It has been much too long since I have posted anything related to teaching.
We have officially been 1:1, (each student has access to an IPad2), in our middle school for about three weeks. One of the things I tried last week that worked quite well was using Google Forms as a warm-up/quick assessment tool.
It is fairly easy to create a Google Form. I used two main styles of forms, one that required numerical answers, and another that allowed more of a paragraph text-based answer. I conditionally formatted the forms that required a numerical answer to be color coded to easily see how the class did. The paragraph-text based answer forms were left as is.
The part that I felt worked nicely was displaying the results to the class in near real-time. I set up a link to the days warm-up form from our class website. Each student accessed and completed the form using their IPads and after about five minutes or so, I displayed the results to the class. We were able to discuss the results in a very timely fashion. (The class enjoyed seeing their responses on the board and watching the stragglers responses pop up while we were discussing the results). It helped me quickly identify what concepts from the previous lesson needed to be reinforced and also served as a focal point for the days lesson.This process could also be used towards the end of a lesson as a type of exit ticket approach.
I had used Google Forms for homework earlier in the year but found that the process did not lend itself to mathematics really well as it encouraged just the writing of an answer with little in the way of working out the problem. So I had gotten away from using the Forms for mathematics but for a quick formative assessment, I feel this method has considerable worth.
I have toyed with the idea of employing Flubaroo scripts with Google Forms for quizzes and tests. It is a pretty nifty scripting tool but has limitations for mathematics with once again, the showing of work part, so for now, I am holding off on using it. I would say that if your assessments are primarily multiple choice and/or short answer based, you might want to explore this script as a way to help in the assessment and grading of your student's work.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Further preparations
The seventh grade students at MSMS will be getting their IPads on Thursday, the 31st. It is quite an exciting time. In preparation for changes in workflow that I would like to implement, this past week rather than hand out assignments, I started putting their assignments in a shared class folder in PDF format. This hopefully will get them used to the process of accessing their assignments online rather than being handed a paper copy.
Also, I created an individual shared folder for each student and sent them an e-mail link for that folder on Monday. It is my plan that this folder will be the location where they will put their completed work. A couple of students have already mastered the process but it seems that for the vast majority of my students, they are content to continue to access the assignments from our class web site.
Next week, when all students have the IPad and we are using them during class, I can have all of them access a PDF file from the shared class folder, open it in Notability and work on it, save the file and download it to their individual shared work folder on Google Drive. I can see from their reticence to use the shared class folder, that there will be some bumps in the road to these workflow changes.
I look forward to learning with my students how best to weave the IPad into our daily class work to improve our workflow and our mathematics learning.
Also, I created an individual shared folder for each student and sent them an e-mail link for that folder on Monday. It is my plan that this folder will be the location where they will put their completed work. A couple of students have already mastered the process but it seems that for the vast majority of my students, they are content to continue to access the assignments from our class web site.
Next week, when all students have the IPad and we are using them during class, I can have all of them access a PDF file from the shared class folder, open it in Notability and work on it, save the file and download it to their individual shared work folder on Google Drive. I can see from their reticence to use the shared class folder, that there will be some bumps in the road to these workflow changes.
I look forward to learning with my students how best to weave the IPad into our daily class work to improve our workflow and our mathematics learning.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
New Year's Day 2013
More than 140 characters so a short post will have to do......
I have never been one for resolutions and the like at this time of year which means there will not be any lists. But I would like to state how happy I am with my decision to join Twitter this summer. I was not sure exactly what to expect and even as my experience with the medium evolves, thanks are in order. There are so many excellent educators and fine people out there willing to share some of their craft, ideas, and just as importantly, their compassion and sense of humor. The exposure to that sharing has improved my teaching and coping skills. To those I follow, thanks very much.
If you are reading this, my hope for you is to have as Healthy and as Happy a New Year as is possible!
