While I expected to learn about data analysis in this course, I didn't expect to learn about collaborative inquiry and equity of voices as means to guide a high-functioning data team. Data teams, and data coaches, don't just look closely at different levels of the data pyramid, they also build a culture of data within the school so that data-driven decision making and data-driven dialogue are sustainable even after the data coach has left the building.
In this course, I assembled a hypothetical data team, based on my school context, and I learned how to create norms among the group that will lead to honest, data-driven conversations (PSC 5.2/ISTE 4b). I also learned about the importance of a diversity of perspectives in a data-driven conversations, so that the team can explore different avenues and arrive at the best solutions to support student learning. In order to best serve students, teams members should familiarize themselves with the Cultural Proficiency Continuum in order to avoid biased thinking about groups of students that might limit their potential to learn (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c). It's important that data coaches separate data-based observations from inferences about data so that a possible cause or solution is not dismissed by the team (PSC 2.8/ISTE 2h). Next, I created inventories of instructional initiatives and sources of student assessment data as resources that might benefit any future data team at my school. I became familiar with public sources of student data that might help the team to drill down into dis-aggregated data, like The Governor's Office of Student Achievement's Report Card. Perhaps most importantly, I practiced sorting, filtering, and mapping data into visual charts that best represent the data (PSC 2.8/ISTE 2h). The quick Excel tutorial in this course is hands down what will help me the most in the future. Creating colorful and persuasive representations of student learning will help with faculty buy-in when teachers are asked to adopt an instructional initiative based on the data. Using the different levels of the data pyramid as a guide, I "drilled down" data from students at my school in order to identify student learning problems, verify causes, suggest instructional solutions that might remedy the student learning problem (PSC 2.8/ISTE 2h). This was an eye-opening experience since there were so many possible variable to account for. Finally, I created two action plans based on the results of my data overview. For one, I recommended a instructional solution, from an arensal of strategies, to solve the identified student learning problem (PSC 2.7/ISTE 2g). For the other, I designed a year-long plan, including a meeting schedule and curriculum activities, for implementing a data team at my school (PSC 1.2/ISTE 1b). Overall, I'm very happy with what I learned in this course, and I look forward to sharing what I know with my fellow teachers and with my school.
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You don't have to ask me to editorialize twice. I enjoyed doing the work for this course because I learned new, practical tools I to try in my classroom or recommend to co-workers, as a technology coach-in-training.
Each week we learned new tech tools centered around a theme--social media, podcasting, screencasting, Google extentions ans add-ons, apps, and virtual reality. We really were exposed to a great variety of classroom tools in this course (PSC 3.2/ISTE 3b). I found the modules on Google Add-ons and VR especially interesting--both were completely new to me. Additionally, in our blogs we practiced evaluating the tools we tried for age-appropriateness, user-friendliness, content-area compatibility and overall value-add to the learning experience (PSC 3.6/ISTE 3f). I plan on using artifacts from my blogs as evidence that I have mastered selecting and evaluating digital tools and resources (PSC 3.6/ISTE 3f). Furthermore, we learned more about reaching certain student populations with the strategic use of digital tools. In the English Language Learner (ELL) module we studied how students learn English socially and academically, and how misconceptions about this, in itself, diverse population of learners might hinder learning. We read about choosing tech tools combined wiith pedagogy--such as Universal Design for Learning--that support an ELL student's learning through content, process and products that display their content-area learning, even as they build language skills (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c). In another module, we read about digital equity, a topic I feel strongly about since I teach at a Title I school in an immigrant community. I enjoyed reading strategies to support mobile learning in particular, since a large slice of my student population learns on their phones at home and, often, at school (PSC 4.1/ISTE 5a). I realize that I need to teach students technology skills explicitly and provide more supports--video tutorials, handouts online--than I have been doing (PSC 3.2/ISTE 3b). I tried to correct this issue in my Lesson Plan project, by providing multiple options and multiple supports for each tech tool. I also feel that I learned more about teaching all student safe practices online, by taking some of Common Sense Media's course on Digital Citizenship. It's a topic I feel like I am just beginning to grasp, and would like to learn more about (PSC 4.2/ISTE 5b). Overall, this class, while challenging, certainly helped me grow my skill set as an educator and as a digital coach.
Typically, my AP Seminar students present their research papers in front of my audience and answer oral defense questions on the spot. This year we're doing things differently. Here is my lesson plan for AP Seminar digital presentations, using ISTE's technology standards for students in addition to the College Board standards for AP Seminar. Additionally, here is a link to my AP Seminar Digital Learning Google Site--with resources embedded. I hope everything it clear, and please let me know if you have any questions!
No leader is effective without a clear vision and a plan of action. In ITEC 7410, I practiced building a professional learning network, taking inventory of my school's technological strengths and weakness, drafting a vision of technology-use for my school, devising a plan of action, and seeking funding for a technology-rich project. Additionally, we studied digital equity, and shared strategies we, as school leaders, can enact to help minimize the digital divide (PSC 4.1/ISTE 5a). Overall, this class provided me with the tools and practice I need to lead a technology program.
