Seventh grade students work on their Chromebooks in Angela Minick’s class at Daybreak Middle School in Battle Ground.
The world’s most powerful search engine is calling attention to how Battle Ground Public Schools’ teachers are using technology in the classroom.
According to a press release from the district, Battle Ground is the fourth school district in the Pacific Northwest to be recognized as an Education Reference District by Google. Reference Districts are for schools using technology to create impactful and positive learning outcomes.
In Battle Ground schools, students use Chromebooks that are checked out to them for the school year to complete a variety of assignments on applications such as Google Classroom.
“Google Classroom is a unifying force that is incredibly easy to use for teachers and students alike,” stated Director of Technology Scott McDaniel. “It’s an entire learning management system. Teachers can create classes, collect and grade assignments, provide feedback to students in real time as they’re working on a project, create schedules, and so much more. It provides a ‘one stop shop’ that makes teaching and learning far more engaging than using paper and pencils.”
Angela Minick, a seventh grade teacher at Daybreak Middle School, takes full advantage of the opportunities of having student Chromebooks and Google educational apps. Minick and her team developed an in-depth study book that uses several interconnected programs like Google Forms, Slides, YouTube, and more.
The students start by working within Google slides as an introduction to the concepts from the book that they’re studying. Then, in between reading sections of the book, students find links to character study videos on YouTube, look up vocabulary words, and access their assignments quickly and conveniently.
“Students having their own Chromebooks that are already loaded with the full suite of apps for education is a very powerful teaching resource,” Minick explained. “The ability to seamlessly link several different programs to complete a variety of assigned tasks is highly efficient—both for me as a teacher and for the students doing the work.”
