I’m happy to report that there was a lot of progress last week as teachers returned to school for professional development.

After a yearlong campaign, Google Docs has gained some momentum.

If there’s one good thing about teacher turnover (seven teachers this year), it’s that new teachers are more open to trying Google Docs.

It’s not just because they’re usually younger; it’s also that they want to fit in.

I’m happy to see my colleagues moving away from Microsoft Office to Google Docs. Teachers are now initiating Google Docs without my prompting. Here are some examples:

• Shared office hours chart so everyone knows when teachers are available to help students after school;
• Shared common curriculum for Advisory Retreat;
• Shared substitute call list that will always stay current.

These sound simple, but it’s the little things that make schools run more efficiently. Undue, unnecessary stress emerges when information is outdated, inaccurate, or duplicated. At my school, there are versions upon versions of Word documents, saved in different locations on the server, with no one knowing exactly which is which, and with everyone nervous about deleting another person’s work.

Now it’s time to take this energy and build off it. What’s important this year will be training staff to use Google Docs so they feel confident in using the applications and incorporating them into their teaching.

Today, I went back to school for professional development.

It was great to see my colleagues again, but I have to say, I wasn’t looking forward to hearing them yell, “My computer’s not hooked up!”

Yes, this happens every year. The custodians wax the floors during the summer, which means the computers get moved, wires get mixed up, and teachers go a little crazy.

Because our school is small, and because we don’t have a full-time tech person, I’m the guy who ends up trying to allay my colleagues’ fears.

But I just don’t get it. Most of my colleagues are in their 20s and 30s, live in the Bay area, change their Facebook statuses regularly, and use their iPhone to text their students. Can’t they hook up a desktop computer?

Apparently, not all of them can. There’s a difference between using a computer and setting one up, and hardware gets adults nervous. In fact, last year, I did a workshop called “Computer Troubleshooting 101.” It was fun seeing how my colleagues interacted with the machines. It reminded me of the time in second grade when I inadvertently pressed the Break button on the school’s Apple IIe and thought I had destroyed the computer.

Another problem is that technology is still not an integral part of the classroom. It doesn’t help that we just got rid of our Pentium IIs. Students still use pencils and markers, and teachers get praise when they assign a PowerPoint project.

So it’s going to take a while. It reminds me that focusing on getting the students excited about technology won’t do it all. We have to have teachers willing to try, too. Wish me luck on my presentation next Monday, when I challenge my colleagues to do at least one project this year that involves technology. Is it possible? I hope so.