Evaluate: Self-Reflection on Teaching Abilities

Evaluate: Self-Reflection on Teaching Abilities

My teaching abilities are shifting with the demands of teaching in the 21st century.  When I started using technology tools in the classroom in 2000, I was ahead of the curve in the educational field, but behind the curve in the real world.  Unlike most people,  I am really bad slow at learning new things.  My brain needs to have some time to develop a cadence and a storage space for the new skill or understanding. It took me over 20 blog posts to really get in the swing of how to do this- and how to best respond to the Quests in the TOOL MOOC.  In some ways, my learning is pedantic.  Yet in other ways, it is instantly transformative. That being said, I think that learning new things slowly makes me a good teacher.  It helps me to do a better job of explaining steps or concepts to children.  It also helps me to understand why I need to give them plenty of practice opportunities in order to develop their own cadence.

My classroom is messy.  Science is messy.  When I am under pressure, the last thing  I will drop is my time to interact with the students.  This has been a very stressful few weeks, so - yes, my classroom is messy.  I'll be going in early on Monday morning to start to straighten things up, even though I know that by the end of the day, it will again be messy.  My colleagues say that I am creative, and that sometimes being creative has its drawbacks.  I would agree.  My students love the creativity.  I have been told that I "over-motivate" their child by my creativity.  Ah, but their child is creating amazing digital artifacts that reflect her wondrous learning.

I give.  To my students, to my colleagues, to anyone who needs something.  If I have it, I give it.  Usually appreciated are my lesson plans, supplies, or chocolate.  Usually not appreciated is the unsolicited advice.

I get them.  The students know me and i know them.  I get them.  They are amazed when i seem to be reading their minds.  It makes me feel really cool when they say, "Wow, how did you know that?"

They trust me.  I am their teacher, not their buddy, and the line of distinction is very clear.  Yet, they tell me things and ask for help and are open and honest with me and with each other within my classroom walls.

I forget.  I forget their names.  I forget the names of these sweet children who love and trust me.  Yet, I know their hearts, their personalities, and what they missed on the last test.   How can this be?  I tell them all the time, "It's really hard living inside this head."  When I use work samples from 10 years ago, I can tell them all about the wonderful characteristics of the child who made it just by seeing the project and their name.

I grade with fairness and consistency.  Unfortunately, I grade slowly.  The rubrics help, and the computerized grading provided by quia.com has saved me on countless times.  If I could sit with each of them and grade their work, I would be happier.   It is the personal touch and the feedback that i so want to give to them, which is a good thing- and something I do well, but it makes me grade slowly.

I engage them.  They do my homework and my projects with relish and gusto.  (Think I'm kidding?)  I tell lame jokes that they are sure that I made up, and they laugh at them and retell them to each other.  It must be a grandmother thing.  They listen intently to my talks (lectures with notes) and then to each other as they grapple with the new concepts or apply learned concepts to new situations.

I'm not so good at pedagogical terms.  I feel them.  An expert can watch me teach, and I am intentional about what I do.  Yet- when it is time to use the terminology, all I can think of is that I love my students and help them to grow.

I'm reflective. Brenau University was my Alma Mater, and their teacher training programs put self reflection as a matter of surviving the ever evolving and sometimes revolving education systems that I had aspired to join.  In the past 10 years, the focus on the use of data has heightened so much that I wouldn't even consider using a new approach unless there was data showing substantial benefits in doing so.

I creatively follow directions.  (That's not saying that I do my own thing.) What I mean by that is that on one day, I will interpret the directions in a completely different way than on another day.  Which is why I reflect- and check back, like I did tonight and discovered that I had totally invented my own set of instructions for this last TOOL MOOC blog post.  Thank goodness!  If I hadn't, what would have been here would have been just what is below this line:

____________________________________________

I am a data nerd. I use data to drive my instruction, my assessments, my choice of learning activities, and any remediation activities needed.  What good would it do to use these resources to drive instruction if I were't reflecting on my lesson development, delivery, and assessment practices?  A key practice that I employ is active reflection.   I model it and my students have take it up.  The dialogue goes something like this:

"what worked well with that?"/  "Students were  engaged."         

"What was their take-away?" / "They understand heat transfer."

"What was supposed to be their take away?" / "Convection, conduction, and radiation."                  ' 

 "That IS heat transfer.  Did they get MORE?"

 "Yes, lol- some far transfer to why the  cafeteria was so hot at the dance."      

"What didn't go so well?"          /"It took longer than anticipated."       

"How would you improve your plan" / "Use timers for each segment of activity."

They crack up when they hear me, but now, I can tell that they have engaged their minds along with mine and they are actually talking it through for themselves. Students are always engaged in self-assessment in my classroom; which is a really good thing, as we set goals together for the student to reach and for me to support.  As much student goal setting and reflection that I put to use in my classroom, I do so much more so in my own self.  My community of teachers practice reflection on a regular basis.  Why be a stagnant person when you can be dynamic- and ever changing, improving, and being a part of a society that needs good teachers now more than ever.  