I have never been one for resolutions and the like at this time of year which means there will not be any lists. But I would like to state how happy I am with my decision to join Twitter this summer. I was not sure exactly what to expect and even as my experience with the medium evolves, thanks are in order. There are so many excellent educators and fine people out there willing to share some of their craft, ideas, and just as importantly, their compassion and sense of humor. The exposure to that sharing has improved my teaching and coping skills. To those I follow, thanks very much.
If you are reading this, my hope for you is to have as Healthy and as Happy a New Year as is possible!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Classroom Worklflow Preparations
It appears fairly certain that the middle school where I teach will be shifting to a 1:1 Ipad environment in early February, 2013. To take as much advantage as I can of the potential of the new devices, this shift requires some rethinking of how my classroom workflow will be organized.
Currently all homework is accessible via our class website and if the assignment is not via a Google Form, a paper copy of the assignment is distributed. Going forward, I plan to place any non-Form assignments in PDF format in a shared Google Drive folder with view only permissions. This will allow for the ability to annotate/do the assignment using the Notability Ipad app and then send it to me via a shared student folder on Google Drive. The Ipads will not be going home with the students so those that do not have access to the Notability app from home will likely still have to hand in a paper copy of their work, (until a suitable "PDF annotation in-a-PC environment" solution can be determined). Any Google Forms homework will continue to be accessed though our class website.
I am currently planning on having my students use Evernote and/or Skitch for their class notebooks. I tested the feasibility of this method during the holiday break and it seems promising. I was happy with the seamless connection between the Skitch and Evernote apps and how easy it was to put any work created in Skitch in a specific Evernote notebook. The ability to draw in Skitch will help with any work/notes that require diagrams or symbols that would be hard to type. I plan to use the Show Me app or the Explain Everything app in the place of individual student whiteboards. Apple TV or the Reflector app will be used to mirror and display this student work to the entire class in near-real time.
I know it is impossible to anticipate everything that can be improved, from a workflow standpoint, with the IPads but hopefully this will be a reasonably manageable and productive change. Am I missing anything?
Currently all homework is accessible via our class website and if the assignment is not via a Google Form, a paper copy of the assignment is distributed. Going forward, I plan to place any non-Form assignments in PDF format in a shared Google Drive folder with view only permissions. This will allow for the ability to annotate/do the assignment using the Notability Ipad app and then send it to me via a shared student folder on Google Drive. The Ipads will not be going home with the students so those that do not have access to the Notability app from home will likely still have to hand in a paper copy of their work, (until a suitable "PDF annotation in-a-PC environment" solution can be determined). Any Google Forms homework will continue to be accessed though our class website.
I am currently planning on having my students use Evernote and/or Skitch for their class notebooks. I tested the feasibility of this method during the holiday break and it seems promising. I was happy with the seamless connection between the Skitch and Evernote apps and how easy it was to put any work created in Skitch in a specific Evernote notebook. The ability to draw in Skitch will help with any work/notes that require diagrams or symbols that would be hard to type. I plan to use the Show Me app or the Explain Everything app in the place of individual student whiteboards. Apple TV or the Reflector app will be used to mirror and display this student work to the entire class in near-real time.
I know it is impossible to anticipate everything that can be improved, from a workflow standpoint, with the IPads but hopefully this will be a reasonably manageable and productive change. Am I missing anything?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
They won't have to ask that question
This post may be a bit scattered but that is how my thoughts have been since I learned of the terrible news from Newtown, CT Friday afternoon.
Teachers know the rhythms of a school day and how a school is set up. We can understand in a more direct sense what it might have felt like for those who survived and perished on Friday. They understand how closely in our hearts we hold the children we teach... that they have become our children too. The feelings I have when I visualize what occurred in Sandy Hook elementary school are powerful and difficult to shake. My heart goes out to those in Newtown that have to deal with these feelings and the reality of losing a loved one more directly.
