Viral Professional Development

Have you ever felt like your brain is on fire? Your hands are cold and your heart is beating fast. Why? You just got one of those hot ideas that you need to try right away. Things this good don’t wait.

By allowing different people to work on the same document (even in real time), Google Docs gives teachers the ability to draft a rubrics, lesson plans and curricula together. Students completing group projects can do the same with documents, presentation slides or spreadsheets. Group work finally lives up to its label.

The question is – how do you spread the word about this?

Broadcast e-mail? Posting in common e-mail box? Demonstration at a faculty meeting? Professional Development day presentation?

From bad to worse.

Here’s my idea. Create a Google document that reads

“Once upon a time there was a [insert principal’s name here].

Then share the document with one teacher. In the introductory e-mail generated by Google explain this collaboration tool and ask the teacher to create a Google account, write the next line of the story, and then share the document with another teacher.

This is a professional development chain letter that allows the faculty to write a story about the principal together. In the process they will discover they can use communication and information tools without “training”.

One last thing, and it is the most important.

Let the principal know before you start.