Sometimes it is hard to look at myself, especially as my own worst critic.  I could rewrite every lesson and change every lab and certainly find mistakes in every  project rubric.  But that's not really the point.  The point is to keep growing as a person and as a professional.   The point is to grow these kids as people and future professionals.  The point is to be a part of a community that is preparing society, one child at a time, to be society.

Evaluate: Differentiation 3.1.1

Evaluate: Differentiation 3.1.1

Test data can (should) be used to differentiate instruction.  According to the summary report below, I have four groups of students.  One group does not meet mastery, another group that just under mastery, a group that meets mastery level, and a group that exceeds mastery.  These results help to inform my instruction over the next few days.  My two lower groups will meet with me in "grade recovery time" for additional instruction and opportunities to apply the concepts in a way that would enter long term memory and become a tool for future use.  As I am in a F2F setting, but use a blended model, this meeting can take place in a google document where I place a learning object and the invited students work towards solving the problem that I present and answering some of the guiding questions.

My higher fliers can be teamed up on google documents as well and challenged to create concept maps or other visual representation of meaningful course content.  This could be a reflective piece, a connective piece, or an anticipatory piece.

 This set shows me that I have 7 or 8 students who will need remediation.  Depending on the context of their missed questions, I can either select from my tool kit of activities or develop new activities to meet their content knowledge deficiencies.

Thanks to the information contained in this report, I can see which distractors were the most common- and glean an understanding of the students point of view and perception of the content.  I can also use this data to craft my response - remediative or enriching.

Evaluate: Rubrics and Competencies 2.1.2

Evaluate: Rubrics and Competencies 2.1.2

A competency is the degree to which a student can accomplish a task or give evidence that he or she has mastered the content.

Below are two screen shots.  On is a portion of the rubric with 5 listed criteria that Canvas calls Learning Outcomes.  Students receive a numerical score for the outcome that correlates to their performance.

This screen shot highlights the gradient of mastery, which makes i clear that the "Learning Outcome" is indeed a competency.  Each of the learning outcomes in the rubric have learning outcomes associated. (As it should be i education.)

Evaluate: Data Driven Instruction, Analytics, Reporting Tools 2.1.1

Evaluate: Data Driven Instruction, Analytics, Reporting tools 2.1.1

"Instruction that is driven by data is to education as travelling across country with GPS is to arriving at your destination."  - K. Salomon

Teachers can improve their own instruction, their instructional objects, their use of instructional tools, as well as the success level of their students by considering what data collected could be showing.  Some different types of data:

Student Self-Monitoring Data- 

Students Monitor their own learning and track their progress by checking their LMS assessment and feedback section.  Students can additionally see their testing history and set goals for future achievement. Teachers could work with students and support them in reaching their goals.  I have a specific reward for each of my students if the meet their personal CRCT goal. If they meet my "stretch goal" they will be invited to an ice cream sundae party.  (I am in a F2F classroom at this time.)  Student self tracking of data is an important lifetime skill to help them to develop in these formative years.

Monitoring course progress and feedback- 
Instructors can monitor student progress in the LMS in a few different ways.  The number of logins and time spent on tasks are available in some systems.  Instructors can use that information to see of students are regularly attending class and working on their goals, or if the efforts are all last-minute.  More checks by instructors early in the semester may increase student achievement if the instructor communicates to the student about the student level of involvement and what is to be expected.  Encouragement and motivation "applied" early in the course can help students to make significant changes in their work habits to achieve higher grades and have a more fulfilling learning process.

Monitoring enrollment and attendance-
Enrollment, attendance, communication, and student type information can be obtained from the LMS.  This information is crucial in determining the path forward from any point in the course.  Whether a student is achieving at his or her ability level or not can be determined by utilizing this data and teachers should always consider this data before contacting a student to encourage them.

Applied Analytics-

Analytics in other ways also help to drive instruction to increase student success.  First- test questions can be reevaluated if large numbers of students are missing certain questions.  Only through the use of data can a track record for a particular question be obtained.  Attached are two screen shots of a test and the data on some of the questions.   In one case, there was a problem with the test item and in the other case, some reteaching needed to be done.

Evaluate: The Summative Assessment 1.1.3

Evaluate:  The Summative Assessment 1.1.3

I use a service for testing called quia.com.

Validity- To ensure that the summative assessment is valid, my curriculum group meets to develop common assessments.  This professional collaboration helps to keep the test items focused on uncovering what a student has mastered as well as areas of concern.  We begin with the AKS- Academic Skills and knowledge. (Gwinnett County's form of the State Science Standards)  Using vetted resources, our Professional Learning Community develops test questions designed to test the student knowledge of the content.  We track data on each test item.

