Today, I was reminded of why I love to teach Kindergarten. Before painting pumpkins, I told the students we were going to paint pumpkins but didn’t have orange. What to do? Some of those who had pre-school experience expertly suggested we mix some colors, but they couldn’t remember which ones. Blue and green? they asked. I pulled out some red and yellow paint. I asked them if we should try mixing them together. I squirted the paint in a plate that all could see, and began mixing the colors. As the orange started to appear, you could hear oooh and aaahs. Then they clapped and cheered. It was wonderful to hear their sheer delight at discovery! I can’t wait to let them discover more colors all on their own. It was a fun day!
Image Credit: Pumpkin by Darwin on FlickrCC
Painting Pumpkins
Posted in Kindergarten
Leave a comment
8.1 Reflection: iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching
In this reflection post, I will examine my strengths and weakness as they apply to each of the iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching.
Table of Contents
Standard A
The online teacher knows the primary concepts and structures of effective online instruction and is able to create learning experiences to enable student success.
Standard A Reflection
Strengths
I have many years of online learning experience, both formally and informally through my online personal learning network that will help me strengthen my courses by being flexible and able to offer a variety of online learning experiences and easily adapt them for both the blended and online courses.
Areas for Growth
I don’t have my secondary certification in a specific subject matter. I only hold a multiple-subject K-12 credential. I will need to investigate what courses I need to complete in order to get certified to teach secondary subjects. I think teaching high school online courses would be most rewarding. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard B
The online teacher understands and is able to use a range of technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning and engagement in the online environment.
Standard B Reflection
Strengths
My strengths are in my ability to use a variety of “online tools for communication, productivity, collaboration, analysis, presentation, research, and online content delivery as appropriate to the content area and student needs”, as highlighted in the Teacher Abilities section for Standard B in the iNACOL Standards. Additionally, I will have no problem troubleshooting technical problems.
Areas for Growth
I am always improving on my ability to find new tools to fit the learning need. This is an ongoing process and requires that I stay informed of new tools and learning opportunities so I can offer them for student use and engagement. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard C
The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment.
Standard C Reflection
Strengths
I will be able to monitor appropriate interaction among students, creating a community of learners who thrive by building upon each other’s learning. I will be able to establish consistent and reliable expectations, and support and encourage independence and creativity among learners.
Areas for Growth
I will need to develop my skills in responding appropriately to the diverse backgrounds and learning needs of my students. I will actively research this area and strive to apply my new learning appropriately. All learners have diverse needs. Knowing how to tap into strengths and weaknesses is essential, as well as differentiating instruction to fit these needs. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard D
The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.
Standard D Reflection
Strengths
This course has emphasized the importance of clear expectations and has made me ever more aware that this should be established and maintained before and throughout the course. I will be able to provide clear expectations for participation, discussion, assessment, behavior, and course outcomes. These will be communicated in the course syllabus and referred to when needed.
Areas for Growth
I want to strengthen my ability to assist students who may be struggling and support them with a variety of strategies to support their learning. I will actively learn from different sources including books, online articles, blogs and other media. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard E
The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and safe behavior related to technology use.
Standard E Reflection
Strengths
The course has provided excellent resources on academic integrity and copyright. These will be useful resources to include in the course, including text and video that support student learning in this area. Students will know that academic integrity is of utmost importance.
Areas for Growth
I’m hoping I will be able to identify risks early enough to prevent students from creating incidents that violate academic integrity. I wish to turn this type of behavior into a learning opportunity so it doesn’t escalate and won’t repeat. I will need to be especially vigilant in detecting the onset of this type of behavior. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard F
The online teacher is cognizant of the diversity of student academic needs and incorporates accommodations into the online environment.
Standard F Reflection
Strengths and Areas for Improvement
This course has made me keenly aware that I need to learn more about accommodations for different learners. I am now more aware of the Americans with Disabilities Act and how to make sure that different types of activities need to be offered to students to support their learning styles. I’ve learned the importance and how to caption videos, add alt tags to images, and provide alternate tools for collaboration and communication. I’ve only just scratched the surface. There are countless articles and user generated content that will help me grow as an educator to support students with differing needs. During the class, I discovered many wonderful resources on accessibility and Universal Design. I will start by exploring the many wonderful tutorials on accessibility at TechEase4All and be aware when new resources are shared online. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard G
The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.
