Formative Assessment in an Online Setting

There are a few good tools out there I have used for formative assessment. Some students may not be working on the same thing at the same time, so using something that is asynchronous allows them to do it in their own time but gives you the data you need to keep planning.

Here are a few tools I recommend:

• Kahoot! - this has synchronous and asynchronous settings. Create your own set of questions or find in their list of many!  
  
• Quizizz - similar to Kahoot! this one also allows you to create your own set of questions or choose from other teacher-created ones, and can be done on their own or as a class.  
  
• Flipgrid - this is a great way for students to submit answers to question via video. They can blur themselves out or share their face, while also choosing fun video backgrounds and features.  
  

Differentiation Online

Recently I hosted a PD session for teachers at my school to talk about the very topic of differentiation online - it's a hot one for sure and, although I may not be able to share everything I taught them due to platform differences, I do want to share what I can.

Many of your are finding yourself using Zoom, which is a great platform and something I used until very recently when my school finally decided to partner with Microsoft, so now we use Teams. Here are a few ways you can use Zoom or other platforms to differentiate:

• Create various "rooms" for your students to go into. You already have them grouped by ability, designation, or other levels within your classroom, so this is no different. You give each group a task for the time period and they work together on it, you bounce from room to room providing support.
• For students in Special Education or English Language programs - send them notes before the lecture or topic for the day (you probably do this in your classroom anyway), then they can follow along. Create the notes as "fill-in-the-blank" to help them pay attention.
• Challenge your upper-level students to do some internet research on the day's topic(s) and have them come back at a certain time to present the info to you.
• If you are posting videos of yourself teaching also include links to websites or other resources on the topic - this provides various methods of delivery for the material.
• If you are using Google Classroom or another platform that students are logged into frequently, create a Q&A section and have students post questions and answer each other.
• Encourage students to respond to asynchronous discussions in a method of their choosing: video, audio, typing, or other presentation format.
• Utilize your knowledge of ELL support for students - always post your content and language objectives to be clear about the expectations for you session that day.

I used THIS article by Theresa Melenas, Ed.D. as a reference for some of these ideas.

These are things you do in a classroom everyday - now take those concepts and make them virtual!

Google+ in Education

The more I use Google Plus, the more I wish to be able to access it with my students. [I am moving on to a new job, away from online, but I realized this great resource while working in the last job.]

My school used Gmail for our email base, but G+ was disabled. There are so many ways to use G+ and I tried to persuade the IT guys to open it up for the students. We frequently use IM programs, previously Skype, and more currently GChat, so that is a great feature within G+ that we could use (although Hangouts may be the same within in GChat and G+). Only once did I use the face-to-face feature via GChat, but it was a great way for the student to show me her work. The student contacted me to assist her with a college level algebra class. Since it wasn't a common course within our curriculum I was unfamiliar with the material. She started up a face-to-face chat and was able to show me her worksheet, which of course allowed me to help her work through the problems. It was also a nice bonus to see the student 'in person' as we are a state-wide school and I don't get to see them that way.

G+ would also allow our students to connect to each other. We are always very cautious of online interactions because cyber-bullying can be an issue, but if students are using their school account to access it then we should be able to have more control there. If students are able to log into G+ at the start of their day, the courses they are enrolled in can use it to start conversations. For example, if the student is in Algebra 1A, he/she can put the course in their circle. Each day the specialist (teacher) can post a discussion or question for the students to participate in. They can see each other's posts, respond to them, and participate with their own ideas.

Hangouts in G+ allow up to 10 people to participate (I believe this number is correct, but double check before taking my word for it!). This would allow for a specialist to run group tutoring sessions with students. [Now I'm wondering if there's a way to record it and post it for students unable to participate live... I'll have to check that out.] Students can interact with one another and with the specialist to ask questions and even hook up with other students as study-buddies.

Several professional organizations and fun math groups are participants on Google Plus. Students would be able to follow these organizations and use them as resources. Of course, I'm partial to math since that's my subject, but this would be great for any subject. I can imagine a student following several groups based on history - i.e. city historical organizations or World War 2 fanatics and sources - and being able to use them for writing resources. 

I would love to hear your ideas on using G+ in your classroom or online forum. There are so many resources available here, so please share!!

Pinterest and Education

Okay, so maybe I don't have to say this, but I'm addicted to Pinterest! I log on when I'm bored at work and just start cruising through the pins - it's so ridiculous. I've gotten to a point where, if I'm at work, I feel obliged to surf Pinterest for education materials. Score! That's turned out to be a really great idea.

Back in December, my online school decided to start having us record videos for students to upload to the curriculum. We should have been doing this years ago, but I'm glad we're finally at that point. The whole thing is still in 'pilot' mode so we can get a feel for it and the timing. In the math department, one teacher is holding a daily session, while the rest of us (ok, 2 of us) are recording chapter reviews sessions.