Reliability- The tests are scaled with DOK and aligned with the curriculum standards.  We track the questions with problems and improve them every year.  This test has had 3 revisions since its inception and is continuously being improved and adjusted to meet student needs and to align more closely with the standards.

Security- The test security is relatively good.  Students cannot access their test unless they log in to the secure website to take the test.   I have the option of making the test questions viewable or not after the test, so the content is able to be kept secure.  Information regarding the time the test began and ended is recorded along with the scores, attempts, and missed questions.  This information keeps me well informed in case a student tries to take the test twice.  Student information is not visible to anyone without secure login, which keeps the student safe.

An example test is attached.  There are dynamic graphics associated with the test, and available to be viewed in the attached PDF file.   Summative-Assessment_Example   The viewer would be better served to open the attachment than to try to view the test without graphics as it would take 16 pages to expand below.

Evaluate: Quality Feedback 1.1.2

Evaluate: Quality Feedback 1.1.2

Formative feedback occurred at several steps through this project as I checked in with each group of four at least three times during the course of the project.  I have hidden student names and such for privacy.  This is meaningful in that they grew to trust me early in the year- that I would not grade them on anything less than their final project.  What could not be captured is the chat sessions that were ongoing thourghout the project when students were online synchronously.  The comments that are captured are from asynchronous sessions. The following image is of the project as they neared completion.  There are more substantive comments from me regarding digital citizenship, the content, and a suggestion for higher order thinking: 

Evaluate: Formative Assessment 1.1.1

Evaluate:  Formative Assessment 1.1.1

Formative Assessment 1 and 2:  

When the scope of what I want to learn about them is large, I sometimes use a pre-test.  Below are 2 pretests that I have developed. These are formative assessmenst that I use to see what my students already do know.  Since we have 4 feeder schools to our middle school, students can have a wide range of former science experiences. I receive disaggregated data from quia.com.  Use any name to access the preassessment.


Quia.com

Earth Science: Ch 10-11-12 PREASSESSMENT Erosion, Deposition and Hydrology http://www.quia.com/quiz/1162131.html

Canvas
What do you already know about weathering, erosion, and deposition?

 

My favorite formative assessments, however, are the ones in which students explore with hands-on materials. One example is when I challenge the students to keep an ice cube from melting.  They all get a plastic bag with an ice cube, aluminum foil, 2 paper towel squares,  a sandwich bag, and tape.  I watch and take notes as they try various configurations to see if their ice cube could survive until the end of the class.

At the end of the week, students have the opportunity to try the challenge again.  This time, after learning about insulators and conductors, most students were able to "Save" their ice cubes until the end of the class.

Create: Aggregating Lesson Material 4.1.3

Create: Aggregating Lesson Material 4.1.3

Desire2Learn- 
Desire2 Learn is a robust LMS platform that can be used to curate learning objects, among other things.  It is expensive, and the cost varies according to the use and the number of anticipated users.
Moodle-  
Still free.  Versions upgrades have added features and enhanced performance.
Canvas by Instructure-  
Free.  beta mode.  Not as robust as Moodle and doesn't give flexibility with grading options.

Create: Principles of Building Portable Learning Objects 4.1.2

Create: Principles of Building Portable Learning Objects 4.1.2

Object 1:  ReadActively.com  

 This tool lets teachers create learning objects by creating interactive questions and comments on creative commons articles.   I have used an article from the USGS.  To try this, feel free to use the login that I created.  You will see some questions answered as I made a screen cast of the process.
To enter as "Verifier Tool", go the the website:  https://read.activelylearn.com  Sign in as: verifier_tool  password is: openteachertraining

Enroll options:
1) go to https://read.activelylearn.com, create a new student account (if necessary), and enter the code: C7B2A1F6 after you select "Join Class"
2) Use this link: https://read.activelylearn.com/#account?cc=C7B2A1F6    You may need to create a new account, if necessary.  (There is only username and password required- no email required for this service.)

Video of the process:

Object 2: Java games on www.quia.com  (go to quia web)

               These games are set up in the style of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"  The questions on this learning object are specific to Meteorology.

Meterology: Atmosphere and Water Cycle

Entering a usernake is 

Meteorology Rags to Riches

http://www.quia.com/rr/178956.html

The website prompts you to log in to get credit for the assignment.  It is not necessary to log in to enjoy the benefits of this activity.  The option for an HTML version is available.