Standard G Reflection
Strengths and Areas for Growth
Using a variety of resources shared in this Leading Edge Certification course, I will be able to implement a variety of standards based assessments that assure validity of data and that measure a diversity of learning. Designing quality assessments will be easily managed with the wealth of tools we have learned about. Managing the integrity of data collected will be something I will be more keenly aware of. I think this will definitely be more of an area of strength after this course, knowing the multitude of assessments that can be offered and monitored. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard H
The online teacher develops and delivers assessments, projects, and assignments that meet standards-based learning goals and assesses learning progress by measuring student achievement of the learning goals.
Standard H Reflection
Strengths and Areas for Growth
Through the discussion forum for our Leading Edge Certification and through the resources offered in the course, I have an even larger collection of different types of assessments that I can use to monitor student progress. I know that while multiple choice quizzes and tests offered in most LMS’s are a valuable tool for learning, especially when designed to offer immediate feedback, that it’s important to offer authentic process based, project centered forms of assessments that address content standards. This offers students a way to demonstrate their learning in non traditional methods, and cements the learning for more than a short period of time. This also assures the validity of data and increases the academic integrity of the assessments by offering different types and modes of assessment. I look forward to implementing a multitude of formative and summative assessments to ensure that I address the leaning needs of all students. This will be an ongoing learning process. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard I
The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student learning.
Standard I Reflection
Strengths
Using the power of the LMS and RSS feeds, I can accurately collect and monitor student data such as participation, reflection, discussion, and content knowledge. I know how to collect this data and use it to evaluate and modify course content accordingly. Additionally, I’ve always been an educator who uses self reflection, on a daily basis, to improve instructional strategies. This is essential for teacher effectiveness and growth, as well as for addressing student needs. Additionally, this course has provided sufficient resources that I will incorporate to help this assess their readiness for online learning and reflect on the areas where they need to grow to create short term and long term learning goals.
Areas for Growth
Even though I feel I’m ready to analyze student data and modify course content to provide new learning opportunities for student growth, this will be an ongoing process of learning and self reflection. It will be easy for me to capture the data, but much harder to use the data to provide new learning opportunities to ensure student growth. This will always be an area for improvement, no matter how skilled a teacher becomes. Constant monitoring for improvement is essential for quality teachers, whether that be in an online or traditional brick and mortar learning environment. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard J
The online teacher interacts in a professional, effective manner with colleagues, parents, and other members of the community to support students’ success.
Standard J Reflection
Strengths
I am a self directed learner who constantly is in the process of professional development and collaboration beyond school. My personal learning network through Twitter, Google +, the blogs and news feeds that I subscribe to, and a multitude of other social tools help me to learn new strategies and tools to engage the learner always.
Areas for Improvement
Although I can provide communication with parents and guardians about student progress, it might be a challenge to engage these parents in the process. I will use a variety of methods, including email, phone conversations, text messages, and parent access to the LMS. Parent involvement is essential. The addition of the online environment might prove to be daunting for some parents, but even more accessible for others. It will be an ongoing process to know how to best communicate with parents and bring them into the learning environment. (return to Table of Contents)
Standard K
The online teacher arranges media and content to help students and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively in the online environment.
Standard K Reflection
Strengths and Areas for Improvement
I have designed several online courses for LAUSD. They incorporated many of the principles of design that we have learned in this course, from using a variety of online tools to engage learners to designing a variety of assessments.