The first thing we did in ITEC 7410 is grow our professional learning networks (PLN) by connecting with other technology innovators, with our KSU professors, and with each other on Twitter. Additionally, we subscribed to professional technology blogs on Feedly to read about and interact with technology innovators that may not have made their way into scholarship yet. Participating in social media--Twitter and Feedly, among others--helps instructional technology leaders network and stay up-to-date on cutting edge tools (PSC 6.1/ISTE 6a, 6b). Next, in my favorite assignment of the course, we performed a thorough needs assessment of our school's technology program, in the form of a SWOT analysis (PSC 5.1/ISTE 4a). Using the results from the ISTE Transform & Lead Diagnostic Tool, we identified the extent to which our technology programs aligned with ISTE's 14 Essential Conditions for leveraging technology for learning by spelling out our program's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). By going through the essential conditions with a fine-toothed comb and identifying areas of possible growth, I was able to better understand the particular context of my school's technology environment, including where we align with ISTE's Essential Conditions and where we have room to grow. From here we created two documents pivotal to any technology program: a shared vision paper and an action plan. I learned that a shared vision stems from the needs of that school--as identified in my needs assessment--and states a clear outlook for the use of technology in teaching, learning and leadership (PSC 1.1/ISTE 1a). I had to consider all learning goals and stakeholders as well as our current resources and needs in order create a vision that will leverage technology to improve student learning. After creating a shared vision, I drafted a plan of action, stating the strategies, timeline, funding sources, and person's responsible for implementing my vision of technology's role in the school (PSC 1.2/ISTE 1b). Finally, I wrote a grant for technology resources in order to support my vision for technology and pan of action (PSC 1.3/ISTE 1c). The organization of this course helped me see the process for leading a technology program grounded in ISTE's essential conditions for technology. I will say, I relied on my technology mentor more for this course than for any other course I've taken thus far in the ITEC program. I simply had no experience with doing a needs assessment or creating a school-wide vision. Doing the required course work and working closely with the technology leaders at my school helped me grow as a leader in instructional technology. My mom, also an educator, and I like to share stories about our students' acute power of perception when it comes to non-academic details. If I get a different color water bottle they notice, if I have a conversation with a colleague they take notes, and if I hang a new poster on my wall they are all over it. One year, I had a student in my last period linger. "Ms. Walsh," he said, "are you a vegetarian?" He'd noticed my peanut butter sandwich at lunch. Now, I teach inference as a literary standard, but no amount literary inferring can compare to the inferences my student make based on the random things they notice in my classroom. If only we could hide the lesson in these details, my mom and I like to joke, we'd be so effective! Virtual reality and augmented reality apps and programs harness the power of student perceptiveness for academic learning. This week I played around in the Google Tour Builder, an interactive map platform where students can go on virtual field trips, strengthen their prior knowledge of a region, or, best of all, create their own interactive map with places or ideas that are important to them. I created an Into the Wild Google Tour for the first five chapters of our class novel. Since my students have little prior knowledge of the Alaskan tundra, I thought I'd start with a interactive experience that helps build prior knowledge. According to Pilgrim and Pilgrim (2016), virtual reality or augmented reality technology in the language arts classroom can help build the prior knowledge that students need to make sense of a text in an engaging way (p. 91). Below is a screenshot of the tour I made for students as presented in Google Earth--a more pleasant presentation platform than Tour Builder. Although I enjoyed creating some context for my students, it's easy for me to see how students might benefit more from creating this content on their own. In the future, I would like to assign groups to each location in the novel and have them add in specific scenes as destinations on their tours to create the type of experiential learning that Dewey (1938) said helps students form their own opinions of topic and increase long-term learning (as cited in Pilgrim & Pilgrim, 2018, p.91). Tour Builder is a super easy, user-friendly tool that students can use independently or together in the classroom to construct their own knowledge. And now, here are two augmented and virtual reality apps that support student learning. 1. SkyView(A screenshot of the International Space Station live--when I wrote this--on the app SkyView.) In my family, we love space--my mom was a Earth Science teacher for twelve years. Which is why I have SkyView, an augmented reality app that gives a real-time view of solar system features in relation to the viewer. Users can discover stars, planets or satellites above or below the horizon. There are other instructional features, such as links to the life of an astronaut in the International Space Station or facts about binary stars, but the real fun of the app is looking to see what's visible above the horizon and rushing outside to see if it's there. SkyView communicates with Google Calendar to add star-viewing dates to your calendar; my husband, also a scientist, loves this feature. I recommend this app, obviously, to anyone who teachers space or the solar system. I would even assign it as context for the synthesis question on space travel, an essay my students write just about every year. (It's an AP Lang thing; here's the prompt if you're interested.) 