Create: Define and Explain Learning Object Authoring Tools Create 4.1.1

Create:  Define and Explain Learning Object Authoring Tools Create 4.1.1

Free Tools:

• www.prezi.com- This is by far my favorite presentation software because it is versatile and can be used collaboratively.  It is very easy to use and I love the fact that I can post images and multimedia as well as text.  It can be set to auto present or it can be manually presented.  It can be downloaded as a multi page PDF or as a Prezi presentation.
• docs.google.com- This is my "go to" source to create all kinds of learning ojects from venn diagrams and forms to rubrics and story boards.  I can imbed the information that I want my students to learn and assign a document to each group.  I can check their participation and progress via the "view" settings as all changes and edits are tracked.
• https://bubbl.us/- This is an easy to use mind map creator.  I use this tool to quickly organize content for writing prompts.  I have also presented students with very basic mind maps and turned them loose to develop the mind map to it's fullest potential.

Paid Tools: 

• www.glogster.com- This is a "digital poster making website" in the simplest description, but it can be used for so much more. I bought a "lifetime" subscription to glogster because it was so useful.  I make introductory glogs for every unit upon which I can insert text, video, assignments, and support material.  It is like a LiveBinder, only pretty!  My students enjoy creating their own glogs.  The tools is helpful because 
• www.quia.com- This is a multifaceted learning object creation site.  Tests, quizzes, games and writing assignments can all be created on this website for the use of students in years to come.  All of the learning objects are editable so that they can be updated as curriculum changes or new discoveries in science are made. I pay $50.00 a year for my quia subscription and it has been worth every penny.  I have not had to copy tests or buy 3x5 cards for flash cards or make a ton of "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" games because of the applets available on quia.  

Create: Locating Resources 3.1.3

Create: Locating Resources 3.1.3

Jewel Box Sun "Please give credit for this item to:  NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center"

Telescopes help distant objects appear bigger, but this is only one of their advantages. Telescopes can also collect light in ranges that our eyes alone cannot see, providing scientists ways of observing a whole host of material and processes that would otherwise be inaccessible. A new NASA movie of the sun based on data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, shows the wide range of wavelengths - invisible to the naked eye - that the telescope can view. SDO converts the wavelengths into an image humans can see, and the light is colorized into a rainbow of colors. As the colors sweep around the sun in the movie, viewers should note how different the same area of the sun appears. This happens because each wavelength of light represents solar material at specific temperatures. Different wavelengths convey information about different components of the sun's surface and atmosphere, so scientists use them to paint a full picture of our constantly changing and varying star. Yellow light of 5800 Angstroms, for example, generally emanates from material of about 10,000 degrees F (5700 degrees C), which represents the surface of the sun. Extreme ultraviolet light of 94 Angstroms, which is typically colorized in green in SDO images, comes from atoms that are about 11 million degrees F (6,300,000 degrees C) and is a good wavelength for looking at solar flares, which can reach such high temperatures.  By examining pictures of the sun in a variety of wavelengths - as is done not only by SDO, but also by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and the European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- scientists can track how particles and heat move through the sun's atmosphere.

Visualization By NASA Goddard Visualization Studio- creative commons with attribution requested

"NASA's Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio. The mission of the Scientific Visualization Studio is to facilitate scientific inquiry and outreach within NASA programs through visualization. To that end, the SVS works closely with scientists in the creation of visualization products, systems, and processes in order to promote a greater understanding of Earth and Space Science research activities at Goddard Space Flight Center and within the NASA research community."

NASA Jewel Box Sun

Create: Fair Use and the TEACH Act 3.1.2

Create:  Fair Use and the TEACH Act 3.1.2

How does an understanding of Fair Use affect one's role as an online instructor?
Ignorance of the law does not constitute a defense for breaking the law.  It is every educator's responsibility under their code of ethics to abide by the law.  When there are gray areas, such as with the Fair Use Law,  teachers need to use the 4 part checklist that helps qualify and quantify the use.  The main areas of the checlist are headed by the following topics:  "Purpose", "Nature", "Amount", and "Effect". The web site can be found here: Fair Use Checklist  Instructors need to set good examples for their students  and err on the more conservative side of the checklist at all times.

How do Fair Use and the TEACH Act correlate to the delivery of reliable content?
The TEACH Act veritably places a buffer zone around Fair Use for teachers.  By specifically targeting teachers and their need to utilize creative and effective illustrations and images, the TEACH Act made it much easier for teachers to deliver attention grabbing content!

Create: Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons 3.1.1

Create: Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons 3.1.1

Open educational resources are licensed for use for educational purposes.  These resources are free for teachers to use.

I recommend signing up for a resource such as Open Educational Resources Commons, which is an extremely organized online community full of members who develop educational content to be offered to other teachers free of charge.  There are many resources available and members can use their search engines to find what they need.

There are several basic types of licenses.  They range from creative commons attribution only to noncommercial attribution.  Please watch my short video to see and hear about them:

Create: Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Student Assessment 2.1.3

Create: Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Student Assessment 2.1.3

Since students must all gain mastery over the same content during the course of the unit, teachers must employ differentiation of the process and/or the products of the learning unit.  Formative assessments are utilized during the process, the "how" of learning.  The products represent the out come of the learning: what the student has gained over the course of the unit.