What I feel has been lacking in some of these courses is for students to learn how to learn online. I want to make sure that I design courses that encourage students to not only learn from one another, but seek resources outside of the course that will help them discover new avenues of learning for themselves. This helps them become self directed learners. Designing this into the course will be my challenge. Including a syllabus with clear expectations is a a start. Offering multiple tools for learning content is important. Guiding students to collect and connect online outside of the course to build their personal learning network will be essential. This is the area of design on want to focus on, by finding others who are designing successful courses that incorporate this kind of learning. It doesn’t happen much with courses offered from vendors and established publishers. I strive to make this possible by mixing together content and adding essential questions and learning opportunities to stimulate the learning. (return to Table of Contents)
Overall Reflection
Throughout this post, I’ve reflected on my action plan for implementing changes in how I will teach as a result of new learning. These areas for growth are crucial in developing as an effective online teacher. This course has pushed my thinking to include multiple and varied assessments, provide accommodations for all learners, and to include multiple types of learning activities to engage the diverse learners in the course. I have learned the strategies for monitoring and encouraging discourse in discussion forums and in collaborative projects.
Actually participating in a collaborative project with colleagues gave me a taste of how to design projects for collaboration. The rich learning that happened between colleagues in discussions and in collaboration gave me resources well beyond the wealth of materials offered in the online textbook. It convinced me evermore of the power of social learning, and that carefully designed and monitored courses can engage students above and beyond the scope and sequence of the course.
I will continue my quest to learn more about online learning and how to engage students. There are many resources to explore in the course as well as some I’ve come across in my PLN now that I’m focused on online learning. I’ll begin with the resources offered by Lisa Nielsen called Required reading for online learning educators. I’ll continue to build upon the learning I’ve begun as a result of participating in this Leading Edge Certification course.
(return to Table of Contents)
6.3 Reflection: Technology and Assessment
Prompt: This module has explored the use of technology tools for both formative and summative assessment. As you think about how you will implement formative and summative assessments in the online and blended environments, what are some of the factors you need to consider?
I think that both formative assessments and summative assessments are more accessible in an online or blended environment. In a traditional, face to face class, having to bring home papers to grade or staying late at school to grade assignments is an inconvenience which can lead to untimeliness in the feedback process. In an online/blended environment, grading can be automatic. SCORM modules, with built in feedback aligned to how students answer questions, is immediate. Discussion forums can be monitored on a daily basis, offering feedback in a timely manner, both from the online instructor and the other students in the class. Interactive games and activities will also assist the student in understanding and reinforcing the concepts being learned with immediate feedback. These types of assessments will offer the students near immediate feedback that will help them assess their learning.
Online/blended courses also make it possible to use projects as both formative and summative assessments in a more authentic type of environment. Scaffolding of project elements can be easily done, with feedback offered at each step of the creation. This offers students more authentic feedback in a timely manner.
Additionally, formative and summative assessments can be easily tweaked and reused in later classes. This will help make these assessments even better over time.
The one area that I think might be a problem in an online/blended environment is the area of cheating and plagiarism. Honesty and integrity are desired assets, and steps need to be taken to make sure that these virtues are upheld. As was stated in this week’s article, Online Assessment Strategies: A Primer, “students cheat when the probability of being caught is low and when the severity of punishment is low. (Burrus et al., 2007)” Starting with clear expectations and definitions in the syllabus, and indicating to students that the LMS provides an “audit trail” are good ways to begin to deal with this. Promoting honesty by requiring that assignments be turned in on time will also help with this issue.
All in all, I think that there are less factors that will inhibit feedback from assessments in the online environments as compared to a face to face environment. Students will feel more engaged and invested as timely feedback from assessments becomes part of the culture of the class.
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Reflection: Social & Professional Networks (4.3)
My Personal Learning Network is what keeps me wanting to learn more all the time. I surround myself with very smart people who inspire me everyday to learn all I can to engage my students in new and (hopefully) better ways. It’s also my lifeline for learning. This year, I am back in the classroom as a regular classroom teacher for the first time in about 16 years. Every day, it seems, I look for new and engaging ways to teach the standards based curriculum differently. I haven’t had time to do many things out of the box, since I’m still learning the curriculum and everything is new, but being able to dream about what is possible has kept me going. I mention this because I have to admit that this year, I’m really not giving back what I get from my network. I contribute when I can, but it’s not nearly enough. But– there’s just no time for much play.
On many Saturday mornings or early on the weekday mornings when I’m taking a break from planning curriculum, I dip my eager face into the firehose of information and take a good long, enjoyable drink. It can’t last very long, but it keeps me going from week to week. I look forward to days off, when I get to play and learn with my online network.