2. Google Expeditions(The above image is a screenshot of the virtual field trip I took to TV sets using the Google Expeditions app.) A few years ago, I downloaded a practice text for a state exam. I wanted my students to be successful. When I read the topic of the practice test--art museums--I was angry. I knew I would need to prime the pump of my students' prior knowledge on art museums--more like create knowledge they don't have--but the test-makers think they should--on art museums. If I had known about Google Expeditions then, I would have assigned a virtual field trip to an art museum. If you have Google Cardboard, or a different virtual reality headset, Google Expeditions is a completely immersive, 3D, 360-degree touring app. If you don't have Google Cardboard, you can still view locations in a slightly-less-immersive, but still fun, 2D format. When I downloaded the app, I took a tour of four TV sets. It was exciting to see the behind-the-scenes view of the Ed Sullivan Theater and the Colbert Report, sets I'm already familiar with. I felt like I was getting insider knowledge. Imagine if our students could feel this way about our content! Some expeditions of interest that I saw allow students to explore 360-degree models of cell organelles, dinosaurs, art museums, or exotic, hard to travel to locations, like the 7 wonders of the world. This app isn't subject specific. I'd recommend it to any teacher who wants to give their students a virtual field trip experience. Students can go on virtual field trips together for a collaborative experience. While purchasing virtual reality devices might be costly, it is no where near as costly as visiting these locations. Apps like Sky view and Google Expeditions help students think more critically about classroom content, and, hopefully, in turn, more critically about the world around them. The Digital Divide in the Time of CoronavirusThe past month of social distancing and online learning has certainly caused districts, administrators, teachers, and students to reflect on those who have the technology they need to function, and those who do not: the digital divide. In my school, the veil of who has access has been lifted. For the very first time, we've made a running catalog of students who have reliable at-home broadband; students who have limited mobile phone access; students who share devices with parents working from home and multiple siblings; students work on outdated operating systems that can't handle the recent updates to Brightspace (our LMS); and students who go home to no broadband service or device whatsoever. This list begs the question: why haven't we done this before? My students, many of them acutely affected by the lack of high quality internet and/or devices at home, face a lack of access in a variety of ways. Holz (2018, January 4), in NeoBlog, describes the many different ways lack of access occurs in, what she calls, "Digital Divide 2.0." For the past decade, lack of access is more complicated than just not having a device, it is also a student's technology use at home versus at school, internet speed at home and at school, the lack of IT support or training at school, and BYOD programs the favor those with better devices--certainly something that occurs in my classroom whenever I attempt mobile learning, even something as simple as Kahoot (Holz, 2018, January 4). Because so many families, and specifically poor and minority families--see chart below, rely on mobile phones for internet access, there is no way our district could have been prepared for remote learning without a major overhaul. I screenshot this chart to send out to the faculty and staff at my school. We've seen an increase in students who learn on their phones, both inside and outside the classroom (Holz, 2018, January 4).
The digital divide is a complex problem but not an impossible problem for my district; it just takes measures like these--measures like identifying the technology needs of every students--to ensure that every child gets treated equitably. We should also take notes from Dieckmann and Villarreal (2001), educational researchers who have identified the inequality of technology funding, infrastructure and access among poor and minority students as a critical problem, and who asked "how can we make the most of the technology we already have to improve student learning?" This is precisely the question so many desperate school districts and teachers are asking themselves right now. Dieckmann and Villarreal (2001) propose asset-based thinking, as opposed to deficit-based thinking, as a way to view students as individuals with unique strengths, backgrounds, and contributions. Add "unique technology configuration" to the list of what makes a student unique. Using this logic, the question we should be asking is how can we see our students' current level of technology access and education as an asset? I have a colleague who is working with the technology skills students already have, their "technology assets," by live-streaming lectures on Instagram. Rather than expecting students to come to him on Brightspace, he is taking his classroom to the Gen Z social media platform. And while live-streaming class on Instagram isn't the solution to the digital divide many of use had hoped for, it is a start. I thought this was a smart solution to "Digital Divide 2.0" since students are already proficient in Instagram, they already have a device that supports it, and they don't need to download anything new. He said he had better attendance on Instagram than on Zoom. His experience suggests that social media is one way to improve student learning using the technology our students already have. If 21st Century learning is the core of our curriculum and technology proficiency vital to our students' success in college and career, why didn't we take greater care to find and fill the gaps before COVID-19 hit? In a strange way, it took a pandemic to lift the veil on the multitude of ways technology access is unequal in a wealthy school district. My hope is that once we return to school, the conversation about digital equity will continue to change our students lives for the better. References Dieckmann, J., & Villarreal, A. Enriching your classroom through equitable technology integration. IDRA. Retrieved April 12, 2020, from www.idra.org/resource-center/enriching-your-classroom-through-equitable-technology-integration/ Holz, S. (2018, January 4). Digital Divide 2.0: a few facts and... NEO. blog.neolms.com/digital-divide-2-0-a-few-facts-and-figures/ Pilgrim, J. M., & Pilgrim, J. (2016). The use of virtual reality tools in the reading-language arts classroom. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 4(2), 91–97. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121641.pdf Last week, my school launched its first ever digital learning week in response to the National Health Institute's advice to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. What ensued was a flurry of emails, video-chats, and phone calls desperate to move the classroom into cyberspace. While my administrators ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, my students adapted beautifully to online learning. Here is my advice for facilitating student rigor and critical thinking with mobile-friendly collaborative tools, while protecting student privacy in this new digital space of student learning. Apps for student collaboration Padlet. Padlet has been my go-to for mobile-friendly student discussion. Teachers, or any viewers with a link, can see all posts at a glance, rate posts, or comment on a post. For AP Seminar, I, fortunately, had students post their research questions to Padlet on the last face-to-face day of school. When the announcement hit, I knew that dividing students into informal groups to critique each other's questions would be the move. It was the most successful thing I've done all week. Furthermore, research supports that collaborative learning--as opposed to individualistic or competitive learning--increases student achievement (Brame & Biel, n.d.). Even in informal groups, like the one-time groups I formed for my Padlet, students benefit from collaboration. Next Monday, I plan on having students reflect on the experience of going digital via an interactive Padlet journal entry (see picture above). Padlet best practices. Some of my students reported that the app timed-out before they were able to complete their posts. I recommend having students type their text on a Google Doc or a phone memo app before copying and pasting to Padlet. Additionally, Conway (2013, August 14), from Common Sense Media, cautions that parents should monitor who their children share Padlet with since they can share with any email address. I like the automatic profanity filter in Padlet's settings. (Google Sites allows students to collaborate on customizing a website that represents their learning. Shown here: a student's first semester digital portfolio with memes representing their feelings towards the course.) 