap of faith by our Superintendent to trust our judgement and go for it.  Our vision was this:  less printing, more sharing and collaborating, and increased production for both teachers and students.  We are on year three now, and I think we are starting to see a change in the weather. It has taken a long time to convince teachers to use google Docs and Google Calendar, but I am beginning to see the rainbow at the end of the storm!  

Many days I have felt like a salesperson for Google, walking around saying things like “Oh, did you know you could do that in Google?” or “Let’s load that to Google and then share the link.”  I've got

used to the stares and weird looks, because in the end I knew it was the best workflow for everyone! Now I love learning from some of our experts in the schools- the students!

Just today, as I was coaching a teacher in how to utilize Google Docs with his students I saw a student doing a math outline on a doc.  She was using superscripts to write equations!  It was great! Her teacher is one that we haven’t even worked with.  How exciting to know she was using Google Docs with her students all on her own.  That is the kind of things I love seeing these days.  

I know it isn’t everywhere in our district, but it is happening more and more.  See below for some hard data.   

Change is slow, but it is happening.  I know the students appreciate their tech savvy teachers, and I know the teachers love the no-excuses available philosophy of Google Docs.  Going paperless is one advantage, but the real advantages are increased collaboration, efficient use of time, and immediate feedback.  Keep dockin’ and rockin’ Bellevue!  True change is just over the rainbow!  It was Socrates that said the following:

Written By:  Jennifer Krzystowczyk

@jennykbps