Facebook is my personal network. I connect not only with colleagues from work, but also my family and my old friends from high school. It’s a great place to connect with long lost friends and family, yet also keep in touch with colleagues I’ve worked with in the past and miss very much. Sometimes I share educational resources and insights on Facebook, but most of the time, my posts tend to be more personal. I love hearing about vacations, anecdotes about family, and news about what’s going on in the lives of people I mostly have had conversations with face face.
Twitter, Google Plus (you can only see my public posts), and my blogroll are where I find and share many great educational resources. Once in awhile, I feel like I have something worthy to share, and I post something. Lately, it certainly hasn’t been enough. I also save resources on Diigo and Delicious, and follow other people who share resources I’m interested in. On Diigo, I belong to many groups that share common interests like iPads, History, Math, and Google Certified Teachers. When I gather common resources into a stack on Delicious, those that follow me can get an email. I, in turn, get an email when they share stacks. It’s a great way to keep in touch with all that changes and is new in edtech and curriculum resources. I keep a feed of all I share on FriendFeed. I know Facebook bought it, but so far, they haven’t taken it away. Someday, I’ll probably have to transfer it elsewhere. You can see may Friendfeed embedded on the right sidebar of my blog. I belong to a few Google Groups like Google Certified Teachers, Chromebooks, Google in Education, and a few others. I check my GCT group as much as possible, and the others when I can. I also belong to many other places where I exchange resources with others, from SlideShare to Instagram . All of these sites are what make up my Personal Learning Network.
My Friendfeed
In our reflection this week, we are to think about when these networks might serve as a distractor. For me, my network is always an intentional distraction. Since most of my network is of an educational nature, I don’t really ever feel it’s a distraction, even if it does feel like play most of the time. I think my network might be very different from the networks my students are involved in, since theirs are mostly social in nature. Even many of my 5th grade students are on Facebook, even though they are not supposed to be until they are 13. Some have tried to friend me, but I don’t allow them into this personal network because it’s not a place I want to share with my students. If they used other tools like Twitter or social bookmarking, I wouldn’t have a problem adding them to my network, but most don’t use these tools. They live in the Facebook/texting world and don’t generally use networks for academic purposes. I want to use Edmodo, a social network for students and teachers, but due to the limited opportunities that students have to use the few computers in my room on a regular basis, this hasn’t been an option this year. I love the way some teachers use Twitter with their classroom, and I might try it sometime, but I haven’t yet. Mr. Verduzco, who is our colleague in the Leading Edge Certification class, uses Twitter often with his high school students. That is awesome!
I think it’s important that students learn to use tools to connect them with others who are interested in learning. Edmodo is a walled garden, but many other tools are available for them to use where they can share publicly, in a respectful and professional manner.
In the Networked Student video, Wendy Drexler represents how her high school students learn by harnessing the power of web based, collaborative tools.
I think that we need to teach students to learn find what they need to know by not only using search engines, but connecting with others using a variety of tools. This can’t be done in a week, but over the course of a semester or a year.
Alec Couros created this diagram of what a networked teacher should look like:
I think it’s important the both teachers and students start developing their Personal Learning Networks, so that they know where to go when they need to learn.
Posted in lec
Leave a comment
Reflection: Using Web 2.0 Tools (3.3)
I’ve been trying to use screencasting more often in my classroom this year. It’s a great tool for any classroom, whether it’s a F2F, blended, or online classroom. I think it’s a wonderful way for students to be able to teach others what they know and also reflect on their own learning. It also gives me an opportunity to really know what the student has learned and also what areas we need to work on.
The Student Experience
Before a student creates a screencast, they need to create a storyboard and a few lines of script. Students know to fold their paper in fourths, then sketch out their product. The write a few lines of script under each scene and make sure to include key vocabulary words. These vocabulary words are always highlighted in our lesson and in their textbook. After their storyboard has been approved, they give it a go. They can pause their screencast in between scenes so they can get ready for the next section, and rehearse if necessary. They review their screencast and then decide if it contains everything needed. If it doesn’t, they can do it again. Usually, students only need one or two takes for the final product.