2. Google Sites. Since I teach at a Title I school, where so many of my student learn on their phones, I was excited to see the app for Google Sites in the play store. Last year I asked students to create a digital portfolio of their learning over the course of the semester, as a way to reflect on their work and review for the AP exam. However, what I found was a great professional and safe tool for site-building collaboration. Like Google Docs, students can share sites to work together in real time or peer review work by commenting. Additionally, what I like about G-Suite of Education's version of this tool is that a students' sites can only be shared with school email addresses (at least, my school has this restriction), so parents don't need to monitor as heavily. However, the limitations on sharing can also be restrictive since higher levels on the LoTI framework require students sharing or consulting with stakeholders outside of the classroom (LoTI Framework). Additionally, I can see how this web-site creation tool could reach the upper limits of Bloom Taxonomy, as students analyze, evaluate, and create for an audience. While it isn't a tool on Tolisano's (2012, March 31) list of iPhone Apps to support Bloom's Taxonomy, it very well could make the cut for an updated list. (The image above is a screenshot from Wattpad, a web-based community for readers and writers. Each work can be saved in a library to read later or shared on a variety of social media outlets.) 3. Wattpad. My second year teaching, my students taught me about Wattpad, the self-publishing, flash-fiction app. I was surprised to find that many of them read more on the app than they did off the app. I knew I needed to investigate. What I found is a community of young people dedicated to the creation and appreciation of highly-engaging, self-published literature. Fans can vote for their favorite stories, follow their favorite authors, and create their own digital "library" of saved work. Furthermore, amateur writers can hone their craft by experimenting with language, genres and topics to see that sort of audience they can reach. Don't you just love it when students get writing feedback from someone other than you? In terms of the LoTI framework, Wattpad gives students the authentic audience that they need in order to operate at the highest levels of engagement (LoTI Framework). However, parents debate how appropriate the app is for young teens, and I did see, while browsing, a few stories rated 18+ for their sexual content. Crenna (2014, July 30) at Common Sense Media recommends Wattpad for students ages 16+ and adds that parents should monitor teens. While some writers tag their work as explicit, there is no review process in place and some explicit stuff may show up in untagged work (Crenna, 2014, July 30). (My students collaborated to create the art for our annual public speaking program using Canva. Students voted on their favorite artwork.) 4. Canva. My favorite collaborative app for creating beautiful graphics? Canva, of course. The app has evolved from it's early days. I was pleasantly surprised, last semester, when I discovered that I could use Canva for group projects. The share function is intuitive and students do not need to download a bulky file for submission; they just added me as a collaborator or shared a link. That function alone made the project more mobile-friendly. Canva hits the creation and evaluation criteria for Bloom's Taxonomy; however, it may be less content-rich than other educational apps. Additionally, of all the apps I've recommend, this one received the highest rating from Common Sense Media. Contributor, Kievlan (2017, May 11) stated that because it's so easy to share work on social media students should be monitored. (The image above is from Common Sense Education's tutorial on teaching digital citizenship. )
Teacher resources for safeguarding students online As a BYOD and a G-Suite for Education school, my students typically work from laptops, Chromebooks, or phones in order to create digital products. I typically model behaviors and expectations for technology use for students and then monitor and provide feedback on their use and assist problems as they arise, e.g. password resets or internet connectivity issues. If I run into tech problem, I troubleshoot by consulting self-help sites, such as Google Classroom Help for Teachers or Fix Chromebook Problems. If the error I identify isn't something I can fix on my own, I put in a ticket the technology specialist. However, I also set students up for success by educating myself and my students about mobile learning best practices. As I did in this post, I highly recommend that educators educate themselves on the technology they use in their (digital) classrooms. A good start is to research apps or web tools on commonsensemedia.org, which just requires a quick search, before trying a new tech tool in the classroom. Educators can take further steps to introduce apps seamlessly and safely and web tools into their classrooms by taking Common Sense Education's lessons on Everything You Need to Teach Digital Citizenship, which offers literature and resources for best practices by grade level as well as resources for helping students understand best practices for digital citizenship. Next, educators can help students create secure passwords, or passphrases, and give students advice on how best to manage these passwords for safekeeping. According to the Digital Citizenship and Safety Course, a free online training for educators created by Google for Education, a good password should contain a two-factor authentication, such as a symbol and a letter. Additionally, educators can remind students to log out of their accounts whenever they are working on a public network, such as at school or a public library. Finally, I help students think critically about dubious sources of information. According to Common Sense Education, students should always look for the "s" in https websites before they enter in sensitive information. Students should also learn to cross-reference information with at least three other sources, as stated in Google for Education's digital citizenship course. Students should learn how to check the author's name, the author's qualifications, and the date of publication of any sources in order to verify its authenticity. I am fortunate that my district creates its own student-friendly videos covering digital citizenship topics. However, I also recommend that teachers supplement these videos, with additional student-targeted resources such as the video series Teen Voices created by Common Sense Education. Here is an example one such video on Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint. Resources Brame, C. J., & Biel, R. (n.d.) Cooperative Learning: Planning & Teaching Strategies. Lumen. