Blog post 13 Helping a teacher use wikis

Helping a teacher use wikis

 Jane had an awesome idea to use wikis in her science assignment that would help students collaborate with their peers based on similar topic selection. One of the issues Jane’s students have run into is there does not seem to be a clear expectation of what group members are expected to do. This situation can be addressed in several different ways. One way to solve this problem is to set clear expectations with students about what makes an online collaborative project successful. One way this process could have gone smoother is to provide group members with specific roles in the group. The group should be given clear written explanations of each roles duties and responsibilities. Group members could read over the descriptions and chose roles they feel they can be successful in.


Students in Jane’s class to not all seem to know what the expectations are for the project as a whole. This could be clarified by presenting a rubric that shows varying points for different levels of completeness, Rubrics are a great tool for group collaboration because it provides all members of the group with a framework of the assignment. The use of a rubric for group work provides a fair unbiased assessment tool.

 Another way Jane could help her students to be more successful with their group project is to break the project down in to manageable chunks. This could be accomplished by having students turn in their research question. Once this is approved students could move on to turning in their hypothesis. Each step could also include a rubric that sets clear specific expectations. By providing the assignment in chunks Jane would be better able to identify groups that are struggling with different parts of the assignment.

 In Jane’s classroom there seems to be a differing degree of student knowledge skills and abilities. Perhaps one way to help Jane’s student groups to be more successful would be to group students based on their abilities on different functions required on the project. Groups could consist of a good communicator, a good writer, someone who is very tech savvy, and so on. When we create groups that have students that have different skill sets they may be more successful.

One of the major issues that seemed to plague Jane’s group projects is a lack of communication between group members. One way to help students work well together is by providing a grade that is determined by the peers in your group. Group evaluation forms are a great way to set expectations for group members and a way for members to provide feedback about their peers in their group. A great editing checklist is available at readwritethink.org. Jane can use any of the above mention strategies for improving the collaborative wiki assignment for her science class.

 With the use of these tools Jane’s students will have clear expectations and an opportunity to evaluate the effort of their peers as well as how well they performed themselves as a member of a team.

 http://compus.uom.gr/INF188/document/Arthra_gia_ergasies/Using-wikis-to-develop-student-teachers-learning,-teaching,-and-assessment-capabilities-.pdf

 http://edtechteacher.org/assessment/

https://youtu.be/4nAnsRQx7-g https://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/Rubrics

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/editing-checklist-self-peer-30232.html

Blog Post 12 Section I: Learning from hashtags #DigitalCitizenship For this week’s assignment I chose the hashtag #DigitalCitizenship. This hashtag provides a wealth of information on how to safely and effectively use digital media for students and teachers alike. I was able to find several customizable digital citizenship contracts that lay out acceptable and unacceptable behaviors on line. I found this to be extremely useful because I have been incorporating many different types of digital tools in my classroom since beginning this course. Using digital media in the classroom allows for quick communication and this tool makes sure students understand the expectation for online communication for class work. In order for students to be succesful with digital media use there are specific skills they should master. An interesting informative read I found while doing my twitter research this week is an article about digital skills we need to teach our children. With the amount of time our students spend online or in the digital realm I felt like this is an important issue that may sometimes be overlooked by parents as well as educators. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/8-digital-skills-we-must-teach-our-children/ One great resource I found was an article about the 8 digital life skills all children need. I really liked this article because it not only provided digital life skills but it also provided instructions for how to teach these skills to our students. The article explains DQ or digital intelligence. This is a follow up article to the previous article that I discussed. I would put both articles on a must read list. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/8-digital-life-skills-all-children-need-and-a-plan-for-teaching-them/ https://www.commonsense.org/education/teaching-strategies/dealing-with-digital-distraction-in-the-classroom?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=%23DigCitWeek,Dig%2BCit,Digital%2BDistractions&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Common%2BSense%2BEducation Section II: Ideas for using Twitter for teaching and learning Based on the readings in this week, and my own experience in using Twitter, there are many ways of using Twitter for teaching and learning. I currently teach sophomore level English, Reading, Writing, and Study Skills. I can help my students improve their vocabulary by having them follow https://twitter.com/VocabularyCom. This provides a great resource for expanding one’s vocabulary in a simple effortless way. One way I think twitter could be very effective in my classroom is to have short chats on the novel we are reading. I could tweet comprehension check questions to my students and have them reply. This provides a great way to use technology when not in the classroom.