Student Outcomes
Students get instant feedback about their learning. Their learning outcome is to demonstrate mastery of the concept by being able to teach it to others. Their product is posted online after approval, so other students can learn or review the concept they taught. Students, parents, and other community members can view the recordings and offer feedback, as well. When students share this way, they are creating for an audience that is larger than just the teacher. They strive for excellence. Since students are creating products that reflect the learning in class, the projects are always tied to the curricular objectives. I find that student mastery is increased when they are tasked with teaching others what they have learned. We are using screencasting in my classroom for just math, but I can see this tool being used across the curriculum.
Screencasting Tools
Screencasting tools are generally free or have a minimal cost. For the desktop, I’ve used the free tool, Jing. Since these screencasts are limited to only 5 minutes, it forces students to be concise with their explanations. If students are demonstrating math concepts, we generally capture drawings with the SmartBoard software. If a teacher didn’t have this software, they could certainly use something like the free online whiteboard software CoSketch, to capture their annotations. Most of the time, however, it’s easier to use the iPad to make these types of screencasts because students can use their finger to draw their annotations. It seems more natural for them than using a mouse. I prefer the software, Explain Everything, even though it costs around $2.00. It’s easy to use, has multiple screens, and has one touch publishing to a variety of online sharing sites. If teachers are on a budget, they can use a free alternative like Screen Chomp.
Bloom’s
Students are using all levels of Bloom’s as they create their screencasts. They are recalling information that they have learned, but they are creating a new product of their learning, which requires them to analyze and evaluate the subject they are teaching to make sure it clear for others to understand.
Eventually, I would love to be able to have students produce a site like Mr. Marcos has created with his students at MathTrain.tv . These middle school students have a global audience they teach each week with their instructional videos.
Reflection: Methodologies of the Online Instructor (2.2)
This week, in our Leading Edge Certification course on Online Learning, we are asked to reflect on our instructional methodologies and how those might need to change in an online or blended environment. Specifically, what skills or strategies might I need to improve or expand upon in order to best support student learning in an online or blended environment.
I think I am well suited to teach in an online environment. I enjoy the asynchronous environment, and have no trouble checking in frequently to make sure students are understanding the assignments and are completing them in a timely manner. It’s most rewarding to be able to answer questions and guide learning when students need it. I’ve always enjoyed checking in numerous times during the day to make sure all needs are met. Additionally, good teaching requires being prepared, offering multi-modal learning opportunities to meet the needs of all students. I enjoy creating different learning activities that meet student needs, using a variety of media and text. I also enjoy curating resources on a variety of subjects, so I always have a few resources on hand to offer to learners. There are so many rich resources online, that it is exciting to bring them together to create learning opportunities for students.
However, I probably will need to improve my writing skills, since that is my weakest skill. I tend to procrastinate when I need to write, so that is something I need to work on. However, over time, writing becomes easier the more it’s done. I think the most important thing to remember when writing is that facial and body expressions are non-existent in an online environment, so writing needs to be clear and explicit. It also helps to make sure writing is as concise as possible.
I look forward to teaching in an online/blended environment. I find this type of environment most rewarding, and I don’t anticipate my having any problems with the technical side of managing an online course.
Image Credit: Teachers as Connectors by shareski on FlickrCC
Quote from Will Richardson from this Edutopia Article:
http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson
Reflection: Personal Learning Goal (1.2)
Our task this week is to reflect about our own ability to be effective online learners, and to also think about the environment we will provide for our online students. Additionally, we are tasked with choosing our priority learning goals for this course.
Effective Online Learning
I’m no stranger to the online learning environment. About 8 years ago, I took every class possible that LAUSD offered online through UPDATE Online, because I found that this type of learning environment suited me perfectly. Superficially, I was not only earning 3 salary points for each class to count towards my salary increments, but I could do so from the comfort of my own home, after all my family and work obligations were taken care of.
On a deeper level, I found that the online environment not only stimulated my passion for self directed learning, but offered an intense online community of learners from whom I could learn through group discussions and resource sharing. I was hooked! These courses took much more of my time than traditional face-to-face courses would have taken, but I found them much more rewarding and interactive than any learning I had ever done in a traditional setting.