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from courses.lumenlearning.com/educationx92x1/chapter/cooperative-learning/ Conway, P. (2013, August 14). Padlet-Website Review. Common Sense Media. www.commonsensemedia.org/website- reviews/padlet Crenna, L. (2014, July 30). Wattpad-Website Review. Common Sense Media. www.commonsensemedia.org/website- reviews/wattpad Digital Citizenship and Safety Course. Google for Education Teacher Center. Retrived from https://teachercenter.withgoogle.com/digital_citizenship/unitternet Safety and Privacy Digital Citizenship: Common Sense Education. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from www.commonsense.org/education/digital- citizenship Digital Citizenship Videos. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from www.commonsense.org/education/video/digital-citizenship LoTi Framework. Loticonnections. Retrieved March 9, 2020, from www.loticonnection.com/loti-framework Kievlan, P. M. (2017, May 11). Canva Review for Teachers: Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education. www.commonsense.org/education/education/app/canva Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint. (2019, January 11). Common Sense Education. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ottnH427Fr8 Tolisano, S. (2012, March 31). iPad Apps and Bloom’s Taxonomy. WordPress. langwitches.org/blog/2012/03/31/ipad-apps- and-blooms-taxonomy/
I learned the word “scrim” last week as part of a crossword puzzle—the clue was “a theater screen.” Scrim, I thought, how have I not heard of this word before? Naturally, I began hearing the word everywhere, from Heidi Klum on Project Runway to an intense thespian conversation overheard in first period. I love when this happens to me because, as an expert reader, I appreciate the opportunity to grow my vocabulary. As a language teacher, I want my students to experience the same wonder and curiosity of “discovering” a new word for themselves. However, I also recognize that this is not the general attitude of students towards words they don’t know. How does a reading teacher capture the magic of learning a new word for students? Put more broadly, how do teachers preserve the joy of learning for their students? This is the single greatest question in education.
Because every learner is different, the answer to these questions are as diverse and numerous as students in the classroom. However, when it comes to teaching reading, specifically, differentiation strategies increase the odds that students will have a positive experience with a text. Furthermore, in the 21st Century classroom, technology maximizes a teacher’s ability to support students who might struggle or push those who thrive. Below are some suggested technologies for differentiating the content, process, and product of a lesson in order to meet students’ ability levels, interests, and learning styles (Hobgood & Ormsby, 2010). The goal, of course, is to meet students where they are in order to make the learning process as rich and joyful as possible. Content Traditionally, English teachers change the text in order to differentiate for a student’s reading level. Here, too, technology has made customizing reading level easier. Open source content websites, like Common Lit, give teachers options to change the reading level of an article. While every student in the room reads the same content, some students will read a version at a higher or lower level depending on their abilities. Furthermore, many websites and databases have built-in text-to-speech options and annotation tools, so student have better audio and visual cues. English Language Learners (ELL) and student with reading disabilities, who are still developing on-level reading skills, benefit from these additions (Hobgood & Ormsby, 2010; Hutchinson, 2015, March 6). Apart from changing the reading level of a text, accessibility tools, such as Google Extensions are Add-ons, help level the playing field for struggling readers and writers by giving them additional features. Chrome’s Read Aloud Extension gives students an audio option for any text they might have to read. Magnification, screen color, and annotation add-on options further change the appearance of a text so that students with disabilities can participate (Hutchinson, 2015, March 6). I highly recommend the Google Translator Extension for ELLs. While imperfect, it is useful to quickly reference words in a student’s native language. These free downloads augment traditional texts by giving students the extra supports or challenges they need to stick with it.
(This is a screenshot illustrating the type of real-time assessment available on Pear Deck, a Google Slides Add-on that lets educators easily insert interactive student questioning into a Google Slides presentation.)
Process My favorite add-on for modifying the typical PowerPoint lesson is the Pear Deck Add-on for Google Slides. While I have heard teachers rave about Pear Deck for years, I am only a recent convert. This add-on takes lessons teachers create in Google Slides and inserts interactive, formative questions for students to answer on their phones, or device, along the way. Additionally, teachers can display summarized student data and quickly address misconceptions. With this technology, the learning process is more interactive and more broken up than the traditional lecture-style lesson. Stopping to check learning helps teachers differentiate by ability and helps students with disabilities, such as ADHD, stay more engaged. My favorite Chrome Extension for education is the Scrible Tool Bar—my school has upgraded to premium. Scrible is a research and citation tool that helps students keep track of sources through article snipping, annotation options, citation generation, and project libraries. I am probably Scrible’s biggest fan—I use it to write every grad school paper. However, my students find the software clunky; it is not Chrome’s most attractive extension and sometimes it takes a while to load. Because the user experience is not the most intuitive, students need to be taught Scrible’s bells and whistles explicitly. I recommend generating a vertical plan for integrating this hard-core research tool into your students’ bag of tricks. You will not regret it! Scrible benefits students who find it difficult to stay organized over a long-term project (a.k.a. most any 10th grade boy), and there are built-in options for reading text aloud, translation, and annotation. This tool also supports collaboration since students can share libraries and comment on each other’s work; I frequently drop-in to student libraries and leave feedback.