Many web 2.0 tools are versatile enough to support differentiation in student assessment.  One such tool, google docs, is my "go to tool" for student products.  Earlier this year, students were making digital stories about their assigned combination of Earth Science topics. While my class is not a technology class, we do use many types of technology on a daily basis.  However, I cannot assess their science content mastery based on their relative successes with videography, script writing, editing, or other production job.  Instead, I turned to Google docs, and put a story board template online for students to complete with the elements of what they would be trying to convey with their production.  It was clearly stated, written and otherwise communicated that student grades would be based primarily on the quality of the contents in the google document.
During their presentation and immediately afterwards, I was able to quickly type detailed observations, commendations, suggestions, and overall impressions regarding the specific science content.  (example below)

One type of Product with accompanying assessment- using google docs.

Each student then turned in a self assessment and assessment of each of their team members (on paper). Finally, I scored each individual according to the rubric, with consideration given to the information they provided to me in paper form.

As can be seen with this little snippet, the students exercised their choice over how and what to create for the project.  Some students created PPT presentations, others created a PREZI, others filmed themselves in front of a green screen.  these project are designed to have them show me what they know- and the fact that they can choose their style of presentation, which is largely related to their readiness to take on different levels of digital technology.

Three resources that I look forward to putting in my tool box are from the open teacher training.org site:
Resources for Exploration:
"The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools" Article about best tools as determined by teachers.
"Five Minute Film Festival" Series of video tutorials for various web 2.0 tools - aimed at a student audience.
"Web 2.0 Tools for Authentic Assessment" Article about designing assessment.

Create: Tools to Differentiate Teacher Instruction 2.1.2

Create: Tools to Differentiate Teacher Instruction 2.1.2

Teacher instruction is differentiated for students based on several indicators.  One of these indicators is student readiness.  For students who are not yet ready, certain activities can confuse them or frustrate them, which will impede the learning process.  Furthermore, if students get bored with the activity, they will not be learning either.

For student acquisition and mastery of new vocabulary words,  I try to teach them in context as much as possible.  Embedded in that process is a digital game that I use to make student flash cards.  Since 2007, I have found this be be an effective strategy to help students remember complex scientific terminology.  This process enhances the "in context" way that I teach the terms.

Please consider the following 4 methods to teach/learn new terminology as they are presented in order of increasing challenge.

Ready to start getting familiar with the terms- Word Search.  (Stage 1)

Ready to connect the term to the definition -  Word Search  (Stage 2 )

Ready to separate the words mastered from 

the words needing practice. Flash Cards (Stage 3)

Ready to memorize placement as well as the 

meaning - Concentration (Stage 4) 

The increasing difficulty in each of these stages of vocabulary acquisition can be incorporated into a teacher's best practices of differentiating instruction based on readiness.  This is a terrific tool to use with online learners.

Create: Web Tools 2.1.1

Create: Web Tools 2.1.1

Instructional Tools:

1. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/shwave- a well organized, content heavy website that provides animations to help student understand physical science concepts with teacher introduction and support.
2. https://phet.colorado.edu/ - Well-designed Java Applets that allow students to participate in virtual labs.  Teachers can let students practice their prediction skills with the virtual lab without having to spend an arm and a leg on lab equipment.  Also, virtual labs are a great first introduction to precede "hands on" types of labs.  These can be used for online students who might have limited resources at home to conduct investigations and exercise the scientific method.
3. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treehouse/index.cfm - Crazy and fun-  a tutorial for students about the weather.  Teachers can assign sections for specific topics.

Create and Collaborate:

1. www.prezi.com - Students create presentations to share the results of their research into assigned standards.  Collaboration between students makes the experience more interesting- and a great way to connect in an online environment.
2. www.spiderscribe.com - Mind-mapping in a more detailed sense.  Free for 3 mind maps.  (Downloadable as png files.) Great organization tool for writing or projects.
3. www.glogster.com - Students make a digital poster on any assigned topic.  Can be used for book reviews, culture studies, math exemplars, or to show research findings on science topics.
4. http://www.pixton.com/ - Pixton Comic Maker App (in www.edmodo.com)  or www.powtoon.com, or www.toondoo.com for those cartoon makers that help the student tell their story.

Tech Tools:

1. www.picresize.com - Students (and teachers) can use this free little tool to resize their photos and add certain effects.  The photo can be saved and embedded into a web page as well as turned into a thumbnail.
2. www.audacity.com - Students can record audio on this program and edit it to add special effects and/or get rid of "noise" in their recordings.  A cool tool for making those presentation recordings.
3. Photostory Download - Free download.  Students and teachers can insert photos and add music and words to tell a story about a place, event, or concept.