My co-worker and I have spent the last month recording sessions to post for student benefit. As I was gathering my materials and pulling information from the curriculum I realized that it would be nice to have some supplements - enter Pinterest.  I've had to sacrifice hours (snicker**) to check out pins from other educators, but it's slowly starting to pay off. Many of the pins are meant for young children - pre-school to elementary, but I'm gradually coming across high school aged ideas.

An 8th grade teacher posted a road trip project she created for students working with proportions. Although my students are in high school, many of them are being remediated and working in Pre-Algebra courses, so it's great for them.

Several educators have posted clever charts for helping students remember algebra tasks which I look forward to sharing with them. One teacher has posted a list of rhymes and songs that she uses in her high school classroom to help students too - so awesome and funny!

Also, I'm a sucker for visuals and Pinterest is full of graphic charts about any- and everything! Here's a gem (who's link was no good - so I couldn't even give a nod to those that posted it):

 

So, pretty much no matter what you teach, you're likely to find something fun and new on Pinterest - Happy Pinning!!!!

www.pinterest.com



Virtual Whiteboards

Ok, so I've haven't written in a while. I've been working on my masters degree which was finally conferred to me on October 29th! I am still working at an online school, but my position has changed a bit. Now I work mostly in a virtual setting. On a daily basis I still report to a physical building and occasionally students come in for help, but for the most part it's online.

Students use an instant messaging system to connect with a subject specialist for help. I sit with my computer and monitor student progress in their classes and wait for them to ask for help.

Interacting with students in an instant message can be frustrating, especially in math, because it's hard to convey certain symbols or steps in problem solving. So, we have been trying out several different virtual whiteboards. Students and teachers can use their mouse to draw on the board, or use a text editor to copy and paste word problems and such.

We have been using Cisco's WebEx for a while at the school. It's pretty much an online meeting platform, but has a few tools that we can use. There is a way for us to share our screen - or have students share their's if need be. WebEx has a text editor and drawing tool for easy ways to write out difficult math symbols and walk through problems. When using a writing tablet with WebEx there is a bit of a delay and that can be frustrating, patience is key! WebEx also can be slow to load and asks users several questions before actually connecting them with the "meeting." We've paid big money for it, so I'll use if I have to.

Secondly, we tried a WizIQ for a while. Students were continually asked to log in using their Facebook account and that became a hassle; there seemed to be only one way to share the link to the whiteboard without any issues. WizIQ does contain a few good things, like no delay with a writing tablet and subscript/superscript for writing out math terms. I found that students also liked the fact that there were available 2D and 3D shapes that we could pull into the whiteboard and label and work with. WizIQ had a great "break out room" button that allowed for students to be placed in several different rooms to work with the teacher. This allowed for several students to be on working at the same time and not interfering with each other. The downfall was that the instant messaging did not chime or give any indication that someone had written in it and that became an issue if we were working with multiple students and couldn't keep the screen up at all times.

More recently I've been working on Scribblar.com and so far so good. It is a free site, so of course there are flaws that I'm sure would be fixed in their pay-service. They offer a grid background for the whiteboard which is very convenient when working on graphing. A teacher can create several "classrooms" and go in and out as needed. When you log out your work is saved for future reference, or until you delete it. I tend to have just one classroom that I use with students and that seems to suffice for now. They have a text editor and drawing function as well as shapes for manipulation. I think there is an equation editor as well but that's only for those who pay! When a message is typed into instant messaging there is a short little blip (not sure how else to describe it!) to alert the users of an entry. I'm going to continue working with this, alongside WebEx, until I find any issues or big flaws.

I think the more you work with these more programs the more you may find you want in one. We, as a school, cannot seem to find the perfect one to fit all our needs but we'll keep searching!

Tweet, tweet

Using Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com ) as a teaching tool has become a new goal of mine. There are so many celebrities that get on or text their 'tweets' from their phones, so Twitter can be full of mindless information, but I think I can change some of it.

I can tweet my kids a question and they can answer back to me - it can create a discussion! I can even post daily history facts, math questions, science information, or links to great news stories from around the world.

The one hurdle I have to jump is getting the kids to log on. We give them email addresses and they have difficulty logging on and checking that, so how can I motivate them to look at Twitter too? That's going to take some brainstorming...

Paperless

The school really wants to be an online school, but I keep getting things in my email that say "Print this out, have the student sign it and then scan it back in and send it to so-and-so." Does this make sense? I understand that there are some things that have to be signed by hand (and not digitally) but 90% of our paperwork should stay online.

I have a fantastic HP that has the touch screen and pen, so I can write all I want all over the screen and on any type of document! Too cool!

The documents I have all stay on my computer, I hand it over to the student and say "read this then sign here." Really simple, no paper, no scanning, nothing. The document can instantly be emailed or placed on dropbox (check out Dropbox.com) and everyone can access it :)

Go paperless, save the planet while you're at it!!!