(The image above is a screenshot of the Scrible Toolbar Extension for Chrome. Note the options to highlight, comment, underline, magnify, read aloud, or translate available for any article saved using this extension.)
Product While writing is the traditional product of the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, technology makes excellence in writing more accessible to any student. Google Doc’s Language Tool Add-on gives writers of all abilities proofreading and editing advice. Another Google Doc Add-on, Writer’s Highlighter, helps students self-critique by providing analysis of word frequency and sentence length. The EasyBib Add-on, a favorite of my students, is a quick reference tool for professional citing and formatting. There are many, many add-ons to support writers who are developing English proficiency, who are limited by a writing disability, or who simply want to up their writing game. A student’s critical thinking ability is tested when he, as the author, interprets the data provided by these add-ons and makes authorial choices based on his purpose for writing.
(This image is an example of Google Doc's Writer's Highlighter Add-on. Users can choose from basic highlighter functions or advanced options that combine with Google Sheets.)
(This image shows the EasyBib Add-on for Google Docs. I've cited another candidate's blog as a test run. Please emphasize the important of cross-referencing their citations with more credible resources. )
However, writing is not, and should not be, the only product choice available in the 21st Century classroom. There are excellent technologies out there for creating visually enticing products. Why not have students represent their learning with an infographic or video? Piktochart is an excellent choice for students to creatively represent their learning of ELA concepts. Fanguy (2016) provides several differentiated examples of visual products that have analogs in real-world industries. Furthermore, Adobe Spark allows students (and teachers) to combine images, text, music and voice recording into an instructional video. I am including a video I made for AP Seminar students on the difference between revising, editing, and proofreading. After my initial frustration with lazy revisions from students in a process-writing class, I realized that they had not been taught expectations for high-quality revision. I made this video to address that gap. The video presentation has elements that the original PowerPoint version of this lesson did not have: music, visuals, and breaks from speech. For these reasons, Adobe Spark can be a powerful tool for reaching visual learners, students with ADHD or ELL students (Hobsgood &Ormsby 2010).
(This is an example of a video made on Adobe Spark, integrating music, images, text, and audio. Abobe Spark uses Abobe licensed music and images and is therefore a good way to avoid student plagiarism, while educating students about attribution and plagiarism.)
Adobe Spark is so easy to use; I highly recommend that students make their own creative, student-directed videos on classroom content. However, students also need to be taught the responsible use of the ideas, texts, and images they find online. They need to know that borrowing for educational purposes it okay—depending on length—but those sources of information always need attribution. Showing students Creative Commons images is a good place to start (Creative Commons, n.d.). Adobe Spark has built-in features that help students attribute. So, how do teachers balance the rigor of education with the joy of learning? They differentiate. It’s never been easier to give students options for creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication in the classroom. References Creative Commons. (n.d.). About The Licenses—Creative Commons. In Creative Commons. Creative Commons. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from creativecommons.org/licenses/ Fanguy, W. (2016). 3 tips for easy and engaging classroom visuals—Piktochart. In Piktochart. piktochart.com/blog/tips-easy- engaging-classroom-visuals/ Hobgood, B., & Ormsby, L. (2010). Inclusion in the 21st-century classroom: Differentiating with technology--Reaching every learner: Differentiating instruction in theory and practice. UNC School of Education. Retrieved March 1, 2020, from http://web.archive.org/web/20180125110137/www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-learner/6776/ Hutchinson, K. (2015, March 6). Assistive technology part 2: Chrome extensions and apps for inclusive education. Technology Services. tech.gcs.k12.in.us/assistive-technology-part-2-chrome-extensions-and-apps-for-inclusive- education/
Twitter, for educators?