Create: Appearance 1.1.3

Create:  Appearance 1.1.3

5 Exemplary Sites:
1.   American Museum of Natural History - Well developed.  Graphics are appropriate to attract the attention of children.  The spacing and balance of color is appropriate.  Use of  fonts and animations appropriate for preschool through elementary age children.
2. Energy For Kids - Well developed and appealing.  Clear boundaries around all elements.  Very creative view of page from sky to underground-  (worth a click and scroll) Links work well and the object os the page move as the page is refreshed-  very eye-catching, yet not at all distracting.
3.  Annenberg Learner- Teacher Professional Development  This website has been revamped since last I visited several months ago.  Good use of color and spacing.  Appropriate media objects are in good taste.
4.  Chem4kids:Matter - Great information, and pages are clear of clutter.  Text and graphics are located in the same pane to make it very clear what the content is about.  Each page follows the same template so navigation isn't an "adventure" for each page.
5.  The Physics Classroom - Holy Web Design, Batman!  This page has had a makeover!  Great appeal, "grown up" presentation, yet images are of items that are appealing to kids.  It used to be the ugliest and most tiring website with the greatest content!  Now it is awesome all around.


5 "Aspiring" Sites:
1.  Priority Professional Development   Too much contrast on page between stark white and Blinding orange.  Text is placed in large chunks.  Main Image does not display.  Some pages appear to be unfinished.
2.  Science Education at Jefferson Lab- This page hasn't had any formatting changes for several years.  It is static in design, with the graphics existing as "clip art" decorations - not much purpose.  Kids page is filled with links and has no engaging graphics.  Looks like the 10 year old web page that it is.
3.  Minerals Home Page - This website is all about minerals, and I have relied upon it in the past to help identify minerals that I had encountered.  It was obviously built for SVGA monitors with   600x800 viewing size.  The web page still has all the great content, but it fits a little over half of the laptop screen.  Lots of italics and close together words.
4.   Astronomy Classes - Looks like html editing only.  No graphics, just super bright blue text in varying sizes on a white background.  Hurts to look at.
5.  San Jose University's New Webpages - Aqua background with Bright Yellow hurts the eyes.  Linear layout, no popping graphics, and a couple of broken links characterize this website.  Looks like an instructional site developed by a Silicon Valley professor for use with his classes.  Probably developed 20 years ago and was, at that time, "state of the art".  Applets.

Create: Creating a Content Map 1.1.2

Create: Creating a Content Map 1.1.2

Early scientists invented telescopes to help them see over great distances.  Some of these scientists have become famous astronomers.  There were three main type sof light telescopes, and now there are even more types of non-visual telescopes that give us amazing details about the community of stars in which our solar system is nestled.  This concept map will help students to see the types of modern telescopes and the original models that inspired their development.

Telescopes:  "To See Far"

Create: Time management 1.1.1

Create:  Time management 1.1.1

Five Useful Time Management Tools:

1. Calendar-  whether it is an electronic calendar or a paper based planner, no successful person can navigate through the busy world with out one.  Users can manage appointment times, keep track of contacts, annotate useful resources and websites, and even set reminders for meetings, due dates, and other events.

2. Checklist- there are many apps that can be used to keep track (and cross off) those "to do" items that just keep populating your life.  One of the apps I like is free.  Called, Any.do, this app has ease of use all wrapped up in an easy to use format.   One of the best apps, though, is the one called "Carrot".  It costs $1.99, but is worth every penny.  It is only for iPhones and iPads.  The advertisers call it, "listmaking with personality".  It has its very own trailer: http://meetcarrot.com/todo/

3. Rewards and Consequences
Set up rewards and consequences for yourself to encourage yourself to make better choices.  Reward:  chose from a list of inexpensive pleasures.  Consequences:  use a random number generator to select one of ten predetermined consequences. Set up consequences like cleaning up after an animal, dead heading the flowers, taking out the trash, cleaning all the toilets, and other chores that need to be done and are waiting for "someday" to come along and have at them! .  (That's right- finishers get to exercise choice and slackers have to make due with whatever happens.)  May the odds be on their side.

4. Planning:
The fundamental activity necessary for effective time management is planning.  Planning is used whenever events are strategically placed in a calendar, whenever check lists are written and completed, and whenever reward and punishment systems are set up.  Planning skills must include the ability to chunk large projects into manageable sizes, set priorities for the most important tasks, schedule time with large tasks for those "contingencies" that often pop up to delay your task completion and schedule regular and recurring times for exercise, study, work, sleep, social time, and rest.  Planning must be done reflectively for it to stick- reflect on what worked and what didn't work so well and make changes as necessary.  Reflect on what part of the day was most effective for you to accomplish the more difficult tasks and plan accordingly.

