Teacher Tech PD: Designing a One‑Day Training on Google Classroom

Overview

One‑day PD can be highly effective if it focuses on teacher practice, hands‑on time, and next‑step support. This guide offers a timed agenda, session descriptions, and ready‑to‑use materials for a full‑day workshop that leaves teachers ready to implement Classroom with confidence.

Audience & Goals

Audience: Mixed experience teachers (novice to intermediate). Goals: create a class, post and grade an assignment, use rubrics and feedback, and design one lesson using a provided template.

Agenda (9:00 AM — 3:30 PM)

• 9:00 — 9:30: Welcome & goals, quick survey of teacher needs.
• 9:30 — 10:30: Core workflows — create class, post assignment, collect work (hands‑on).
• 10:45 — 11:30: Rubrics, grading, and inline feedback (hands‑on).
• 11:30 — 12:00: Using Forms for quick checks & branching (demo + practice).
• 12:00 — 12:45: Lunch (optional drop‑in help table).
• 12:45 — 1:30: Differentiation tools & add‑ons (mini‑stations).
• 1:45 — 2:30: Design lab — teachers create a lesson using a template.
• 2:30 — 3:00: Peer share & feedback using Goobric-style rubrics.
• 3:00 — 3:30: Next steps, support channels, and wrap up.

Session Details

Core workflows

Teachers complete a checklist: create a class, invite co‑teacher, post an assignment with an attached file, and mark a submission as returned. Coaches circulate to provide immediate help.

Rubrics and feedback

Build a simple 3‑criterion rubric aligned to learning objectives. Practice applying rubric scores to student work samples and leaving targeted comments.

Design lab

Teachers pick a template (mini‑lesson, flip + practice, or project launch) and design a fully formed lesson. Each teacher posts the lesson as an assignment to a sandbox class and exchanges assignments with peers for feedback.

Materials to Prepare

• Starter sandbox classes for participants.
• Sample student work for grading practice.
• One‑page cheat sheets: Quick Start, Rubrics, Forms branching tips.
• Recorded how‑tos for later reference.

Follow‑up & Sustainability

After the one‑day PD, schedule 30‑minute office hours twice a week for the first month. Offer optional microPD sessions on assessment design and differentiation. Track progress with a short teacher confidence survey at 2 and 8 weeks.

Evaluation

Use the following measures to evaluate the PD: teacher satisfaction scores, percentage of teachers who post weekly assignments within 4 weeks, and reduction in help desk tickets related to basic Classroom workflows.

Final thoughts

A carefully planned one‑day PD that emphasizes hands‑on practice and immediate application is a high‑leverage approach to help teachers adopt Google Classroom. Provide sustained coaching and celebrate early wins to maintain momentum.