I have no profound solutions to share regarding the tragedy. I have read the Twitter snippets that cite the virtual elimination of these types of tragedies in the UK and Australia after weapons bans were instituted. I guess, you could probably place me more on the overhaul of our mental health system side of the ledger however. If you have ever had the experience of watching a loved one struggle with mental health issues, of having to see them wait days in the ER for a placement in an inpatient unit to receive acute care, and then experience how hard it is to procure and maintain adequate outpatient care, you know what a sham our mental health system is in this country. And how secret that fact is. There are troubled souls out there among us and the more we can sweep it under the rug, the better. Of course until it comes bubbling up. Maybe the UK and Australia also provide significantly better health care services for their citizens. I don't profess to know or have any answers.
School is in session tomorrow. Hopefully by then I will feel more ready to be with my students. I will be positive, keep to the usual classroom routines for much needed structure, and be more aware of how they are feeling. Depending on what questions come up, we may talk about probability and statistics and how safe they are in school, the number and type of safety precautions that are taken, how much their teachers care for them. But some of the illusion of security that I felt I provided my students when they are in my charge has been taken from me, from all of us, by this tragedy. And right now, it is not such a great feeling.
Seventh graders possess an interesting combination of naivety and "street smarts" - for lack of a better term. They are beginning to understand that things that grown-ups tell them or plan may not be fully accurate or foolproof but still want to, need to, believe that we can protect them. This past week at our school we had an unplanned fire drill and a planned Code Blue/lockdown drill. Both went without incident. And after each one, the usual questions came, especially from the children who have watched way too many action movies designed for adults. Mr.Vitale, what would happen if a fire started in the hallway first? Mr.Vitale, what would happen if someone pulled the fire alarm but was waiting for us in the hallway? Mr. Vitale, what would happen if someone came into our school with a gun and shot their way into our room? Very sadly, they won't have to ask that one tomorrow.
Teachers know the rhythms of a school day and how a school is set up. We can understand in a more direct sense what it might have felt like for those who survived and perished on Friday. They understand how closely in our hearts we hold the children we teach... that they have become our children too. The feelings I have when I visualize what occurred in Sandy Hook elementary school are powerful and difficult to shake. My heart goes out to those in Newtown that have to deal with these feelings and the reality of losing a loved one more directly.
I have no profound solutions to share regarding the tragedy. I have read the Twitter snippets that cite the virtual elimination of these types of tragedies in the UK and Australia after weapons bans were instituted. I guess, you could probably place me more on the overhaul of our mental health system side of the ledger however. If you have ever had the experience of watching a loved one struggle with mental health issues, of having to see them wait days in the ER for a placement in an inpatient unit to receive acute care, and then experience how hard it is to procure and maintain adequate outpatient care, you know what a sham our mental health system is in this country. And how secret that fact is. There are troubled souls out there among us and the more we can sweep it under the rug, the better. Of course until it comes bubbling up. Maybe the UK and Australia also provide significantly better health care services for their citizens. I don't profess to know or have any answers.
School is in session tomorrow. Hopefully by then I will feel more ready to be with my students. I will be positive, keep to the usual classroom routines for much needed structure, and be more aware of how they are feeling. Depending on what questions come up, we may talk about probability and statistics and how safe they are in school, the number and type of safety precautions that are taken, how much their teachers care for them. But some of the illusion of security that I felt I provided my students when they are in my charge has been taken from me, from all of us, by this tragedy. And right now, it is not such a great feeling.
Seventh graders possess an interesting combination of naivety and "street smarts" - for lack of a better term. They are beginning to understand that things that grown-ups tell them or plan may not be fully accurate or foolproof but still want to, need to, believe that we can protect them. This past week at our school we had an unplanned fire drill and a planned Code Blue/lockdown drill. Both went without incident. And after each one, the usual questions came, especially from the children who have watched way too many action movies designed for adults. Mr.Vitale, what would happen if a fire started in the hallway first? Mr.Vitale, what would happen if someone pulled the fire alarm but was waiting for us in the hallway? Mr. Vitale, what would happen if someone came into our school with a gun and shot their way into our room? Very sadly, they won't have to ask that one tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)