5. Use near-time tools. the use of a simple tool like an online count down timer or even a kitchen timer can break massive tasks down into sizes that fit more easily into your day.  Sometimes we have a tendency to wander while online and doing homework.  Using a timer can help you to stay focused and get your work done.  Also use a time for the breaks between work sessions.  An easy to use online timer with alarm function can be found at:  http://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown/  I open up two browser windows and set the first time to 55 minutes and the second timer to 5 minutes.  I then start the 55 minute timer and work like a crazy person to get my tasks completed before it rings.  The 5 minute timer is for the breaks between working sessions.  You can run up and down two sets of stairs in 2 minutes and use the restroom, wash your hands, and refill your water in 5 minutes.

Communicate: The Synchronous Session 4.3.1

Communicate: The Synchronous Session 4.3.1

Usefulness of synchronous sessions

The most helpful thing about a synchronous session is that much information, understandings, and good will can be cultivated in a short amount of time.  Many people attribute the synchronous sessions with the ability to build the connections that are so vital to a healthy and thriving digital community.  Whether a student is able to attend the session or not, when an instructor records the session, the student is able to get a feeling of connectedness with the rest of the class.  The information covered and the points of view that are represented will help get the student caught up with his or her classmates in no time.  

 Awkwardness of synchronous sessions

For the first few times of participation (ore leading) a synchronous learning session, there can be a feeling of awkwardness.  One way to overcome this is to have something ready for the participants to view or hear- or both.  Just like in a F2F classroom, student attention needs to be gathered, focused, and then productively engaged.  Sometimes, though, no matter how well prepared you may be, things can go wrong in a synchronous session- it is not the end of the world, and not the end of the session.  Establish early on that if there is a disconnect, the students would reconnect and that the session will go on to complete the allotted time.   

Breakout Groups

Sometimes, it is easier and more comfortable to work in smaller break out groups.  These groups take a little more work to monitor than one large group, but the payoff in student participation and engagement is certainly worthwhile.  Platforms such as Adobe Connect offer instructors the ability to put students into these smaller groups. Each group has retains the functionality of the main group. In addition, each participant of the breakout group has instructor capabilities within that smaller room, so participants can share digital artifacts, do screen-sharing, web-cam sharing, instant polls, etc. It's a great way to have students collaborate and then bring the experience with them to the main group to report and share highlights.

Communicate: Discussions 4.2.3

Communicate: Discussions 4.2.3

What role or purpose do discussion forums serve in the online classroom and are they effective?

Discussion in f2f classrooms have long been sanctioned as a tool of engagement, interaction, and learning. The online classroom is in a unique position to take these discussions to the next level as participants have to opportunity to ponder, research, and check their writings before posting.  When exemplary discussions are posted, is is often the case that responses and more discussion will follow on that post.  When instructors are present in the discussion area, as indicated by their participation, the quality of the discussion is higher than when instructors are silent observers.  It is through discussion that classmates get to know each other enough to consider teaming up for group projects and other collaborative endeavors.  Discussion forums also provide a measure of feedback for instructors as they simultaneously engage students and improve morale. If instructors are present and participating effectively, discussion forums can also be used to develop more positive attitudes among the participants.

How do discussion forums function as a teaching tool?

As a teaching tool, discussion forums stimulate thinking and provoke responses from forum members. Depending on the topic, the level of excellence set by the instructor, and the level of motivation of the participants, discussion forums can provide a major component of the intellectual exercise required to train up a highly qualified professional mind!  Depending on the level of engagement and interaction, discussions can inspire a participant to search for evidence in support of- or evidence against any claim made by another participant.  Some discussion threads can be heavily populated to the 4th and 5th level.  In this example, the participation in the discussion inherently causes learning to take place.  The more robust the argument, ahem, discussion, the more motivated students are to learn as they engage in higher levels of thinking.

How could they be used effectively and ineffectively?  Furthermore, what are some best practices for facilitating forums online?

For discussions to be effective, they need to be monitored.  The instructor must have presence online and act to keep discussions within the parameters necessary.  By the use of excellent questioning skills, the instructor could put his students in a situation where the discussion forum lives well beyond the assignment.  It is also important for instructors to reply in  meaningful way to all first level posts.  There should be a requirement that each student participate in a third level strand in at leas one post per discussion question.

Ineffective discussions are ones that are not monitored and in which the professor has not presence or participation.  Sometimes students post a discussion and not a single person responds.  This is a travesty of sorts- and the instructor has a responsibility to support all students in their learning, and leaving a discussion post responseless could indicate the student that the instructor does not care for them. One of my first classes in the Instructional Technology Program was one with a professor who merely counted posts and responses to issue a grade.  Furthermore, all of the grading was done at the very end of the semester.  There was very little instructor presence in the class- and none in the discussion forums.  We thought we were all alone in there.  Unfortunately, the instructor missed some key opportunities to influence us through the discussions, and several students left that class with very bad feelings.