Before I was a teacher, I worked at a failing tech start-up: a coupon app called Wagglez. It was never meant to be. However, upon employment as the instant head of marketing, I had a crash course in Twitter and all other social media I might leverage to launch the brand. I went to launch parties, shook hands, and asked everyone present for their twitter handles. I tweeted daily at #Wagglez. I posted beautiful pictures around town generating content that might attract users to the app. I perused analytics of my twitter traffic. The app may have failed, but I gained valuable experience in professional(ish) social media networking. As an educator, creating a personal learning network (PLN) is like working in a tech incubator, minus the desperation. I stumbled upon Twitter’s education community in 2015 after a fabulous presentation on podcasting from Valerie Lewis, @iamvlewis, at the 2015 Gwinnett County digital learning conference. It was the first time I witnessed educators professional networking on Twitter. Since then I’ve done some more GCPS networking, including local celebrity and Google Certified Innovator Mary Ellen West, @maryelenderwest. Mostly, I’m on Twitter for occasional gold—lessons, strategies, articles—that other educators post (TeachThoughtStaff, 2019, November 22). My relationship with Twitter evolved further still when, at the beginning of this school year, my district announced that Remind was off limits until further notice due to the recent FCC ban on message blasts. I panicked. Then I remembered how many teachers tweet to students at #aplang during exam season, when I diligently check for AP exam memes. For the first time, it dawned on me: I could be the teacher who communicates with students and parents through Twitter. I got as far as preparing a professional twitter handle before realizing I was out of my league. I needed expert advice: do good teachers really communicate with students through social media? In short, yes. It looks like early education teachers use Twitter differently than high school teachers. The edublog Sassy, Savvy, Simple Teaching recommends using twitter as a tool to communicate with parents. I love this blog’s suggestions for Twitter as a way to summarize or reflect on learning, host live backchannel chats during class discussion, or reach international experts ("40 ways"). While I would like to add parents to my Twitter community, students are my main target since most regulate their own learning by the time they get to me. Education blogger Jennifer Gonzalez (2016, May 1) recommends that teachers “send reminders about important events or deadlines, provide links to interesting articles or other online resources, or share fascinating videos and images.” What I have discovered is that Twitter is Remind plus: it has the advantage of a public audience with the power of social networking--fewer “lab day” announcements and more intellectually curious content sharing, which I’m excited about! However, just like in the classroom, teachers need to set clear boundaries with their students on social media--this was the part I was initially nervous about navigating when I set up my teacher Twitter account. Rachael (2016, March 26) at American Board Blog recommends that students follow teachers and not the other way around in order to preserve the student-teacher relationship--lest we see what they do on their phones! Her blog also contains suggestions for creating teacher accounts on other popular social media, SnapChat, Instagram, and Facebook, with tips for protecting teachers like never geo-tag yourself in a post and only give the district you work in--not the school--in your profile. Other than the normal rules for professional decorum, I'm wondering how other educators maintenance the boundaries of teacher-student relationships on social media. Any thoughts? Podcasting in the classroom While I like to use Twitter to communicate with students and teachers, podcasting is another great tool for reaching out beyond the classroom. Educator content-creators can share more than 280 characters with colleagues around the world who share their interests. Students can create content in any subject for an authentic audience. For example, I know a language arts teacher who has replaced the traditional 11th grade research paper with a unit on podcasting. She still covers the research standards and her students enjoy the creativity the medium offers. While this project may not be for every teacher, podcasting definitely is. Check out my podcast for educators, at the bottom of the page, on Flipgrid, a web 2.0 tool that allows easy, customizable videos for start discussions. While I tend to “watch” social media happen more than participate, I have goals for adding my own educational “gold” to voices on social media. Twitter is so much more than just live tweeting during episodes of the #TheBachelor (the majority of my Twitter activity). It can also be a valuable communication tool and exercise in professional development, reaching beyond the walls of our classrooms. References Gonzalez, J. (2016, May 1) So you have a Twitter account. Now what? Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved February 18, 2020, from Cult of Pedagogy website: www.cultofpedagogy.com/how-to-use-twitter/ R. (2016, March 26). 10 Social Media Rules for Teachers. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from American Board Blog website: www.americanboard.org/blog/10-social-media-rules-for-teachers/ TeachThought Staff. (2019, November 22). 40 ways to use Twitter in the classroom! Sassy savvy simple teaching. Retrieved February 18, 2020, from Sassy Savvy Simply Teaching website: www.sassysavvysimpleteaching.com/2017/09/40-ways- to-use-twitter-in-the-classroom/ Any friend of a language arts teacher knows that when you ask us about our weekend, we are going to mention the thick stack of papers we have to grade. Now, I know other teachers in different content areas who take home work—I call my mom, a middle school science teacher, on Friday nights to exchange descriptions of the “things we need to grade” over the weekend—but it’s the unique burden of the ELA teacher to be the sole provider of rich feedback on a very complex task steering wayward students in the right (write?) direction. I am currently in my sixth year of teaching. In years one-through-four I lugged piles of student work home to grade. I felt like it was my duty as a language arts teacher. While I occasionally still do this during crunch times, I don’t bring home stacks of essays as frequently as a used to. I’ve learned a few strategies—mostly from a co-worker who has a toddler--for working SMART-er, not harder. The Writing Conference When my students begin a writing assignment, I periodically check in with them as they write in class to give extensive feedback formatively, based on the learning target of the day. This way, I can stagger my feedback depending on the rate students complete the assignment; students who work quickly don’t have to wait for feedback and students who need more time can take their time. My favorite writing conference protocol asks students to self-score and peer-score before receiving teacher feedback (see below). This way students can compare their assessment of their skills to my evaluation. Before I was wasting my time leaving lengthy messages on essays my students would throw in the trash. I know better now. Screencasting I occasionally use the in-class flipped class method Tim Watson (2017, July 11) describes in his blog post “Flipping the Flipped Classroom;” that is, I have students watch a video I made of the lesson, while I answer student questions and check student work. I agree with Vavasseur (2017, June 22) that screencasting—I use Screencast-o-matic—feels like I have a clone: I can accomplish twice the work in the same amount of time, even when I'm not fully flipping my classroom. Combining screencasting with the writing conference, students can record their own screencasts