Blog Post 11: Using Edmodo for teaching and learning I enjoyed learning about how to use Edmodo for teaching and learning this week. I currently teach Sophomore level English, Reading, Writing and Study Skills. I have incorporated Edmodo into my digital learning environment this week. I like the ability to use Spotlight to assess where my students are based on state specific guidelines. Spotlight allows me to post in Edmodo and my students can take the assessment on their own time. This is very convenient for both teacher and learner. Once students have completed their assessment I can review the results and adjust my instruction to meet the needs of each student in the classroom which also helps me differentiate my instruction. I had never used Edmodo before this week. I really liked the ability to connect with other teachers online. I was able to find very useful writing rubrics that will help me more effectively teach writing in the classroom as well as in our digital learning environment. This rubric can be posted in Edmodo so students understand expectations for writing assignments and at the same time they have a key to evaluate their own work. I love the Quiz option in Edmodo and the ability to create many types of questions. I posted a quiz about the novel we are currently reading. I could tell which students had been reading and which had not based on their answers and how quickly they attempted the quiz after it was posted. The short answer requires the teacher to go in and grade the response before the student receives full credit for the quiz. This is a great feature because it reminds me to check back often so that students receive feedback as soon as possible. I also like the ability to comment on the student’s response in the short answer portion of the quiz. Students tend to appreciate thoughtful responses to why their answer was correct or incorrect. Edmodo is also a great resource for parent involvement. Edmodo provides a digital tool for parents to keep up with what is going on in their student’s classroom. This allows for parents to have discussions about assignments and help students manage their time to turn in assignments on time. I am really enjoying incorporating Edmodo into my learning environment. I have received positive feedback from the students so far. This is a great way for students to collaborate and ask questions when they need help.

Self-directed learning using Feedly

In my self-directed learning this week I discovered Michael Gorman. In his article titled "STEM in all Areas…. Ten Ideas to Transform STEM from Nouns to Verbs… and Facts to Thinking" he discusses how limiting STEM instruction to the four subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math leave much to be offered in teaching students skills they will need to be successful in the 21st century workplace. Gorman discusses the need to incorporate all subjects and help students to achieve these desired skills through assessment with rubrics. I have found that proper use of assessment in the classroom makes the world of difference in helping students understand what the expectations are as well as helping them to meet their own goals. Gorman discusses the mode for teaching STEM is often PBL but this is still not adequate in helping our students to think critically and develop skills that will serve them in the future. PBL is a great tool for helping my students understand how important their reading skills are in every subject they take in high school. I teach my students to use context clues to decipher the meaning of text they do not understand. If all else fails add some technology. Most students have a smart phone in the palm of their hand. Don’t know what a word means? Just google it. There is really no excuse anymore for not knowing the meaning of a word. https://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/stem-for-in-all-areas-ten-ideas-to-transform-stem-from-nouns-to-verbs-and-facts-to-thinking/ Another interesting read this week was "Suspending Students From School: Does it Work?" by Adam Gutierrez. I found the statistics stated quite depressing and even a bit reprehensible. According to research minority children are given out of school suspension at much higher rates than white students. Students who receive OSS are more likely to need to repeat a grade level and students who repeat a grade level are much more likely to drop out of school than those who do not repeat a grade level. One of the strange things is that research shows that OSS is ineffective, so why have we relied on it for so long? Gutierrez describes several research based alternatives to OSS. The goal is to help create a safe constructive learning environment for all students. One such method is Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports PBIS. My children's elementary school started using a PBIS protocol in their school last year. Teachers and staff praise positive behavior and provide signage to let students know what behavior is expected from them in each different type of environment in the school. In the hallways there are signs reminding students which side of the hallway to walk on and to be quite because learning is happening nearby. There are signs posted in the bathroom reminding students to use resources wisely and to always wash their hands. Overall the behavior issues at the school do seem to have minimized. I look forward to learning more about this program. http://www.edudemic.com/suspending-students

Prezi Presentation

Using Google Drive for teaching and learning

THE readings and activities this week using Google Drive have really opened up my mind to how I can incorporate Google Drive into my teaching repertoire as well as how my students can become more proficient 21^st century learners. 

  Google Drive offers a wide variety of options in creating content for both teaching and learning. I particularly liked creating a Form. I was able to create a basic Student Survey to acquire baseline information about my students and their study habits. This will be very helpful as my teaching year begins tomorrow. Students can use Forms to create surveys for research projects. This can help them efficiently and effectively gather data. 

I like the spreadsheet option that Google Drive offers. In particular I like that users are able to import data from several sources. I use class dojo in my class to take attendance and track student participation in class. Google sheets will allow me to have a simple forum for storing all of this information in one place. In the past I would have to email myself my excel spreadsheet each time I made an update.

 With Google drive I can log in on any device or computer and my information is at my fingertips. 

Google sheets is an awesome tool for my High School Sophomores to collaborate on group research projects. Students can check off activities that have been completed and these entries are color coated so everyone in the group knows who did what.  This feature is also available in google docs which allows for collaborators to work on a writing assignment together.

I think Google docs would be a great way for my students to write their journal entries. These entries can then be reviewed by a peer for improvement. Once the review is completed the original author can make changes to their writing for clarity and readability. Peer review is a great way for high school students to learn to give and receive feedback.

Google Slides is similar to power point but much more user friendly. Using Google slides provides a collaborative environment for students to work on presentations. This could be very useful in my classroom because my students come from high schools all over the city including three different school districts.  This awesome tool will allow for all students to actively participate in the creation of their final product.

After all collaborations are complete I can receive feedback on a Google Form that asks survey questions about group participation and quality of peer members work. 

Google Drive Survey