Ultimately, the discussions are only as effective as the participants are active and engaged.  The best discussion class ever was one from last fall where the instructor was present and the students posted insightful and challenging responses.  There were many 3rd, 4th and 5th level threads to these discussions.  For the first time in my graduate degree experience, I learned what it was to be a part of a robust and interactive learning community.  (Thank you, Dr. D'alba!)

Communicate: Digital Feedback 4.2.2

Communicate: Digital Feedback 4.2.2

Dynamic digital feedback can be shared in a multitude of ways.  Here are three ways that will not only provide authentic assessment and communication, but will reinforce expectations and provide good modeling for all students involved:

1.  http://edu.glogster.com/  Glogster is an exciting resource for students to use to make digital posters.  When students complete their projects, they post them in the digital classroom for viewing.  Fellow students then use a scoring rubric to assess classmate work in 4 categories.   Each student is required to practice good digital citizenship as they score a minimum of 5 other student projects.  The scores and substantive comments are left in the comment section for each student project.  Ideally, each student receives at least 3 comments from classmates and 1 comment from the teacher.

2. www.prezi.com  Prezi has delivered an amazing resource for student projects.  It is best used for projects in a collaborative sense- where 2 - 4 students develop a presentation and share in the research. Furthermore, like in the case of glogster, students can view each other's creations, assess it, and leave substantive comments.  From my experience, students work even harder to impress their peers than they do to impress their teacher!



3. www.edmodo.com  Students can complete assignments on Edmodo and teachers can both grade and leave digital comments for feedback.  Unlike the other two options, these are private assessments and the grade and comments remain private as well.  Attached is a screen shot of a comment and of a panel of students, some of whom did not complete the assignment.

Finally, one of my favorite ways to give digital feedback is to have students vote on the top 4  venn diagrams created with googledocs.  I then take a volunteer from each team and set up a mystery subject venn diagram.  At the prescribed appointment time in the evening, all of the volunteers log in and are added to the google doc.  I then make a screen cast of the amazing job they did creating it.  Because of student privacy, I cannot add this to the collection, but wanted to put it out there as a viable idea.

Communicate: Feedback 4.2.1

Communicate: Feedback 4.2.1

These rubrics are for a Meteorology Project that can be either a foldable or a digital LiveBinder.  Rubrics provide excellent opportunities for instructors to give good quality and authentic feedback.  The personal note at the end of the rubric may well be the most rewarding part to the young student.

For this project, three meteorology standards were used:

Science Standards:

S6E4. Students will understand how the distribution of land and oceans affects climate and weather.

a. Demonstrate that land and water absorb and lose heat at different rates and explain the resulting effects on weather patterns.

b. Relate unequal heating of land and water surfaces to form large global wind systems and weather events such as tornadoes and thunderstorms.

c. Relate how moisture evaporating from the oceans affects the weather patterns and weather events such as hurricanes.

The first link is to the excel document that automatically adds up the categories and gives and area for written feedback. (teacher use)
Teacher Scoring Rubric with auto-addition  (Teachers will really like the auto-addition feature!)

The second link is to the rubric with the itemized specifics for each category.  (student use/planning use)
Student use rubric with guidelines

Content Category	Score 1 - 10:
4 main types of air masses	10
Describe the four types of fronts.  Draw each type.	8
Give an example of a cyclone and anticyclone.	10
Explain the causes, effects and compare the two.
Draw a map of North America showing where the air masses originate and flow.	10
Storms:  Thunderstorm, Tornadoes, Hurricane and Winter Storms	7
(Feature your favorite one, but describe all 4)
Hurricane Tracking Chart	10
Floods and Flood Safety	8
Four Weather instruments or technologies used now and Two weather instruments used in the past (4)	8
Weather Map Drawing with at least 6 weather symbols and legend.	10
Neatness/Pages used to the Best Effect	10
Last page Bibliography/sources cited
Colorful/Creative Presentation/personal initiative
Spelling, editing, and language use
Instructor Comments:   Carabelle, you did an excellent job with organizing your project.  The tornado symbols to turn each page were creative as was your entire presentation.  You cited your sources appropriately and I saw good evidence of exemplary digital citizenship.  For the missed points, you named two fronts the same thing, described only 3 storms, only included 2 of 4 flood safety warnings, and  misnamed two weather instruments.  These are minor issues that you might have caught if you had time for a parent of friend to assess your project before the due date.   My favorite page is the Hurricane tracking chart.  You really did a great job with making it interesting and informative.  Those angry faces that you used to indicate the wind speed were hilarious! Thank you for sharing your work with me., All in all you scored a 91, which is a very respectable score.
Green Section is 10%
Total Grade out of 100	91