evaluating their work or a peers’ work in order to practice regulating their learning. SMART Notebook Software My coworker, the one with the toddler, taught me that grading group work is an excellent strategy for shaving time off the grading process. While it’s not always possible to assess each individual student’s unique abilities with group work, it is a good way to give semi-tailored feedback to students quickly. My favorite Web 2.0 tool for group work is SMART Notebook software. Using this tool, I can share my powerpoint lessons or pdf texts with students and ask them to annotate on the document. The grouping function is flexible—groups can be randomized, with students at different tables working on the same product, or strategic, whole class or individual. Like Google Classroom, I can drop in on groups from my computer or display good examples of student work in real time. SMART Notebook is also a good tool for peer review since I can allow students to see each other’s work. SMART Notebook has a discussion board, like Padlet, a student poll, like Poll Everywhere, and learning games, like Quizlet. The difference is that these functions can be built into the lesson I upload to form a cohesive whole. For more information on SMART Suite, Angela Watson (2018, May) has a comprehensive review of the tool on her blog The Cornerstone for Teachers, or see my demo below for the teacher user-experience. Kahoot Second semester, I have multiple choice Mondays, as my students practice for the AP exam. Each Monday, they get a passage and fifteen minutes to answer questions. Next, they confer with their group to determine the best answer to problem questions, then the group plays team Kahoot against other groups in the class to check their answers—students can play individually as well. I think of the game as a type of formative assessment since I get to drop-in on students feverishly debating the right answer (my favorite part of the activity), and I also get to see which questions are frequently missed. I like the tip from Common Sense Education's article on student-centered formative assessment that students should reflect on their performance or teachers should begin the next class period with a commonly missed questions ("Make Formative," 2018). The point is, teachers should do something with the data from formative assessments. These assessment tools and classroom practices have saved my weekends. Because my friends are tired of hearing about my grading, because I owe it to myself and to my students to re-energize, because no one teacher can do it all, I have a guilt-free plan for getting more out of my students during work hours, so I can spend my weekends doing other things. References
Hirsch, J. (2015, October 19). 100 videos and counting: Lessons from a flipped classroom. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from Edutopia website: www.edutopia.org/blog/100-videos-lessons-flipped-classroom-joe-hirsch Make Formative Assessment More Student-Centered. (2018). Retrieved January 25, 2020, from Common Sense Education website: https://d1e2bohyu2u2w9.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/tlr-asset/document-twt-cheat-sheet-checks- for-understanding-081916.pdf Vavasseur, C. (2017, June 22). Clone yourself using screencasting tools: ISTE. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from ISTE website: www.iste.org/explore/In-the-classroom/Clone-yourself-using-screencasting-tools Watson, A. (2018, May). The SMART learning suite: Any device. Any approach. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from The Cornerstone For Teachers website: thecornerstoneforteachers.com/smart-learning-suite/ Watson, T. (2017, July 11). Flipping the flipped classroom. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from Edutopia website: www.edutopia.org/discussion/flipping-flipped-classroom In 2015, I made it my professional goal to “use more technology in my classroom.” That year, I attended every technology training available in my district. It was the year I first learned about EdPuzzle, Piktochart, Canva, and Socrative. It was a good year for Web 2.0 tools in education.
I began experimenting on my students, testing to see which apps were most engaging and which had intuitive user experiences. By January, I distinctly remember one of my students remarking that she had more logins for my class than for all of her other classes combined…since kindergarten! I thought to myself that I was doing something right. In Alan November’s summary of his book Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age, he says that classroom technology in the 21st century is “more about the locus of control and how people relate to one another than it is about applying 1,000 apps to a classroom” (2014). I want to parse out this idea since I, myself, a student of instructional technology, have fallen into the trap of mistaking quantity of classroom technology for quality of classroom technology. Even still, as someone who should know better, I occasionally feel the anxiety—that attends teachers trying to keep up with the latest and greatest in classroom technology—to try out a new app for the sake of trying a new app. However, my selection of technology needed to be more intentional, less willy-nilly. I agree with November (2014) that any teacher can throw a Web 2.0 tool at students to “transfer” learning, but the real test of skill for an educator is getting students to regulate their own learning through the strategic selection of web apps. Both teachers and students need to be strategic with technology in the 21st century. I love November’s suggestions that today’s students should explore different perspectives on a topic, create their own questions about a topic, or connect globally with someone in another country (2014). With these goals in mind, I’m excited about social media’s potential to connect students to conversations in the world that matter. In addition to connecting with others, I’m excited about social media’s wealth a creative possibilities. Recently, I came across a blog by Tara Martin, “Be Real,” who uses Snapchat to share what she’s reading with her own son (among others). She calls her artistic posts “BookSnaps” and gives suggestions for classroom use. Ultimately, teachers should use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom discerningly to facilitate the 21st century skills of collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication. Focusing on these skills creates greater voice and choice for students in classrooms with a diversity of interests, learning styles, talents and abilities. Now when I set a technology goal for my professional learning, I avoid the word “more.” Instead, I embed my technology goals into the larger goals I have for my students that will serve them in gaining 21st century skills. “I will incorporate web tools that create authentic learning experiences: self-publishing and writing for a wider audience,” OR “I will use technology to facilitate student goal-setting, self-assessment and reflection.” My strategy now is to stay focused on the apps that will bring my classroom into the 21st century; in November's words, apps that will give my students a "greater locus of control" over their own learning. References #Booksnaps--Snapping for Learning. (2019, August 23). Retrieved January 18, 2020, from Tara M Martin: BE Real website: www.tarammartin.com/booksnaps-snapping-for-learning/ An Educator's Guide to the "Four Cs". Retrieved January 18, 2020, from http://www.nea.org website: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf November, A. (2014, May 5). Alan November--Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from YouTube website: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAIxIBeT90 |
AuthorBridget Walsh is an ITEC EdS Candidate and a 10th grade language arts teacher at Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Georgia. Archives
July 2020
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