These are precisely the qualities conducive to being an effective online learner, as highlighted in our readings and online surveys for this week. Students need to know if they have the type of learning style necessary to be successful in online learning. The resources below, curated mostly from the resources for this course, will help me provide students with resources that will help them decide if they have the necessary skills to be effective online learners.
I eventually became an online UPDATE instructor. We took a demanding online course to prepare us for being online instructors, much like the course we are now taking. I was able to facilitate several online courses before the closing of UPDATE Online. These courses I facilitated were amazing in that I often learned as much from my interaction with the students as the students were learning themselves. I truly became a learner along with the other learners in the courses.
Creating a Community of Learners
The reason I share this experience is that I want to make clear that my goal for this course needs to be much more developed than just learning to effectively facilitate a course. I want to be able to learn to be an effective facilitator and designer of quality online learning. I think an effective online facilitator not only needs to know how to stimulate discussions, but needs to understand that the course is not about you, but about developing the learners.
Recently, I read an interview with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, co-founder of PLP (Powerful Learning Practice), a blended learning community of learners who learn through community interaction. In this interview, Sheryl discusses effective methods of developing an online community. What really stuck with me is her description of an effective online community leader (facilitator). This role is very different than being an effective NETWORK leader, because the focus is no longer on the “me”, but the “we”. We need to be able to draw out the passions of the learners, sometimes putting aside our own commentary. I think this must be one of the hardest things to overcome as an online facilitator.
That’s going to be one of my goals in this class; to learn to be a quality facilitator, who can ignite and sustain the passions of the other learners. Often, when I facilitated a course in the past, I brought in a little too much of my own passions. I think there needs to be a balance, where bringing in your own passions is counterbalanced by igniting and culturing the passions of the learners you are facilitating.
I think the key to being an effective online facilitator is creating a community of learners, able to ask really good questions, sparked by curiosity. The online environment nurtures the ability to cultivate an online community of curious learners like never before, due to the firehose of information available to question and develop thinking. Michael Wesch, Professor of Digital Ethnography at Kansas State University, encourages educators to bridge the curiosity gap that exists today in student learning. Students need to be knowledge-able instead of just knowledgeable, using the new digital media they have at their fingertips.
Reflections
Currently, I’m in my first week of taking on online course called Leading Edge Certification. It’s offered by Los Angeles County Office of Education through CTAP. Our task is to become prepared to be highly qualified online instructors and designers. One of the requirements of this class is to create a series of reflective posts on the learning we do each week. As recommended, I have chosen my professional blog to publish these reflections as a series of posts with the common tag of LEC.
Posted in lec, online learning
Leave a comment
iPadio and Writer’s Workshop
We finished our first Writer’s Workshop personal expository pieces on Friday. Woohoo! Out of 23 students, 10 were able to get them into digital form and published on their Google Docs and shared with me. It’s a great way to really get insight into what needs to be learned next time around, since I can make comments and notes as to what was strong, and what needs to be worked on – all in one place. I plan to have a publishing party on Wednesday.
I’ve published the digital stories to Apple’s Pages, so we can make an e-book for students to download to their devices. Also students will be able to copy and paste their digital text to their blogs, so they can publish their work for parents and others to comment on. However, what about those students who didn’t have enough time to create digital text of their writing pieces? I have a solution!
I love iPadio http://ipadio.com! iPadio to the rescue! IPadio not only lets students record their voices using a cell phone or an iPod touch, but it also automatically transcribes the audio into digital text! This service has two advantages. First, students will get immediate feedback on their writing by listening to themselves read their text. (There are many words left out or tenses not agreeing in my mostly ELD class.) Additionally, they will have digital text that they can copy and paste into a Google Doc, edit, and share with me. We can then include all students in our ePub ebook edition and students can publish their “writing” on their blog! As an added bonus, I’m going to have all students record their writing via iPadio so we can have not only a digital copy of their writing, but also include an audio recording in our classroom podcast. I can’t wait!
Posted in Classroom
2 Comments
